370 FARTHEST NORTH 



young, springs fresh and green from under the winter 

 snow. I see the way open before me, and I see the 

 home-coming in the distance — too great happiness to 

 believe in. 



"Sunday, January 14th. Sunday again. The time 

 is passing ahnost quickly, and there is more light every 

 day. There was great excitement to-day when yester- 

 day evening's observations were being calculated. All 

 guessed that we had come a long way north again. 

 Several thought to 79° 18' or 20'. Others, I believe, in- 

 sisted on cSo^. The calculation places us in 79° 19' north 

 latitude, 137° 31' east longitude. A good step onward. 

 Yesterday the ice was quiet, but this morning there was 

 considerable pressure in several places. Goodness 

 knows what is causing it just now; it is a whole week 

 after new moon. I took a long walk to the southwest, 

 and got right in among it. Packing began where I 

 stood, with roars and thunders below me and on every 

 side. I jumped, and ran like a hare, as if I had never 

 heard such a thing before ; it came so unexpectedly. 

 The ice was curiously flat there to the south ; the farther 

 I went the flatter it Qrrew, with excellent sledQ[ino; surface. 

 Over such ice one could drive many miles a day. 



" Monday, January 15th. There was pressure forward 

 both this morning and towards noon, but we heard the 

 loudest sounds from the north. Sverdrup, Mogstad, 

 and Peter went in that direction and were stopped by 

 a large, open channel. Peter and I afterwards walked 



