When the farewell was over, the Eskimos parted, and Nansen tried to keep the north-bound travelers in sight, but he soon found that he must depend upon himself and break his own way through the ice. The journey grew harder and harder, and in camp the travelers were often tormented by swarms of mosquitoes. Clouds of the small insects swarmed around them and annoyed the men almost beyond endurance. Any amount of work in the ice was to be preferred to an attack by mosquitoes. The party traveled through the water among huge icebergs; they plodded wearily over ice hummocks; finally, they drew up their boats for the last time at a place where Nansen thought they could climb the steep ascent from the coast, and reach the inland ice. The boats were left in a cleft in the rocks, carefully blocked with stones to keep them steady. Then began the climb up the mountains to the plateau. The ascent was steep, and the men had hard work to drag up the sledges. Often one of the climbers would sink into a deep crevasse and have to be rescued by his companions. [Illustration: A VIEW IN THE INTERIOR OF GREENLAND.] The crevasses grew deeper and more dangerous as the party advanced, and soon a rain storm set in, which delayed the travelers three days. While they were lying in the tents, the men followed the wise example of the bears and did no work. They ate very little and only once a day, but slept a great deal. When they took up the journey again, they found the ice hard. But a heavy snowstorm began, and it was difficult to drag the sledges through the deep drifts. At last, when they reached a point six thousand feet above the level of the sea, the wind was blowing fiercely and the temperature stood at zero. Nansen decided to rig a sail for the sledges, hoping by this contrivance to make the wind serve as an aid. Old Ravna was disgusted with the plan, and Balto, too, thought it absurd to try to sail on the snow. But Nansen made the sails, and the two Lapps were soon forced to admit that their use made the load lighter to draw. [Illustration: SLEDGING ACROSS GREENLAND.] The snow was still very deep, and when, on August 30, it was in condition for the men to use the ski, they joyfully strapped them on. In a short time they had attained the plateau, and then for days they toiled over a flat, wide expanse of snow. The highest elevation which Nansen reached during this journey was nine thousand two hundred and seventy-two feet, and the lowest temperature he experienced was 49° below zero. The sledges were heavy, and the Lapps grumbled all the time, Ravna especially being very low-spirited. One day he said to Nansen: “I am an old Lapp, and a silly old fool, too. I don’t believe we shall ever get to the coast.” Nansen answered: “That is quite true, Ravna. You are a silly old fool.”