Birds again made their appearance on 25th February, and a bear was shot on 8th March. This bear came in good time; the supply of oil was running low, and they could only afford to cook once a day. Another bear was shot on 2nd April, and as they now had a considerable quantity of blubber and meat, preparations were made for the journey south. But a great deal required to be done. New clothes had to be made out of blankets; the windclothes had to be patched; the “komager” had to be soled; and socks and gloves had to be made out of bear-skin. Then a light sleeping-bag of bear-skin had also to be made. The hut was therefore suddenly transformed into a tailor’s and shoemaker’s workroom. Thread was obtained by unravelling the cotton canvas of some provision-bags. Nansen was as pleased as a child with a new dress when on 12th May he was able to put on his blanket-trousers, strengthened inside and out with pieces of an old pair of drawers and of a shirt. The stores which had been buried at the beginning of the winter were now dug up, and greatly to Nansen’s disappointment it was found that several articles had been spoiled by the damp of the previous autumn. The flour had got mildewed; the chocolate had been dissolved by the damp; the pemmican was uneatable. There remained a limited quantity of fish-flour, some aleuronate flour, and some half-moulded bread, which they carefully boiled in train-oil, partly to dry it, and partly to render it more nutritious by impregnating it with fat. They also cut up as much raw bear’s flesh and blubber as they could carry. Train-oil took the place of petroleum as fuel. They still had 100 rifle-cartridges and 110 smallshot-cartridges, and their rifles were in good condition.