Survivor: The Autobiography Part 2

31 July 5 o'cl. a.m. start. 'Tramp' on our knees in deep snow. 'Tramp tramp' on our knees. Discoverer of attractions of flopping = Nisse. Cut our way. The constant fog prevents us from choosing good road. Ever since the start we have been in very difficult country. The Polar dist. is certainly the birthplace of the principle of the greatest stumbling-blocks. 10 leads during the first 6 hours.

2 August 12 o'cl. midd. We broke camp. The last bear-meat was cut into small pieces so that it might at least look like being a lot. Thickness of ice 1.2 m (3.96 ft). Scarcely an hour after breaking camp we got a new bear. It was an old worn-out male animal with rotten teeth. I brought it down by a shot in the chest at a distance of 38 m (125 ft) S-g and Fr-l both fired outers. Clear calm and hot the whole day but the country extraordinarily difficult. I do not think we made 2 km (2,200 yds) in 10 hours. Axe destroyed. 1 skua visible and 2 gulls circling around the body of the bear. We did not get into our berths before 2 a.m. the 3 Aug. I washed my face for the first time since the 11 July and in the evening I mended a stocking. We hope that one bear will be enticed to follow us by the remains of the one shot, and so on so that we shall always have fresh meat at our heels. This time we took from the one we shot the fillet too (close in to the back) and the kidneys (1 kilo 3 lbs) and the tongue and ribs. The 3 Aug. at 12 o'cl. we rose after being much plagued by the heat in the tent. We have determined to 'lie outdoors' today . . . It is so warm that we do the pulling without any coats on. The ice horrible. Clothes-drying on a large scale. I made a fork for Fraenkel.

5 August Stocktaking of provisions.

Hard bread 11b. of 1.1 (2.4 lbs).

12.1 (20.4 lbs)

12 biscuits 12 bl of

15.5 (34.1 lbs)

5 Mellin's food

15.00 (33 lbs)

b.u.t.ter 17 b. of 900 (2 lbs)

15.30 (34 lbs)

Chocolate powder 9 b. of 1 (2.2 lbs)

9.00 (20 lbs)

extr.

Milk 10 b. of 250 ( lb)

2.5 (5 lbs)

Lact scr. 10 b. of

2.5 (5 lbs)

Pemmican

3.0 (6.5lbs)

Sugar

5.00 (11lbs)

1 tin Stauffer prep

4.5 (10 lbs)

Coffee

2.00 (4.5 lbs)

1 tin chocolate 3 b. Lime-juice tablets Whortleberry jam

1.00 (2.2 lbs)

9 tins sardines 3 tins paste Soup tablets 3 tins 2 bottles syrup 1 bottle port-wine 6 snowflake Flour

1.00 (2.2 lbs)

This stocktaking shows that we must be careful especially with the bread.

Temp. falling still lower and each degree makes us creep deeper down into the sleeping-sack. Bad day today the first with course N 40 W = Seven Islands.

9 August [. . .] At 7.30 o'cl. I saw a hummock formed in a lane which was at right angles to the direction of the wind which led to a pressure. The country consists of large uneven fields full of brown ice small hummocks with snow-sludge and water-pools but not many large sea-leads. It is extremely tiring. F. has diarrhoea for 2nd time and there does not seem much left of his moral strength. The sweet-water leads were often not so very 'sweet' to cross. A black guillemot visible. A fine beautiful bear approached us but fled before we had a chance to shoot. This was a great grief for us and a pity too for soon we shall have no more bear's meat left. S. and F. went after him but in vain. We were tired out and F. was ill. I gave him opium for the diarrhoea. Afterwards we had several hours' work getting S.'s gun in order. Its mechanism is dreadfully carelessly constructed. We have been awake and busy for 18 hours when at 8 o'cl. p.m. we creep down into the sleeping-sack. The course always S 40 W. The 10 at 6.10 o'cl. a.m. all up. Load on my sledge 1 little sack

3.5 (7.7 lbs)

1 front basket

37.1 81.7.

1 rear basket

37.3 82.