LAND AT LAST ^72, 



There has been so much to see about that I have got no 

 writing done ; that excuse, however, is no longer availa- 

 ble, as we sleep nearly the whole twenty-four hours." 



After having written my journal for August 24th 

 I went out to look for a better and more sheltered place, 

 as the wind had changed, and now blew straight into the 

 tent. I hoped, too, that this land-wind might open up 

 the ice, and I therefore first set off to see whether any 

 sign of slackening was to be discovered at the edge of 

 the shore-ice ; but the floes lay packed together as solidly 

 as ever. I found, however, a capital place for pitching 

 the tent, and we were busy moving thither when we 

 suddenly discovered that the ice had split off to the land- 

 ward, and already there was a broad channel. We cer- 

 tainly wanted the ice to open up, but not on our land- 

 ward side ; and now it was a question of getting across 

 on to the shore-ice again at any price, so as not to drift 

 out to sea with the pack. But the wind had risen to a 

 stiff breeze, and it seemed more than doubtful wheth- 

 er we could manage to pull up against it, even for 

 so short a distance as across the channel. This was 

 rapidly growing broader and broader. We had, how- 

 ever, to make an attempt, and, therefore, set off 

 along the edge towards a spot farther east, which we 

 thought would give us a little more shelter for launching 

 our kayaks. On arriving, however, we found that it 

 would be no easy matter to launch them here either 

 without iiettino- them filled with water. It blew so that 



