chap, vii T H E S A S S E N D A L 105 



sledge and set forth with the plane-table, the others following 

 an hour later, Pedersen driving one sledge and Garwood 

 the second. Our party, thus constituted, was an ideal one. 

 Gregory was quite well again, and gave us the benefit of 

 his boundless energy, his alert observation, and his wide 

 experience. Garwood was not a whit behind him in every 

 virtue a traveller can possess. Henceforward, with a self- 

 sacrifice I can never forget, he undertook the abominable 

 work of driving one of the sledges, so that I might be always 

 free to go ahead, aside, or to linger behind for surveying 

 purposes. It was Garwood, too, who did the cooking for us, 

 and a thousand and one other details of camp-work that 

 would have been less efficiently done by any one else. 

 Pedersen was of little use in camp, but, when we afterwards 

 exchanged him for the other man, we were even less well 

 served. 



On descending from camp to the plain, the many streams 

 from Fox Valley had to be waded immediately. An almost 

 level stony area followed, the best walking we found in 

 Spitsbergen, for the ground was firm and fairly smooth. 

 Below the wide long fan came the flat land, occupying the 

 bed of what was once Advent Bay. This I traversed to its 

 head, where is still the old bank curving all around. I 

 climbed a hump, previously selected for plane-table station, 

 and gazed abroad on the dismal prospect. Clouds, of course, 

 disguised the peaks, but here and there a point was visible 

 through some momentary gap, so that useful work could 

 be accomplished. The others were far away like tiny ants 

 working at the sledges, which began to move just as I set 

 forward once more. 



The upper part of Advent Vale was soon to be revealed 

 to me, and expectation stimulated advance. On the left 

 flowed the river, no inconsiderable flood, over the flat bottom 

 of a gorge whence long bog-slopes rose on either hand 



