On the 3rd April the second dog was killed as food for the others. Nansen now calculated that the distance to Franz-Josef Land was three times as far as the distance they had come. He saw that it was impossible to reach the Pole or its immediate vicinity over the ice they were encountering, with the dogs they had. He now wished that the number of dogs had been much greater. On 4th April the latitude was 86° 3′. On the 8th April, Nansen finally decided to return and shape his course for Cape Fligely, in Franz-Josef Land, about 450 miles distant. The latitude of the farthest north point was found to be 86° 13.6′, and the longitude about 95° E. During the first few days on the return journey they met with comparatively level ice, much to their surprise; but they soon began to meet more open lanes. On the 12th April they had the misfortune to let their chronometers run down. This was the cause of much worry afterwards. On 16th April, Nansen calculated that they were 60 miles on their way home. The temperature had now risen to about 15° below zero, and they considered this mild. A dog had to be killed every few days in order to feed the others. They considered this slaughtering of the faithful animals a horrible affair, but it was an absolute necessity. On the 21st April they came across an immense piece of timber sticking out of the ice. Nansen believed it to be Siberian larch. Johansen marked it “F. N., H. J., 85° 30′ N.” On the 25th April fox-tracks which were fresh were seen in the snow. This discovery raised the question whether land could be near, but the weather was so thick that it might have been near and could not be seen. Open water in the form of lanes in the ice now became more frequent, but Nansen was still reluctant to use the kayaks. There were several large holes in them which would require to be repaired, and in the present condition of the ice Nansen believed that it would be difficult to protect the bows of the kayaks from being cut, and in the event of water getting in, ice would immediately form, and to remove it would be impossible. On 3rd May the dogs had been reduced to sixteen. Two days later the latitude was found to be 84° 31′, and longitude 66° 15′ E. This was not so far south as Nansen expected, but farther west. In some places the snow was very deep among the rough ice, and as the snow-shoes had frequently to be taken off for the purpose of helping the sledges over difficulties, Nansen regretted that he had not also Indian snow-shoes, which would have been of more use in such circumstances. On the 14th May, during a storm, the opportunity was taken to remove the load from one of the sledges which was not now required. An attempt was made to use the wood of the sledge as fuel, but after burning nearly the whole of it and succeeding in obtaining only one pot of boiling water, they gave it up as a failure, and went back to the “Primus.”