106 ALIDA LAKE. 



and barked and rejoiced in their short-lived lib- 

 erty ! 



If the reader has ever chanced to drive a pair of 

 unruly horses for a few hours, and has had occasion 

 to find rest for his aching arms on a long, steep hill, he 

 will understand the satisfaction which I took in find- 

 ing the power returning to mine. I could again use 

 the whip, and managed to turn the intractable team 

 among a cluster of hummocks and snow-drifts, which 

 somewhat impeded their progress. Springing sud- 

 denly off, I caught the upstander and capsized the 

 sledge. The points of the runners were driven deeply 

 into the snow, and my runaways were anchored. A 

 vigorous application of my sinew-tipped lash soon con- 

 vinced them of the advantages of obedience, and when 

 I turned up the sledge and gave them the signal to 

 start they trotted off in the meekest manner possible, 

 facing the wind without rebelling, and giving me no 

 further trouble. I think they will remember the les- 

 son — and so shall I. 



But I set out to record my journey up the Fiord. 

 Reaching; the head of it after a most exhilarating ride, 

 we managed, with some difficulty, to cross the tide- 

 cracks, and scrambled over the ice-foot to the land. 

 Here we came upon a broad and picturesque valley, 

 bounded on either side by lofty cliffs — at its further 

 end lay a glacier, with a pool of water a mile long 

 occupying the middle distance. This pool is fed from 

 the glacier and the hill-sides, down which pour the 

 waters of the melting snows of summer. The dis- 

 charge from it into the sea is made through a rugged 

 gorge which bears evidence of being filled with a 

 gushing stream in the thaw season. Its banks are 

 lined in places with beds of turf, (dried and hardened 



