638 APPENDIX 



great hummock. It was now almost a year since we last had 

 a bear in our neighborhood, and we felt, therefore, much elated 

 at the prospect of a welcome change in our bill of fare. For 

 a long time, however, we had nothing but the prospect. True, 

 Mogstad saw a bear at the great hummock, but, as it was far 

 off to begin with, and going rapidly farther, it was not pursued. 

 Almost half a year elapsed before another bear paid us a visit — 

 it was not till February 28, 1896. 



As I said before, the Fram had, ever since the first week in 

 May, been fast embedded in a large floe of ice, which daily 

 diminished in extent. Cracks were constantly formed in all 

 directions, and new lanes were opened, often only to close up 

 again in a few hours. When the edges of the ice crashed against 

 each other with their tremendous force, all the projecting points 

 were broken off, forming smaller floes, and pushed over and 

 under each other, or piled up into large or small hummocks, 

 which would collapse again when the pressure ceased, and break 

 off large floes in their fall. In consequence of these repeated 

 disturbances the cracks in our floe constantly increased, par- 

 ticularly after a very violent pressure on July 14th, when -rifts 

 and channels were formed right through the old pressure-ridge 

 to port, and close up to the side of the vessel, so that it ap- 

 peared for a time as if the Fram would soon slip down into the 

 water. For the time being, however, she remained in her old 

 berth, but frequently veered round to different points of the 

 compass during all these disturbances in the ice. The great 

 hummock, which constantly increased its distance from the 

 vessel, also drifted very irregularly, so that it was at one time 

 abeam, at another right ahead. 



On July 27th there was a disturbance in the ice such as we 

 had not experienced since we got fast. Wide lanes were formed 

 in every direction, and the floe upon which the smith's forge 

 was placed danced round in an incessant whirl, making us fear 

 we might lose the whole apparatus at any moment. Scott-Hansen 

 and Bentzen, who were just about to have a sail in the fresh 

 breeze, undertook to transport the forge and all its belongings to 

 the floe on which we were lying. They took two men to help 



