With
In the
Hjalmor lohansen
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
[LANCASTER.
LIEUT. HJALMAR JOHANSEN.
With Xan$cii in the North.} {Frontispiece.
WITH NANSEN IN
THE NORTH
A Record of the Fram Expedition
in 1893-96
BY HJALMAR JOHANSEN
LIEUTENANT IN THE NORWEGIAN ARMY
TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN
BY H. L. BR^EKSTAD
GEORGE N. MORANG
PUBLISHER AND IMPORTER
Toronto, Canada
Contents
CHAPTER I
PAGE
The Equipment of the Expedition — Its Start — The Voyage along the
Coast- — Farewell to Norway ........ I
CHAPTER II
The First Ice — Arrival at Khabarova — Meeting with Trontheim —
Arrival of the Dogs — Life among the Samoyedes — Christofersen
Leaves us — Excursion on Yalmal — The last Human Beings we saw 10
CHAPTER III
A Heavy Sea — Sverdrup Island— A Reindeer Hunt— The First Bear
— A Stiff Pull — Firing with Kerosene ...... 20
CHAPTER IV
Death among the Dogs — Taimur Island — Cape Butterless — The
Northernmost Point of the Old World — A Walrus Hunt — To the
North 28
CHAPTER V
Open Water — Unwelcome Guests — Fast in the Ice — Warping — The
Northern Lights 34
CHAPTER VI
First Day of Rest — Surprised by Bears — The Dogs are let Loose —
Ice Pressure — A Hunt in the Dark ...... 40
CHAPTER VII
More Bears — The Power of Baking Powder — "Johansen's Friend" —
Electric Light — Shooting Competition ...... 50
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER VIII
PAGE
Foot-races on the Ice — More about the Dogs — The Northern Lights —
Adulterated Beer — Ice Pressure — Peder Attacked by a Bear . 57
CHAPTER IX
Deep Soundings— The Bear and the Trap— Christmas and New Year
—The Drift— Our State of Health— Walrus 69
CHAPTER X
Changes in the Ice — Trying the Dogs with the Sledges — The Return
of the Sun— A Ski-tour in 60° below Zero — An Eclipse of the
Sun — Unsuccessful Bear-hunting — Spring ..... 79
CHAPTER XI
Summer Excursion on the Ice— Midsummer Day — " Suggen " and
"Caiaphas"— The Drift . . 92
CHAPTER XII
Snow-blindness — More Dogs — Mistaking a Dog for a Bear — A Real
Bear — A Retrospect — Nansen Asks Me if I will Accompany Him
to the Pole 103
CHAPTER XIII
Nansen's Lecture— Fitting out the Sledge Expedition— Christmas and
New Year Once More — Our Worst Pressures . . . .120
CHAPTER XIV
Beating the World's Record— The Depot on the Big Hummock — The
Second Arctic Night — More about the Equipment of the Sledge
Expedition . . . . 134
CHAPTER XV
The Departure— We Make Two Starts— I Act as Snow-plough— Sun
Festival and Celebration on Passing the Eighty-fourth Degree . 147
CHAPTER XVI
Off at Last— The Fight Across the Ice to 86° 14'— Farthest North . 157
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER XVII
PAGE
The Norwegian Flag in the Farthest North — On the Way Home — Our
Watches Stop — In the Kingdom of Great Silence — Tracks of Foxes
— Mild Weather 171
CHAPTER XVIII
More Lanes — Summer Weather — Another "Seventeenth of May" — A
Whale— Wherein all the World is Land? 180
CHAPTER XIX
More Ridges and Lanes — The First Bird and Seal — -Whitsuntide — Fish
— Still no Land — Short Commons — The First Ferry — A Lucky
Shot 192
CHAPTER XX
"Longing Camp" — St. John's Eve Illuminations — Three Bears — A
Long Sleep — The White Cloud -bank — Land ! — In a Bear's
Clutches 207
CHAPTER XXI
Farewell to the Drift-ice— " Suggen" and "Caiaphas" must Die —
Under Sail at Last— What Land is this ? — Attacked by Walrus —
The Fog Lifts— We Cut our Sledges Adrift — A Snowless Land —
Drift-ice Again — Plenty of Bears and Walruses .... 227
CHAPTER XXII
Obliged to Winter— Our " Den " — Hunting the Walrus — Adrift Again
— A Hard Struggle for Land— Awakened by Bears— Hunting Bears
in the Kayak — An Inquisitive Walrus — Birds and Foxes — Our
Implements — The " Hut " . . . . . . . . 248
CHAPTER XXIII
An Uninvited Guest in our Hut — Walrus in Abundance — The " Water
Bear"— Two Motherless Ones— The "Lean Bear "—We Change
our Quarters — The First Night in the Hut 261
CHAPTER XXIV
Life in the Hut — Our Domestic Animals — Fox Traps, but no Foxes —
A Kayak Adrift — Open Water — Christmas Once More . . 275
vin CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXV
PAGB
The New Year — The Sun Reappears — Spring — Running Short of
Blubber — The Bear which Wanted to Get into the Hut — Pre-
paring to Start Again — The Land of the Ice-bear . . . 290
CHAPTER XXVI
Farewell to the Hut— Across the Ice-field on Ski — Weather-bound for
Fourteen Days — Open Water — Sailing on the Ice and at Sea —
Where are We ?— A Swim for Life 306
CHAPTER XXVII
Hunting Young Walruses — A Walrus Cuts a Hole in Nansen's Kayak
— We hear Dogs Barking — Nansen does not Return from his
Reconnoitring — Six Strangers on the Ice — The Norwegian Flag
Hoisted — Soap and Civilization . . . . . . .318
CHAPTER XXVIII
English Hospitality— A New Life— Post from Norway— Visit from a
Bear — Excursions — Waiting for the Ship — Home-sick . . . 327
CHAPTER XXIX
The Windward Arrives — Farewell to Franz Josef Land — The I^ast
of the Ice — Norwegian Soil under our Feet — Otaria — The Fram
has Arrived — We Meet our Comrades Again — Andree — A Month
of Festivities .......... 334
rhoto by\
DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEN.
With Nansen in the North.]
[Pag* »•
CHAPTER I
The Equipment of the Expedition — 7/s Start— The Voyage
along the Coast — Farewell to Norway
IT was in the spring of 1893 that we who were
to share through good and ill the fortunes of
the Fram began to assemble in Christiania. We came
from different parts of Norway, and as we were
strangers to one another, we scanned each other's faces
with not a little curiosity. We were all, of course,
absolutely confident as to the success of the expedition,
and were most cordial in our greetings, wishing each
other a successful journey to the Pole. With regard,
however, to the time which the journey would take,
opinions were divided. Those of us who had never
been to the Arctic regions before naturally listened
eagerly to the talk of the more experienced about
pack-ice and ice-floes.
The expedition consisted of the following members : —
Born
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, chief of the expedition . 1861
Otto Sverdrup, commander 1855
Sigurd Scott-Hansen, lieutenant in the Norwegian
Navy, who undertook the meteorological, as-
tronomical, and magnetic observations . 1868
Henrik G. Blessing, doctor and botanist . . 1866
Theodore C. Jacobsen, mate .... 1855
Anton Amundsen, chief engineer . ." . 1853
Adolf Juell, steward and cook « . . % . . . 1860
Lars Petterson, second engineer . , . ' . 1860
B
2 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Peder Hendriksen, harpooner .... 1859
Bernhard Nordahl, electrician . . . . 1862
Ivar Mogstad, general hand .... 1856
Bernt Bentsen, general hand, who joined the
expedition at Tromso* 1860
The thirteenth member of the expedition was myself;
I engaged to go as stoker, as no other post could be
found for me when I applied. My duties as stoker
lasted only two months — until we entered the ice.
After that I acted as meteorological assistant.
For two months before our departure we had a busy
time, and the nearer the day approached the greater
was the activity which we displayed. Men from the
Akers Engineering Works were to be seen all over
the ship. There were mechanics, joiners, carpenters,
riggers, and stevedores. Juell and I were busy on the
little island of Tjuveholmen, examining and making
lists of the provisions. These were afterwards stowed
away with the greatest care and order in the main-
hold, the fore-hold, and the holds on both sides aft the
cabin. In the bows, between the beams and the knees,
lay Peder Hendriksen stowing dog-biscuits until the
sweat ran down his cheeks. A cargo of these biscuits
arrived from London when the ship was almost full, and
I remember Dr. Nansen telling me what a start it gave
him when, on coming on board one morning, he saw
the deck covered with cases of them. Room had to
be found for as many as we could stow away. It was
really wonderful what that ship held ; and she was
not empty, either, when we got home. Indeed, we
could very well have gone off on a new expedition
with what remained.
We prepared a kind of plan of the various rows of
boxes, so that we should easily be able to find the sort
of provisions that might be wanted from time to time
PROVISIONING THE " FRAM" 3
after we had got among the ice. The coal was stowed
in the lower hold and in the bunkers on either side
of the engine-room, while the paraffin oil was kept in
large iron tanks in the lower hold, in the 'tween decks,
and on the upper deck. A large quantity of the oil
was kerosene. This was to be used as firing for the
boilers, being sprinkled over the burning coals in the
form of a spray by means of a steam-jet apparatus.
Most of the provisions were stowed away in the
main-hold, every corner of which was utilized. If the
boxes could not be got in between the knees, the space
was filled up with firewood, which would always come
in useful. Of good food there was plenty on board
the Fram — preserved meats from Norway, Denmark,
America, and Australia, such as pork cutlets, forced-
meat balls, roast and corned beef, roast and corned
mutton, rabbits, breakfast Jbacon, which we called
"hymn books," various kinds of pemmican, cod roe,
minced fish, mackerel, dried and grated fish, fish-meal,
dried and tinned vegetables, jams and marmalades, rice,
chocolate, cocoa, oatmeal, Indian meal, white and rye
bread, flour, sugar, coffee, lime-juice, Knorr's soups, etc.,
etc. Everything was of the best quality that could be
procured.
Dr. Nansen had the entire control of the vessel's
equipment. He superintended everything and person-
ally assured himself that all, both as regards the Fram
and her provisioning, was exactly as he wanted it to
be and satisfactory in every respect. Our chief knew
the importance of a thorough equipment, and had spent
many years in mastering every detail relating to such
expeditions. Captain^SverArup assisted him faithfully
in all his work. This officer went about the ship, silent
and quiet, noting everything, and speaking^ but Jit tie,
but getting all the more work don? on that account.
At last the day arrived when we were ready to
4 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
weigh anchor. It was the 24th of June, 1893. The
day was dull and grey, but we did not feel at all de-
pressed. We were in high spirits at having at length
reached the point at which our journey was to begin.
A large number of people had assembled to see us
depart, but it took some little time before we could
actually start. There was always something wanting
at the last moment. I remember, for instance, that
we waited in vain for the supply of ice for the steward,
and had at last to go without it. " We shall have
plenty of it t later on," said the cook. Just before we
weighed anchor, Nansen arrived alongside in the pe-
troleum launch from his house at Lysaker, and soon
afterwards the Fram glided quietly and majestically
down the fjord, accompanied by a swarm of steamers
and sailing craft, which sent us on our way with
music and cheering. We could hardly feel that we
deserved all this cheering, for we had as yet done
nothing — we were only just going to begin.
We knew that we should have each and all to do
our best if the confidence of those jubilant people in
us was not to be disappointed. There were those
among them, no doubt, who believed that we should
never come back again.
At Horten, we took on board powder and signalling
guns, and at Rekvik— where the wharf of Mr. Colin
Archer, the builder of the Fram, is situated — we
shipped our long-boats. Mr. Archer and his family
came on board and remained with us while the Fram
proceeded up the bay towards Laurvik and made a
tour round the harbour, the people cheering and flags
flying all the time. When Mr. Archer left the ship
we fired our first salute, this time in honour of the
builder of the Fram. As he stepped into the boat he
said he was sure he would see the Fram again.
That man knew what the ship could do.
A WILD NIGHT AT SEA 5
Later in the day the sea became somewhat rough and
the ship began to roll. This soon produced the first
symptoms of sea-sickness in several of us. The engine
worked admirably, and we were making about twenty-
two miles in the watch. This was not much, but then we
were deeply laden. Things were very lively on board.
We were all in excellent spirits. We joked and chaffed u^
each other early and late, but especially at meal-times,
when most of us were together. Then the conversa-
tion usually turned upon what we were going to do
when we reached the Pole. Nansen gave us a little -
music, and the cook was in a bad temper because we
had such enormous appetites. " The coffee," he de- '
clared, " won' Mast beyond Tromso." In the meantime
we were advancing slowly but surely towards our
goal.
On the night of the 28th of June we experienced
very bad weather. The sea was not very high, but
the round build of the Fram caused her to roll heavily.
The waves washed constantly over her fore-deck ;
and on passing Lindesnaes, the most southerly pro-
montory of Norway, we were obliged to throw over-
board a number of empty paraffin-barrels and other
deck cargo. The davits in which the long-boats hung
creaked loudly.
I was in the engine-room with Petterson. It was
not the most pleasant of places, being very close and
confined, and it was not an easy task to act as stoker
during such rolling. It would have been more agree- -
able if j^had not been upset by_sea-sickness at the
same time.
On the evening of the 28th we anchored at Eger-
sund, on the south-western coast of Norway. Next
day we steamed past the Jaederen in smooth water,
and, with the aid of sails, we made good progress.
On the 3oth of June we began using the " Primus "
6 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
(a Swedish heating apparatus), instead of making a
fire in the galley, which place the cook described as
being only fit for Old Nick.
At Bergen we were magnificently feted. Here we
received our supply of TOrfisk (dried codfish), which
is an excellent article of food for men as well as for
the dogs.
On the afternoon of the 2nd of July the fog obliged
THE FRAM AT ANCHOR.
us to anchor in the neighbourhood of Stadt, the well-
known promontory on the west coast of Norway.
Here we had our first opportunity on our voyage of
obtaining some shooting. This time it was wild
ducks.
On the 5th of July Sverdrup came on board at
Bejan on the Throndhjem Fjord. A younger brother
of his left the ship here. Scott-Hansen had hitherto
acted as the Frams captain.
AT ANCHOR 7
On the yth we anchored at Rorvik, on the island
of Vigten, and were busily employed in re-stowing
our coals and provisions. During the trip along the
coast I lived mostly in the " Grand," as we called it.
NANSEN AND SVERDRUP ON THE BRIDGE.
We had both a " Graves en " 1 and a "_Grajid " l on
board. They consisted of the two long-boats, which,
with the help of reindeer skins and sleeping-bags, we
1 Two \vcll-Uno\vn restaurants in Christiania.
8
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
had fitted up as pleasant sleeping berths for the light
summer nights.
Wherever we arrived we found that the people took
the greatest interest in the expedition. We used to
ask ourselves where all the people came from. We
could see nothing but bare mountains, here and there
covered with green patches, along the shore ; yet we
had no sooner stopped than we had a crowd of boats
VISITORS TO THE FRAM.
\J
filled with people round about us. At one point,
however, we passed a fisherman who was evidently
a little behind the times. He hailed us and asked —
"Where are you from?"
u Christiania," we answered.
" What's your cargo ? "
"Provisions and coal."
" Where are you bound for ? "
"The Polar ice — the North Pole!" was our answer.
FAREWELL TO NORWAY 9
He evidently thought we were not in our right
minds.
On the 1 2th of July we arrived in Tromso. It
snowed and hailed as if it had been the middle of
winter. Here we were joined by Bernt Bentsen, who
was to go with us as far as Khabarova as an extra
hand, but on our arrival there he was engaged for
the rest of the voyage.
At Tromso Amundsen was severely injured through
some coals falling upon him while he was at work in
one of the bunkers. He received a big gaping wound
in his head, but he did not seem to mind it much.
He had his hair cut and washed, and the wound
was then dressed and sewn up. He went about his
work with his head enveloped in bandages the whole
time, until we got fixed in the ice.
A coasting vessel laden with coals for the Fram
had preceded us, and was to meet us at Khabarova.
At Vardo the ship's bottom was examined by divers
and cleared of mussels and weeds. At this our last
place of call before leaving Norway, the inhabitants
gave evidence of their great interest in our expedition
by entertaining us to a sumptuous banquet.
On the 2oth of July, at four o'clock in the morning,
we steered out of the harbour and bade Norway fare-
well. I went up into the crow's-nest to have a last
look at the land. It was hard to say when we should
see it again.
CHAPTER II
The First Ice — Arrival at Khabarova — Meeting wit/i
Trontheim — Arrival of the Dogs — Life among the
Sarnoyedes — Christofersen leaves us — Excursion on
Yalmal — The last Human Beings we saw
ON the 24th of July we celebrated the first birth-
day on board. It was Scott-Hansen's, and was
kept up with great festivity. We had marmalade for
breakfast and special dishes for dinner, followed by
speeches.
Next day we sighted Goose Land, on Novaya
Zemlya. We expected to reach it in the course of
the day, but we were overtaken by fog and every
trace of land disappeared. We had to keep off the
coast while steering our course along it under sail
and steam.
Kyikj Nansen's dog, which we had brought with us
from Christiania, was, of course, a general favourite
on board. It was a cross between a Newfoundland
and Eskimo dog, and was very fond of anything made
of leather. It devoured almost everything it got hold
of — sailmakers' gloves, old shoes, clothes, paper, water-
proofs, etc. It was not quite so bad, however, as the
dog the American North Pole expedition had on board
the Polaris. That dog used to eat door-handles !
It was on the 2yth of July that we made our first
acquaintance with the ice. We soon had it on both
sides of us, but with much bumping against the ice-
floes we forced our way through them in the direction
10
OFF KHABAROVA 11
of the Yugor Strait. The engine-room was not now
so warm as before. One day we had some trouble
down there ; a pipe burst and the pump was not in
order ; but things were soon put right again and no
stoppage of the vessel took place.
It was a fortunate thing that we were well pro-
visioned, for we boys on board the Fram had mighty
good appetites. Each meal was a small fete in its
way, and was seasoned with many a merry jest.
Bentsen, in particular, had an inexhaustible fund of
stories. He had always something fresh to tell us,
and was never at a loss for some amusing tale. But
it was only during the long polar night that he was
really appreciated as he deserved to be.
It was a beautiful sight to see the midnight sun
on the horizon looming blqocUred over the surface of
the water strewn with innumerable ice-floes, while
the sky shone blue in the far distance. The Fram
wended her way onward, readily answering her helm,
but advancing slowly and heavily whenever it was
necessary to ram through the ice ; but with her we
could ram without fear. She was now in her element,
but under such conditions the man at the helm had
a difficult task before him. Here the drift-ice did not
always consist of nice, flat, decent floes, but assumed
all kinds of shapes and forms. Jagged and cracked,
grey, white, and dark, came drifting past us. Some
were even covered with soil, others with fresh water,
and all were heavy, slow, and deep in the water.
On the 29th of July, at half-past six in the evening
we anchored off Khabarova. Here the person who
had been commissioned to buy up dogs for the expe-
dition in Siberia came on board. His name jvvas Tron-
theim. His father was a Norwegian, and his mother
a Russian from Riga, where he was born. He could
speak German, and acted as our interpreter with the
12 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Samoyedes. We learnt from him that the Kara Sea
had been ice-free since the 4th of July, so that we
might just as well have been here a little earlier. As
soon as we had anchored we were boarded by the
Samoyedes. They were dressed in clothes made of
reindeer skins ; most of them were ugly specimens of
humanity, and all were dirty and ill-favoured. But
the Russian traders who live here are fine-looking
fellows, dressed in their long coats of reindeer skin
and with their peculiar caps of reincalf skin. In the
summer they stop at Khabarova, bartering their goods
with the Samoyedes for various kinds of skins and furs.
The Samoyede is very fond of spirits and tobacco, and
when he knows they are to be got will often travel
long distances with his reindeer or dogs. The traders
have learned to turn this to advantage, and by the
end of the summer, when they return home to dispose
of their skins, they have generally done a most profit-
able business. The following summer they again
return. The Samoyedes came on board to see Dr.
Blessing and to benefit by his " healing wisdom." Some
were troubled with festered hands, others with deafness.
It is not at all unlikely that while these people were
on board in the doctor's cabin, and their fur coats were
left lying on the cabin floor, they were kind enough
to present us with a good supply of vermin for the
expedition ; for soon after leaving Khabarova we
noticed that we had companions of this sort on board,
companions with whom we had no particular desire
to travel.
There were ten Russians and thirty-five Samoyedes
at Khabarova. They had no less than two churches
there, one old and one new. On the ist of August
they celebrated a religious festival. Scott-Hansen,
Mogstad, and I went ashore in the evening when the
ceremony was over. There had been a service in both
AMONG THE SAMOYEDES 13
churches during the day. It appeared that there is
a new and an old sect ; but as the old sect had no
priest just then, it had to pay two roubles to the priest
of the new sect for a short service in the old church.
As long as this lasted they crossed themselves and
were most devout. But in the evening their religious
zeal seemed to have disappeared entirely. Every man
and woman wras quite drunk. Several Samoyedes from
the plains had arrived to take part in the celebration.
We saw two of them who were driving like madmen
with five reindeer among the tents. Outside one of
the tents we saw a number of young foxes tied to small
stakes driven into the ground. The two Samoyedes
drove right amongst these foxes, whereupon a woman
came screaming out of the tent, picked up the foxes,
and carried them inside. We could not ascertain what
they were going to do with these animals. Several
of the Samoyedes were fighting, but they did not strike
one another ; they merely strove to tear the clothes off
each other's bodies. Some amused themselves with a
kind of skittles. The pins were pegs stuck into the
ground, and at these they threw a piece of wood.
Scott-Hansen looked into a tent and saw in a corner
a strange-looking bundle of rags. He was rather taken
aback when he saw the bundle begin to move and
the face of an old woman appeared among the rags.
She was completely drunk, and had rolled herself up
into a bundle.
Trontheim and some of the Russians were several
times obliged to interfere and keep them in order. Nor
did the dogs seem to like all this noise. While we
were going to the place where they were tied up a
drunken Samoyede accompanied us. He wanted to
show us that it was not with him that the dogs were
angry, but with us. He courageously went up to one
of the smooth-haired, white dogs, with upstanding ears,
14 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
€
and wanted to pat it ; but the dog snarled and snapped
at him, and finally seized hold of one of the Samoyede's
mittens, which hung and dangled at the end of his
coat-sleeves, and held on to it with its teeth. This
certainly did not help to convince us as to the dog's
friendship for the Samoyede, but it undoubtedly con-
vinced the Samoyede that dogs' teeth can easily find
their way through fur mittens.
During these days we were busy cleaning the boilers
and shifting the coals. Petterson and I were inside
the boiler chipping off the salt which had been deposited
on its sides. There was not much space for moving
about inside the boiler. When we wanted to turn
round we had to pull ourselves out and then crawrl in
again on the other side.
We looked a pretty sight when we had finished. The
dirtiest of the Samoyedes would have looked clean in
comparison with us. Nansen thought we ought to be
immortalised, so he took a photograph of us.
Nansen, Sverdrup, and Peder Hendriksen — also called
" Smallboy " — set out one day in the petroleum launch
to investigate the state of the ice in the Kara Sea.
They found plenty of ice ; but along the coast there
was a channel of open water. They shot a number
of birds and one seal. As they were returning to
the ship the engine got out of order, so that they had
to make use of the oars.
While at Khabarova we put up an electric bell ap-
paratus between the crow's-nest and the -engine-room,
so that the engineer might be in direct communication
with the man aloft. We also got ready the apparatus
for firing under fhe boiler with kerosene. The coaster
with our coals was now anxiously expected. We
began to fear she would never turn up.
On the 3rd of August we were ready, and the
dogs were then brought on board. Trontheim was
ANOTHER LEAVE-TAKING 15
presented with King Oscar's gold medal of merit in
recognition of the satisfactory manner in which he had
performed his »task. Nansen's secretary, Christofersen,
also left us here. We should have been greatly pleased
if he could have remained and accompanied us on the
Pilot.
Scott Hansen. Patterson.
AT ANCHOR.
expedition. It was a solemn moment when he took
leave of us and stepped into the boat with our letters
for Norway. He had been supplied from the Fram
with provisions for his journey. Afterwards we often
thought of Christofersen, as he set off for the Samoyede
16 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
camp in his white reindeer coat which he had bought
of Trontheim, and with his rifle and otherwise scanty
outfit. In all likelihood he would have many an adven-
ture to go through before he returned home. On our
return to Norway we learned that a day -or two after
our departure the coaster arrived — too late for us, how-
ever — and Trontheim and Christofersen returned in
her to Vardo.
On the last day of our stay at Khabarova Bernt
Bentsen was finally engaged to go on with the ex-
pedition. That boy did not take long to make up his
mind! The weather was foggy as, late in the night,
we weighed anchor. Nansen preceded the Fram in
the petroleum launch to take soundings. On this
occasion Nansen was in great danger of being seriously
burnt. Some of the petroleum was spilt in the boat
and caught fire. There had always been something
wrong with that launch ever since we began to use
it on the Christian ia fjord. We passed safely through
the Yugor Strait. The firing with kerosene under
the boiler had not been successful. So much steam
was required to blow the oil into the furnace that it
became a question whether anything in particular was
gained by it.
On Sunday, the 6th of August, on account of the
fog, we made fast to an ice-floe close to the Yalmal
coast. The quiet of Sunday reigned on board. We
were all comfortably seated in the saloon, while the
dynamo worked away steadily. Nansen, Scott-Hansen,
Blessing, Hendriksen and I went ashore for a stroll.
Near the beach, where we landed, the water was so
shallow that we had to get out and wade, dragging
the boat after us for a long way. Those of us who
had sea^boot&^njjad to carry the others on
both from
Scott-Hansen and I started off after ducks and
A BOX OF MATCHES 17
managed to shoot a few. While thus occupied we
strayed away from the others. Near one of the small
lakes, of which so many are to be found here, we dis-
covered traces of a Samoyede encampment. While
walking alorrg and looking cautiously around us, for
the night was somewhat dark, we suddenly saw a
tent in the distance, probably a Samoyede tent, as we
thought. We approached it warily to avoid being
attacked by the dogs which, we presumed, would be
sure to be about. But as we came nearer we found
it was our comrades, who had taken some tarpaulins
and oars from the boat and made a tent, inside of
which they had made themselves comfortable. We
found some driftwood, with the help of which we made
some excellent coffee. This, along with a pipe of
tobacco, we greatly enjoyed. We returned to the ship
early in the morning.
On 'the 8th of August a boat with two Samoyedes
came rowing out to the Fram. They kept near the
stern of the ship. They were evidently afraid of
leaving their boat, or perhaps they were afraid of being
unable to get back to the shore again, on account of the
ice. One of them was an old man with a grey beard,
and the other quite young. We gave them some food,
upon which they pointed towards land, evidently indi-
cating thereby that there were more of them there.
Bentsen, who was on the after-deck, threw down some
biscuits to them, which they seized greedily. The
young man at once tried his teeth upon them. There
were some dog-biscuits among them, but they made no
difference. Bentsen then took a match-box from his
pocket and struck a match^ The two Samoyedes looked
up at the flame with open mouths. Bentsen threw the
box down into the boafto them. The young Samoyede
at once seized it and struck a match. He looked
smilingly at the flame and then blew it out, after which
c
18 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
' he carefully put the burnt-out match back into the box.
He evidently intended using it another time. In their
gratitude they made Bentsen a present of a pair of boots
made of reindeer skin. Soon afterwards we saw them
rowing towards the land in their wretched boat.
As we were obliged, by the state of the ice, to remain
in the same place, several of us went ashore in order to
see something of this little-known country, and meet
with some of the Samoyedes and barter with them.
The party consisted of Nansen, Sverdrup, Mogstad,
Blessing and myself. Blessing at once began gathering
IX plants on the desert plain, and I joined him. The other
three caught sight of some figures in the distance. They
were, no doubt, Samoyedes, but they appeared to be
frightened, and took to their heels. Our comrades
beckoned to them, but they ran still faster, and soon
disappeared from sight altogether. After having gath-
ered some plants and shot some birds, Blessing and I
returned to the boat, up to which the water had now
risen. We took the tarpaulin from the boat and made a
kind of tent, which formed a-good shelter for the night
after the others had returned, as it began raining and
blowing somewhat sharply. We went on, however,
telling stories and yarns-urUil-we^-fell-asteep from .sheer
fadgue. Sverdrup never enjojedLJiimself-^o
t
/
'
such excursions. As soon as there was sufficient drift-
wood ^to jnake a_^ood firerand_Jie^could get_the_coffee-
kettle, to JioiVand our pipes we^e iigfitedThe was-happy,
even though the shelter against wind and rain was not
of the best.
Early next morning we packed up and started for the
ship with the wind right against us, so that at first we
did not make much progress. When, therefore, late in
the forenoon, we got on board and could put on some
dry clothes and eat some food, these comforts were all
the more welcome. The observations made on this
OFF THE NORDLAND 19
occasion showed that the coast-line at this part of the
country had been laid down in the chart about thirty-
five miles too far west.
OFF THE COAST OF NORDLAND.
CHAPTER III
A Heavy Sea — Svevdrup Island — A Reindeer Hunt — The
First Bear — A Stiff Pull — Firing with Kerosene
DURING the following days the ice was loose, and
we made good progress under sail and steam.
Petterson and. I, who usually kept watch together in the
engine-room, now observed that our hair had grown
inordinately longv so we set to work and cut each oilier 's
hair as . closely_as ever we could.
On the 1 2th of August the engine was stopped, and we
use4j=ail.s_o.nly. To the great joy of all of us we got on
famously, for we wanted to save our coals-as much as
possible, since we expected them to be so valuable to us
later on. Two days later we had a head wind. We
beat about under sail and made but slow progress. On
deck the dogs fared badly with the heavy rolling ; we
were obliged to put them farther aft. They were
thoroughly drenched every time the sea washed over
the bulwarks ; they kept on lifting their paws from the
wet deck, and howled terribly while pulling at their
chains. Many of them also suffered greatly from sea-
sickness.
One day during my watch in the engine-room the
water-glass burst, but fortunately none of the bits of
glass struck me in the face. I got off with a douche of
the boiling salt water. On the i6th of August we had
very bad weather. The dogs suffered greatly. The
petroleum launch was very nearly washed overboard.
SVERDRUP ISLAND 21
The large massive iron davits in which it was hanging
were bent as if they had been steel wires every time
the waves broke over the ship, tearing and dragging at
the boat. Time after time they threatened to carry
it away, but at last we succeeded in lashing it to the
ship's side.
DOG ENCAMPMENT AT KHABAROVA.
Yet we had aJlYely time on board our "rolling tub "
every time we had a stiff breeze. The guns rattled in
their stands, the camp-stools flew hither and thither
over the saloon floor, the saucepans made a terrible noise
in the galley. In the engine-room we had to be careful
to avoid being thrown into the machinery.
On the morning of the i8th of August Sverdrup
sighted an island. We had not expected to come across
22 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
any nrmMtvpfl pn tv^ it*™ <^n ^he island ,was named
Sverdrup jsjan^ after its discoverer. In the evening
we again saw land ; evidently it was the mainland near
Dickson Harbour.
On Monday, the 2ist of August, we anchored near the
Kjellman Islands while the boiler was being seen to.
We soon discovered that there were reindeer on the
islands. There was great excitement on board ; nearly
all who could handle a gun went ashore, while five
remained on the vessel. We landed on the biggest of
the islands and set out in pursuit of the deer. The
animals were exceedingly shy. We had to creep on all-
fours for long distances ; the ground was not good for
stalking, and the deer scented us long before we got
within range, and set off at lightning speed. We had
then to begin a wearisome tramp afresh across moors
and plains, and again stalk them — with the same
result.
Hendriksen and I kept together. We had just sat
down on a stone, tired and hungry, when Peder suddenly
took the pipe out of his mouth and said,—
"There's a bear," and sure enough there was a polar
bear coming towards us from the shore. " What small
bullets we have ! " exclaimed Peder ; he had no faith in
the Krag-Jorgensen rifle.
We crept cautiously behind a stone, but the bear saw
us and came straight at us. We raised our guns — Peder
had a long gun and I jj^ carabine — and we fired at the
same time, but both of ^us missecl fire. Peder had pro-
bably baen too liberal with the vaseline. We fired
again, and this time the bear was hit in one of its fore-
legs. It turned round and made for the shore. It re-
ceived another shot in one of its hind legs, but it ran on
as fast as ever. Peder's gun got out of order, and he
shouted to me not to fire any more, but to run after the
bear.
MY FIRST BEAR 23
I reloaded and set oft' after it down the stony incline,
and succeeded in sending a bullet through its shoulder,
which felled it to the ground.
"Have I finished him?" 1 asked Peder, who had now
come up.
" No," he said, "he can stand more," and the bear
got on its legs and twisted itself round so that its other
side turned towards us, when Peder sent a bullet
through its other shoulder. He again walked up to it,
and fired a shot at it just behind the ears.
I expressed my opinion that this was rather super-
fluous.
•"No," said Peder, "you don't know how sly these
blasts are."
I had to bow to his authority — Peder had shot between
forty and fifty bears, while this was the first I had had
anything to do with. We skinned it and then set oif to
find our comrades.
We heard some shots ; the sun was standing just above
the ridge of the rising ground, and as we walked along
we saw something in front between us and the sun,
which at intervals was shut off from our view. We
then saw the big antlers of a reindeer, which came
limping towards us. We threw ourselves down on the
ground ; it came nearer, but suddenly it saw us and set
off at full speed in the direction of the shore. One of its
legs^was broken and hung dangling by_Jiie skin. We
ran to cut off its retreat, but before we got within range
several shots were fired, and the next moment we saw
Nansen sjnkehisjcnife iQtQJhe-neckjtf the animal. He
told ushe~had already shot another reindeer, and we
told him about the bear. Later on, when we all met by
the boats after a hard struggle through the boggy moors,
we were glad to get some biscuits and butter to stay our
hunger with. It was settled that Sverdrup, Jacobsen,
and Scott-Hansen should return in one boat to the Frain
24 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
and move her nearer the shore, while we went in the
other boat for the bear and the reindeer. As we ap-
proached the spot where the carcass of the bear was
lying we saw another one, a fine white specimen, lying
asleep a little higher up on the land. It was awakened
in rather a rough manner ; we approached it quietly and
silently, treading in each other's footprints, and when
we came within suitable range we closed round him, and
a bullet in his forehead and several others in his body
sent the bear into a still sounder sleep. It was a fine
long-haired beast and was quite wet. It had, no doubt,
come straight out of the sea and had been sitting on the
shore watching for the young of the whitefish, of which
we found the remains near the spot.
The carcasses of the bears lay some distance from the
shore, and we had considerable trouble in getting them
cut up and carried down to the boat. We were already
tired and hungry, and this work did not improve matters.
A stiff breeze began blowing, and while we had been
busy with the bears the sea had turned the boat over on
her side and filled it with water, so that our guns and
bread were soaked. After much exertion we got the
boat emptied of water and drawn up on land. We, of
course, got wet through. When at last we had got all
the flesh and skins into the boat by hauling them on
board with a line, we began rowing for the ship. It was
very tough work. The current and the wind were
against us and we seemed to be stuck to the spot. We
again saw a bear on the shore while rowing along it, and
Nansen seized his gun, took aim, put it down again and
once more took aim, but he did not fire. The swell of the
sea was too great to allow him to get a good aim, and
so we let the bear go. We pulled away at the oars as
hard as we could. Nansen, Blessing, Mogstad, Hendrik-
sen, and myself were in this boat. First we rowed along
the shore till we got abreast of the ship, when we made
BOAT-LOAD IN A HEAVY SEA 25
straight for her. The boat was heavily laden and the
seas were continually breaking over her. The current
and wind were as strong against us as ever and we
began drifting back. Then we went at it again. We
were very much knocked up after all our toil on the
JOHANSEN AND PETTERSON AFTER CLEANING THE BOILERS.
island, but all of us set to with a will and pulled with all
our might. At last we were near the Fram, and a buoy
was lowered for us. Peder was rowing on the bow seat,
and was to catch hold of the buoy as soon as he should
get a chance.
26 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
" Have you got it, Peder ? "
" No, not yet."
Nansen urged us on and we made another spurt. At
last Peder cried out, —
"I have got it!"
This was a great relief to us ; but we were not yet on
board — the line might break, so we kept on rowing. At
last we got on board with the flesh, skins and all. Oh,
what a treat it was to get into dry clothes and to get
some warm food and then to creep into our berths !
Later on the weather calmed down a little. Sverdrup,
Nordahl, Bentsen, and Amundsen rowed ashore to fetch
the two reindeer that had been shot. On returning to
the ship, they kept along the shore for a longer distance
than we did before they made for the Fram. This made
it easier for them to get on board, and they managed it
splendidly.
On the 22nd of August we made an attempt to get
away from these confounded currents near the Kjellman
Islands ; but even with the steam at its highest pressure
we did not succeed in making any headway. We had to
anchor again and remain there with the steam up.
Later it began to snow and turned very cold. We had
bearls flesh for dinner, and found it excellent. The heart
especially was in great demand. A bear^ heart is^ no
trifle. 'Two of the_m_suffice for thirteen men.
On the 24th of August we weigEedT both anchors, and
put on all the steam we could command in order to get
away from the currents. This time we succeeded, and
we steered our course to the north with sails close-
hauled. The next day we passed seven unknown islands
on the starboard side. Peder was busy cleaning bear
• and seal skins. The
were to our taste ag__good as, aJ' Chateaubriand " at_the
" Grand."
The" wind, which had been so long against us, now
A FORTUNATE DISCOVERY 27
began to go down. On the 27th of August we again
sailed past some islands and skerries which are not to be
found on Nordenskiold's chart. We were sailing through
unknown waters, and had therefore to take soundings
from time to time. The dogs were beginning to like
their quarters on board much better, and became more
friendly with us.
The 28th of August was a notable day, for an im-
portant discovery was made in the engine-room. In the
morning, while busy firing with the kerosene oil under
the boiler, we discovered in the very nick of time that
the oil had eaten away a part of the boiler to such an
extent that it threatened to burst. A thick crust in the
shape of a pointed bullet had baen formed in the plate,
which would have burst and sent the terrible hot, scald-
ing steam from the boiler over Petterson and myself,
who were then in charge of the engine-room. Fortu-
nately this vulnerable spot was discovered in time, and
we were not likely to use oil for firing in the future. We
of course had to be careful even when using coals.
That afternoon we had been lying moored to a large
ice-floe and had been refilling some of our tanks with
fresh water. It was a treat to be able to use our legs
and walk on the ice. We all turned out and had a
regular washing-day in the fresh- water ponds on the ice.
The dogs were also able to satisfy their thirst properly,
for we had been rather short of water on board of late.
CHAPTER IV
Death among the Dogs — Taimur Island — Cape Butterless
— The Northernmost Point of the Old World— A Wal-
rus Hunt — To the North
THINGS did not always go as we should like. By
August 29th we had lost nearly two days in trying
to get through an ice-belt. It turned out that we made
this attempt in the wrong place. But this is one of the
risks one must run in the Arctic regions. We en-
countered a good deal of ice here. On the one side we
had land — whether that of an island or the mainland we
did not know — and on the other we saw open channels,
which looked as if they would admit of progress. It
appeared as if we should have to turn back and make for
land and try again ; but the fog prevented us moving.
One of the dogs unfortunately died. Several of them
had been ill. They had not fared well on the cold, wet
deck, exposed to all kinds of weather. If they could only
agree with one another, we should have put them under
the forecastle ; but they .fought and quarrelled together,
and did not seem to know what was best for them— just
like a good many human beings. Some of us went out
hunting, and returned on board With a few seals.
On the soth of August we anchored off the Taimur
Island in an open channel. Two dogs had now died
and been dissected by Blessing, who declared that they
must have died from eating bear's fat, which in some
way or another bad poisoned them.
28
OFF THE TAIMUR ISLAND 29
Nansen, Sverdrup, and I went ashore with two dogs
after a she-bear with its young one. We followed up
the track for a couple of hours, when we found they
had gone into the sea. We remained off the Taimur
Island till the 2nd of September. During that time we
SCOTT-HANSEN AND NANSEN HAULING IN SAIL.
cleaned the boilers and looked after the engine, our
guns, and the_dogs. We made .. muzzles jpr_alLpf. them
with^glaited^ppe, so that they might be let loose and
have a better time. It turned out, however, that the
muzzles were not of much use.
The nights were now getting colder, and we com-
30 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
menced using reindeer skins for bed -covering. We
steamed for the south-western end of the Taimur Island
to try to get through the sound between the island and
the mainland. On the 3rd of September we anchored
in two different places. Nordenskiold's chart is not so
complete as we had believed it to be. We could not
quite make out our whereabouts from it. Nansen, Juell,
Nordahl, and I set out on a reconnoitring expedition on
the 4th and 5th of September. We rowed for seventeen
hours, and had no other food than biscuits and a little
dried reindeer meat ; we had forgotten^ the butter. The
first promontory at which we touched and rested- we
called " Carie-BllUerlesg." We rowed on, taking sound-
ings as we went ; here and there we had to pole the
boat, and even pull it over the ice. We shot five seals,
all of which sank. We had taken with us our ski, some
clothes and tarpaulins for making a tent, and were on
the whole well equipped with the exception of food.
We saw numerous traces of reindeer and bears, but
we had no time to trouble about them. We found we
could proceed some considerable distance through the
sound, but then came an ice-belt which separated us
from the op^n sea, which we thought we could discern
in the distance under the blue horizon. It is very
strange that every time we went away from the ship
for some purpose or other we always met with bad
weather on our way back, so that, hungry, wet, and
sleepy as we were, we had always to exert ourselves
to the utmost to get on board. We were always think-
ing how slowly we got along, and, whenever we looked
round for the Fram, she seemed to us as far away as
ever.
There had been some talk about taking up our quar-
ters for the night on one of the islands in the strait, but
it was a fortunate thing we did not do so, for, on return-
ing on board, the wind increased to a hurricane. We
FORGING AHEAD 31
were busy among the coals while we were lying here
with both our anchors out. We afterwards tried to
push our way through in several places, but without
success. Our observations here did not agree with
Nordenskiold's chart.
On the yth of September we did a capital stroke of
business. We forced our way through the worst part
of the ice, which, to all appearance at least, separated
us frorrPbpen water. With Nansen_andJSverdrup in
the_crow-!s^nestr. and the electric bell apparatus to the
engine-room in order, with the anchor hanging at the
bow ready to be dropped, and with one man taking
soundings, the Fram made great progress, which evi-
dently saved us from being shut up in the ice for a year
off Taimur Island, and even then we might not have
been able to get through.
In the evening we were stopped by the ice, and we
remained moored to it till the 9th inst. Nansen went
ashore and shot a reindeer. We disco vereoLnew islands,
as well as fjords and sounds, in every direction, which
had not been observe^Lby Nordenskiold. On Saturday,
the 9th of September, we made splendid progress—
thirty-five miles in the watch — under full steam and
sail, after we got out of the ice. It looked as if Jacobsen
would lose his bet with me and some of the others that
we should not get past Cape Chelyuskin before thejiew
year. Jacobsenwas^a^gTeat hand at betting. He made
bets with aTTofTTs, backing a*HTfti£ with one and laying
odds against it with another, so that he was generally
all right in the long run.
We had now a pleasant time on board the Fram, and
plenty of good food into the bargain— fresh reindeer,
seal, and bears' meat — so that we did not use much of
the ship's stores, Mogstad was shifted from the galley
into the engine-room, and Nordahl took over the cook-
ing, at which he seemed to be unusually clever. We
32 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
generally assembled in the chart-room alter meals, to
talk and smoke our pipes in cosiness and comfort. One
watch consisted of Sverdrup, Bentsen and Blessing on
the deck, and Amundsen, with Nordahl or Mogstad, in
the engine-room ; and the other of Jacobsen, Juell, and
Peder Hendriksen on deck, and Petterson and myself in
the engine-room. Nangen was in the crow's-nest early
and late, and Scott-Hansen took observations.
By Sunday, September loth, we reached a point which
marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history
of the expedition. During the previous three weeks our
prospects had been anything but promising, owing to
the condition of the,, ice we had encountered ; and,
many a time, when lying at anchor, we thought that
we should have to winter where we were. Cape Chel-
yuskin was on everybody's lips during these weeks, and
we were all }^earning to get there. At four o'clock
in the morning of the loth we reached it. There was
great festivity on board. At four o'clock, just as the
sun rose, the Norwegian^flag and our pennant with
"J&am." on it, at a given signal, were run up on the
mastheads. At the same time we saluted with our three
remaining shots, the last of which turned out a failure,
as the cartridge was wet. A bowl of-punch, containing
a concoction which we afterwards called " Chejjuskin-
puncJx,lLAvkh fruit and__cigars, was served in lh£ fes-
tively lighted saloon, and we emptied our glasses in
honour of our safe arrival here. A festive spirit pre-
vailed ; even Jacobsen was delighted at having lost his
bets.
On the 1 2th of September, Nansen, Juell and Peder
set out to himt_jwalrus. Several of them were lying
crowded together~6lTan ice-floe, and two out of their
number were shot. There was a regular commotion
among these colossal creatures, as Nansen fired and
Peder threw his harpoon the moment the boat touched
WALRUSES
33
the floe. From the ship we could see the walruses
flinging themselves into the sea, and we could hear the
bulls bellowing. They did not succeed in securing more
than the two they had shot first. They had not har-
poons enough with which to attack more. In the after-
noon two others were shot.
LANDING AT REINDEER ISLAND.
From the i5th to the iyth of September we continued
our course, mostly under steam and sail, in different
directions, according as the state of the ice permitted.
On the 1 8th we shaped our course northwards from the
westernside_pf _the__Nejw_^beriari Islands, which we,
however, could not see owing to the darkness. On these
islands dep6ts_of pro visions , had -been established for
our use by Baron Toll, of St. Petersburg, who also had
provided the dogs for the expedition.
0
CHAPTER V
Open Water — Unwelcome Guests — Fast in the Ice —
Warping — The Northern Lights
ON the iQth of September we were in 76° north
latitude, and steering due north in open water
with a fair wind and with full steam. Every one on
board was in the best of spirits at such progress in
waters through which no one ever sailed before. We
eagerly discussed how far we should get before we
were laid up in the ice.
A Battle, with a piece of paper on which the longitude,
latitude, and the words u All well" were written^ in
Norwegian and English, was thrown into the_ sea.
On the 2oth we reached 77° 44' north latitude. In the
evening we came into conflict with the ice, and had to
alter our course; but, at any rate, it was some satis-
faction to know that this was in a northerly direction.
The fog came on thickly from time to time.
There was a regular mania amongst us on board for
letting,. our .beards assume the most fantastic shapes.
Scott-Hansen was exactly like Olsen, the master caj-
penter who built the Fram\ Nordahl was the picture of
Victor Emmanuel, and Bentsen of Napoleon III. The
last-named was indignant, however, at the idea of his
resemblance.
We saw some birds, both snipes and sea-gulls. On
the 2ist we sailed north until we were stopped by the
ice. The fog again troubled us from time to time.
34
AMONG THE ICE-FLOES 35
During the night we proceeded, as usual, at half speed.
We threw overboard six bottles, with letters in Nor-
wegian and English.
To-day we made an unpleasant discovery. We found
that we hadLj^£rmiau-on__board, and every man had to
undergo a thorough examination. We blamed the
Sarnoyedes from Khabarova for having introduced these
unpleasant visitors to us.
Next day we took our clothes, put them in a cask,
and sent the steam right into it direct from the boiler
through a hose. We almost thought we could hear our
enemies singing their death-song. But they got the
better of us, after all, as it turned out afterwards. I
was busy steaming the bed-clothes, when the cask, not
being strong enough to resist the force of the steam,
suddenly exploded, and the deck was covered with
clothes enveloped in clouds of steam.
About four o'clock in the afternoon we moored the
ship to an ice-floe. We were now in 78° 54' north lati-
tude, in the midst of the polar ice, far away from
civilization. The weather was splendid and the view
around us magnificent. The ice-floes were of different
thicknesses ; high and low, with open channels between
as far as the eye could reach ; while, beyond, on the
horizon, the sky, the ice, and the water blended together
in all manner of colours. The dogs alone interrupted
the solemn silence that reigned around us. Perhaps
they scented a bear or some other animal, as they gave
an occasional bark.
At seven o'clock on the following day all hands were
ordered to help in shifting the coals. The work went
on merrily. This coal-shifting was a kind of connecting-
link between us, for we all went to work at it together.
Of course we became as black as niggers, and at night,
even after we had washed, it must not ba supposed
that we were altogether clean. The eyes especially had
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
a Southern look about
them, and we were
quite agreed that bella-
donna does not have
anything like such a
beautifying effect upon
them as coal-shifting.
We were beginning
to make up our minds
that we were shut in, and that these would be our
quarters for the winter, with almost the same sur-
roundings as now. Observations for determining our
position were taken as often as the fog or the overcast
sky permitted. The slush ice between the floes was
frozen, and it seemed almost as if the ship was be-
ginning to be exposed a bit to the pressure of the ice.
The weather was fine and bright, with 17° to 19°
of frost. We began cleaning up the place where the
dogs were kept, and stowing awav in the hold and in
SANITARY PRECAUTIONS 37
the bow some of the deck cargo of planks and beams,
including the wmdmttl^jwhich had been lying on the
after-deck. We thus got the deck clear, with ample
space for taking exercise.
One day we discovered a big bear behind a hummock,
not far away from the ship. Nansen and Sverdrup
started off there and then, only filling the magazines
of their guns with cartridges. All hands went up into
the rigging to get a good view of this rare sport ; but
the bear would not have anything to do with them ; it
turned right round and bolted off in a north-westerly
direction and then disappeared. It was impossible to
get within range of it, although three of the dogs were
let loose after it.
We could now get to our stores in the main-hold
through the dynamo-room and the passage leading up
to the half-deck near the entrance to the saloon on the
port side, so that we had access to the stores without
going on deck. All the coal dust and rubbish had been
swept away and the carpenter's bench put up in the
hold, so that the deck was now clean and tidy. The
cabins had been washed and cleaned out, and one
day all hands had a grand washing day in the main-
hold. On this occasion we weighed ourselves for the
second time on board. It afforded us a good deal of
amusement, as the weighing-machine, through some
defect or other, gave our weights, as far as most of us
were concerned, altogether injsxcess of the actual in-
crease during a month's time. rapfm'n^ Svp r<f nip wa-s
now, as bpfnrgj fhe lightest man on board, and Juell
thejieaviestr""
Blessing, for the second time, examinedt-ojirjblood. The
water required jorjwashing ourselves and for use in the
cabins was heated in the following manner. We took
the kerosene oil, which we could no longer use under
the boiler, and poured it over some bricks, which burnt
38 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
on being ignited. This method was satisfactory enough,
but we found that the jet apparatus for distributing the
oil in the form of spray was better.
On the 28th of September we moved all the^dogs out
upon the ice alongside the ship. They were immensely
delighted, as they were let loose one by one, and were
allowed to scamper over the ice during their short span
of liberty, until they were again tied up. One .of them,
called " BJHeltoren^' (ticke ^collector), .set off at once
straight for the Pole. He evidently wanted to get there
in time to collect the tickets, as one of us remarked.
We tied the dogs to long boards, which we weighted
with blocks of ice, so that they should not be able to
get away from us. Nansen was busy during the day
catching amphipodae and other small animals under
the ice.
The 29th of September was Blessing's birthday, in
honour of which the following dinner was served :—
Soupe a la Julienne, avec macaroni pates.
Potage de poisson.
Hanche de renne, avec pommes de terre.
'-- Pouding k la Nordahl.
£— ' Glace de Greenland.
Biere.
During dinner we had plenty of music, the organ
playing its most appropriate pieces. A festive spirit
prevailed, and all of us enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Every one apparently over-ate himself; at least, no one
would have any supper !
There was a good deal to attend to in the engine-
room, where Amundsen and Petterson were constantly
at work. Bentsen and Peder cleaned walrus and seal
skins, and stretched them on the ship's side to dry.
The dogs seemed to thrive well on the ice. They were
very fond of company, and were mad with joy when any
of us came to see them.
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 39
On September soth we were still busy clearing and
tidying up in preparation for the winter, and had in
consequence plenty to do. We also had snow_shovelling
on .a grand scale, and began a laborious but useful task.
We had to warp the ship backwards in the slush ice,
which was now frozen. Our position was not quite
satisfactory, as we ran the risk of being exposed to
severe ice-pressure. The great ice-floe on our port
side might have fallen in upon our deck at any moment
if the squeezing had begun. Moving the ship was not
quick work. We fixed two ice-anchors in the ice some
distance aft the ship, and by means of the capstan,
wire ropes, twofold purchase straps, etc., we managed
to heave her inch by inch through the frozen slush ice,
which, however, had first to be broken up.
Now and then some of us fell through this deceitful
slush. I remember Peder falling plump into it, but he
managed to turn' himself round on his back. He knew
he could not get out of it without help, so he remained
quietly with outstretched arms and legs, and shouted
out to Sverdrup, who was close at hand, " Come and
catch hold of me, captain." Then Sverdrup came and
helped Peder up on to a solid ice-floe.
We had now a fine display of the Northern Lights in
the evenings. They quivered across the mid-heavens
in ever-changing spirals and tongues of fire. At times,
too, we saw the grand sight of a shooting star exploding
like a rocket, as it was suddenly stopped on its, long,
curved trajectory.
CHAPTER VI
First Day of Rest — Surprised by Bears — The Dogs are
let Loose — Ice Pressure — A Hunt in the Dark
SUNDAY, the ist of October, was the first Sunday we
had as a real day of rest on board. Otherwise the
Sundays had been very much like any other day, so
we were glad of a day on which we could have a
complete rest. In the forenoon we had some sacred
music on the organ, and read books from our well-
stocked library; in the afternoon wejhad.a nap, and
after that we settled down for a quiet evening.
Next day at noon we stopped warping the ship, and
her final position for the winter was settled. The Fram
now lay with her bow to the south ; she turned her-
self southwards at the time when we got fixed in the
ice, and afterwards drifted stern forwards.
Scott-Hansen, Blessing and I were engaged in erect-
ing a tent for magnetic observations, sufficiently distant
from the ship to prevent the iron on board from having
any influence upon the instruments. Just as we were
busily engaged in levelling the ice where the tent was
to be pitched, I happened to catch sight of a bear about
fifty paces off, coming straight towards us. " There's
a bear," I shouted. Our first thought was not to defend
ourselves, but quietly to signal to the ship, so that the
bear should not be frightened away like the first one
we saw here. We decided that Blessing should run
and fetch the guns from the ship. But the bear seemed
40
AT BAY WITH A BEAR 41
to have made up its mind ; there was no need for us
to be anxious about frightening it away, for it came
straight at us. It was evidently in want of a meal-
The situation was becoming serious. When Blessing
set off, to go on board, the bear altered its course, a
manoeuvre which told us, as plainly as if the beast
had opened its mouth and said, " Here, my bold fellow,
just keep where you are ; you have no business on
Johansen.
Sverdrup.
SHOOTING BEARS.
board; none of your nonsense." We then began ges-
ticulating energetically, and to shout and scream with
all our might ; but all of no avail. The bear was now
close upon us, and Scott-Hansen took an. ice-staff and
I an^axe, the only weapons of defence we had. Bless-
ing came back .to us, and we put ourselves in position
to receive the bear. Fortunately,. it first walked up to
the tent and sniffed at it, and then we began beating
42 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
a retreat ; but it came on in pursuit of us. Just at this
moment those on board suddenly became alive to our
situation, and Nansen and Sverdrup jumped out on the
ice with their guns. Nansen raised his gun to his
shoulder, and we saw our pursuer fall down. One
more shot through the head, and all was over.
It was a fine he-bear. No trace of food could be
found in its stomach, so it must have been famished
with hunger. The only thing we found in the stomach
was a piece of brown paper, which it must have swal-
lowed just before, as we could plainly distinguish the
name of a Norwegian firm, u Liitken & Moe," stamped
on the paper. This was a lesson to us for the future
always to take arms with us whenever we left the ship,
even if only for a short distance. The bear was photo-
graphed by Nansen as it lay on the ice in the last
throes of death.
On the 4th of October we took soundings, and found
a fine, bluish clay at the bottom, at a depth of 800
fathoms. On the same day the ice cracked suddenly
astern of the ship, and the clear water that appeared
looked like a long ribbon stretching from east to west.
We noticed that the ice was beginning to pack. A
strange feeling came over us when pacing the deck at
night during watch ; we heard the distant roar and the
weird sound made by the heavy ice-floes as they ground
against one another by wind and current. There was
nothing to be seen except thirty-three dark bodies Uying
on the floe close alongside the ship. These were our
dogs, which now and then gave a sign of life by a bark
or a movement which made their chains rattle.
Next morning a bear was seen approaching the Fram.
Nansen and Hendriksen went off towards it, moving
cautiously from hummock to hummock, but it scented
them and trotted off. Nansen, however, succeeded in
shooting it down with two bullets at quite a long dis-
THE DOGS LET LOOSE 43
tance. For dinner we had the great pleasure of eating
cutlets from the very bear which had evidently intended
making a meal of us. The cutlets tasted excellent.
The observations showed that we were now in 78° 47-5'
north latitude. The rudder had been hoisted up out of
its well and put on the deck. Another unpleasant dis-
covery had been made : the vermin had .not_yel baen
completely exterminated on board.
The windmill was put up on the port side, close to L
the half-deck, and the " Grand " was in consequence
moved forward, with its bow resting on the forecastle.
The dogs were let loose. They made a terrible-jrow,
and at once began quarrelling and fighting ; it took
several of us with rope-ends in our hands to quiet them
and get them in order; it seemed as if they had sud-
denly become wild, and imagined themselves back on u
the Siberian steppes again. When two begin to fight,
the entire pack rushes at one of the combatants, and,
strange to say, it is always the_jweak.ej: one that they
all_go for. All the dogs were going about in a more
or less wounded condition, but they seemed greatly to
enjoy their frequent fights all the same. These dogs
were very curious animals ; they were a constant topic
of conversation, and the object of various kinds of
observations. We had given them all characteristic
names. Thus we called one " JobZL This dog was
remarkably quiet and timid ; he had long, upright,
donkey ears, of a yellowish colour, and was of a low,
longish build. He kept himself to himself, went all
alone on long excursions, renounced everything, and
never once growled or snarled at any of us. Then we -
had " Billettoren/' with his inquisitive " ticket-collec-
tor's" face. He generally stood near the companion
leading to the engine-room, and barked at us as we
put our heads up through the hatchway. Then we
had " Barabbas," and "Pan," and "Narrifas," a small
44 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
and active animal with black hair, bright black eyes,
and shining white teeth, which he always showed ;
" Ulinka," dark-spotted and smooth-haired, with a
pointed head, and very affectionate. This cannot be
said about " Sultan,^' a brown and white, strongly-built
creature, withnbrown eyes, and the reputation of being
a great fighter. " Caiaphas " had a thick, whitish, wool-
len coat, and a hoarse bark ; he seemed to suffer from a
chronic cold. And, above all, I must not forget the
most important of the pack — the one representative of
c_ the fair sex^lU£vik^J brown-spotted and smooth-Mired,
with a black nose and strongly-built frame.
Altogether there were three different races represented
among our thirty-three dogs. It generally took some
time before all of us could make out how many there
were, as long as they were kept on deck, and this
frequently gave rise to a little wagering, more than
one bet being made regarding J;he_number.
We had now finally disposed of the vermin that had
been troubling us. The last five of us who were still
infested with them had to take off every stitch of cloth-
ing, and deliver up all the old clothes in the cabins, and
put on bran-new ones, while the old things were thrown
out on tq^the ice. The clothes specially made for the
expedition were now handed out to us. They were
made of grey Norwegian tweed ; knee-breeches with
- leggings, and Greenland anoraks for the upper body,
with fur-bordered hoods, and Laplanders' boots made of
sealskin for our feet. Scott-Hansen andj, in addition,
received a wolfskin suit each, for use while taking
observations. We were now usingi_sleepingrbags^--in
both the four-men cabins. They were simply^rand to
sleep in.
The rigging-up of the windmill turned out to be a
long job, as so many preparations and rearrangements
had to be made on deck. On October 8th the ice
THE " FRAM" IN THE ICE 45
began to press in earnest. We were drifting in a
south-westerly direction. The soundings showed a
depth of water of 150 fathoms.
On the previous night all hands had to go on deck,
as there was a great movement in the ice. It pressed
with great force against us and cracked in several
places, so that we were obliged to fasten several ice-
anchors to the ice to prevent the floe with the dogs
and the one with the observation tent from drifting
away from us. On my night watch, between four and
five, the pressure was terrible. The Frani trembled in
her timbers, but she bore the strain well. The pressure
against the bow was so great that a thick wire rope,
which was fixed to one of the ice-anchors, snapped as
if it had been a sewing-thread. I had just stepped on
to the forecastle, and, seeing the great strain on the
rope, I jumped quickly down on to the deck, and had
no sooner got hold of the rope in my hand to let it
go, than it snapped with a shower of sparks. Fortu-
nately this did not happen at the moment when I
was just above the rope.
The loth of October was Nan sen's birthday. No
preparations for celebrating it had been made, as L.
Nansen was not well. He had been . feverish for
several days. As yet we had not taken down the
running-rigging, stored the sails, nor fixed the awning
over the ship ; nor had we begun to restow the pro-
visions, sew boat and other sails, nor made any of
the necessary preparations for suddenly leaving the
ship. There was, in short, a good deal of work to
be done besides the daily observations. After eleven
o'clock at night we had each an hour's watch in
turn, but Nansen, Sverdrup, Scott-Hansen, and the
cook for the time being were exempt from these
watches. Juell was, by rights, storekeeper and cook,
but Mogstad and Nordahl had hitherto attended to the
46 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
kitchen department in turn. Just now it was ray
turn to be cook, and I found it as much as one could
do to cook and serve up food for thirteen men. We
used petroleum lamps when cooking, but they had an
obstinate way of their own of getting out of order.
One day I was going to boil some corned beef for
dinner, and the meat had been hung in a bag under
the ice to soak. But it had been taken out of the
water too soon and put on the .deck, where it of
course froze into a solid mass. As it happened, the
lamps were just then giving me a lot of trouble.
Nansen had to come to my assistance with the
" Primus," but it was six o'clock in the evening
before dinner came to table. There was, of course,
no necessity for getting any supper ready that even-
ing, and I was not afterwards called upon to cook.
On the nth of October we experienced a good deal
of ice pressure. We had to turn out and heave or
slacken on the four ropes with which we were moored
to the different ice-floes.
The same day poor "Job" departed this life. His
comrades made an end of this unobtrusive and re-
markably shy animal, which never did any harm to
man or beast. All the other dogs attacked him and
tore him to pieces while we were having our dinner.
Nansejucpntinued his researches regarding the sea-
water __atji iff erent depths, and caught a great number
of crustaceans^ and other marine^ animals. We pre-
pared a thermometer house, and placed it on top of
the hummocks on the "dog floe." Blessing had been
occupied for some days in unpacking and arranging
in order all our books. He arranged the library in
the room by the companion on the starboard side,
and we had now about six hundred volumes in all.
The ice was troublesome again on October isth.
All of a sudden it began pressing with such a force
THE "DOG FLOE" 47
that we thought the Fram would be ground to pieces ;
then the next moment we had clear water round the
ship. At five o'clock the pressure was tremendous.
The biggest floe in our neighbourhood, the " dog floe,"
split in two, and the floes pressed together from all
sides. All hands had to set to work. An ice-anchor
was lost by being buried under a mass of broken
blocks of pack-ice. Shortly after being thus blockaded
the ice slackened again, and we now discovered that
five or six floes were drifting off with the dogs, all
howling and barking. A wild -chase ensued to get
them on board, and with the aid of our light larch-
wood pram we finally succeeded in recovering them.
Scott-Hansen and I had been to the observation tent
and taken a magnetic observation, and on our way
back to the ship the ice was packing and cracking
in all directions round about us, even under our very
feet as we jumped from floe to floe.
When evening came we settled dowrL4o~-ca£ds. All
at once we heard the dogs beginning to bark furiously.
One of us — I think it was Peder — ran on deck to see
what was the matter. He came down and said he
thought he could distinguish a b^ar^ behind a small
hummock not far from the ship. We all rushed on
deck in the dark, lightly dressed as we were, not-
withstanding the 36° of frost. Peder, Scott-Hansen,
and myself were the first to get hold of our guns,
which hung in readiness. We ranged ourselves along
the railing, eagerly looking out over the ice and among
the scattered, barking pack of dogs. And, sure enough,
away among the hummocks, one, if not two massive
forms were seen moving parallel with the ship. And
so we looked along the barrels of our guns and fired
away, taking aim as best we could, and loading as
rapidly as possible.
A muffled roar was heard, and a form seen sinking
48 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
to the ground close to one of the hummocks. The
ice pressed and creaked; ice-floes were tilted up and
set on end. The dogs roved about from floe to floe,
barking all the time in one particular direction. From
the railing of the Fram flash followed upon flash. The
shots resounded through the stillness of the night,
while the men ran to and fro, most of them only
half dressed. We refilled the magazines of our guns,
ICE HUMMOCKS NEAR THE FRAM, AS SEEN BY MOONLIGHT.
and then set out over the ice, one after the other, in
the darkness. With our finger on the trigger, feeling
our way with our feet, gazing all around us into
the night, we stole along, and at last saw a shapeless
form on the ice. It was a bear. We fired a shot at
it to assure ourselves that it was dead. Yes, it was
as dead_as a herjang.
Hushf What is that? We heard a pitiable groan
THE DOGS ABOARD AGAIN 49
further out on the ice. So there must have been two
of them, after all. We got hold of a rope and a
lantern, which, however, went out, and we made a
running noose round the beast's head and dragged it
on Jboard. It was a young_one, so it must have been
the mother which was moaning out on the ice. The
cub had only been hit by two or three bullets, but
that was not bad shooting, seeing that it was so dark.
Later in the evening we were busy mooring the
ship.
Next day, Sunday, the i5th of October, the dogs
were taken on board and chained up in their old
places. Another of them, little " Belki," now died.
Two disappeared; whether they had been lost during
the ice pressure, or caught by the bear, we knew not.
They were "Fox" and "Narrifas." On examination
we found that not only had there been a second bear
near the ship the previous night, of which we had
felt sure, but we also discovered traces of a third.
Nansen, Sverdrup, Blessing, Jacobsen, Bentsen and
Mogstad — perhaps more of them — set out on the ice,
while Scott-Hansen and I cast longing eyes after them
as we stood over by the observation tent, which we
were about to take down and bring on board. The
sportsmen discovered a young bear with a broken
back dragging itself over the ice by the help of its
fore-body, while the hind part of it appeared to be
disabled. It was put out of its misery by a bullet
and dragged on board. Nothing was seen of the
mother. This result of a bear hunt in the dark — two
tender young bear cubs, one a year and the other
two years old — could not be called bad.
CHAPTER VII
Move Bears— The Power of Baking Powder— " Johan-
sen's Friend " — Electric Light — Shooting Competition
SCOTT-HANSEN and I were one day on the ice,
determining the deflection with the magnetic appa-
ratus, when the ice began pressing, and compelled us to
pack up in post haste and hurry-scurry on board. The
daily meteorological observations consisted in investi-
gating the direction of the wind and its strength, the
clouds and their drift, in reading the different ther-
mometers, barometers, and the barograph (a self-regis-
tering aneroid barometer), the thermographs, and the
hygrometers. This was done every fourth hour, day
and night. Later, it was done every other hour.
One morning, while I was busy with these observa-
tions, I heard the dogs, which we had on board since the
ice had been packing so much, beginning to howl and
whine. I especially noticed uCaiaphas," which stood
with its paws on the deck- rail, staring intently at some-
thing down upon the ice, and barking all the time with
its hoarse bark. I looked cautiously over the rail and
saw the back of a fine white bear close to the ship's
side. I stole across to the saloon door for a loaded gun.
The bear, however, advanced along the side of the ship
with a suppressed growl, and would very likely have
come on board to us if it had not got jny_biillet in its
shoulder. It gave a roar, jumped a few steps, and fell
50
ANOTHER BEAR 51
down. I put two more shots into it. The others were
down in the saloon at their breakfast, but came rushing
on deck as soon as they heard the shots.
An hour later Scott-Han sen and I were busy with
some observations on the floe, not far from the ship,
when we suddenly discovered a large bear trudging
towards us ; but as soon as it noticed the blood of the
bear which we had just skinned on the ice, it bent its
steps in that direction. Scott-Hansen seized the re-
volver, our constant companion when on the ice ; but
just then we caught sight of Peder on the after-deck of
the Fram with his Krag-Jorgensen gun. He took aim,
pulled the trigger, cocked the gun again, aimed and
fired, but the gun would not go off. Peder began
cursing the gun. " The confounded thing won't fire ! "
he growled. He had, as usual, been too free with the
vaseline. At last the gun went off, and the bear, which
in the meantime had got close to the ship, set up a
terrible roar, raised itself on its hind legs, and bent its
head to tear the place where it was wounded, beating
the air with its paws. It then wheeled round and set off
among the hummocks. Scott-Hansen ran after it with
his revolver, and sent two bullets into its head as it. lay
on the ice. We afterwards discovered that Peder 's shot
had gone right through its heart. That was not a bad
catch so early in the morning. It seemed likely that
we should keep ourselves going with fresh meat for
some time.
Nansen was busy sledge-driving with the dogs.
They go excellently when all pull in one direction, but
they are not always inclined to do this. On the way
back to the ship, however, they pulled well together, and
went at first-rate speed.
Svejrdrup made up his mind to make some kind of
a trap for catching bears. He experimented on a steel
trap, but there was also some talk about a bear-pit.
52 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
" So long as we don't catch dogs instead of bears," was
Nansen's remark. The dogs were always breaking
loose, and if one got away on to the ice, the others at
once began barking. They seemed to envy each other
the pleasure of getting free.
The temperature was now - 12° to - 13°. In the saloon
it was between 42° and 53° above zero. We began to be
troubled with dampness in the cabins. We had to make
thin wooden frames to put between the sleeping-bags
and the walls in order to preserve them. Jacobsen
invented a very complicated arrangement, with cotton
wicks and tin boxes, to absorb the damp in the
cabins.
One day Juell was going to make a cake, which, by
the bye, was not an uncommon occurrence, and for this
he had used a kind of baking powder with the raising
properties of which he was not quite familiar. Before
long we noticed a somewhat suspicious smell coming
from the galley. Suddenly JBentsen appeared at the
saloon door, crying out, " The cake is coming—after me,
boys ! " It appeared that Juell. had paintedJiERAM "
in big letters on the top of the cake, and Bentsen meant
to imply that these letters were crawling out through
the galley door, the one after the other. " The. (FJ. and
*R' and the * A' are outside already," he continue
" and now there is only the ' M ' left, and that is _so big
that it covers thejvvhole cake."
We were not using any heating apparatus in the
saloon ; we only kept a lamp burning there. Blessing
had been engaged in examining the proportion of
carbonic acid in the air in the saloon and in the open.
On the 23rd of October the Fram again lay in open
water ; the ice had slackened and a big lane had been
formed in the ice to the north and the south of the ship.
The next day the ice closed in upon us again and began
to pack. We had a net for catching marine animals
TRYING THE WINDMILL 53
hanging in the water, which was only saved in the nick
of time ; we found a big catch in it.
We had a black and white dog on board which had c~
taken a decided objection to me ; as soon as he saw me
or heard that I was on deck he would bark and growl
continuously. Even when I went up into the crow's-
nest to read the thermometers which we had up there,
and he saw the light from the lantern which I carried
on my breast while climbing up the rigging, the dog
knew it was I, even if he was far away on the ice, and
would then begin to bark and growl. The dog, I
suppose, must have been frightened the first time Scott- '
Hansen and I put on our wolf-skin clothes. The dog
had no other name than that of „ ", Johansen^ friend.' ' !
On the 25th of October, the windmill, which drove the
dynamo for our electric light, was tried for the first
time. The result was more_succgssful than we expected
after the trials we had made while lying at the wharf of
the Akers Engineering Works. We sat down to our
dinner in the best of spirits, the salQon_being brilliantly
illuminated by the electric light. Mr. Oscar Dickson,
who had presented us with the electric light installation,
was gratefully remembered, and his health was_jdrunk
in Nojr wegian Lagej_ beer. Our supply of beer lasted f
up to the first Christmas in the ice, after which we
restricted ourselves to a mixture of lime-juice, sugar,
and water.
The electric light was a source of great usefulness
and enjoyment to us. When the wind was blowing
4-5 metres in the second, it was sufficiently strong to ^>
drive^the windmill, and we always called that kind of
wind " mill^breeze.''
On the 1 2th of October there were great festivities
on board and on the ice. The first birthday of the
Fram was celebrated in a worthy manner. We in-
augurated the day's proceedings with a splendid break-
54 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
fast, French rolls and apple cakes being the great
attraction. Scott-Hansen, Blessing and I set about at
once arranging a shooting competition in honour of the
day. We quite felt the greatness of the occasion as
we assembled on the ground with our guns. Two
flags were hoisted on the spot where the competitors
took up their position, and the Fram, the hero of the
day, had also flags flying. The range was 100 yards
long, and each competitor had five shots. It was the
last day on which we saw the sun before-it left us al-
together. It set blood red as it disappeared before our
eyes, not to return again until the next year. The
moon, however, was in the sky day and night, shining
bright and clear.
The result of the competition was as follows: —
First prize .... Jacobsen.
Second prize .... Johansen. ^
Third prize . . . Scott-Hansen.
Fourth prize .... Sverdrup. * —
Fifth prize .... Blessing.
Sixth prize .... Hendriksen.
Seventh prize .... Bentsen.
Eighth prize .... Petterson.
Ninth prize .... Nansen. *-""
Tenth prize .... Nordahl.
Eleventh prize .... Juell.
Twelfth prize .... Mogstad.
The thirteenth prize was awarded to Amundsen,
although he did not take part in the competition.
The committee had collected a few nick-nacks for
ptiz£s^ each of which was accompanied by suitable
mottoes in verse. The presentation of theorizes was
to take place in the evening with great ceremony.
Scott-Hansen had prepared as the first prize a^ hancL-
"/ 'RAM-PUNCH" 55
some_starL..inade of birchwpod, decorated with a piece
of .lace which he had procured from goodness knows
where. This was awarded to_Jacjibsen, the champion
marksman. The second prize, a night-cap, was presented *~
to^na. The other prizes consisted of a pipe made out of
a reindeer horn, a needlecase, cigars, a roll of tobacco,
a memorandum book, etc., etc.
We spent the rest of the evening pleasantly and
merrily round a bowl of punch, to which we had given
the name of u£rarj]J^liaeih.'7 It was made of lime- ~
juice, sugar, and water, and was flavoured with straw-
berry or cloudberry jam.
On the 27th of October we again took the rudder
out of its well, where it had frozen fast in the ice.
While engaged in this wrork a sharp, bright, bluish
light fell suddenly over the ship and the ice around
us. It came from a fireball of unusual size and
splendour. It left behind it a long double trail of
burning particles which was visible for quite a long
while.
Blessing still continued his monthly examination of
our blood. Instead of decreasing, the number of blood
corpuscles in most cases increased.
Nansen had for the first time been dredging, and
brought up from the bottom of the ocean a wonderful
collection of plants and animals. It appears that there
is plenty of life under the polar ice, both animal and
vegetable.
The sist of October was the birthday of Sverdrup,
our commander, which, as a matter of course, was
kept up with great festivity. We fared grandly on
the very best things to be found on the ship. The
elements were friendly enough to contribute towards
the celebration. There blew such a fine " mill-breeze "
that we could use all the electric lamps in the saloon.
The arc-lamp sent its powerful rays through the sky-
56 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
light and illuminated the half-deck, where the dogs
were lying, just as if it were broad daylight. The light
shone far out over the ice, and must have surprised
any animals that were out there. We had a revolver
competitioa-Jn honour of the day, and on this occasion
Scott-Hansen turned out to be the champion.
Mogstad and Blessing challenged each other to a
revolver__match, and a number of bets^were made on
the event. The match took place amid great excite-
ment. In the end Blessing wen with twenty-five
points, while Mogstad scored twenty-one. Loud cheers
for the victor resounded over the ice.
CHAPTER VIII
Foot-races on the Ice — More about the Dogs — The North-
ern Lights — Adulterated Beer — Ice Pressure — Peder
Attacked by a Bear
WE had now 54° of frost. Notwithstanding this
low temperature, we had still no heating ap-
paratus in the saloon. We now received our supply
of underclothing for the winter. With the exception
of the stockings, made by Norwegian peasants, all the
rest of the hosiery was of English manufacture.
Sverdrup invented an excellent foot-gear, which con-
sisted of^wooden^clogs with long canvas leggings.
Many of us followed his example and made ourselves
similar boots. They were very roomy in the foot, so
we could put on plenty of socks. To Scott-Hansen
and myself, who had often to remain motionless for
hours on the ice during the magnetic observations,
they were simply invaluable.
For Sunday, the 5th of November, we had arranged
some foot-races, nn tfrA lVA A long lane which had
frozen between the floes formed a splendid course,
which was measured and got ready for the occasion.
JuelJLJiad prepared thirteen prizes, which all turned
out to be.^akes. The first prize was a very big one
and the thirteenth quite a tiny one. But when the
day arrived, the course Jiad__cracked right across. The
gap, however, was not very wide, and we could easily
have jumped over it and continued our course on the
57
58 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
other side. When, however, the time came, we were
too lazy and out of trim for running, and the races
did not come off. We were not, in the meantime, to
be cheated out of the prizes. It was decided that they
should be apportioned Jay^ lot, a method which we all
agreed was far more easy and comfortable than having
all the trouble and bother of running for them.
The next day there were sere£aLx)p£nings in the ice
owing to the strong south-westerly wind that had been
blowing for some time. This was the wind we liked,
for it took us further to the north, nearer to the goal
we were longing for. Here we were only in sixty
fathoms of water. On the following day the tempera-
ture rose suddenly to 21° and the barometer fell steadily
down to 734 mm., when the temperature again fell. •
The dogs again killed one of their comrades. " Ula-
brand " was the victim. He was attacked in the
stomach, and hisj^lood-tad been sucked frojtnJtdm in
the same way as poor "-Job's" was. There were two
more of the dogs which the rest had got their eyes on.
One was a brother of " Job," and the other a small
white dog. But since these savage beasts seemed to
be unable to make a right use of their liberty, they
had to suffer confinement, and we therefore chained
them up again on board.
We were now in 77° 43' north latitude and 138° east
longitude. We had thus been drifting to the south-
east, but we could not, of course, expect to drift due
north from the very outset.
We had been considering how best we could make
use of the kerosene oil, which we could not use for
firing under the boiler, but up to the present we had
not been able to come to any decision. Thejamps
which we used for cooking required a great quantity
of the large, round woven wicks, and we were afraid
that our supply of tfienT would run short, Sverdrup,
FEROCITY OF THE DOGS 59
who understands everything, began rhaking a weaving*
loom*.
It is not an easy matter to find snow which is en-
tirely free from salt, even in the crow's-nest, for the
" earth-drift " — as we called the snow which the wind
whirled up from the ice — penetrated right up there.
The ice was cracking round the Frcun, and the pres-
sure becoming violent. They were indeed magnificent
trials of strength which we saw before our eyes, when
the floes collided with one another and were ground
to pieces, forming ridges and hummocks all around us.
We had begun making harness of canvas for the
dogs, so that it might be ready for use whenever it
was wanted. These dogs were really very curious
animals. It now seemed as if the whole pack had got
their eyes on " Sultan," and as if they had agreed
amongst themselves upon his fate, which obviously
meant death. No sooner did they see their opportunity
than the whole pack, with "Pan" as the leader,
rushed at the doomed one and attempted to strangle
him. It was in this way that they killed "Ulabrand"
and "Job." And the doomed dog was perfectly aware
of what was in store for him. He looked depressed,
crest-fallen and frightened, and sneaked about by him-
self. We dare not let him loose on the ice during the
day with the others, but always kept him fastened up
on board.
On November T5th we had a "mill-breeze," and the
dynanoo_\^as going, so that one might have taken our
ship ^for a factory^or something of the sort, par-
ticularly bslow in the main-hold, where we had our
carpenter's shop and the noise and whizzing^of the
machinery and the belting could be Heard!
On deck, however, the cutting wind made us feel
the cold twice as much as we otherwise would, pene-
trating, as it did, to our very bones and marrow, while
60 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the eye only faintly discerned in the darkness the in-
terminable ice-fields, where our little community re-
presented the only visible life.
At times the Northern Lights gave the sky the
appearance of the whole heavens being on fire. From
the zenith the light spread itself out in fiery flames
over the vault of the heavens; the arch with its
tongues of fire, stretched downwards and was met by
draperies and bands of light, while fanlite-rays sud-
denly ignited and gradually merged into soft waving
streamers, which assumed all the colours of the rain-
bow, while close to the horizon the luminous haze of
the Northern Lights formed a long, hazy belt of mystic
iridescence. We were becoming so accustomed to dis-
plays of the Northern Lights that we scarcely took
any notice of them, unless they were exceptionally
magnificent.
The darkness and the cold had the effect of making
all our work slow and tedious. Whenever we had any
work in hand, were it ever so slight, we had always
to carryJiiglits with us. This, together with the heavy
clothes which we were obliged to wear, encumbered
us in all our occupations, so that we found our work
gave us quite enough to do.
Scott^Hansen showed an exceptional ^perseverance
and patience in his difficult work in connection with
the magnetic^ observations. Hour after hour he would
remain on the ice with his instruments, in the severe
cold and darkness, observing the deflection and oscil-
lation of the magnetic needle and reading the fine
gradations with a magnifying glass, while holdingjiis
brgajji, lest the cold should cover everything with
frost. It was a wonder his hands and feet did not get
frost-bitten oftener than they did.
The first winter, when I assisted. Mm^ft-the^rnng-
netic observations, he was obliged to take them on the
PRACTICAL JOKING 61
bare ice, as it was of no use erecting any tent owing
to the pressure of the ice. We afterwards built a
snov^Jnilt-where we were very comfortable. We used,
therefore, the first winter, to set out on the ice in the
darkness with our boxes and tripod stands ; and when
we had been standing still for some time, we would /
take j. run^walk on our hands, turn some somersaults, [ f"
or ^fance to some national tuae. Our hands fared the
worst, for we were now and then obliged to uncover
them during the observations. It was a great treat
when we got on board again and settled down in our
cosy saloon with a cup of warm tea before us.
On the iyth of November we were in 78° 27' 'north
latitude and 139° east longitude. We had thus been
making good progress towards the north.
Bentsen came one day and asked Amundsen if he
had heard that a brother-in-law of Blessing was- living
on the New Siberian Islands, where he carried on the
business of a trader, and was a kind of governor over
some thousands of Poles, who had been exiled thither.
We began a rather amusing discussion as to whether
we ought not to pay a visit to Blessing's brother-in-
laWj as he was not so very far off after all.
One Sunday evening, just as Scott- Hansen, Blessing,
Sverdrup, and I were in the middle of a pleasant
game of mariage, the two first suggested that we
should have some beer. They had both for some time
been saving up their share — or at least part — of their
dinner beer. Some practical joker or other — most pro-
bably B£ntsen — had evidently got the idea that some
fun might be obtained from this mania for .saving- up
the beer ; without letting any one know of it, he mixed L
some^pjQfee and water with the _ beer— ia^oae— o£4he
bottles. As it happened, this very bottle of " bock-
beer^Uwas brought in, and Sverdrup and I were in-
vited to partake of the precious beverage; but no one
62 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
cared to drink first — we all seemed to have our
suspicions about that beer. I shall never forget the
expression of ScottJiaiiseiils face when he took a
draught, nor that of Blessing when he was going to
taste it, in order to decide what kind of stuff it was.
A roar of laughter drowned the imprecations^, hurled
by the victims .at the culprit's head. They tried hard
to discover the guilty one, but all in vain ; this only
tended to increa§ejhe fun. We tried to make as much
as we could of this incident, and the discovery of the
coffee, adulterator became the burning question of the
day on board ; but he was never found out.
On the 2ist of November we took soundings, and
reached the bottom at a depth of not quite fifty fathoms.
Nansen had been busy photographing by electric and
magnesium light.
After each meal we generally got hold of our pipes
and took refuge in the cook's galley, which we made
our smoking- room, as we were not ^at^firsX^llo^ed to
smoke in the_saLoon. In the galley we would stand
packed like ..herjcings_jii_a_barrelI_ smoking away till
we could hardly see one another, and listening to
stories and ^arns_ of all sorts, at which Bentsen and
Syerdrup were the best hands. Now and then the
cook would grumble and wish us far away, and no
wonder, for there was not too much room for washing
up.
The dogs, with no roof over their heads, had not
been having a very good time. We now made kennels
for them round the skylight, with shavings for them
to lie on. In the mornings they were let loose to get
some exercise, and one of us, for a week at a time,
had to look after them. They did not seem to like
leaving their quarters, although these were anything
but warm.
. On the 231x1 of November there was a ring round
PACK-ICE 63
the moon, with two mock-moons. The thermometer
stood at 22° below zero. For some time we had
suffered from damp in the cabins, and we had the
greatest difficulty in preventing our sleeping-bags from
being damaged. In both the four-berth cabins we
made an awning of canvas above the berths, "and
greased it well with tallow, so that the drops rolled
off and fell into a receiver.
DR. NANSEN AMONG THE PACK-ICE NEAR THE FRAM.
On the 25th of November we were in 78° 38' north
latitude, and were drifting along quite satisfactorily.
In order to control our four chronometers, we now and
then observed the time when Jupiter was being passed
by his satellites. We had an excellent astronomical
telescope, and in clear \veather we got brilliant obser-
vations.
64 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
On November 29th the dogs again killed one of
their comrades. This time "Fox" was the victim.
When we cut our Jmjr_we_used a clipper; some of
us had it cropped quite close to the head. There was,
consequently, not much to protect our heads from the
cold, but then we always wore our cat-skin caps.
Scott^Hanser^,_when cropping us, left, unknown to us,
a smaTntuftjrf hair on the nape of our necks, very
much like ^a Chinaman's pigtail,, which caused great
merriment among the others whose hair had not been
cut.
While dozing in the saloon after dinner, on Friday,
December 8th, we suddenly heard a heavy crash on
the deck, accompanied by several smaller falls and a
rattling noise, as if the whole of the rigging had fallen
upon the deck. All hands rushed on deck in an in-
stant. It was the ice^which was in a perfect uproar,
making a rumbling uoise^ like an infuriated man who
cannot control his ^temper. This morning nTSsses~oif
ice pressed up against both sides of the stern in great
piles. Suddenly, and without our having been warned
by any previous sound, these piles of ice must have
fallen down over the stern as the floes receded from
the ship.
It was a tremendous crack, but the Fram withstood
it. We all agreed that no other ship could have stood
the pressure we had experienced up to the present
time. The ice broke up into pieces, which, as a rule,
were forced in under the ship, which, in consequence,
was gradually lifted up. The pressure went on for
some time during the afternoon. At six o'clock it
began again, this time accompanied by a thundering
noise and uproar. We were having our supper, but
some of us went on deck to have a look at the__turmoi}
around us, while those who remained behind in the
saloon had to shout at the top of their voices in order
THE "FRAMS" NEWSPAPER 65
to be heard. NansenLwho forgot nothing in connection
with the equipment of the expedition, had been think-
ing of taking a phonograph with him, but it came to
nothing after all. It would^ however, have been most
interesting* to be able to bring home with us the voice
of this generally silent desert of ice, groaning in
anger, as it seemed, because mankind had ventured to
force their way into it to lay bare its hidden secrejts.
The Framjwas screwed 4° over to the port side. -
Blessing and Nordahl had been unlucky at cards of
late, and had lost their rations of French rolls and
cakes for the whole of the next month. Poor fellows,
they now had to be content with the hard rye biscuits.
On the i oth of December appeared the first number
of our paper jjthe Framsjaa.1 It began well, and dis-
cussed all sorts of subjects ; Blessing was the respon-
sible editor.
December isth was a day full of events in our
usually quiet life in the ice. During the previous
night all the dogs suddenly began to bark and make
a terrible row. We ran on deck and found that they
were all out of their kennels, and those near to the
railing had jumped up on it, while all were barking
in the same direction. They were, however, all tied
up. We could not, of course, see anything in the
darkness, but Mogstad and I thought we could hear
something like the screech of foxes out on the ice
among the hummocks. The dogs did not become any
quieter during the night ; they seemed to be afraid to
settle down and go to sleep. Each watch had the
same report to make about their uneasiness, especially
of those which had their kennels at the foot of the
half-deck on the starboard side close to the gangway,
which stood open for passing to and from the ice.
Three of the dogs, which were fastened close to the
1 Pram's Outlook.
F
66 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
gangway, disappeared in the course of the evening.
We thought it was because these three had torn them-
selves loose, and got out on the ice, that the others
were whining and making a noise, which they gener-
ally did on such occasions.
Next day Hendriksen and Mogstad went to fetch ice
for the galley some distance away from the ship.
They had not taken any weapons with them. When
they had gone some way on the ice they caught a
glimpse of a tear coming in their direction, fighting
with the dogs, which were close round it. The bear
was making straight for them, and they had to make
all haste on board to avoid getting the bear's claws
into them. Mogstad, who knew his way about better
in the darkness than Hendriksen, having been minding
the dogs earlier in the day between the hummocks on
this part of the ice, succeeded in getting on board, but
it had fared almost fatally with Peder, as he was
anything but light-footed with his big, heavy foot-gear.
When he had run some distance, and believed that the
tear was not following him, he turned round and cast
the light round about him with the smalt lantern he
was carrying ; but before he was aware of it the bear
was right upon him, and struck him in the side.
Peder, believing his last hour had come, uttered a
fearful roar, then, quick as lightning, he struck the
beast over the head with the lantern, which then went
spinning over the ice. The bear let go its hold and
sat up on its hind legs, staring in great surprise at
Peder, who at once took to his heels. The bear, how-
ever, was not going to let off an enemy so easily —
one who had treated him so uncivilly — and set off
after Peder, when a delivering angel, in the shape of
one of our dogs, appeared upon the scene and attracted
the bear's attention, so that Peder this time escaped
the brute's clutches. The dogs, which had been bark-
A BITE FROM A BEAR 67
ing furiously the whole time, now surrounded the
nimble and agile bear, which set off straight as an
arrow for the ship, from which shots were now being
fired in the darkness. Mogstad was on board, and
had got hold of Scott-Hansen's carbine, which hung
near the saloon door. At this moment Peder, quite
out of breath, got on board. The first shot missed its
mark, and so did the second, and then the gun got
out of order. Peder came clattering down the com-
panion in his heavy boots, crying out, "A bear has
bitten me in the side ! Cartridges ! cartridges ! Shoot
him ! shoot him ! " Scott-Hansen, Jacobsen and Nansen
seized their guns and turned out; but, as bad luck
would have it, the guns were not quite ready for use,
the barrels being stopped up at both ends with wad-
ding. It was no easy matter to put the guns in order
in the dark. There they were, standing with their
guns, while the bear had now got close up to the side
of the ship and had just struck down a dog and was
standing over it. In the meantime Peder was rum-
maging about in his drawer and calling out for cart-
ridges. Blessing and I now came on deck ; I had my
gun in perfect order, and Jacobsen, who had been
running about looking for a walrus-spear with which
to stick the bear, cried out, " Shoot! shoot! he is just
down there ! He is killing the dogs ! ' '
I caught a glimpse of something down on the ice
and fired three_ shots ; we could hear the blood trick-
ling from the bear on to the ice. " Give him another ! "
cried Jacobsen, which I did. As the beast lay on the
ice in the_agonies of death, Nansen, who now had his
gun in order, sent one more Bullet into it. At my
first shot one of the dogs jumped up from under the
bear, happy and quite unwounded.
We now saw that the chains of three of the dogs
were broken ; the bear had simply gone in through
68 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the gangway, seized the dogs, torn them from their
chains, and carried them off over the ice. On search-
ing among the hummocks we found the bodies of two
of the dogs; they were " Tohansen'^ frfcnd '" and the
brother of "Suggen," two of our best dogs. I could
/nOW apprnarh " my friftnd " wjfrhfmt hginfr snarlpfl at J
poor creature, there he lay with his back all torn t<^
pieces, a flat, misshapen mass. I felt great satisfaction
at having avenged his death by killing his murderer.
The other dog had been bitten right across the snout,
and it was no doubt this one which had been screech-
ing like a fox. We could see that the bear had been
lying right across him while eating away at the
other.
It was lucky for Peder that things happened as they
did. Fortunately, we were now able to see the inci-
dent, with all its accompanying disturbance and noise,
in a comical light. The bear was not even fully
grown, but it was a smart one for all that. But if
we lost some dogs on this December .Lgth, we also got
some in return, for " KvjklL^ J^ave birth to thirteen
puppies — one for each of us on board. The much-
talked-of number thirteen on several occasions proved
quite a lucky number for the expedition. We killed
five of the puppies, as "Kvik" could not very well
manage all of them in this cold climate.
CHAPTER IX
Deep Soundings — The Bear and the Trap — Christmas
and New Year— The Drift— Our State of Health- -
Walrus
I WAS now a pupil of Scott-Hansen. With his
usual kindness and patience he instructed me in
the method of taking observations. We were now in
79° 13' north latitude. According to this we had
drifted 4' to the north in about a week.
One day Peder came into the saloon and said,
"There's a bear about." Guns and cartridges were
brought out, and all hands rushed on deck. The dogs
were barking and running about in the moonlight as
if possessed. Some of us set off running in the direc-
tion in which the bear had been seen. We did not,
however, see any bear, but found the tracks of a
monster, which must have been in a great hurry to
get away from the ship. Sverdrup thought it was
now high time the bear-trap was fixed up, and he set
about fixing it. Soon afterwards the trap was sus-
pended between two supports some distance away
from the ship.
On the 2ist of December, our shortest day, we took
soundings the whole of the day without reaching the
bottom, although we had run out 1,000 fathoms. The
temperature of the water at a depth of 800 fathoms
was 23° F. Ten of us had been busy all the forenoon
and afternoon hauling up the line with its heavy lead,
69
70 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
weighing about a hundredweight. We kept trudging
along, one after the other, 'with the line over our
shoulders, for some distance over the ice, and then
back again to the hole. This afforded us excellent
exercise and diversion; and with the light from the
forge, where Petterson was busy repairing the wind-
mill, the scene on the ice was quite a picturesque
one.
The dogs were now doing well, and there seemed
to be a better understanding between them since they
became aware that they were threatened with death
and destruction by their common enemy, the bear.
" Billettoren '' was at his old tricks again ; he kept
stealing dried codfish, which he hid away among the
hummocks, whither he set off as soon as he was let
loose in the morning, and did not appear again except
at meal-times. " Caiaphas's " tail was adorned with
ornaments in the shape of lumps of ice, which rattled
like a rattlesnake whenever he moved his tail.
" Kvik " ran away from her pups to take an airing
on the ice, and "Baby" was, as usual, ready to give
us his paw whenever we came near him; " Cannibal "
was somewhat ferocious, but not dangerous; "Pan"
was still king of the pack as far as strength was
concerned, but "Suggen" was really in command;
"Barabbas" was "Kvik's" favourite, and in con-
sequence was greatly hated by the others; "Bjelki"
always kept a sharp look-out for bears, and stared at
us with his great, black, melancholy eyes.
At four o'clock on the morning of December 22nd
a bear was near the ship. Jacobsen saw it, forward
on the port side. He fired a shot at it, but did not
succeed in hitting it at such a long range in the
moonlight. Hendriksen, Mogstad, Bentsen, and Sver-
drup then came on deck. In the meantime, the bear
approached the trap, which was on the starboard side
THE BEAR AND THE TRAP 71
of the ship. It had evidently crossed in front of the
ship to have a look at the strange object. It raised
itself three times on its hind legs and cautiously
examined the whole arrangement. It then carefully
put a paw against the supports on each side of the
trap, sniffed at the bait, which consisted of blubber,
and looked all round. It then lowered itself carefully
and walked along by the steel wire with which the
apparatus was fastened to a small hummock, sniffing
round this as if it wanted to see whether it was
properly made fast, after "which it walked away with-
A SKI COMPETITION.
out troubling itself any further about the whole ar-
rangement. " That fellow has as much sense as a
man," said Sverdrup. " I'll swear, now, that a
Samoyede would not have been able to make anything
out of it, but would have walked straight into the
trap."
The bear, on coming nearer the ship, was shot; a
bullet through the shoulder settled it. Jacobsen and
Peder could never agree as to whose bullet it was.
The bear was not very large, but it was pretty fat.
We discovered, on cutting it up, that it had devoured
72 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
a considerable portion of a copy of the Illustrated
Lwdon News, which it had found close to the ship.
Our*first Christmas in the Arctic regions was upon
us, and the saloon of the Fram resounded with the
old greeting of " A Merry Christmas ! " We kept
Christmas all by ourselves, free and independent of
everybody, in our own ice-bound kingdom. We did
not need to trouble ourselves about authority and
laws; we had none other than those we ourselves
made; and our little community thrived admirably.
Yet kow much should we have liked to be among
the dear ones at home, if only for a little while !
Thoughts every now and then overcame us like a
warm current, thawing all the ice which separated us
from the south, and then everything up there in the
darkness and the cold became quite light and warm.
We were seated round the table on Christmas Eve,
in our thick woollen jerseys or anoraks, when sud-
// denly an elegantly dressed person, with collar and
cuffs and a white tie, stood in our midst. It was_J$£Ott-
Hansen, who had dressed in his cabin for the occasion.
He looked just as if he had come straight from
» Norway with greetings as he shook hands with us
\*> ( all. From the captain's cabin came another well-
dressed figure. This was our commander, who, in his
usual quiet way, silent1 y took his seat. All jthis
seemed to us like a breatli^Lcivilization.
After supper Nansen_Jetched_two boxes from his
cabin. They contained presents to us ajl^rom^Scott-
Hansen's .inoth^r_a,nd^?awc^. With child-like pleasure
we received our gifts of TFnives, pipes, cigarettes, etc.
I got ajffrget wjth_darts, and I think it would have
pleased the fair donors if they could have seen how, on
many an evening and far into the night, we amused
ourselves with this game, winning cij^arettes^and gin-
gerbread from each other as the result of our skill.
ILLUSTRATING THE PAPER 73
Cakes, which did great honour to Juell, almonds
and raisins and other fruit, as well as some toddy,
were then placed on the table. The organ was out of
order, and Mogstad had not yet got out his fiddle, so
I had to play on my accordion. And then we sang,
and Nansen gave us some recitations.__ Now and then
we took a trip on deck, and it was then that the
absolute solitariness of our position impressed itself
upon us, with the magnificent moonlight shining over
the endless ice-fields around us which separated us
from ^civilization. It was very cold, the temperature
being 36° below zero. We were in 79° 1 1' north
latitude. Our paper, Framsjaa, appeared this week
— a specially well-filled number. We had now an
artis^ on the_staff _ of the paper, and he contributed
some clever sketches, entitled <( The Nansen Boys in
Time of Peace," and " The Nansen Boys in Time of
War/' In the former, when no danger was at hand,
we were represented as armed with guns, revolvers, \
and long^knives ; in time of war, when the bears were ^
about, we had nothing but a lantern.
Between Christmas and New Year things went on
as usual. Some of us complained of being unabkL_to
sleep at night ; sometimes we lay awake the whole
of the night. I, for my part, could not complain.
Blessing had begun taking notes of the sleeping on
board for statistical purposes.
The Old Year was rapidly coming to an end. As
yet we had not proceeded very far to the north since
we became fixed in the ice. The wind had most to
do with our drifting. If it was northerly we drifted
to the south, and if southerly we drifted to the north.
On Christmas Day we had a fire in the saloon for
the first timeT^It was very pleasant, but we were not
very well off with regard to fuel.
The last day of the year arrived dark and cloudy,
74 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
but the weather cleared up in the course of the day,
and when the Old Year bade us farewell the whole of
the heavens were ablaze with Northern Lights. We
were then in 79° 6' north latitude, and the thermometer
stood at 33° below zero.
We spent the evening pleasantly and merrily. The
Framsjaa contained, among other news, " telegrams "
from Norway about most remarkable political changes.
"Hutetu," our artist, contributed a drawing in pastel,
representing a female figure sitting on the horn of
the moon, surrounded by flaming Northern Lights
running in spirals and bands, and looking in surprise
at the Frani as she lay in the ice below. Nansen
made a speech just as the Old Year was passing,
thanking ua all for our pleasant comradeship through-
out the Old Year, and hoping this would continue in
the New.
We welcomed the New Year with the hope that it
might be a good year for us, and enable us to reach
our goal. It brought cold, with the thermometer at
36° below zero; but then it also brought light with it.
The heavens were radiant with Northern Lights. It
also brought us another great light, one that we could
discern from day to day on the horizon in the south.
We felt, however, that perhaps it might be darkness
in grim earnest that the New Year had in store for
us. The days, as they passed by, the one after the
other, grew longer and longer.
When the sun arrived we decided to have a grand
sun festival — a kind of service, a sort of sun-worship,
if you like. Let me here mention that there was_no
kind of divine service held on board; each one was
left to worship in his own way.
With regard to our life— en board the Fram, I can
only say that_on t±ie_jadiQ!e_jw£_gQt_oi^^
and that our relations .with one another were all that
THE ARCTIC NIGHT 75
could be desired. It was, of course, impossible to
avojxl frictions altogether. The continual intercourse, I J
day and night in such limited space, with its monotony, ( /
in the very nature of things would tend .to ruffle one's
temper ^n the slightest, .provocation. The Arctic night,
no doubt, had also ..to a certain extent a depressing ) /V
influence upon our spirits. I think, however, that the j./
whole thirteen of us will agree that we got on well
together.
During the month of January we had almost con-
tinuous southerly winds, and we drifted, therefore, at
a good pace towards the north. Now that it was
clearly proved that it was the wind upon which we
had to depend, we all, naturally, only wished for
southerly winds, so that we might push on further
and further to the north. Never were such beaming
faces seen as when a regular gale from the south-east
was blowing. Then the question of reaching the Pole
itself was often discussed, the time in which we
might possibly get there, whether we were likely to
reach it in the ship or by sledges, whether we might
after all be compelled to leave the Fram, and so
forth. Maps were brought out, and the history of
former expeditions was read amLdiscussed. We lived
through all their experiences, but at the same time
we knew that we were far better off than any other
Arctic expedition before us. Many a life had been
lost in the service of Arctic exploration, and dearly
bought were the experiences upon which Nansen
built, when he prepared his plan and fitted out the
expedition which was destined to excel all others in
its achievements. Here we were, on our splendid
ship, with all the comforts one could desire, with
k plenty of food and with no fear of hunger or cold.
The horrors of the Arctic night were unknown to us ;
we sat safely in our gallant craft, and let the ice
76 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
outside thunder and crash as it liked. Of illness we
knew nothing, and scurvy, that terrible and most
dreaded enemy of the Arctic explorer, ,we- did not
fear, for jour provisions had been well and carefully
chosen.
On the 6th oi January we were in 78° 57' north
latitude, and two days later in 79° 6' ; during the
following days we went on drifting steadily to the
north. The thermometer was at 40° below zero;
the quicksilver was frozen, and we were obliged to
use thermometers with spirits of wine and other
liquids.
As early as the i4th of January we were discussing
the idea of making a sledge expedition to the Pole,
when we had got further north, and thence to Franz
Josef Land, while the Fram was to try to get out of
the ice and steam thither and meet the sledge expedi-
tion there. The sledge expedition was only to consist
of ^three^rnen, while all the dogs were to be'HsecfT
Scott-HanseTr~Kad begun taking observations with
the pendulum apparatus ; this had to be done at night,
when everything was perfectly quiet. The thickness
of the floes on the side of the ship was four and a
half feet, while the floes before the bow were five
and a half feet through.
On the 22nd of January a largfe open lane was seen
not very far off in a north-easterly direction. We then
enjoyed the rare sight of seeing the reflection of the
moon on the surface of the water. Next day the lane
was covered with a thin sheet of ice. Later in the
morning we heard one of the dogs making a terrible
row in that direction ; we thought, of course, that a
bear must be about. Nansen and Sverdrup had gone
over to the place, and Nordahl and I also set out in
the same direction to measure the temperature of the
water and to take a sample to test its saltness. As
A WALRUS
77
1 lay on my face on the ice, reading the thermometer
by the light of the lantern, I heard a puffing noise
and the splashing of water and ice. We got the guns
ready and jumped upon a small hummock to receive
the animal, shouting to the men on board that we
thought there was a bear about. We could hear
Nansen shouting back that it was a walrus and that
A SEA OF ICE.
we must not fire; they had gone on board for har-
poons and lines with which to catch it.
When we got on board we heard that Nansen and
Sverdrup had come across a walrus lying on the ice,
when they came to the place where " Caiaphas " stood
barking. It threw itself into the water and vanished.
They were now trying to find it again, but they were
not successful.
It gave rise to a good deal of speculation, to meet
78 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
with a walrus here in the midst of the desert of drift-
ing ice, with hundreds of fathoms to the bottom of the
ocean, where it seeks its food. There must, we thought,
surely be land in the neighbourhood, or we must be
above some banks. We had taken soundings with
a line nearly 130 fathoms long, without finding any
bottom. For some time that walrus remained a
mystery.
When we were out on the ice the Fram looked
quite picturesque as she lay there somewhat coquet-
tishly on one side, while the ice-floes lovingly embraced
her powerful hull, the masts pointing majestically
towards the sky, and the rigging thick with hoar-frost.
The windmill as it whirled round and round showed
that there was life in the midst of the solitude. r
CHAPTER X
Changes in the Ice — Trying the Dogs with the Sledges
— The Return of the Sun — A Ski-tour in 60° below
Zero — An Eclipse of the Sun — Unsuccessful Bear-
hunting — Spring
WE had now begun taking long walks on the ice,
and had a kind of notion that we might find
land to the north of us. One after the other came
down from the rigging, believing that he had caught a
glimpse of land.
On the evening of the 2yth of January a violent
pressure began in the ice. We got through it all
right, however. In the lane, about 200 yards to the
north, there was a terrible hurly-burly. But although
it was some distance off, and the ship lay as securely
fixed as if in a vice, we now and then felt violent
shocks, as if there were a wave-like motion in the ice.
And these waves of ice, which were about six feet
thick, and in many places packed together to treble
and even greater thickness, were not to be despised.
Scott-Hansen and I had to set out to save the ane-
mometer and the thermometer on the floe close to the
ship, as the ice was beginning to crack on the port
side about thirty yards off. The following day we
set out to look at the terrible havoc around us. It was
an imposing sight to see the results of the forces
which had been at work. The ice was crushed to
79
8o WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
pieces and piled up in blocks and smaller fragments
to a height of nineteen feet. In one place we saw an
ice-floe in the shape of a monolith raised on end,
and reaching twelve feet in the air, while it was only
two or three feet in breadth. The Frant now lay as if
in a valley, surrounded by ridges of ice on all sides,
but mostly astern. Between the ridges, which gener-
ally ran in a western-easterly direction, the enormously
thick ice had cracked and been ground to pieces, so
that our surroundings were now quite new.
Towards the end of January it was so light that
we could read a newspaper in the middle of the day,
but still no land was to be seen. On the ist of February
we assumed that we had passed, or were passing, the
80°. On account of the overclouded state of the
weather we had not been able to take any observa-
tion. Nevertheless, as we had had a splendid* wind,
\ we decided upon celebrating the_^ccasign ir^a^mall
way. The more fetes . andcejebrations we had the
better, and we always triecT to avolcl amalgamating
them.
The next day we found we were in 80° 9' north
latitude, and 132° east longitude, showing a drift of
19' in three days.
During the whole month of February we made but
slow progress. On the 9th we again passed the 80°,
having drifted southwards. And after that we drifted
forwards and backwards, so that in the beginning of
March we found ourselves still in 79° 53' north lati-
tude, and 134° 57' east longitude.
There was now great activity on board ; we were
busy making sledges and mending our ski. W^i were
driving with the dogs and learning how to guide
them with whips similar to those used by the Eskimos,
consisting of a .short handle with a very long lash.
Occasionally, also, we were to be seen on
DRIVING THE DOGS
81
alongside the ship busily engaged in practice at hitting
the empty tins which Juell had thrown there.
When out driving, however, we did not succeed in
guiding the dogs in the Eskimo manner. We were
obliged to drive them in the way to which they
had been used, that is, by letting a man go on in
front and show them the road. When the ice.-is.Jlat
a team of four dogs can easily draw two men. We
also tried experiments with different sledges to ascer:
tain which were the best for hard and for loose ground.
PETTERSON TAKING A "CONSTITUTIONAL'' ON THE ICE.
Nansen and Sverdrup had the experience gained on
their Greenland expedition to help them in these ex-
periments.
We tried different^jdnds^ pf ^j^irmgrg nnrl^rnpj-al
fittings: round, coo£age,jiLfl&J}a^^
of aluminium, German silver, and steel. It was, of
course, important to have all these thoroughly tested,
so as to ascertain which was the best.
82 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
11 Billettoren," poor fellow, now died quietly and
peacefully. He had been poorly some time, and died,
so to speak, in his bed. The climate was, no doubt,
too severe for him; so he had to leave this life and
his favourite occupation of gathering together dried
codfish away among the hummocks. The editor of
the Framsjaa offered a prize for the best,_epitapk on
"Job" and "Billettoren." I believe it was Juell who
won the prize.
The saloon had been transformed into a workshop
for all kinds of work. On the deck lay sledges which
had to be lashed, and ski which wanted new fasten-
ings. Some of us were repairing komager (Lapp boots
made of reindeer skin), while others looked to their
canvas boots, which they preferred. From_S^£rdrup's
cabin came the homely sound of a sewing-machine ;
he was making sjyls for the-boats.
We also took tours on ski round about our quarters.
The temperature was generally about ^j^below zero,
but it took a good deal to make one feel cold when
on ski.
On the i6th of February we saw a mirage of the
sun above the horizon in the shape of a red flaming
torch. This was the occasion of a preliminary sun
festival. The proper celebration was held on the 2Oth
of February, although we could not see the sun on
account of the cloudy sky ; we could only see the
reflection of its light in the clouds above. We had
another shooting competition in honour of the day, but
without prizes. Peder and Nansen were the_ best
shots onthis occasion.
Our first^Arctic night was thus at an end; but we
did not find that any of us had suffered in any way
during this dreaded period. The sun did not meet
those pale and emaciated faces and bowed figures of
which we heard so much in connection with other
* 1
TAKING SOUNDINGS 83
expeditions. It was our good ship and our excellent
provisioning which we had to thank for this.
We measured the thickness of the ice in several
places. In a lane which was formed about a month
earlier, where the snow was thinnest, the ice was
thickest; viz., twenty-two inches, while where the
snow lay thicker it was only seventeen inches, by no
means a slight difference.
On the ist of March we attempted to take some
soundings. In our first attempt, however, we lost the
lead through the breaking of the wire, and in our
second we ran out a line of about 1,700 fathoms, but
did not reach the bottom.
No one had thought of such a depth in these
regions. For this reason we were not too well
supplied with materials for soundings ; but we started
a rope-walk on the ice, and began making sounding-
lines from wire ropes in a temperature of 40° below
zero.
One day Nansen caught in his net a great number
of small infusoria, which looked like a kind, of ^living
fireworks. They shone with a wonderfully pretty
greenish-blue colour as he shook the net.
The severe cold did not have any injurious effect
upon us worth speaking of, but we, of course, had to
be careful.
Peder had his cheek frost-bitten, while Bentsen had
one side of his nose frozen every day. He thought
that part of it would become quite black when he
got back to warmer climes. Scott-Hansen often had
his fingers frost-bitten when taking observations, and
on one occasion, when Najis^ru^a^_.pl]^tD^aphing_me,
my nose_aU-of-^-^sudden^ mrne^jzdiiJbeL^^^
being^awafe of it. Nansen had to tell me to make
haste and rub it with snow.
One day Nansen, Sverdrup, Scott-Hansen and I set
84 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
out on a ski tour, the temperature being 60° below
zero. We wore fur coats, but only our ordinary
thick, tweed trousers. When we had proceeded some
distance we discovered that we had nearly lost all
feeling in our knees, and had then to begin rubbing
and beating them to get life into them again. We
now altered our course so that we got the wind,
which was travelling about three metres in the
A SKI EXCURSION.
second, obliquely, instead of directly against us. The
ski are easily broken in severe cold, as the wood
becomes very brittle. Many a pair were destroyed in
consequence. As for Jacobsen, none of the ski were
strong enough to carry him. Eventually some were
specially made for him with steel runners underneath,
but they also went to pieces.
When we were out on these excursions we gener-
OUR LIBRARY 85
ally used our Iceland woollen jerseys .and wind-clothes.
The latter are made of a light material through which
the wind cannot penetrate, the trousers being made
wide enough to pull on over the usual ones, and the
jacket in the shape of an Eskimo anorak, with a hood
to draw over the head which can be pulled tightly
with a cord. We found these clothes most useful as
a protection against the biting wind.
On the 1 2th of March the temperature ^was jSoc
below zero. This was the lowest temperature observed
by us.
One day we heard the dogs making a terrible row
and barking loudly. We all thought there were bears
about. "Ulinka" and "Pan" were let loose, and they
set off westward towards a lane which had been
formed in that direction. Nansen and Sverdrup fol-
lowed the dogs, and soon discovered some holes made
in the ice in the lane by a walrus. More of us went
to join in the search for the walrus, but all in vain.
It is most difficult to understand how these animals
can manage to exist here in the midst of the thickest
and closest drift-ice : but the fact remains that they
are found here.
We were having westerly and south-westerly winds,
and, in consequence, were unfortunately drifting south-
wards. Our life on board went on as usual : we had
now more opportunity for taking exercise since day-
light had returned. Our library was in great request ;
on more than one occasion it had been a great comfort
and pleasure to us. Books about earlier Arctic expe-'-
ditions were-those_read_at-^rst. A number- of volumes
of English illustrated papers were great -favourites ; \ -
we enjoyed Jhe pictures almost. a.q children do.
The dogs were let loose in the mornings, as usual,
to take exercise on the ice; they barked and carried
on terribly to get loose, but no sooner had they got
86 WITH NAN SEN IN THE NORTH
on the ice than .they wanted to get on board again.
But they were not allowed on board until dinner-time,
when most of them crept back into their kennels.
One of them, little " Bjelki," who had a remarkably
thick coat, always remained outside, and went to sleep
in a temperature of -6o°! Another one, "Haren," a
long-legged, white, smooth-haired dog with pointed
ears and a long snout, would never come on board
with the others ; he never felt cold, and liked best to
be on the ice. " Sjolike," a small, snappish brute with
a tangled white coat, and a great fighter, although he
had scarcely any teeth left, was taken down into the
saloon to ba dried. "Kvik," who had the privilege
of being there, became exceedingly jealous at this.
When any of the dogs were brought down into the
saloon, they became so quiet and docile as to seem
quite embarrassed at all the grandeur and finery to be
seen there.
We had to shoot one of " Kvik's " pups, which sud-
denly went mad and ran round and round the deck,
frothing at the mouth.
Daylight was now shining right down into the
saloon to us. We had taken away the kennels round
the skylight and put in double windows. The electric
light was well enough, but it was not to be compared
with sunlight.
At the end of March we were in 80° 4' north lati-
tude, and the temp3rature stood at -26°. The sun
was now quite high in the heavens, and we were
using it for our observations. In spite of the cold,
the sun gave out so much heat that the snow in the
bow of the Fram began to melt. The dogs basked. in
the sunshine, and showed their joy by trying to tear
each other to pieces. The puppies took after their
elders, and every morning they fought on the deck to
their hearts' content.
A SHE-BE AR AND CUB 87
On the 6th of April we expected an eclipse of the
sun. Scott-Hansen had made a calculation as to the
time it would occur, and how long it would last. He,
Nansen, and I began in good time to watch the sun-
We used the large telescope and the theodolite, two oi
us observing, one at each instrument, while the third
kept the time. Scott-Hansen and I were observing as
the time drew near, and we both almost simultaneously
cried out, "Now!" when the moon entered upon the
disc of the sun, which occurred a few seconds later
than Scott-Hansen had calculated.
The next morning, while I was taking the meteoro-
logical observations, my attention was drawn, by
" Ulinka's " barking, to two bears close to the large
hummock astern of the ship. It was difficult to dis-
tinguish them in the bright sunshine, as they were as
white as the snow. I seized a carbine which hung
ready loaded with a few shots, and Mogstad, who in
the meantime had come on deck, seized another. The
bears, which stood scenting the air, and had probably
been disturbed by the noise of the dogs, faced right
round and made off. We jumped down on the ice
and ran after them. I had low wooden shoes on my
feet, and was constantly losing them in the snow-
drifts. It was a she-bear with her one-year-old cub
that had been near the ship. I was to be responsible
for the mother, and Mogstad for the cub. When we
reached the large hummock we could see them some
distance ahead, but at rather a long range. We fired,
and could see that both the bears were hit. The
mother was hit by three bullets, and then fell over,
and the cub was also seen to fall. But neither of us
had any more cartridges besides those that had been
in the guns, and, unfortunately, these did not contain
expanding bullets. The cub raised itself and made a
spring forward. The mother twisted herself round,
88 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
got on to her legs, and trudged off as if in a dazed
condition. Then she lay down for a while, and then
again set off after her cub. I ran on board to fetch
more cartridges, and to give the alarm that two bears
had been fired at close to the ship. All hands helped
to get guns and cartridges ready. Nansen set off on
ski without having had anything to eat. We did not
see him again until the evening.
Quite an expedition was now fitted out and started
for the place where the bears had been wounded,
but we saw neither them nor Nansen. I climbed a
hummock to get a better view, while the others went
on in advance with sledges to fetch the bears, of
which we felt sure. Suddenly I caught sight of two
other bears, not far away, but they discovered me at
the same time, and took to their heels. It was only
the work of a moment to get the gun off my shoulder
and to load it, and off we ran, across ridges and past
hummocks and lanes, while we now and then caught
a glimpse of the bears in front of us. Peder, who
was the only one besides myself who had a gun,
followed up the chase for a while, and Nordahl and
Petterson also joined. I was lightly clad, and pushed
on as fast as I could. In about an hour and a half
I was the only one in a pursuit which, after all, led
to nothing. I could see by the tracks that the bears
had reduced their speed, and I hoped to have gained
upon them ; but at last I saw it was impossible to
overtake bears on ski, and, when shortly afterwards
a fog came on, I had to retrace my steps to the ship,
which I reached in time for dinner. In the afternoon
many of us set out in search of the bears, but all in
vain.
Nansen came back in the evening after a long
and difficult pursuit of the wounded bears; he had
followed up the blood-stained tracks as far as he
90 WITH NAM SEN IN THE NORTH
We remembered that at home the spring was ap-
proaching, and the birds were coming from the south
as its first messengers, and all nature was brightening
up and enjoying the new life around. At home the
sun and the snow were fighting the old battle with
greater results than with us.
Where we were, however, everything was just as
before, excepting that it was light both night and
day, while before it was dark. But we could see no
fields requiring to be laid bare, no plants or trees
anxious to shoot forth ; no flowers, and could hear no
birds singing. We could see nothing of all those things
we now thought were so wonderfully pretty when we
were at home.
When May arrived the weather became milder ; we
had plenty of favourable wind to gladden our hearts,
and on Whit Sunday, the isth, we had reached a
latitude of 80° 53'. The same day we saw a sea-gull
come floating over the big hummock. It was a
message of spring. In the course of the summer we
shot several birds: ivory gulls, Arctic petrels, snow
bunting, and no less than eight young specimens of
the very rare Arctic rose gull, or Ross's gull. Peder
would not allow us to shoot the black guillemots.
" They are lucky birds," he used to say.
Our paper, the Framsjaa, appeared pretty regularly,
but one Sunday no number was published. In the
next number the editor informed his readers, in reply
to many anxious inquiries, that the new rotarj^rin ting
machine had been delayed by ice in the ElbeT^ut
that now it had arrived safely, ^andr-the""paper would
thereafter be greatly enlarged and appear regularly.
A column for "questions and answers" would be a
new attraction, and the editor would undertake to reply
fully to all kinds of questions, no matter what they
might be. The last number-contained a remarkable
" WHAT IS ETERNITY? 91
poetic effusion, ,with the title, " What is eternity ? "
This contribution, the editor remarked, had arrived
after the edition was printed, but he was so impressed
with the poem that he would not keep it from his
readers for another week, so he decided, quite regardless
of expense, to print a new edition containing the poem.
"With our new rotary machine nothing is impossible
for us," said the bare-faced editor.
CHAPTER XI
Summer Excursion on the Ice — Midsummer Day — " Sug-
gen " and " Caiaphas " — The Drift
THE 1 7th of May, 1894, the anniversary of the
Norwegian Day of Independence, opened with
bad weather, like the previous day. But we took no
notice of the weather, for we had been in a festive
mood since the early morning, and were bent on
celebrating the day in a worthy manner. Such a
curious procession the world has probably never seen
as that which on this day, high up on the interminable
ice-fields in the far north, wended its way around a
ship lying fast between masses of ice. The weather
was such as no festival in honour of the Norwegian
Day of Independence had ever been celebrated in before.
The Fram was, of course, decorated as befitted the
occasion.
First of all came Nansen^witfr his small ftJorwegian
fleig^_Qii_a— .bear-spear, and_then^Sverdrup with the
pennant of the^Fram_wa.vmg in the breeze. Next came
a sledge drawn Jby two of our best dogs, while the
other dogs ran about, apparently surprised at the
strange sight. The sledge jwas_driyen by Mogstad,
\/ while I sat beside him^mth my accordion, representing
the band. The music was not brilliant, but it must be
Remembered that with the thermometer at 10°, and a
)iting wind, one's jmgers-were somewhat affected by
;he cold. After the sledge came Jacobsen andJPeder,
92
A GALA DAY 93
the former with his gun, and the latter with his long
har^oon__and_walrus-line round his shoulders ; then
Amundsen and Nordahl with a re^ banner, in the midst
of which Stood fl Norwegian VJfctTijy hrgglring- a gppar I/
in two, with the inscription. " Forward ! forward, Nor-7
wegians ! What we do, we do for Norway ! " Then
came Blessing, with his banner; it was one of his
own^hirt^.on_BLbich was painteiJaJ§rg^J[S4J^ters, i
" ^LA-" (Normal Arbeidsdag, or Normal WprkingJDay). ^
The shirt was fastened to the end ofj
with a cross-piece for the sleeves, and in defence of
his banner he carried rifle, revolver and knife. After
him came Scott-Hansen with the meteorologist's banner,
consisting of a largejtin^jxLate, on which stood, on a red
background, the letters "Al. Str." (Almindelig Stem-
meret, or Universal Suffrage). It was a striking banner
enough, but it gave~us a lot of trouble; it was blown
to piecesjluring the procession, and had to be repaired,
and later on, when Nansen was speaking, it would
persist in keeping up a rattling noise, and had, at last,
to be turned edgewise to the wind. Last of all came
Juen,our cook, with the kettle belonging" to ou.r cooking
range^ on his back, and a big fork in his hand.
In the early morning we had decorated ourselves
with bows of the national colours. We had some
trouble a.hnrif the . hlp*> rolhgr, and had, at last, to use
paper, but for the red and white we found some suitable
cloth. Even "Suggen," the patriarch among the dogs, <-
went about with a long ribbon bow at his neck. Bent-
sen and Petterson did not join us, as they were devoting
themselves to the preparation of the dinner.
At twelve o'clock the procession started in the order
mentioned above. A strange, solemn sight, no doubt,
it must have been to see us, with our banners and
devices, gliding on our ski around the Fram^ , which jay
there, safe and sound, pressed a little over on one side
94 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
by the ice. I playe^the^jjorweflian najLjgnal song,
" Yes, we love this country," etc., and we all thought
it sounded most impressive. We marched twice round
the ship, and thence to the big humrn.0£k.astern, where
Nansen proposed a cheer for the Frarn, which had
hitherto borne us so well on our expedition, and which
he hoped would do the same in the future. The ringing
cheers resounded far out over the ice. We then re-
turned to the ship, where we made a halt by her side,
while Nansen ascended the bridge and delivered a
speeclLJa. honour _of~.-the__day» He hoped that all at
home were well ; there were, perhaps, some whose
minds were filled with anxious thoughts on our account,
but he only wished they could know how well we
were faring, and they would be quite easy in their
minds. Up to the present we had reason to be satisfied,
and if some unforeseen circumstance did not occur, we
might succeed in bringing honour to our_ country, and
make it respected in thejsyes of the world, should we
really succeed in reaching our goal. The speech was
received with_ cheers for our country, which were
given with the full force of our lungs.
Then followed the salute: four_shot_s from our cannons
thundered forth over the silent ice-fields. Some of the
dogs took to their heels, frightened out of their wits.
11 Baby " and " Rattlesnake " did not appear for some
time afterwards.
A splendid dinner was then served in the saloon,
which was festively decorated wittuflags. The con-
versation turned upon ourj^turn^honie, a subject upon
which, in our happy moments, we~were generally apt
to fall back on, and which always carried us away.
After dinner we had cigars^and^cpifee. In the evening
refreshments, consisting of figs, raisins, almonds, and
ginger-bread, were served round.
On May i8th, " the day after," there were no visible
TAKING OBSERVATIONS
95
after-effects among any of us. The wind continued
with drifting snow. It was E. to S., and travelled
about ten metres in the second. The ship had been
twisting herself round, and was now lying in the
direction of S. \ E. instead of S. \ W. The sky was
overcast, and we could take no observations. The
temperature was 14° below zero.
A MERIDIAN ALTITUDE OF THE SUN IN THE SUMMER OF 1894.
Two days afterwards we took an observation, ac-
cording to which we were in 81° 12-4' north latitude,
and in 125° 45' east longitude.
Amundsen made an apparatus with which to measure
the current at different depths, and Petterson^jsrho is
fond of cooking, relieved Juell as cook.
On the first of June we took a sounding with a line
4,400 metres in length, made out of a wire rope. We
only got back 3,200 metres ; the rest of the line, with
96
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
ten iron grids and a bottom- sampler, are lying at the
bottom of the ocean.
In the beginning of June the ground was in the best
possible condition for ski-running. On our tours Sver-
drup and I saw several " breathing-holes " made by
walrus or seal in various places in the lanes. One
evening we played a game of « " bold " J on the ice
A SUMMER EVENING, JULY, 1894.
close to the ship; we played with heart and soul till
the snow flew about our ears and the steam rose in
clouds from our bodies.
We hoisted our sails one day in order to get them
dried. The sails swelled out in the wind, but of course
the Fram did not move.
The summer brought with it misty rains and a mild
temperature up to 40°. The snow was melting, and
pools of water were being formed here and there on
1 A game something like the English game of "rounders."
EXCURSION ACROSS DRIFT-ICE 97
the ice. Numerous indications on the sky in all direc-
tions told of open water in various places. In this
mild weather, light as it was both night and day, we
promenaded the deck, which was kept nice and trim,
smoking our pipes and talking to each other about the
ice, the drift, and our chances of reaching our goal.
When the wind blew from the south, our spirits rose.
For the present our object was to get further to the
north than any ship had previously done, such as the
Alert, the English ship, which reached 82° 27' north
latitude, and the Polaris, the American ship, which got
as far as 82° 26' north latitude. We were also on the
look-out for land, especially Peder, who was constantly
spying from the crow's-nest. Every time he appeared
at the door of the saloon he was greeted with the
ironical query, "Well, have you seen anything?" or
"Have you heard anything?" which Peder received
with imperturbable calmness.
On the 1 6th of June we reached 81° 51' north latitude.
The temperature was maximum 39°, and minimum 19°.
Scott-Hansen, Nordahl and Peder had been away on
an expedition, the longest that had hitherto been under-
taken across the drift-ice. From the crow's-nest Peder
had seen an unusually large hummock with black
stripes down its sides. They took its bearings and
set off for it one Sunday morning on ski, taking plenty
of provisions with them, and more than half the dogs.
They did not succeed in finding the same black hummock
which Peder descried, but they came across another one
about twenty-five feet high, from which they brought
back with them some clayey soil. They also found a
log of driftwood, a piece of which they also brought
with them. On their way back they found in an open
lane a curious animal or plant, they did not know
which. It turned out to be an alga. When they got
back they were much fagged and knocked up with
H
98 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
toiling across hummocks and lanes on the heavy slushy
ground. Scott-Hansen and Peder became slightly snow-
blind after this expedition, and Blessing had to cure
them with cocaine.
The pooj^-aretmd the ship was gradually getting
bigger, so much so that we could practise in ^ttH^a^jiks
on it. ScoUriJansei^was especially keen at this sport ;
THE FRAM IN THE ICE, 'MIDSUMMER, 1894.
he would let himself capsize with his kayak, and then
try to right himself with it again. Nordahl held a
line, fastened around Scott-Hansen's body, and when
the latter was on the point of drowning, he was pulled
ashore, and had then to hurry to his cabin and change
his clothes. He seemed greatly to like these experi-
ments in capsizing.
MIDSUMMER 99
From the pools on the higher ice, small rivers ran
down the slope to the lower ice-strata, with just the
same sound as the rippling brooks among the mountains
at home. On board we found that the mould-mushroom
thrived wherever there was any dampness. Blessing-
cultivated the bacteria which he had obtained from the
dead puppies. But as yet he had found no bacteria in
the air.
On Midsummer Day we were in 81° 43' north latitude.
The weather was bad, with cold northerly wind and
sleet. There were no signs of birch-leaves, or of flowers ;
only ice, ice everywhere. While we were sitting at
dinner a bear paid a visit to the big hummock astern,
where Mogstad and Jacobsen were building an ice-cellar
for our stock of bear, walrus and seal flesh, which we
were keeping as food for the dogs. When they returned
thither after dinner they discovered the tracks of the
bear. Narisen was away the whole afternoon in search
of it, but had no success. It was now most difficult
to get over the hummocks and across the lanes ; in fact,
in many places one would want water-ski to get across.
We celebrated Midsummer Day in the usual way,
with a really good dinner. We had not many ways
in which we could keep up our celebrations. Our life
was somewhat monotonous ; one day was exactly like
any other. There was the same kind of work at the
satne^time, and the same recreations at the same hours.
The latteFconsiated^gfLcard.s and reading, but we were
beginning to get tired of cards.. We were, however, ^
very comfortable ; of that there could be no doubt, and
so we had to rest satisfied.
On June soth the weather was dull, with an overcast
sky and mild rain, which told greatly on the ice. The
pools on our floe were now getting bigger and bigger,
and the observation-tent and the cage were almost in-
accessible, and could only be reached by jumping from
100 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
one place to another. The next day there was a break
in the clouds, and we were able to take an observation.
The latitude was 81° 32', so we had been drifting south
again. During June, therefore, we had made no pro-
gress northwards. at all, though it was a month of which
we had really great expectations.
We filled our water-tank with water from the ice-floe.
This water was somewhat salty, but for all that we
used it for a considerable time. The first time we got
he Jea was poor and
weak"; it was the g^,]t^_fl^vnji r WP rn j <^e H . and^ we
not think much of t]ie . fresh, -water. We were not so
much afraid of water which was a little saltish as, for
instance, the crew of the Jeannette. Every piece of ice
which was brought on board that vessel for cooking
or drinking purposes was first carefully examined ; they
believed that the smallest quantity of salt would produce
scurvy among them.
According to the observations we made, the temper-
ature in the strata nearest the surface of the water
varied greatly:—
On the surface ...... 3276°
1 metre below surface . * . . 32 '63°
2 metres below surface .... 32*51°
2-5 „ „ .... 32-00°
2'6 „ ... 31-90°
27 „ „ .... 3i'95°
2-8 „ „ .... 29-25°
2-9 „ „ .... 29-10°
3 „ ,,.... 29-15°
At the last depth we found a thin layer of ice, which
was easily broken, and pieces of which rose to the
surface.
When the ice was measured on the loth of July, we
found that on the old solid floes it had increased about
eight inches in one week. It was most remarkable that
MELTING ICE AND SNOW
101
the ice should increase in thickness while it continually
went on melting at the surface. The reason may be
that the fresh water, formed by the melting of the snow,
ran down through the ice, and there came into contact
with the colder salt water, and, gradually assuming the
temperature of the latter, froze.
The appearance of the surroundings in the neighbour-
hood of the ship was not now very attractive. The
SAILING ON THE FRESH-WATER POOL NEAR THE FRAM.
use
to it and back on board again.
_
ladders to get dow
Down orTthe ice^were heaps of broken glass, the remains
of all the beer~Botties we had emptied, thq last ofjvhich
was finisHSTmany a day ago. Everything which we
had thrown overboard during the course of the year
was now laid bare by the melting of the snow. The
kennels, which we had erected on the ice, and which
102 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
consisted of two long_\vpoden boxes divided into separate
rooms for the^worst_fi^ters, looked dirty _and rickety
as the --§n6w~wentrbn melting, while here and ther^a
merry brook made its way under the kennels, forming
pools of varying sizes.
The appearance of the ice in the direction of the
horizon was no longer white against white ; the black-
ened ice and the pools had now changed it all and given
it a cheerless appearance. The snow^stilLJej^onjthe
ice had the appearance of coa£s^jnoist_sugar.
On the starboard side we had a fine fresh-water lake,
on which we sailed with the longboats. Scott-Hansen,
Mogstad and Bentsen were the three who were most
interested in this sport. Sverdrup rigged the boats
with a s^u3£e-saiL0f.4]ie_-sa^ in
the north_of_ Norway. When there was only a slight
breeze they got on all right, but if there was a fresh
wind, it generally happened that the spectators on board
got a good laugh ; the water was shallow, and every
now and then they went aground, the boat filled with
water, and they had often to lower the sail.
One day, all hands started for the fresh^aterjake to
test the bearing capacity of the boats. All the dogs
seemed to understand^fhal~there^wi^omething unusual
going on, and followed us inquisitively ; even " Kvik,"
who was with her pups; left her kennel and a bone to
join the others. "Barabbas" at once took her place at
the bone, and was the only one that remained behind.
As soon as we had got into the boat, which_easi!y-carried
the whole thi£ieeiL_QMis, and had begun to push her
along, the dogs began to show signs of tHe^greatest
fright. The poor ariimafs evidently thought we intended
going away and Jeaying-them behind by themselves on
the ice. TheyTEept whining and running backwards and
forwards on the floes. "Suggen," the veteran, set off
and ran round to the opposite side of the lake, followed
CANINE ECCENTRICITIES 103
by several of the others. Little "Bjelki," after some
hesitation, rushed into the ice-cold water and swam
towards us, his thick coat looking very much like a
bundle of wool. As soon as our trial trip was over we
returned to our starting-place, and then the dogs became
quiet once more. " Suggen," who perceived that he had
made a mistake, took things quite coolly. He did not
return, but took a long tour on the other side of the
lake, as if he wanted to show us that he had not been
at all anxious about us. " Suggen " was evidently a
personage of importance among the dogs. Tie took no
part in any of the fights, and all the other dogs made
concessions to him. He was a kind of chieftain, and
was not tied up like the others ; he went about as he
liked, and had his own kennel. He never descended
to breaking into the ice-cellar, which the others did ;
many of them often came out of that cellar stuffed like
a sausage after a successful raid. When " Suggen "
became tired of his own kennel, he simply took possession
of one of the others, generally " Pan's." The latter was
the most unmanageable of them all. When " Suggen"
used to come and stir him up, he had to go out and lie
down on the roof; if he did not go, "Suggen" used to
lie down quite coolly on top of " Pan," who, strange
to say, quietly put up with it. " Suggen " used to make
a sort of long speech whenever he wanted meat. He
always kept himself clean and tidy. One dog who did
not keep himself clean was 'LCaiaphasJ^ ; he_was the
dirtiest of_th£*n all. His thick coat was always full of
dirt. (<rCaiapJias " and " Suggenjl-suhsequently-proved
themselves 'our faithful friends, and kept up longest on
the sledge ejtptfdition. They were true to the end, and
suffered many hardships before they gave up their lives
in the service of science.)
So far (July i8th) the summer had been a disappoint-
ment to us. We expected to drift a good deal more
104 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
northwards at this time of the year, but we had been
almost stationary. Many of us were quietly hoping that
before the summer came we should be free from ice, and
able to steam northwards through the open lanes. Al-
though the ice around the ship was apparently decreas-
ing, she was still in the same slanting position in her
solid bed, with masses of ice crammed in both her wells
astern. It was the wind, and that alone, which would
carry us to the north, and therefore we might wait a
long time, as there was no current. When we compared
the observations from day to day with the direction and
strength of the wind, we saw that it was by the wind
alone that our movements were influenced.
On July 20th a slight breeze from the north-east began
blowing ; and we hoped we were going to have a spell
from that quarter now.
In the summer months there was great activity on
deck. Foremost, at the smithy, stood Lars and his
assistant, hammering out iron for the sledge-runners.
Under the awning over the fore-deck Sverdrup was busy
building six double kayaks, and Jacobsen was occupied
in lashing parts of the sledges together. Strong materials
were necessary, in case we had to leave our good ship.
Nans^n^was in^^the^workrooro^studying-aigse wkliJJie
microscope far into the night. Blessing was similarly
occupied, but often fished lor algae in the fresh- water
pools. When he had anything remarkable under the
microscope, Scott-Hansen and I went to look at and
admire his find.
But Blessing could also do something else besides
examine algae and blood. He was both joiner and sail-
maker, and Sverdrup could always find a job for him
in his shop whenever he applied for work.
s
DR. BLESSING COLLECTING ALG^E.
With Nanscn in the North.]
[Page 104.
CHAPTER XII
Snow-blindness — More Dogs — Mistaking a Dog for a
Bear — A Real Bear — A Retrospect — Nansen Asks me
if I will Accompany Him to the Pole
DURING the last days of July we had constant
westerly winds, and drifted slowly to the south.
Now and then we were troubled a little with snow-blind-
ness. Peder, who had sailed in the polar regions since
he was a boy, had never been troubled with it, and
would not believe there was any such thing. But even
he himself had at last to resort to Blessing and get some
cocaine, and used snow-spectacles thenceforth. We had
also brought with us veils for protection against snow-
blindness. They were pretty red, blu£._aiid black silk ,
r^ , ' •— ~. «, , — • — ~ • 'T /
veih^-Which, however, werenor used very often. I/
remember Svejcdrup walking about with a blue veil
covering" his eyes and nose, which looked rather H
ludicrous just above his bright red beard. He, too, 1
was somewhat careless^about his eyes, and had to I
consult Blessing eventually and ask him "to look in
his eyes, as he thought he had something in them."
One evening, as I was going on board after a stroll on
the ice, I chanced to catch a glimpse of the hind part of
a retreating bear some distance off. I seized the watch-
gun, which always stands loaded near the companion
leading to the cabin. The others thought it was merely
fun on my part ; but soon Blessing saw the bear as well,
and all hands were speedily on deck. Some ran up the
105
io6 WITH N AM SEN IN THE NORTH
rigging and began shouting to one another, so that the
bear was frightened and made off. Nansen and Sver-
drup set off in pursuit, but, of course, it was impossible
to overtake it, the ground being in such a terribly bad
condition.
On the sist of July, "Kvik" brought into the world
eleven puppies, one of which, being deformed, was at
once killed. Of the first litter of thirteen there were
now only four left, " Sussine," "Barbara," " Guleh "
(the yellow one), and " Freia." " Sussine " is alive to
this day, and thrives well in her home in Norway. She
has been the mother of a large progeny, many of which,
however, have died.
In the beginning of Au^^sl._jffiB^4iad--the_Jloy£liest
summer weather it is possible to conceive. Scott-Hansen
talked about having a dip, but perhaps it was as well
that he did not carry out his intention, for the water was
only 32*70° at the surface. We were on deck the whole
of the day, while in the evening we smoked our pipes
and played cards.
Scott-Hansen and Nordahl went away on an excursion
and found two pieces of driftwood in the ice, probably
pine-logs from the Siberian forests. Peder, who was
always on the look-out for anything curious, found a tuft
of grey moss among some sand on a floe — another
message from some land or other.
The examination of the temperature and the saltness
of the water at different depths began on the 2nd of
August. It is conducted in the following manner : — Four
men heave the line up on a winch with two handles.
The line passes out through a metre- wheel, so that we
can read how much has been paid out. We reached the
bottom at a depth of about 2,000 fathoms.
About this time we one day discovered a virtuous
point in " Cannibal," one of our dogs. He had no doubt
been accustomed to look after things. For several days
ICE- DESERT LONELINESS 107
now he had been lying continuously on a bag of biscuits
which we kept on the ice for feeding the dogs. He never
stirred away from the bag, and showed his teeth to every
dog that approached it. Yet he never attempted to steal
anything from the bag himself.
A wet fog set in during the morning of August
loth. In the forenoon the weather cleared up, and Scott-
Hansen and I decided to start on a short expedition to
the north to measure the ice-pressures with the photo-
grammeter. There were enormous accumulations of ice
to the north of us, and when one sees such colossal
masses of it piled up from twenty to thirty feet in
height, three or four times as long as the Fram, and a
good deal broader, and how even the biggest ice-blocks
are ground to pieces and lifted high up on to the top,
then one is apt to lose all faith in the stability of any
kind of ship if it were exposed to a pressure such as
this. We had splendid warm weather during our
expedition, so that we were able to take off our anoraks
and walk in our shirt-sleeves, just as we do at home in
the summer.
We put up our apparatus and began- our work, feeling
quite lonely in the midst of tlus silent-desext of ice. We
could just catch a glimpse of the ship in the distance,
the only object which indicated that man had penetrated
so far ; we gazed at it with pleasure and admiration, and
felt that we were fortunate to be so comfortable as we
were on board her. This excursion gave us a foretaste
of what it would be to work our way across the ice if
ever we should have to leave the ship. We should not
ba able to make great progress, if we had to proceed
over ice like this in search of some land or other, and it
would be in any case an arduous and fatiguing under-
taking.
On August i6th we had fine rain. The previous
night, after twelve, when it was my watch, I was nicely
io8 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
taken in. There was a thick fog which made all objects
loom unnaturally large in the distance. I fancied I saw
a bear over by the big hummock, scratching and digging
his way into the meat-cellar, so that the ice flew about
his ears. I could only see part of his back and his
paws ; but feeling that it could not be anything else but
a bear, I fetched the watch-gun, rested it on the railing,
and took aim carefully, as the distance was about two
hundred yards. I took my time and waited, in order to
be able to see something more of the animal. At last
more of its body came into view and I pulled the
trigger. Then all was silent for a moment. Nansen
came at once on deck and asked what was the matter.
I told him I had fired a shot over to the big hummock, as
I thought there was something over there. The next
moment we saw the supposed bear advancing leisurely
across the ice towards us ; but as it came nearer to us
we discovered it was one of our dogs, to which, curiously
enough, we had given the name of " Icebear." The-fog
had magnified it into a bigjjear ; atTtne same time it
was partly due to the fog that I, fortunately enough,
missed it, for " Icebear " was one of our very best dogs.
I heard frequently from my comrades of _this_£Xploit
afterwards !
We had several times seen seals in the lanes about
here ; Sverdrup shot one, one day, but it sank before
any one could manage to get it on to the ice. We had
not expected to be drifting back during the summer.
We had been depending so much upon it. It was the
winter in which we now put our faith. We believed, of
course, we should reach our goal ; but we also believed
we should have to fortify ourselves with a good deal of
patience.
Towards the end of August it began to grow cold
again, and the pools were soon covered with ice. After
a fall of snow on the new ice the ground was in
I
JOHANSEN SHOOTING AT THE DOG, " ICE BEAR."
With Nansen in the North.] {Page 108.
A PLUCKY BEAR 109
excellent condition for sk^nmmng, which was soon in
full swing. One morning, in the small hours, when I
came on deck to relieve Blessing on his watch, we
discovered, while standing by the railing, something
moving about on an ice-floe about five hundred yards
away. It was a bear, which was lying on its back
rolling itself luxuriously in the newly-fallen snow. A
strong north-westerly wind was blowing towards it, at
the rate of nine metres in the second, and the windmill
was going at full speed. But it did not seem to mind
this in the least, for we plainly saw it raise itself, first
with its fore-legs, and leisurely begin to move towards
the ship, moving its head from side to side as bears
usually do when they are after their prey. With its
extraordinary sense of smell it had, of course, scented
the dogs.
The watch-gun was full of vaseline, so I went quietly
into the saloon for a couple of guns, whereupon we
went cautiously forward and laid ourselves in ambus-
cade on the forecastle. The bear came steadily nearer ;
the fellow was not in the least afraid, although the
windmill was making a great noise. We lay quietly
with our fingers on the trigger. When it had reached
the other side of the lane in front, about 100 yards
off, it crossed this on the thin ice and jumped up on to
the other side. Now was our time. As the bear was
making a tack eastwards we both fired at ,the same
time, and the monster fell backwards over the edge
of the floe. We found that it had been hit by both
shots. One had cut the artery just where it issues
from the heart, so the bear had, of course, been killed
on the spot. The dogs, which were tied up on the
ice and had thus escaped danger, had not noticed the
bear till they heard the shots and saw us on the ice
with our guns, when they became quite frantic with
excitement. We hauled the bear up from the thin ice,
no WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
but not before Blessing had fallen through, and dragged
it up to the side of the ship, where we left it with
its jaws wide open, so that the next watch, wrhich
happened to be Nordahl, might have a surprise.
The dogs sat the whole day barking in the direc-
tion from which the bear had come; I suppose they
remembered the bear of last winter which came on
board, stretched its paws into the kennels, tore a
couple of the dogs away from their chains, and carried
them off to make a meal of them. Such things are
not easily forgotten even by a dog.
On the 28th of August our observations showed we
were in 80° 53' north latitude, having thus drifted
back past the 81° again; but on the 4th of September
we were again in 81° 14' north latitude, and 123° 36'
east longitude, although the wind had been easterly
and even north-easterly. During the next few days
we again drifted south.
" Cannibal," who was one of the most ferocious of
our dogs, was attacked by the others and severely
maltreated. As many as could get at him attacked
him in the belly — they seemed to know this is a
vulnerable point — with their greedy teeth, but he sur-
vived under the care of Blessing, who sewed^ up-JJoe
wounds.
The daily routine of life on board went on some-
what in this fashion :—
The cook (Juell and_JEe±tersoa_jtQok the post in
turns, a fortnight each) got up at six o'clock, when
the last watch went to bed. The coffee_or_choco_late
was on the table^at eighty oV.lnck^^whejL^alLJiands
were called. But there was not much breakfasting
till a little later on; the
Mogstad, who was an
early riser, reminded us of the old saying, "la^the
is foundj' ; but Blessing
THE "DEVIL'S 'PL AY THINGS" in
thought this was a mistake, and that it should run,
" Morning slumbers are sweet and sound." After
breakfast every one began his particular work. The
dogs were fed and let loose. Later on it was decided
that every man should take exercise on ski for two
hours daily. This was carried out in all sorts of
weather, and we found it agreed splendidly with us.
Nansen was busily employed in making a kayak to
\
JOHANSEN AND AMUNDSEN RECONNOITRING IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
OF THE FRAM.
holdu__pjie__p§£gon. Blessing jmd_J^jcdnip_had for a
long time been making some canvas coverings. We
had dinnei^at one o'clock and supper at six. In the
evening we either played cards or searched the
treasm^sjo£^pjir_3JUbrary. Amundsen would neyer_touch ( ^
cards — " They^are the devil's playthings.' ' Jhe used to
say. Jacobsen went early to bed and seldom joined
us at cards. But some of the others went in frequently
112 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
for gambling, and they were in the habit of paying
their losses with_ LOJLJ.'s, which ran up to such big
| amounfs~~fHaT7t~was difficult to keep accoimt-oj; them,
'{ and then we wiped them out altogether and .began
again. There was generally a good deal of betting
and bartering of bread going on. Sometimes we had
heated discussions on the state of affairs in Xrojuso
or Horton.
We now began to build splendid-solid snow houses
for the dogs. It was again beginning to bg__cold, and
darkness was increasing day by day. The winter was
approaching.
On September 22nd it was just a year since we
became fixed in the ice. We could now look back
upon the year's drift. Scott-Hansen made a chart
of it, and so we could see what our progress had
been. Notwithstanding the manv_zigzags which we
had made, we saw that the drift had gone on in one
particular direction, vi£M--N^_3(5"_-W., and jihouL 120
miles in length from east to west^and about 140^ miles
to wards jthe_north. The progress had been slow, but
in the right direction. We fully believed that during
the coming year we should drift more rapidly north-
wards than we had hitherto done, and that we should
not be driven back to the same extent as during the
last twelve months. At, the rate we driftecL during this
time we should want about _s^Y^--^£arSu_-beforg we
could get out of the ice. We did not think we should
be able to drift right__a^ross_the_Pole^.pr in its neigh-
bourhood, but we might most likely traverse the Polar
Sea in 86° north latitude.
There had been some talk about two of^jis_leaving
the ship and setting off for.the_Pole_with all the dogs;
not, however, with the intention of returning to the
ship, which, of course, it would be impossible to find
again, but with the view of making_Af-Spttzbergen.
A NEW APPARATUS 113
Our captain j^kecL me this afternoon if I would go
with him on such an expedition, and to this I, of
course, declared myself willing. We amused ourselves
with calculating distances, weight of provisions, the
number of miles per day, etc., etc., just to see how the
plan would work out. But this was not the first time
this matter had been discussed.
Nansen invented an apparatus for firing with kero-
sene^ oil in the galley, which turned out a great
success. From a reservoir of oil on the wall a pipe
leads into the fireplace, where the oil falls in drops
into an iron bowl in which some asbestos or cinders
are placed, the flow of the oil being regulated by a
valve-cock. A ventilating pipe conducts a current of
air from the deck straight into the grate. Now we
did not need to be so careful about our best paraffin
oil, and could use it more liberally for our lamps.
Petterson was at first unfortunate in the use of this
new apparatus : one day the whole arrangement ex-
ploded when he was standing near it, and we thought
that both he and some clothes, which were hanging
in the galley to dry, had been sent aloft. When he
came to report what had occurred he looked quite
furious and hot. He would, no doubt, have exploded
himself if he had not let off the steam, accompanied
by blessings and curses about " that devil of a black
oil."
September 29th was Blessing's _ birthday. We kept
high festival on mackerel and meat-pudding, with
cauliflowers, rice with cloudberries, and malt extract
for dinner. When we occasionally got malt p-xtra.r.1-
it was not served out in spoonfuls as suggested in the
directions on the labels, but in bottlefuls, and it did us
a lot of good.
Next day, when Sverdrjy^_ajid^JL-A#^^ on a
splendid_ski ^our^ we again discussed our favourite
i
114 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
topic, the expedition to the Pole and thence to Spitz-
bergen. He did not know if Nansen would let him
7 go^_he said he thought Nansen wanted to go himself.
We had been experimenting in drawing loaded
sledges on ski and on foot. About 250 Ibs. were
placed on the sledge, but we had no proper harness
for drawing, and, in the then condition of the ground,
it seemed as if 'jjtrug" — something,. like Jhe Canadian
snow-shoes — would be better than ski. We tried three
dogs to the same sledge, and they managed the load
exceedingly well.
October loth was Nansen's birthday. The flag was
set flying from the mizzen-masthead and the saloon
was decorated. The thermometer marked 22° below
zero, and in the forenoon we took a long ski-tour.
Petterson did his best to provide a specially choice
dinner, and Blessing treated us to LysholnVs Aqua-
vitae^j^JavQurite Norwegian^gin). After dinner we
haHcoffee and cigars, the latter being Nansen's gift.
In the evening followed the usual feting. During the
succeeding days we had fair wind from east and
south-east, and on the 2ist of October we passed the
eighty-second degree.
In the course of the day we discovered tracks of a
bear and two cubs; they had evidently not scented
the ship, but the tracks of the ski had apparently in-
terested them greatly. We took soundings again, and
found the bottom at a depth of 1,800 fathoms. In the
evening there was such jnerry-making on board as
had not been witnessed for some time. We played^on
the organ and danced like mad, although the dance-
music was not o^ the best.
On the 3ist of October we again had a festival on
board, this time in celebration of Sverdrup's fortieth
birthday. "No onsJs^j^tejsur^lO^
said, "for I have two different birth certificates."
* ^- — -^^ J^— w -— - — — - .__-*
A MONSTER BEAR.
With Nansen in the North.}
{Page 115.
DOGS AND BEARS 115
On November 4th we had a change in our otherwise
monotonous life. Peder discovered a she-bear with two
cubs west of the ship. The whole crew became ani-
mated. Sverdrup, Mogstad, Peder, and I set out at
once after it. It was not light enough for shooting.
We had all the dogs with us, and in about a quarter of
an hour we saw the three bears quietly pursuing their
course to the south, much more quietly now than by
daylight. The dogs were very courageous, as they had
us at their heels. We quickly overtook the bears, but
we had to get quite close to them, as there was not
light enough to take aim properly, and even then we
had just to look along the barrel and fire at random.
The bears stopped and turned round when they found
that the dogs were getting at close quarters. The latter
at once struck off at a right angle, as if by word of
command, and began worrying the bears sideways.
The mother now helped us in obtaining a good aim at
her in the dark, as she, followed by the cubs, made
straight for us, now and then making a rush at the
dogs, and striking out at them with her paws. We
dropped on our knees and fired at the mother. Peder 's
gun, as usual, would not go off, and Mogstad's also
missed fire twice ; but just as Sverdrup and I fired, his
gun also went off. The first volley practically settled
the bear, so that she could not, in any case, get away.
One of the cubs was killed outright by a bullet, and the
other was set upon by the dogs, which, having thrown
it down on its back, were biting and tearing at it.
Some of the others wanted to try on the same game
with the old bear when they noticed she was disabled,
but she raised herself on her legs, and struck out
viciously with her paws. Peder was going to settle
her for good, and fired, but the gun missed fire again.
" You give her a shot, mine won't fire! " he cried', and
one of us sent a bullet through her head. The dogs
116 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
were tearing away so madly at one of the cubs that
Mogstad had the greatest difficulty in sending a bullet
into it, after which they tore and pulled away furiously
at the carcases, " Ulinka " and "Suggen" being the
worst. All this passed in less than no time ; twelve
shots were fired in all, and in a very few minutes the
three bears lay there dead. At this moment Nansen
arrived upon the scene. He had seen us in the distance,
and could not make out at what we were driving, as
we lay there firing in all directions. The bears' flesh
was a welcome addition to our larder, as it was a long
time since we had tasted any fresh meat. On our re-
turn on board all the guns were cleaned of the vaseline,
so that there should be no missing fire again when we
had bears about. Peder had gone about with his gun
in this state on long excursions with the dogs, thinking
that as long as he had a gun he was safe and all right.
If he had met a beast like the one which " struck him
in his side," I fancy he would have been badly handi-
capped.
We now had magnificent displays of the Northern
Lights every evening. They flashed in all the colours
of the raiffbow, and, notwithstanding the bright moon-
light, the aurora was exceedingly brilliant. With an
incredible speed it travelled silently across half the
vault of the heavens in incessantly changing flames,
bands, streamers, spirals, and arches. It seemed as if
we had passed north of the belt of the Northern Lights,
as there was less of the aurora in the northern sky.
Blessing decided to take the observations of the Northern
Lights in the daytime, while at night the watch on duty
had to make notes and sketches of the aurora in a
journal.
On November iyth we had again a south-westerly
wind, 5-6 metres in the second. The temperature was
-20° We were now mostly engaged in mending our
PROPOSED SLEDGE EXPEDITION 117
clothes in our leisure moments. Old trousers and wool-
len shirts were cut up and made into swathing-bands
for the feet, or used for mending socks. We had all
become accomplished clothes-patchers. The work was
not exactly what you may call superfine, but it was
strong and durable, and that is the main thing.
One of the puppies of the last litter had a nasty
accident to-day ; it was caught by, and carried round
with, the axle of the windmill, till Bentsen, who was on
deck, stopped the mill and released the unfortunate
creature. It was completely dazed, but it soon got
better, after having been taken down into the saloon,
which was like a new world to it. It was somewhat
stiff in the limbs, but not injured in any way, which is
a wonder after such an experience. The dog is alive
to this day, and its name is "Axel."
It was on November j[tk
was ^willing to go with him on an expedition to the
NorthJBok^ He explained his plan to me in the pre-
sencejo£^erdrup. His idea was to leave the ship at
the end of Febniaj^oj^jn_th^-^^injlJJlgj^f Marrlu-npxt.
We were to take all the twenty-eight dogs with us
^ The course
would be direct nojrj-h to tTlp Pftlf ; thence, under favour-
able circumstances, to Spitzbergen, or, if unfavourable,
to Franz Josef Land. According to his calculation we
should be at CapeJFligely J (&2lsL north latitude) in the
beginning 6f_"f UHe^-that is, if progress could be made at
the rate of eight jnjles adayjjn an,average, when there
still would be left provisions for eighteen days, after all
the dogs, with the exception of five, had been killed in
order to feed the others. We should only take pro-
visions for the dogs forjifity— days. Two kayaks, to
carry one man each, would be used. From Franz Josef
1 The most northerly point of., the group of islands fcnrma*— a*
Franz Josef Land.
n8 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Land we should make for Spitzbergen or Novaya
Zemlya, in the hope of falling in with the whalers.
As soon as we reached the coast of one of these islands
we should have to depend upon hunting for our subsist-
ence. This is, in rough outline, the plan which Nansen
explained to me most carefully in the course of nearly
three hours.
A FROZEN SEA.
He laid stress upon the dangerous nature of this ex-
pedition. We should both be running the same risk ; if
we were attacked by scurvy, we should be hopelessly
lo^L, He had decided upon asking me, he said, .because
he tjinnorhf T wng gp£^in11y fit for such an expedition, but
he begged me to consider my answer well.
As of late I had been thinking a good deal about such
a journey, especially after my conversations with Sver-
NANSEfTS PROPOSAL ACCEPTED 119
drup, I had been imagining to myself that I was likely
to be asked to take part in the expedition, particu-
larly as this also seemed to be the general opinion
among my comrades on_board. I was, therefore, able
to answer that I did not require any time for considera-
tion, as I had already been_thinking it over, and that I
was willing to go wfah Nansen. I looked upon it, of
course, as a distinction that the choice had fallen upon
me.
I made up my mind that I would, at any rate, do my
best to obtain a, succe-ssful result; and I thought that if
we failedjh; would be no disgrace to die in such an»
attempt.
CHAPTER XIII
Nanseris Lecture — Fitting out the Sledge Expedition-
Christmas and New Year Once More — Our Worst
Pressures
o
IN the evening of November 2oth, when we were
north of the eighty-second degree, Nansen called
us all together in the saloon, where he had hung up a
polar maprjjoi> the purpose of giving a lecture. He
began with the origin and theory of the expedition, and
dwelt upon the knowledge possessed of the conditions of
the ice in the Polar Sea, and upon the discoveries we
had made with regard to ice drift. In all probability
the Fram would be able to keep to the route originally
laid down, perhaps a little more to the south. But it
had always been the object of_.rnankind to get as far
/ north asj)ossible , even to reach the Pole; and the ques-
tion now was whether we ought not to make an attempt
in thatjlirgction. There would scarcely be such a good
opportunity for some time to come as we should have
in the coming spring, when a sledge_expedition for the
Pole would have a s^^g-point much further to the
north than that from which any fnrm^r ^pgfh'Hnn ^«A
set forth.
He had decided that two men should set out on such
an expedition — hirnself and I. He then recounted his
plan and calculations regarding the expedition. It was
possible, of course, that something might happen to the
Fram during her drift. The ice pressure might become
120
PREPARING THE SLEDGES 121
too severe, she might be forced on to the land, or she
might be burnt, which would be the worst of all. He
then went on to explain that it would be quite possible
for the crew to save themselves and reach land, for
there was little or no chance of the Fram drifting so
far to the north as to render any difficulty in getting to
land. Next summer the Fram would most probably lie
in open waters. The lecture was most interesting, and
all of us listened intently to it.
A busy time now began on board the Fram in fitting
out the sledge expedition. No little work was put into
its equipment ; it had cost nnr rhjpf^ g-^n^ Hpni of
brain- work to think out all its ^details. There are
numerous Slings required for such an expedition ;
nothing must be forgotten. A Russian expedition to
Novaya Zemlya, for instance, could not attain anything
because snow-spectacles were forgotten. Success de-
pends upon getting everything as serviceable and as
light as possible. The question of weight is especially
an important one; three or four pounds saved in pack-
ing means provisions for a couple of days more.
My duties as assistant in taking the meteorological
observations on board now ceased, and Nordahl assisted
Scott-Hansen instead. Nansen finished a one-man
kayjjj^, and Mogstad began to make another! TheseTTre
necessary craft on such an expedition, in order to get
across lanes and open water which we were likely to
meet with near land, whether it might be Franz Josef
Land or Spitzbergen. The frame ofjh
_
of bamboojcane, and is afterwards covered with sail-
clpjji. NaliseiT and I were busy making theseTcover-
ings. The kayaks are broader, but not^so long asjjiose
of the^JElskimps^Jii order that they should^ be more
durable, and easier to manoeuyre^on the sledges while
going across the ice.^TnThe~middle of the upper cover-
ing of the kayak there is a hole encircled by a wooden
122 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
ring, over which we could turn down the lower part
of our kayak jur^coats. After having pulled the hood
tightly round our faces, and tied the sleeves round our
wrists, we could sit perfectly dry in the kayak, no
matter how much the sea might wash over us. In
order to get easily at the provisions and other things
stowed away in the kayak, we put trap-doors fore and
aft in the deck.
Scott-Hansen and I each wore two watches, and com-
pared them daily with the large chronometers, in order
to check their rate exactly, so that we might take the
two best watches with us on our expedition. Sverdrup
made our two sleeping--bags .-QLjLQ£_skin of^reindeer
calves, in order to make them as light as possible-
Juell was our saddler. He measured the dogs, and
made new^^trpng harness of canvas for them. For
those which were the worst at biting the harness in
pieces, he put wire Jn^^_i3l£-_£ai3ia_suupon which they
' had an opportunity of trying their .teeth. Mogstad was
very handy at almost everything, and he also made the
sledges which we took with us.
The sledge expedition was now, of course, the topic of
the day. We had discussions for and against it — about
, .the condition of the ice, about open water, the endurance
of the dogs, the provisions, the cold, etc., etc. All of us,
of course, wished it every success and good fortune.
We were going to takejetters with us to their dear ones
at home. The post we should thus carry would be
rath££-asunique one. The letters, as a matter of course,
were not heavy ones. The writers, in f act ^ad Jo .count
their words and keepdown_their number.
The days passed rapidly^ We were about to enter
upon our second Arctic night, which would bring with
it the same cheerless darkness that we experienced last
winter. I did not feel the cold so much this year as
last, nor did my companions. As a contrast to this,
COOKING ARRANGEMENTS 123
I may mention that the members of the Tegethoff
Expedition found that they stood the cold best the first
year.
The dogs kept up their " howling-concerts," just as
they did last year during the time they were tied up on
deck. Those of us who had our berths on the port side
were next-door to the kennels, and were furious over
these concerts, as we could not get any sleep during the
night. Those on the starboard side could scarcely hear
them.
Our cooking arrangements for the coming expedition
were of the greatest importance, and we carried on ex-
periments in cooking in the tent, erected close to the
ship. The tent we were going to use was of silk, and
of the same size as a military tent for four men. It was
made in one piece, and had a small opening in one of
the corners for a door. We fixed it up with a ski-staff,
and used plugs for the straps.
Sverdrup had been suffering from a stomach catarrh,
which he contracted by carelessly exposing himself to
the cold. He was obliged to diet himself, and had not
been at all well for a week. During a part of the time
he had taken no food, and had no sleep. But he re-
covered from his illness.
Nansen and I went out on a ski-top r itu-fre, moonlight
to try how the wolfskin clothes suited jus. The ground
was in a bad state except on the new ice in the lanes.
The temperature stood at —43V We both perspired
freely, and agreed that the wojfsfcin clothes^ were too
warm to wear when out on ski in this temperature. It
was, of course, some time since we had any exercise, as,
during the dark period, there was no opportunity of
taking much of it.
During December we had a good deal of south-easterly
wind, and on the i3th we were able to hold a festival in
honour of the Fram, as being the ship which had tra-
124 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
veiled farthest north of all, the observations showing
that we were in 82° 30' north latitude.
From this time all of us followed the observations
with the greatest attention. As soon as Scott-Hansen
had got hold of the stars, he had always to determine
our position. It was especially after south-easterly
winds that we were intent about the result of his calcu-
lations, and many a wager was lost in betting upon how
far we had gone.
In the hole in the ice, where we took samples of the
water and the temperature of the sea, we also had
hanging on a long line a bag net made of thin silk for
catching small animals, and according to the direction
taken by this line, we could guess the drift. If it
showed to the south, we knew that the ice was drifting
to the north. Peder was even able to say almost to a
minute how much we had drifted, according to the more
or less slanting position of the line. Never were we in
better spirits than when the line " lay dry " under the
ice in a southerly direction, and when the windmill was
going round with reefed sails before a regular " south-
easter." .We then knew that we were making headway
to the north and getting nearer to the open water on the
other side of the Pole, and we two who were soon to
start were glad, because it made the way to the Pole
shorter for us.
From time to time we tried the dogs with fully laden
sledges, using different teams, bad and good together.
The trials went off satisfactorily. On even ice they
went splendidly ; when hindrances came in the way
they pulled up. There was a great deal of fighting
going on between the dogs. "Baby" and "Pan" fast-
ened their teeth into each other as soon as they got a
chance, and we had the greatest difficulty in separating
them.
Scott-Hansen was now carrying on his magnetic ob-
CHRISTMAS EVE 125
servations in the snow-hut which he and I had built.
He said he was exceedingly comfortable in there ; it
was nice and warm, the temperature being only 6° to 8°
below zero, and the interior was brightly illuminated
by a petroleum lamp under the clean, white vaulted
roof. There stood Scott-Hajosen, half a day at a time,
" scratching at^the^pin " lind gazing at the movements
of the magnetic needle. The self-same individual pos-
sessed remarkable patience and perseverance, and his
good humour^ never, flagged.
Johansen. Scott-Hansen.
RACING TO THE SHIP ON THE WAY BACK FROM A SLEDGE DRIVE.
On Christmas Eve the wind was blowing hard from
the south-east, and the barometer fell right down to
726*65 mm. While the storm raged over our heads
across the ice-fields in the dark Arctic night, a feeling of
real comfort and security came over one at the thought
of being so well housed as we were on board the Frani.
Christmas Eve came upon us like any other day, lying
here as we did far away from the noisy world and all
the Christmas fun. It was a quiet Christmas which we
thirteen celebrated. We had a kind of cleaning up of
the saloon and the cabins. The weather being cloudy
and overcast both night and day, we could not take
126 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
any observations. In the meantime, however, we could
safely say that we were a good way north of the eighty-
third degree. Perhaps it was as a sort of Christmas
present that we had the satisfaction of reaching 83° 24'
north latitude, the most northerly point of the world
that any human being had ever reached.
Nansen and Blessing were up in the work-room the
whole of the day, busy with some mysterious brew.
When the bottles came upon the table in the evening it
turned out to be nothing les^s than champagne — u polar
cham£agne 83°^ —undoubtedly the most unique in the
world. It was 'made from spirits of wine, cloudberry
jam, water and baking-powder, and there was as much
as two half-bottles for each of us.
It seemed, however, as if the true festive spirit was
wanting, for this Christmas was not a very lively one.
We spoke little, and there often occurred pauses in our
conversation, which plainly showed that our thoughts
were far away.
And there was nothing wonderful in that. There was
nothing strange that we thirteen, on an eve like this,
should let our thoughts dwell where we ourselves should
like to be. No, no one can find fault with us for being
so quiet on board, although we were so comfortably off.
In regard to food we were perhaps better off than a good
many this Christmas Eve ; we were well and warmly
housed there in the ice-desert, but we were prisoners.
We lay, far away from the world, fast in a frozen sea,
where all life was extinct, and in the exploration of
which so many lives had been sacrificed. With such
surroundings one might well, after a long absence from
home, think of those left behind.
This Christmas Day we were also treated to "^nla.^
curacoa," which was really good, and in the evening we
* danced" to Mogstad/§_fiddle. We read th^ «^rpp Cfrryst-
\ mas numbers, a.nd looked jit_tiiej>ainejn^
A POLAR CHRISTMAS 127
as we had brought out from the library the last
Christnias.
The ice began cracking on Christmas Eve not far
from the thermometer house, and we had to set to
work and save the instruments. The crack occurred
in the ice on the old channel, which had now been
frozen for nearly six months.
The day after, or " Second Christmas Day," as it is
called in Norway, was Juell's birthday. Blessing had
two^bottles_o|Jbrandy left, and treated us to a genuine
glass of Jxxldy.
"Halma" was our favourite game during Christmas.
Amundsen, as usual, supplied us with music, and there
was one old-fashioned, monotonous valse which had
such a special attraction for him that he went on
playing it until we had to relieve him and turn the
handle for him.
The dogs on the ice outside, surrounded by the con-
tinual darkness, did not come in for any of the Christ-
mas cheer, although they, too, had their mission up
there, and perhaps not the least important. We felt
that the taking of the lives of these animals, after
they would have done their best to help us on to-
wards our goal, would be the most painful task on
our forthcoming expedition.
Next day we took soundings with a line 1,700
fathoms long, without reaching the bottom. In the
afternoon the Fram received a very violent shock,
which reminded us that the ice was in motion. The
following day the pressure was again violent and con-
tinuous in the lane ahead of us, and the Fram shook
herself several times in her firm bed. A large up-
heaval of ice-floes took place not far from the bow.
We closed the Old Year by welcoming the New, with
a hope that it might bring good luck with it ! Light
it would bring with it we knew in any case. But we
128 WITH NAN SEN IN THE NORTH
wondered whether it would shed more light upon these
unknown ....parts of the _ globe. We were now in 83°
207' north latitude, and 105° 2' east longitude. The
temperature was —42°.
In the evening we sat round a bowl of ".polar
toddy" waiting for the Ne.w__ Year. Nansen spoke
about the Old Year, which had passed by more rapidly
than he and we others had expected ; and that, he
believed, was due to the good relations existing be-
Itween us. There had been frictions now and _then, —
eachjxf us had had his own_dark hours,— but that was
unavoidable; there had, at J-n^rate, been a good ,un-
derstanding between us. As the clock struck twelve
we drank to each other in Lysholm's Aquavitae, to
which Blessing treated us. SveFdrup "then took his
glass and, in his yiief manner, wished the whole ex-
pedition every success in tne New Year, and success
especially as far as the sledge expedition was con-
cerned. Nansen spoke to those who were to remain
behind on board the Fram. There was, he said, an
IrislL-Sa^iog something to this effect — " Be happy ;
, and if you cant.. be happy, take it easy ; and_Jf you
can't be ^gy? fa* as easy as vou can." He would ask
those who were to remain behind to take this to heart.
If they would act according to the old saying, the
New Year would, no doubt, pass quickly for them
also, and that would probably be their last year in the
ice.
We kept up the New Year far into the morning, till
we became sleepy^ and then went to our bunksx_ready
to get up as soon as our turn came, .for the watch.
Our cabins-bad in course of time received the follow-
ing names : Sverdrup's was called " Old Age Retreat " ;
Blessing's, "Relief'; Jacobsen's, Bentsen's, Mogstad's,
Nordahl's, and Hendriksen's cabin on the port side,
; and Amundsen's, Juell's, Petterson's
PRESSURE OF THE ICE 129
and mine on the starboard side, " The Mysterious
Room/' Hansen's cabin was called " HOtej^Garni/1
and Nansen's, "Phoenix."//
On January 2nd, 1895, nearly all hands had begun
their letters for home. The thing was to get as much
as possible into a minimum of space. Fine pens and
thin, strong paper were therefore in great demand ; all
were practising a fine, microscopical hand. Scott-
Hansen's letter was a masterpiece in this respect. The
writing was so small that it could only be read with
a magnifying glass. The ice had again been in motion
of late, and on New Year's night the ship received a
severe shock ; we had not had such a violent one since
the last winter.
Though on the following night everything was quiet,
early on the morning of Thursday, January 3rd, at
half-past four, the pressure began again and continued
till about nine o'clock. On the port side the ice
packed and pressed closer and closer upon the ship,
which from time to time trembled from the pressure
which transferred itself to the ice under the ship.
Scott-Hansen and I took a walk round about it to have
a look at the havoc. There was a high ridge on the
port side, with a fissure on the side near to the ship,
about eighteen paces distant from it.
On the other side of the ridge behind the tent and
the observation hut was a lane, extending in an
oblique direction towards the stern of the ship. In
two places the ice in the lane was unbroken, and they
bore the pressure of the floe against the vessel. The
pressure had been going on from time to time in the
forenoon and the ice cracked in several places over in
the neighbourhood of the new lane. After dinner came
a fresh pressure. The ridges on the port side came
tumbling down, reaching up to the big fissure near the
ship. The Samoyede sledge with the sounding appa-
130 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
ratus and another loaded sledge, which were on the
ice, had to be placed in safety.
While we wrere at supper we felt another shock.
We found that our floe had cracked again in several
places, both amidships and in front of the bow. This
solid floe, of which we were so proud and on which
we felt so safe, was thus breaking up into pieces and
being pressed together. We had got everything in
readiness in case we should have to leave the Fram
suddenly. The sledges were placed ready on deck,
provisions were brought up and put in a safe place,
the cases containing dog-biscuits were out on the ice,
and the kayaks were made clear. As yet the main
body of our floe — the thickest part of it, in which the
Fram lay embedded — had not been attacked. We all
agreed that, to move these great masses of ice in the
way which we were now witnessing, terrific forces
must be at work.
"It represents millions of horse-power," said Amund-
sen, and had riot the Fram been so built that she was
lifted up so as to let the pressure under her bottom
go on as much as it liked, she would not have been
able to withstand the enormous squeezing. But the
vessel was so constructed that she could withstand any
pressure whatever, and she could hardly have got into
a more dangerous position than that in which she was
on this occasion, when she lay as if in a vice, resist-
ing the pressure from the pack-ice as it advanced
against her side.
We were sitting in the saloon^ playing " Halma," in
the evening, when another terrible pressure began, and
Peder came rushing in, crying out that the dogs were
drowning. All hands ran on deck, but Peder had
already managed to open the doors for the terrified
creatures, which were whining and howling in their
kennels, where the water was steadily rising.
MOANING IN THE DARK 131
We next set to work transferring the provisions on
to the ice close to the big hummock, about 200 yards
off. Three sledges were in constant use. With these
we kept trudging backwards and forwards in the
darkness. We then fetched provisions for men and
dogs from the main and the fore-hold: psmmican,
bread, chocolate, and different kinds of meat. The
dogs ran about in a state of expectation and terror,
looking in vain for their old abode. It was some time
before they at last went to rest in various places on
the ice under some protecting ice-crag.
Clothing had been served out to us all, and separate
bags prepared for each man, so that we should only
have to throw the marked bags on to the ice, in case
we were surprised by any severe ice-pressure.
On Friday night the watch was placed, as usual, at
eleven o'clock. The ice was uneasy, and was packing
hard on the port side. The part between the ship and
the lane was exposed to a severe pressure, and masses
of snow fell in here and there over the ship. New
fissures were being formed crossways in the ice, the
edges of which were being doubled upwards by the
continuous pressure of the ice.
I was on watch from one till two, and during this
time the same incessant pressure continued. Some-
times it roared and moaned in loud and exceedingly
deep tones, like a thing of life. In the dark^night it
made^rrnp's flesh creep. It lasted the whole night,
untfl five o'clock in the morning, when all hands were
called. The pack-ice was by this time close upon us,
and had creptjiig^almost to the_gaingway. We had
then to transport the remaining boxes of provisions to
our depot by the big hummock, and we had the same
trudging backwards and forwards with the sledges in
the dark as that of a day or two before.
We had a regular rummaging in the hold to find
132 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the boxes containing provisions, and we were hard at
work until dinner-time getting them on deck. Cart-
ridges were taken from our stores, ten being appor-
tioned to each of us to carry in his bag, and a box
containing shot and ball cartridges was sent over to
the depot. At night we had supper later than usual
on Saturdays. We hoped we should be able to get
some good rest for the night, but it was to be other-
wise. About eight o'clock the pressure began again,
and this time with a vengeance. The mass of ice on
the port side came rushing in over the awning on the
fore-deck and piled itself up aft on the deck to a level
with the bridge. It was now high time to save our-
selves, as NanSv,n called t out, " A Unhands ondeck."
He had hurried on deck and set loose the dogs, which
the awning had protected from the masses of ice that
had fallen upon it, and it was really a wonder that
the awning withstood the strain.
I was in the galley at the time, waiting my turn
for a wash after Sverdrup had done, and had just
managed_to dip my hands Jato the water. I was
and only lightly dressed. It was not at
all pleasant to sit there dressing while one after the
other of my comrades vanished on deck, and the
pressure went on with deafening noise, the Fram
groaning in every timber. I did not get on deck till
nearly all was over and the others came down again
to fetch up their bags, clothes, and sleeping-bags.
Everything was in readiness, but at the last moment
we found that there were still a good many things
which we ought to take with us. Fortunately, the
temperature was only about 8° below zero.
If the Fram were to be lost, we were so far in
safety on the ice, with provisions for a year, clothes,
sleeping-bags, tents, sails, sledges, and dogs ; but we
should, of course, be in the midst of the polar ice,
A MERRY-MAKING 133
about a thousand miles away from the nearest known
land. We did not feel despondent, but we thought
ourselves remarkably lucky when the pressure sud-
denly stopped. It seemed as if it had spent its fury,
and was satisfied now that it had driven us out upon
the ice. We found afterwards that the Fram had
been lifted up about a foot and shifted somewhat
backwardSj^also righting herself a little towards the
port_sidg» She was now listing over 6|°; on Friday
night, January 4th, it was 7°.
When everything had been placed in safety, we
returned to the ship and assembled in Sverdrup's
cabin for a small merry party. Sverdrup treated us
to gingerbread from his store of accumulated win-
nings, and we drank to each other in malt extract,
hoping that this would not be the last time we should
drink a glass together on board the Fram.
It was decided that we should remain on board for
the night. The watch was taken in turn, while we
settled down in the empty bunks, ready to jump out
at a moment's warning. Soon after the pressure
began the door on the port side had been shut up, as
it was dangerous to pass the ice on that side. On
account of the present state of things we slept even
less than the night before. We dozed . for a while,
then went on watch, and then back to doze again.
But, during the night, and up to Sunday dinner-time,
when I was sitting making these notes .on a piece, of
paper, as our journals were now over at the depot,
the ice was at rest.
CHAPTER XIV
Beating the World's Record — The Depot on the Big
Hummock — The Second Arctic Night — More about
the Equipment of the Sledge Expedition
ON Sunday afternoon, January 6th, 1895, all hands
were hard at work clearing the ice away from
the side of the ship. It was not such an easy job as
we imagined, for a mass of ice and snow slush had
forced its way in and filled the deck between the
windmill and the half-deck.
The same day we beat the world's record. The
observations showed that we were in 83° 34*2' north
latitude, and 102° 2' east longitude. The occasion was
duly celebrated in the evening, but we were all tired
and sleepy. We drank "polar toddy," ate cakes and
fruit, and went to bed in the empty bunks with our
clothes on. There had been some pressure going on
in the course of the day, but the Fram did not suffer
from it in any way. During January and February
we were busy digging and carting away the ice. I
believe the crew kept at this after Nansen and I left
the ship in March.
From time to time Petterson prophesied that we
should have fair winds. If his prophecy did not come
true, which happened now and then, he did not get
off without a good deal of chaffing. Once he ex-
pressed himself something like this : "I ,-airu- not a
sailor, but I feel sure that, very shortly, we shall get
134 • — '
TRIALS OF TEMPER 135
a devil of a hiding from the south." As the " devil
of a hiding" "dicPnot come, Petterson was asked ./or.
it at every meal-time. When a south-westerly wind
sprang up a long time afterwards, blowing at the rate
of ten metres to the second, and accompanied by snow,
Petterson was again in his glory.
On January nth some of us went to the dep6t and
put our provisions, clothes, etc., over there in order.
Boxes of bread, dog-biscuits, ammunition, guns, flour,
barley, chocolate, ski, sledges, kayaks, sails, tents, and
implements of various kinds were lying topsy-turvy
all over the ice, but now they were arranged in
various heaps, with an assortment in each, so that
we should not lose all we had of one kind in case of
an accident to the floe in any place.
The next day, January j^th, we found that we had
not altogether escaped^ the influence of the polar night
upon us. Ou£_tenipexs. naturally were not .always
what they should be. Though one may bs among the
best and kindest of people, it really requires, under
such circumstances as ours, a great deaL of tact to
keep on good terms with everybody. For we were
always the same thirteen persons together, both night
and day, under exactly the same conditions, and
learned to know each other thoroughly, with all. our
various little weaknesses and tender points. One's
spiritsjwere^apt to hprome depressed now and then,
and one easily became cantankerous., and irritable,
taking: (^ence^a^ut^ajices of ..the most-trivial jle-
scription. It was a capital thing, however, that we
could have recojn^e^c^tJagJjjjr^r^when we were out
of sorts.
We .had some difficulty with regard to the distribu-
tion of heaton, the saloon, as the ship was lying over
on the starboard side. The heat was greatest on this
side of the saloon, but it happened that those of us
136 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
who liked heat best had their
and these fellows kept up a big fire in order target
their side warm, while we on the starboard side found
it so^ hot that we had to lie outside our sleeping-bags.
Scott-Hansen often sat bared to the waisMn his cabin
when working out his observations.
When Nansen and I were gone, Sverdrup moved
across to Nansen' s cabin on the jwarm side, and
Jacobsen removed from "Eternal Rest," where there
were five men, to the "Old Age Retreat^" and lived
there by himself for the rest of the voyage.
"Pan" and uBaby" were still trying to put an
end to one another. Bentsen and Nordahl were one
day trying for a long time to separate them ; the
former had to give it up, however, as he was con-
tinually losing hold of his 4rousers^_^v^ng^Jakeii off
his beltJinjDrder to thrask the dogs.
On the i5th of January we were in 83° 27-3' north
latitude, and 103° 41' east longitude. We had been drift-
ing south again on account of the north-westerly wind.
One of the dangers of which we were most appre-
hensive on the sledge expedition was that of breaking
a leg or an arm. In order that we might be
prepared for any such accident, it was necessary that
we should understand how to splint and^ bandage_
A broken limbs. Blessiag-gave a lecture on the subject
jr one evening, with practical demonstrations of the
treatment to be used. Najisefi— sat on -the top of —the-
table in__the saloon, representing a person- -with — a
brokgjulegi The rest of us stood round . and watched
the operations. When Nansen was ready _.JL_was_
placed under treatment, and was supposed to have
a broken collar-bone. Blessing's instructions were
clear and interesting, but we both hoped that the
time might never come when we should require each
other's aid.
THE SMITHY 137
Jacobsen, assisted by some of the others, built a
fine smithy of ice-blocks over by the ridges on the
port side. Fire was now constantly in the forge, and
Fetter son let his hammer dance merrily on the anvil,
feeling^not 1i little proud a^being~5^woHd?F]mpst
smith, working away in a temperaUmf~of
40^ below zen^ in a smithy where he was quite safe i ^
from^fire, and where_he_need not trouble about in-
surance.
He made an axe for the sledge expedition, the
blade^of which was no bigger than a matchbox. He
could not understand what we wanted with anything
so " devili$h_ small." He also made a small bear-
spear, Jjor^Nansen. This was, however, never used
upon any bear, but as a soldering-iron when we had
to make our kayaks watertight in the seams with
stearine. We made the spear hot by warming it over
our train-oil lamps. We had a regular soldering-
iron with us, which we also used for the same
purpose.
But the smithy was also used for many other
purposes. For instance, the many pairs of ski which
we took with us had to be carefully impregnated
with a mixture of tar, tallow, and stearine, so as to
stand better the wear and tear over all kinds of
ground. The runners for the sledges were steamed
over a cauldron on the forge in order that they
might be more easily bent. Afterwards they were
impregnated with the same composition as that
applied to the ski before the German-silver plates
were fixed under the runners. Mogstad had prepared
thin guard-runners of maple to be fixed outside the
German-silver plates.
We found it was far easier to draw sledges with
wooden runners impregnated with the above com-
position of tar, etc., than with metal plates under the
138 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
runners ; and besides, these double runners strength-
ened the sledges considerably. Petterson also-manu-
factured small nails in his smithy. Mogstad used
silverToT soldering the German-^hrer plates. This
was the only occasion upon which jthe question of
money was raised on board the ship. Scott-llanscn
had a five-kroner note, but that was^of^no use.
It was real silver^ that was wanted, and Mogstad
managed finally to raisjg^some half-kroners, which he
used fqr_solder. We had a miniature^ lire~ on one of
these occasions ; the lamp exploded, and our table
bore the marks of this conflagration.
Amundsen had a difficult job repairing the wind-
mill; it was getting old and the pinions were much
worn. It was not pleasant work to lie boring holes
in the hard iron in the severe cold up there on top
of " Fi^nz^Josef," as Amundsen^ajUed the mill. He
wanted, however, to try to get it into working order,
and to get the electric batteries thawed up, so that
we might all be photographed by electric light in the
saloon before Nansen and I left the ship.
Our departure, for the present, had been fixed for
the 2oth of February — that is to say, if it should
4. not be too dark at that time. Blessing, after having
gone through his apprenticeship with Nansenr had taken
over theLphotographic^work, and lie was now much
patronised. I had been busy copying all our meteoro-
logical and deep-water observations on thin, ^strong
pajpgr with ink_which.^will_resist water" We had
taken every precaution to preserve and bring these
home safely. We again took deep-sea soundings, and
all hands were thus fully occupied, so that all were
contributing in some way or other towards the suc-
cess of the expedition.
On a sledge expedition such as ours it was, of
course, of the greatest importance that the provisions
PE MM 1C AN 139
should be chosen with the greatest care ; above all,
they must be wholesome and nutritious, so as to
avoid scurvy, and they must be prepared and pre-
served in a light and concentrated form.
It was also important that they should be so
prepared that they could be eaten without any
cooking or preparation. The principal food on sledge
expeditions is generally pemmican, which experience
has proved to be the best. Pemmican is, as every
one knows, fresh meat dried in the wind. On
Nansen's expedition across Greenland the explorers
suffered from want of fat, tfie pemmican being^top
dry^ NanserT ^JtiadTalcen ' precautions that this should
not happen again. Our pemmican_was made from the
very_ best kind of beef cut from the_Jplid, fleshy
parts, dried quickly, ~and pulverised, to whicK~-fne
same~quantity of .toe beef suet was^afterwards added.
It was almost entirely tree from water. We had also
some liver_£#££_prepared in the same way. Then we
had some pemmican which had been prepared with
vegetable— oil—instead oL suet, but this jwas___not^ a
success^ We took a good supply of this staple food,
as the dogs had also to be fed upon it. The pem-
mican came from the makers in the form of small
cheeses in tins, but as we did not care for loading
ourselves unnecessarily with any heavy packing, we
took the contents out of the tins and made boat-grips
of them in the following manner. It was necessary
to use grips— under the kayaks, so that they could
rest safely and . steadily when passing— over the
uneven ice. Instead of making th£S£_JCrips of jwcpd,
Sverdrup_sewed some__£anvas-bags of a sharjg to fit
the bottom ofthfiJiayal^s^nd after havingLJ&armed
the pemrrrtcSnTwe filled these bags with it, just as
one does^jijiiattfess. As soon as they came into the
opan air they became hard and solid.
140 WITH NAN SEN IN THE NORTH
Professor Waage's fish-meal proved to be an ex-
cellent food during the sledge expedition. Mixed and
boiled with flour and__butter_it made a splendid dish;
one actiiall^Became warm all over the body after
a meal of it. We took also some jlrieijDotatoes with
us ; mixed^with pemmican it was the most delicious
lobscouse__liL-ihe 'worlcL JNansen pyeierrea tne
" as we called it, while I fancied the lobscouse
—at any rate, at first.
When Nansen and his companions crossed Green-
land they were always feeling hungry. In order that
we should feel properly satisfied and comfortable now
and then, we took some steamed oaten groats and
maize with us for making porridge. We had also
some " vril-food." a kind of sweet^meal, which we
soon learnt to appreciate; in fact, sugar and flour
were most highly prized. And we did not forget
chocolate, of which we had both the ordinary kind
and another sort made with powdered meat, the
latter being hardly distinguishable in taste from the
former.
Of " serin," or whey_powder, we had a good supply
with us. This is really nothing else than pulverised
whey, which we mixed with boiling water. We used
to drink it at night, before we put our frozen bodies
to rest in the sleeping-bag. It did us a wonderful
amount of good, and we often longed for this drink
on our laborious journeys in the cold.
The bread we took, of course, contained as little
moisture as possible ; we had two kinds — wheaten
bread and aleuronate bread.1 Peder saw to the
butter, and kneaded all the water out of it, but it
became very hard for all that — in fact, so hard that
1 Bread made of wheaten flour mixed w.i
albumen).
EQUIPING THE ICE EXPEDITION 141
on one occasion on our journey I broke a knife in
trying to cut off a piece.
sails for the sledges, as
we should have to make as mucn use as possible of
the wind, both on the ice and on the water. He also
made some special oar-blades to be fixed_pn to our
ski -staff s _and to be used as oars. The blades con-
sisted of frames made of cane covered with canvas.
A small sledge with a white shooting-sail, such as is
used SyntheEskimos when they" "EunTTTEe ~seaI7~was
also made ready for us.
Guns and ammunition were, of course, matters of
paramount importance. After much deliberation and
many trials, we decided to use the same guns which
Nansen had with him on his Greenland expedition.
These were two double-barrelled guns, each having a
barrel for ball of 360 calibre, and one for shot of
20 bore. Our ammunition consisted of 180 rifle-
cartridges and 150 shot-cartridges.
We took several knives with us. Nansen..iiad a
large, fine, Lapp knife, of the same kind as the
Lapps use, in the summer, with a large, flat, broad
blade of iron and steel. This knife could also be
used as a hatchet. One of the excellent u tolle-
knives," from Toten, with handle covered with birch-
bark, turned out a most useful implement. We also
had several smal] _ -knives. Sverdruj£_jnade___me a
present of one combining gimlet, saw, file, scrcw-
driver^elc. This was in such request that when we
returned there was only one blade left in it.
Of foot-gear we had each two jxiirs of Lapp shojs
and one pair of "komager." The former are made of
the skin of the hind legs^of reindeer oxen, not of the
skin of the head, which, although it may be warm, is
not so durable. The "koroager" are made of_tanned
seajjskin, Jtvell impregnated jwith^ai^_and_train oil.
142 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
We us^J^enne^jj£as,s (carex cesicaria) inside the
shoes and socks of wolfskin andi hair, and, _ foot-
bandages_ of thick " vadmel " (Norwegian homespun
tweed). Stockings we did not use. We took a pair
each with us, however, but these we cut in two so
that we could use the legs and the feet separately.
Our cooking apparatus was so arranged that we
could cook our food and melt as much ice as possible
for drinking purposes, with the least possible expendi-
ture of fuel. It consisted of several vessels, the inner-
most being the cooking vessel proper, made of German
silver. This was inside a ring-shaped vessel, which
was filled with ice. Above the two a flat vessel was
placed, also for melting ice. The whole was sur-
rounded by a thin, light mantle or cap of aluminium,
and outside this we again placed a hood of wolfskin,
so that none of the heat should be lost. For heating,
we used petroleum in the "Primus" lamp; this ap-
paratus proving itself the most economical of all in
regard to fuel.
We had been living high of late on the flesh of the
last three bears we shot. Juell_had a masterly^way
of cooking ^excellent .beefsteaks with parsley-butter
from beaFs meat. We all agreed that we U^eiL-like
fightijis^ocks, especially when we remembered how
other expeditions had fared.
On the 23rd of January we took two soundings, and
reached the bottom at a depth of 1,800 and 1,850
fathoms respectively.
On January 25th I was in the hold with Nansen,
getting our ski ready. The weather was clear ; the
streak of light on the horizon in the south at noon,
which heralds the approach of day, was gradually
growing bigger. We had now fought through the
worst part of the Arctic night. The temperature was
down to 58° below zero. We had hardly any wind,
A COLD SHOP
but Patterson was prophesying again. Our carpenter's
shop was in the hold ; .it was, no doubt, the coldest in
the world, the temperature there being 36° of frost.
On February ist Sverdrup and I wrere busy bending
laths of ash by steam for the sledges. When we
DR. NANSEN AND JOHANSEN LEAVING THE FRAM ON THEIR
SLEDGE EXPEDITION ACROSS THE POLAR ICE.
were over in the smithy on the ice it did not often
strike us that the sea-bottom was only 1,800 fathoms
below. It was not at all warm inside the smithy as
a rule, but then we were getting used to the cold.
The saloon, our only warm room, was now in the
144 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
greatest confusion. It was an improvised workshop
for fitting, soldering, lashing, and all kinds of work
which we could not do in the cold.
On the walls and under the roofs were hanging
wooden materials, ski, sledge-runners, plates of German
silver, and ash laths, together with pictures, a
barometer, a barograph, watches, clothes, fur coats,
guns, and provision bags. There was hardly room to
move about.
Nansen announced that the Jetters^ we were going
to take with us from our comnid^ on board ought
not to be heavier than an ordinary letter (j-ozj. It
might happen, he said, that we should "have to throw
away everything in order to save ourselves. The
letters we would, of course, stick to as long as pos-
sible, and they ought therefore to be light. Our
comrades, however, had not reckoned upon being
allowed to send even as much as that, but as they all
were writing in a small hand, they got a lot into
|-oz. of thin paper.
Nansen and I tried the_two sleeping-bags which
Sverdrup made for us, to ascertain if they were warm
enough. They only weighed 6| and 4^ Ibs.. respec-
tively. We lay out on the ice for a couple of nights,
but we felt rather cold ; the bags were evidently too
thin^ Sverdrup^Tiad then to set to work to make a
double bag from the thick skins of grown-up reindeer,
so^we^djd ITot save anything in weight here.
OutTof an anemometer, which -McTbeen standing on
a hummock going round day and night, and which we
were continually repairing, Mogstad made an odo-
meter^ which was affixed to the hindmost of _the
sledges.
By the loth of February it had become so light in
the middle of the day that we were able to read.
The dogs were having a fine time just now. All over
A WEATHER PROPHET 145
the ice, near the ship, biscuits were lying about, but
they did not seem to care much for them. They got
as much food as they wanted, in order to get them
into good condition for the hard work on our expedi-
tion. The carcases of the four dogs, which had been
hanging all the winter under the jib-boom, and on
which they had their eyes, were devoured in a jiffy.
They 'also got pemmican and blubber. With the ex-
ception of " Livjaegeren " they were all in good con-
dition. Times had changed since the days when our
late friend, " Cannibal," lay on the top of the biscuit
bag, guarding it against the others.
On February 2ist we were in 81° 40' north latitude.
We had another weather prophet on board besides
Petterson, namely Peder. He only prophesied when
we were going to have northerly winds, and used the
nautical almanack to assist him. It was, he said,
when Jupiter was in a certain position that we might
expect these winds. As Peder had once or twice
been successful in his prophecies he soon found a
great believer in Amundsen. When occasionally the
north wind failed to put in an appearance, and we
found ourselves drifting in the very opposite direction
to that in which we should have been according to
his prediction, he did not look upon himself as beaten,
but maintained that the north wind was sure to be
blowing some little distance out on the ice, say about
a couple of miles or so from the ship.
We got over the worst by February 22nd. The ski
were now all ready, with fastenings and a double
layer of birch bark ; the provisions were carefully
stowed away on the sledges, all four of which were
now at last standing ready packed by the ship's side.
We made a list of the provisions, and found that
there was about 200 Ibs. of overweight when the
instruments and ammunition were included. Our
146 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
equipment had to be gone through again and re-
arranged. As the time drew near for our departure,
a number of small things were added which had not
been thought of before, such as small harpoons for
fixing on our ski-staffs, pumps for the kayaks, dogs'
shoes of sealskin, and two wire ropes, provided with
short, double leashes for stretching between the sledges
and fastening the dogs to when we encamped for the
first few nights. We imagined that they would prefer
their old quarters to remaining with us on the ice,
but with the aid of these leashes we had no need to
be afraid of their getting back to the ship.
CHAPTER XV
The Departure — We Make Two Starts — / Act as Snow-
plough — Sun Festival and Celebration on Passing
the Eighty-fourth Degree
FEBRUARY 23rd and 24th were to have been
days of rest before our departure, but instead
they turned out to be two of the busiest days we ever
had. We were in a regular bustle, and everything
was being hurried on before we could get ready to
start. In spite of all the commotion, however, our
comrades had found time, in the course of the night,
to decorate the--sa4oon with flags, and three --new
electric lampsr embellished with coloured papen_jQyer
the sofa.
ThlTdinner on Sunday, February 24th, was a solemn
affair. Scott-Hansen produced some claret, which he
had been_^^n3ijrkeepmg~-Hi1^^^ time._ Blessing
made a speech, in which he congratulated Nansen on
the result the expedition had obtained up to the
present time, and wished us both a successful journey,
hoping we should find everything well at home.
Nansen, on behalf of us both, replied that we would
be sure to think with pleasure of our life on board
the Fram, and that as surely as we reached home
safely we would remember our comrades in the ice.
He hoped that no one on board would ever regret
having joined the expedition, and asked us 'to drink
to our next meeting — a happy meeting of all of us
147
148 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
in Norway. After dinner we had coffee with
curagoa and a short rest, and then we had to^setTto
work again with sewing, loading cartridges, and pack-
ing away fishing tackle, sewing materials, and kayak
pumps. Some of our clothing had also to be looked
to, and bands and straps had to be sewn on our
wind-clothes. There was something to do up to the
last moment.
I sat up writing Jar-away into the night. I had
my letters for home to finish, and finally I was thinking
of having "lT~good "wash ' We all kept awake, and
Bentsen was sitting in^^ux__c^in_telling yarns. We
had a festive gathering in the evening, with polar
toddy, raisins, almonds, and other fruit. Captain
Sverdrup spoke a few hearty words, wishing us all
success on our journey. Afterwards Naasen went
back to his work, which consisted of dictating to
Blessing__a. lot of instructions relating to his observa-
tions of the small marine animals.
On Tuesday, the 26th of February, we were at last
ready to say farewell. But the weather was anything
but inviting for a start. The morning was grey ;
there was a slight snowfall, and the wind was east
to south. The last good-bye was said to those who
were to remain on board, while Sverdrup, Scott-
Hansen, Blessing, Mogstad, and Hendriksen were to
accompany us some distance on the way. They took
a tent and the necessary equipment with them, in
order to spend the night with us in our first encamp-
ment. Nansen glided off' in front on his ski, leading
the way, and next came the first sledge, with "Kvik"
as the first dog in the team. But the journey did not
last long. We had not proceeded very far from the
ship, and the sound of the guns had only just died
away, when one of the heavily-laden sledges broke
down in being dragged across a ridge; a projecting
SLEDGE EXPEDITION STARTS 149
piece of ice had smashed three of the cross-bars, and
there we were left standing. There was nothing else
to do but to return whence we came. We should not
have believed that we should see each other again so
soon; we hadjmly Just- said-good-bye.
It was fortunate, however, that we had not gone very
far away with our things. It appeared that the sledges
were not strqng__eno#gh for the heavy load we had
put upon them. We should have to strengthen them.
Nansen decided that we should add two new sledges ,_.
to the four we J)ad1-ma.king- m glj ^JK, g^ the load on
each would thus be considerably less. The same
activity began again on board ; Sverdrup and I were
once more in the smithy, busy tarring the two new
sledges. All were now fitted with a long, broad board,
which was lashed underneath the cross-bars with steel
wire, so that any projecting pieces of ice should not
again damage them. The sledges were once more over-
hauled. We had finished all the repairs and outfitting
on Wednesday night, and the next day we were to start
again.
We set out on the morning of Thursday, February 28th,
with our six sledges, accompanied by Sverdrup, Blessing,
Mogstad, Scott-Hansen, and Hendriksen, who had fitted
out .a sledge with a tent and other necessities for one
or two days' journey. Our other comrades also accom-
panied us for some distance, Jacobsen and Bentsen being
the last to leave us. Although we now had a man to
each sledge to assist it over ridges and other obstacles,
we travelled very slowly. It took us all our time to
assist in pushing on, and helping the sledges over, when
the dogs pulled up, and this not only when there were
obstacles, but even when we were on flat ice. It was
clear that the loads wgre. ton hpavy, and after having
journeyed some distance we pulled up and took off, twp
boat-grips with pemmican, which lightenedjliejsledges
150 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
to some extent. At this point Bentsen and Jacobsen
returned to the ship, the latter expressing his opinion
that we were sure to have to come back to the Fram
once more. The provisions we left behind were placed
on a hummock, and a ski, which had been broken on
the way, was set up as a mark, so that our comrades
could find the place later on and bring the provisions
back to the ship.
We then proceeded on our journey with the reduced
loads, but we did not make much progress, and soon
decided upon pitching our tents and encamping for the
night. The dogs were fastened in couples, side by side,
and fed. We thus obtained an idea of how long a time
it would take us to encamp when we two were left to
ourselves. We soon found that we must be prepared
to take a considerable time, especially at the beginning.
We spent a pleasant evening in the great tent which
our comrades had brought with them. We felt quite
warm and comfortable as we sat there in our wolfskin
clothes. The five treated us to an excellent supper,
consisting of chocolate, bread, butter, bacon, and cake,
the latter bringing with it some of the smell of the
kerosene oil on board the Fram. Afterwards our hosts
brought out some pure spirits of wine and brewed toddy
for us, which we drank out of our tin cups with great
relish. Our pipes were soon alight, and speeches were
made by Nansen and Blessing. After having had a
pleasant time we went to rest in our sleeping-bags. But
we did not get much sleep, owing to the dogs, which
fought and howled during the whole night.
Next day the weather was dark, the wind east to
south. After several hours of work, occupied in cooking
and getting the sledges and dogs ready, we broke up,
and the whole party set out again. In the afternoon
came the hour for leave-taking. The weather was cold
and depressing, and so were our spirits ; the Arctic night
ALONE IN THE ICE SOLITUDE 151
had not yet come to an end. All were moved as we
shook hands for the last time and sent greetings to all
at home.
And then Nansen and I were left alone on the desert
icefields with the dogs and sledges. We did not get
very far during the rest of the day, as we found pro-
gress very difficult. Nansen was in front, leading the
way. When the sledges came to a stop through some
impediment or other — and we could hardly proceed
many paces at a time without this happening — we had
to get them started again. We were continually run-
ning backwards and forwards in order to be able to
make any progress at all.
Next day things went on in much the same way. We
soon discovered that the loads were yet ton T^fj vy^ hnf h
for the dogs and ourselves, although they were becoming
somewhat lighter the farther we proceeded northwards.
The ice, moreover, was in a very rough condition and
difficult to get over. We therefore made a halt, and
Nansen declared that the loads would have to be still
more_reduced. " If the others had not gone back to the
ship," he said, " the best thing would have been to
return with them at once." He then went some distance
to the north to reconnoitre, while I fed the dogs and
got our encampment in order. When he came back
we lighted our cooking apparatus, had our supper, and
then crept into our sleeping-bag.
When the morning came, Nansen selected a strong
team of dogs and set off on one of the sledges for the
ship to get assistance in bringing back the sledges.
Thus I wasJgfJLentirel^alone in the solitude. This
was on Sunday, the 3rd of March. The weather was
fresh and cold, and I could hardly believe that it was
really the sun I saw away on the horizon, but there
could be no mistake. There it stood, fiery-red on its
first appearance, but no ray of heat reached us. To us
152
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
it meant light, and light to us meant new life. Far away
I saw the masts of the Fram through the clear air. I
took her bearings in case this might be wanted.
Instead of lying inactive in the tent waiting for the
others to return, I thought I would begin moving in
the direction of the ship with the whole caravan. I
began the return journey in the following manner. I
started with three of _the sledges, using all the dogsf
CROSSING A RIDGE.
and leaving the other two sledges behind. Then, when
I had proceeded some distance on the way, I took the
dogs from the sledges to go back and fetch the remain-
ing two, and tied the traces rouncLmy, w.aist. I tried
first to stand on my ski and let the dogs drag me along ;
but I soon had to give this up, as the ice was rough
and uneven, and the progress became too violent and
jerky. The dogs set off at lightning speed as soon as
RUNAWAY DOGS 153
they became aware of the lightened load, but the speed
was too much for me. Down I went, sprawling in the
snowT, and the next moment I was being dragged along
with the ski on my feet as if I were a snow-plough.
This was the first and last occasion on which I acted
in this capacity during the expedition. At last this
undignified method of progress was stopped by a ridge,
over which the dogs scrambled, while I was landed
right up against it. The wild creatures tore themselves
loose, dragging my knife-belt away with them on their
mad career. I was afraid they had left me for good ;
but, strange to say, they pulled up as soon as they felt
themselves free, and stood staring at me just as if they
wanted to see how I was getting on.
I enticed them back to me, and giving up the ski, I
fastened the dogs again to my waist, and set off trotting
behind them in my Lapp boots till the snow flew about
my ears. Now and then, of course, I had a fall, but
I was soon on my feet again. I thought it was splendid
exercise to te Hying about like this alone on the icefields
much farther north than any living beings had been
before.
In this way I reached the sledges, which were brought
up to the others one by one. The chief difficulty was
to get them over the rather high edge of a frozen lane
near the camp, but, owing to my "free and easy"
method of travelling, we managed to get on quickly
enough ; so much so, that when the evening came we
had travelled back a greater distance than we had
advanced the day before.
I found a nice place for encamping, gave the dogs
some pemmican, and began getting my supper ready.
I pictured to myself how nice some warm food would
taste, lighted the " Primus," and crept into the sleeping-
bag, where I could make notes in my journal of the
events of the last few days in peace and comfort. While
154 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
I was attending to the cooking apparatus "Suggen"
began to bark, and presently I heard some one answer
away on the ice. I turned out, and could now hear
voices not far off. Soon afterwards I caught a glimpse
now and then, between the hummocks, of dogs drawing
a sledge, on which sat two men. In a few minutes they
came driving at full speed into the camp, while the
dogs made a terrible row. It was Scott-Hansen and
Nordahl^jadio had returned with Nansea,'s^sledge and
team to keep me company during the night. To me
this was a pleasant surprise. Scott-Hansen told me he
had just worked out his last observation, which showed
that we were in S^0^' jiorth latitude, and that they had
been celebrating the return of the sun on board that
day, and so we decided we also would have a^celebcation
of our own.
After partaking of a plain supper, we settled clown
to our pipes. Sverdrup had sent his best pipe with
them, as he knew^hTrd-trnTie^; rieitneF~Nansen nor I
had taken any pipes or tobacco with us on the sledge
expedition. We then made some toddy of some spirits
of wine which they had brought with them, and we
spent quite a pleasant time in the tent where we three
sat, far away from home, singingjnany of ouj^jmtional
songs.
It was late at night before we went to rest in our
sleeping-bags, Scott-Hansen and I in the double one,
and Nordahl in a single one he had brought with him.
Next morning Nansen, Sverdrup, and Peder arrived
from the ship on ski. We broke up the encampment
and returned for the second time to the Fram. In the
neighbourhood of the ship we were stopped by a long
lane of open water which had been formed in the ice.
It was impossible to get the sledges across it at any
point, and as we did not care to get out the kayaks,
we put the sledges on a safe part of the ice and left
BACK TO THE " FRAM" 155
them there until the lane should be sufficiently frozen
for us to bring them across to the ship. We and the
dogs managed to scramble across on some small ice-
lloes.
It was pleasant to be again sitting in the warm, cosy
cabin of the Fram, doing justice to the well-stocked
table.
When we started for the first time with the four
sledges, each load weighed about 550 Ibs. — we could not
tell to a few pounds, for every little thing was not
weighed. The total weight of the provisions was not
quite 2,000 Ibs. On starting the second time the same
weight was distributed over the six sledges, but shortly
afterwards two boat-grips and one bag with pemmican
were left behind, reducing the weight by about 300 Ibs.
There were thus about 300 Ibs. on each of our six
sledges. On the two sledges with the kayaks, however,
we had rather heavier loads, besides the weight of the
sledges themselves. The biggest of these, with guard-
runners and ski, weighed 70 Ibs.
It was, clear that we could not manage so many
sle<,lffesr or so great a load upon each sledge. After
renewed deliberations and calculations, Nansen decided /
that we ^should take only three sledges with 440 Ibs. on /
each. This would give us sufficient food for^joq, days
ancTthe dogs sufficient for 30 daysT "^Tfie" three sledges
were stfengtEened fri every'possible way — ash ribs
were lashed over all the cross-bars, and between these
and the uprights iron supports were likewise lashed.
The wolfskin clothes had not turned out suitable for our
journey. By using them at night in the sleeping-bag
they, as well as the bag, became damp, the latter having
the hairy side out ; and when we put on the wolfskin
clothes in the evening before going into the bag they
were so stiff that we could hardly pull the hood over
our heads. The last night we were out on the ice the
156 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
temperature was —43°, and in the thermometer house
near the ship it had only been - 38° the same night.
We made our blankets into a sort of night-shirt, so
that we could button them round us when we crept into
the bag. We also used this garment to throw over our
shoulders when making a halt on the journey. Sverdrup
made the sleeping-bag somewhat larger, as it proved
to be too small when we turned the hairy side in.
We lay out on the ice one night and tried this new
arrangement, with the blankets and the hairy side of
the bag turned in. We had on two thick woollen shirts,
drawers, leggings, socks, Lapp shoes, and woollen knee-
breeches with leggings. Outside the upper part of our
bodies we wore a smaller wool len Jer sey_, an pt he r of
camel-hair, while Nansen had one of Iceland wool, and
I an anorak of jvadmel (Norwegian tweed), with woollen
hoods covering our heads. This arrangement gave
entire satisfaction, and we felt much drier in the bag
than before.
The third equipment was now ready, and the time
had arrived for us to exchange our third and last fare-
well with our comrades and the Fram. I had been
down in the hold with Jacobsen, lashing iron fittings
to the sledges, and while there he told me that he would
not sj.v, good-bye any mnre to nsT since we kept on
coming J3aek_jea^i£jim£. We were_sure, he declared,
to come bark the third
1 Well, we ^did,. come-xm boarcLagain. but that was not
bntil we met again in the harbour of Tromso, after
many a long day had-aagseli.
CHAPTER XVI
Off at Last — The Fight' Across the Ice to 86° 14'-
Farthest North
ON tl}e i/^th of March, 1895, the guns again
thundered forth across the desert icefields, and
the flag was hoisted on the Fram. This time our
journey began in earnest. Several of our comrades
came some distance on the way with us. Sverdrup
and Mogstad left us in the course of the day, but
Scott-Hansen, Hendriksen, and Petterson remained
with us until the following day. Nansen went in
front, as before, and led the way ; next came the
sledge with his kayak and the following dogs in his
team : " Kvik," " Baro," " Lilleraeven," " Sjolike,"
"Narrifas," "Freia," "Barbara," "Potiphar," and
"Rattlesnake." Then came the middle sledge, and
lastly mine with my kayak. The teams of these two
sledges consisted of the following dogs: "Suggen,"
"Baby," " Haren," "Gulen," "Flint," "Caiaphas,"
"Blok," "Bjelki," and "Sultan"; and finally,
" Barabbas," " Kvindfolket," " Perpetuum," " Katta,"
" Livjsegeren," " Storraeven," " Russen," '-Icebear,"
"Pan," and "Ulinka." On the flat ice everything
went capitally, but the ice-ridges caused us a great
deal of trouble and loss of time. I broke one of my
ski soon after we started, but I obtained a new one
from Mogstad, who had to return to the ship on a
ski and a half. When we made a halt to camp for
157
158 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the evening, the odometer on the hindmost sledge
showed that we had covered six miles, and we our-
selves were both hungry and thirsty. We had been
merry-making the night before on board the Fram,
and maybe that was the reason we felt somewhat
more thirsty than usual. We did not feel quite at our
ease till we were comfortably seated inside the tent
with plenty of food and drink before us. Petterson
gave vent to his feelings by exclaiming, "NowJJeel
as happy as a prince ! "
Next day we parted with our three comrades ; they
had spent the night in a snow-hut which they had
built with the aid of their ski and staffs. They had
not been very warm, and had been astir early in the
morning. They now helped to break up the encamp-
ment and to look after the dogs, whereupon we
thanked them for accompanying us on the way, gave
them a farewell hand-grip, and then shaped our
course to the north, feeling not a little emotion at
parting.
Through some trouble which I had with one of the
teams, as well as through my long leave-taking with
Scott-Hansen, I got left behind and had to hurry on
after the sledges. I found time, however, to look
back after our three comrades, who were standing-
gazing, no doubt with strange thoughts in their minds,
after us, who were setting out for the unknown
regions in the north.
On Monday, March i8th, the fifth day of our journey,
the odometer showed that we had done over twenty-
four miles. Sometimes we went over the flat, even
ice at a great pace, but at times we came across
ridges and lanes over which we had to climb. The
lanes were the worst, as we had to look for safe
places by which to cross, and this took time. The
Fram had long since vanished on the horizon; there
TROUBLE WITH THE SLEDGES 159
were only our~tKQ_ selves- -and the : dogs in that- lonely
region. The ice improved as we travelled farther
north, and the sledges became lighter day by day.
We had a good deal of trouble with one sledge,
which had to look after itself pretty well. It often
capsized, and whenever I had to right it the other
one came to a stop, and then I had to get it started
again. We suffered greatly from the cold, the
temperature being about 40° below zero. During the
daytime we had to toil along till we perspired, and it
was then warm enough, but it was during the night
that it was worst, especially as our clothes and
sleeping-bag were damp. We spread our blankets
over the kayaks, .in the hope of being able to dry
them in the sun as we went along. But it was a
vain hope to look for the sun. It was still far away,
and its rays were not likely to dry anything for some
time yet.
In the evenings we longed to get into our sleeping-
bag, and in the mornings we were all intent upon
getting away; but this took some time, especially as
we were now obliged to take each dog out of the
leash and harness it.
We fed the dogs in the evening, after the day's
work, as they then had something to which to le k
forward after their exertions during the day.
I had been obliged to tie up one of our dogs,
" Livjaegeren," to one of the two sledges I was
minding, as he had become a total wreck, and only
gave us trouble when in the team. One day he was
very near being strangled; he could not keep up with
us, and was being dragged along the ground by the
rope, which I had to cut in order to save him. One
of my fingers became frost-bitten, and Nansen had to
rub it with snow to revive it.
On March iQth we had a misfortune with our
i6o WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
middle sledge, which came into contact with a sharp
piece of ice, and one of the bags with fish-flour had
a hole cut in it. This caused some delay, as the
whole sledge had to be re-packed and lashed The
odometer was broken, and my kayak got a hole in its
side through capsizing. Nansen lost the sheath of his
bear-spear, and left his pocket-compass behind on
a hummock, but I fortunately discovered it in time.
We made a short halt in the middle of the day,
and had some beef-chocolate and bread-and-butter, but
we soon began to feel the cold, and then we had to
be off again. In spite of our mishaps, however, we
had done eight miles. I found that the morning was
Jhe best time for making progress, for ^f hen one could
feet the -steam up, so to speak, and keep the body
warm.
The days which now followed — before the sun had
risen very high in the heavens, and the cold had
abated — must be reckoned as the worst we had
exparienced during the whole expedition. Throughout
the day we had a continual struggle to get forward
at all, and in the night we suffered exceedingly from
the cold and from want of sleep. The exudations
from our bodies during the march collected in our
vadmel clothes, so that during the first days they
became stiff and frozen. As the time went on, the
icy surface on the clothes gradually increased, and
during the continuous and severe cold, which froze
the quicksilver, they bacame a veritable glacial suit
o£_anHQur. For a time, I used to change~my~outer
clothing when we crept into our sleeping-bag, and
used alternately my anorak and my camel-hair jacket;
but this plan I soon had to give up, as it was too
painful to have to turn one's frozen garments inside
out with one's benumbed fingers. We had just to
leave them as they were, and they cut into our
SLEEPING-BAGS 1 6 1
wrists and loins until we were quite sore. The dogs
gradually became intractable, and would not pull.
They would come to a stop all of a sudden, and jump
over each other's traces until these looked as if they
had been plaited. Over and over again the traces
had to be disentangled — rather a nasty job with
frozen, bleeding fingers. Some of the dogs were in
the habit, as soon as a halt was made, of gnawing-
through the traces. For some of the worst of them
the harness had been interlaced with steel wire, that
belonging to "Russen" being entirely composed of
wire. But if "Russen" could not free himself, he
generally managed to gnaw through another dog's
traces and set him free. A good deal of time was
thus lost in catching the dogs, and sometimes we had
to go on as best we could with a smaller team,
while the loose dogs followed the caravan at a
respectful distance.
Our gloves, too, became stiff and icy, and we had
finally to protect our^-4mgers_ by using_wolfskin
gloves lined with ^_genne^grass. Wernanagec
keep our feet fairly warm, but then we took the
utmost care of them, making elaborate leg-toilets,
both before we entered the sleeping-bag in the evening
and when we turned out in the morning. In the
evening we took ^JL^verything we had on our feet
and unravelled the wet "senne" grass, which we put
next to our body so as to dry it, till the morning, I
when we put on the hair and wolfskin socks or some
foot-bandages before putting our feet back into the
Lapp boots, which had been turned inside out for the
night.
The sleeping-bag was our best friend, but day by
day it grew stiffer and heavier with the ice which
gradually collected in the hair; now and then we had
to turn it inside out and knock the ice off it with
M
1 62 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
our ski staffs. In the evening, when we crept into
it, both the bag and our clothes gradually became
more pliant. Our poor bodies had first to thaw them
up before we could begin to feel warm. The stiff
frozen gloves and the wet "senne" grass which we
had to wear about us did not improve matters. Still
the sleeping-bag was always the goal for which we
longed during our march — the moment when we
should be able to get into it and get some warm food
into our hungry, frozen bodies, whether it was
lobscouse, fish-gratin, or Knorr's soups. A cup of
warm whey-drink afterwards was our .greatest com-
fort. We would then close the flap of the bag as
tightly as possible, creep closer to one another, and
compose . pur .weary limbs to rest.
When we awoke next morning, ready for the day's
march, our clothes were pliant and damp, and when
we opened the flap of our bag and stretched our arms
and the upper part of the body, the fine rime frost
which had gathered on the inside of the tent fell
down upon us in showers, and before long our clothes
were freezing again and became as stiff as a suit of
armour.
We had a good drink of water every morning, so
that we did not suffer from the so-called ''Arctic
thirst." If at times we began to talk about_Jiot
- " hnfj£r.be.pr " and such luxuries, we were sure to feel
'thirsty and suffer not a little; but if we could only
• leave ojf^ thinking of beingthirsty, the feeling^soon
"^wentjvvvay^ We had~takeiT^vinriislpocket-flasks of
ebonite, which we filled with water in the_nxorning
and~~~carried against our breasts, but we only used
them at the beginning of our journey; besides, I lost
mine before long.
The temperature on the night of March 2oth was
-47°, on 2ist it was -43°, and things were becoming
ANOTHER DEGREE PASSED 163
worse instead of better. We lost our odometer, but
did not trouble to find it again, as we had just had a
long delay, all caused by " Livjaegeren." We only
discovered that he was gone after we had travelled a
considerable distance from our last camp, upon which
Nansen went back, and found him rolled up in the
snow on the very spot which we had left in the
morning. This dog gave us a lot of trouble. Twice
I had to cut the rope round his neck, when he was
on the point of being strangled, and I also had to go
back to fetch him on one or two occasions. He had
to be killed as food for the other dogs.
Next day the cold was just as bad. The worst of
it was that we could not get any sleep at night, the
cold and the damp keeping us awake. To-day Nansen
took an observation for the first time, and found that
we were now in 85° 9' north latitude. The wind had
hitherto been blowing slightly from the north-east.
We travelled eight miles, and did not get into our
bag until two o'clock in the early morning. The
temperature was -48° and -38°. I had been shout-
ing at the dogs so much duHnpr fly> I^QJ- fcw Hayg,
that I scarcely knew my_ own. voice, and I could feel
by my back and my sides that the loads were heavy
to get over the ridges and difficult to right after
every capsize. We hnrrrri nwr flnign on tbfi iravairg ,
in celebration of our_. having -passed ...the eighty^fifth '
degree.
On" March 24th the thermometer stood at 49° below
zero. On the day before we had a sharp north-
easterly wind, ice in bad condition, and terrible hard
work in getting along. We killed "Livjaegeren" to
feed the other dogs. We used the bear-spear, but he
died hard, although he was in a miserable condition.
The other dogs did not seem to like his flesh, being,
I suppose, as yet too particular. The weather was
164 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
raw and foggy. This Sunday was the nastiest I had
ever experienced. It was an unpleasant and trying
day altogether. We were so tired and sleepy that we
were simply staggering with fatigue by the time we
reached the spot where we encamped for the night.
On the 25th we were in 85° 20' north latitude.
The terrible cold did not seem to be abating. We
lost so much time in camping and breaking up, the
work being so laborious and slow, that the day was
hardly long enough for us. It was a long and
unpleasant job to feed the dogs, as we had to dig out
the frozen pemmican from the boat-grips with our
sore hands, and portion out the food to the dogs
according to their deserts. And from time to time we
had to take bags of pemmican from the third sledge
in order to form fresh supports for the kayaks as the
grips were gradually emptied.
We passed on the 28th of March a large hummock,
the largest we had hitherto seen, being almost like an
iceberg. We were delayed for some time by a lane
which opened up after we had got one sledge across,
so that we had to make a detour with the others. In
the afternoon the sky became suddenly overcast, and
the temperature rose from seven to ten degrees. We
expected a snowstorm, but for all that we looked
forward with pleasure to this change. But it did not
come, and the next day was clear and fine, with 64°
of frost. Nansen took an observation with the small
theodolite, according to which we were then in 85°
15', which we could hardly believe. There must be
some mistake, we thought, or else the drift of the ice
to the south must have been unusually great. He
took, however, a single altitude afterwards, which
showed that we were in 85° 56' north latitude.
On the night of March 29th the temperature was - 43°,
and on the soth - 32°. The barometer was steadily going
•A CRACK IN THE ICE 165
down, the sky was overcast, and the wind south-easterly,
blowing about four metres to the second. A change in
the weather now seemed imminent. We decided to keep
our course a point or so to the west of due north. We
did not finish our work or get any food till six o'clock in
the morning, as the cooking apparatus had become dis-
organized. Nansen had a lot of trouble with it before
he discovered why the air escaped, however much he
pumped. It was the lid, which had not been screwed on
tightly, a layer of ice having got in under it.
We had very rough and uneven ice on our last march,
and in one place especially it was very troublesome.
We found a deep crack in some old, solid, tightly
packed ice, just in front of a ridge. One of the sledges
— the one with the provision bags — and some of the dogs
fell into this crack, which was about ten or twelve feet
deep. One of us had to jump down into it and unload the
bags, which we had some difficulty in getting up again.
Fortunately the sledge was not damaged. The dogs
we hauled up with ropes.
On March sist I was sitting in the bag, writing this
in peace and comfort with my woollen gloves on my
hands. What I have written at other times on this tour
in my day book was written in the mornings, just before
we started from our camp, on my kayak, with big, heavy
wolfskin^gloves on my hands, the pencil being hardly
visirJIeT"
We made an excellent start very early in the morning
with the wind right at our backs. Suddenly we came to
a lane, across which we had just managed to convey one
sledge safely, "when the ice on both sides of the lane glided
away, and Nansen and I with one team of dogs on one
sledge stood on the one side, while the two other sledges
and dogs were left on the other side. We were standing
on the edge of the pack-ice, near the lane, watching the
movement of the ice, when suddenly the floe on which I
1 66 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
was standing slid away from under ^neT-and I felljslump
into , -the— water. Fortunately the floes prevented my
sinking- deeper than just above my knees. I managed to
scramble across to the other side and to drag myself up
on to the ice. This was anything but a pleasant situation
in a temperature 43° below zero, my clothes becoming
at once frozen and stiff. There we stood, one on each
side, while the lane gradually grew broader and broader.
It was not a pleasant prospect to be separated for the
rest of the night ; Nansen had the tent and cooking
apparatus on his side. I had to run up and down the ice
and among the dogs to keep myself wajrn, while Nansen
! walked along on the other side of the lane to find a way
\across, so that we might get together again. We could
not use the kayaks to ferry us across, as theTice had torn
the canvas into pieces in several places during the many
upsets we had endured. Nansen founcl a way across at
last, however, but it was a long and laborious job to get
the other sledges across by this roundabout way, the
whole process lasting several hours.
The frozen wind-trousers I used on this march became
so brittle that they cracked in many places. When we
had encamped and I got into the sleeping-bag, I had to
put them inside on the top of me while I slept, so that
they might be soft enough to, be sewn together, by the
time I_woke up. This was the worst piece of sewing
I can remember ever having to do, for the trousers
became stiff again as soon as I had sewn the least little
bit, and I had to put them down alongside me in the bag
again. I almost believe it was more trying than having
to sew canvas in 72° of frost, a job at which we have
also had to try our hands.
During our march on April ist it struck Nansen that
it was a long time since we had wound our wp.tc.hes
and when we looked at them I found that_mine had
stopped, while Nansen's, fortunately, . was-Still going. The
AMATEUR TAILORING
167
temperature had now quite changed, it was - 11° during
the day and — 8° in the evening. A snowstorm from the
south-east sprang up, and blew right in our backs during
the march. The ice got worse and worse ; there were
innumerable ridges to climb over, and we did not make
much progress in the course of the day, although we
pushed on with all our might. It was, of course, always
light now in those regions.
JOHANSEN TAKING "BARBARA" TO BE KILLED.
That morning it took us a long time to make a start.
A new support had to be put under my kayak, as the
contents of one of the boat-grips had been eaten up, and
several bags had to be repaired and sewn together, etc.,
etc., all of which was difficult to perform in the cold with
our sore, wounded fingers.
The whole of the previous day and night was taken up
with sleep, breaking up the encampment, and marching,
1 68 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
and we did not get into our bag until seven in the morn-
ing of Wednesday, April 3rd. I was unfortunate enough
to fall into a lane again, but I was getting accustomed to
this now. Nansen, on ski, and the first sledge had passed
safely across, but when I came on without ski, and with
the two other sledges, the ice broke under my feet and I
went through, but fortunately I held on to the kayak and
was dragged out of the water by the dogs. The ice was
a little better, but we did not get on very fast. " Russen "
was killed to serve as food for the other dogs, but
all of them did not seem to like him. They preferred
the flesh of the dogs which they themselves had torn to
pieces in the good old days on board the Fram. The
weather was comparatively fine and clear, and the wind
a little more easterly.
Notwithstanding the many sufferings we had to undergo
during the day as well as at night, there were still bright
moments in the routine of our daily life to which we
were always looking forward. One ofLtliese — it was, in
fact, the brightest — was the^imejwjien we saHnJhe bag,
hungry, frozen, and covered with ice, waiting for_ our
^ft)od. We had to remain in the bag for some time to get
warm before we could attend to our feet and change.
Our sleep, of course^was not of the best, when- we had to
lie niglUjrft^jii^^ in which
we walked through^. jc£^..snQW, .and-water every day.
The thing was to be able to stand it all. The temperature
was now - 24°, and the barometer was falling. It had
been pretty high up till then. Our observation on April
3rd showed that we were in 85° 59' north latitude. We
had hoped to find ourselves farther north, but the ice had
been in such a bad condition of late that we had not made
very great progress ; in fact, it looked as if things were
going to be worse.
I was of opinion that we ought not to venture any
farther north, as we might find it difficult enough to
IN THE DRIFT ICE 169
reach Franz Josef Land from where we were now in
the midst of the drift ice. Nansen was also beginning to
have his misgivings about the advisability of continuing to
the north, and on April 4th he began to keep more to the
west. The difficulty of keeping the dogs in order was
increasing. The traces had become knotted and had to
be undone many times a day$ besides every morning and
evening — a pleasant job !
On Saturday, the 6th of April, we had to toil very hard
getting over the very worst ice we had as yet encountered
— nothing but ridge after ridge and long stretches of old
rubble ice with very deep snow and lanes here and there.
If the ice was to be anything like this on our way
towards land, it looked as if we should want plenty of
time to reach it. The temperature was a little milder,
- 1 1°, the wind was north-easterly with hazy weather.
We did not feel quite so cold now ; it was the damp from
which we suffered most. If we only had dry clothes !
We had not travelled far on Sunday morning} the ythjif
April, before Nansen_said that he would not proceed_any
farther.^ The ice made it impossible for us to make any
real progress. Nansen made a short excursion to the
north on his ski to examine the ice, but he found it just
as bad as ever. We then selected a place for camping,
and there made ourselves as comfortable as possible. At (
this point of our journey — the most northerly that any
human foot had ever trod — we prepared a little banquet,
consisting of lobscause, dry chocolate, stewed whortle-
berries,, and whey-drink aftgrWSfSis. Nansen took an
observation from the top of a high, massive hummock
close to our tent, and his calculations showed we were in
86\jol jiorth latitude, which, however, when more /
carefully worked out, proved to be 86° 13*6' north
latitude.
Thus far and no farther, then, it was our fate to pene-
trate. Of course, we should have liked to push on more
170 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
to the north. It was, however, our consolation that we
had done what we could, and that in any case we
had lifted something more of the veil that shrouds this
part of our globe. But as we were now situated — when
the eye, strained to the uttermost, could disceo^LonlyJce of
such a nature that it was only with the greatest efforts
that we could drag ourselves onward for the very shortest
distance each day — we hadj£LhQ.w_toJ:he inevitable and
turn our faces in the direction of warmer climes.
CHAPTER XVII
The Norwegian Flag in the Farthest North — On the Way
Home — Our Watches Stop — In the Kingdom of Great
Silence — Tracks of Foxes — Mild Weather
ON Monday, the Sthof April, we turned back, and,
having planted~~a ITottple pr^orwegian nags in
this the most northerly camp in the . world, _we~£lxaped
our course for Franz Josef Land.
Curiously enough, our first day's march in the new
direction was very satisfactory, the ice here having
changed for the better, and permitting of good progress.
I was now able to go long distances on ski behind the
sledges. Before this I had been obliged to trudge along
on foot, pushing and helping the sledges along.
On the night of April 9th and during April loth we
made good progress — indeed, the best we had made as
yet. We kept going as long as possible when we once
got properly started. On the night of the 9th we were a
good deal delayed by having come, after a ten hours'
march, to a lane which had lately been frozen over. We
managed to get one of the sledges across, and the second
had almost reached the other side when the dogs fell
through the ice, and the water came rushing up, while
the ice yielded beneath the weight of the sledge. We
had to se^but on the ice on our ski to get the sledge and
the dogs turned round and landed on the other side. We
eventually succeeded, the ice, however, bulging under
our weight all the time.
171
172 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
We tried to get the last sledge across in the same
manner at two different points, but with no better result.
It was fortunate for us that we crossed over without any
mishap. There was, therefore, nothing else for it but to
go a long way round to discover some place where we
could cross. In this we also succeeded, but not without
some difficulty, as the ice-floes drifted away from one
another.
Having now got the sledges together we looked for a
camping-place, and settled down for the night. It was
really a treat to get inside our tent, and get some warm
" fish-gratin " inside us.
The night of April nth was the most comfortable we
had hitherto had. It was actually warm in the bag, and
the inside of the tent, which lay right in the sun, was
free of hoar-frost.
I was sitting writing without anything on my hands.
We were in the best of spirits, and were talking about
home,. When wejwere_hungry, which was generally
the case, we discussed what fine spreads we were going
to have when we^goFback. The " Arctic- thirst, 'I had
not troubled us much till April loth, when we suffered a
good deal from it. The temperature was - 18°.
On April i2th also we made splendid progress. The
ice was in good condition, and it was seldom necessary
for both of us to assist in getting the sledges over the
ridges ; nor had we met with any fresh lanes to cross.
As soon as we had camped, and I had fed the dogs, I
looked at my watch to see what length of time we had
been on the way, when I discovered that it had stopped.
I called out to Nansen, who was busy cooking, to see if
his watch were going. No, he said, his had stopped
also ; we had been travelling so long since we last
wound them up. This was not a pleasanl. discovery.
We wound them up again, of course, at^once. but_Nansen
had to take a time observation and an observation for
EASTERTIDE 173
latitude. In the meantime we had to depend upon our
reckoning since our last observation for longitude.
" Barbara " was killed on the I2th, and given to the
dogs, which were beginning to like the taste of dog-
flesh, no doubt because they were getting more hungry.
The dog, poor creature, tried to bite my hand when we ,
killed her. I suppose she thought she was too young to
die. She was born and T5redr among -the" 'polar ice," and
found her death there without having seen anything else
of the world but snow and ice.
On Saturday, the isth of April (Easter Eve), we did
not accomplish so much as we had done during the last
three days. We came to a lane which it was impossible
to cross. Nansen started off to find a place for crossing.
He was away so long that I began to be anxious about
him. He came back at last, however, after having
looked in vain for a crossing, and proposed that we
should camp and wait till to-morrow, and make ourselves
as comfortable as possible on Easter Eve. Nansen sat
in the bag, working out some observations, while I
attended to the dogs, and afterwards we had a^festive
meaMnjDur tent, consisting of fish-gratin, bread and L"
butter, vril food, and a new concoction — limejuice toddy .^
I was busy putting our camp in order when the ice
began packing over in the lane, which was soon closed
up, while in the neighbourhood of our encampment the
ice creaked and groaned, so that the dogs became un-
easy. Twice of late the dogs attacked our butter-bag.
I caught "Storraeven" in the act, and although he was
an excellent dog, there was nothing for it but to give
him a thrashing. We were afterwards compelled to
place the Gutter-bag inside the tent.
Easter Day we spent comfortably in our tent, Nansen
being busy with calculations, and I with mending and
patching^ clothes. On the isth we were^nTS^ 4' north
Iatitu3e~and 86° east longitude, the variation being 42-5°.
174 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Nansen's watch had stopped about an hour. No doubt
the reason we were so far north was that the ice was
drifting in that direction. On Easter Day we shaped
our course more southerly. A year ago at about this
season the Fram drifted rapidly towards the north, and
probably the same drift was being repeated this year
about the same time.
Monday, the J5th of April, was a splendid day. The
thermometer showed — 15°, and the sun was quite warm.
About noon, before we got into our bag, after having
kept going during the night and the forenoon, we hung
up nearly all our belongings on the staffs and ski to dry
in the beautiful sunshine. Inside our tent, upon which
the sun was shining warmly, we sat enjoying a couple
of cups of steaming " Julienne " soup.
We did not maTaTso much progress on our last march
as we had expected. Nansen had to go back some con-
siderable distance for the compass, which he had left
behind on the ice when he took bearings for our course.
A strange feeling came over me as I sat there alone, in
the solitude waiting for his return. Never before had I
felt so deejj a stillness. No sound of any kind, near or
far, disturbed the quiet around me. The dogs lay as if
lifeless with their heads between their paws on the white
snow, which glittered in the bright sunshine. The
silence made me feel quite nervpus; I dared not move
m where I was sitting—dared hardly to breathe.
Then sleep came upon me, and I dozed till a sharp gust
of wind from the south so irritated my nostrils that I
woke up. It was clear that it was not summer yet.
The thermometer stood at - 15°. A dog now and then
lifted his head from among the sleeping pack and looked
round. At last the stillness was broken, I heard the
sound of ski gliding over the snow, and soon afterwards
Nansen came in sight. He was weary and tired after
the march in the unusual heat. We set out again, but
ANOTHER DOG KILLED 175
did not get on very far before we pitched our tent and
had our dinner.
We made a good record on the 1 6th of April. We set
out early in the morning and pushed on for fourteen
hours, covering a considerable distance, the ice being in
good condition, and the dogs pulling much better, due to
the loads having become lighter.
During our march we generally halted midway to
have some food. We used to get into the sleeping-bag
with some bread, butter, and pemmican between us. At
first, when the cold was severe, these halts were any-
thing but pleasant as we lay shivering with cold and
gnawing at the frozen lumps of butter, which almost £,
vanished~iiT our immense wolfskin gloves. Later on
things improved, but it sometimes happened that ;wje-£ell
asleep while we lay munching our food, and thus lost '//
valuable time.
The~apportionment oXouTLchocolate once a day was, of
course, a bright spot in our existence. The chocolate
had been broken into bits, so that it was not easy tou
portion it out equally, but we managed Jt in this way: C~^n
one of us arranged two portions on the kayak, while the k ,. ^ ^
other~~turned his back: upon him and chose his lot by
calling out "right "or " left." We were quite fair to
one another. Nansen^_who was a bigger man tfran I, ,
never made any difference in the rations. As a rule we (
had sufffcteStpbut IheSTwere days when we thought our
allowance rather short.
The day's niarch began on the zyth in the evening, and
lasted till the forenoon of the next day. From the obser-
vations taken on i8th and I9th, we found that we were in
85° 37*8' north latitude, and 79° 30' east longitude, which
showed that we had been getting on fairly well lately. I
had been so unfortunate as to have two of my ski broken ;
the dogs set off with the sledges, which went right over
them. " Perpetuum " was killed on April i8th. We
176 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
thought it would be better to strangle him than to cut
his throat with-a-kaife, so we tried that method, but we
had to give it up and use Jthe knife after all. The most
humane way, of course, would Have been to shoot the
dogs, but we could not very well afford ammunition for
this, as we might find a better use for it later. These
slaughterings w_ere rather unpleasant work, but they did
not Affect me so much as I at first thought they would
have done. I soon became so skilled in cutting their
throats, that they did not seem to suffer jiny great pain.
The poor creatures went quite willingly with me behind
a hummock. There they were placed on their^sirlp iujlie
snowrand while holding them down by the (collar- with my
\ leftjiand, with my right I stuckjrh^J^nifp right thrpygh
I the throat dp\vn into the, snow. In most cases they died
withoutji£l££ittg a sound. The worst part of the work
was to_cut them up and serve out the rations, so that
each dog should get according to his deserts. It w^as
only strict, imperative necessity that, to some extent,
made the work jnore^ endurable. " Perpetuum " was a
lazy, useless dog, but he was in good condition, and
furnished the others with a good deal of food. On i8th
some paraffin got into the fish-gratin, and next day some
got into the porridge, but it all went down just the same.
In the morning we had for breakfast chocolate with
bread^aniLbutter and pemmican one day, and jxfr ridge
with whey-drink the next. Repairing our Lapp boots
was not a very pleasant job in a temperature which was
keeping to about 22° bslow zero. We felt quite warm,
however, when on the march in the sun. I had only
been using ordinary^ woollen gloves since the_change in
the weather set in.
We marched from four _o' clock in J:he afternpon of
the 1 9th to half-past eight in_ tji£jnoniiiig^f_the 2oth.
We got on fairly well, not withstand ing^THe numerous
ridges and lanes. We had, especially, great difficulty
DRIFTWOOD 177
in getting across one large, broad lane, full of slush
and pieces of ice, but we ultimately succeeded, the ice
pressure going on all the time under our very feet.
On the other side we found fine, flat ice — a regular
" Land of Canaan/' as Napsfn yspd fn say when he
came back from his reconnoitring and had found good
ice.
" What in the world is that sticking up above the
white ice-floe yonder ? Is it part of a ship's mast ?
Is it the remains of the Tegethoff!" These were the
questions I asked myself, as we one day caught sight
of a piece of tirm^ej^Jixed in an oblique position into
the ice. When we drew close to it, we found it was
a piece of driftwood, which had probably been raised
on end during an ice pressure. It had evidently come
from the primeval forests of Siberia, and must have
been dancing about up here for ages. It would have
provided us with capital fuel, but, unfortunately, we
could not manage to take it with us. I ^.cut the
initials of our names, jand "85° 30' nqrth_latitude," in
the log.
" Sjolike " was the dog which had to be sacrificed
for the others when we encamped this time. We were
obliged to kill the dogs more frequently now, as we
had to be sparing with the three to four days' pem-
mican we had left for them.
From half-past nine in the morning of the 2ist
to half-past one in the afternoon of the 22nd we got
over at least _-twen^__jmiles1_ which was_jiur_best
record. But then the great open plains of ice were
in excellent condition, with only a ridge and a short
stretch of rubble ice here and there.
The next day we also had good ice, and, notwith-
standing a slight fall of snow, over which our ski
glided less easily, we managed to cover close upon
twenty miles. The sunlight had not affected our eyes
N
178 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
as yet, although we had not commenced using snow-
spectacles. We merely pulled the brim of our felt
hats, which we wore under the hoods, well down over
our eyes.
Little " Bjelki," who had not been of much use to
us, was killed on April 23rd ; but there was not
much food in that bundle of wool. We had now
twenty-one dogs left, the poorest of them having been
dispatched. Nan sen broke one of his ski on the 22nd,
and we had now only one ski in reserve.
During the 24th and 25th of April the ice was
not quite so good, but nevertheless we travelled over
a considerable stretch of ground. During the last
days the temperature had been - 15° to - 1 8° in the
day, and about -22° at night. Strange to say, we
saw the track of a fox right across our course
(S. 5° E.), and shortly afterwards we came across
another track of the same animal, this time near an
open lane which stopped our progress, and upon the
side of which we encamped. When we discovered the
first trail there were also traces indicating that the
fox had had something to eat not long before. But
how could it have found food out here in the midst
of the drift-ice ? According to our reckoning it should
not be more than about 120 miles to the west coast
of Petermann's Land. The question then was, how far
does it extend eastwards?
On the 28th we travelled right on from the morning
until ten o'clock at night, when we had to camp on
account of the overcast weather and the strong
southerly wind. When we began our march we came
to a broad, open lane, the ice on both sides of which
was in motion. The lane extended from east to west,
and we had to walk along one side for a couple of
hours before we found a place where we could get
over, and then it was only with great difficulty, as
TRACKS OF FOXES 179
we had to wait until the lane closed up in order
to get the sledges across.
The ice crashed, crackled, and thundered under our
feet, while the ridges grew higher and higher. It
was a sound we knew well, but this time we were
in the very midst of the fray. After crossing, I had
to rush back again to get my ski, which I had taken
off while getting the sledges across, and it was only
in. the nick of time that I managed to pull them out
from among the ice-floes, which were on the point of
burying them. We felt proud of our achievement in
crossing over so safely, and rewarded ourselves with
an extra portion of chocolate, which we thoroughly
enjoyed as we sat on our kayaks on safe ice, and
heard the ice groaning as if with rage at such mites
as we managing to escape from its embrace.
After this we had good, flat ice before us, over
which we made good progress, although a rather
strong southerly wind blew right in our faces, the
temperature being 54° below zero. Here again we
saw some tracks of foxes. We encamped near an
ice-ridge, and fortified ourselves as best we could
against a snowstorm, which might last for several
days, judging by the appearance of the weather.
The last day of April reminded us of the approach
of the beautiful month of May; though it might not
bring us much change. We did not travel for more
than five to six hours the day before. The beginning
was promising, but we came to an immense broad
lane, which we followed westward. Nansen then ex-
plored farther alone for several hours, but no crossing
was to be found, and so we had to encamp.
The weather was fine now, being quite mild ; the
temperature was 4° balow zero. In the tent we felt
warm and comfortable, and at night we slept well
CHAPTER XVIII
More Lanes — Summer Weather — Another " Seventeenth of
May " — A Whale — Where in all the World is Land?
WE employed the ist of May in mending our
clothes and waiting for the lane to be frozen
over. It was a pleasant change to rest and do nothing
else but sew. The dogs were becoming ravenous. A
pair of reindeer-skin socks, which I had placed on top
of the kayak to dry during the night, were devoured
by them, probably by " Kvik." I also think it was she
who attacked the last half boat-grip of pemmican we
had left. " Kvik " would not eat the flesh of the other
dogs directly after they were killed. It had to be left
out overnight to be frozen through.
During the early days of May the wind was the same
as that which used to raise our spirits on board the
Fram. Now, of course, we were not at all pleased
with this south-easterly breeze, for it produced so many
open lanes in the ice, and these sorely tried our patience.
First of all, we had to find a crossing, and after many
detours we might succeed in finding one, when it often
happened that the crossing itself caused us many diffi-
culties and troubles.
"Potiphar " and " Kvindfolket " now had to be killed.
The whole of the latter was not used at once, but a
third part of it was put aside until next day, and this,
together with a third of "Ulinka," whose turn to die
was come, would form the next meal.
180
A GOOD DAY'S MARCH 181
"Pan" and "Haren" had many a heavy pull, and
they were now thin and miserable. The dogs that had
been the best workers were " Storraeven," " Lilleraeven,"
" Icebear," " Suggen," " Baro," " Barabbas," and " Caia-
phas." u Sultan " was also a strong dog, but very lazy.
11 Ulinka " always wanted to keep to one side of the
team. She was greatly delighted when properly teth-
ered right in among the traces of another team. Alto-
gether she gave me a great amount of trouble.
On Sunday, the 5th of May, we marched from half-
past one in the morning until six in the evening. It
was a fine day, and we got on well over long plains of
good ice. The lanes were not so difficult to cross, as
the floes had been so displaced that we came across
several points where the uneven edges of the ice met
together, while in other places the lane was frozen
sufficiently for us to venture across over the stiffened
mass, formed of pieces of ice and slush. We pushed on
all we could, and were a good deal fagged when we
encamped.
I woke the night before and felt cold ; a fresh wind
had blown one side of the tent down on to my face. Of
late we had not closed the flap of our sleeping-bag, as
we felt sufficiently warm otherwise. But the wind had
now changed, and was blowing hard from the north,
which was in our favour. We were now in 84° 30'
north latitude and 66° if east longitude. We must
have drifted a good deal to the north and west on
account of the south-easterly wind we had of late. The
temperature was i° above zero.
Our next day's march lasted from five o'clock in the
morning till nearly nine o'clock the following morning,
the yth of May. We had, of course, a good many ridges
over which to struggle ; but there were extensive plains
of flat ice now and then, and we made good progress.
The next day the wind, which had been blowing from
182 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTPI
the north-east all the time, increased steadily, and in
the course of the afternoon it became so intolerable,
when the snow began falling, that we had to pull up
and encamp before we had intended doing so.
When we had been marching along for about five
hours over uneven ice, " Flint," the dog which was to
be killed in the evening, tore himself loose and ran off.
When once he got away he was a difficult fellow to
catch again. He was a strong but lazy and useless
animal, and did not mind a thrashing in the least. He
was always cross and angry with the other dogs.
When we camped in the evening, he put in an appear-
ance to get his portion of dogs' flesh ; but he must have
been terribly disappointed, for he had to accompany
me behind a hummock to meet his doom, and be cut up
for the other dogs which deserved to live longer. J^opr
creatures, they were getting very thin, and skinny_after
all the toil and starvation through which they had gone.
But" we had to push on, and were obliged to thrash J:hem
more than we really liked to do whenever they came to
a halt. " Flint," however, was very fat, which was
strange, considering the short rations he had had of
late, The temperature was about 10° above zero, and
we were having splendid summer weather compared
with that to which we had been accustomed. Our
fingers were still sore and tender, but now we had no
need to fear to take off our gloves or other clothing.
The weather was overcast and misty on the 9th of
May. After having proceeded for some hours we
fancied we saw fine, extensive plains of ice before us,
and we congratulated each other on the prospect of
good, flat ground again. But the sky became more
and more overcast, and the snow began to fall, so that
it was impossible to see anything before us. Now and
then the weather cleared up for a few moments, and we
pushed on for some time, though at last we had to give
BAD WEATHER
183
in and stop. We thought at first that we would have
our dinner in the bag, and see if the weather would
improve ; but the result was that we pitched our tent,
made some lobscouse, and lay down to get some sleep
in order to be ready to start as soon as the weather
NO LAND IN SIGHT.
should clear up again. The dogs did not get any food
that day.
Before we started in the morning we had several
little matters to attend to in the camp. Nansen thought
of taking off the guard-runners on his sledge, in order
to try if it would glide easier on the German-silver
plates underneath; but we found that on the ground
we now had the tarred wooden runners were the best,
184 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
so Nansen let them remain. On the third sledge, how-
ever, which had no German -silver plates under the
guard-runners, I took off the latter; in order to use the
smooth, newly-tarred birchwood runners ; but we found
that one was broken, so we had to fit the guard-runners
on again. We should have been in a fix if we had not
used these throughout.
The latitude was now 84° 3', and the longitude 64° 20'.
We were wondering what had become of land, for which
we hopsd so much. The temperature was only 14°
above zero. We were now obliged to take off some of
our clothes during our march.
During the following two days it was difficult for us
to find our way, as the whole sky was completely over-
cast, with the exception of a strip of blue in the south-
west, which was visible for about eight hours while we
lay waiting for fine weather. But we struggled along,
and managed to accomplish a fair day's march after all.
The ice was now assuming a different character, which
we thought indicated the proximity of land. It was
not so flat as the ice we had of late, but we managed to
get along somehow. Our march was a troublesome
one. From the outset we had to force our way across
long stretches of rubble ice and ridges, rendering it
more difficult to proceed. The sledges were certainly
much lighter, but we had only twelve dogs left. In
several places between the hummocks, when we had to
help the dogs and sledges across, we often sank up to
our waists in the snow. We could not use our ski on
these occasions; Canadian snowshoes would have been
more suitable. We pushed on from three o'clock in the
morning until about half-past eight in the evening,
when we encamped and rested, after a day of toil and
struggle, covering some ten or twelve miles. The
barometer was steadily sinking. We longed more and
more for land, although we knew that it would be an
A SNOWSTORM 185
inhospitable, unknown land of snow and ice which we
should ultimately reach.
On May isth we had to give up all idea of going
on. After breakfast we were talking as usual about
making good progress in the course of the day, and
were preparing to start, when the weather became
overcast and thick, a snowstorm from the north-west
setting in at the same time. We then set to work to
^et^rid of one of the sledges, which, perhaps, we ought
to have thought of before. The load on this one had
now diminished so much that we found it better to
divide and distribute it over our two kayak sledges,
most of it being utilised as supports under the kayaks,
while we put the rest of it inside the latter. Of the
three dogs drawing this " condemned " sledge, Nansen
got "Barabbas" and " Caiaphas," and I " Storrseven."
I was glad of this change, as I hoped it would be
easier to follow one sledge than two, which had been
my task during the sixty days since we left the Fram.
On turning out, we found that the dogs had-been into
myjtayak and consumed about half o£_the contents of
our bag with the daily rations of liver-pemmican.
And at night I surprised my friends " Storrseven,"
" Sultan," and " Barabbas," in the middle of an attack
on the same kayak. They suffered, of course, from
hunger ; but what could we do ? We had to get on at
all costs.
When we broke up the third sledge, I found that
both the runners were broken, and that they had only
been kept together by the guard-runners, which had
thus done good service. We then commenced to boil
our food with some of the pieces of wood we had been
dragging along with us on our sledges — broken ski,
staffs, and parts of the sledge. We used the empty
paraffin can for a pot, and lighted a brisk fire in the
opening of the tent where it was hanging; but before
1 86 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
long we had to move our fireplace farther away from
the tent, as it was in danger of catching fire. By the
time the water was boiling, a big hole, about a yard
deep, had formed itself in the ice from the heat of the
fire, which had consumed a good deal of our fuel.
We found that cooking in this way did not pay, so
we decided to use the " Primus" for cooking the rest
of the dinner, and our fish-gratin tasted as delicious
as ever. On May i4th we had a clear sky and
bright sunshine. The dogs were fed on half-rations of
pemmican.
On May i5th we again had splendid weather, a clear
sky and warm sunshine. We had to use our snow-
spectacles, which, fortunately for us, had not been
much in requisition. We had now only twTo sledges,
with six dogs to each. We were not making any
better progress than before, as the dogs were too worn
out. Our brave "Baro" succumbed. The other dogs
in the team were at last dragging him along after
them, so there was nothing else for it but to kill this
fine animal, which so long had been the leader of the
teams on our journey. We were stopped by an un-
usually bad lane of great width, which had just
formed. We had to follow it for a long way west-
ward before we could find a place to cross. When we
stopped for the evening and encampad, we found we
had still another lane close at hand to get over. We
were now in 83° 36' north latitude, and 59° 55' east
longitude, and were crawling along towards the south,
but our pace was slow. We were constantly wonder-
ing at not having sighted land yet. The land which
the Austrians saw from Cape Fligely should not be
more than nine miles off from where we were now,
but we saw no sign of it. The reason we had not
seen any tracks of foxes or any other animal of late
might be due to the continuous fall of snow.
A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
187
It wa s_ m y twenty-aigh th hi rttTc|aj^_and we celebrated
it in a small way. For dinner^we— had lobscouse and
dessert consisting of "vril'1 food with bread-crumbs
and butter, and warm lime-juice. Nansen £roppsed my
health and wished me " many a pleasant surprise and
happy day" in the coming year.
TRYING TO FIND A CROSSING.
Next day we came to a pool of an immense size,
extending towards the south-west as far as we were
able to see. We walked along it in this direction, but
we soon felt misgivings in following it any further,
as we could not tell its extent.
It was covered with quite thin ice, which was worse
than no ice at all. To turn back and follow it in the
1 88 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
opposite direction was our next thought. We referred
to our chart, and the result was that we continued
our way as we had begun. With the aid of our glass
we discovered in the mirage on the horizon signs of
ice beyond the extreme end of the pool. We had not
proceeded far before we were stopped by a broad lane,
which ran in the direction of the pool. We found
that the ice at this point was sufficiently strong to
carry us, and on examining it further we thought it
probable that we should be able to cross the large
pool. The ice-floes were here and there jammed up in
layers, so that the ice had become strong enough to
cross, although here and there were weaker parts and
large open cracks, while the whole seemed to be in
motion. To our great joy we got safely across at last.
The ice showed that we were still drifting westward.
Now that we were in 59° 55' east longitude, this was
an unfortunate thing for us. Nansen worked out his
calculations again of several observations made from
the time our watches stopped. It looked as if we
could not quite reconcile ourselves to this stoppage.
On the iyth of May — the Norwegian Day of Inde-
pendence— we set out about six o'clock in the after-
noon in anything but good spirits, although the flags
were hoisted on both our kayaks and were waving in
the wind in honour of the day. We had arranged, for
a change, that I with my sledge should lead the way ;
but my dogs, which had been accustomed to follow
behind the others, would on no account fall in with
this new arrangement. They could not understand
why they should go first, and their attention was con-
tinually taken up with the other team. As I could
not very well force them ahead by thrashing them,
we gave up this experiment.
Soon afterwards Nansen thought he heard a noise
like the blowing of whales in the large pool which we
AMONG THE WHALES 189
had in front of us, and which we had to cross. I
had also heard the noise while busy in the camp in
the morning, but I thought it was the ice-floes grind-
ing against one another. But it really turned out to
be a whale. We could now plainly see one gambol-
ling on the surface of the water and then disappear.
In the twinkling of an eye we were over by the
kayaks, seized our guns and cartridges, and got out a
harpoon and line. A whale would be worth while
getting hold of, as that meant food for a long time.
Nansen set off along the pool, fully armed and ready
for the fray. In the meantime I was to look for a
crossing. Nansen soon came back, however, without
having had any success. "They were narwhals," he
said, "and they were exceedingly shy."
We continued the journey till dinner-time, the wind
blowing hard and the snow falling all the time. The
dogs made but little progress, and we had great diffi-
culty in getting along. When we had rested a couple
of hours after dinner we thought of setting out again,
but we found the weather thick and misty, so we
closed our eyes again for another two hours. The
weather was then fairly good, and we prepared to
start. Nansen, however, first removed the guard-
runners from his sledge, as he wanted to try the
German-silver plates. They were excellent, and there
could be no comparison between the speed which we
made now and before.
We therefore took the guard-runners off my sledge
as well, and from now the journey proceeded smoothly,
so that we came to the end of our day's march in
better spirits than when we started.
And now we set to work to celebrate .the iyth,
although it really was the i8th. We did it in the
usual way — by feasting. On this occasion, however,
we had a new—cofleoction, which we at first called
190 WITH NANS EN IN THE NORTH
beer^ but IP fpt" ™* *t «">"«• ^y tne rmrne of ngead. It
was made from frame food, stamina tablets, and lime-
juice.
On the 2oth of May we were weather-bound by a
snowstorm. The day before we did a good day's
march over fairly good ground — about twelve fnilps or
more. We saw. several large hummocks on the way,
but as for land, it seemed that we should look in vain
for it for some time to come. It was really pleasant
to lie in the tent, while the storm was shaking it and
the snow outside was piling up higher and higher by
its side. We felt quite safe in the bag, and could let
the storm rage as it liked; it did not inconvenience
us in the least. It was difficult to say when we
should get home. We had just been talking about our
prospects. These continuous easterly and north-easterly
winds were carrying us farther and farther west, so
it might happen that we should not come across any
land until we reached Spitzbergen, and we might not
get there in time to get home this year. We must
take our chance. During this last march we saw
tracks of bears in two different places. This, perhaps,
might be a sign of land.
On the 2ist of May the bad weather still continued,
but we could not wait for it to improve any longer,
and so set out after having fed the dogs with half-
rations of pemmican, leaving three guard-runners be-
hind us. The weather soon became worse, with a
strong northerly wind and drifting snow. We could
not see very far before us, and, besides, the ice was
heavy. Notwithstanding this we fought steadily on
till noon, across fairly good ice, in which we met with
no lanes. After dinner things grew worse, but still
we kept at it. Presently it began to clear up and we
came to long plains, across which we proceeded at a
good pace. Nansen hoisted the sail on his sledge for
A GOOD DAY'S WORK 191
the first time, and got along so well, that it was
hardly necessary for the dogs to pull at all, but for
all that they did not get along any the quicker.
However, they did not stop so often, which was all
the better for us who were following them. We
managed to cross a large pool, although the ice was
in violent motion, and that there were places here and
there which were not so safe as they appeared to the
eye. We were, however, well satisfied with the day's
work; it began badly, but finished up well, and we
believed that we had now left the eighty-third degree
behind us.
CHAPTER XIX
More Ridges and Lanes — The First Bird and Seal —
Whitsuntide — Fish — Still no Land — Short Commons
—The First Ferry — A Lucky Shot
THE 23rd of May was a day of toil and trouble.
The number of lanes was terrible, and they could
not well have been worse. We had not experienced
anything like it before, and neither, I suppose, has
anybody else.
Before starting, Nansen set out to reconnoitre along
the broad lane which we had seen when we encamped
the previous evening. He was away for three hours.
In the meantime I mended the tent, which was
beginning to get rather the worse for wear. The
temperature was now about 10°, so it was not difficult
to do some sewing. Nansen proceeded eastwards along
the lane, but was unable to find any crossing. The
lane branched off into two arms, and he thought we
ought to be able to get across in some place or other.
We then proceeded eastwards, partly because we
thought we had got too far to the west, and partly
because we saw indications in the sky of much open
water in that direction. Well, the result was that we
did not meet with and cross one lane only, but some-
thing like twenty. Such a confusion of lanes and loose
ice we had never seen ; one minute we wound our way
in one direction, and the next minute in another, after
having with great trouble reconnoitred and looked for
a crossing.
192
#&:$&
CROSSING ICE RIDGES 193
We also passed a number of ridges, the ice being all
the time in a violent motion. We were often deceived
by the snow-slush which covered some of the pools and
lanes, as it appeared like a fine solid sheet of ice to the
eye.
The pressure was at its worst in one particular place,
just where we were going to cross the ridges ; these
grew higher and higher, and large blocks began tum-
bling down from the sides, when suddenly the pressure
stopped, and all became quiet. We cleared away the
worst of the ice and made haste to get the sledges over,
but no sooner was this safely accomplished than the
pressure began again. It often happened when we had
found a place for crossing that it was destroyed by the
time we came up with the sledges, for we took some
time, of course, no matter how much we hurried on.
We had, therefore, to set to work and find a new
crossing. For fourteen hours we had been wending our
way through this maze of lanes, when we at last got
over the last lane and the last ridges, and saw a fine
plain before us ; we rested for a while before proceeding
over the even ice, which was a pleasant change, until
at length we again came across a lane, just as the
weather was growing thicker and thicker. We were
now compelled to encamp, so we followed the lane for
some distance until we found a suitable place. How
grand our food tasted that evening !
A meridian altitude, which we took, showed that we
were in 82° 52' north latitude. We were glad to find
that we were so far south, but it was strange that
we had not seen any sign of land. This, of course,
was our chief concern.
Next day we covered about twelve miles, as far as
we could make out ; during the first eight hours we had
to contend with lanes, but later on things improved.
We used sail on the first sledge, thus utilising the strong
o
194 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
north wind. Our longitude was now 61° 27' east. We
were pleasantly surprised to find this, as we believed
we were much further to the west, and were afraid that
we might drift past Cape Fligely, for which reason our
course had of late been shaped a good deal to the east.
Now we were steering due south. We had the mis-
fortune to get our tent torn a great deal, so that I had
a regular job in mending it again.
On the 27th of May we were in 82° 29' north latitude.
We now took it for granted that we must be a good deal
east of land, otherwise we ought certainly to be in sight
of it now, especially as we thought we were south of
Petermann's Land.
We could not possibly be west of land ; in that case
we should be about 10° wrong in our observations, which
was hardly credible. We were, however, presuming
that we were east of land, and were therefore steering
in a south-westerly direction. Time would show if we
were right, but at present we were really in the dark.
We examined our maps, and speculated backwards and
forwards about our whereabouts. There was one thing
we noticed, during our marches and when encamping,
for the last few days — namely, that there was no fresh-
water ice to be found anywhere ; all the ice we passed
was salt-water ice a winter old. There must, we knew,
be open water where that ice came from.
During the last days of May we went through the
same toil and trouble, our progress being greatly im-
peded by lanes and ridges. On the 28th Nansen saw
a fulmar (Procellaria glacialis} hovering about above one
of the kayaks. It seemed to want to share the remains
of " Kvik " with the dogs. Next day we saw several
narwhals in a lane, a seal on the ice, and a black guille-
mot circling round us. These appearances of animal
life were a delightful sight to us ; they revived us and
induced us to believe that land must be near.
MORE DOGS KILLED 195
The last day of May, and still no land ; we only saw
clouds on the horizon, and everywhere around us the
eternal ice-fields which we had now been gazing at for
nearly two long years. At times the sight made us
quite depressed. Time seemed to drag so heavily so
long as there was no sign of land ; and then what sort
of land would it be ? A desert, cheerless, ice-bound coast
in the far north, where no human being could desire
to live ; it was for this land that we were now and had
for long been wearying. Day after day went by, and
yet we never seemed to reach it. But we must get there
some time, and then we hoped we should be safe; but
it must come soon, for the number of our -dogs was
diminishing at a terrible rate. On the soth we killed
" Pan," who formerly used to pull for three dogs, but
had now become a shadow ; and " Kvik," who at last
took to eating her canvas harness, had also to meet her
fate^ Nanseji was quite out of sorts . on .the evening
when " Kvik " was killed. She was the only one of our
dogs who had been in Norway. Nansen had had her
in his ja wn jipjase , where she was a great favourite. __J •
took her quietly away, and had killed her before he was
aware of it.
Our marches, as well as the times for resting, were
now much shorter. We were trying to get a regular
amount of work and rest into each day, so that one
should not encroach upon the other. The dogs were
oftener fed, as we thought that by so doing we should
be able to reach land the sooner.
We no longer took our midday meals and rests in the
sleeping-bag; we placed a sail on the snow and sat
down on it to eat some bread and butter. We found the
fresh tracks of three bears at the foot of a hummock ;
they led to a lane, but we were not prepared to follow
them up. We were now in 82° 21' north latitude,
which was rather satisfactory. An unpleasant, strong,
196 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
southerly wind was now blowing and shaking the tent,
although we were in the lee of a group of hummocks.
Among these we found some fresh-water ice. On the
other side we had a view of an open lane — quite a pic-
turesque spot, considering that we were in the midst
of the polar ice. To the east we had the " leaning tower
of_£isa," an unusually large ice-floe, which had been
pressed on end into an oblique position.
On the ist of June we crossed a lane on a loose ice-
floe, which every moment threatened to capsize, as
smaller floes were getting under it, and the whole lane
was in violent motion. No sooner had we hurriedly
managed to get across with the dogs and sledges than
the floe broke in pieces, and made any further crossing
impossible.
When the weather was clear and bright it was a fine
sight to see the coal-black lanes running away between
the unusually white masses of ice, while the ridges and
hummocks glistened in azure blue among them.
In vain does the eye attempt to pierce the bottom
along the wall of ice. There are immense masses down
there, and it is no wonder that everything they get into
their embrace is broken and ground to pieces when the
current and the wind crush them against one another.
For seven days in the beginning of June we were
obliged to remain on an island of ice surrounded by
lanes on all sides. We set to work to repair our
kayaks, taking off the canvas covers and mending
them, and relashing and splinting the frames, which
had fared badly over all the bad ice which we had
encountered. All this took time, but it had to be done
now — we should have to face the lanes and bid them
defiance. We would now, of course, prefer to get as
much open water as possible, so that we might continue
our. journey in our kayaks, which would be easier for
us than the toil and trouble which we had hitherto had.
WHIT SUNDAY 197
On Sunday > the 2nd of June, I find the following
entry in my diary : —
" This is Whit Sunday ! To us, however, it is just
like any other day ; Sunday and Monday are ..just
alike. This Wlutsiintide, alas ! we cannot rejoice in
the summer, * with all its wealth of foliage and flowers.'
But we shall be glad to see it all again when we get
home to those we hold dear — yes, glad beyond all
compare."
It was most depressing to be compelled to remain
here, unable to get on, and still more depressing to
think of the long way we had still to travel before
we could reach Spitzbergen, there to begin our search
for some ship to carry us home. It was terribly
depressing on a day like this, when, in my thoughts,
I saw them all at home enjoying themselves in the
lovely__summer weather and revelling in the beauties
of nature. It was at such moments that our imprison-
ment on the ice seemed most dreadful ; but—
"Though the night seem never so long,
Morning oft may break with song."
And so, no doubt, it would to me, also, long and dark
though the night has been. Yes, welcome should'st
thou be, thou blessed, glorious morn !
During the succeeding days we had a bad time of
it, and things began to look more and more serious.
Our rations were being daily reduced, and we had to
be most sparing with our fuel. The dogs were getting
thinner and wreaker, the sledges with their loads were
still heavy, the ice became worse and worse, and the
days passed by, but no land appeared. But still we
must push on. Although we had both a good stock
of patience, it had been put severely to the test on
more than one occasion.
I think my readers 'will best understand what we
198 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
had to go through if I quote a portion of my diary
at this time :—
" Thursday , June 1 1. — We have just partaken of our
rations of aleuronate bread, butter and chocolate, and
are ready for our day's march. It is not an easy
matter to keep up one's spirits as one should do situated
as we are just now. It will soon be impossible for
us to proceed any further. The snow is melting and
is soft all through ; we are, in fact, wading through a
sea_of_slush, and the poor dogs, of whom _j£Ql£__five
now remain, sink deeply through it at every step.
" We shall soon have nothing but water to walk in.
Progress is rendered more difficult than ever by the
innumerable^ lanes and the bad state of the ice. We
do not know where "we~are."" The land which we have
been steering for so long we have almost given up all
hopes of __ finding. It is the open sea which we now
long foj^ but it is far away, and it will be difficult
enough to reach Spitzbergen across it. We shall have
to depend upon our guns for subsistence. At times we
cannot help feeling _disjieartened. It was at one such
moment yesterday that Nansen_said, ( Just fancy what
it will be to be able to rest our limbs and say, ult.is
all over, there is nothing more to b.e done."' "
The day before we covered about three miles. After
dinner, which consisted of three and a half ounces of
pemmican and three and a half ounces of bread, the
sun appeared at times between fantastic clouds, dark
or almost black in hue, while others near the horizon
were quite light. The ice-fields were white as the
driven snow, the water in the lanes was a deep black,
and the horizon to the south was yellow and red, while
dark, cumulous clouds were continuously drifting up
from E.S.E., darkening the sun from time to time. This
was a wonderfully beautiful sight, which we greatly
enjoyed, and which revived our spirits.
DIRTY WEATHER AGAIN 199
Nansen found a small dead fish (Gadtts polavis] in a
narrow lane. If we could get fish we should be in no
danger; at night, therefore, we set a line in the lane
close by, with the fish as bait. We did not, however,
catch any fish.
Sometimes we had to make bridges of ice-blocks
which, with the aid of bamboo-poles, we floated into
their j}l ace ; and we had oftenj^take^aps^jo^^
no acrobat^ need have been ashamed, from one floe to
another. ~
Before we broke up our encampment on June i4th,
Nansen took a single altitude, and afterward a longi-
tude observation. Of late we had very seldom seen
the sun. The weather was as nasty as it could be,
and our prospects were no tetter. The observations
showed 57° east longitude, and 82° 23' north latitude.
We had consequently drifted 4° westwards since the
last observation. I did not know whether this was
for good or ill ; it might mean that we were west of
land, for our wratches could scarcely have been so in-
correct as not to justify us in expecting to see land
now, even if we assumed that we were a good deal
to the east.
If we were to the west of land, there would not be
any great prospect of finding it soon. We should then
have to face this interminable drift-ice. And if so,
what about food ? Where was it to come from ?
Hitherto we had not succeeded in finding much. If
things did not improve, our outlook would be bad
enough. If we were really east of land — which, per-
haps, was now more improbable — it could not be far
off, and then we should be able to procure food. The
fact that we had drifted to the north was certainly a
sad business to us.
Our marches were now pursued in the following
manner : Nansen went on for some distance in front
200
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
to find a way, while I followed behind with both sledges,
one behind the other, until I fell in with Nansen on
his way back after having found a passage, when we
each took our sledge. It often took both of us to get
the sledges over the ridges or across the lanes and
over the loose ice.
OUT RECONNOITRING.
Now that the ice was in as bad a state as it possibly
could be, we made but slow progress. All our hope
of reaching land rested on the prospect of meeting
with, "slack" ice with plenty of lanes running in a
south-westerly direction, through which we might pro-
ceed towards land in our kayaks after having killed
A SUPPER ON DOG'S BLOOD 201
our last dog, whose flesh we must ourselves be prepared
to eat.
We considered whether we should use only one
kayak, making this larger with materials taken from
the other, leaving behind everything which we could
possibly do without, and then push on with all our
might. The temperature was keeping just below freez-
ing point.
It was during this march, while Nansen was away
reconnoitring, that I killed " Lillerseven," who .had
fallen down in front of the sledge. "Storraeven" kept
up until the evening, when he, too, met his sad fate.
Nansen made our suppers from his blood. Were I to
say that I liked it, I should not be telling the truth ;
dpwn, and that was the main thing.
On Sunday, June i6th, there was no wind. The still-
ness of Sunday seemed to rest over the ice; for some
time I had not felt as if it were Sunday, but to-day it
seemed to be more like one. My mind was at rest
and in a peaceful mood, and with a feeling of sadness
I longedfor a^ Sunday at home.
WeTad now made ourselves harness for pulling
the sledges, and were obliged to use all our strength
to get on at all.
On June 2oth we were obliged to encamp near a lane
and begin looking for game of some kind.
Nansen's kayak was launched on the water, and
we saw some seals, but could not catch any. Nansen
also tried to catch some small marine animals with
the aid of the net we brought \vith us for this purpose,
but we had no better success.
" We gir p^ Rising fitarY?tiVm as best we. can until
our stoniachs_groan .with --pain. When this becomes
intolerable, we take about two ounces of pemmican
and the same quantity of bread. We have had only
one meal in the course of twcLdays and a half, and
202 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
this consisted of(-two-sea=gulls, which, confronted with
our appetites, seemed to vanish like dew before the
sun. On another occasion our meal consisted of two
ounces of bread and just as much pemmican, and our
next of two ounces of aleuronate bread and one ounce
of butter. But now we are going to have a proper
meal before we start again."
We set out again in the evening on the 2oth, after
having vainly made many attempts to shoot a seal.
Nansen had been out reconnoitring and told me that
some distance off there was a large pool, where we
should have an opportunity of trying our kayaks. On
the way there we came to the conclusion that, in order
to make any real progress, we should have to put
wooden grips under the kayaks, and take the loads
which he had on the sledges into the kayaks, so that
we might float the whole ioad across^the lanes and
pull the sledges up again on the other side, and so
continue our journey without any loss of time. And
we must also get rid of everything which we did not
absolutely want.
Before reaching the pool we saw a seal in one of
the cracks in the ice ; Nansen fired, but missed it. As
soon as we came to the pool we prepared for our first
ferrying. The kayaks were placed side by side on the
water and tightly bound together, with the ski stuck
through the straps on the deck of the kayaks, while
the sledges_were put right across the kayaks^ one
forward and one aft. The dogs went on board readily
enough and lay down quietly, just as if they had been
accustomed to this mode of transport all their lives.
We got the pumps ready and, with the guns between
our knees, we set off and began paddling across the
pool. Here we were, with all our worldly belongings,
at the mercy of the glittering waves. Our gipsy-like
turn-out was certainly a curious sight, but to us it was
A GREAT SPLASH 203
a welcome change in our mode of travelling. AVe had
to use the pumps frequently, my kayak especially being
very leaky. As soon as we came to the other side of
the pool Nansen jumped upon the ice with his camera
andjtopk some shots at our floating conveyance, while
my kayak was gradually being filled with water and
drifting away from the ice. All of a sudden we heard
a great splash in the water behind us.
" Wha£§ ...thatj?^' I shouted.
" A sealr" replied Nansen, and began pulling the
sledge ashore which was lying aft on my kayak,
whereby the water rushed in and filled it right up to
the gunwale, where the cover had not yet been sewn
together. It was no use pumping, I was simply sitting
in water. Another splash, and up came the big, shining
head of a seal; it struck a couple of blows with its
flappers against the edge of the ice and then dived
under the water again. We did not think we should
see it any more, but I took the harpoon which was
lying on my kayak and threw it across to Nansen, in
case he should want it. In the meantime the water
rose more and more in my kayak, and something would
have to be done to get it on to the ice at once.
There was another splash, and the head of the seal
again appeared, close to the edge of the ice. I quickly
seized my gun and fired at the seal just as it was
disappearing under the ice. It made one final splash,
and then lay floating in the water, which was coloured
red by the blood flowing from its shattered head.
Nansen came running like the wind to the place with
the harpoon and threw it into the . seal. The harpoon
was small and slight, so Nansen thought it best to
plunge his knife into the sealls-neck in order to make
sure of it.
Now followed an exciting scene. Both the kayaks
began^ to drift_away. mine being_Jcej)t_.afl.Qat -by the
204 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
other, while the sledge which we had been trying to
land was half-way under the water.
The dogs now began to feel uneasy, and no wonder.
I sat fixed in the kayak and dared not let go the
sledge, nor could I venture to stand up and attempt
to pull it up on to the kayak.
Over by the edge of the ice lay Nansen, not daring
to let the seal go, for it meant abundance of food
and fuel to us, who were so sadly in want of it.
Finding that the seal kept afloat, he came rushing
up just in the nick of time to save me and my sinking
flotilla. I and the dogs were safely got ashore, and
the sledges with my kayak were dragged up on to
the ice while the other was left to itself, whereupon
we both ran off to secure our precious prize; but it
was no easy task for two men to pull a big, fat seal
out of the water. While we were busy with this, our
attention was again turned to our other effects, as we
noticed Nansen's kayak adrift some distance from us,
while our cooking apparatus was having a trip of its
own, floating away lightly, high out of the water.
After having rescued our property, we returned to the
seal, which we finally succeeded in pulling out of the
water, after having fastened a rope to it b;y its lower
jaw.
There it lay on the ice at our feet, a sight which
gladdened our hearts, as there was now no danger
that we should starve to death for the present; now
we should have food for a long time, not to mention
fuel, and we could now rest and wait for the ice to
loosen still more.
There was, however, one important matter to be
considered. Had the ammunition, which lay in my
kayak, been damaged by the ^vvater ? And thaanatcjies ?
Bread -^nd~pemmican there were also in the kayak.
We were very anxious about the ammunition, as we
A SQUARE MEAL 205
spread the wet cartridges out on our sleeping-bag.
Nansen tried one of the shot-cartridges on a couple
of Arctic gulls, which appeared on the scene to share
in our catch, and_it went off all right. The matches
were also found to be fit for use, our principal stock
having been kept in hermetically- sealed tin boxes.
Nansen then started to cut up the seal, collecting
the blood that was still left in it. I set to work to
find a place for our tent, to collect all our things, which
lay spread about on the ice, and to bring them to the
tent, where I then unpacked all. the wet things.
In the meantime, Nansen had cut up our find nicely,
and the flesh and skin, with a mass of blubber, lay
temptingly in the pure, white snow. It was all brought
to our camp, where we began preparing a^ really^
We had made up our minds, just before we caught
the seal, to lie for the coming night in our blankets
only, to see whether we could do without the sleeping-
bag ; but we used both the blankets and the bag after
all, and settled down first to eat and next to sleep.
The pot was filled with the flesh of the seal, which
tasted remarkably fine, along with the raw blubber. It
was now more than twenty-four hours since we had
had anything to eat.
Thus all our anxiety with regard to food was at
an end for some time to come. We might, perhaps,
soon become tired of living only upon seal's flesh for
a month, but it could not be helped; the main thing
was that it was food. The wind, which had now shifted
right about, was blowing freshly from the north, and
I took a walk to look at our surroundings.
The flesh, the blubber, and the skin of the seal lay
round about our tent, while the gulls at times cruised
about over it. Some distance away stood the sledge,
with the three dogs at a respectful distance from the
206 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
flesh. Poor creatures ! they vomited after having been
fed with- the intestines of the seal.
The open water in the pool, where we intended
fishing and hunting, became considerably reduced in
extent by a pressure in the ice, though it was still of
quite a respectable size. Two fish-hooks which I had
set with blubber as bait for the sea-gulls had been
completely cleaned. The gulls were too clever to
swallow the hook, and we did not care to shoot them
now that we had got out of all our troubles about
food.
CHAPTER XX
"Longing Camp" — St. Jo/iris Eve Illuminations — Three
Bears — A Long Sleep — The White Cloud-bank —
Land ! — In a Beards Clutches
WE remained for a whole month on the same spot
where we had shot the seal ; we called it
" Longing Camp." And the spot was well named. It
tried our patience to the utmost, as we lay there wait-
ing for. the snow to. melt and make the ice passable,
and enable us to proceed towards the unknown, unseen
landjvhich we felt could not be far off. It was strange,
however, that we should not see it. I thought of
Welhavj
" Bright, 'mid the skerries of the western sea,
An island rides upon the wave. Yet none
May know its beauty ; for if mortal ship
By chance should drift too near th' enchanted shore,
A curtain of dark mist enshrouds the isle.
No eye can see its brightness, and no foot
May leave its prints upon the golden fields.
'Tis best in fancy he who dwells ashore
May picture in the longings of his dreams,
This fairy jewel of the western sea."
And I could not help laughing when I thought of the
difference between the fairyland which the dweller on
the shore, according to the poet, was longing for, and
the land we wffi* yearn infr for. Still, I think that we
did not yield to him in the sincerity of our yearnings,
although they were not directed to any fairyland.
208 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
During this time we lived on the flesh of the seal,
which we boiled or fried over our train-oil Jamps.
Nauseji had been among the Eskimos in Greenland,
and had iiad. great experience in living as a wild man,
by which we greatly profited both now and later on.
The lam£j:onsisted only of a small bowl made out of
a plate oL German silver which we had brought with
us to repair the mountings of the sledge-runners, and
for wicks, we. used some of the canvas of which our
provision bags were made, or the soft, antiseptic band-
ages, which we had in our " medical- bag," and for
which we could scarcely have found any better applica-
tion. Several of the doctor's things came to be used
in quite a different and much more pleasant manner
than was originally intended ; thus some plaster, in-
tended for use in the event of a collar-bone being
broken, came in most usefully, for we discovered that
the adhesive matter with which it was coated was a
most excellent putty for making the scams in the kayak
covers watertight. For this purpose we also used some
watexrcolours which Nansen had withjiirn,' ancLwhich
we scraped into fine shavings and made into a kind
of putty with trainHoil.
The kayaksfwere thoroughly overhauled and repaired
while we were in "Longing Camp"; we made some
paint for them out of soot and train-oil and daubed it
well into the canvas with a brush made of bear's hair.
One day we resolved to treat ourselves to pancakes
made from seal blood for supper. Nansen began frying
them over a splendid fire, the flame of which was pro-
duced by several wicks ; everything went all right
until he was engaged on the last pancake but one,
when the heat became alarmingly great, as the pieces
of blubber which were put in the bowl to provide oil
for the wicks caught fire while melting. The tent
being crowded with boxes and utensils, it was not an
ALARM OF FIRE 209
easy thing to put out the fire, so Nansen took a hand-
ful of snow from the floor of the tent and threw it
into the flaming bowl, expecting to put out the fire
with it, but apparently it did not like such treatment,
for the flame leaped high up into the air against the
sides of the tent and set fire to one part of it; we
jumped out of the bag and made a rush for the
opening of the tent, bursting off the buttons on our
way through it, and so got out into the open air.
The fire, which had confined itself to one corner of
the tent and burned a hole through it, was soon out,
and we had to use one of our sails to patch it.
This happened on" St. John's Eve, and so far the
conflagration was quite opportune1 as our contribution
towards the usual festivities on Midsummer's Eve.
We swept up the floor of our tent and bestrewed it,
not with fresh juniper or birch leaves— of which there
is rather a scarcity in those parts — but with snow,
which is plentiful there even in the midst of the
summer.
We found that, in spite of the wind having been
westerly and south-westerly of late, we had drifted
not a little to the south, as the meridian observations
on the 22nd of June showed that we were in 82° 4'
north latitude; nor had we drifted eastwards, as the
longitude was 57° 48'.
One day (the 25th) I lay asleep barelegged and in
my shirt - sleeves on the top of the sleeping-bag, with
my Jegs sticking outside the tent, the weather being
so fine and warm — the best, in fact, that we had
hitherto had. I was suddenly awakened by_fclansen.
calling out, "Johansen, here is more seal-steak lot-
us."^ He had been out and had shot a young seal.
"OrT the 28th we were in 82° north latitude.
1 In Norway it is an old custom to light bonfires on the hills on
St. John's Eve.
P
210 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
We must now have been drifting towards land, for
this strong wind would most certainly force the ice
to drift much more rapidly if there were not some-
thing to keep the ice back. The temperature was just
above freezing point; it was raining pretty constantly,
sometimes we had wet snow and hail.
The ground was now becoming too wet to lie on ; we
had to put our ski and staffs under .the sleeping-bag
to keep some of the wet off; sometimes the water
dripped from the sides of the tent right into the bag,
and we had to use our drinking cups to ladle^. the
water out ; but for all this, we preferred it to the
fearful cold we had had.
The north wind blew, on this day, at the rate of six
to seven metres in the second, but notwithstanding this I
went outside the tent and made grips for the kayaks.
It was an unfortunate day. I broke the saw in my
knife, likewise a screw-driver, and our last quicksilver
thermometer ; but I was in the best of spirits for all
that, probably because I was looking forward to my
supper, and we were going to have dessert that night.
The month of June went out with fine, bright
weather; the air was still and warm, but it was
seldom quite clear. We preferred the warm mist,
however, for then the snow melted most rapidly, and
we were able to get nearer to our goal.
We could now lie .on the top of the sleeping-bag, where
we made_notes. With the aperture to the tent quite
open, while a gust of wind moved its sides from time
to time, throwing shadows across my notejaook, I
imagined myself at home under_the_gines an4-~tui£kes.
It is wonderful what things one's imagination^can
conjure-up.
We now had our meals Inke-a jday : in the morn-
ing boiled seal's flesh jind jsoup^nd in the evening
seal's flesh fried in train-oil. The blubber we generally
A MOURNFUL DUTY 21 1
ate raw. Our appearance had changed considerably;
we were quite black with the smoke and soot of the
train-oil, and we scarcely recognised ourselves when
we saw ourselves one day in the artificial horizon,
which we used for a mirror.
On July 3rd we killed "Haren," which was the
only event of any importance. Poor creature, I
thought him the best of all the dogs ! How he worked
from first to last, even after his back had become a
little crooked! It was not, a pleasant task to cut his
throat^ especially as I could not finish him so quickly
as I hacL wished ; but he was so thin and skinny that
it was difficult to find the arteries at once. Now we
had only "Suggen" and "Caiaphas" left of the
ansen tried to manufacture some paint with ground
bone-dust, but it was too coarse, and with our appli-
ances it would have taken a year to grind it as fine
as it should have been. The temperature was just
below freezing point, while the wind was westerly.
On July 5th the weather was bad, with sleet and
easterly wind, which carried us westwards. The wind
shook our tent, so that the damp which collected on
the inside dripped down upon our good friend, the
sleeping-bag, in which we sat, while waiting for
supper, which invariably consisted of fried seal's flesh.
At such time on this particular day, we were both
very quiet, and when we did talk about anything, it
was of course mostly about our return home, and the
treat it would be to -get there. We also talked about
wintering on Spitzbergen or Franz Josef Land, and
how pleasant it would be if we could fall in with the
Englishmen on Franz Josef Land. We thought they
were sure to be there then, as they were to start the
year after we left. And then the problem constantly
arose — what was our exact position?
212 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Nansen now painted our kayaks with a kind of
soot-paint which he made, and I cut up some seal's
flesh in strips and hung them up to dry. I also
began to weigh the remainder of our provisions; of
pemmican we had twenty-two pounds, and of fish-
meal seventeen and a half.
When the evening approached, Nansen used to fetch
flesh and blubber from our stores, and I fresh and
salt water. I also fed our two dogs, put things
straight in the tent, took the temperature, wind, etc.,
after which we both crept into the tent and waited
till our food was ready. On those evenings when we
had dessert, which consisted of one spoonful of " vril
food," half an ounce of butter, and one ounce of
bread, we seemed to enjoy our existence most. Then
when the night set in, we would forget all about
" Longing Camp," and in our dreams find ourselves
at home.
Next day the weather was excellent; the rain came
pouring down steadily the whole day and made short
work of the snow; we only wished the rain would
keep at it like this every day for some time to come.
The weather being so favourable, we thought we
would treat ourselves to sometning nice, as a change
after our meat diet, and Nansen lit up and began
making some chocolate. I had had one cup, and
Nansen, having accidentally upset his, was waiting
for another to be ready, when we suddenly heard the
dog$_-baddng in an unusual manner and guessed at
once that something out of the common was in the
air. We rushed out of the tent, Nansen first and I
after him. A lmge-_beap was standing sniffing at
" Caiaphas." Nansen seized the gun, which was
standing at the entrance ofth^ tent, _and fired, but
the shot could not have" Struct a vital part, for the
bear at once took to bis heels, leavjng^traces of-blood
A BEAR HUNT
213
behind. Nansen fired another shot at it, this time
also without result. I now got hold of my gun, and
both of us set off after the bear. Suddenly we saw
IN " LONGING CAMP."
the heads of twj3_cubs_- looking over the ridge of a
hummock. The hunt now began in earnest ; the
ground was in a terrible state, covered as it was
214 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
with deep snow, lanes and hummocks. Now and
then we gained on the^ bears, but we wanted to be
well within range, as we had not many cartridges
with us ; out of mine Nansen had two. We then
came to a point where they had turned off in a
different direction. Nansen followed their tracks,
while I made a circuit, thinking that we might thus
succeed in approaching the bears from opposite sides ;
but after I had proceeded some distance in the deep
snow I was stopped by a lane, and Nansen and the
bears got right away from me. This was most
irritating, but the spirit of the chase was upon me,
and I flew across some floes, only just sufficiently
large to save me from a cold bath. I had not gone
far on the other side when I heard a shot fired,
followed immediately by another. Shortly afterwards,
when I got up with Nansen, I found the three bears
lying among some nasty drift-ice close to a lane, one
of the cubs being quite dead, while the mother and
the other cub still showed signs of life, although they
were bleeding profusely. The mother was finished
off with a bullet, and the cub received a shower of
shot in the head.
We cut up the bears, and then returned to the
camp by an easier way than we had. come. The
lamp had gone out and the chocolate was now cold,
but Nansen lit up again and we finished our inter-
rupted meal.
We then took both the dogs and a sledge and fetched
one of the cubs. "Suggen" also seemed now to be
done up ; he was no longer able tojwalk, and we had
to put him on the-sledge. At this he began howling and
making a terrible noise, for he was evidently highly
indignant at this treatment. I think we made a mistake
in killing " Haren " and letting " SuggenJ' live.
We had now three__spl^ndid^Dearskihs to lie upon
ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR LAND 215
instead of thebag^ which had now become hairless, and
througfT~whlchwe were beginning to feel the sharp
edges of the ski.
Next evening we lay very comfortably indeed, and for
supper we had pancakes made with blood and whortle-
berry^jam.
This was the last of the whortleberries, which, by
this time, had become pretty well soaked through with
both salt and fresh water. We lay down to sleep at
eight o'clock in the evening, and when we woke up we
found it was six o'clock. We thought, of course, that
it was six o'clock in the morning, but just then the sun
suddenly burst forth, and, appearing as it did in the
northern sky, we began reflecting and soon discovered
that it was six o'clock in the evening. This you may
call sound sleeping, if you like, particularly when it is
remembered that our bed was upon the ice.
The dogs were now given as much food as they could
eat, and they seemed to thrive well on the nourishing
bear's flesh ; we also ate a great quantity of it ourselves,
both morning and evening. Any housewife would pray
Heaven to preserve her from having guests like our-
selves, if she could but see the meals which we man-
aged to get through; but then, of course, there was
a considerable interval between each meal, .generally
twelve to fourteen hours.
In clear weather we were always on the look-out for
land from the " observatory hummock." We noticed
that to the south a white bank of clouds always kept
over the same spot, and we could not but think that it
must be standing over the land.
Later on, however, it turned out that it was not
clouds, but land itself, at which we had been gazing;
the bank^of jyhite clouds was really nothing else, but
the inland ice on one of the islands of Franz Josef
Land.
21 6 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
One day, when out in my kayak lo try if it was
watertight, I found a dead fish in the water. It was
as long as a herring, but thin and slender, with a long
snout and fine scales, something like a garfish. But
neither Nansen nor I could tell what sort of fish it was.
It was getting to be time for us to continue our
journey, for the state of the ice had now considerably
improved. We got^ rid of everything we could possibly
do without, such as a lot of little things which separ-
ately did not weigh anything to speak of, but which
collectively amounted to a great deal — plaster of Paris
and other kinds of bandages, cotton, the reserve cock
for the paraffin can, the reserve burner for the
" Primus," various articles of clothing, Lapp shoes, a
photographic lantern, a sailmaker's glove, some of the
contents of the tool and sewing bags, a water flask, etc.,
etc. The sledges had been lightened of some of the
extra supports, the kayaks thoroughly overhauled and
caulked, the boat-grips being provided with cushions
made of foot-bandages and bearskin. The dogs were
in good trim and high spirited; "Caiaphas" was as
broad across the back as a barn-door. We ourselves
were only too eager to see the last of this place, which
had kept us back so long and had taught us what
patience meant.
We left the sleeping-bag behind, as we intended to
sleep in the kayaks, but after trying the latter we had
to give it up. We then made a bag of our two blankets,
which turned out to be quite sufficient.
On the 22nd of July we packed up andjsaid good-bye
to " Longing.Xamp." After having divided oyjag-
gage into two heaps and drawialotslor them^we started
off. We hadjjsliecl [some bamboo Tods to the~41edges
to serve as_shafts in__addition to the drag-rope fastened
to our harness.
We took with us some dried meat aatLabmit.
SIGHTING LAND
217
pounds of blubber. Everything went satisfactorily — in
fact, better than we expected. Although the ice was
in as bad a state as it could be, we managed to get
along with our sledges all the way with one dog to each.
Nor was it necessary to use our ski all the time ;
sometimes we came across a belt of snow, when we
could dispense with them and walk.
DR. NANSEN GETTING HIS GUN TO RESCUE JOHANSEN FROM A BEAR.
Altogether we were well satisfied with our first day
on the " homeward journey," and the way in which we
had now arranged matters.
On Wednesday, the 24th of July, I find the following
entry in my diary : " At last the longed-for event has
happened ! We have sighted land, and apparently it
218 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
is only a couple of days' journey distant. It was, how-
ever, a most difficult land to sight, for it was covered
with ice, just like that on which we are travelling. It
was a black, oblique stripe on the horizon, evidently
composed ^of ..bare .rock, which enabled us to discover
it. I saw this stripe yesterday about noon from the
top of a hummock, while Nansen was out reconnoitring,
but I did not think it was anything but one of the usual
black streaks on the ice caused by mud, of which we
have lately seen a good many. I mentioned the matter
to Nansen, however, and towards evening he saw the same
oblique stripe from the top of a ridge, and after having
taken the glass to examine it more closely, he ex-
claimed, ' Yes, you must have a look at it, too ; it is
certainly land ! ' And sure enough the black stripes
were rock, that we could plainly discern — rock project-
ing through the ice-sheet with which the land was
covered. To the east of the two smaller black stripes
we saw that the horizon was bounded by ice — probably
inland ice — of the same colour as that we are travelling
over, but arched in form and sharp in outline, with a
little irregularity on the top. It was the same outline
which I noticed from the observatory hummock at
' Longing Camp,' and which I had thought to be the
clouds lying over the land.
" Later in the evening I also noticed to the west of
the black stripes a similar mass on the horizon, but
much smaller, and this too, I think, must be land."
This, we discovered later, must have been Crown Prince
Rudolfs Land.
" So the blessed land for which we have been looking
so long is there at last ! We shall soon be able to say
farewell lojjiis^driQcice we have had so long beneath
our feet. We shall be able to push forward on the
channels near the shore, or along the shore-ice tp^Spitz-
bergen, and thence to our 'promised land.'
PROSPECTS BRIGHTENING 219
" We are delighted ; a new chapter in our adventures
is now opening. It is a pity that we remained a month
in ' Longing Camp ' with land, so to speak, next door
to us. But what else could we have done ? We could
not make any progress, and we could not see any land !
There was nothing for us to do but to wait for better
times, which have at last arrived. Our prospects are
now bright, although we do not know what land this
is. Now we can understand why we always remained
on the same spot in spite of the wind, and why we saw
so many ' little auks' passing to and fro some time
ago.
" We are making fairly good progress, in spite of the
general bad state of the ice. It is gradually being
ground to pieces against the land by the continuous
northerly wind. It is a great advantage to us not to
be obliged to use our ski ; we can proceed on foot,
pulling the sledges behind us. When we came to lanes,
we simply waded right into the water and up on the
other side. Once or twice we let loose the dogs during
these crossings. ' Suggen ' seized upon the opportunity
to run away, and followed up the old track to ' Longing
Camp,' remembering, no doubt, all the fine bear's flesh
which we had left behind there. I had to use my legs
properly to catch him again, as he set oft" at full speed
whenever I gained upon him ; but he, poor fellow, was
not quite himself and could not get clear away.
" Last night we celebrated our safe arrival within
sight ofjand in grand style. For dinner we had lob-
scouse, made from dried bear's flesh, bear's tongue,
pemmican, and dried potatoes, and for dessert bread-
crumbs fried in bear's fat and ' vril food/ finishing up
with a piece of chocolate.
" Everything seems now to smile upon us ; we have
sighted land, and hope to reach it in a couple of days,
so near does it appear to be. The idea of wintering up
220 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
here, which of late has more and more forced itself upon
us, must now give way to thoughts of an early return
home. Of this we now feel more sure, seeing that we
have the land before us — a land which, although it is
doubtless as barren as can be, is still land all the
same."
At this time we saw several specimens of_ the rare
RogftV gqii . Lightly and gracefully, silently beating
their wings, they came flying about us, and were not at
all afraid. They floated right over our heads, so that we
could see the pink^colour of their breasts. Perhaps this
is the country where this mysterious bird lays_ its
eggs ?
" We are not likely to reach land to-morrow, but
certainly the next day," we said to one another, as we
began our march towards land. Alas ! it JjQol^Jourteen
days before we had worked our way up to the wall of
the glacierjDn the shore.
This was partly due to the land being farther away
than we thought it to be, and partly to the ice being
in such a state that it was almost an acrobatic feat
for a person to get on by himself; how much more
difficult, then, when encumbered with a sledge and
kayak ! At times the lanes and pools were filled with
small floes, too small to carry a man, but large enough
to prevent us usingjurj^ayaks. We had^then to -jump
from floe to floe and pull the sledges
across after us by a rope. Our gymnastic skill, indeed,
stood us in very good stead. And, most unfortunately
for us, the ice was in motion and drifting away from
the shore, while we were making our way across it
towards land. When we encamped in the evening we
could see that the blue, wall pf the distant glacier was
nearer to us than when we began our march in the
morning. On turning out next morning it was again
farther off; and to make matters worse, J^ansen was
NANSEN DISABLED 221
taken ilLwith pains^ in his back, probably— lumbago,
and was almost helpless for some days. He was only
just able to limp along with the aid of sticks after the
caravan, which, however, did not make much progress,
as I had to see to the sledges alone through this
abominable ice. It was a sad job to have to help
Na.nsen off ai^d on with his clothes and "komager" )J /
evening and morning ; .he suffered great pain, but he ' '
did not complain, and dragged . Ju'mself o^ as best he
could instead of giving in. Fortunately he got better
at the end of three days, but this experience was
sufficient to make us understand what it would come i^
to if one Of us should break a limb or fall ill in real
earnest.
On Wednesday, the 3ist of July, I wrote in my diary :
"Our progress yesterday was much the same as on
the two preceding days. Nansen still suffers in his
back, so I have to get over all our obstacles all by
myself. Yesterday the weather was cold and bitter,
the barometer standing at 723 mm. A strong south-
westerly wind was blowing, accompanied now and then
by snow squalls, so that, in spite of our hard work in
getting along, we had to dress as if it were the middle
of winter. But we should not have minded all this
if orily^the wind had not altogether destroyed our
chances of getting on ; it had loosened the ice all round
the lanes, so that these were completely filled with
slush and small pieces of ice, which is the worst
hindrance we can have. We have not noticed such
a movement in the ice before. When, after much
reconnoitring, I had found a way, it was generally
destroyed by the time I got back to it. We had then
to make fresh attempts, taking short stretches at a time.
When, in addition to this, I say that Nansen is quite
helpless, it would seem that one could hardly have
more difficulties to contend with than we have already.
222 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
" But, notwithstanding all this, we saw we had really
made progress when we encamped last night ; the
edge of the distant blue ice by the land is now much
nearer — so near that we hope to reach it to-day in spite
of all hindrances. We have now no more food for the
dogs ; I shot a couple of ivory gulls for them yesterday.
' Suggen ' ate his with evident relish, but ' Caiaphas '
does not like the flesh of the birds. Yesterday we also
saw some of Ross's gulls. The dogs will not cross
the lanes by themselves if they are ever so narrow,
and they often fall in.
" Last night we felt the cold severely in our thin
blankets, and we are longing more than ever for the
time when our life up here will come to an end. That
is still far off, however, so we must have patience.
With this we may conquer everything, and we shall
be certain to reach home."
On the 2nd of August we were in 81° 36' north
latitude. We had then got the north point of the land
due west of us, and had consequently drifted eastwards.
We were in the same latitude as the land; this must
have been from twenty to twenty -five miles distant
when we first sighted it, but this distance is no small
matter with such ice.
When we were unable to shoot birds for the dogs, we
had to give them a small piece of blubber. * Caiaphas '
went several days without food ; he could not eat gulls,
although he was much interested in the shooting of
them. One day he ran after a wounded fulmar across
the flat ice, with sledge and kayak after him, but as
for eating it — no, that was quite another matter. We
heard the breakers now, but saw no sign of water
except the indications in the sky. Nansen tried several
times to shoot some seals i^ the lanes, but was
unsuccessful.
On the 4th of August we passed over the worst
HUGGED 2JY A BEAR 223
drift-ice we had ever seen or encountered, and con-
sequently we did not get on very far, but our comfort
was that we now saw that all our trouble would soon
be at an end. On the 3rd of August we saw with the
glass the open water in front of the edge of the glacier.
It was on this march that I just escaped being eaten by
ajjear. It happened in this way. On August 3rd when
we set out the weather was very foggy, and presently
it got worse and worse; the ice was impassable; it
was all struggling up mountains and down valleys
and through deep snow, with lanes, some wide open,
others nearly closed, and still others full of the most
impenetrable brash. Just as the fog was at its thickest
and the ridges at their highest, we were stopped by
a lane, which we prepared to ferry over. We generally
dicT tHis in the following manner: we put both the
sledges with the kayaks side by side close to the edge
of the water, and placed our ski and staffs across them,
the whole being securely lashed together. This floating
arrangement was then ready to be launched on the
water.
Nansen had just brought his sledge to the edge of
the water and stood holding it, as the ice inclined down
towards the water. My sledge and kayak were standing
a little way back, and I went across to fetch it. I
leant down to pick up the drag-rope, when I suddenly ,
observed an animal just behind the kayak. I thought ^ ^
at first that it was " Suggen," but the next moment I
discovered that it was not he, but a bear sitting in a ^
crouching position ready to spring at me. Before I
had time to get up from my stooping position, it was i
right upon me, pressing me backwards with its two '
legs down a slight incline to a fresh-water ]30ol. The /
bear^then ^ealt n5Tinil9w~nr) t-?|p "ff^KFTbpf v with
one""of its powerful fore pawsT making the bones rattle
in my head, but fortunately it did not stun me. I fell
224 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
over on my back and there I lay between the bear's
legs. uGet the_g[unin.J[ shouted to Nansen, who was
behind me, while at the same instant I saw _Jhe_ butt
end of my own loaded gun sticking out of the kayak
" by m^IiHeTlnylingeFs" iTcHmg to get hold of it. . I
saw the bear's jaws graoing just over mv fread. and
the terrible teeth glistening. As I fell I had seized the
brute's throat with one hand, and held on to it for
dearjife. The bear was somewhat taken albacls_ftt~flSsr
It could not be^ a seal, it must have thought, but some
strange creature to which it was unaccustomed — and
to this slight delay I no doubt owed my life. I had
been waiting for Nansen to shoot, and I noticed the
bear was looking in his direction. Thinking that
' Nansen was taking his time, I shouted to him as I lay
in the bear's embrace, " T nnV ^h^rp, ftp yP1lM1 f*fi IP0
late." The bear lifted one of its paws a little, and
strode across me, giving "Suggen," who stood close
by barking, and watching us, a blow which sent him
sprawling and howling over the ice. " Caiaphas " was
served in the same way. I had jet go my hold of_thg
(^ bear's throat and, taking advantage of the bear's
inattention, I wriggled myself away from bstween its
paws. Getting on my legs I seized my gun, when
Nansen fired two shots and the bear fell dnwp^ dead
beside the^pooTT""
Nansen had, of course, made haste to my assistance,
but when he saw me lying under the bear and went
to get his gun, which was lying in its case_jon the top
of the kayak, the .sledge with the kayak slipped right
out |ntp_jhg-Jaater. There T^ lav under thf b^fvr, and
there stoodJNansen, and out on^the kayak lay the gun.
His first thought was to throw himself into the water
and to fir e-froni^ over the kayak, but he soon gave up
this idea, as he might just as likely hit me as-the bear.
He had then to begin and pull the-w-hole concern up
NANSEN TO THE RESCUE 225
on to the ice again, which did not, of course, take up
much time, but to me, situated as I was, it was an
age. The bear fell down ^dgad_at _the_first charge,
which happened to be small shot. In the hurry" of the
moment NansjnTad^cocked the shot-barrel? jwhich
was the nearest to him. To make sure of the bear he
fired the other barrel containing the bullet into its
head.
I bore^no traces of the bear's embrace except some
white streaks on one of my cheeks, which were quite
black^ jtvith the soot and snmke of "Longing Camp,"
and two small wounds in my right hand. Fortunately
we could now afford to make nierry over these trifles.
No sooner had the bear iallerTto' the ground than I
suddenly caught sight of two more bears, which were
standing on their hind legs behind a ridge close by, and
had been following the whole incident with great
attention. They were two cubs about a year old,
evidently waiting for their mother — the bear which
had attacked me — to bring them food. I set off to shoot
one of them, for the flesh of the cubs is better than
that of the old bears ; besides, my blood was OIL fire
with excitement, but they took to their heels and I
gave tHenTup. While we were busy cutting the flesh
ofif Jhe bear — we did not give ourselves time to skin
it — we saw the cubs again, and I started off in pursuit
once more, but could not get within range of them. I
fired a ball at one of them, however, and a terrible howl
told us that it had taken effect, but not mortally, for
they both ran off. We saw them again several times
afterwards, but could not afford to waste any more
shot on them. The blood was running down the sides
of one of them, bellowing all the while like a bull.
They went round about the spot where the mother's
carcass lay, in a circle, and we heard the bellowing- of
one of the cubs a long time after we had left the spot.
Q
226 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
The dogs were allowed to eat as much as they liked ;
they were both uninjured, "Caiaphas" having only got
a scratch on his nose. We also had a good meal ; we cut
up thin jlices of_raw_meat and placed themj^jk£^sjQp,w
to cool, and then ate them with great relish. Hear's ilesh
wa_s_a_welcome addition to our stock of provisions'; we
took both the hind legs with us as well as some of the
inside fat, which would be useful as fuel.
It is, no doubt, a rare thing for an ice-bear to make
straight for his enemy as this one did, that is to say,
when it is a human being, for it is then generally very
shy-; but this one must have been ravenously hungry.
I took the claws of the paw with which the bsar^gave
me the blow, and Nansen the claws of th_eother paw. We
couTcTnoTvery well drag unnecessary things with us, but
we thought we ought to have^ some memento of this
incident about us.
On our journey, further on towards land, we saw
numerous tracks of bears in all directions. Here, it
seemed, were plenty of bears, but we did not now trouble
ourselves about them. One of them had been right up
to our tent while we were asleep.
CHAPTER XXI
Farewell to the Drift-ice — u Suggen" and " Caiaphas "
must Die — Under Sail at Last — What Land is this?
- Attacked by Walrus — The Fog Lifts — We Cut
our Sledges Adrift — A Snowless Land — Drift-ice
Again — Plenty of Bears and Walruses
AT last, on Wednesday, the yth of August, we
reached the goal for which we had been striv-
ing ; on the last night we slept on the shore-ice at the
foot of the glacier which we had seen so long before us.
It was no longer a delusion ; we could now hear the
thunder and the roar of the glacier itself.
To our great surprise and joy we found a great im-
provement in the state of the ice on the last stretch of
our journey. It was much more even and there were
hardly any lanes, and our day's march was as good as
several of the previous days combined. We pushed on
with all our might. The edge of the glacier gradually
came nearer ; soon we could see it from the ice without
mounting any hummock, and at last we stood by the
edge of the drift-ice, a large open channel with drifting
floes lying between us and the glacier, which fell pre-
cipitately into the sea.
Nansen stood by the edge of the ice wiping the sweat
off his brow and waving his hat at me, who followed a
little Behind ; I waved my hat in return, and the first
hurraji_pjQ^,the_sdiQleuexpedition now rang out Clearly
across theogen water.
' ^-— ~~~^ 227
//»
j
228 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
We lool^ed^back^ triumphantly at this drift-ice, which
had tried our patience and our endurance for such a
length of time. We rewarded ourselves with a piece of
chocolate for this our last exertion.
And now we should have to depend upon the water for
making progress. We tried to take a sledge on each
kayak and proceed separately ; but this we found imprac-
ticable, and had to lash the kayaks together as before.
We could no longer take the dogs with us — ungrateful
creatures that we human beings are ! After these dogs
had toiled for us and suffered such cold and hunger that
it was a wonder they held together at all, we rewarded
their fidelity and devotion with death now that we
believed we could get back to a life of civilization
amongst men again. It was a heartrending business to
be obliged to kill- them ; but, unfortunately, it had to be
done. In order to make it less painful to us, Nansen took
my dog and I tookjiis. Poor creatures, they followed us
quite quietly as we went each our way behind a hum-
mock, when two shots soon announced that " Caiaphas "
and " Suggen " had ceased to exist. We had become
quite fond of them, and coulcTnot kill them in the same
way as the others, so we sacrificed a cartridge upon each
of them.
We now said farewell to the drift-ice and set out in our
kayaks. The weather had become somewhat foggy, but
we had the wind right at our backs, so we rigged up our
sails and could now sit at our ease and in comfort, while
at a fairly good speed we were approaching the glacier,
which we soon saw emerging out of the fog. It was a
long time since noon, when we had had ou_r.last meal, so
we had one in the kayak which, considering the hour,
might have been called either breakfast or supper.
What a sudden change from our Hfe on the drift-ice
—to sit_at_ease and have our food while at the same time
travellTnonwars I
A PARTING LOOK 229
We could not land on the glacier, as the edge formed a
solid wall of ice, about fifty feet high, in which we could
clearly see the various strata. The current flowed in a
westerly direction^ the same as that in which we were
journeying. So we steered westward, and at last found
the floe on which we spent the night. In all probability
A PARTING LOOK AT THE BEAR WHICH NEARLY KILLED ME.
we drifted westward with it while we slept. There was
great commotion in the ice around us.
August yth was our first day at sea, and everything
went excellently. In the morning we had to haul our
kayaks and sledges over some floes, by which we had
been surrounded, and which were continually grinding
against us, giving us now and then a friendly push and
preventing us from getting out into the open water,
of which we could catch glimpses to the west of us in the
230 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
thick fog. At intervals there came from the glacier
great crashes like cannon-shots, occasioned by large
masses of the glacier breaking loose and falling into the
sea.
We settled down on a large floe near the edge, of the
ice to malye paddles from a broken ski, which we lashed
to our ski- staff, as the canvas blades we had brought with
us turned out impracticable. We then set off again in
our kayaks, lashed_joge.tJier_.as before, with pur_sledges
across^ us^on the splendidjopen water. Unfortunately
the sky was so overcast that we could not take any
observation.
After having paddled along the wall of ice for some
time, we had to shape our course towards the north, as
we were met by the shore-ice ; we were probably in a bay
between the large glacier and the land with the black
rocky mountains. Later on, when the fog lifted a little,
we could see these, and before long we had them right in
front of us.
There were plenty of seals about here to keep us from
anxiety about food. We began our journey at six o'clock
in the morning, and paddled on until the same hour in
the evening, when it began to rain, whereupon we
encamped on the shore-ice. The temperature was about
the same as we had usually had of late — about freezing
point.
The next morning we had again to haul the sledges
and the kayaks over some ice which had collected in the
course of the night in front of the shore-ice. After
having got into open water we sailed before a north-
westerly wind for six or seven hours at a fairly good
pace.
It was wet work sajWlngJiUjOur kayaks ; my clothes
were still wet^ and during the night of August 8th I felt
the cold not a little; but we were getting on quickly, so
we did not mind any bodily discomfort. The weather
NEARING LAND 231
was again foggy, and we could see very little round
about us, but at last it cleared up sufficiently for us to
discern some fresh land just inside the edge of the ice
along which we were sailing. This was a small island
covered with ice and snow, like the two other islands we
had just passed; and opposite this island, farther to
S.S.W., we saw some other land which was much larger.
SAILING IN OUR KAYAKS.
Altogether we had thus four islands. It was this group
to which Nansen later on gave the name-j£JiHiddJteji-
land " (Whiteland).
We were^ still at a loss to know where we were, when,
on August 8th, as we proceeded, the course became more
and more southerly ; and at times we steered due south
in broad open waters as far as we could see. Perhaps
we were off the west coast, and in that case we were
232 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
pretty certain of reaching Spitzbergen in time to catch
one of the whalers. If we were off the east coast we
were probably in a deep large bay which cut into the
country, and we should then have to proceed north again
in order to get further homewards.
On the morning of the 9th we ascended the glacier on
the small island where we had camped ; the fog lifted
sufficiently to enable us to take bearings of the islands
we had hitherto seen. We had looked forward to a fine
race on our ski down to the shore, but the incline* was so
slight and the state of the snow so bad that it did not go
off well.
After having rigged up our kayaks we sailed away
from the four islands in bright, sunny weather and with
a fair wind across the sea, which, as far as we could see,
was quite open. We were thoroughly comfortable in
our craft. We made our dinner of cold boiled bear's
flesh and three ounces of bread, while we were being
swiftly carried along by the wind.
Towards evening we encountered some flat ice, which
was in violent motion. The current then was evidently
on the turn, and we had to take to the ice with our
kayaks, lashed together as they were, the ice pressure
beginning just behind us.
At noon we took an observation near our tent, and
another while on our way across the ice. We hauled
our sledges across a flat floe, on the other side of which
we came to open water ; but the current was by this time
so strong that we found it best to remain and encamp
where we were. Shortly afterwards the ice closed in
upon us from the opposite direction and pressed against
our floe, forming ridges here and there as it collided.
The floes, however, were very large and flat, and we felt
sure that they must have something to do with land.
Yet to us there was something mysterious about it — open
water and flat fjord-ice, but no land.
A BIG WALK US 233
The next day, after proceeding some distance over flat
ice, we came to open water which extended in a
southerly and south-westerly direction. In one place we
saw a herd of walruses lying on the ice, but we did not
trouble ourselves about them, as we had sufficient food
for the time being. A nasty, obstinate fog prevented
our seeing anything ; we proceeded at haphazard across
waters which never have been traversed by human
beings before.
Eventually we steered due south, and we were
wondering where and when we should meet with land,
when we came to the edge of the ice, which turned out
to be shore-ice, and which extended in a westerly and
later in a more southerly direction. It appeared that in
the fog we had got into a bay and had now to get out of
it again ; but we now had the current right against us,
while some thin ice was beginning to form on the wrater,
so we were obliged to seek the shore and proceed along
it on the ice.
Wherever we had to pursue our journey on the ice,
whether it was on floes or on the shore-ice, we saw
numerous tracks of bears. A good many bears must
have been dancing about around our encampment in
the night, and as we were expecting a visit from them
some fine night, we had our guns standing ready against
the tent-pole.
Our one wish now was to know our whereabouts ; if it
would but clear up we should, no doubt, see land close
by, and according to the direction in which it extended
we should know whether we were on the west or east
side of Franz Josef Land. At present we were just as
wise as ever on this point, but in any case we were
making good progress towards the south.
One Sunday (August nth), while Nansen was ashore
on a hummock inspecting the water ahead of us, an
unusually big walrus suddenly lifted its unshapely head
234 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
out of the water close to us, and lay puffing and staring
angrily at us.
" Look at it," said Nansen. " it* s a Tegular monster."
The next moment the animal disappeared ; Nansen came
back to his kayak, and we continued our journey. But
all of a sudden the walrus came up again quite near to
us ; it then dived under and came up again several times,
always nearer and nearer, until at last it was close to
our kayaks, when it raised itself on end out of the water,
^norting and shaking its immense tusks at us. We were
afraid it would sink our fragile canvas craft there and
then, and we seized our guns ; but the next moment it
disappeared, only to come up again, this time almost
touching my kayak. I sent a buUet-Stniight . iftto its
ugly head; it uttered a terrific roar, gave a violent
sprawl, and disappeared, colouring the water red j^ith
its blood.
We thereupon proceeded on our Avay, and soon forgot
all about the walrus. Suddenly I felt myself and the
kay^k_lif t_ecl .rigkUout . of JJie. jwnter. J>y_a yiolent_shock
against the bottom of the latter, and the next moment
a head with long tusks ajppearec^ rigjjt alongside of me,
so that the wateF'splashed straight into the kayak.
We again saw the walrus's ugly face, the-jiole made
by my:, bullet in its head being plainly.. visible. We in-
stantly seized our guns ; Nansen fired a bullet into its
head from the front, as he could not get a shot^at its
neck from behind, which is the most vulnerable part of
the animal. Fortunately, Nansenrs shot settled it this
time. Its body lay floating in the water, while the
gulls began cruising about around it as we began with
great difficulty to cut a hole in its one-inch thick hide.
and to cut some flesh and blubbeL£JOL- the carcass.
While we were occupied with this the knife entered the
lung, upon which the air came whistling out, while the
water rushed in. The carcass became heavier and
SHORTENING THE SLEDGES 235
heavier and more difficult to keep afloat with the paddle,
and at last we had to let it go. We could see it sinking-
through the water in circles towards the bottom, while
the gulls made a terrible row because they had been
cheated of a share in the catch.
We now talked about making the sledges shorter, so
that we might get one on each of our kayaks, and then
proceed singly in them. In this way we thought to get
on more quickly than when both were lashed together.
In the evening of this Sunday we were closed in by
the ice, and the weather bdng very foggy, we encamped
for the night on the shore-ice, and began cutting the
sledges and making ourselves proper kayak paddles.
In the course of the night, while busy with this, the fog,
which had so persistently enveloped everything around
us and depressed our spirits, gradually lifted, and little
by little we discovered land in front of us, extending
from S.E. to W.N.W., covered with glaciers and precipi-
tous mountains. In the west there appeared to be a
sound. As this veil of mist was gradually drawn aside,
we watched from a hummock with the keenest interest
the gradual unveiling of the land throughout the entire
night. It was, of course, very satisfactory to see so much
land, but unfortunately we had to admit to ourselves
that it was to all appearance the east coast, and with
this our hopes of reaching home this year must vanish.
But, as the poet^writes —
" If a hope or two_.is_hlighted,
A new one gleams in the eye." 1
Since shortening our sledges we proceeded singly in
our kayaks at the greater speed-which we had anticipa-
ted, but we had not now so much opportunity of getting
on by water as we had before. We were obliged to
haul our stumpy sledges over the ice a good deal again,
but in a way we were making progress after all. On
236 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the night of August I5th we lay down to rest without
pitching our tent and without cooking any food ; in fact,
we lay down without tasting a morsel. We were
waiting for a current, which was preventing us from
proceeding by water, to turn. But the current turned
without bringing about any change, and we had to set
out, hauling and pulling steadily and laboriously at our
sledges the whole day. On the way we passed an ice-
berg, about fifty feet high, which we tried unsuccessfully
to ascend. At last we reached the island, and had for
the first time-harp land judder our feet, and slept on
granite sand.
It was a strange, indescribable feeling we experienced
/ in setting foot on terra firma again — to Ipfr^nqj feet feel
that it reaily-was land, and not ice, they rested upon.
At first we waited most carefully over the hard granite
blocks, our feet touching the ground almost lovingly ;
and ourjeeling^ on finding *nncc ^nri fin^ys ajponp; the
rocks! We sat down, each apart by himself among the
rocks, overwhelmed with thoughts.
What a strange influence land has upon us human
beings! W^ hnisfpH thp lyorwfgrjnn flqgjn honour of the
day. To the west of us there was _an island Avith com-
paratively high mountains, whence we heard the merry
twitter of the little auks.
For the" last few"3ays, since the paraffin came to an
end, we lived upon dried food. Once, indeed, with the
aid of train-oil, we cooked a good meal— of- lobscouse
among the granite blocks, and used ju£ the last of__oiir
potatoes-
Next day we set off in the direction nfjjip alliujjig
island in the west. Nansen went on in front to examine
and measunPthe coast-line. As I was pulling along
across the ice, I saw a bear coming towards me ; it ap-
proached me steadily and briskly, in the customary way
of polar bears, while cruising up against the wind. I
SNOW BUNTINGS
237
got ready to receive it, but before it came within range
of my gun, it stopped and scented the air carefully, and
then it suddenly turned right about and trotted off as
fast as its legs could carry it. There must have been a
great number of bears here, judging by all the tracks we
passed daily.
HAULING IN A- WALRUS.
There was plenty of life on the island ; the snow
buntings flew chirruping from stone to stone, and the
little auks set off in flocks for the open lanes, and then
returned to their nests. The merriment of these little
birds was quite infectious, and put us in gpftd hpmmir.
High up on the pointed crags sat the blackrba£ked_gulls,
anxiously guarding their young ones, their melodious,
flute-like notes floating down towards us. At the foot of
the mountain, the surface of the snow was coloured a
238 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
beautiful^ red : it is a kind of jilgae which grows on
the snow and gives it this appearance. The scene before
us was altogether charming. We climbed up the moun-
tain with our photographic apparatus, but did not
succeed in getting to the top, as we were overtaken by
the fog. We saw, however, that there was plenty of
open water down the sound we were making for, with a
number of large floes here and there.
We set out again in our kayaks, but could not proceed
far on account of the floes and the thin new ice on the
water. So we took to the ice, pulling our sledges and
kayaks along until at last we stood by the large open
water which extended from the sound down to a promon-
tory covered with ice which ran out from the land. Be-
hind this promontory we should learn our fate. If the
coast trended towards the south, we must be on the west
coast ; but if we found more land in a north-westerly
direction, then it must be the east coast.
At last we reached the promontory, and to our great
joy we found that the coast was trending southward,
with open water along it. We made good progress,
first along the lofty wall of ice, and later, along a
mountainous country with a remarkably sharp ridge
of torn and jagged basalt. In the middle of the
mountain there was a deep gap, with a steep declivity
on both sides. We crawled up along this gap to get
a view of the coast-line along which we had to
proceed. Here we saw two foxes fighting over a
bird they had caught. They did not seem to be
troubled by giddiness, those fellows, for they were
struggling at the very edge of the precipice. The
open water seemed to extend south as far as we could
see; so, although we were tired and worn out, and
it was time to rest, we agreed to proceed, especially
as a fair wind was blowing freshly. We thought
it better to go on sailing as long as it lasted. After
AN ALL-NIGHT SAIL
239
a meal of raw meat and blubber, pemmican and bread,
we set out and sailed all night until the wind went
down. At last we became so sleepy that we sat
nodding in our kayaks ; we then rowed ashore and
BIRD MOUNTAIN, NEAR CAPE FLORA.
encamped on the shore- ice. Nansen afterwards called
this part of the land "Brogger's Foreland."
^ luck i
and vrejgrtainly experienced the tpith of the... saving-
often pnmijrh_ during; onr royjng life. Only lately we
were full of hope that we should be able to return
240 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
home this year, having the open water before us.
Now we had been stopped by the ice, which was
packed tightly against tHe coast, an3 We had" not
been able to stir for a week. We supposed, therefore,
we should have to say farewell to our brilliant hopes ;
that we should in all probability have to spend another
polar night in those regions, and that it might prove
the worst of the three for us.
We set out in our kayaks, in bright, beautiful
weather, not unlike a spring night at home, after
having made allowance for the cold, and we were
making good progress along the shores of the new
land we had found. Then we came to a promontory,
outside of which there was a number of small islands,
and here we encountered the ice. We tried to find
a path close along the shore, but could not get on,
owing to the slush and thin ice, whereupon we lay
down on the ice to get some sleep, without pitching
our tent, intending to wait for the turn of the current
and then proceed upon our way. But before we
settled down here we had another adventure with a
walrus.
As we were paddling our way among the floating
pieces of ice, Nansen in front and I behind, I saw
the water under his kayak violently agitated, and
the next moment the kayak was lifted out of .the
water. I thought it was a floating hummock, which
had "calved" as he passed it, and had struck the
bottom of the kayak, but I had not made many more
strokes before a huge walrus rose to the surface just
in front of the kayak, shaking his long tusks and
snorting angrily.
I backed suddenly and felt for— my_^gun, which I
had laid down in the kayak. The animal dived and
came up on the other^sido-QL-caei-JFortunately I was
not far away from a floe, on to wjiich I managed
INQUISITIVE VISITORS 241
to scramble out of the kayak, and was glad to feel
the solid ice under my feet. I stood ready with my
gun, waiting to get a good aim at the walrus, which
now _gciye^ up the chase after me and _ set.,_off_ after
Nansen, who had paddled up to a floe and was' just
getting out of his kayak, and setting his foot on the
edge of the ice, when it gave way. Fortunately, the
walrus was not near just at the moment. For some
time afterwards it swam round about / us, going from
one kayak to the other, while we had our dinner
on the floe. At last it disappeared altogether.
We then lay down on the floe, without pitching the
tent, to get some sleep and to wait for better times.
Before long we were awakened by the wind, which
must have changed, as we were no longer sheltered from
it, and the ice had packed tightly around us, while
we ourselves were__adnft on qur_little floe, which had
broken looSPfrom IheT shore-ice. _ It was an unpleasant
awakening, especially as I had just been dreaming
that I_was at home eating cherries in the garden.
We had now to make~haste and scramble across the
floes on to the shore-ice again, where we were at the
moment of writing this paragraph. A dreary and
unpleasant time it was for us, with dark prospects
before us.
On the third day Nansen shot a bear from the tent ;
it had been right up to it, and might have turned
out an ugly customer if it had been of the more
ferocious sort, but it hesitated and turned round.
We both lay awake in our sleeping-bag. Nansen
heard something pawing about outside, and looken
out through a hole in the tent, when he caught sight
of the fellow. He lost no time in snatching up his
gun, and sent a bullet through the hole right into
the bear's breast. It fell forward, but raised itself
again and was going to straddle on, when it received
242 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
another shot in the side, whereupon it dragged itself,
in the agonies of death, over to some rough ice, where
we had some difficulty in getting hold of it. That
bear came at the right moment, for we had not much
food left just then, and this was an unusually big
monster.
We regretted that we had not shot any seals on
our way, as there were plenty of them. One 4ay I
saw a kind of seal which I had not seen before.
There was a whole herd of them — one after the other
came up to the surface of the water. Nansen told me
they were young Greenland seals.
On another occasion we went reconnoitring along a
promontory — a most unpleasant spot, with irregular
and impassable ridges of ice in front of it, which Nansen
called " Helland's Foreland." We looked round for a
place, in case we should eventually decide to winter
here, but when we left it we both hoped that this
would be our first and last visit to this region. The
south-westerly wind blew hard day and night, and
our tent was badly sheltered against it.
But on August 24th we got the wind from the
opposite quarter, N.E., and stronger than ever. The
ice had cracked and was opening between us and
the land, and we were consequently no longer on the
shore-ice; the lane was gradually increasing, and we
were soon adrift with the ice. We could not launch
the kayaks on the water, as the storm was dashing
the waves high up above the edge of the ice ; for the
time we had to submit to the inevitable and let
ourselves drift out to sea with the pack-ice, while we
saw the land vanishing bsfore our eyes more and
more.
On Monday, August 26th, however, we were safe
again on the shore-ice close to land. We had now
got a good bit past Cape Athos, as we Called the
PAST CAPE ATHOS
243
promontory; it was this point we had been so anxious
to pass for so many days.1
It was on Sunday, the 25th, that we got away from the
drift-ice ; before this the wind had been blowing
harder than at any previous time on the whole expe-
dition. After having speculated as to the best means
OUTSIDE OUR HUT IN SPRING.
of getting on, we settled down for the night; but after
a few hours' rest, we had to take the tent down, as
it was impossible to find a sheltered place for it. We
then laid it over us and went to sleep. When we
awoke we discovered that the wind had gone down
1 Nansen did not give this promontory any name later on, as he
thought that the English sledge -expedition from Cape Flora in
1895, under --Mr. Jackson, had, in all probability, discovered . it
before we got there.
244 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
considerably, and that we had now drifted a long way
from land ; we then turned out at once and got ready
to start. When we reached the edge of the ice, the
wind began to blow just as hard as ever, earning
with it much loose snow from the land, which greatly
inconvenienced us. We walked for hours along the
edge of the ice, looking for a chance to launch our
kayaks. Nansen set out in his first, to try how it
would weather the seas. It was with the greatest
difficulty that he got free of the loose ice and floes,
but the kayak answered very well. When Nansen
came back I seized the opportunity and tried my
kayak, which also did very well. Nansen then started
out again in his, and we began paddling towards land.
But we soon found that we could not keep on in this
way, for the kayaks were too heavily laden in front
with the bear's flesh we had taken with us, and leant
so heavily over to leeward that we could only use one
oar-blade, and could therefore make but little headway.
We then landed on a floe, had our dinner, lashed our
kayaks together, and rigged up our mast, as we
thought we could now venture to set sail, the wind
having gone down somewhat. We got on capitally in
the high sea, Nansen steering and I looking out for
the floes, so that we could steer clear of them. We
sailed merrily along for a considerable time, but for
my part I must admit I did not altogether escape sea-
sickness. We began to be afraid that our craft would
not hold out, especially if we should venture to set
the double sail. A squall, however, soon compelled us
to lower one sail hurriedly and proceed again under
single sail.
Both we and our baggage got a soaking, and when
we encamped for the night we had to wring out the
sleeping-bag, which was drenched; but we had reached
land, and that was the chief thing. We were glad to
A BASALT MOUNTAIN 245
be able to creep into our tent, although we were as
wet as rats and had nothing dry to lie upon. We had
a violent snowstorm, which again soaked the tent and
the sleeping-bag. I had to get up in the night and
wring out my socks. The bag was lying in a pool of
water.
When we awoke in the morning we found we had
encamped on a beautiful spot. We climbed up along
the mountain side over the loose, slippery stones to
take a look around us. The mountain... behind us was
composed_of basalt which rose in tall slender columns,
and upon it a multitude of birds — little auks and gulls
— kept up a terrible noise, which resounded with
redoubled loudness along the torn columns which
extended beyond the mountain itself.
In front of us the shore was blocked with ice,
which had drifted towards it in the course of the
night ; but farther on, beyond a promontory lying
about S. by W., there was open water. It appeared
as if a great fjord ran eastward into the country,
while westwards out to sea the ice was everywhere
visible. Far out in this direction we discerned some
islands, but the atmosphere was misty and we could
not see them clearly.
On Monday evening, August 26th, we left our
encampment by the lofty basalt mountain with all the
birds. It looked as if we should have some difficulty
in getting on, but we managed to get over the ice
into the open water, and shaped our course towards
the promontory in a S. by W. direction. As there
was every appearance of a fair wind, we landed on a
small island in our course and rigged up the kayaks
ready for sailing ; but when we got away again the
wind began to go down and to blow from the opposite
quarter. We then took to paddling, each in our own
kayak, and had fairly good weather during the night.
246 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
But very soon the wind began to blow so hard from
the south-west that we had to steer for land, and thus
we arrived at our encampment.
As soon as we landed Nansen took a walk along
the shore, but came back almost immediately and
asked me if I wanted to have a shot at a bear which
was coming along. " Yes, of course I did." We
crouched down behind the kayaks near the shore, and,
sure enough, there came the bear trotting along
towards us at a quick march ; then it stopped and
sniffed at Nansen's tracks not far from us. "Bang!"
went the bullet into its shoulder and felled it to the
ground. It was not, however, mortally wounded; its
back was broken, so that the hind part of its body
was paralysed and refused to act. It kept pawing
with its fore-legs and trying to get along, and then it
sat down and began biting furiously at its paralysed
hind-legs, after having first tried to tear away at the
wound. It growled and scowled at us who were
standing close by; we then sent a bullet through its
skull and put an end to its sufferings.
It was an unusually fat young she-bear ; we after-
wards existed on its flesh, and its skin became our
couch.
There was a great number of walruses here; there
was one spot on the ice in our neighbourhood where
they assembled and lay grunting, fighting, and sleep-
ing on the floes for hours, safe in their greatness,
afraid of neither bear nor any other animal, and still
less of human beings, whom they had never seen
before.
While lying asleep in our tent one night we were
awakened by a strange wailing sound outside, near
the place where we kept the bear's flesh; and on
looking out we saw a she-bear with a cub standing
over it, and actually wailing over the loss of their
A STONE HUT 247
comrade. Nansen seized his gun, but, shy and timid
as these animals are, they noticed we were awake and
ran away scared.
It appeared that there was sufficient food here.
We now abandoned the tent, which, in such a wind
as we had had of late, was only like a thin veil, and
afforded no shelter. We moved into a stone hut
which we built, with the sail and the tent above as
a roof.
CHAPTER XXII
Obliged to Winter — Our "Den" — Hunting the Walrus —
Adrift Again — A Hard Struggle for Land — Awakened
by Bears — Hunting Bears in the Kayak — An In-
quisitive Walrus — Birds and Foxes — Our Imple-
ments—The "Hut"
WE were now at ±he_end of August, and the winter
was at hand, ancLstill we were just as wise as
ever about the country we had reached. We had to
prepare-to winter here ; there was no help for it. We
had entertained a faint hope of getting farther south
before wintering, for if we were on Franz Josef Land
we felt that we ought certainly to find the place where
Mr. Leigh Smith, the English Arctic explorer, had
wintered. The possibility had, of course, great attrac-
tion for us, and we were sorely tempted to try and
find it; but we were stopped by the ice, and our
experience told us that we should only just have time
to build ourselves a hut, and provide food and fuel
before the winter set in.
We resigned ourselves to our fate, and set to work to
make ourselves as comfortable as possible. As matters
stood we thought it would be a nice change to get a
proper rest in a good, cosy hut, after all the hardships
we had undergone on our march across the drift-ice.
One might Jiiinl^that_it^ was-oy4tb-^r-feeling ofjiespair
and — fflrtsgtvwg^" that we began our preparations for
wintering ; this, however, was not the case, even if the
248
LIFE IN THE " DEN" 249
work with the hut was allowed to rest now and then,
and although we gazed with longing eyes over the ice-
fields towards the south in the direction of the home
which we were not to reach that year. We were,Jipw-
pypr, always fu.ll of hope, especially as we had found that c
we rniilrLsnhgist_np bear's flesh alone. But our patience *
would be sorely tried ; in fnpi-, thg slffll^ pvpedLtk^ y^g \
from the Jjeginmng: to tha^end, a splendid
the virtue o
As I iave already mentioned, we built one night a
stone hut, which we called the " den." It was but a poor
place; it was so low that I could hardly sit upright,
while Nansen had to lie down at full length. We used
the tent and the sail for a roof ; later on we used bears'
skins for -this purpose, but we were then always visited
by gulls^-which annoyed us greatly by their continual
"rrrruninc nnft their pecking away at the~lrbof. We
lived for a month in the den while we were building the
hutj^and went hunting to provision ourselves for the
winter.
On the 28th of August we prepared for a walrus hunt,
but we could not discover one on the ice and had to go
out to the open water. Before we got out I caught sight
of two bears — a she-bear and its cub— coming along the
edge of the ice towards land. We seized our guns and
set off to meet them, but when they got to the shore they
followed it along the fjord, and finally began to ascend
the mountain slope. We ran after them and hid our-
selves behind a hummock. The bears were then at
rather a long range, but I was fortunate enough to hit
the mother in the side from behind, the bullet passing
through her chest and out on the other side. She roared
in the usual way, bit at the wound, staggered a few
steps, and dropped down dead. The cub could not
understand what had happened to its mother, which
lay there motionless ; but on seeing us it set off up the
250 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
mountain slope and almost immediately afterwards came
back and put its head across its mother's neck, glaring
defiantly at us. Nansen sent a shower of small shot
into its head, and the cub sank down on top of its
mother. We skinned and cut up the two bears and
covered the flesh over with the skins to protect it against
the gulls.
We then set out in our kayaks, which were lashed
together, to look for walrus ; there were plenty of them
out in the open water. We soon got within range of
one, and Nansen fired a bullet at it. It turned over and
got under the kayaks, while the water was whirling
around us. We backed as quickly as we could to avoid
getting the canvas on the bottom of the kayak ripped up
by its long tusks. Shortly afterwards we again saw it,
apparently quite uninjured. We each fired two or three
shots into its head, but it was always facing us, so that
we could not get a shot at it sideways ; we noticed, how-
ever, that it was bleeding freely. Just then Nansen's
gun went off accidentally, just as he was laying it aside
to take the paddle ; the bullet passed through the deck
and the fore part of the kayak, fortunately just above
the water-line. The walrus dived and came up several
times and received on each occasion more shots ; its
breathing became more and more laboured, and its eyes
more and more dim; the water around was dyed red
with its blood. Another bullet put an end to it at last,
but it sank before Nansen had time to throw his harpoon
into it. We were terribly annoyed at having thrown
away so much ammunition to no purpose, and paddled
ashore in rather a despondent mood.
Before long we saw two walruses getting on to the
ice some distance out on the fjord. We gave them some
time to settle down while we fetched the flesh of the two
bears we had shot. We then approached the walruses
cautiously, treading in each other's footsteps like Red
A WALRUS CATCH 251
Indians. We had to go some distance across the flat
ice before we came up to them. The walruses now and
then turned round, so we had to remain motionless
while they were looking back ; but finally we succeeded
in getting close upon them unnoticed.
Nansen first shot the one lying in the most advan-
tageous position. With one shot he killed it on the spot.
The other started up from its sleep, but the next moment
I had fired a bullet into its head, which, however, lodged
too far forward. It was the same with the next shot
which was fired by Nansen. It was a monster walrus ;
the blood streamed from its nostrils and mouth, spurting
all round about as it dug its enormous tusks into the
ice in its efforts to get into the water again. The third
bullet hit the right spot at last, and the shapeless mass
of flesh lay motionless. We felt we had now made up
for the cartridges we had spent on the walrus that had
sunk ; for our four cartridges we had got two walruses.
But the w^orst part of the work — the skinning — had yet
to be done.
We fetched our sledges to bring the catch home.
Nansen thought we had better take the kayaks with
us as well, and it was fortunate for us that we did.
Before we began skinning the animals a strong wind
from the south-east sprang up, which gradually increased
in strength and made us afraid that the ice on which
we were standing would get loose and drift out to sea
with our catch. This fear proved only too well founded,
for we had scarcely skinned half of the biggest walrus
before we discovered that we were adrift. We saw we
could not save the whole of our catch, but hoped to
secure half of the hide with the blubber, so we set to
work with our knives, cutting away at the thick hide
with all our might. We had, however, to give up the
idea of saving half of the hide, and to rest satisfied with
a quarter. We hurriedly took a few pieces of the flesh,
252 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
flung them into our kayaks and set out. To our great
chagrin we saw the sea-gulls take possession of our
splendid catch ; some of them sat closely packed on
the half-skinned carcass, at which they pecked away
vigorously, while the others flew around uttering their
hoarse cries. These creatures did not mind the storm
or the bad weather, but were only too glad to get a trip
out to sea in company with so much food. We intended
to cross over to the edge of the floe on the windward
side, and thence to set out for the shore-ice and work
our way to the land. In the meantime the wind in-
creased rapidh7 and loosened a number of small floes.
We could not make any progress with the kayaks lashed
together, so we had to separate them and paddle ahead,
each in "his own canoe." We did not, however, reach
the shore-ice ; it proved, in fact, to be a very long way
off, for the storm had broken it up far in towards the
land. We had to let go the quarter of the walrus-
skin with the blubber, which the sea-gulls at once
attacked.
Now began a hard struggle towards land : sometimes
on the water between small floes, with the sledge aft on
the kayak and the spray dashing over us ; at other times
across half-melted floes with the kayaks on the sledges,
drifting, however, constantly to the north-west, past
our store of bears' flesh and the den. It seemed only
too probable that we should once more drift out to
sea amidst the hateful drift-ice. At length we came to
a considerable stretch of open water in the direction of
land, and embarked for the last time in our kayaks.
Nansen paddled ahead first, and I followed in his wake.
I took off my gloves, as I was afraid of losing the paddle
if I kept them on. We had the seas right on one side,
which was rather awkward as far as my kayak was
concerned ; at the best of times it generally heeled over
to the port side, while now it was canted over still more
A STRANGE MOANING 253
by the walrus-flesh and my gun, which had shifted over
to the leeward side inside the kayak.
Nansen looked back now and then to see if I was all
right. It was a hard pull, but we were glad to see that
we got nearer and nearer to land, although our pace was
slow ; and at last we succeeded — thoroughly fagged out
and wet through as we were — in scrambling up on the
shore-ice to the north-west of our den. Here we chipped
off small bits of ice wherewith to allay our burning thirst.
We then proceeded along the shore-ice and safely reached
the bare shore, where we pulled up the kayaks and
wrung the water out of our clothes. We then crept into
our bag, ate some bear-steak, and soon fell asleep, tired
with the day's exertions, and pleased at having also got
safely through this adventure.
We had not been long asleep, when I was awakened
by hearing a strange, moaning sound just outside the
door, and a similar sound answering some distance off.
" That's a bear," I said to Nansen, who was now awake
also. We at once turned out and caught sight of three
bears. After several shots Nansen killed the mother,
while her two somewhat large cubs vanished between
the boulders, only to appear afterwards, side by side, out
on a small ice-floe, which was hardly big enough to hold
them and keep them above water, their heads alone
being visible. It was of no use to try to shoot them
under these circumstances ; I therefore waited until they
should swim ashore, and lay in ambush for them ; but
they drifted out to sea on the floe before the wind, which
had now gone down considerably. We let them drift on,
as we should have to hunt them from the kayaks in any
case. So, drenched as we were from our last expedition,
we got ready to get into our kayaks again, taking our
a duliker " 1 on us, however, in order not to get more
drenched. But what should we find when we got to the
kayaks but the dead body of a walrus lying floating
1 A kind of waterproof sealskin jacket with a hood.
254 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
close to the edge of the ice ! Here was a prize for us, so
we lost no time in securing- it and making it fast. It
turned out to be the walrus which had cost us so many
cartridges, and thus we got it after all. It had risen to
the surface again, and had been drifting along the shore.
The bears had been rummaging terribly about in
the kayaks ; Nansen's had been thrown into the water.
They had been right into the kayaks and dragged out the
walrus-flesh from them, and after having torn and eaten
some of it, had scattered it all over the place ; they had
evidently been having a fine time. While thus occupied
they had done some damage to my kayak by splintering
some of the bamboo stretchers in it, but fortunately it
was still fit for use.
The two bears had now drifted so far out to sea that
they were almost out of sight, but we set out and soon
gained upon them. Some walruses came to the surface
quite close to the kayaks and snorted at us, but they left
us in peace. We were now close upon the bears, and
made a circuit round them, as we wanted them to leave
the floe and let us drive them towards land, where we
might then shoot them. This, of course, would give
us least trouble in securing them. And, sure enough, as
soon as we made for them, they slipped off the floe and
began swimming towards land. An interesting chase
now began ; each of us went in pursuit of one bear and
drove it before us in the direction we wanted it to take.
They growled and showed their teeth whenever we
came too near them with our kayaks, and exerted them-
selves all the more to get away from us. Nansen's bear
was a better swimmer than mine, which was very broad
across the back ; he therefore soon got ahead of me. I
had to stir up mine from time to time, when it would hiss
angrily at me, but swim on all the quicker.
Nansen was now. close under land and Jired. I saw
him throw his harpoon into the bear to make sure of it,
SKINNING A WALRUS 255
after which he towed it ashore. I steered my bear
towards the shore just outside the den where our meat
was kept. When we were close to the edge of the ice I
fixed the paddle by the strap, took the gun and sent a
bullet through the head of the bear, just as it was making
some hasty strokes to get ashore.
We now had all three bears, the mother lying farther
east along the shore. We skinned them and added their
flesh to our other stock, after which we crept into our
bag and slept long and well the sleep of the just. We
had not had much sleep of late, so now we took the
rest we needed so much.
Our precious walrus lay securely moored to the shore-
ice in a long, narrow bay, close to a place where the
glacier precipitated itself into the sea. Here we hoped
to be able to draw it ashore and skin it. We did not
take the flesh into account ; it was the hide we wanted
most, in order to get a good roof for our hut and blubber
for fuel. It was a troublesome and nasty job to get the
walrus skinned. With the implements at our disposal
our strength was not sufficient to get it landed ; we had
therefore to skin it in the water. Half a sledge-runner,
which we had been carrying with us since we cut the
sledges, came in most usefully as a handspike, both now
and afterwards. We cut notches in the ice with our
hatchet for the handspike, and another short piece of
ash- wood — also from a runner — we fixed in the ice. To
this we fastened one end of our rope, while the other was
passed through a loop which we cut in the thick walrus-
skin and tied to the handspike, whereby we got a kind
of tackle which enabled us to exert greater power.
One of us had to use the handspike while the other
was skinning, and in this way we at length finally
managed to secure the hide ; but it was an exceedingly
nasty job. We had to lie across the greasy carcass of
the walrus while cutting away the skin down in the
256 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
water ; our clothes were thoroughly soaked with fat, and
we had no means of getting them cleaned, but had to use
them in this state all the time.
While Nansen was cutting away the " inch-thick "
skin and I was working with the handspike, I discovered
an unusually large walrus swimming into the narrow
bay straight towards us, evidently to see what we were
doing with his comrade. "Just look at that fellow," I
shouted to Nansen; "hurrah, here is another prize for
us!" Nansen seized his gun, which, needless to say,
was our constant companion, cocked it, and stood ready
waiting for the walrus to turn the back of its head
towards us. It was not the least afraid of us, but ex-
amined us in a minute and leisurely fashion. I should
say it would have been anything but a pleasant job to
tackle a creature like that in a kayak. Nansen now
fired, and the walrus tumbled round into the water,
where it lay motionless, but it soon showed signs of life
again. Nansen fired a second time, and once again it
lay stunned ; this repeated itself several times, and after
having received three or four bullets in the head it still
attempted to get away, so after turning our pockets
inside out I had to go to the den for more cartridges.
These animals seem to be exceedingly curious and
gifted with excellent sight. They often came right up
to the shore to us, hooked themselves fast in the edge
of the ice with their long tusks, and remained quietly
staring at us until their curiosity was satisfied. It was
perhaps this feeling which prompted them now and
then to caress our kayaks when we were paddling.
Unfortunately, we were not in the mood to appreciate
these caresses — they were too dangerous.
We now gave up skinning the first walrus, and set
to work on our new prize, which was much bigger and
fatter ; one, in fact, which was a source of great joy to
us. It took several days to get these animals skinned,
ARCTIC BIRDS 257
but at last we got through the work. We took the flesh
of the last walrus and piled it in a heap on the shore,
and spread the skins with the blubber still adhering to
them over the heap.
There was plenty of bird and animal life over in the
little bay where the walruses were moored. The big
gulls (the glaucus gulls) took entire possession of the
entrails and lungs, etc., while the pretty, snow-white
ivory gulls fluttered angrily about because they had to be
content with the leavings which the larger birds would
not eat. The ivoixj^UjJlQuid^
disagreeable scream; it is veozi petulant and bad tem-
pered, and much more importunate than the dignified
and maj^ticuglaucus ffulj. The Iqttiwake looks^ jwffli
ponf-pmpt- npnn Jhhfrgf* rflfrinfl hirrk • it will not have
anything to do with food which it has not caught itself,
as long as there are crustaceans in the sea — and of them
there is plenty in these regions. These birds fly in
flocks lightly and gracefully along the edge of the ice,
looking with their keen eyes for food, and now and
then darting like an arrow at the surface of the water
and appearing immediately with a small shrimp in their
beaks. Suddenly one of them would dart upward in a
great fright ; a large dark bird would be seen throwing
itself upon it with__a__screech, andperk-fog fit it with
its beak. This is the^kua7~oT^HTirieving Toe," as the0
Norwegians call it,~"wluch lives upon what other birds
catch.^ It pursues the kiftiwake, with its hoarse^cry,
pecking away at it, until the kittiwake lets go what it
has in its beak, which the robber, swift as lightning,
then catches and devours. • We often paused in our
work to watch this struggle for existence.
Suddenly the whole flock of birds rise with a screech
right up into the air. What can it be? Ah, there is
the explanation ! Just round the corner by the glacier
appear some foxes ; they approach at full gallop and
258 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
take possession of the entrails and pluck as uncon-
cernedly as if no human beings were near. If we sit
quiet, they come right up to us and wonder what sort
of new boulders have appeared upon the scene. They
then set to work at the carcasses until tired out, when
they take to their heels and race one another till they
hardly seem to touch the ground. Then they come to
such a sudden stop that their bodies appear bent up
into a curve ; then back they go again at lightning
speed to the carcasses. Yes, there is indeed life up here,
at least as long as the summer lasts.
On the yth of September we began in earnest to build
our winter abode. We chose a piece of flat ground
covered with soil and moss close to where the cliffs pro-
jected from the glacier, and where there were sufficient
stones among the steep talus for building materials.
Here and there small arms of the glacier had found their
way down among the debris. The area on which we
built our hut measured six feet in breadth, and nine to
ten feet in length. We dug the same distance into the
ground as the height of the walls over the ground,
which we built with stones from our quarry. The
entrance was at the south-western corner, where we
dug a passage in the ground and covered it with stones,
ice-blocks, and snow, so that we had to creep out and in
just as the Eskimos do.
It was not an easy job to build ou^-tat without tools
and implements, and with no other wooden materials
than skijmcL_£ki-stafifs. We had no difficulty about the
walls, but we could scarcely make the roof without
spars or planks of some kind ; the stones were not suit-
able for building a vaulted roof.
But one day Nansen fortunately found a piece of drift-
wood^.^ suitable dimensions frozen fast between the
boulders, in the neighbourhood of the den, some distance
from the shore. This we decided to use for the ridge-
BUILDING A HUT
259
pole, and then roof over the hut with the walrus-skins.
For tools we had nothing but a
spear^ a miniature hatchet, and a_ ski-stafLwith an_iron
We made a spade_ouL^£jli£_^hQiiMep-blade of a
the cross-tree of a' sledge, together with the
remains of a ski-staff ; but this soon came to pieces after
we had dug for a time in the hard-frozen soil. The
bear-spear and the iron-shod ski-stajL served as a pick-
axe, till Nansen struck a tusk off one of Ifo^
for~which I made a handle out of another cross-tree.
OUR FIRST ENCAMPMENT ON OUR MARCH SOUTH.
Sometimes the weather was so mild that the water
came trickling down to us from the melting snow and
ice, but at other times everything was frozen quite hard.
The soil which we dug out we used, together with moss,
to fill up between the stones in our walls. It did not
take us long to get the walls up, but the roof gave us
a deal of trouble. The log^-which we were going to use
as a ridge-pole lay-frozen fast with its thickest end, the
roots still adhering to it, deep into the ground. We had
to cut it in two where it was lying. One fine morning,
after having sharpened our hatchet with the two small
files we had brought with us, I set to work ; but it was
260 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
evening before I had cut it through, although I stuck
closely to the work, and cut and chopped away all the
time. Next day we took one end of the log at a time
and dragged it over the boulders to a place higher up
where there was a kind of a plateau, and from which
it could easily be rolled over to the hut. We had to
exert all our strength to get the heavy log rolled on to
the top of the low, slanting walls. The weather was now
becoming so cold that we had to get ready our walrus-
skins by freeing them of their blubber, and fortunately
we had mild weather for one day, so we got through this
work fairly well. It was no easy matter to get these thick,
heavy skins transported to the hut. The skins were in
four halves, to the first of which we fastened a rope at
each end, dragging it across the boulders all the way.
The second we put on a sledge and dragged it for some
distance along the shore over some very bad ice, and
the rest of the way we carried it on a ski and a bamboo
pole. The third we carried the whole of the way, and
after that we could do no more that day.
When we went to fetch the fourth half-skin it was
quite frozen. There was nothing else to be done but
to place it in the water under the ice, so that we might
get it sufficiently thawed to handle it.
CHAPTER XXIII
An Uninvited Guest in our Hut — Walrus in Abundance
- The " Water Bear " — Two Motherless Ones— The
"Lean Bear"- — We Change our Quarters — The First
Night in the Hut
ONE morning, as we were walking along the shore
on one of our usual excursions between the den
and the hut — I with a bucket and gun in my hands—
I saw Nansen, who was some distance ahead of me,
suddenly stop and then begin to step back cautiously.
A bear was standing sniffing at the fourth half-skin,
which it had pulled out of the water, where we had
placed it to thaw. Nansen went off for his gun, but
as I had mine I began to steal a march upon the
creature under cover of some large boulders. I soon
came to open ground between me and the bear, and
could not therefore proceed any farther. As the range
from where I stood was too long, I lay down and waited
quietly until it should approach me, for it was facing
me and seemed as if it would proceed in my direction.
Apparently, it had not as yet seen me; but it set off
across the boulders towards the hut, which made it
still more difficult for me to get within range. As soon
as it arrived at the hut it began sniffing at the roof,
when, to my great surprise, I saw another bear appearing
in the opening in the roof, where it had torn down the
skins. It was standing on the stone bed, growling and
hitting out with its paw to keep the new arrival off.
261
262 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
By this time Nansen had returned, just as the first
bear was beginning to walk towards the shore again.
I called Nansen' s attention to bear number two, which
had now completely emerged from the hut. There was
nothing else to be done but to go ahead and fire at as
close quarters as possible. Nansen was to see to the
one by the shore, and I to the one by the hut. We
rushed out simultaneously from our cover towards the
bears, which were greatly frightened by the sight of
the two-legged creatures running towards them, and
both took to their heels. Nansen hit his bear in the
hind-quarters, and soon afterwards I saw him some
distance off in full pursuit of the wounded animal. In
the meantime my bear made a long detour out on the
ice, where I could not very well follow it. I therefore
confined myself to watching its movements from behind
a hummock on the shore. I noticed that its attention
was greatly engrossed by its comrade and Nansen, and
soon it began gradually to approach the shore, where
there was blood upon the ice and where the traces of
the hunt began; it evidently wanted to examine the
tracks of the strange beings, who had so suddenly ap-
peared upon the scene. By this time it had come near
enough to the place where I lay hidden to enable it
to meet its doom. My first shot hit it in the spine, and
my next in the head, — the latter shot, however, not
before the bear had managed to drag itself along the
smooth ice to a larger and safer floe.
I began at once to skin it, and was nearly ready
when I saw Nansen coming quietly along with his
hands in his pockets and his gun slung across his back.
As I had not heard any shot from him I thought at
first he had had to give up the pursuit, so when he came
nearer I said, " It was a pity we did not get the other
one also." "Oh, yes," said Nansen, "we have got it
sure enough ; it was a beast of a bear, but now it is
HUT DAMAGED BY BEARS 263
lying dead up in a snowdrift at the foot of the glacier
farther inland." He then told me that after a time the
bear had made for land again, and had lain down in
the snow some distance up the glacier. Nansen in-
tended to finish it at his leisure at close quarters, but
the bear came rushing at him, so that he had to make
quick work of it and shoot it.
•1*3
•Ml P
ALL DOGS KILLED AND EATEN : OUR SOUTHWARD JOURNEY IN THE
SPRING OF 1896.
Thus we had secured both the bears, which we trans-
ported to our large meat-store outside the den. They
were really fine young bears, and their flesh was
excellent. But unfortunately they had damaged the
roof of the hut, so that we had to take down all the
skins and put them into the sea to get them thawed
again. It was a difficult job to get the hut roofed over
264 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
again. We were unable to get the skins properly
stretched over it, so we cut thick strips of skin, and
with these we fastened big stones to the ends of the
skins, which were thus weighted down over the edges
of the wall on both sides.
One morning, towards the end of our stay in the den,
I discovered, as I turned out to read the temperature,
a herd of walruses lying on the ice not very far out
in the fjord, which was now covered almost entirely
with ice. The w^alrus, however, easily manages to
make a hole in it, even when it is of considerable thick-
ness ; it dashes its massive, unshapsly head against the
ice from beneath, the noise being heard a long distance
off, and up comes the walrus amidst a shower of water
and ice-splinters.
I stood for a time watching these animals. There
were constantly new arrivals, which, after having
dragged themselves up on the ice, were received with
grunting and digs from the tusks of the largest one
on the floe. We had noticed this before, and we had
no\v again an opportunity of seeing the peculiar manner
in which these animals receive their comrades. Among
the walruses on the floe was a large bull with long
tusks. Now and then it lifted its head in the air, and
struck about with its tusks to right and left, evidently
to show that it was master ; and to this the others seemed
to submit without a murmur. Among the latter, more-
over, the stronger and bigger animals would, in their
turn, administer blows to the weaker ones with their
tusks. Every time a new arrival appeared at the edge
of the ice with the intention of getting up on the floe,
the old bull exerted itself to the utmost by force of
grunting and svva}ang of tusks round about him to
impress upon the visitor that it was he alone who could
give permission to strangers to be admitted to the circle ;
and after this introductory ceremony the new arrival
A HERD OF WALRUSES 265
would very meekly settle down on the outskirts of the
herd.
I had been standing for some time watching them
when Nansen came out ; we counted eleven walruses,
and more were continually arriving. We decided to
shoot two of them, especially if we should find any
young ones in the herd. For some distance we managed,
under cover of some pack-ice and hummocks, to steal
quite unparceived upon the monsters ; but the latter part
of our way was open ground, so that the animals soon
discovered us and became somewhat uneasy, shifting
nearer to the water's edge. We discovered several
young animals among them, and we each shot one.
Mine, which was lying at the very edge of the ice, just
managed to jump into the water after it had been hit
by the bullet, and the one Nansen shot did the same ;
but the next he fired at was shot dead on the spot. The
others plunged, one after the other, head foremost into
the water, grunting and making a terrible noise ; the
old " chief," in particular, was in a great rage. Two of
the " grown-ups " remained on the ice, and evidently did
not want to leave it. I shot one of them dead on the spot,
the other remaining quietly while I advanced towards
it with my gun raised. Nansen availed himself of the
opportunity, and photographed us in this position. The
walrus looked at us and at its dead comrade, and could
not understand what could be the matter with it, seeing
that it did not seem inclined to go back into the water.
At last it set off by itself to join the others. At one
moment the surface of the water would be smooth and
still, the next it was a sheet of foam, as heads of the
brutes with their long tusks and ugly, bloodshot eyes
appeared all around, and looked angrily at us. The
"chief" dug his tusks furiously into the edge of the
ice, and raised himself up over it; the next moment
he slid back into the water, and dived under the ice.
266 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
We heard him butt his head against the ice under our
feet, but fortunately the floe on which we were standing
was an old and solid one, otherwise it would very soon
have been broken up into small pieces. Gradually they
disappeared out at sea. We were quietly skinning our
two victims when suddenly the head of the " chief "
appeared close to us with a terrible roar that made
us start ; evidently he could not easily forget what had
happened. He came back twice more, after which he
disappeared altogether.
We took all the skins and blubber we could get off
the walruses, as they lay, without troubling to turn
them over on the other side. Altogether we had two
sledge-loads, and with these we set off for the shore
with a feeling of great satisfaction as darkness set in.
This happened on the 24th of September.
After this great catch we had more than sufficient
skins for the roof of our hut, but they had to be
thawed in the sea before we could use them. While
we were busy doing this in a hole near the shore, a
walrus broke through the ice some distance farther
out. As soon as it caught sight of us it vanished,
but appeared again in our hole as if to see what we
were doing. I seized the broken sledge-runner, our
indispensable implement, and was going to deal the
walrus a blow with it; but it got frightened of the
runner, and dived under the ice and vanished.
On the 26th September we shot a bear, which we
called the " water bear." Nansen had gone across to
the walrus carcasses in the morning to fetch some
sinews which he had cut out of their backs, in order
to make thread, when I saw a bear coming sneaking
along between the hummocks in the direction of the
newly formed ice. I whistled and gesticulated to
Nansen, but he was so engaged in searching for the
sinews, which the foxes had stolen and run off with,
A BEAR ON THE PROWL 267
that he neither heard nor saw anything. It looked as
if the bear also wanted to pay a visit to the carcasses,
and as Nansen had no gun with him, I took mine and
ran towards him. But the bear set off across the new
ice for some distance and along the edge of the old
ice, and at last lay down leisurely at full length.
Nansen now went to fetch his gun, and we decided
that he should take a large circuit round the bear to
prevent it getting farther out, while I was to keep
to the shore and receive it there, if it should come in my
direction. But it did not seem to be in the least afraid ;
it got on its feet and walked straight up to Nansen,
who lifted his gun and began to take aim; but the
bear speedily changed its mind and walked slowly out
over the newly frozen ice again. Nansen had now to
fire, although the range was long. One shot passed
over it, but the next took effect. I saw the smoke and
the flash from the gun, and the bear gave a start and
took several violent bounds along the ice, long before
the sound of the shot reached my ears. But the thin
ice was not strong enough for such a heavy fellow to
cut capars upon, and down through the ice it went.
I could no longer see what took place, but Nansen
was shouting and calling to me, and at last I gathered
that I was to bring ropes and sledges. When I came
up to him I found the bear dead and floating on the
water ; it was a big fat monster with a splendid white
coat. It had been breaking up the ice all around it
in its attempts to get on it again. One of its forelegs
was shot through, but Nansen did not want to spend
any more shots on it, hoping that it would have dragged
itself on to the ice. But it expired during these attempts,
and now we had to try and get it up. It proved no
easy matter; every time we had got part of it up,
the ice broke and we were just as badly off as ever.
While Nansen was waiting for me, and the bear was
268 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
floating" in the water, he saw that it suddenly received
a violent push from below, and the next moment the
well-known head of a walrus appeared. It stared for
a while at Nansen, but did not take the slightest notice
of the bear. It appeared at last to grasp the situation
and vanished, and we saw it no more.
In order to get the bear up on to the solid ice, we
had to cut a narrow creek in the thin ice leading to
an old floe. We tied one end of the rope round the
bear's neck, and by letting it pass through the narrow
opening in the ice, we were able to drag the bear
along under it until we reached the safer ice.
We had a good deal of trouble in securing the " water
bear," but it was well worth it. It was late in the
evening and rather dark when we approached our
great meat-store outside the den, each of us with a
heavily laden sledge. But I was just able to discern
no less than three bears standing eating away at the
heap of blubber from our first walruses.
I whistled softly to Nansen, who was some distance
in front with his load, and pointed ahead, when he also
saw the bears. To tell the truth, neither of us had
any particular inclination for any more bear-hunting.
We had already made up our minds that what we
wanted most at present was the sleeping-bag and a
good pot of meat. We could not, however, let them go ;
we took the guns off our backs and got ready for the
bears, which turned out to be a she-bear and two cubs.
But they scented us and disappeared before we got
within range of them, and for this we were not in
the least sorry.
Nansen began cutting up some meat for supper, while
I fetched salt-water and fresh- water ice for cooking,
took readings of the temperature, etc. (it was now
about 36° of cold), when we again saw the forms of
three animals out on the fjord-ice, making straight for
FINISHING THE HUT 269
the heap of blubber. We stole quickly across to our
stores and got there before the bears. We sat like
statues behind some large boulders, and when the mother
passed, Nansen fired at her, aiming as best he could
in the darkness. She gave a roar, threw herself over
and made a few jumps out over the ice and then fell
down. The young ones pulled up, but fled as soon as
we approached, and we could not possibly get within
range of them. We made haste to drag the mother
to the shore and get her skinned, when we at last
settled down in our miserable dwelling, after having
done full justice to the splendid meat of the "water
bear."
Next day we found that during the night the two
cubs had been over to the place where the mother
had been skinned and had eaten some bits of blubber
which they had found in the mother's stomach. Shortly
afterwards we saw them trotting backwards and
forwards far out on the new ice. We thought they
would return again to where the mother lay, and this
they shortly did; we stole upon them, but could not
get properly within range of them. Nansen fired a
shot at one of them, but without any effect, for they
set off and we could hear them tramping over the
ice like a pair of horses.
We then went over to the hut, which was now
approaching its completion, and worked at the roof and
the entrance. Once more the two young bears came
in sight, but they had now become so shy that it was
impossible to get near them.
We made a windgjav-or, more correctly, anopening,
in theJiuLin the south wall, which looked out over the
fjord. While we were at work on the hut, we often
thought how glad we should be to move into it ; it was
quite a palace compared with the den. Nansen had
been looking forward to the time when he should be able
2jo WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
to sit down and write his account of our journey, as he
would have plenty of time on his hands during the
coming winter. We ought to have a window, he said,
so that we might keep an eye from the interior of the
hut on any game that might appear out on the ice as
long as there was any light, and afterwards, when the
polar night was over, and the sun appeared again. It
was not easy to know what might happen ; in any case
we could not afford to lose the chance of securing any-
thing.
But the window did not come to anything, after all ;
we were only too glad to fill up the hole as tightly as
possible to keep the cold out, after having had to give up
the idea of making a kind of pane from the peritoneum
of the bear's stomach, or from the intestines.
% The last time I turned out of the den to read the
temperature on the morning of the 28th of September, I
caught sight of a bear over at our store of blubber, and
thought at first that it was one of the young bears which
had come back again, but I soon saw it was an
unusually big fellow. I told Nansen, who was still in
the den, and, taking my gun, I approached it cautiously
in order to get as close upon it as possible. Put it did
not appear to trouble itself about me ; it lay in the
middle of the heap of blubber, eating away quite
unconcernedly. It just lifted its head when I put up my
gun, and the next moment I fired. I had aimed at its
head, and thought it would have dropped down dead on
the spot ; but afterwards we found that the bullet had
gone right through the beast's throat just below the
brain. But no one would have thought that it was hit
at all, for it got up from the blubber quietly and
leisurely, gave me an angry look, and began to walk
most majestically out towards the ice as if nothing had
happened, when I sent another bullet, this time into its
shoulder, so that its spine was disabled. This put a
A VALUABLE BEAR-SKIN 271
little more life into the fellow. Nansen had now come
upon the scene, and he fired a couple of shots at the
beast, and I another. At last a final shot in the brain
settled it. It was of an enormous size, the largest we
had yet seen ; but it was terribly lean. It had eaten so
much blubber, however, that just then its stomach was
fully distended. It could not have tasted food for
several months; goodness knows where it had been
wandering about, perhaps it had come from the North
Pole itself ! In the death-struggle it vomited a good deal
of the blubber upon which it had been gorging; the
great, heavy beast was thawing the ice as it lay, and
was now on the point of sinking through it. We had
therefore to drag it over to a safer place on the thick ice.
There was not a trace of fat on the carcass, and
we therefore called it the " lean bear." But for such a
coat as it had, one would have to search long and in
vain. It had fine,Jong^isj£^^ socks on its
paws.
" That skin is wort^_^2oo--^GT[^r^ was Nansen's
remark. We~afferwards used it as an under mattress
on our stojie^Jsed^^roiigh^ esides
rummaging about in our blubber-heap during the night,
the bear had been otherwise engaged. Away down by
the shore, between the hummocks, we found one of the
two cubs lying dead, and on the following day we found
the other also lifeless and stiff. Apparently the cubs had,
under cover of the night, again approached the blubber-
heap and the place where the mother was lying, and had
then met with the old bear, with whom, no doubt, they
had tried to strike up an acquaintance. But the old
fellow evidently did not want any competitors now that
he had found a regular treasure-trove of blubber, and had
simply given them a blow with his terrible paw. By the
tracks we could see he had actually taken the trouble to
pursue one of them out on to the ice.
272 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
While engaged in skinning the bears we had shot, I
had often been forced to admire the wonderful muscular
strength of the forepaws of these animals ; but when I
examined the paws of the " lean one," my admiration
knew no bounds. Such a conglomeration of gnarled
muscles and sinews right down from the shoulder-blade
to the long, crooked claws I had never seen. It was not
to be wondered at that the young bears lay there with
their heads smashed ; the monster might have smashed
anything he came across ; in fact, it was a terrible
beast, for it did not mind even a rifle-bullet through its
throat and jaws.
In the evening of the same day we at last moved into
our new palace. The final piece of work we had been
engaged upon was the stone benches upon which we
intended to sleep. We thought it would be a fine thing
to have a bed each, so that we should be independent of
each other, and might toss and turn about at pleasure ;
hitherto we had b.een obliged to turn round both at the
same time, whenever we wanted to lie on the other side.
We therefore ripped open the sleeping-bag so as to have
a blanket a-piece. We also used the skins from the roof
of the den, as well as some of those which we had not
yet freed from blubber, for making our beds. We also
lighted a couple of train-oil lamps, but we felt terribly
cold at night on the frozen, hoar-frosted skins, and
we were glad when morning came. We lighted a fire
and prepared a plentiful breakfast of bear's meat. It
did not seem as if we could get enough blubber and
boiling-hotbe;^^ We had not
experTenceSTiu'chj^ldsince the coldest clays in the drift-
ice, so the first thing we set to work at in the morning
was to sew the blankets together again for a sleeping-
bag, making only a few stitches here and there, as
thread was now becoming a scarce article. By means
of the ski-staffs and some driftwood which we had found
CONSTRUCTING BEDSTEADS 273
along the shore in a very decomposed state, we managed
to construct a single bedstead between the two benches,
and were glad next night to creep into our bag again,
although our bed was hard and uncomfortable. We did
away with the woodwork we were lying on, and built
the foundations of our bed of stone instead.
We did not get much -heat from the train-oil lamps,
except close under^tHe~~7oof7 \\1i€re^the~walrus^sKns
began to thaw and hang down in large bulges, so that
they slid apart from one another where they were joined
together. At these places the snow therefore melted,
causing a constant drip, and filling the bulges with water.
We stretched the skins again, and mended the joints with
bits of skin and pieces of driftwood, but before long
things were just as bad again. We had .then to begin
lining jthej^o£withJbeaTskins. The frozen skins, which
were lying outside theTlut, were then taken inside to be
thawed before being used on our couch ; while those we
had hitherto been lying on were fastened up under the
roof with small nails and the remnants of the tent. It
was sad to have to treat these valuable bearskins in this
way, and the job was a long and nasty one.
On each of the main w^alls inside the hut a ski was
fastened wTith straps, which went right through the wall
between it and the roof. Between these ski we stretched
the skins which were to be dried, and they had to hang
for weeks before we could take them down and hang up
new ones.
Besides the large ridge-pole proper, we had to
support the sides of the roof_as_jagell as possible with
our_two__gaddles, and when the
the whole of, the roof
froze into one solid, stiff mass, with a thick layer... of
In the south-eastern corner of the hut we built a
hearth, with a bearskin^ for smoke board ; the smoke
T
274 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
issued through a hole in the walrus-skin and a chim-
ney which we built of snow, bears' bonesr and walrus-
id-- meat, When the fire was out on the hearth, we put
a piece of bearskinj^jhe hole to keep the draught out.
It happened sometimes, of course, that our chimney
began_to melt, especially when the weather was less
cold than usual, or when we made a big fire to cook
a first-class beefsteak, and then the sooty water would
drip into our frying-pan; but we were not very par-
ticular about such trifles.
In the south-western corner, a bearskin hung from
the roof__jjL_front of the opening which led to the
passage out of the hut. Through this we had to creep
on all-fours, and up through a hole over which we
laid a bear's skin, which formed the outer door, so to
speak.
It was often difficult to get out in the mornings,-
when the wind had blown the snow over the hole into
a hard drift in the course of the night, and it weighed
heavily on the skin across it. Nansen had special
difficulty in getting out; being_ tall, he could not
manage to bend himself sufficiently in the narrow
passage, so as to get into such a position as would
enable him to lift the skin off with his back; he had
to loosen the snow along the edges of the skin with
a knife or jki-staff, before he could manage to get it
up.
CHAPTER XXIV
Life in the Hut — Our Domestic Animals — Fox Traps,
but no Foxes — A Kayak Adrift — Open Water —
Christmas once more
A MONOTONOUS and dreary life now began for us
during our third and worst polar night ; but,
after all, it might easily have been worse. It was a
great satisfaction to know that as far as food was
concerned we had sufficient, whatever should happen ;
our larder outside the door was well stocked with
bear-flesh^-legs, shoulders, and whole carcasses of it
being buried in the snow round about the hut. The
little we had left of the provisions from the sledge expe-
dition we had also placed in the snow and covered
with stones to protect them from the foxes. We
resolved not to touch these provisions until we should
set out again in the spring, unless we found it
necessary to use them medicinally in the event of
either of us becoming ill, from the sameness of our
flesh diet. Fortunately, however, it agreed with us
remarkably well the whole of the time.
We lay in the sleeping-bag mpst_ of the time, both ,
night^and day, and slept, as long as we could. In the
mornings we had boiled bear-flesh and bouillon, and
every evening fried steak, also jpf bear-flesh ; in the
middle of the day weJhadjoQ meat We took it in turns \A
to be cook for a week at a time. By the""liead uf OUi* r
276 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
bed stood the train-oil lamps, which burned day and
night; the saucers to hold the oil we hacUinade of
some plates of German silver, and for wicks we used
plasters and bandages from the doctor's bag; the'
blubber we melted in a pot made out of one of the
paraffin cans.
He wrhose turn it was to be cook lay outermost in
the sleeping-bag, and it was his duty to attend to the
lamps night and^day ; consequently we dicLjiot use
many matches. The cook had to take jn_a__l£g or a
shoulder, sometimes ^ven_a_whple bear, when it was
a small one, and put it near the_hearth, so that the
meat should thaw7 until it was about to be. used. Of
course it became black and dirty with the soot, but
we did not mind that very much.
He who had not the cooking to do, had to keep the
hut provided with fresh and salt-water ice, or by
preferen£e_salt water, if it were possible to find^anv.
We had jno jsalt ; the little we took with us from the
Fram (it was only a small quan_tity_p_L-table salt in a
mustard box) had been used long before we got away
from the drift-ice. There were weeks at a time during
which we had no salt of any kind, either in the form
of salt water or salt-water ice. The salt which is
found in flesh must therefore be sufficient fop the
human body, even if the food is entirely animal.
We had always a pot, made out b^fialLji parajSn
cajij filled with ice, hanging over one of the lamps, so
as to have water for drinking whenever we required
it.
In the course of the winter we did not go out of
doors more than was absolutely necessary ; it w£s too
" cold for us in our greasy, much- worn clothes, and
there was generally a bi't-fpr jinrl jbir>wingr which
went through our bones and marrow. But when the
weather was fine, and we had the Nortfrerirjlights
TAME FOXES 277 .
and moonlight, we defied, the—Cold^ and Jkept running
up andjiown^outside our hut.
The foxes used to walk about the hut like domestic- ^
ated animals, gnawing away at the carcasses of the
bears; but we did not mind this, as we had plenty of
meat. They used to come in parties of two or three,
ON A SHOOTING EXPEDITION.
and tramp about on our roof, which we did not at
first like, as every little sound was so loud in the
intensej:old. We used to knockajLJhe ridggrpglen
to righten them away ; but_this_ was^ gf no
avail! It was just as much as we could do to get
them to go when, after creeping through the passage
and throwing the door-skin to one side, we suddenly
278 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
appeared before them as if we had risen from the
grouncj. They would then shriek loudly, as if with
surprise and vexation, the shrieks resounding most
unpteasantlyThrough the stillness of the Arctic night;
and no wonder, for it must have_been a strange sight
for a fox to see a two-legged creature rise so suddenly
^ out^of the~ground. And what right had human beings
in their domain, of which they have been in sole
possession, along with the ice-bears, for thousands of
years! Was it any wonder, then, that all the^. foxes,
both whitejind blue, gave vent to their _indignat ion at
such an apparition?
These foxes— used to steaj—everything they could get
hold of, even articles for which they had no use what-
ever, but which were of no small importance to us.
Nansen had put several things in the silk bag net, which
we used for catching marine^inimals, and had hidden it
close to a big. stone, but the foxes managed to steal from
it a harpoon-line, a small bag with specimens of stones,
which Nansen had brought with him from the first bare
land we encountered, and, worst of all, a ball oQwine,
which we intended making into thread. They were
especially fond of the thermometer, which they had
twice drafifted awav with them, but which we found
again. On the third occasion when it was stolen, they
must have dragged it off to their den, for we never saw
it again. We had now only one thermometer — a mini-
mum one — left, and this we lashed securely to one of the
sledges, which did service as a thermometer cage. This
thermometer was a large one, marked with clear and
distinct graduations, the column being metaxyloe and
red in colour, so that it was possible to get a fairly
correct reading, even when the light was bad. We
had often thought of making a lamp or torch for this
purpose, but it was never really needed. We were
sorry that we could not afford ammunition to shoot the
NEW YEAR'S EVE 279
foxes, which kept walking about the hut, making them-
selves quite at home. The fur of the blue foxes, too,
was most costly. To us, however, it was of no value,
for it was only the flesh of the animals which we set
any value upon, and there was too little on the carcass
of a fox to make it worth our while to spend a cart-
ridge on it.
On one occasion, however, Nansen did shoot two
with one shot, and on another he was obliged to shoot
one^wEich he found it impossible to drive away. We
thought that the white foxes were prettier than the blue ;
they were as white as the driven snow, and their fur
was so soft and fine that we thought it a pity to touch
them. We found some use for them, however, before
we left the hut ; we cut up the lovely skins and used
them to cover ttJie_tmiii^il_buckets, TiT order that the oil
should not run out on the way.
On New Year's Eve, in the bright moonlight, I went
close up to the glacier to look among the boulders for
a flat stone, which I should be able to use for ratJi)x-
trajp^ I found one which I thought would do, and got it
moved down to the hut. I fixed up the trap on the
roof with props made from a piece of ash-wood, which
welacHficed" for the purpose. My fingers were nearly
frost-bitten before I got it fixed up, but at last it was
ready, with a tempting bit of srnrrh^ b1nbte* flg font-,
while Nansen and I lay down in the sleeping-bag, and
listened^ for we were sure that a fox would be there
before long. And sure enough, there was oae, — Bar»g~!
Down came the stone on the roof, but the fox seemed to
have got away. I went outside to see ; the trap was
down, but the fox was gone. The stone was evidently
too short, and the fox had managed to get away before
the stone fell over it.
I then tried what I could do with a walrus-skin which
was frozen stiff. This was large enough, and when I
280 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
put the stone on the top of it, it ought, I thought, to be
heavy enough too. But the fox only amused, itself with
the^hole_arrangement ; the props I found down on the
ice near the shore. The fox was evidently not satisfied
with the blubber alone, but thought it ought to take the
props as well. And soJLgave it up !
Nansen Jiked^ the flesh of the fox very much. On
one occasion, when I" was doing the cooking, I remember
I roasted the whole back_of _one_for_him. I also tasted it,
but I did not like it so much as bear's flesh. There was,
of course, a great difference in this also. Altogether
we shot nineteen bears before leaving the hut, and
yet ouT stock had nearly run ouF~v^heii v\re"TeitT On
board the Fram and in "Longing Camp" we had dis-
posed of thirteen, and before we got to the hut some
more had been consumed. As soon as we began_upon a
new bear, we generally passed our opinion as to the
quTrrir)T~of the__flesh, and we could easily dfscern*"the
difference in theTfaste of the various animals. The flesh
of the "water bear " was most jelicate, as was also that
of another~Hear "which we called the ^jfat__bear." But
best of all were the two ^ kayak^ bears/'; one of them
was therefore reserved for Christmas. The legs of the
" lean bear " were not so bad as we imagined they would
be. The ribs of the ypjur^g_bears_jkvere excellent, espe-
ciallyjyvhen boiled.
Sometimes when cutting up the bears we took the
stomach, turned it inside-out, and filled it with blood,
which then froze into a solid mass ; this we afterwards
cut into pieces and fried in the pan. The best jpart of
the bearf inj^ur estimation, was the t^ain, which we. also
fried, and which was really a most delicious dish.
The ^copFlbr the week had also to act ^s__w^iter.
When the food was cooked, we both crept into the bag,
after the pot had been placed on the stone bench by our
bedside. We then brought out our tincupSj and the
11 WE LOOKED LIKE SAVAGES" 281
cook had to fish up the pieces from the pot, and so we
set to work, using our live lingers and eating long and
heartily. Last of all we drank the bouillon in long
draughts, after which we lay down to sleep away the
time that separated us from spring and the light.
Now and then I was awakened by a dig in my back ;
Nansen would say I had been ^noriiig^ and^get^ me
to change rny_j3osi£ion in order to put a stop to the
disturbance.
Inside the hut the temperature was not very severe ; I
put the thermometer Jay__the_Jiej^^ one
occasion, and it showed j^_bdowjr£ezing. point. Near
the walls, however, it was very cold, especially when
there was a wind ; the whole inside of the hut was then
white with_jioarjj;ost. When there was a change in
the weather, this began melting up near the roof, and
ran down the walls into our berth, so that the skins
froze fast to the stone wall, while down by the floor and
half-way up the wall a thick crust of ice was generally
formed.
Our clothes were very greasy, and stuck to our body ;
we had hoped to get new ones made from bearskins, but
we had to give up this idea, as it took such a long time
to prepare the skins. We only managed to get sufficient
for a sleeping-bag and gloves, as well as some pieces for
repairs. When the spring came, however, we made
ourselves a suit of clothes each out of our two woollen
blankets.
Our hair and beards grew long and shaggy, and our
faces and hands were black and greasy, so that we
looked qujte^ like__savagcs. It was a great nuisance to
have to handle so much blubber, and have nothing on
which to dj^M^U£jiand^now and then. Whenever we
shot a Jbeaj_Jt-Jtvas an easy matter ; we then^washed
our hajids_jii^ts__blaDd^Lnd they became beautifully
clean and shiny. In the hut we used the remnants of
282 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
tent asjtowels; when this was used up we had to
be satisfied^witji^moss, which we cut from beneath the
snow with gujLJillleJiatchet, and thawed over the fire.
We found, however, that the best way to clean ourselves
was to scrape our bodies with a knife. Nansen almost
scraped the skin off his legs in trying to get rid of all
the dirt that had accumulated. Now and then he had to
melt some ice in a cup and take a rag from the doctor's
bag to wash himself with. Oh, how we longed for clean
things ! Oh, for some soft woollen clothes insteml of the
heavy~~greasy ones which were sticking to our bodies !
As for soap and warm water, to say nothing of Turkish
baths, we dared not even think of such luxuries !
Here I may, perhaps, be permitted to break away for
a moment from the course of events to reproduce a
picture of the dwelling of certain other human beings,
whom we were to meet later, and who were that very
winter living on the same group of islands as ourselves,
but almost a month's journey farther south.
I refer to the English expedition under the leadership
of Mr. Jackson. The eight members of this expedition
were quartered in a well-built log-house, well supplied
with light, warmth, and suitable food, with plenty of
soap, water, and clean clothes. They were cosy and
comfortable, and did not trouble themselves much about
the Arctic winter. They had also a good library, a
thing we were very much in want of. We hacLonly
a nautical almanack, in which we could read all about
the Royal Family and the treatment of the apparently
drowned, and I was longing so much for the last volume
ofnHfevses' novel^ which I had not managed to get
through on boardjhe JFram,
But although those men were not far away from us
at that time, none of us knew anything about each
other.
One morning, in October, we heard some heavy steps
STORMY WEATHER 283'
on our roof, quite different from the light tripping of the
foxes. Soon afterwards we heard something rummag-
ing about and gnawing at our blubber-heap just outside
the hut, and close to our heads, and then we guessed it
was " Old Bruin " himself who was about. One gun
stood inside and another just outside the door. We put
on our Lapp boots with all possible speed, and Nansen
disappeared through the passage, but before he got the
door-skin thrust aside, the noise outside had ceased, and
no bear was to be seen. It had, no doubt, been scared
as soon as it discovered there was something alive under
the ground. We could see from the tracks that it was a
small bear.
With the reader's permission I will now quote some
extracts from my diary, written from time to time in the
course of the winter.
" Wednesday, December nth, 1895. — To-day my week
for cooking is over, and I shall have time to attend
to my diary. During the last few days we have had
stormy weather, with south-easterly wind, which pierces
through the snow and in between the stones in the
walls, so that they become coated with rime ; the lamps
flicker and a cold blast sweeps over our couch. The
storm has broken a ski made of maple, which had
been fixed on end in the snowdrift outside the hut ;
while my kayak, which has been lying buried in another
snowdrift, so that scarcely anything could be seen of
it, was carried away by the wind — heavy as the kayak
was and full of snow — about a hundred yards off,
among the boulders just below the glacier.
" I had a long search in the darkness before I found
it, and I expected it to be a good deal damaged ; this
we shall be better able to ascertain when the light
returns. Both the kayaks had been lying side by
side, mine being on the weather side, and it was
fortunate that Nansen's was not blown away also,
284 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
for we should then have undoubtedly lost all
the photographs we had taken on tire journey, and
our apparatus as well, for all these things had been
stored in Nansen's kayak.
"This week IJiave made an excellent snow- shovel
out_of walrus-skin ; in the cold weather this skin
becomes as hard as iron, although inside the hut it
could be easily worked, and, in a thawed condition,
given any shape. With this shovel I set to work,
covering the roof of the hut with snow again.
"December nth. — To-day it is already the eleventh
of December. The time seems to pass rapidly here after
all, which is a blessing. The old year will soon come
to an end, and the new, from which we hope so much,
will soon be here.
" For a while the sun must still go farther and farther
away, leaving us in darkness ; but towards the end
of the month it will gradually return to us again,
bringing with it greetings from those regions where
mankind dwells. At the end of February we shall one
day see its beaming face over the mountain ridge on
the other side of the fjord yonder, in the south, and
we will creep out of our den, and welcome the beloved
guest, right heartily to our out-of-the-way corner of
the world. Its rays will thaw our limbs, and make
the blood course more rapidly through our veins;
our hearts will beat more quickly, and our bosoms swell
with the thought of our approaching journey towards
freedom, light and life. Ours is a great goal, and the
though^ ^oMt_exaltS_one's being.
" Thursday, December 12th. — It is a change to get
outside and have a walk, although it is dark and
bleak. It braces up the mind to get out of our rime-
covered hut and stretch our stiffened limbs, even if
we do now and then feel cold. To-day the weather
has been fine and clear, and the Northern Lights have
A SIGHT OF THE OPEN SEA 285
been playing across the sky. We walk up and down i
outsid^jhejiui^each occupied wiHTluT'own thougffis.
Over to the south and south-west we can just discern
a dark streak, where the starry sky and the ice meet.
This dark stripe is the open sea ; the late storm has
broken up the ice out there, which has drifted out of
sight, goodness knows whither! It is the same ocean
which washes the shores of our native country, and
it awakens strong longings in my breast — longings for
the life of light down there in the south, where warmth
and love dwell. We have now been away from the
world for about three years, and for nine months we
have been living like the wild animals found in these
inclement regions ; for nine months we have not _had^:
the clothes off our backs either night or day, and we
have ^suffered much from cold and from many other
hardships. But at certain moments gentle thoughts
steal into the mind,, bearing with them the~glbw of
home and tfi<r~promise of a life better than any we
have known before, free from all that is evil, full of
everything that is good. And with the summer it
" Tuesday, December 24^, 1895. — Christmas has again
come round, f do not suppose there are any other
human beings in the whole world who are celebrating
this festival under the same conditions as we are.
Here we lie in our stone hut in the midst of the Arctic
regions, enshrouded in the polar night, far away from
the world, and deprived of everything that belongs to
civilization. We have, however, made some preparations
for the occasion, modest though they be. We have
still some remnants of our provisions from the sledge
expedition left, partly damaged, such as fish^ur, and
a little bread, sufficient chocolate for one meal, and
two portions of Knorr!s soup. This is not so bad after
all, and we have kept a tender__yoiiag^j2£ap for
286 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Christmas. It had not been cut up, but had been placed,
frozen into a solid mass, against the wall of the hut,
and so had lain half buried in the snow along with
the other bears' flesh.
" I put it on the ground, one end of the carcass
resting on a stone, and then went over among the
boulders, and in the dark fpjm<ljJ^Iarge_sjLone with a
sharp edge. With this I managed to cut the carcass
in two in the middle, and now we have the hind part
of it inside the hut to thaw. For to-day we have saved
some splendid blubber from the last bear we used, to
mix with the fish-flour and fry the, bread in. We have
also laid in a good supply of fresh and salt-water ice
to save ourselves the trouble of fetching it during
Christmas.
"Our clothes have also undergone some changes,
although nothing very startling. * Cleanliness is . a
virtue,' as the old. woman said, when she turned Jher
shift on Christmas Eve. This is just what we have
done ; that is to say, we have taken our outer shirts
to wear next to our bodies, as our under ones were
beginning to stick to us. I have also put on the
camel-hair jersey instead of the anorak, and am now
sleeping upon the latter; it is not easy, however, to
say which of the two is the greasier.
" Nansen has let his long, blackened locks grow ; but
one day I took the scissors, put back^tie hood from
my head, sat up in the sleeping-bag and cut off some
hand fulj^ofjny_ hair, after which my head felt much
lighter.... We are, indeed, badly off with regard to
clothes and food, as well as light and fuel; but no
doubt the time will come when we shall be able to
celebrate Christmas in a way that will make up for
all the hardships we undergo. 'With pain man .must
hnv his future happiness.'
" After Ihis long, dark polar night, one hopes for a
CHRISTMAS DAY 287
bright and happy morning, with sunshine and the
singing of birds, the fragrant scent of the flowers, and
the dewdrops on the fresh grass.
"The time passes quickly enough. Yesterday, the
sun ceased de^nding^ and has now again begun to
rise ; — higher and higher it rises, bringing with it
light and warmth. It will melt the wall of ice which
separates us from the world, it will melt the icy
armour round our breasts, and shed light into the
darkness and into our minds ; it will greet us, beckoning
us towards the warm, smiling world, and we shall not
be tardy in responding to its summons. It is the sun
which is the great life-giver; we, who have been
bereft of it so long, can fully comprehend this.
" Wednesday, December 2§th, Christmas Day. — We
celebrated Christmas Eve as well as we could. We
boiled fislj-meal^^and some maize-meal together with
train-oil, and then fried it in the pan. It did not taste
as well as we had expected, but the bread fried in
bear's blubber tasted excellent.
"This morning we had chocolate and aleuronute bread
and blubber — a grand Christmas morning breakfast !
In spite of everything, we are doing very well ; we
are satisfied with what we have got, and_enjojL life
so much, that there are, perhaps, many who might
envy us^ We have just had our usual walk up and
down the promenade, in weather which we shall long
remember, and which we are not likely to experience
again another Christmas. When we crept out of our
hut and got our heads above the ground, the whole of
the heavens was ablaze with Northern Lights of every
possible colour, which rushed like a whirlwind through
the zenith, and then drew towards the northern sky,
where they remained for some time; while in the
southern sky the moon shone brightly.
"It seemed as if the elements had combined to make
288 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
it as pleasant a Christmas for us as they could. The
wind, which of late had been blowing somewhat
strongly from the east, covering our walls with hoar-
frost, had now gone down considerably; while at
intervals we even had a dead calm.
" The temperature was not very high, generally about
20° below zero.
uThis wonderful weather awakens quite a solemn
feeling within one, and then the moonlight — this
strange Arctic moonlight, which makes everything so
soft and peaceful — seems almost to caress the hard,
unlovely nature round us. This contrast between
the harshness and bleakness of the scene, and the
softening, soothing moonlight is indeed wonderful. It
seems to penetrate and melt the heart — filling the mind
with peace and goodwill, and stirring one's better
nature. One feels happy as one goes up and down
outside the miserable dwelling, shivering with cold,
far from one's dear ones, while the Northern Lights
flash and tremble, as if controlled by an invisible
hand, filling the soul with their sublimity.
" Thursday, December 26th.— This is the second day
of this remarkable Christmas-tide. This evening I
have just finished an important, piece of work ; I have
cut a j3Jece_put of a bear's skin to mend one of the
knees of mv trousers, in which there has been a large
hole for some-time. 1 was busy with this, while
Nansen was making * pastry ' l and wagging hig ^^
with a little water in a cup. This is not exactly the
sort of occupation one is accustomed to in the Christmas
holidays.
1 This is the name we gave to the JLhiiLsljces of blubber^ which,
after the oil had been boiled out of them, shrivelled up-and became
i crisp. We were very fond of them, and took a good deal of trouble
to make them_really good. Much depended upon their being boiled
carefully.
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 289
" At home, I suppose, they are dancing and amusing
themselves to their heart's content. Here, there are
no people dancing merrily, but, instead, the fiery
tongues of thejJorthernXights. dance, iacessanll^L_across
the bright vault of the heavens.
"December 27th. — The Arctic winter has assumed a
new garb to-day, and there is an end to the fine
weather ; evidently it thinks we have had enough of
it. The moon is hidden by threatening clouds, and a
snowstorm is beginning to blow from the south-east.
Again, we can see^ the dark stripe in the south-west,
which tells us there is open water in that direction.
The Northern Lights have disappeared ; I suppose they
have gone to still more northerly climes. It did us
good to-day, however, to take a walk and let the
wind beat the_ snow right again§ tour faces."
CHAPTER XXV
The New Year — The Sun Reappears — Spring — Running
Short of Blubber — The Bear which Wanted to Get
into the Hut — Preparing to Start Again — The Land
of the Ice-bear
" Sleep, uneasy heart, sleep !
, , Forget the world's joys and sorrows ;
No hope thy peace disturb,
No dreams thy rest ! "
HESE lines by the ^Swedish poet, Runeberg, often
came_mto my mind, as I lay and tossed about on
the hard stone bed. To be able to sleep and forget
everything, to sleep and not awake until the summer
came, when we should be able to rise from our hard
couch, harness ourselves to our sledges, and set out for
the south. And when I crept deep into the bag and
pulled the hood over my head I used to wish to kill as
much time as possible in sleep. It is a good thing that
time never comes to a standstill.
\\ On the last day of the old year Nansen proposed that
^ ^-^IF6 should bggin_ to say"dunl frhnn) tn nno nnnthpr.
\riitherto we had called each other " de " (you).
On New Year's Eve._I_relieved Nansen of his jiuties
as cook. Instead of the usual bear-steak, we had a
grand supper of maize porridge with, train-oil. It was
really a nice change to have a meal of farinaceous food.
1 A sign of intimate friendship, like the French " tu."
NEW YEAR'S MORNING 291
The breakfast on New Year's morning was equally
grand ; it consisted of fish-soup made from fish- flour,
a packet of K/npjr's_J.enJiLj£lip, an^ some stock made
from bear's flesh, as well as aleuronate bread fried in
bear's fat — a splendid breakfast indeed ! Our last packet
of Julie^me^soup_jw^s. used a few days later. The first
days of the New Year were very cold, the thermometer
showing 82° of frost, so it was anything but warm to
walk about in our greasy clothes, which became as stiff
as leather, as soon as we got outside the door. But it
is marvellous what one can accustom oneself to, and,
at any rate, we deemed ourselves fortunate to have a
dwelling, such as it was, to protect ourselves against the
extjemecpld, which caused the glacier to contract to
such an extent that it cracked with loud reports like
cannon shots and shook our hut to its foundation ; or
against the wind as it howled across the snow and the
boulders, causing our palace to tremble, which however
lay safely protected beneath the ground. For some days
we had been having snowstorms from the south-east ;
on January 8th the barometer stood at 717*8. Then
there was a lull for a time, after which the wind
began blowing again from the north-west, with renewed
strength, the barometer rising all the while. The
sledge, which we used as a thermometer-cage, was
carried off by the wind, but I found it lying in a dan-
gerous position among some big boulders below the
glacier, and, fortunately, the thermometer had not been
damaged.
The storm from the north continued to rage till
January nth, when the temperature was 74° below
freezing point, and it was almost impossible for us to go
outside. Inside it was so cold that water froze in a cup
standing between the two lamps on the hearth. A week
again passed, — one week less to wait, one week nearer
our goal, — for we began to see the dawn of day over
292 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
yonder above the mountain ridge. We had now only
about 36° of frost, so we had many a good walk. It was
cheering, in our monotonous existence, to turn out and
have a look at the small bright stripe on the southern
horizon, announcing that daylight was on its way to
succeed our last Arctic night. Day by day, week by
week passed, the one just as monotonous as the other.
Our conversation turned daily upon home, and the time
when we should be able to begin our journey thither.
We made a sleeping-bag out of bearskins, and could
now lie down at night without our trousers, and without
having so many bandages round our feet. This was a
pleasant change to us, who for nearly a year had our
|Y b°th nffillt an^ *fo-v- We also
shortened our stone berths, the projecting ends of which
we had now no use for ; they Iiad frozen into solid
masses, which had to b.e knocked to pieces, bit by bit.
We began to fear that we should run short, of blubber
towards the end of the winter, but we hoped to be
able to get some bears in the spring.
We now discussed the advisability of crossing the ice
to Spitzbergen, instead of following the coast southward.
The question was, whether we could manage it with the
outfit we had, especially the short sledges, in case the
ice should ba very uneven, for the loads would be heavy.
And how about food ? Still we should be able to get
to Spitzbergen earlier, and this was, of course, a great
attraction for us.
Now and then we had to mend oirr rags. Wexteffi^d
.the fat out of bits of bearskin and sewed them on_our
trousers_ with thread, which we manufactured by un-
t-wisfirifr pierflq nf string. \y"e sewed the pieces of skin
to our Lapp boots and gloves with thongs made from
bearskin, which we found very serviceable. We were
very cosy and comfortable ^m our_sleeping-bag while the
storm was raging outside, and we discussed the drift of
LONGITUDE UNKNOWN 293
the Eram. It might be that she had got home before
us, and in that case we imagined there would not be
many who believed we were alive.
Up to Thursday, February isth, I had written nothing
in my diary. The reason was that I had to be cook for
two weeks at a . stretch, as Nansen was suffering with
his back, and was obliged to keep to his bed day and
night. He was now all right again, and resumed his
duties as cook. The time passed quickly, and day by
day it became lighter ; soon we knew we should have
the sun itself. We were now much occupied with the
plans for our journey and our outfit, and with discussing
our chances of quickly reaching North-East Land or
Spitzbergen ; we were confident that it could be done.
We were still in a fog as to our whereabouts ; that is
to say, we knew we were in 81° 27' latitude, but the
longitude ? We felt sure, however, that we were a good
bit to the west. During the two weeks I got through a
good deal of work. I dug out our blubber-heap, which
had been buried in a hard snowdrift, and now we could
easily take stock of our supply of flesh and blubber.
We had made great inroads into it, but we thought
we had sufficient left. I took a bearskin into the hut,
scraped off the blubber, and hung it up to dry ; we were
going to use it for gloves and socks. The chimney on
our roof had melted away and had to be built up again
with snow. It was a fine thing to go out in the middle
of the day now, when the weather was clear ; it was so
light that we could see our surroundings just as they
were before the Arctic night set in. There were not
many bright spots in our landscape, but we welcomed
them all the same, whether they were ice-hummocks or
projecting rocks ; there they stood in the bleak scene just
as they did before ; but now we looked at them with
wondering eyes, for it was light.
On Tuesday, February nth, I slung my gun across
294 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
my shoulders and climbed up to a bare crag in the
glacier just above us. The weather was fine and clear
and, being in the middle of the day, it was fairly light.
I stood there for a long time looking about ; there was
so much that was new to see, no longer merely the four
ice-covered walls of the hut. Down below I saw the
heap of snow, under which we two had fought through
the long, dark winter. God be praised, I said, it will
soon be over, and before lo!rg"we shall say farewell to
the hut and give it up entirely to the foxes. No one
would believe that human beings had been living under
that heap of snow, especially throughout an entire Arctic
winter. But we had done it^^and^we^had not fared^p
very badly after all ; one gets accustomed to so much
in this world. On Sunday, February i6th, we had
delightful weather, with only 22° of frost, but it was
blowing pretty hard. In the course of the night there
had been a fall of snow, but not of the sort we were
accustomed to, — fine, dry and cold, — but snow which
reminded us of the kind we had at home. Next day we
had 63° of frost and a strong, biting northern wind ; so
changeable can the weather be here.
On February 25th we saw the sun's golden light
reflected on the clouds above the ridge beyond us, while
the sky above it was grandly illuminated in all sorts of
colours. While we were walking about rejoicing at the
return of the sun, I suddenly saw a flock of the Jittle
auks cojning flying from the south and following the
land northwards, and shortly afterwards Nansen also
saw a flock flying in the same direction. They were
the early tobuig^rs-of^s^ring ! " Poor little birds]/1 I
thought ; " what do you want so early up here in the
cold north? Return to milder climes!" And again,
like last summer in the drift-ice, I envied the jynall
creatures their-^Eiags^ which carried them so quickly
wherever they wanted to go. My own course, however,
SHORT OF BLUBBER 295
should be to the south, and I should not have been long-
on the road, had I been one of them !
We made another push forward (till March loth) before
I again wrote in my diary. It had been somewhat dark
of late, but now it had cleared up again. We had been
talking about leaving here in April, but we were obliged
to give up this favourite plan of ours, as we were
running short of blubber. We should not have sufficient
of it for food and fuel on the journey ; and, moreover,
we should not be able to get any flesh dried by boiling-
it in train-oil, as we originally intended to do. A
material reduction had to be made in our consumption
of blubber, and now we could only afford to boil food
once a day, and burn a lamp just long enough to melt
blubber for oil, and ice for water. We were in the
same straits as the Eskimos ; when they are badly off,
they cannot afford to burn lamps at night, and are
therefore obliged to sleep in the dark, to which they have
the utmost aversion. Fortunately, we had lately had
lovely, mild weather ; only about 6° of frost. This want
of blubber rather damped our spirits ; we did .not,at all
like the frozen meat for breakfast in the mornings; be-
sides, the best parts of the meat had by this time been
consumed. We had to rely on the bears, and we were
not disappointed in this hope.
On Sunday, March 8th, I had a proper cleaning out of
the hut, which consisted in raking the ashes out of the
hearth and in scraping together all the remnants of flesh
and^blubber on the floor, which sometimes accumulated
to a considerable^extent.
There was the backbone, pelvis, and skull of a bear,
which we had just finished, also to be cleared out ; and I
had got these as far as the passage leading out of the
hut, and had crept over them to throw the door-skin
aside, when I discovered, just outside the opening, a
regular monster of a bear with a white, shiny coat which
296 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
almost blinded my eyes, so unaccustomed was I to the
light. In less than no time I tumbled along the passage
back into the hut, where I seized my gun from under
the roof and told Nansen^ the great news. After seeing
that the gun was loaded, I crept out again into the
passage and found the bear standing over the opening,
with its head and neck far down into the passage, its
broad, flat skull presenting a most tempting target. I
cocked the gun and put it up, but had to put it down
again, as I discovered a large tuft of bear's hairs in the
muzzlejrfLthe. gun. At this movement the bear pulled
back its head, but began scratching with its forepaws at
the edge of the opening. It was now high time for me to
fire, if we did not want the bear in the hut ; but nothing
except its paws were visible, and I could not get a proper
aim at the animal in the narrow passage. I therefore
placed the barrel of the gun in a slanting position
towards the opening, so that it should point right at the
chest of the bear, and fired. A fur iou^roar_ announced
that it had been hit. During all this Nansen had been
busy putting his things on In any case, of course, he
could not have been of any assistance in the narrow
passage. The whole thinqLtook place in a jiffey.
I put my head out of the opening and peeped round,
when I discovered the bear some distance off, over by
the glen, with heavy Jraces of blood behind it. I had
only one more cartridge .Jeft_iii_th£__giirLjifter I had fired
the shot, and with this I set off after the bear, which
increased its speed when it noticed it was pursued.
I was surprised at being able tq_run_ as_we.U as I did,
for we had had hardly any exercise during the winter.
I followed up the bear along the shore in a northerly
direction, while a fresh southerly wind, with drifting
snow, was blowing, thus enabling the bear to have a
continuous scent of me. Now and then I caught a
glimpse of its back over among the hummocks along the
POTTING ANOTHER BEAR 297
shore. After some time, I found the tracks led up along
the steep shore, beneath a high mountain with a glacier
at its foot, while still farther down were large pieces of
rocks and boulders. I thought it would have taken
refuge here, and I crept cautiously up the side of the
mountain to reconnoitre ; but I soon discovered its tracks
again down on the ice. At this point of the bay, which
had a background of lofty mountains, the wind blew in
my direction, and thus the bear could no longer scent
me. I set off quickly after it, keeping myself well
hidden behind the hummocks along the shore.
At last I got within range, and fired my only bullet at
it ; it fell to the ground, lifted its head, and then let it
drop again. I threw the gun across my shoulder, and
set off towards the hut as quickly as I could, feeling sure
that the bear had had its quietus. Presently I met
Nansen, who was fully dressed in his wind-clothes, and
had his gun and a good supply of cartridges ; he had also
brought wrtrr him my gloves, which in the hurry I had
forgotten. I told him where the bear was lying, and he
said he would go and skin it while I went to fetch the
sledges. We were some distance from the hut, and when
at length I came back to the spot I saw neither Nansen
nor the bear. I could now see by the tracks that the
latter had got on its legs again and gone off. I followed
the shore for some distance, and then heard Nansen
shouting to me from among some large blocks of rocks
at the foot of a steep incline overlooking the bay.
It appeared that when Nansen arrived at the spot to
skin the bear, he saw it trudging off iixiXQJiL_of him,
as lively as_j3ossible, on^three legs. It was evidently
making for the interior ; it crept across an arm of the
glacier, and began ascending the steep talus just beneath
the lofty, precipitous mountain side above.
Nansen was afraid it would settle down up there, for
in that case we should hardly have been able to get at
298 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
it ; he therefore expended a bullet on it, although the
range was rather long. Whether the bullet hit or not,
he could not say ; but the report gave the bear such a
start, that it slipped over the edge of the hard-frozen
snowdrift, and down the slope it went, rolling head over
heels on its downward course. Nansen stood behind a
large piece of rock, reloaded his gun quickly, and, when
the bear came to a momentary stop, fired ^at, it once
more, and down it rolled again, until it landed up against
a big rock, where it expired. This bear was_a^iQUgh
pij^oiflgr — "n'ne of the right sortjj— an unusually large
he-bear ; one of its forepaws hacTbeen broken by a bullet
close to the shoulder, and its chest had also received
some injury from the first shot, which was fired without
any aim being taken ; but none of the vital parts had
been touched. It was very fat, and thi$__rejoiced us
most.
We had great trouble in getting it cut up and carried
down to the sledges on the ice at the foot of the talus.
The wind blew so hard all the time that we were nearly
thrown over by the gusts.. We each took half of the bear
on our sledges, but could not get on with such a heavy
load ; a quarter of the animal was almost more than we
could manage. The skin, with the blubber and some of
the flesh, were left behind, and fetched away afterwards.
We longed to get back to the hut, which was a long way
off ; but we were now so little accustomed to dragging
loads, that we found it a hard job to reach home, which
we did about midnight. We took one of the legs, and
filled the pot with flesh, crept into our bag, and very
soon did full justice to the fresh meat. That bear came
just in the nick of time ; we had now a good contribu-
tion of blubber towards our journey, and the fact that
the bears had again begun to make their appearance put
us in a good humour, although now wejaurselves had to
be t]ie_haiL instead ^ofjthe walrus-.carcasses^ whTchliad
FLOCKS OF LITTLE AUKS 299
hitherto been the attraction ; they were now completely
^
On the morning of the loth of March I was outside
our hut at six o'clock, and saw an extraordinary large
number of little^auks_jirriving, in unceasing flocks, from
the north, and flying in along the fjord. The same day,
in the afternoon, we saw flock after flock flying back
again. Nansgn also saw trrfl hlnrlr pfnillrmnf-
On the 1 6th of March the sun appeared in all its
glory, and I availed myself of the opportunity to make
an excursion nearly to the top of the mountain. I had
to go on all-fours up the steep talus and, at intervals,
across small glaciers. I finally reached a kind of terrace
on the mountain side, from whence I had a splendid view,
although no open water was to be seen. Far away,
at the bottom of the fjord, rose a glacier just behind
the " Li ttle_Auk',s~ -Mountain " — a mountain which we
believed to be the haunt of the little auks. Between the
promontory lying S.S.W., from which we were to set out
on our course along the coast, and the large glacier in
the east, which I have just mentioned, I could not dis-
cover any inlet. This landscape of frozen desert, the
white surface of which was bathed in the strong sun-
light, was a magnificent sight ; fjord, ice, and glaciers
extended as far as the eye could reach. The Iktlejmks
flew close to me as I sat almost motionless. They are
most beautiful birds, — in the sunlight they look so
velvet-like and__sjtatejy. We were certainly having
better times than we had a year ago, when we were
struggling with the cold far nor.th among the drift-ice.
Now we had a busy time before us in the hut, getting
ready for our journey southwards. There were many
things which had to be looked to, but, worst of all, were
our ragged and greasy clothes. Fortunately, we had the
two blankets, and, after much measuring and calculat-
ing, we found we should just be able to get a pair of
300 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
knee-breeches and a jacket, for each of us out of them ;
but it was a long time before the solemn moment came
f when we dared to insert the scissors in the blankets and
-actually cut them up. We were no longer afraid of
running short of thread, for we had discovered that the
cotton threads in our canvas provision-bags did good
service. For weeks we sat side by side in the sleeping-
bagjjsewing at our new clothes. We had to make new
soles for our Lapp boots out of walrus skin, which we
pared to a suitable thickness, and then dried over the
lamp. I even managed to make a pair of Lapp boots
from the skin of theJ_M.e_an Jpear," but the hairs were so
long that~T~TfacTTb cut them, in order not to slip when
walking. Nansen, while skinning the bears,, had left
sufficient of the skin on :_the_ hind paws of some of them
to enable us to use them as " natural " socks. We
turned them inside out, cleansed them of all fat, and
hung them up to_drj£, intending to use them as foot-gear,
just as they were, after they had been turned inside out
off the bears' paws. He was not, however, able to get
them properly dried, and they became so sooty and nasty
that we had to give up all idea of using them.
Our wind-clothes were all in rags, but we did not give
in until we had got them sewn together and mended, so
that they could be used again. The trousers-were cut
off by_the knee, and the odd pieces, as well as the provi-
sion-bags, were used as patches. Pieces of bearskin
M were sera pedj^che wed, and dried, and made into gloves
and bandages for our feet. We were not well olf for
ropespso we set tcPwork and made some^f walnis_skin,
and some thinner lines from bearskin. But gur^new
/ clothes interested us most of all ; we loQked_Jprward
it
^
was slow^jvvork. No doubt Naasea_waa:xighLJ£heii he
said we should soon starve if we tried to get _oux living
by tailoring when we_got home,L_ But here patience
WARDROBE ARRANGEMENTS 301
brought us through also, and one fine day we were able
to show ourselves on the promenade outside our hut in
our brand-new clothes, made of the very latest material, p
the pattern being a most peculiar one, with. large checks
and a few spots of train-oil here and there. The latter
had been caused by our occasionally upsetting the lamp
while we were jit our tailoring, and which we had not
been able entirely to wring out or chew away.
The clothes, however, were strong and good, the
trousers being lined outside with our old drawers. The
sealskin leggings which we had brought with us from
the Fram, and which had been made by Eskimos, were
as good as ever, so we were able to use them, and jeave
off our grey " vadmel " leggings.
While we were busy with these preparations for our
journey, our conversation mostjusually turned upon the '
well-stocked woollen drapers' shops .at home, in which
we hoped to revel when we got back. We were con-
stantly returning also to the topic of the whalers at
Spitsbergen. We discussed what sort of provisions and
clothes they were likely to have on board these vessels.
Sugar and bread they were sure to have, and butter as
well, so that we should be able to have- some fried
"Daengej"1; and, no doubt, they would be able to spare
us some_ clothes — and soap ! And when we got to
Tromso— we always supposed we were to fall in with
a Tromso vessel — we would buy all the cakes we could
get hold of ! Yes, we would have a regular good time
of iFT^Dur under-garments we took and stuffed into our
biggest pot — or as many of them as it would hold — and
boiled them on the hearth. In this way they became
so "soft" that we could scrape off the worst of the dirt
with a knife. The stuff we thus scraped off we were
able to use as fuel in " Primus the second," as we called
the train-oil lamp on the hearth. Nansen also tried to
1 A fried mess of bread-crumbs, butter and sugar.
302 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
wash in the .^Eskimp. style, but without success. Nor
were we able to make any lye from the ashes of some
wretched driftwood, which we had found, and had been
using as firewood. To scrapa off the dirt with a knife
was, no doubt, the best method.
Our kayaks, — and especially mine, — which had made
the aerial journey during the winter, wanted repairing ;
of the poor wooden materials we had, we made proper
high boat-grips, which we lashed to the short sledges
so that the ends of the kayaks should run clear of the
ice. We used straps cut out of bearskins as lashings.
Our precious sails were patched and mended and scraped
free of (at, for we were going to use them for our tent
on the journe}7. We also made a sleeping-bag of some
light, fine bearskins. Now and then we were visited
by bears while we were at work.
On the 2nd of April we heard a noise outside the hut,
which we at first imagined was occasioned by a bear ;
we thought it was more likely to be a fox, since the
noise was but slight. It was my week at the time, and,
when I went outside to take the meteorological observa-
tions, I saw at once that it was a bear, which had been
making a tour round the hut ; but, apparently, it did not
like the sight of all the bears' carcasses there, and had
trotted off to the ice. And, sure enough, down there I
discovered Bruin, just as he had scented the walrus
carcasses which lay buried under the snow, and there
he began to scratch and dig, so that the snow flew about
his ears. We were so busy with our clothes, that we
scarcely took any notice of the bear ; but at last it was
decided that Nansen should go after it. He set off, tak-
ing with him my gun, as his was out of order. I stood
outside the hut, and looked on. The bear had by this
time dug his way a good bit into the snow, for the fellow
knew how to use his paws. It neither saw nor heard
anything, apparently feeling quite secure.
MORE BEARS
Nansen walked at his usual pace across the fldt ice
right up to the bear, which was greatly surprised, and
threw himself right round, the same moment receiving
the bullet in its face. It ran a few steps, shaking its
head, so that the blood spurted about, and then stopped.
I could see Nansen had some difficulty in loading his gun
again, and it seemed as if the bear intended to go for
him ; but I soon saw that he was all right. Nansen had
to fire five shots before the bear succumbed in earnest.
I was not at all happy, standing as spectator with a
useless gun in my hands. I could so well understand
Peder's feelings every time his gun refused to " burn."
On another occasion Nansen was standing outside the
hut, taking a time observation with the theodolite, when,
on looking down towards the ice, he discovered a bear
standing there quietly staring right at him. He went
inside for his gun, but, when he came out again, the bear
was beginning to walk away, so Nansen let it go in
peace. The next morning we awoke on hearing a bear
rummaging about among the blubber, and Nansen
rushed out and pushed the door-skin aside — the opening
of which had been covered up with the drifting snow—
and fired at the bear, but did not hit it, as his eyes were
dazzled by the strong sunlight.
On Wednesday, May 6th, we were still hard at work
with our outfit. When the weather was very clear, we
could see land, or what seemed like the looming of land,
to the S.W., which we thought was the North-East Land
itself; and all the blue sky, which always kept to the
same spot, indicated, we k thought, open water, — open
water along the coast of the North-East Land, or perhaps
nearer. Three days before, when I was busy digging out
some flesh for our housekeeping, I saw a bear out on the
ice, making straight for a bay to the north-west of us.
I set out to look for it, and, when not very far from the
hut, I discovered fresh tracks of three bears, but did not
304 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
see any of them. I went home again; we had a cold
breakfast, and began our work, and had forgotten all
about the bear, when we heard a skin being dragged
along the ground, after which everything was quiet. I
stole outside with the gun, pushing the skin cautiously
aside. The strong light, as usual, blinded me ; but,
fortunately, the bear was ravenously hungry, and did not
notice me. I soon caught sight of its head behind the
snowdrift near our store, where it was busy chewing
away at the blubber of the bear which had wanted to
get into our passage. I put up my gun, aimed, and shot
the greedy bear right through the skull, without its
having seen me ; and down it fell on the spot in the
midst of the other carcasses. Nansen was sitting in the
hut, sewing at the new sleeping-bag for our journey.
The bear was very lean, but it came in very well for
our stock of provisions for the journey ; it saved us
taking some of the frozen meat into the hut and thaw-
ing it.
A couple of days later we received another visit
from a bear. Nansen fired one shot into its head and
lamed half its body, and had to spend another shot
upon it before he killed it.
Of our provisions left over from the sledge expedi-
tion, all that could be used was some maize-meal,
fish-meal, aleuronate flour, and bread. The latter we
fried in train-oil, partly to dry it, and partly to make
it keep longer. Besides the principal stock of our
provisions, which consisted of raw flesh and blubber,
we also took with us some meat boiled in the ordinary
way and some boiled in oil. The silk net was filled
with " pastry " ; we generally got a lot of this from
all the blubber we melted for train-oil, and we had
altogether three zinc buckets full of it. With the
remains of the old cooking apparatus we knocked to-
gether a fairly good stove, and out of the lower part
A RECORD OF THE EXPEDITION 305
of the real " Primus " we made an excellent bowl for
melting blubber in.
There was no longer any difficulty about bears, but
we did not trouble ourselves any more about them.
A she-bear, with a very small cub, made her way to-
wards us the night before the last we spent in the
hut ; the mother stopped and looked at us in surprise,
as we were busy getting the kayaks ready, while the
cub tegan sucking its mother. We had to chase them
away in order to be left in peace during the night,
and we pursued them for some distance. The mother
was angry, and hissed at us as she made oft', trying
to get the cub to follow her quickly. Nansen fired a
shot to frighten them, but to no purpose; he then
pursued them again, the mother being in a great
rage all the time ; she could not get the cub to
follow her fast enough. At last Nansen was close
upon them, when the mother set off at once up along
the steep glacier, growling and snorting all the while,
while the young cub crawled up the glacier in its
mother's tracks. They then vanished, and we never
saw them again.
The last thing we did was to lift up the roof of the
hut, so that we could get hold of our precious ski,
staffs and paddles, which had been supporting it dur-
ing the winter. Nansen availed himself of the oppor-
tunity, now that the light could penetrate into the hut,
to take a couple of photographs of the interior. A short
account about the expedition was then written and put
into a smalL-brass— tube which had belonged to the
air-pump in the " Primus," and this tube was hung up
under^the ridge-pole.
CHAPTER XXVI
Farewell to the Hut — Across the Icefield on Ski — Weather-
bound for Fourteen Days — Open Water — Sailing
on the Ice and at Sea — Where are we? — A Swim
for Life
o
N the igth of May we were at last ready to start
for the south.
" In spring the mind awakens
To longings full and free ;
Spring breaks the bonds and fetters
That crush the heart of me ;
Her light pierces the darkness ;
To spring, then, welcome be !
" Oh, Spring ! with hearts of yearning
We ever think of thee ;
With wistful eyes of greeting
We gaze across the sea.
The Ice- King's grip has held us
Three years : Oh, set us free !
"The soft wind from the southward
Whispers of spring to me ;
She beckons us towards her,
To life, and joy, and glee ;
No longer let us tarry,
But springward, homeward flee."
The lines which I quote above I find on the^last
leaf ^of_mydiarj. They can scarcely be read for^soot
and Tram^oirr*! think, however, they will give the
reader some~Tdea of our longing for lighraMTwarmth
and thej:oming of spring. Spring, — well, it had come
306
TOWARDS THE PROMONTORY 307
at last ; we were now going to say farewell to this
inhospitable shore, over which so many severe storms
had swept; we were to say farewell to the glaciers,
the basalt mountain and the talus, to all the bones
and skins of the bears we had lived upon, and to our
hut with the hard stone bed, and leave everything in
the sole possession of the foxes.
It was, indeed, with strange feelings that we set off
late in the afternoon with our heavy loads in the
direction of the mysterious promontory at which we
had so long been gazing. Unaccustomed as we were
to marching and pulling, we did not do too much at
the start, but encamped before long on the flat ice and
settled down for the night for the first time under our
new tent arrangement, glad that we were actually on
the way home. With the kayaks as walls, and the sails
as a roof, and having buried ourselves pretty deeply
in the snowdrift, we had quite a comfortable dwelling,
which Nansen thought should be immortalized. On this
journey along the coast we took it in turn to do the
cooking,j)nejiay at a time.
On"lHe~2lstoF~May we reached the promontory,
tired and worn out after our unaccustomed exertions.
Nansen took the glasses .and went up the mountain^to
have aTTo'ok at the surroundings, while I looked after
the encampment. He came back and told me that he
had seen plenty of open water not very far from us,
behind the island just outside the promontory ; the blue
sky we had so often seen in this direction was now
easily explained. He had also seen two new snow-
clad islands, but a promontory, somewhat like the one
where we now were, stretched itself farther out to the
south, and hid from us the coast-line farther on.
On the morning of May 22nd, while we were having
breakfast, it began to blow and snow, and the storm
went on increasing after we had got outside and were
308 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
preparing to break up our camp. When we set out it
was just as much as we could do to push ahead. In
such a snowstorm it would hardly have been wise to
proceed, and we had therefore to remain where we
were, build ourselves a proper house, and take things
easily. The south-west storm lasted the whole day and
night ; it has now gone down somewhat, and the
temperature was only about freezing-point, so that the
sleeping-bag was quite wet. We remained in the same
place on May 231*1!, and made an excursion in a
southerly direction, and saw that the land trended still
farther to the south.1 We also saw open water, but
not to the extent that we did on the first day of our
arrival here. We could not, however, see the two
snow-clad islands which Nansen had sighted in the
south-west. Otherwise, we had been busy mending our
paddles, caulking the seams of our kayaks with stearine,
and repacking our things for the sea voyage. On
Friday morning, while busy cooking our breakfast, we
discovered a bear quite close to us, walking about and
sniffing some tracks made by me in the snow on the
previous day while on an excursion in search of ice.
The bear, however, did not scent us, and went its
way ; we might easily have shot it as we lay in the
bag, while . " Primus the second" was burning away
under the breakfast pot by our side in the snow. We
had sufficient food for the time being, however, and
let the bear go in peace.
On Sunday afternoon, May 24th, we broke up our
1 On this excursion we were, as we afterwards discovered,
within a few yards of a depot of provisions which,. Jhe^Jackson
Expedition had, on their^vTsTt to this place in the spring of 1895,
deposited in a jiarrow ravine. Nansen went into the ravine and cut
off soroe_4Jieces of_the rock to take home with, him, but saw no
sign of any depot ; but \vc learnt afterwards from the English-
men's description of the place, that we had been on the very spot.
ACCIDENT TO NANSEN 309
encampment on the promontory, and set out for the
island just outside it, in order to reach the open water
beyond. A slight easterly wind was blowing, and we
hoisted sail on our sledges. We reached the island
during the night, when suddenly a storm blew up from
the south-west, and we had to make for land in hot
haste. I had to stop to save the mast and the sail
of my kayak by lashing them securely to the deck.
In the meantime, Nansen had got a good way ahead
of me, when all at once I noticed his sledge and kayak
at a standstill, but there was no sign of Nansen. I
thought to myself that he must have slipped on his ski
and fallen, which happened to us now and then when
we had to get over the big snowdrifts ; but the next
moment L^isco ve_redJiim _ J
I was now ready to start ; but what could have happened
to Nansen? He remained lying on the same spot; it
was strange that he did not get on his legs and proceed
on his way ! Then I heard him shouting. I set off at
once on my ski, tied fast to my feet as they were,
and soon came up to him, when I found him lying
in an open crack_in_J.he jce^, which had been filled
with ^drifting snowT He also had his ski tied qn_to
his feet, and so could not mo ve,_ while he was sinking
deeper and deeper intojjie slush^eyer^ moment. The
sledge and the kayak were behind him, so he could
not see them, and did not know whether they were over
or under the water. The drag-rope was fastened to
the harness across his back, which also prevented him
from turning round. I placed myself carefully on the
edge of the crack, got a good hold of his Iceland jersey,
and pulled him up on to the Ice. He must have been
waiting a long time tor help, antT Fie must have shouted
several times Jbefore I_heard him. This wa&.iL-kssDn
to us fiotto proceed across such ice with the ski tied
to our feet We had to proceed Carefully for the rest
3io WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
of the way, and at last we found a tolerably good
place for encamping, upon a narrow streak of shore-ice
by the island, close to a large crevice. Nansen got into
the bag, and his wet clothes were hung up to dry.
On Wednesday, May 27th, we were still weather-bound
on this island by wind, snow, and rain. There were
large numbers of walruses here ; they lay in groups on
the ice, and sometimes appeared in the cracks to have
a look round. We went for a walk along the coast
in a northerly direction, where we found a number of
nasty cracks and slushy ice ; here and there appeared
heads of walruses, and some of them even followed
us, putting up their heads now and then, or butting
against the ice under our feet, to show us they were
keeping an eye on us. We also made an excursion
to the south of the island. It blew hard, but we saw
a good deal of open water, and only wished we were
out by the edge of the ice in fine weather and with
a fair wind. A bear must have passed our encamp-
ment during the night.
The month of May was over, and we were not getting
on at all. Unfortunately, we had more bad weather,
and were still weather-bound at the south end of this
island, which :&£_had called "Goose Island," because we
had found some remains of geese here. On Thursday,
June i yth, we left the place at the north end where we
had encamped, and managed to drag ourselves to our
present pitch, where we had gone through two more
snowstorms, after which it cleared up and we had fine
weather for a little while. We hoped we should be
able to avail ourselves of this to reach the open water,
but we got another storm instead. This storm was
the worst, and we hoped it would be the last. To be
weather-bound rfpj: two we&k^-at the very outset of
our journey was indeed sad ! Our stock of flesh was
nearly finished ; we had only a little boiled meat. left.
PHOTOGRAPHING WALRUSES 311
It is bad enough to have to lie in a
bag night after night in a wretched tent, while the
snow melts under you so that you sink deeper and
deeper into it, and have to turn round from time to
time, when the side you have been lying on has got
thoroughly soaked, and while the storm forces the
snow Trf through the smallest crevices, creating white
sprays of foam over the bag, so that you are obliged
to getjig from time to time and stp2_u^_the_chinks.
All thisTl say, is' bad enough; but to know that you
are making no progress at allT while the time is passing
fast, and the summer Js waning — the summer of our
joy-^o feel that you are shut up in unknown regions,
while your longing for home makes the heart throb
within your breast — all this, after having lived in this
desert of ice for a year and a half, like animals
rather than like human beings, depresses the mind
terribly.
On our way here on Thursday, 17th, we saw many
herds of walruses lying on the ice. Nansen wajited
to photograph one of them, so he stole cautiously up
to the monsters and hid himself behind a heap of
broken ice. As he raised himself to use the apparatus,
a she-walrus with her young suddenly dashed through
a hole in the ice close to him. He need not have
been afraid that the others would get away, for they
settled down quite at their ease to sleep. I went
over to him and bombarded the beasts with lumps of
ice, so that Nansen might get some more .u life" into
his JphptQ££aph. We were now no longer afraid ~!o
frighten them; on the contrary, we tried to frighten
them as much as we could. Nansen struck^ them ^
across the snout with his ski-staff, and took one plate
after another of them. They^only lifted their heads
now and then, dug their tusks into the ice, and stared
at us in anger and surprise.
312 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
On the morning- of the 3rd of June, we both went
up to the top of "Stormy Island," to see the best way
to get on by water. But we were terribly disappointed ;
there was no sign of open water — the south-west
storm had driven all the ice against the shore.
At last we decided to set out across the ice towards
a steep mountain in the south, the last new promontory
we had discovered of this strange land. The wind was
fair, and we hoisted the sails on the sledges, but the
ice was thin and in a bad condition for travelling over.
Our ski cut through the wet layer of snow, leaving
behind them deep furrows, which at once filled with
water. After a good day's march we were glad to
reach land and encamp, which we did near a glacier
between " Bratfjeldet " 1 and the promontory. Our
stock of meat was now exhausted. There were plenty
of auks, which flew to and from the " Bratfjeldet," but
they were all too high up in the air. We had shot a
brace__of_lulmaxJs . on the way, but they did not go
very far ; and we therefore went over to a herd of
walruses, which were lying near the encampment, and
shot one of them. It was with the greatest difficulty
that we were able to chase the others away, so that
we could cut some. flesh off the one we had shot. We
intended to prepare a meal of blood-porridge in the
evening. We made this by boiling together walrus
blood, fish-meal, maize-meal and train-oil, and thought
it would turn out quite a fine dish; but when it was
ready, and we began to tuck into it, we found the
taste^ anything but agreeable.
The next day and night were occupied in reaching
the promontory. The wind had increased, and we
proceeded on our journey at a swinging pace. When
we got in under the promontory we found open water,
1 Mr. Jackson has given the same mountain the name of " Cape
Fisher."
IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JACKSON'S DEPOT.
With Nansen in the North.} [Page 312.
EIDER-DUCKS 313
the north wind having sent the ice out to sea again.
For the first time on this journey we now launched
our kayaks. It was a great treat to_be able to use
the jaddles again and to feel the salt water splashing
over us. Birds were flying about and diving ; the
little auks lay in great flocks on the water, and the
about in the air. Presently
two other strange birds passed rapidly over our heads.
" Eide£-ducks, by Jove!" exclaimed Nansen. Near the
shore we noticed two wild geese. In a moment we
felt as if we had got on far towards the south. We
paddled on before a fair wind for some distance along
the coast, until we were stopped by the shore-ice, and
then we encamped.
On June 6th we made greater and better progress
than on any other day. We could not follow the
open water any longer, it led to the north-west ; but
it might still bend in towards the land somewhere
farther south, as some islands, situated far out, were
probably keeping back the ice. We left the open
water and set out across the ice for some low islands
to the south. The weather was hazy, so we could not
see our surroundings. Nansen lashed an oar and I a
bamboo-pole to the stem of our kayaks to serve as
steering poles, and to these we held fast as we stood
on our ski in front of the kayaks, while the wind
filled our sails and carried us rapidly along — sledges,
kayaks arid all! After a good day's travelling we
pitched our camp by the most westerly of the islands,
hungry and tired, but happy in mind. It is strange
how long we could go without eating : twelve to four-
teen hours between each meal was not unusual ; but
then we toiled and struggled hard, and consequently
we could dispose of a good deal. The blood-porridge
which we made went a long way ; we ate some of it
at every meal, but it never seemed to come to an end.
314 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
We could not very well throw it away, but had to
try to get through it, although it was anything but
appetising. An observation at noon showed that we
were in 86° 45' north latitude. It seemed now pretty
certain that we were not on Franz Josef Land, but
on some land farther west, consisting of innumerable
islands. If .so, our road to Spitzbergen would be all
the shorter.
During the two following days we sailed before a
stiff breeze over the ice. To the west we had a great
glaoeMlm97~^d on the east we passed two low pro-
montories with sounds and islands between. We
sailed at a rattling pace. I was generally some dis-
tance ahead, as I, being lighter than Nansen, flew
more easily along on ski than he. Sometimes our ski
cut into the . ice, so that we had great difficulty in
keeping.. JJiejQQLJQJi, while now and then our short
sledges were capsized by the wind.
On June 8th we were stopped by a snowstorm; we
buried ourselves in a snowdrift in the forenoon, after
having marched ..all _the night through. Next day we
were able to proceed, and we sailed along merrily;
the snow was becoming rather wet, but still we got
on all right. I was very near sailing right through
the ice in one place close to land; the ski_ancL the
sledge cut through the melting ice, and it was with
the greatest difficulty that I managed to pull myself
out and push the sledge back from the snow-slush on
to the firm ice. Nansen, who was following behind,
just managed to turn to one side in time. We had to
take down, our sails and make a long detour before
we could start again. Under date June 9th, I wrote:
" We are getting on well just now. We are sailing
rapidly jputh wards along the coast before a fresh
breeze. The land still trends in this direction, but we
are not sure how it is with the land to the south.
FULL SPEED AHEAD 315
To-day we have been fearing that we are sailing into
a fjord, but we think it must be a sound after all.
Our stock of flesh is again exhausted ; we have only
some boiled meat left. To-night we are going to have
a fish-meal (daenge.":
From Wednesday to Friday we had been sailing
over the ice, and at times we went at such a rate
that we had some difficulty. .in -keeping, on our ski.
On Friday we said farewell to the land east of us,
and then followed that to the west. A sound divided
this land from the other. On the south side of this
we discovered from a hummock open water; we could
even hear the noise of the breakers against the edge
of the ice. We set out for the open water across a
different kind of ice from that we had had hitherto;
it was our old friend, the uneven drift-ice.
The wind freshened as we reached the water ; the
kayaks were lashed together, and we rigged up the
sail and crept into our craft, Nansen taking a ski to
steer with, and off we went along the shore before a
fresh breeze. We were now on the south side of the
land, but had no idea where we were. Nansen said
it might be Franz Josef Land after all; he seemed to
think it agreed with Leigh Smith's map of the south
side of this land, while I thought it could not be,
according to Payer's map. In the meantime we made
good progress, and towards the evening, when the
wind went down, we put in to the edge of the ice.
Nansen climbed up on a hummock to have a look at
the water ahead. After he came back we thought we
would both of us go back to the hummock and have
another survey of our surroundings. The kayaks
were tied with a strap to the ski-staff, which we had
rammed into the ice.
We had no sooner got on the top of the hummock
than I saw, quite by chance, that the kayaks had got
316 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
loose from their moorings, and were drifting away
from the ice. "Look, look!" I cried, and both of us
ran down from the hummock. Nansen threw off some
of his clothes and shouted, " Take the watch," which
he handed to me ; he looked anxiously after the kayaks
and then jumrjgd into the cold, icy water.
All our possessions were drifting away from, us—
food, clothes, ammunition, guns, and all. Our lives
depended upon recovering the kayaks; my clothes-bag-
was the only thing left upon the ice. I had been
changing my foot-gear while Nansen was on the top
of the hummock the first time. I saw Nansen swim-
ming rapidly ahead, but the kayaks were drifting
farther "and farther away; the situation was becoming
more and more critical, for it was doubtful whether
he could manage to stay long in the cold water. 1
could not keep quiet; I walked up and down the ice
and could do nothing — absolutely nothing — to help him.
He now and then rested by swimming on his. Jpack.
I was afraid he might be seized with cramp and sink
before my eyes. It would have been of no use if I
also had thrown myself into the water. Nansen got
farther and farther away, the strokes became more
and more feebly and soon he would not be able to
keep himself afloat. At last I saw him with great
difficulty seize hold of one of the kayaks ancL attempt
to pull -J3imssl£-up. At first he did not succeed; he
tried once more and succeeded, and the next moment
I saw him sitting right on top of the kayak. My
mind was once again at ease. 0 Nansen took one of
the paddles and began to paddle QjLbQth_s_ides.-Qf. the
united kayaks towards^ the edge of the ice again.
This palrr^irtEe^trip^ he told" me afterwards was the
worst of all. He felt terribly cold in his thirr^wet
clothes, with the wind blowing right-aLiini^ Suddenly
I saw him stop paddling, — he seized his_gun__and shot
A FIT OF THE CHILLS 317
auks, which were lying on the water in front of
the bow. This made me feel sure he must be all
right, after all. He picked up the birds and paddled
on again. At last he reached the edge of the ice,
sornejiistance to the east of the place from which the
kayaksTSad drifted away. I jumped into the empty
kayak, and we were soon back at our former landing-
place. " How do vou feel now? " I asked. "So ..coldjso L-
cold," he answered, with some difficulty. I helped him
to pull off his wet clothes and to put oa -the,, few poor
dry ones we had left. I took off my trousers and put ,
them on him,, got the sleeping-bag^ ashore, packed him
well up in it and spread the sails on the top. He
really looked, terrify ill wb^n he got ashore, — his
face was^p.ale^Jiis long hair and beard were soaking
wet, while he foamed at the mouth and had great
difficulty in speaking. He trembled all over, and was
scarcely able to stand on his legs. As soon as he
was comfortably settled in the bag, I had to, get all
our possessions up on to the ice, to get proper quarters
for the night arranged, wring out the wet clothes,
cook our food, etc., etc. I went about attending to all
this in my scanty apparel, but fortunately the weather
was^fine. Now and then I went over to the sleeping-
bag, in which I could see_Jian^en,Jying;_^inbling,
and Jistened. In a while he fell asleep. I let Turn
sleep till everything was ready, and when he awoke
and I asked him how he was, he replied in his natural
voice, and was otherwise quite himself again.
We now ate the auks which had been shot under
such unusual circumstances, after which we discussed
the serious event of the day, and agreed that we were
most fortunate in still being in possession of all our
things.
CHAPTER XXVII
Hunting Young Walruses — A Walrus cuts a Hole in
Nansen s Kayak — We hear Dogs Barking— Nansen
does not Return from his Reconnoitring — Six Strangers
on the Ice — The Norwegian Flag Hoisted — Soap and
Civilization
NEXT evening we set out again on our voyage along
the edge, of the ice. On Sunday, June 14th, we
landed at a place where we saw two large herds of
walruses lying on the ice, and farther out in the open
water there were large numbers diving and blowing.
We scented them a long way off; we had never seen
such a large number before; there must have been several
hundreds of them. We were in want of meat and
blubber, and here was plenty of both. Nansen shot two
young ones — we had had enough of old ones — from among
the herds, but when we ran forward to secure them, their
mothers seized their young dead ones with their flippers
and disappeared with them into the wrater ; the rest
followed, and there we stood looking like fools.
We then approached the other herd and shot both a
young one and its mother, in order not to be disappointed
again. We took the blubber from the mother and the
flesh of the young one, filled our kayaks with it, boiled a
good big pot of flesh and dined in grand style on fresh
meat ; the ribs of the young walrus were excellent and
tasted like mutton. Earlier in the day we had shot a
number of auks; the whole deck of the kayaks were
318
ATTACK BY A WALRUS 319
now full, and we were well supplied with food again.
We had of late been longing for a bear ; but, as usual,
when we were in need of one, not one was to be seen.
Now it did not matter, since we discovered that young
walrus was_SQ_Jiice.
After having slept and taken another meal, we pro-
ceeded on our way. We generally arranged to paddle
only when we had the current with us. The kayaks we
lashed together in order to be more secure against any
attack by walruses, which swarmed in the water and on
the ice on all sides. We could even hear them puffing
and blowing just under our kayaks, without coming to
the surface. After a while we separated the kayaks,
but from time to time we were obliged to lash them
together again whenever the walruses became too
aggressive.
In this way we kept going during the night before the
I5th in quiet, beautiful weather ; and little by little the
creatures disappeared, till finally we got rid of them
altogether. Towards morning, while I was paddling
ahead of Nansen, a solitary walrus appeared all at once
a short distance in front of us, but it vanished again as
soon as it caught sight of us. " It would be great fun
to see where it comes up again," I said ; " here is a fine
place for resting a bit." An ice-foot1 projected at this
point a yard or so into the water, the edge of the ice itself
being lower than usual. No sooner had we come to a
standstill than the walrus suddenly appeared close beside
Nansen's kayak, which was lying outside of mine. It
put one of its flippers on the frail craft, hissing and
shaking its long tusks, evidently intent upen-~-capsizing
Nansenjjmt the latter threw himself over to the opposite
side oTThe kayak and gave the walrus a bjow on, the
head with_Jiis_^ddle. The creature turned its head a
1 An ice-foot is that part of a floe which sometimes projects from
it under the surface of the water, the upper part having thawed.
320 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
little on one side as it raised itself higher in the water,
evidently with the intention to attack me, as I stood
ready with my paddle to receive it. But suddenly it
changed its mind and threw itself back into the water
with a big splash and disappeared. The whole thing
was over in a moment, and we thought ourselves well
out of it, when Nansen suddenly exclaimed, " Let. me
get ashore quickly; it has cut a hole in myjkayak."
Fortunately, we were just above the ice-foot, and the
kayak was soon aground. Nansen went ashore; and
I brought the sinking ka}rak into a small bay close by
where the edge of the ice was very low. There was a
big rent in the side of the kayak near the stern through
which the water rushed in, so that I had to tilt it over on
one side with one hand, keeping the rent above the edge
of the water, while with the paddle in the other hand I
rowed both the kayaks into the bay. Nansen was standing
on the ice-floe with his gun ready to receive the walrus if
it should appear again. Some auks which we shot on
the way fell into the water and drifted away, but after-
wards I paddled out and picked them up. Fortunately,
the weather was fine, and the ice where we encamped
in good condition ; it was only near the water that it
was nasty and soft. Nansen got his feet wet, of course,
and all his things in the kayak were soaked through.
We took them out and placed them on the ground to dry.
The sleeping-bag we took hold of, one at each end,
and wrung it fairly dry, after which we crept into it
and went to sleep, and forgot all about our troubles with
the walruses.
On Wednesday, June_ lyth, great things happened.
In the morning we heard dogs barking. After having
mended the hole in Nansen's kayak and caulked the
seams of both of them with melted stearine, we intended
to~seFout~again. It was Nansen's turn to ^cookT and
after having filled the pot with young walrus llcsh and
AN EXCURSION INLAND 321
salt water, and lighted the fire, he went up on a hum-
mock close by which we had been using as a look-out ;
and in a little while he called out to me as I lay half
asleep in the bag, "Johansen, I hear dogs barking in-'
landT" Tlost no time in getting out of the bag and on
tcTtSe top of the hummock, where I stood listening for a
time, while Nanse*Llooke4-a£ter-the cooking. I was not
quite sure whether it was dogs that I heard two or three
times, or whether it was only the noise made by the
thousands__of-~bkds which were hatching among the
neighbouring rocks. Nansen decided, however, to make
an excursion inland and inquire into the matter, while
I was to remain behind and look after our things, so
that they should not drift away with the ice, for that
part of the floe on which our encampment was pitched
might easily get loose and drift out to sea. While we
were having our breakfast we made all sorts of guesses
as to who the people could be, if there really were
human beings in these parts. Perhaps they belonged
to the English expedition of which we had heard just
before the Fram left Norway ; or perhaps it was
Eckeroll, the Norwegian Arctic traveller. As long as
we met some people, no matter who they were, we
should at least be able to get a proper outfit from them,
and find out where we were.
As soon as we had finished our meal, Nansen prepared
to start ; he took my gun, as his had no shoulder-strap.
As we only had a ski and a half each left he took mine,
which was whole, so as to make up a perfect pair, and
the aluminium glasses he strapped to his back. He
also took a good supgly^oLcartridges with him, and thus
equipped he set out, after having arranged with me that
I should hang a shirt on a bamboo pole, so that he could
see where I was.
After Nansen left I went up on the hummock again
and listened. I still heard the noisy chatter of the birds,
Y
322 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
but this surely could not be what Nansen had taken for
the barking of dogs ! Then, suddenly, borne upon the
wind from the interior of the land, came the barking of
several dogs, some with hoarse, others with shrill. voices ;
several times, and quite plainly, did it reach my ears, as
^if it were close at hand on the ice, not more than a mile
away, and not from the interior. By this time I was
quite sure that it could not be anything but the barking
of dogs, so that there must be people about also. How
strange to meet with civilized people now, after having
lived so long as savages ! It seemed almost incredible !
I went up and down by the hummock, listening in eager
expectation. I hoped Nansen would find the people and
soon be back again!
I was becoming more and more anxious about the
solution of it all ; my shirt was waving high on <iUong
pole fixecl on the top of the hummock, and could be seen
a good way off, black as it was, against the white snow.
At last I saw a black spot appearing now and then
among the uneven ice in the direction of the interior.
I thought at first it was Nansen coming back, but I soon
discovered that the person who was approaching me
had no ski, and when he came nearer I saw the long
barreLof a gun over his shoulder. He wa^a stranger —
the first strange.. man I had seen for three years. I
hastened to fetch Dne_of our small ilags, which i fixed
I up beside the pole with the shirt, so that he^could^ see
I what nationality I belonged tQ.
I next noticed that he had clean, modern clothes, and
that his face, too, was clean and washed. I could hear
him breathing heavily, and see him sink through the
snow now and then ; his long boots reached high up
over his thighs. I ran towards him ; he wayed_ his. cap
and I my-jold greasyiJial, and soon we were shaking
each other by the hand.
''English?" he asked.
A WELCOME MEETING 323
" No/^I answered ; unfortunately, I could not vSpeak
his language. I tried German sy^pyenr.h : but no, we
could not make ourselves understood to each other. Yet
there was already an understanding — that which comes
from the heart. Mr. Child — that was his name — had
set out at once, when he heard from Nansen that he
had left his comrade out by the edge of the ice. Nansen
had not time to tell him that J did not understand
English.
I conducted him to our encampment, and when he
saw our sledges and kayaks, our miserable tent, our
cooking utensils, with bear's flesh and blubber, I saw
his finevdark eyes wander from me to all these things,
while he seemed to be struck with surprise. I used the
" finger-language " as best I could, and when we had
both done our best to explain ourselves to each other,
I saw two more persons approaching. They were Mr.
Burgess^ and Mr. Fisher, the botanist, both of the
Jackson Expedition, The same hearty greetings and
the same expression of surprise followed; one of them
spoke a little German and French, but there were so
many questions and so many things they .wanted
information about, that I was far from being able to
satisfy them ; but they were expecting a Finlander by
the name of Blomkyist, whom they thought would, no
doubt, be able to understand me. At last he arrived,
together with two other members of the expedition,
Mr. Koettlitz, the doctor, and Mr. Armitage, the second
in command, as I was informed later. They had taken
two nnesleclges-Brith them, whic_h at once attracted my
attention ; they must have been made in Norway, I
thought. Blomkvist was a powerfully built fellow, with
clearly cut features, which reminded me of the characters
described by Runeberg, the Finnish poet. I told him
rapidly in rough outlines the history of the expedition :
how Nansen and I had left the Fram and had penetrated
324 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
as far as 86° 14' and wintered in the north without know-
ing where we were, as our watches had stopped, etc., etc.
1 " Now tell this to the others," I said. " I do not under-
stand you," he replied jn Swedish. He had been so long
abroad among foreigners that he had almost forgotten
his_native_tongue, and as I spoke to him in Norwegian
he had some difficulty in understanding me. I managed,
L- however, to get on very well in Ger ma_n_jvvith the
doctojvjsdio is of German descent, and he now became
our interpreter. Mr. Armitage took out his pocket-flask
and filled a cup with port winer ,which he offered me.
All took off their caps, and with uncovered heads they
gave a cheer for Norway, while they looked up at our
little flag. My feelings at this moment may be more
easily imagined than described; there I stood, in the
midst of these brave menT a horrible, blackened , savage
in rags, and with long hair, suddenly restored to
civilization ; among a crowd of strange people, who
brought with them the Jfragrance of soap and clean
clothes, surrounded by the ice with which we had been
struggling for the last three years, while above my
head waved the flag which I felt I represented ; never
have I felt as I did then, that I had a " fatherland," and
with uplifted head I drank the cup of. welcomes-while the
Englishmen's cheers rang out across the icefields.
We now broke up the encampment; it was with a
feeling of the keenest satisfaction that I took our store
of blubber and bear's flesh and threw it away. It
was not now worth while to transport this any
farther; there would no doubt be some food for us
where we were now going. The auks which Nansen
and I had shot lay in a heap-wuthe ice. The English-
men took them and cut off the heads and feet, which
they took home with them in remembrance of our
meeting. I was not allowed to do anything ; I had
only to say how I wanted our things packed__ajui trans-
MR. JACKSON'S HOSPITALITY 325
ported. I did not forget any of our unpretentious
things; I did not want to leave behind anything of
what had been of so much use to us.
Dr. Koettlitz h^d «<• QTIPP p|i^ a pipe into my mouth.
and Mr. Child gave me a wftll-fillpfi tntapcn-pourli.
We^thTn set off inland, three to each sledge ; I went
along quite free and e.asy on what remained of my
ski^ smoking my pipe now and then when we made a
halt. I had to tell Dr. Koettlitz about our journey.
Before long I could see the Englishmen's houses, one
large and four small, just above the shore, and when
we got nearer I saw Nansen standing outside the
biggest house, black and dirty, and with his long hair,
being photographed. I waved my hat, and he waved
with his~lnjreturn. As soon as I came up to him I
told him thai ol all our various methods of travelling
over the ice, that by which I had traversed this last
part of our journey was the most agreeable, and with
this he also agreed.
Mr. Jackson, the chief of the English expedition,
now came up to me, and Nansen,. acted as interpreter
between us. I did not take much notice of what was
said, but the grasp of the hand which he gave me,
and his merryT pleasant facef told me that the well-
known "English hospitality had in him a splendid
representative. I was also introduced to Mr. Hayward,
the C$Q£ wno set to work to get^some hot water ready
for the two wild men who had 3u^t^rrived.~
After Nansen had left me to look after the sledges,
he again heard the barking of dogs, and before long
he met a man witrTa dog. It wa^Mr. Jackson. The
meeting was a cordial one. Rni-h , firpH jjiejr._giLns,
but, strange to say, I did not hear the shots. Probably
the wind was blowing right inland just then.
Nansen had already been inside the house and had
some food. Now it was my turn to sit down to the
326 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
well-spread table ; I was sitting in a real chair, eating
with a knife and fork. There was bread and butter,
sugar, tea, chocolate, and other kinds of civilized food.
I looked at my dirty, greasy hands, and did not quite
know what I should do with them. Then some one
put a looking-glass just before_ji]^_Jjace^__Jicacious
goodness, what a sight! I had to laugh.— -I scarcely
recognised my own features. We then had a warm
bath wiflr~seap and towels; thaL-s^asrtie best of all.
How comforting to be able to saygoocPfrye : ~tcT our
more than a year old dirt ! And then to get clean,
soft, woollen clothes on our bodies again, which we
had so often spoken about!
And now began the never-to-be-forgotten days at
" Elmwood," on Cape Flora. The Englishmen expected
a ship from London, which might arrive any day.
She would-firsfe-have to make a trip along the western
coast, and then shape her course homeward.
Nansen was quartered with Mr. Jackson in his
room, while Dr. Koettlitz moved out of his comrade's,
Mr. Armitage, and^'aveTiip his place.J»o^me. The
others lay on the floor in the large common room,
with a splendid stove ^n_the_middle of it. The shelves
on the walls up to the roof were filled with books.
The guns had their place in a corner of the room,
where a large jnusical-box was also to be found.
There were photographs "and pictures everywhere,—
yes, this was indeed something quite different from the
hut in the far north ! And then we got clean, _splen-
did_ night-shirts of wool, and soap and water before
eve^y meal !
CHAPTER XXVIII
English Hospitality — A New Life — Post from Norway-
Visit from a Bear — Excursions — Waiting for the
Ship — Home-sick
THE time passed quickly and pleasantly ; we received
the greatest possible attention from these kind
people with whom it had been our fortune to meet ;
they vied with one another in making life as pleasant
as possible for us, interested as they all were in Arctic
research. I jegan to learn English, ^arisen and Dr. j ^
Koettlitz kindly ^ggjgHnff rp^ jp my gj-nHW The latter
brought out a number__pf^ illustrated English comic
papers,^ and was indefatigable in translating the text
into GermaiuJor .me. Blomkvist had an ol d_ English-
Swedish dictia|^ which helped me a good deal, and , 3
in the library I Jound all Cooper's noYglSy which I/ c
knew well, h^ingrea^TfTenT in Norwegian. Before'
long Nan sen said that in the future he would speak
nothing but English to me.
It seemed quite strange to us to get so many meals
a day, we who had been so long accustomed to one
or two only during the twenty-four hours; but we ate
just as much at each meal as we did formerly, and
did not think we ate too often, but looked forward with
pleasure to every meal-time. Strange to say, Nansen
and I had j^rown much stouter since we left the
Fram ; the inactive life in the hut, and our diet of
327
328 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
bear's flesh and blubber, were no doubt the cause of it.
Nor did it look as if we should get any thinner,
considering the way we were now living.
When Mr. Jackson and his expedition left Europe,
he took with him from Norway letters for Nansen
and others on board the Fram, in case it should
happen that the two expeditions met. The tin box
containing the letters was given to Nansen as soon as
we arrived at Cape Flora. There were letters for
him and two or three members of the expedition, but
none for me. The letters were two years old, but in
Nansen's there jwas nothing^burgoo^"news.
We were now able to ascertain the correctness of
our observations. Mr. Armitage compared Nansen's
watch for some time with the chronometer at
"Elmwood." We then found that we had not been so
far out, after all, with regard to our observations for
longitude, and that the watches had gone fairly well ;
we were now able to solve all the problems which
had been occupying our minds, with the exception of
the discrepancy between Payer's map and the coast-
line as we had found it in the course of our journey.
Nansen br^nn nt nnrr to prnpnrg a new map of
Franz Josef Land in accordance with our observations,
and with the map which Mr. Jackson had made from
his journeys in these islands.
I began to collect and copy our meteorological
observ^tipjis^iim^N^isej^Jpjirnal since we left the
Fram, a pjecfi of wnrk which was difficult enough, on
account of all the grease and dirt, which had made
most of the figures almost unintelligible.
One day a bear came walking up from the shore
towards the house. Nansen and Mr. Jackson rushed
out, the first with a gun, and the second with a
camera; he wanted to get as near as possible to the
bear in order to get a good picture of the animal in
OFF TO CAPE GERTRUDE 329
its wild state, but the bear turned round and walked
quietly away from them. Nansen fired a couple of
shots after it ; it fell to the ground and began digging
into the snow. The rest of us stood on the shore
watching the bear's efforts to get away. Now and
then it sprang at the two dogs, which it evidently
thought too forward ; one of the dogs was seized and
flung some distance off, while the other, the best
bear dog, had an artery in one of its paws torn by
the bear's claws. Mr. Jackson wanted to put an end
to the bear with a revolver, after he had taken the
photographs he wanted, so he fired two shots into its
head, but this made the bear quite furious; it hissed
and snapped, and struck about with its paws, while
the snow round about was coloured red with its
blood. A ball in its skull at length put an end to its
sufferings.
Behind the house a long, steep slope stretched up
towards the basalt mountain, which then rose perpen-
dicularly aloft, its summit being crowned with a mantle
of ice. A variety of birds — auks and different kinds
of sea-gulls — hatched in this mountain ; we always
heard their noisy chatter whenever we came outside
the house. It was fine sport to sit up there in the
talus and shoot auks, which flew to and fro quick as
lightning between the mountain and the open water
in the ice, and there was scarcely a day that we did
not have roasted auk's breast. Mr. Jackson was also
busy with long ladders up in the steep, loose basalt
mountain, gathering eggs from the birds' nests. We
had these eggs every morning for breakfast, and
found them most palatable.
Mr. Armitage or Dr. Koettlitz and I were generally
out for a walk every forenoon in the neighbourhood
of the station. On Sunday, June 28th, a small expe-
dition set off for Cape Gertrude. It consisted of Mr.
330 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
Armitage, the doctor, the botanist, Mr. Fisher, and
myself. We started in the morning and came back
in the evening. It did us good to make an excursion
during these quiet days. We used ski for the greater
part of the way across a glacier; the ski, which had
been ordered in Norway for the English expedition by
Nansen's brother, were excellent. I found the English-
men delightful company. At Cape Gertrude we found
walrus teeth, petrified wood, whales' bones and skele-
tons, sandstone in the basalt mountain, and many
other things of interest.
One day I went out for a walk by myself ; I wanted
to get up to the glacier on the top of the mountain,
cross it, and get down on the other side of the island.
I had no sooner got to the top than I found myself
enveloped in a thick fog; I could scarcely see a step
before me and hardly dared move from the spot, as I
might easily have walked over a precipice. I had
then to descend zigzag on my ski down the same way
I had come up, and in this manner I managed to get
out of the fog. I came across a moraine, where I
collected a number of fossils in a bag which I had
brought with me, and handed them over to Nansen.
He and the doctor occasionally went out hunting for
fossils, and when they returned home after such an
expedition, and placed their finds on the table, they
generally got into a heated discussion as to which had
found the most remarkable. One day Mr. Armitage
brought home a large snow-owl which he had shot.
Some days before we had just been discussing whether
this bird existed in these regions. Neither Nansen nor
Mr. Jackson had believed it did, but here Mr. Armi-
tage came forward with the best proof regarding the
matter; he had shot the owl with a rifle at a some-
what long range.
On July 5th a bear was shot out on an ice-mountain
OUR LAST BEAR-HUNT 331
near the shore. It was Nansen and Mr. Armitage who
brought it down; a number of shots were fired before
it succumbed, when it was found it had been hit by five
bullets. It was photographed several times while the
hunt was going on. This time also the rest of us stood
as spectators on the shore, and anxiously followed the
events of the chase. Mr. Jackson, who had been out
shooting auks, arrived on the scene with his camera
before the bear was killed. This was the last specimen
we saw of these animals, which, for such a long time,
had been indispensable to Nansen and myself. The
Englishmen only ate the heart and the sirloin of the
bears.
One day Mr. Jackson and I set off along the shore,
some distance west of the station, to collect whales'
bones and skeletons into heaps, in order that it should be
easier to get them on board the ship, when it should
arrive. We also found a number of mussel shells at
this spot. Almost every day we heard the blowing and
puffing of walruses out on the ice near the open water.
The days passed pleasantly, and in the evenings we
often playoLjcards. Our ^whist-party_ consisted of Mr.
Armitage, Dr. Koettlitz, MrT FisrierTand myself. On
Friday and Saturday evenings the Englishmen were in
the habit of drinking a gla^s_o£42QJ±-w4ne in remem-
brance of their fnends~aFhome. Nansen and I had no
objection to assisting on these occasions.
We were now beginning anxiously to expect the ship,
which was overdue, and to pay more attention to the
state of the ice and the direction of the wind. It might
easily happen that the ice prevented the ship from
reaching land, and in that case Nansen and I should
have to remain where we were for another winter. We
talked about a journey across to Spitzbergen, but we
were now in the month of July, and we could not be
sure of getting there in time to catch the whalers, and
332 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
we should then have to winter on Spitzbergen; the
only chance of getting home this year was that the
English ship should arrive within the next few days.
It was a great treat to be back among civilized people
again, and to have got away from our severe life on the
ice. It was pleasant to be among these amiable English-
men, who did all they could to make us as comfortable
as possible after our long fifteen months in the Arctic
ice-fields. But we wanted to get home this year.
There cannot be many who have longed more than we
to set foot on their own native soil. Our life up in the
eternal ice had caused this longing. We had suffered a
good many hardships, and more than once we found
comfort in recalling to our minds life at home. And
although we both firmly believed that we should live
to experience the joys of seeing our friends and beloved
ones again, there were many occasions which. reminded
us that human life is but a fragile thing ; that man, who
calls himself the " lord of creation," is but a poor
transitory -being — the smallesJLatom compared .witiuliat
Power_ which has produced everything we see and every-
thing we do not see ; that Power which, through all
eternity, has ruled everything, and through all eternity
will guide everything, according to its own — to us in-
scrutable — laws ; that Power which so often has saved
us from destruction on this journey ! In human eyes,
the last winter we spent in our hut, far away from the
world, wasj£rrible. It was,
and its cold, its privations and its longings ! But how
insignificant is everything when we think of that in-
comprehensible, eteniaL-la-W, which places man and
millions of lives in the world, and lets them live there
the fraction of a second, for we cannot call it longer,
compared with the time-measure of the eternal law!
How insignificant are the sorrows and troubles of man-
kind when one's thoughts turn to this! An Arctic
LESSONS OF AN ARCTIC NIGHT 333
nighj^like^that which we have lived through, possibly
enables one to learn and understand better than any-
thing else could the nothingness of human sorrows and
troubles.
DR. NANSEN ON SKI.
CHAPTER XXIX
The u Windward" Arrives — Farewell to Frans Josef Land
— The Last of the Ice — Norwegian Soil under our
Feet—uOtaria" — The " Fram " has Arrived— We
Meet our Comrades Again — Andree — A Month of
Festivities
WE now began in earnest to watch for the ship.
Four of the members of the English expedition
— Blomkvist, the Finlander, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Child, and
Mr. Burgess — were also going home this year. Day by
day passed without any sign of the ship; on the con-
trary, the wind brought more ice towards the land, and
before long we saw nothing but the interminable white
expanse again. At night when we turned in to go to
sleep, after having cast a last look out over the ice to see
if we could not discover the long-expected masts of the
ship, Blomkvist would always remark in English, " No
ship, no home ! " This fellow also longed for home after
the roving life he had led. He had been so long abroad
that he had almost forgotten his own language.
Another important event in our life during this
remarkable journey occurred on Sunday, July 28th.
Early in the morning I was awakened by hearing
my companions busily talking ; they were all running
about in their night-shirts. The ship from London had
arrived! She lay by the edge of the ice, looking
enormously big,, with her hull and three masts ! And
how near land she had got ! In the course of the night
834
ARRIVAL OF THE "WINDWARD" 335
the north wind had swept the loose ice, which had been
lying outside the edge of the shore-ice, out to sea. The
name of the ship was the Windward ; she had found her
way from the largest city in the world up among the
eternal ice, and was bringing tidings from the busy
world from which we had been so long away.
THE WINDWARD.
Mr. Jackson and Blomkvist were the first to go on
board, and the latter came back with the information
that the Frani had not returned to Norway, and that
nobody had heard anything about her. Nansen after-
wards went on board, while Mr. Armitage and I went to
bed a^ajn^after having enjoyed the sight of the Wind-
ward for some time. But before long the room was
filled with people from the ship ; they were all speaking
336 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
at once, questioning and answering each other. I had
heard that there used to be Norwegians among the crew
of the Windward. Perhaps, thought I, some of those in
the other room might be my countrymen ! I went into
the room in my night-jshirt, and asked in Norwegian : " Is
there anybody here from Norway ? " " Yes, I ! " said one
voice. " I, alsoJ-ii-^^3~another. " Here is one ! " came
from a corner of the room ; there seemed to be plenty of
them. I was now thoroughly awake ; I began asking
questions, and the three all answered at once. They
belonged to that class of Norwegian sailors who always
sail _in .foreign ships, very rarely visit their native
country, and seldom speak any other language but
English. I then got to hear all the news. In Norway
everything was much the same as when we left. China
and Japan had been pitching into each other, and the
great celestial empire had got a licking. Russia had got
a new Emperor, and France a new President. I was
also told that in Norway they had received information
that the Fram had been wrecked in the ice, but that the
members of the expedition had been to the North Pole,
and had got back to the New Siberian Islands. In this
respect I was afraid that Nansen and I would disappoint
our countrymen, as we had not got as far as the Pole.
In any case, however, we had the satisfaction of know-
ing that we^ had^done jwhat_wejcould.
We were, received with open arms by the whole of the
crew on board the Windward. The able and excellent
Captain Brown did all he could to make us as comfortable
as possible. He had brought with him two new Arctic
explorers, Dr. Bruce and Mr. Wilton, who both were to
winter and take part in Mr. Jackson's expedition.
Nansen and I were daily guests on board, where the cook
dished up the best things the ship possessed, while
Captain Brown and others were busy telling us what had
happened during the last three years. There was a
BOARDING THE "WINDWARD" 337
party every, evening1 with singing and merriment in the
pleasant saloon of the vessel.
Every one was now busy unloading the things which
the ship had brought ; amongst them were four reindeer,
which were to be used on the sledge expedition next
year. But the reindeer did not seem to like the place ;
one had died on the voyage, and the remaining four also
died before we left, although there was sufficient rein-
deer moss for them on board the Windward. Some fine
sheep, however, which they had brought with them,
seemed to thrive ver}^ well. The landing of the cargo
was quickly accomplished, although it had to be drawn
on sledges for a considerable distance from the ship to
the shore ; and in a week the Windward was ready to
depart, but she had to wait a few days longer for the
homeward letters.
One morning, when we awoke and looked out of the
window, the ship had disappeared. A gale, blowing in-
shore, had driven the ice in against the shore-ice, and
the Windward had gone adrift, and was obliged to seek
a harbour farther west in very shallow water. But the
ice began closing in upon her, and at one time it
seemed as if she would be wedged in against the land.
Fortunately, in a couple of days, she got clear, and now
there was a busy time getting ready in earnest for the
ship's departure. On the 7th of August the Windward
was lying with steam up, some distance out to sea, as
there was a good deal of loose ice outside the shore-ice,
which made it somewhat difficult to get on board. Cap-
tain Brown sat in the crow's-nest watching the treacher-
ous ice, and giving his orders in a loud voice ; he kept
the ship going backwards and forwards, incessantly
blowing the ship's whistle. The boat, which had come
to fetch Nansen and myself, only just escaped being
crushed between two floes. We saw them approaching
each other some distance off, but it was the only opening
338 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
which we could get through for the moment, and the
men rowed with all their might ; things looked critical,
but we just managed to get through, and the moment
the stern of the boat was clear of the ice, the heavy
floes clashed together with such a force that their edges
were crushed to bits. Outside lay the ship in open
water, and before long we found ourselves on her deck.
But Mr. Fisher, who was going back in her, and the
post-bag had not yet arrived ; while Dr. Koettlitz, who
was not going with us, was still on board. Some distance
westwards there was a bay in the ice, for which Captain
Brown steered, still sitting in the crow's-nest, and a boat
was launched to put Dr. Koettlitz ashore. Partly by
rowing and partly by dragging the boat across the floes,
Mr. Fisher, with the post-bag and some boxes of fossils,
got on board at last. It was with a sigh of relief that
we saw the boat hoisted up to its place under the davits,
while the farewell cheers resounded across the ice-fields,
where we could see Dr. Koettlitz struggling to get ashore
to his five comrades.
It was not long before we met with the ice. Captain
Brown sat in the crow's-nest and directed the course
with that rare ability which he has acquired in his
Arctic voyages during many years. He sat there day
and night, only going down now and then to get some-
thing to eat ; he slept no more than was absolutely
necessary. The Windward broke through the ice at last,
on the_rtth_of^jigust, and then we said farewell to
the icejjiijvvhich Nansen and I had spent three years
of our life. On the same day we saw the first sail on
the horizon, and afterwards we saw several more ; we
felt that we were approaching our goal ; the moment
which had so often stood before us as the highest of
all our desires, the goal of our longings, could not now
be far off!
The next day we caught sight of land on the horizon ;
AM EYE-OPENER
339
it was Norway, our native country ! We were only just
able to distinguish it liifHe evening twilight, but still
there it was. Next morning we saw its rocky coast ; we
had got in under land too far north, and had now to
shape outLCOurse southwards to VardQ. We now saw
many ships, with which we exchanged greetings, and
before long we had the pilot-boat alongside. The pilot
WATCHING THE FIRST SAIL IN SIGHT.
came on board with his son, and after having exchanged
a few words with Captain Brown, the latter asked him,
pointing to Nansen, whether he knew that man. The
pilot had heard Nansen speaking in Norwegian to me,
and was wondering who the Norwegians were who were
standing on the bridge of the Windward] he evidently
seemed to think that we were not properly dressed either.
The captain had to tell him it was Nansen, and then he
340 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
opened his eyes properly. Surprise and joy were to be
read in his weather-beaten features; he shook hands
with us, and wished us welcome home. Both he, and
many with him, had never believed that any of the
Pram's crew would escape with their lives. But of the
Fram no tidings had been heard since she left Norway.
While we pressed the pilot for news, and he in turn
got us to relate some of our adventures, the Windivard
had entered the harbour of Vardo', and the harbour-
master came on board. While the anchor was being
dropped, Nansen and I got into a boat with the pilot and
rowed ashore, in order to get to the telegraph office, to
which the pilot showed us the way. NononeTknew the
two strange men, whose dress was the only thing that
attracted attention; it was not difficult to see that they
were borrowed jplumes which jree-displayed ; I myself
was wearing the jacket I had made in our winter-* hut.
Some cyclists, whom we passed, looked so obtrusively
civilized with their cyclingx.Qslum.es.. and with their new
machines ; they glanced at my somewhat original jacket
made outjof joy blanket, but no one had any idea who
we were. A cowjwas walking about by itself in a small
street; we could not help looking at her with some
curiosity; such animals were not be found where we
had been wandering about ; we must assuredly be home
**A now. We jrtamped our feat: 03 thft^ground^ glad to feel
>* I the joil_of^Qur natiyAxountrgJbeneat]!- them jigain. We
went into the telegraph office with strange feelings.
Nansen put a large bundle of telegrams on the desk
before the superintendent, who happened to be present
at the moment. " Here _are ^ome telegrams," said
Nansen, " which I should like to get sent offjisjgon as
possible." The superintendent received The bundle with
some hesitation, as he scanned the stranger in the office ;
but no sooner had he looked at the first telegram than he
gave a start, and turned round towards the table, where
AT THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE
341
the lady telegraphists were sitting. He then came back
to Nanseh and wished him welcome home. He would
have to go out and fetch his reserves, he said, and he
would keep them at work night and day, in order to get
the telegrams off quickly. It was no joke to get so
many telegrams handed in at once. Two of Nansen's
telegrams to the Press amounted to several thousand
words ; he had written these out on Franz Josef Land
ARRIVAL AT HAMMERFEST.
in Norwegian and English. We had besides no less than
fifty odd-telegrams from our comrades oiTSiai^Ljhe
These I had all written ouT^urmg^our stay with
Mr. Jackson ; Scott-Hansen had copied them all in
microscopic writing on a smallj^iece^of^papeTi and given
us when we left the Fram.
Before we left the telegraph office the first telegrams
were already sent off. They were to I^nsen/s^wife, jny
342 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
| mothe^JJie nearest relatives of the Fram ere wt and to
the King and the Norwegian Government. We then
walked over to the hotel, where, according to the tele-
graph superintendent, Professor Mohn was staying. He
had taken special interest in the Fram expedition, and
we were, of course, most anxious to meet him. In the
entrance hall of the hotel we met_ojie_jQlLthe girls. I
thought how long it was since I had seen such a. pretty
^creature, and when Nansen asked for Professor Mohn
the young lady scanned us from top to toe, wondering,
f no doubt, what we wanted with a professor. She told
us, however, the number of his room, and Nansen rushed
straight in to him. I have never seen any one so sur-
prised as the Professor was, as he jumped up from the
sofa on which he was lying, smoking his pipe, and re-
cognised the tall figure before him. "Is it Fridtjof
Nansen? Is it possible? " But when he heard Nansen's
voice he was no longer in doubt, and, greatly moved, he
claspecL Nansen in his arms. It took some time before
Professor Mohn, "during the hubbub of questions and
answers which now ensued, could understand what had
happened to the expedition ; but when he had got to the
bottom of it, the jubilation broke loose. Champagne was
brought in, and a friend of the Professor turned up and
joined the company.
Before long the town had got to know who we
were; there were crowds of people outside the hotel,
and the ships in the harbour ran up their flags, while
^/ a band, called the ' ' Nor thpole, ' '^jala^d^Jis^Jjaiion^l
Anthem^6ulsi3e our windows! We were, indeed, back
in Norway"! While iri^VarcRrwe got fine, new clothes,
. and I must not forget to mention that we h,ad a
\l Russian, bath, which helped us to get rid of the last
remnants of the dirt that was left on us after our
life in the hut; it was only now that we succeeded
in getting thoroughly clean.
HAMMERFEST EN FETE 343
After a pleasant time in Vardo, where we met with
the greatest hospitality, we went on, .to Hammerfest,
where the whole town turned .out on our arrival. In
the harbour lay a fine English yacht, the^Otana.
The owner was on deck, as our steamer came gliding
in, and shouted a welcome to Nansen. Nansen recog-
nised in him an English friend, Sir George Baden-
Powell, who came on board to us at once, and asked
us to be his guests on board his yacht. We accepted
his kind offer and moved on board the Otaria, the
splendid and elegantly furnished saloons of which did
not exactly remind us of our poor hut, but still brought
us to make a comparison bstween our life now and
then ; it seemed an eternity since we were up there
in the north.
In HatQmerfest Mr. Nansen and Christofersen,
Nansen' s Secretary, arrived, the latter of whom we
had bidden good-bye, in Khabarova, three years ago.
It was, indeed, a joyful experience to be home again.
Everybody was so kind and amiable — nothing but
happy faces were to be seen around us everywhere.
The town gave a splendid fete in our honour, amid
general jubilation and festivity. There was..£>ne draw-
back in all our joy : wrhere were our comrades on
board the Fram ? We could not be quite happy as long
as their fate was unknown. Although we believed
they were safe on board their gallant craft, we had
as yet no definite assurance of their welfare ; and
it was getting late in the season. If they did not
arrive now, we could not expect them till next year.
Perhaps they were just as badly off as we were well
off? On the morning of__the 2oth of August a man
came on board the Qtaria^- with a telegram for
Nansen, who was not yet fully dressed. He must come
as he is, said the man — it was the superintendent of
the telegraph office himself — the telegram was im-
344 WITH NAN SEN IN THE NORTH
portant ! Nansen, evidently suspecting something, came
out and tore open the telegram. I heard a great noise
in the passage outside my cabin and opened the door
a little, when I caught sight of Nansen with the tele-
gram in his hand. There was a peculiar expression,
full oLemotion, in his face ; his eyes were staring at the
writing. At last he managed to blurt out^The Fram
has arrived !" It was as if a bombshell had burst
in our midst ; the telegraph superintendent stood quietly
watching the effect upon Sir George, Christofersen,
and myself. We were thoroughly aroused, and no
mistake ! " The Fram has arrived ! " It was the one
thing wanting to make all our happiness complete.
The telegram ran as follows : —
SKJ^ERVO, 20-8-96—9 a.m.
DOCTOR NANSEN,—
Fram arrived here to-day in good condition. All well on board.
Leaving at once for Tromso. Welcome home.
So they were not so far away after all, and we
should meet them in Tromso. The news spread like
wildfire over the town; the people went almost wild
with joy. Everybody seemed suddenly to be rushing
about. We on board the Otaria longed to be on the
way to Tromso. The Windward heaved her anchor
before us, and steamed out of the harbour amid jubilant
cheers for the Fram.
The next day we caught sight of the lofty masts
and the crow's-nest of the Fram, and soon we glided
alongside her, our good, faithful ship. She seemed a
little the worse for wear and tear\ and well she might ;
but she had escaped safe and sound from the ice, which
was pressing her so hard in its embrace when we
left her in the great loneliness of the far north. Now
the merry waves played caressingly round the strong
MAP SHOWING DR. NANSEN'S ROUTE.
With Nansen in the North.]
NEWS OF THE " FRAM"
345
hull. "Three cheers for the Fram" came from the
Otaria, as she glided slowly alongside the former and
dropped her anchor. "Hurrah!" shouted the boys on
JOHANSEN ON BOARD SIR GEORGE BADEN-POWELL'S YACHT.
the Fram in return, as they lowered one of the boats
and jumped into it. They now came rowing towards
us; most of them were still dressed in their Arctic
346 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
clothes, and some of them had grown long beards.
I saw Bentsen in the bow, and Scott-Hansen in the
middle of the boat; he had already provided himself
with a new hat and clothes, but he had not shaved
off his beard. There, too, was Peder, with an arm in
a sling, and all the others beaming with joy and
standing in the boat waving their hands. The next
moment they were close to the bow of the Otaria,
where I was standing. I leaned over the railing and
shouted: " \yelcome, boys ! " Bentsen seized my hand
and tried to haul me down into the, boaj: ; they then
jumped over the railing one after the other. iLYou
have done_ well." said Nansen to them. I cannot
describe the moving^cenes that followed on the deck
of the Otaria. It was joy at being together again,
after having escaped unscathed the terrors of the ice-
desert, which animated us. Sir George Baden-Powell
and his wife stood at some distance, enjoying our
happiness. " Your comrades seem to be very glad to
SQeyo^^^n2l^^_§^George to me later on. Yes,
indeed, our gladness was such as one seldom feels in
this life.
We had then to tell one another our adventures
since we parted up in the far north. Nansen and I
learnt how they had fared during the last and the
longest Arctic night ; it seemed that they had not had
it altogether so comfortable either; but they had all
along grown fonder and fonder of the Fram. She had
carried them right up to 86° north latitude ; no finer
craft sailed the seas, and she did not disappoint her
friends. She bore her name well, and forced her way
where it often seemed hopeless; she did not mind
if they laid mines, which^shat^red^heJ^av^Jce^g^inst
her hull j^she'Siereiy^hook herself torn truck to keel,
but as for betraying us— no, that she never did !
On Auusti£hthe^an^e and I
ANXIOUS INQUIRIES
347
set foot on Norwegian soil, the Fram forced her way
out into open "water and shaped her course for
MEETING OF NANSEN AND ANDREE.
SpitzbergejQ^where one morning they fell— ^fT with a
sailing ship which they hailed and asked after Nan sen
and Johansen. "Have they come back?" "No," was
WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the answer. "Joy and sorrow wander together," as
the old saying runs, the truth of which our comrades,
no doubt, felt then. And probably the thought also
stole in upon them that we were not likely to return,
since no one had heard anything of us, who, they
thought, had reached home safely long ago. They felt
sure, when we left them, that if we did get home, we
should do so the same year.
The name of the ship they met was Ike—Sisters.
From the Captain they learnt that Mr. Andree, the
Swedish explorer, was at Danes Island with a balloon,
in which he intended to start for the Pole. Sad at
heart they steered for Danes Island to ascertain if
the Swedish expedition there had heard anything
further about us. They met with a cordial reception
from the Swedes, but they could give no other informa-
tion than that they had heard nothing. But when our
comrades heard about the Jackson Expedition on Franz
Josef Land they thought we might be there. If we
were not, they knew that if we were alive at all, we
should want immediate assistance. They therefore
decided to make for Norway, to get certain information
as to whether we had been heard of. If not, they
intended returning at once to search for us. But
when they arrived at Skjaervo one night, and Sverdrup
had got the telegraph superintendent roused, he learnt
the joyful news that Nansen and I had arrived at
Vardo on the isth. Blessing_toldjne afterwards that
he had seen Sverdrup coming running back at a great
pace from the telegraph office. ~ They^elTlmspected
he was bringing good news, and when their expectations
were turned into certainty, the cannons were loaded
and a salute of two shots announced in the early
morning to the sleeping inhabitants __of__Skjserv5_that
something unusual had happened. There was general
jubilation, now that their joy was unmingled. They
ANDREWS SHIP
349
could now give themselves up entirely "to the pleasure
of being back in Norway. Skjaervft seemed like a
paradise to them; there they saw flowers, grass and
trees, which their eyes had not looked upon for three
years. The whole thirteen of them had come back
hale and hearty to their native land, and now all their
troubles and cares were at an end.
THE FRAM BEING TOWED ALONG THE NORWEGIAN COAST ON THE
HOMEWARD JOURNEY.
Soon after the meeting with our comrades in Tromso,
another ship steamed into the harbour ; it was Andree's
ship, the Virgo, which had returned from Spitzbergen,
with the members of the expedition and the balloon
on board. Andre"e had not been able to make his
ascent, on account of the bad state of the weather.
Some of us went on board to pay our respects to the
members of the expedition, and we were received with
350 WITH NANSEN IN THE NORTH
the utmost heartiness. Andre*e made a speech and
cordially wished us welcome home, to which Nansen
replied, wishing that AndreVs ingenious plan might be
realized the following year, when the conditions might
be more favourable. Andr£e told me, in the course
of the conversation I had with him, that it was with
no light heart he was obliged to return ; but his resolution
and his belief in the possibility of carrying out his
plan were as great as ever. It was only a question
of patience, and to me he appeared to possess this rare
virtue, so indispensable to an Arctic explorer.
We old comrades had a very happy time together
as we sailed down the coast of our fatherland. A
tugboat, the Haalogaland, took the Fram in tow, and
the Of aria followed iri^ her_wake_as ; far_as_Trondhjem.
I moved at once from the elegant saloons of the Of art a
on JO— the Fram^9J\A took; up— m^L— cpa.rfprs in " Th<*
Grand^" which was full of reindeer skins and sleeping-
bags, and lived there until we anchorecMn^QiTistiania.
^ For a .whole _month we lived through one continuous
series of festivities. We had never dreamt that Norway
would receive us in the way she did. Wherever we
went, all vied with one another — rich and poor alike
—in honouring us and wishing us welcome. And it
was a great satisfaction to feel that we had really
done something of which our country was proud. It
was a splendid reward for all our hardships and
privations. The towns-competed with each other in
entertaining us. At Stavanger, where we arrived in
the middle of the night, we were prevented from stopping
for any length of time, as we had to proceed at once.
When we left the harbour two shots thundered forth
from the Fram, the like of which we had never heard
before while on board her — the whole ship trembled
in her timbers. It was Peder who was responsible for
this salute. He had, on this occasion, risen from
HOME, SWEET HOME 351
harpooner to gunner. We asked him why he had
loaded the cannons so heavily, and whether he did
not wish to live any longer, now that he had returned
home. But he thought we were all a lot of fools,
since we could not understand that he had fired such
a loud salute because we had to leave the town without
giving the inhabitants an opportunity of getting up
any festivities for us. "Well, the least we could do
was to give them a proper .., salute, anyhow," was his
opinion.
Our reception in Christiania was most impressive.
None of us will ever forget the moment when we
landed. The whole of the fjord was filled with vessels
in gala attire, and on the shore there was one inter-
minable mass of people. But there was a silence over
the paople which inspired one with a feeling of
solemnity, especially when the lar^e__choir intonejj :
" Praise the^Lord^thej^ht^ JKingj^with Jionour! "
And now we lire home ; but up among the eternal ice
the solitude reigns greater than ever, for no longer
does any vessel lie there to disturb the wild play of
the ice, and no longer are human beings trying to
penetrate its secrets. Or perhaps the ice-desert was
now seething with rage, because a handful of men had
bidden defiance ..to, ,the edict^lkat its territory was for-
bidderi ground, and had penetrated into regions hitherto
untrodden by human foot.
Bntlcr & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frorr.c, and London.
• :
G
700
1893
N3J613
Johansen, Hjalmar
With Nansen in the North
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