TRAPPERS 29 



often encountered, and is only to be seen where 

 there is almost a complete absence of animal 

 life. We found traces of hares, reindeer and 

 musk-bulls, none of which, however, was 

 fresh. 



Entering a valley which enabled us to scale 

 the side of the mountain forming Cape Hold 

 With Hope, we saw before us nothing but 

 grey heaps of rubbish quite bare of vegetation. 

 Manifestly it was quite useless to continue this 

 fatiguing climb, so we returned on board. 



The mist, which had hidden the earth from 

 us during the morning, had disappeared ; the 

 sky was radiant, and after having passed 

 between two stranded icebergs, we swung clear 

 of land ice at six o'clock and continued coasting. 

 That was a dream passage ! The evening was 

 beautiful beyond conception ; the sky very 

 clear. What clouds there were, lent just 

 sufficient light and shadow to render mysterious 

 the mountains before us. The channel ahead 

 seemed like an inland sea. To the larboard 

 was the land with its ice fringe, while to the 

 starboard a calm blue sea spread before us, 

 its surface broken by a few icebergs and several 

 spacious floes. Between us and the land were 

 four or five large icebergs, which, from a distance, 

 resembled towering mountains. In reality they 



