444 FARTHEST NORTH 



theory on which this expedition was planned. And 

 when, in addition to this, one bears in mind that the 

 winds seem, as anticipated, to be as a rule southeasterly, 

 as was, moreover, the case at the international station at 

 Sagastyr (by the Lena mouth), our prospects do not ap- 

 pear to be unfavorable. 



Frequently, moreover, I thought I could detect un- 

 mistakable symptoms of a steadily flowing northwesterly 

 current under the ice, and then, of course, my spirits 

 rose ; but at other times, when the drift again bore south- 

 ward — and that was often — my doubts would return, and 

 it seemed as if there was no prospect of getting through 

 within any reasonable time. Truly such drifting in the 

 ice is extremely trying to the mind; but there is one 

 virtue it fosters, and that is patience. The whole expe- 

 dition was in reality one long course of training in this 

 useful virtue. 



Our progress as the spring advanced grew somewhat 

 better than it had been during the winter, but on the 

 whole it was always the same sort of crab-like locomo- 

 tion ; for each time we made a long stretch to the 

 north, a longer period of reaction was sure to follow. It 

 was, in the opinion of one of our number, who was some- 

 what of a politician, a constant struggle between the 

 Left and Right, between Progressionists and Recession- 

 ists. After a period of Left wind and a glorious drift 

 northward, as a matter of course the " Radical Right " 

 took the helm, and we remained lying in dead-water or 



