CHAPTER VIII 

 SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 



So summer was over, and our second autumn and 

 winter were beginning. But we were now more inured 

 to the trials of patience attendant on this h'fe, and time 

 passed quickly. Besides, I myself was now taken up 

 with new plans and preparations. Allusion has several 

 times been made to the fact that we had, during: the 

 course of the summer, got everything into readiness for 

 the possibility of having to make our way home across 

 the ice. Six double kayaks had been built, the hand- 

 sledges were in good order, and careful calculation had 

 been made of the amount of food, clothing, fuel, etc., 

 that it would be necessary to carry. But I had also 

 quietly begun to make preparations for my own medi- 

 tated expedition north. In August, as already mentioned, 

 I had begun to work at a single kayak, the framework 

 made of bamboo. I had said nothing about my plan 

 yet, except a few words to Sverdrup ; it was impossible 

 to tell how far north the drift would take us, and so many 

 things might happen before spring. 



In the meantime life on board went on as usuaL 



