100 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 



sleeping-bags, but the rest of the space is taken up with 

 the whole cooking apparatus of the expedition. The 

 owners of these two bags are still sitting up. Hanssen 

 is cook, and will not turn in until the food is readv 

 and served. Wisting is his sworn comrade and assistant, 

 and is ready to lend him any aid that maj^ be required. 

 Hanssen appears to be a careful cook ; he evidently does 

 not like to burn the food, and his spoon stirs the con- 

 tents of the pot incessantly. " Soup!" The effect of 

 the word is instantaneous. Everyone sits up at once 

 with a cup in one hand and a spoon in the other. Each 

 one in his turn has his cup filled with what looks like 

 the most tasty vegetable soup. Scalding hot it is, as 

 one can see by the faces, but for all that it disappears 

 with surprising rapidity. Again the cups are filled, this 

 time with more solid stuff — pemmican. With praise- 

 worthy despatch their contents are once more de- 

 molished, and they are filled for the third time. There 

 is nothing the matter with these men's appetites. The 

 cups are carefully scraped, and the enjoyment of bread 

 and water begins. It is easy to see, too, that it is an 

 enjoyment — greater, to judge by the pleasure on their 

 faces, than the most skilfully devised menu could afford. 

 They positively caress the biscuits before they eat them. 

 And tlie water — ice-cold water they all call for — this 

 also disappears in great quantities, and procures, I feel 

 certain from their expression, a far greater pleasure and 

 satisfaction than the finest wine that was ever produced. 



