76 FARTHEST NORTH 



Islands, in case the Fraui should meet with disaster and 

 the expedition should be obliged to return home that 

 way. On Von Toll's mentioning this, Kelch at once 

 expressed himself willing to bear the cost, as he wished 

 us in that event to meet with Siberian hospitality even 

 on the New Siberian Islands. As it was difficult to 

 find trustworthy agents to carry out a task involving 

 so much responsibility. Von Toll determined to establish 

 the depots himself, and in May, 1S93, ^"'^ set out on an 

 adventurous and highly interesting journey from the 

 mainland over the ice to the New Siberian Islands, 

 where, besides laying down three depots for us,* he 

 made some very important geological researches. 



Another important matter, I thought, was to have a 

 cargo of coal sent out as far as possible on our route, so 

 that when we broke off all connection with the rest 

 of the world we should have on board the Fram as 

 much coal as she could carry, I therefore joyfully ac- 

 cepted an offer from an Englishman, who was to accom- 

 pany us with his steam-yacht to Novaya Zemlya or the 



* These depots were arranged most carefully, and every precaution so 

 well taken that we certainly should not have suffered from famine had we 

 gone there. In the northernmost depot at Stan Durnova on the west 

 coast of Kotelnoi, at 75° 37' N. L., we should have found provisions for a 

 week; with these we could easily have made our way 65 miles southward 

 along the coast to the second depot at Urassalach, where, in a house built 

 by Baron Von Toll in 1886, we should have found provisions for a whole 

 month. Lastly, a third depot in a house on the south side of Little Liak- 

 hoff Island, with provisions for two months, would have enabled us to 

 reach the mainland with ease. 



