26 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



which necessarily resulted I did not complain. 

 For, apart from the shrill, piercing cries of the 

 never-silent birds, there was a heavy, choking 

 stench which rendered the position quite 

 impossible. 



I left Joe for a few minutes and walked 

 towards ' Saul/ that enormous column of black 

 basalt previously mentioned. I had observed 

 numerous traces of foxes leading in this direction, 

 and I desired to learn where they repaired to, 

 as well as to be alone for a short while. A fairy- 

 land world surrounded me. The snow, which 

 had now been falling for almost two hours, had 

 whitened the summits and besprinkled the 

 sides of the mountains. The midnight sun 

 tinged the distant clouds to faint rose and light 

 green. This effect, unknown to other latitudes, 

 lends that distinctive charm which character- 

 ises the crepuscule in Polar regions. Sombre 

 snow clouds covered the sky's dome. These 

 clouds, disappearing towards the south-west, 

 permitted the summits and white sides of the 

 southern mountains to be seen. 



Alone on that far-extending desert of snow, 

 amid a silence broken only by the rhythmic and 

 hollow roar of the waves beating on the shore, 

 a prayer sprang spontaneously to my lips, ... 

 it ever seems to me that I am nearer God 



