B J ■ SLED GE AND KA \ AK 2 5 3 



this wind welds the ice together, while the southwest wind 

 here a little while ago slackened it. When all is said, is 

 it possible that we are not far from the sea? I cannot 

 help thinking of the water-reflections we have seen on 

 the sky before us. Johansen has just left the tent, and 

 says that he can see the same reflection in the south ; it 

 is higher now, and the weather tolerably clear. What 

 can it be '^. Only let us go on and get there. 



" W^e came across the track of a bear again yesterday. 

 ■ How old it was could not easily be determined in this 

 snow, which obliterates everything in a few minutes ; but 

 it was probably from yesterday, for ' Haren' directly after- 

 wards got scent of something and started off against 

 the wind, so that Johansen thought the bear must be 

 somewhere near. Well, well, old or new, a bear was 

 there while we were a little farther north, stitching at 

 the kayaks, and one day it will come our way, too, no 

 doubt! The gull which Johansen shot brought up a 

 large piece of blubber when it fell, and this tends to con- 

 firm us in the belief that bears are at hand, as it hardly 

 could have done so had it not been in such company. 



" The weather was wet and wa-etched, and, to make 

 things worse, there was a thick mist, and the going was 

 as heavy as could be. To go on did not seem very 

 attractive ; but, on the other hand, a halt for dinner in 

 this slush was still less so. We therefore continued a 

 little while longer and stopped at 10 o'clock for good. 

 What a welcome change it was to be under the tent 



