62 G. Amdrup. 



On July 31st just after midnight the sliip again came free and 

 the course was now set N.W. in among very scattered ice but in quite 

 smooth water, which indicated, tliat the ship was either inside the 

 ice-edge or inside a long outrunner from this. 



At 9.30 a. m. the ship met with densely packed ice and stood there- 

 fore N.N.W. along the edge of the pack-ice belt: some time after noon 

 it succeeded in forcing the dense ice belt and courses were again steered 

 between N.W. and W.N.W. During the day 2 crested seal were shot, 

 an extremely welcome food for the dogs. The weather was hazy and 

 foggy that day, but there was good humour onboard. The ship had 

 succeeded in getting into smooth water inside the ice-edge before the 

 end of July. 



From 8 a. m. of the 31st until 4 p. m. on August 1st the ship made 

 good progress in a W.N.W. direction. The ice was very scattered the 

 whole day, at times ел'еп the water was practically free of ice. At 

 4 p. m. the ice became denser and as a thick fog came on at the same 

 time, the ship was moored to an ice-floe. No fewer than 4 seals лvere 

 shot that day, so that the dogs could be fed with fresh seal-meat. To- 

 wards the evening an endeaA-our was made to adл•ance. but the pro- 

 gress was very slight in the dense fog. 



On August 2nd clear weather and bright sunshine were at last 

 obtained. Since the departure from Iceland, the sky had been con- 

 stantly overcast, hazy or foggy. But at the same time the ice had 

 become denser and formed a belt of impenetrable pack-ice, which 

 forced the ship to take a course about north and progress was exceed- 

 ingly slight. At 7.15 p. m. a boiler tulie burst and the ship was moored 

 to an ice-floe. The fires had to be drawn and the water blown out 

 of the boiler, in order to ]ilug the tube, an extremely unpleasant 

 situation, especially for the captain of the vessel. A fresh south-westerly 

 wind was blowing, which drove the ship towards the N.E. 



On August 3rd ,10.30 a. m., the engines were again ready for use. 

 The ship was let loose from the ice-floe and manœuvred further into 

 the ice in a north-west direction; but at 6 p. m. it was again moored 

 to an ice-floe owing to dense fog. 



The ship now lay moored until 2.30 p. m. on August 4th, when 

 the fog lifted somewhat. But two hours later it thickened again and 

 the ship had again to be moored. At 6 p. m., howeл'er, the weather 

 became quite clear and further advance could be made. 



Good progress was now made in a W.S.W. and W. direction until 

 noon of August 5th, when the fog again fell over the ice and the ship 

 had to be moored. Just after noon a bear was shot, which again 

 provided fresh meat for the dogs. Two hours later the fog lifted, but 

 the ice was packed close round the ship, quite enclosing it. 



Shortly after midnight of August ßth, the ice slackened a little 

 and the vessel succeeded in boring a way through a diflicult and nar- 



