384 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



coast ! Here the trail was fine and hard, the snow packed and 

 the sledge slipping easily over it, instead of clogging and pulling 

 as hard as over the salty ice on the sea. And the trail was even 

 instead of undulating, as over the sea ice, and, last but by no 

 means least, the high, or comparatively high, trees broke the 

 wind and made travelling very pleasant. We went along the 

 river, most of the day at a run, now and then making a portage 

 to shorten the road. The night we spent with a squaw man, 

 who had a sort of road house, but from then and onwards till 

 we came to the south side of Seward Peninsula we stayed in 

 empty cabins along the line of march. 



The travelling was splendid and I enjoyed it very much. We 

 climbed a divide and ran down into the valley beyond, with our 

 eleven dogs running at full speed, one man riding on the sledge, 

 and the other aft in the handle bars, holding on and applying the 

 brake as hard as he could. And down we flew over the three 

 miles of slope, lurching from side to side, rolling like a ship 

 in a heavy sea, barely escaping capsizing, and with the brake 

 ploughing up clouds of fine snow behind. Then we reached 

 the "timber" again; the snow became a little deeper, but we 

 still made good progress ; the dogs followed the trail, and we 

 ran beside the sledge on snow-shoes. The temperature was 

 falling rapidly, and was on the 3ist of December 50 C., 

 but the sky was perfectly clear, the sun was shining brightly, 

 and we hardly felt the cold at all. But nevertheless we were 

 glad to get under shelter towards night and to have the 

 stove lighted. 



On January i a wind sprang up. We could hear the noise 

 it made among the trees, and as soon as we were beyond 

 their protection we felt the full force of it. We had to pass a 

 perfectly unprotected stretch of land with high mountains on 

 either side and at least fifteen miles long. It was known by 

 the unencouraging name of " Death Valley " and was fluly 

 dreaded by all travellers. And no wonder ! The wind blows 

 down the icy slopes of the mountains, raises the fii.e and 

 powdered snow in large clouds, blows it along the surface, 

 and thus shuts everything out of view. There is absolutely 

 no protection against the wind, which may spring up without 

 any warning whatsoever, while the trail is covered up and cannot 

 be distinguished. We had a hard time of it, although the wind 



