490 FARTHEST NORTH 



no doubt now about the success of the expedition, and 

 my miscalculation was not so great, after all ; but I 

 scarcely think we shall drift higher than 85°, even if we 

 do that. It will depend on how far Franz Josef Land 

 extends to the north. In that case it will be hard to 

 give up reaching the Pole ; it is in reality a mere matter 

 of vanity, merely child's play, in comparison with what 

 we are doing and hoping to do; and yet I must confess 

 that I am foolish enough to want to take in the Pole 

 while I am about it, and shall probably have a try at it 

 if we get into its neighborhood within any reasonable 

 time. 



"This is a mild j\Iay; the temperature has been 

 about zero several times of late, and one can walk up 

 and down and almost imagine one's self at home. 

 There is seldom more than a few degrees of cold ; but 

 the summer fogs are beginning, with occasional hoar- 

 frost. As a rule, however, the sky, with its light, fleet- 

 ing clouds, is almost like a spring sky m the south. 



" We notice, too, that it has become milder on board ; 

 we no longer need to light a fire m the stove to make 

 ourselves warm and cozy ; though, indeed, we have 

 never indulged in much luxury in this respect. In the 

 store-room the rime frost and ice that had settled on 

 the ceiling and walls are beginning to melt; and in 

 the compartments astern of the saloon, and in the hold, 

 we have been obliged to set about a grand cleaning-up,. 

 scraping off and sweeping away the ice and rime, to 



