In the meanwhile the _Fram_ drifted steadily on with the ice, reaching, on October 16, almost as high a latitude as that attained by Nansen. She pursued her journey to the edge of the pack without misadventure, and after a series of blasting operations she was set free of the ice and made her way home in safety. [Illustration: SPITZBERGEN] CHAPTER XXXI CONWAY AND ANDRÉE Though Nordenskiöld had succeeded in exploring North-East Land pretty thoroughly, and had shown that it is practically nothing but one large ice-field, for many years very little attention had been given to West Spitzbergen, and up till the end of last century nothing whatever was known about its formation or its geographical features. In 1896, however, the famous mountaineer, Sir Martin Conway, seeking for fresh worlds to conquer, decided to repair thither himself and to elucidate once and for all the mystery that surrounded that part of the world. Information concerning the nature of the regions over which he proposed to travel was, of course, difficult to obtain. However he read all the literature that existed upon the subject, and having equipped himself with the Nansen sledges and ponies which, he gathered, would be absolutely essential for success, he started off on his travels with a party consisting of Mr E. J. Garwood, his photographer, Dr Gregory, the geologist, Trevor Battye, the ornithologist, and, as artist, his nephew, H. E. Conway. On reaching Advent Bay, which he proposed to make his starting-place, he was surprised to find an inn in the process of erection by an enterprising Norwegian company. An inn in an uninhabited country like Spitzbergen might seem _de trop_, but the explanation was that a series of trips had been organised thither, and a steamer was bringing out tourists once a week, most of whom were probably attracted by Andrée’s balloon, then waiting at the north end of the island for a chance to start on its hazardous voyage. Leaving three members of his party to prosecute their scientific researches near the coast, Conway and Mr Garwood set off on their journey across the island on June 20. It was not long before they discovered that their sledges and ponies were nothing but a handicap. They had expected, of course, to find the interior covered by a great ice-sheet like that of North-East Land. They actually discovered it to be a land of temperate climate, intersected by green mountains and boggy valleys, which were kept in a condition of perpetual stickiness by the constant rain. In the mud thus formed the ponies were always sinking, and many arduous hours were spent every day in digging or pulling them out.