THE JOURNEY SOUTHWARD 497 



SO occupied with his sledge that he had not noticed that 

 I was in the water until the last time I called. This ex- 

 perience had the effect of making me careful in the fut- 

 ure not to go on such deceitful ice with my snow-shoes 

 firmly attached. By observing a little more caution, we 

 at length reached the land, and found a camping-place 

 where there was a certain amount of shelter. To our 

 surprise, we discovered a number of walruses lying along 

 the shore here, herd upon herd, beside the cracks ; but 

 we took no notice of them either, for the present ; we 

 thought we still had a sufficient supply of food and 

 blubber to draw upon. 



During the succeeding days the storm raged, and we 

 could not move. The entry for Tuesday, May 26th, is 

 as follows : " We have lain weather-bound yesterday and 

 to-day beneath the glacier cliff on the north side of 

 this island. The snow is so wet that it will be difficult 

 to get anywhere ; but it is to be hoped that the open 

 channel outside is not far off, and we shall get on quickly 

 there when once the storm abates. We shall then make 

 up for this long delay." But our stay was to be longer 

 than we thought. On Thursday, May 2Sth, the journal 

 says : " We were up on the island yesterday, and saw 

 open sea to the south, but are still lying weather-bound 

 as before. I only moved our tent-place a little on account 

 of the cracks; the ice threatened to open just beneath 

 us. There are a great many walruses here. When w^e 

 go out over the ice the fellows follow us and come up in 

 11.-32 



