LAND AT LAST 



329 



a bear, and the second, that we saw open water under the 

 glacier edoe ashore. 



" We set off about 7 o'clock yesterday morning and 

 ofot on to ice as bad it as could be. It was as if some 

 giant had hurled down enormous blocks pell-mell, and 

 had strewn wet snow in between them with water under- 

 neath ; and into this we sank above our knees. There 

 were also numbers of deep pools in between the blocks. 

 It was like toiling over hill and dale, up and down over 

 block after block and ridge after ridge, with deep clefts 

 in between ; not a clear space big enough to pitch a 

 tent on e^'en, and thus it went on the whole time. To 

 put a coping-stone to our misery, there was such a mist 

 that we could not see a hundred yards in front of us. 

 After an exhausting march we at last reached a lane 

 where we had to ferry over in the kayaks. After having 

 cleared the side of the lane from young ice and brash, I 

 drew my sledge to the end of the ice, and was holding it 

 to prevent it slipping in, when I heard a scuffle behind 

 me, and Johansen, who had just turned round to pull 

 his sledge flush with mine,* cried, ' Take the gun!' I 

 turned round and saw an enormous bear throwing itself 



* As a rule, we crossed the lanes in this manner; we placed the 

 sledges, with the kayaks on, side by side, lashed them together, stiff- 

 ened them by running the snow-shoes across under the straps, w^hich 

 also steadied them, and then launched them as they were, with the sledges 

 lashed underneath. When across, we had only to haul them up on the 

 other side. 



