Farthest north; being the record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Fram" 1893-96, and of a fifteen months' sleigh journey by DrNansen and LieutJohansen . of thislife will never come to an end. When I wrote last I wasfull of hope and courage; and here we are stopped bystress of weather for four days and three nights, with theice packed as tight as it can be against the coast. Wesee nothing but piled-up ridges, hummocks, and brokenice in all directions. Courage is still here, but hope—the hope of soon being home—that was relinquished along time ago, and before us lies the certainty of a lo
Farthest north; being the record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Fram" 1893-96, and of a fifteen months' sleigh journey by DrNansen and LieutJohansen . of thislife will never come to an end. When I wrote last I wasfull of hope and courage; and here we are stopped bystress of weather for four days and three nights, with theice packed as tight as it can be against the coast. Wesee nothing but piled-up ridges, hummocks, and brokenice in all directions. Courage is still here, but hope—the hope of soon being home—that was relinquished along time ago, and before us lies the certainty of a long,dark winter in these surroundings. It was at midnight between the 17th and 18th that weset off from our last camping-ground in splendid it was cloudy and the sun invisible, there wasalong the horizon in the north the most glorious ruddyglow with golden sun - tipped clouds, and the sea layshining and dreamy in the distance: a marvellous . On the surface of the sea, smooth as a mirror,without a block of ice as far as the eye could reach, glidedthe kayaks, the water purling off the paddles at every * Off Brokers Foreland. V. LAND AT LAST 363 silent stroke. It was like being in a gondola on theCanale Grande. But there was something almost un-canny about all this stillness, and the barometer hadgone down rapidly. Meanwhile, we sped towards theheadland in the south-southwest, which I thought wasabout 12 miles off.* After some hours we espied iceahead, but both of us thought that it was only a loosechain of pieces drifting with the current, and we paddledconfidently on. But as we gradually drew nearer we sawthat the ice was fairly compact, and extended a greaterand greater distance; though from the low kayaks itwas not easy to see the exact extent of the pack. Weaccordingly disembarked and climbed up on a hummockto find out our best route. The sight which met uswas anything but encouraging. Off the headland wewere steering for were a number of islets and
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