Part 3 (1/2)

1 private sack

15.5 34.

1 medicine chest

9.00 20.

1 tent

9.0 20.

2 tentp

1.5 3.3.

Meat

5.0 11.

117.9 259.7.

1 gun

1.6 3.5.

119.5 263.2.

1 b. ammunition . . .

6.5 14.3.

126.0 kilo 277.5 lbs

1 s.e.xt.

2.2 4.8.

1 sack

6.0 photog. 13.2

134.2 295.5.

The ground extraordinarily difficult. Absolutely untrafficable sludge-pools encountered today. they consist of broad channels filled with small lumps of ice and snow? Neither sledge nor boat can be moved forward there. In consequence of the place-determination given above the course was altered to S 50 W (to the Seven Islands). It is remarkable that we have travelled so far in lat.i.tude in spite of the wind having been right against us for several days. In consequence of our having come below 82 we have today had a feast with sardines for dinner and a Stauffer-cake for supper. The going today has been good although the road is bad. We a.s.sume that we have gone 3 kilometers (1.8 mile) or possib. 2 minutes . . .

11 August was a regular Tycho Brahe-day [unlucky day]. At once in the morning I came into the water and so did my sledge so that nearly everything became wet through. S. ran in to F.'s sledge and broke the boat with the grapnel. All the sledges turned somersaults repeatedly during the course of the day. Mine was twice turned completely up and down. The going was good but the country terrible . . . A peculiar incident happened on crossing a lead. We stood quite at a loss what to do for the edges of the ice were wretched and the channel so shallow that the boat could not float. Our ordinary methods failed us altogether. Then while we were speaking the ice-floe broke beneath Fraenkel and so we obtained a bit of ice of considerable size and with the a.s.sistance of this piece we then made the crossing quite cleverly. We have not been able to keep the course but have been obliged to go both to the north and to the east but endeavour to go S 50 W. Our distance today probably did not exceed 3.5 km. (2.1 miles).

At 4.30 p.m. our longitude was 30 E. At midday our lat.i.tude was 81 54' 7. F. thought he saw land and it was really so like land that we changed the course in that direction but it was found to be merely a peculiarly shaped large hummock.

13 August 5 p.m. start . . . Tried in vain to get a seal. The ice reasonably good. In a fissure found a little fish which was pretty unafraid and seemed to be astonished at sight of us. I killed him with the shovel . . . Just when we had pa.s.sed the fissure S-g cried 'three bears'. We were at once in motion and full of excited expectation. Warned by our preceding disappointments we now went to work carefully. We concealed ourselves behind a hummock and waited but no bears came. Then I chose myself as a bait and crept forward along the plain whistling softly. The she-bear became attentive, came forward winding me but turned round again and lay down. At last it was too cold for me to lie immovably in the snow and then I called out to the others that we should rush up to the bears. We did so. Then the she-bear came towards me but was met by a shot which missed. I sprang up however and shot again while the bears that were fleeing stopped for a moment, then the she-bear was wounded at a distance of 80 paces but ran a little way whereupon I dropped her on the spot at 94 paces. My 4th shot dropped one cub. Then the third one ran but was wounded by Fraenkel and dropped by Strindberg who had had a longer way to go and so could not come up as quickly as I. There was great joy in the caravan and we cut our bears in pieces with pleasure and loaded our sledges with not less than 42 kilogrammes (138 lbs) i.e., with fresh meat for 23 days. Among the experiences we made with regard to the value of the parts of the bear it may be mentioned that we found the heart, brain and kidneys very palatable. The tongue too is well worth taking. The meat on the ribs is excellent. In the evening I shot an ivory gull. The work of cutting up the bears, etc. gave us so much to do that we did not march much this day. The wind has now swung round to SE so that we hope to drift westwards. Today the weather has been extremely beautiful and that is a good thing for otherwise the work would have been ticklish. When a bear is. .h.i.t he brings out a roar and tries to flee as quick as he can. We have been butchers the whole day.

22 August [. . .] The country today has been terrible and I repeat what I wrote yesterday that we have not previously had such a large district with ice so pressed. There can scarcely be found a couple of square metres (yards) of ice which does not present evident traces of pressure and the entire country consisting of a boundless field of large and small hummocks. One cannot speak of any regularity among them. The leads today have been broken to pieces and the floes small, but in general it has been easy to get across. Now they are so frozen that neither ferrying nor rafting can now be employed. Today a lead changed just when we had come across it (5 minutes later and it would have been impossible) and we had an opportunity of seeing a very powerful pressing. The floes came at a great speed and there was a creaking round about us. It made a strange and magnificent impression. The day has been extremely beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful we have had. With a specially clear horizon we have again tried to catch sight of Gillis Land but it is impossible to get a glimpse of any part of it. Our course has been S 60 W as on the previous days and the day's march has probably brought us about 3 min. in the direction of our course. The clear air was utilized by S-g to take lunar distances. He saw haloes on the snow . . . Magnificent Venetian landscape with ca.n.a.ls between lofty hummock edges on both sides, water-square with ice-fountain and stairs down to the ca.n.a.ls. Divine. Bear-ham several days old exquisite. I ma.s.saged F.'s foot. He had been pulling so that his knee went out of joint but it slipped in again but he had no bad effects of it. S-g had a pain in one toe, cause still unknown.

29 August [. . .] The ice as before but the leads are still very extensive and broke so that they are very difficult to cross. It now begins to feel cold. We have seen a bear today but unfortunately he went off at a gallop when he saw that he was noticed. S.'s sledge badly broken and we could only just manage to mend it. We come slowly onwards and I imagine we shall have to make a late autumn journey to reach Mossel bay. The ice and the snow on it are becoming as hard as gla.s.s and it is difficult to pull the sledges across it. Today we have tried to go S 45 W as S.'s lunar observations showed that we were rather more to the westward than we had imagined. But to keep a tolerably steady course among the leads is on my word no easy task however. Tonight was the first time I thought of all the lovely things at home. S. and F. on the contrary have long spoken about it. The tent is now always covered with ice inside and the bottom, which is double, feels pretty hard when it is being rolled together. I sweep it clean morning and evening before and after the cooking.