Sandy and Archie stayed until 24th when it was calm enough for them to go off. It had been a most pleasant visit for us; they were both extremely helpful too, preparing meals etc, so that we had more time at our disposal than ever before.
They went off about midday on a cloudless day, and it was very light, though the sun had set finally 5 days earlier. Since then, however, it has been gradually getting darker, and at noon on a cloudy day we almost need a torch for walking along to the meteorological station. At the end of October and beginning of November we had a number of clear evenings and nights often with beautiful aurorae. (These kept one up late several times and I got into the habit of finding it difficult to get up in the morning, but am getting over that.) Then as soon as I started taking regular auroral observations we have ceased to see them - mostly because it is nearly always cloudy now. The moon sometimes shines now, and then it is brighter than at noon. This morning was really heavenly for it was absolutely cloudless and there was a glow in the South tinged pink below, and higher up Venus was shining more brilliantly than one would think possible, and higher up the ¾ full moon was illuminating the whole scene. It has been very warm all this time - just below freezing point or a bit above it. Even taking the early morning readings just after getting out of a warm bed is a pleasure when we have one of our clear mornings.
At the end of October we had a strong wind from the S.E. but very warm, and the snow thawed even in the bigger drifts. It looked as if there might be quite a difficult water problem to solve, but we managed to collect several beautifully clear lumps of ice from the shore. We thought the stream might start flowing again, but though there were many pools in the course the flow was too small. Before you come North you think it’s easy to get water - you just melt snow - but you have to go out and get in four or five buckets full of snow and then laboriously melt it down to get but one bucket of water. It took about 20 bucketfulls of snow to get enough water to wash all our dirty handkerchiefs and three dirty towels. That washing, by the way, was a great success; the things were black when they went in and came out really (or nearly) white.
We have had more time for things about the house now - Sandy and Archie were so helpful that while they did many of the ordinary things like cooking that we always have to do, we had time to make up arrears. I had a short cooking spell and made a Barmbrack for Hallowe’en; it never rose but we ate it with relish nevertheless. Next day I made two (and a half which we ate that night) plum puddings, but it remains to be seen whether these are a success or not. Dan has taken one for himself and Robert up on the ice-cap. Another event has been our cutting one another’s hair on the first of November - a first since leaving England.
On November 2nd as we were at lunch we were surprised to hear footsteps in the hall. It was Dan, and Karl was down with the skiff in the harbour. They had not brought us more dogs to look after - to our relief - but instead had brought us two white foxes - such pretty little things, and I’m sure they’ll be less trouble than a dog. Next day was spent in making more comfortable and safer cages for them - in the meteorological office boxes that had the Stevenson screens served admirably, But the wiring was a long job and Karl insisted on doing nearly all. The first was not very successful, but with the second he tried another method which was more tedious but better. The next job was to get the foxes from their travelling cages into the new ones. Karl managed the vixen and in doing so got a bit of a bite, so I volunteered to do the fox. It’s not as easy as it sounds as you cannot open the lid much in case he escapes, and if you stick your hand in he merely bites at it. I made several unsuccessful grabs at him and got him in the end by letting him bite one hand ( I was wearing gloves so he didn’t bite very deep) and he hung on so tight that with the other hand I could catch him round the neck, and then it was just a case of putting him into the cage and getting him to let go of my hand, which he did quite willingly. After that Karl showed us how to make fox traps, and we helped him to make some.
Next day - a gloriously clear day with a beautiful brilliant moon - Karl and Dan went into Zeipel Bay to put up some traps there, and came back with two plump eider ducks for Christmas. We thought they had all gone by now. Next day Karl began making his ‘automatical beer shoot’ - a simple contrivance in theory; the bear just tries to take away a piece of blubber attached to a wire, to the other end of which the trigger of the rifle is attached, and it shoots him through the head.
Karl Bengtssen
One unpleasant occurrence was on Nov 11th when I lit the fire all the smoke came out in the front, and we had to sweep the chimney by climbing on the roof and push down several poles lashed together, and a coal sack tied on the end. It was successful but we must sweep it more frequently when it is fine for it would be a very unpleasant and even dangerous job in stormy weather.
On the morning after the international day there was an opportunity for Karl and Dan to get away; it was calmer and the ice conditions in the bay seemed favourable. They began getting the boat ready but didn’t take the precaution of shutting up Spjaet and Ayo who saw what was happening and refused to be caught. In vain we tried to round them up and catch them but not till the afternoon was Spjaet taken in by a piece of meat, and in the meantime the tide had brought back ice and it was impossible to leave.
The next few days were rather unpleasant - Dan was impatient to get off, and he and Karl had never been able to get on together and it blew up into a storm. Dan, possibly not intentionally, and Brownie have always treated Karl as a social inferior and a servant; Karl would not stand for this saying that he was a respected man in Norway and in his country he was as good a man as anybody else, and that by their behaviour to him Dan and Brownie have shown that they are not gentlemen. This is in a sense true, for Brownie actually said to me that we all had to pay to come on the expedition and since on the other hand Karl is paid, we have a right to regard him as a servant - ugh! the British Army. Both sides were justified to a certain extent, and it was all most unpleasant - the first real quarrel we have had - and we were therefore glad when on Monday 18th the sea quietened down, and by pulling the boat overland to the other side of our point they found their way through the ice. I like both of them individually and each of them is easy to get on with, but together they are intolerable.
Daniel Godfrey
The moon set about that time, but even now we were surprised how light it still is sometimes, especially when there are no clouds about. I never think of putting on the torch when going over to the hut or when taking readings except actually to read the instruments. (Our torch is without doubt the world’s worst; it has never gone a complete day without going wrong: these super Ever Readys are hopeless.) Brownie and I went along to the north along the coast for a bit the afternoon the day the others left and lay a long time on a rock under the clear sky without being a bit cold - in late November in the Arctic!
Then on 19th and 20th it snowed hard so that going along to take the readings I kept on falling knee deep into snow drifts. It was when Bear Island questioned our report for amount of snowfall that I discovered that I had made a mistake in the reading, and all our snowfalls up to now have been reported ten times bigger than they really were!
One evening we had a talk with Bear Island over the wireless; there are three of them at the meteorological and wireless station and all along have been frightfully nice and helpful to us.
We went along to put up the near fox-traps which had been blown down, one afternoon with the Tilley lamp and had great fun as we kept on falling into very deep snow. It’s not at all unpleasant as the snow is so dry. At that time I was wearing pants and flannel trousers, shirt, Shetland pullover and lumber jacket. Komager on feet.
Suddenly on the 27th it cleared overhead and the temperature fell to 0℉ with a strong wind. It was an international day and not such a pleasant one, for not only did we have to work the ionosphere every two hours, but I also had to work the ozone spectrograph and also observe and photograph the aurorae which were strong that day. In addition there was all the developing fixing and washing of the records, the usual meteorological program and all cooking, water production etc. Sitting and standing about outside it was cold - our vitality must have been low - and I had to pile on clothes - more stockings another pull-over and windproofs on top. It’s a pity we had all the scientific work, for it would have been a lovely time for a walk, and the ice was forming and making eerie squeaks and grating noises. Suddenly Ayo jumps up and ‘woofs’ (a husky cannot bark properly) and I saw what looked like a very large white dog run away out to sea on the ice. Whether it was a bear or not I cannot say; it seemed too small, and the ice didn’t look as if it would have borne a bear, but I can’t see what else it could have been. Ayo’s annoyance is a testimony that I wasn’t dreaming.
Ayo is still at large. We couldn’t catch him for Karl to take away, and he bit Brownie in the hand when he nearly caught him one day. He is an unpleasant dog. However if he is going to keep bears away we will be pleased. Though bear meat is badly wanted for the dogs and the ‘automatical beer shoot’ is for that purpose, and though the skin is valuable, we personally have no desire to meet one in the dark time when we are out taking readings. Perhaps we may get good hunting in the spring. Ozonoark and Ionoark are shut up and just sleep, but Upik’s nine black puppies are getting bigger and make such a noise that the dog house is rather reminiscent of the parrot house - but smells like a dog-house!
I have taken charge of the foxes; they both seem well still: Matilda is a bit frightened and tries to get out all the time, but Leonidas is merely defiant but stays at the entrance of his inner house - in his thermopylac - guarding his Reloponesus - and snarls and growls so prettily.
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