io8 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



and Lusitania. To approach the animals was 

 easy. Similar success attended an expedition 

 which we made a few days later to the Giers 

 Valley, which lies south of the ice fjord. 

 Certainly, this latter hunting-ground was not 

 easy of access. We had to wade a river's 

 swampy delta and cross a torrent whose water 

 rose to our shoulders. Recamier, indeed, slipped 

 and vanished completely beneath the surface for 

 a moment. Having once attained the valley, 

 however, I had no difficulty in killing the five 

 or six reindeer whose horns and flesh were 

 desirable. Many herds were to be seen on the 

 mountain side, and when I fired, several reindeer 

 came near, curiously seeking to learn the cause 

 of the noise. The hardest part of the expedition 

 was the return, when we were heavy laden with 

 the fresh meat, which we carried in the animals' 

 skins after a fashion I had seen practised in 

 Africa. To avoid the swift-running torrent which 

 we had been compelled to cross in setting out, we 

 descended the valley, and stumbled into a bog. 

 It was one of those filthy marshes so numerous 

 in the Arctic and Scotland. At each step we 

 sank to the knees or deeper ; the men lost their 

 boots, several of us fell, and altogether we 

 presented a ludicrous sight after that long 

 struggle through the mud. Recamier told me 



