662 APPENDIX 



think seriously of fetching back the things which still lay there. 

 About midday I took a walk over towards the hummock to find 

 out a suitable transport path, and discovered an excellent one. 

 But some hours later, when I set off with men and sledges to 

 fetch back the things, so many lanes had opened around the 

 " estate " that we had to give up the attempt for that day. 

 During the whole of September, and well on in October, there 

 was almost incessant disturbance in the ice. New lanes opened 

 on all sides, some close to the ship, and there were frequent press- 

 ures. The winter harbor we had found proved an excellent one. 

 There was very little disturbance in the bay where the Frain 

 was moored, thanks to the new ice we here had around us, of 

 which the pressure was quite inconsiderable. It was quickly 

 broken up, and the fragments forced over or under each other, 

 while the two solid points of the bay bore the brunt of the at- 

 tacks. Once or twice it seemed as though the Fraui would be 

 afloat again before the winter finally chained her in its icy fetters. 

 On October 25th, for instance, it slackened so much in the lane 

 nearest us that the ship lay free from the stern right to the fore- 

 chains ; but soon the ice packed together again, so that she was 

 once more frozen quite fast. The hardest pressure occurred on 

 October 26th and 27th, but the ship was not very severely at- 

 tacked. Pressure, however, is more unpleasant in winter, on ac- 

 count of the deafening noise it makes when the ice is hurled 

 against the ship's side. It was quite different in summer, when 

 the ice is more tough and elastic, and the pressure goes on calmly 

 and quietly. 



After November ist a more peaceful period set in ; the press- 

 ures almost entirely ceased, the cold increased, the wind re- 

 mained easterly, and we drifted at a steady rate northward and 

 westward for the rest of the year. 



During the autumn the drift had put our patience to a severe 

 test. Owing to the prevailing westerly winds it bore steadily 

 eastward, and day after day we looked in vain for a change. 

 The only thing that kept our spirits up was the knowledge that, 

 if we were going backward, it was slowly, sometimes very slowly, 

 indeed. Even several days of westerly wind did not take us so 



