66 FARTHEST NORTH 



S.S.W. sprang up, which drove the ice on to us, so there 

 was nothing for it but to put in to the edge of the ice 

 and wait until it should slacken again. We spread out 

 the bag, folded the tent over us, and prepared for rest in 

 the hope of soon being able to go on. But this was 

 not to be ; the wind freshened, the ice packed tighter and 

 tighter, there was soon no open water to be seen in any 

 direction, and even the open sea, whence we had come, 

 disappeared ; all our hopes of getting home that year 

 sank at one blow. After a while we realized that there 

 was nothing to be done but to drag our loads farther 

 in on to the shore-ice and camp. To try and haul the 

 canoes farther over this pack, which was worse than any 

 ice we had come across since we began our voyage, 

 we thought was useless. We should get very little 

 distance in the dav, and it miirht cost us dear with the 

 kayaks on the short sledges, among all these ridges 

 and hummocks ; and so we lay there day and night 

 waitins: for the wind to g^o down or to chanore. But it 



o c^ o 



blew from the same quarter the whole time, and matters 

 were not improved by a heavy fall of snow which made 

 the ice absolutely impracticable. 



" Our situation was not an attractive one ; in front of us 

 massive broken sea-ice close by land, and the gods alone 

 know if it will open again this year ; a good way behind 

 us land* which looked anything but inviting to spend 



* Helland's Foreland. 



