98 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 



their claws on the smooth ice, and when the sledge 

 came on to one of these tough little waves, they 

 could not manage to haul it over, try as they might. 

 The driver then had to put all his strength into it 

 to prevent the sledge stopping. Thus in most cases 

 the combined efforts of men and dogs carried the 

 sledge on. 



In the course of the afternoon the surface again began 

 to be more disturbed, and great crevasses crossed our 

 path time after time. These crevasses were really 

 rather dangerous; they looked very innocent, as they 

 were quite filled up with snow, but on a nearer ac- 

 quaintance with them we came to understand that they 

 were far more hazardous than we dreamed of at first. 

 It turned out that between the loose snow-filling and 

 the firm ice edges there was a fairly broad, open space, 

 leading straight down into the depths. The layer of 

 snow which covered it over was in most cases quite 

 thin. In driving out into one of these snow-filled 

 crevasses nothing happened as a rule; but it was in 

 getting off on the other side that the critical moment 

 arrived. For here the dogs came up on to the smooth 

 ice surface, and could get no hold for their claws, with the 

 result that it was left entirely to the driver to haul the 

 sledge up. The strong pull he then had to give 

 sent him through the thin layer of snow. Under these 

 circumstances he took a good, firm hold of the sledge- 

 lashing, or of a special strap that had been made with a 



