Report on the Danmark expedition to the north-east coast. 165 



provisions were again taken on, so that each sledge plus load reached 

 a weight of about 285 kg. 



September 25th. At 10 a. m. the journey was continued. Fairly 

 good sledging. About 12 kilometers from the tent place a bear was 

 shot; tents were therefore raised, the bear skinned and the dogs fed. 

 During the hunt several of the dogs were wounded by the bear. 



On Sentember 26th at 9.30 a. m. they drove further north- 

 wards; the depot on Bjorneskær was reached at 11.30 a. m. and the 

 depot on Hagens Island at 4 p. m. Both depots were in good con- 

 dition. 



On September 27th at 9.30 a. m. they started from the tent- 

 place. The ice was hard with very little snow on it and full of cracks 

 and knolls, so that it was hard work for the sledges. In the afternoon 

 it began to grow hazy and soon after to snow. At 4 p. m. they reached 

 Nordre Depot which also appeared to be in order. 



On September 28th it was blowing hard wth a heavy snow- 

 fall completely burying tents and dogs. 



The 29th of September was passed in digging out the tents, re- 

 pairing the sledges, dog harness, tents and tent-poles, which had suf- 

 fered various damage of minor importance during the storm. 



On September 30th it was nice, calm weather. At 9.30 a. m. 

 the journey was continued. But the heavy snowfall had made the 

 route almost impassable. The snow lay so loose that the dogs and 

 men sank deep in it, while it was almost impossible to move the sledges. 

 At 4 p. m. the party had only advanced 9 kilometers. By this time 

 the dogs as well as the men were so exhausted, that tents had to be 

 raised. 



October 1st. It now became clear to G. Thostrup that it was 

 impossible to drive any further with full-packed sledges, owing to 

 the snow. One third of each load therefore was deposited on the ice 

 and at 10 a. m. they advanced further northwards. It was still very 

 difficult to draw the sledges, but it was a little better now that the 

 load had been reduced. At 5 p. m. tents were pitched after 22 kilo- 

 meters had been covered. 



October 2nd. While Ring's party drove back in order to fetch 

 the goods left behind, G. Thostrup drove on and raised his tent about 

 23 kilometers further northwards and deposited the loads. At 7.30 

 Ring reached the old tent-place. 



On October 3rd G. Thostrup's party drove back to Ring's 

 tent-place and about 3 in the afternoon both parties again started 

 northwards wth the remainder of the load. At 8.30 p. m. they reached 

 the tent-place where the first load had been deposited. They had 

 the same bad sledging, which was very hard on the dogs and several 

 of them cut their paws on the sharp-edged ice projecting through 

 the snow from the rough and uneven glacier-ice underneath. 



