THE WINTER NIGHT 291 



many years? Successful or unsuccessful, what does that 

 matter? 



" I had a sounding taken ; it showed over ']2^ fathoms 

 (135 m.), so we are in deeper water again. The sound- 

 ing-line indicated that we are drifting southwest. I do 

 not understand this steady drift southw^ard. There has 

 not been much wind either lately; there is certainly a 

 little from the north to-day, but not strong. What can 

 be the reason of it ? With all my information, all my 

 reasoning, all my putting of two and two together, I can- 

 not account for any south -going current here — there 

 ought to be a north -going one. If the current runs 

 south here, how is that great open sea w^e steamed north 

 across to be explained ? and the bay we ended in 

 farthest north ? These could only be produced by the 

 north-going current which I presupposed. The only 

 thing which puts me out a bit is that west-going current 

 which we had against us during our whole voyage along 

 the Siberian coast. We are never going to be carried 

 away south by the New Siberian Islands, and then west 

 along the coast of Siberia, and then north by Cape 

 Chelyuskin, the very way we came ! That would be 

 rather too much of a good thing — to say nothing of its 

 being dead against every calculation. 



" Well, W'ho cares? Somewhere we must go ; we can't 

 stay here forever. ' It will all come right in the end,' as 

 the saying goes ; but I wish we could get on a little faster 

 wherever we are going. On our Greenland expedition, 



