5< 



SPITSBERGEN 



CHAP. Ill 



lessened, and in another twenty minutes I had reached the 

 scree slopes below. For the first time since leaving the arete 

 I had leisure to look for the steamer : she was nowhere 

 to be seen ! 



As I replaced my glasses after a fruitless examination of 



THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT STARASHCHIN. 



the bay, I discovered that I had dropped the roll-holder 

 attached to my camera. Searching carefully with my 

 glasses along my line of route, I finally espied the truant 

 box neatly balanced on the last point of the buttress I had 

 quitted, and, of course, the wrong side of the couloir. As 

 the steamer had gone, there was no further cause for hurry, 

 but I hesitated before deciding to risk two more interviews 



