JANUARY I TO MAY 17, iSg6 669 



the ship during our absence, and we had to skirt it a long way 

 westward before we could cross it. Those on board told us 

 that the opening of the lane had given the ship a great shock, 

 very much like the shock felt when we blasted the Fram loose 

 in August. At 12.30 at night we felt another shock in the ice. 

 When we came on deck we found that the ice had cracked 

 about 30 yards abaft the ship, parallel with the large lane. The 

 crack passed along the side of the nearest long-boat, and right 

 through one of the coal-heaps. On the heap a barrel was stand- 

 ing, which would have been lost if the crack had not divided 

 itself in front of it at about right angles and then joined again, 

 after passing through the outer edges of the heap. On the 

 island thus formed the barrel and some coal-bags floated about 

 in the channel. However, we soon got the island hooked to 

 shore, and the coals were all saved, with the exception of a sack 

 of one hundredweight, which went to the bottom. By way of 

 making sure, I gave orders that the depot should be inspected 

 once during each watch, or oftener if the pressure began again. 



On February 13th Henriksen, Amundsen, and I made an ex- 

 pedition southward to examine into the state of the ice in that 

 direction. We found that it was very uneven there, too, and full 

 of comparatively new lanes. The channel abaft the ship widened 

 during the forenoon, and gave off such masses of fog that we 

 soon lost sight of the ship. The next day it opened still more, 

 and on the i6th there was a very strong pressure in it. The 

 ice trembled and roared like a great waterfall, and splintered into 

 small horizontal flakes on the surface. The pressure was repeated 

 almost every day, and more cracks and lanes were constantly to 

 be seen for some time. But after that the ice was compara- 

 tively quiet until April loth, when it again began to be very rest- 

 less. On the night of the 15th the pressure was very strong in 

 the lane on the port side. We were obliged to haul up the 

 log-line with the bag and shift the sounding apparatus. The 

 same night the ice split under two of the provision depots, 

 so that we had to get them closer to the ship. 



On the morning of the 21st we were awakened by a violent 

 pressure astern. Nordahl came down and woke me, sa}-ing that 



