164 SPITSBERGEN chap, xi 



to situation and the nature of the material. Every earthy 

 patch in Spitsbergen that we saw is characterised by this 

 phenomenon. 



Of course, as we had no rifle with us, the reindeer were 

 more numerous and stupid than ever. They came near in 

 sixes and fours, but there was never a fine head amongst 

 them. They seemed more than usually muddle-pated and 

 changeful of mind. On first beholding us they would 

 approach, deliberate, and come to the conclusion, " These 

 two-legged beasts are dangerous." With that they would 

 turn tail and hurry away. In half a minute doubt would 

 arise in their minds : " Perhaps they are not dangerous 

 after all ; " so back they would come to reconsider the 

 problem, never adhering for a hundred yards' trot to any 

 opinion or decision. Solitary bucks were the only exception 

 to this rule, and occasionally a mother with her fawn. 



As usual I went ahead with the plane-table, and this day 

 kept the lead longer than usual, for few new points came 

 in sight, after rounding into the Sassendal, till the time 

 for quitting it. A wilder sky than of wont roofed the valley ; 

 dark clouds came sweeping over just above the summits, 

 casting gloom upon the bare landscape, and every moment 

 threatening to pour down a deluge of rain, which never 

 actually fell. The march gave little incident and slight 

 variety of scenery, for there was always on the far side of 

 the valley the same changeless long rock-slope reaching 

 in one smooth widely bending curve from far up the Rabot 

 Glacier to Sassen Bay. On our side, blunt-ended bluffs 

 followed one another, all built alike, with the same regular 

 succession of strata emerging at unvarying distances above 

 one another, and forming a series of shoulders, ledges, and 

 knees. Yet as one looked down the Sassendal, this same 

 row of bluffs produced a more striking and less monotonous 

 effect than might be expected, thanks to the valley's wide 



