CHAPTER VII 



LAND AT LAST 



"Wednesday, July 24th. At last the marvel has 

 come to pass — land, land! and after we had almost given 

 up our belief in it! After nearly two years, we again 

 see something rising above that never-ending white line 

 on the horizon yonder — a white line which for millen- 

 nium after millennium has stretched over this sea, and 

 which for millenniums to come shall stretch in the same 

 way. W'e are leaving it, and leaving no trace behind us, 

 for the track of our little caravan across the endless 

 plains has long ago disappeared. A new life is begin- 

 nino- for us ; for the ice it is ever the same. 



" It has long haunted our dreams, this land, and now 

 it comes like a vision, like fairly -land. Drift-white, it 

 arches above the horizon like distant clouds, which one 

 is afraid will disappear every minute. The most wonder- 

 ful thing is that we have seen this land all the time with- 

 out knowing it. I examined it several times with the 

 telescope from 'Longing Camp' in the belief that it 

 might be snow-fields, but always came to the conclusion 

 that it was only clouds, as I could never discover any 



