190 SPITSBERGEN chap, xm 



how long it took to cross, but all agreed in estimating the 

 time at about forty years, more or less. 



I now relieved Garwood of the reins he had patiently 

 and skilfully handled for so many days. My plane-table 

 could be packed on the sledge. There was no surveying 

 required. So Garwood and Gregory went ahead, when the 

 loads had been rearranged, each armed with a geological 

 hammer and marking their way with broken stones. I had 

 a very soft billet, and won the credit of self-denial at the 

 cheapest possible rate, for it was soon apparent that Bergen 

 knew the way as well as I did, and could give me points in 

 the matter of selecting the route in detail, so as to avoid 

 banging the sledge against big rocks. Moreover, he was in 

 a hurry to get down, and presently, to my astonishment, 

 broke into a pathetic little trot over a flat place, as who 

 should say, " Let us hurry up to quit this miserable place." 

 Thus we made famous progress and left the fog behind, 

 whilst the clouds soon lifted, and only remained on the crest 

 of the hills at their normal roof-level of about 1500 feet. On 

 we plodded through a known region. The valley had seemed 

 a picture of desolation on our upward way ; now it appeared 

 fertile, kindly, and almost serene. The Sassendal was in 

 sight, or rather the hills along its north bank, and with every 

 hour the distance separating us from it visibly diminished. 

 Yet the ponies showed no desire to halt. They kept pegging 

 away like my old Balti coolies down the Baltoro Glacier, 

 or Gregory's Zanzibaris when they had set foot on the 

 Uganda road. Fatigue was simply not an element in the 

 situation. All forgot to be tired. 



Only when we emerged on the gentle slopes of the 

 Sassendal did the question of camping arise. There were 

 two conditions to be satisfied — a dry spot for the tents, and 

 good grazing for the beasts. Bergen took the problem in 

 hand and headed for a likely place, but neither he nor we 



