78 SPITSBERGEN chap, v 



going alone might have picked his way across the channels 

 and not gone in much above the knee. But one of us had 

 to guide the pony, whilst the other held the sledge, giving it 

 a twist now and then to avoid big rocks, or prevent it from 

 being rolled over by the torrent. As a matter of fact, it did 

 overturn in the deepest place, so we were both soaked to 

 the waist in the icy water — a fortunate preliminary that 

 made us callous to future wettings. Bogs of all sorts lay in 

 our way, and infinite streams. Gregory, a few days later, 

 counted the number in a single batch over a similar fan, 

 not a mile broad, and found fifty-two which had to be 

 waded, besides others small enough to be jumped. The 

 ordinary bogs were of little account ; one sank in up to the 

 calf of the leg and floundered on. It was the snow-bogs 

 that we grew to hate — deep beds of snow, smooth and solid- 

 looking, but water-logged, and affording no particle of sup- 

 port. The foot went right through them to the solid 

 ground, making a green hole that instantly filled with water 

 to the brim. Whilst, however, it was impossible to stand on 

 this stuff, great exertion was required to push through it. 

 The pony sometimes sank into these snow-bogs up to her 

 neck. She could only advance by a series of leaps. Some- 

 times she would fall over on her side and become stuck, 

 sometimes she was held tight, seated on her haunches, with 

 her forelegs beating the air. More than once we feared 

 she would break her back, but she won our admiration by 

 the pluck and intelligence she manifested, and by her con- 

 sequently rapid development of skill. 



All the march we were continually crossing below the 

 mouths of little valleys, each discharging a stream over a 

 many-channelled fan. Thus we rang the changes on 

 streams to be waded, stone-slopes to be stumbled over, and 

 snow-bogs to be floundered through. Each stream had 

 snow-bogs for banks, making the scramble out of it a 



