I planned to climb to the pass
and then be guided by the configuration of the country in the selection
of a route eastward to Stromness Bay, where the whaling-stations were
established in the minor bays, Leith, Husvik, and Stromness. A range
of mountains with precipitous slopes, forbidding peaks, and large
glaciers lay immediately to the south of King Haakon Bay and seemed to
form a continuation of the main range. Between this secondary range
and the pass above our camp a great snow-upland sloped up to the inland
ice-sheet and reached a rocky ridge that stretched athwart our path and
seemed to bar the way. This ridge was a right-angled offshoot from the
main ridge. Its chief features were four rocky peaks with spaces
between that looked from a distance as though they might prove to be
passes.
The weather was bad on Tuesday, May 16, and we stayed under the boat
nearly all day. The quarters were cramped but gave full protection
from the weather, and we regarded our little cabin with a great deal of
satisfaction. Abundant meals of sea-elephant steak and liver increased
our contentment. McNeish reported during the day that he had seen rats
feeding on the scraps, but this interesting statement was not verified.
One would not expect to find rats at such a spot, but there was a bare
possibility that they had landed from a wreck and managed to survive
the very rigorous conditions.
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