[3] This was the latitude I got by a rough estimation, but on further calculation it proved to be 86° 13.6′ N.; the longitude was about 95° E.
[4] I felt convinced we could not have reached such a westerly longitude, but assumed this for the sake of certainty, as I would rather come down on the east side of Franz Josef Land than on the west side. Should we reach the latitude of Petermann’s Land or Prince Rudolf Land without seeing them, I should in the former case be certain that we had them on our west, and could then look for them in that direction, whereas, in the event of our not finding land and being uncertain whether we were too far east or too far west, we should not then know in what direction we ought to look for it.
[5] We saw no real ice-mountains at any period of our journey before we got under land; everything was sea-ice. The same was the case during the drift of the Fram.
[6] In point of fact it was nearly three months (till July 24) before this marvel happened.
[7] As on the previous day, the ice on the north side of the lane was moving westward, in comparison with that on the south side. The same thing was the case, or could be seen to have been so, with the lanes we met with later in the day. We naturally conceived this to mean that there was a strong westerly drift in the ice northward, while that southward was retained by land.
[8] The lanes form most frequently in windy weather, as the ice is then set in motion.
[9] In point of fact, we were then about 6° farther east than we thought. I had on April 14th, it will be remembered (compare my notes for that day), surmised that the longitude I then set down (86° E.) was more westerly than that we were actually in.
[10] For melting water in the cooker it is better to use ice than snow, particularly if the latter be not old and granular. Newly fallen snow gives little water, and requires considerably more heat to warm it. That part of salt-water ice which is above the surface of the sea, and, in particular, prominent pieces which have been exposed to the rays of the sun during a summer and are thus freed from the greater part of their salt, furnish excellent drinking-water. Some expeditions have harbored the superstition that drinking-water from ice in which there was the least salt was injurious. This is a mistake which cost, for instance, the members of the Jeannette expedition much unnecessary trouble, as they thought it imperative to distil the water before they could drink it without incurring the risk of scurvy.
[11] As will be understood by our later discoveries, my surmises were not quite correct. We really were at that time north or northeast of Wilczek’s Land, which seems to be only a little island. Meanwhile there must have been extensive open water the previous autumn where this ice was formed. But when it is shown later how much open water we saw on the northwest coast of Franz Josef Land even in winter, this can easily be imagined.
[12] Whereas Finn shoes are made of reindeer-skin with the hair on, “komager” are made of under-tanned hide without hair, generally from the ox or bearded seal (Phoca barbata), with tops of reindeer-skin. They are strong and water-proof. (See description of equipment.)