BJAALAND'S CHOICE 43 



He must have gone off to refresh old memories. He 

 had a lot to tell us ; amongst other things, he had found 

 " the finest descent " on the other side. What he meant 

 by " fine " I was not certain. If it was as fine as the 

 ascent he had made, then I asked to be excused. We 

 now heard the others coming, and these we could hear 

 a long way off. They had also seen a great deal, not to 

 mention " the finest descent." But both parties agreed 

 in the mournful intelligence that we should have to 

 go down again. They had both observed the immense 

 glacier that stretched beneath us running east and west. 

 A lengthy discussion took place between the two parties, 

 who mutually scorned each other's "discoveries." "Yes; 

 but look here, Bjaaland, we could see that from where 



you were standing there's a sheer drop " — " You 



couldn't see me at all. I tell you I was to the west 



of the peak that Hes to the south of the peak that " 



I gave up trying to follow the discussion any longer. 

 The way in which the different parties had disappeared 

 and come in sight again gave me every reason to decide 

 in favour of the route the last arrivals had taken. I 

 thanked these keen gentlemen for their strenuous 

 ramble in the interests of the expedition, and went 

 straight off to sleep. I dreamed of mountains and 

 precipices all night, and woke up with Bjaaland whiz- 

 zing down from the sky. I announced once more that 

 I had made up my mind for the other course, and went 

 to sleep again. 



