JANUARY I TO MAY //, iSg6 675 



connected with it. Our spirits were often far better in rough 

 weather than on glittering days of clear weather, with only a 

 slight breeze or a calm and a brilliant aurora borealis at night. 



With the drift we had reason to be well satisfied, especially 

 in January and the first week in February. During that time 

 we drifted all the way from the 48th to the 25th degree of 

 longitude, while our latitude kept steady — about 84° 50'. The 

 best drift we had was from January 28th to February 3d, when 

 there was a constant stiff breeze blowing from the east, which 

 on Sunday, February 2d, increased to a speed of 58 feet 6 

 inches to 69 feet a second, or even more during squalls. This 

 was, however, the only real gale during the whole of our voyage. 

 On Saturday, February 1st, we passed the longitude of Vardo, 

 and celebrated the occasion by some festivities in the evening. 

 On February 15th we were in 84° 20' north latitude and 23° 

 28' east longitude, and we now drifted some distance back, so 

 that on February 29th we were in 27° east longitude. After- 

 wards the drift westward was very slow, but it was better tow- 

 ards the south, so that on May i6th we were at 83° 45' north 

 latitude and 12° 50' east longitude. 



The drift gave occasion to many bets, especially when it was 

 good, and spirits proportionately high. One day at the end of 

 January, when the line showed that we were drifting briskly in 

 the right direction, Henriksen found his voice and said : " VVe 

 have never made a bet before, captain ; suppose we make a bet 

 now as to how far south we have got." " All right," I said, and 

 we accordingly made a bet of a ration of salmon, I that we were 

 not south of 84'^ 40', or between 40' and 41', and he said we 

 were between 36' and 37'. Scott-Hansen then took an observa- 

 tion, and found that Henriksen had lost. The latitude was 84° 

 40.2'. 



Since the last bird of passage left us we had nowhere seen a 

 single living creature, right up to February 28th. Not even a 

 bear had been seen during our many rambles on the ice. 



At 6 A.M. Pettersen came rushing into the cabin, and told me 

 that he saw two bears near the ship. I hurried up on deck, but 

 it was still so dark that I could not at once get sight of them, 



