132 NEW LAND. 



all the most necessary things, and harnessed both the teams to 

 it. We then struck camp, and drove across bare land to the side 

 valley we had discovered, and once more pitched our tent. 



The next day we started off again reconnoitring. The land 

 was bare in every direction, but our experience of the previous day 

 showed us that with light baggage and our strong team we could 

 well push our way across, provided we were not stopped by any 

 new canon. The country appeared to be level enough ; but such 

 canons are very deceptive, and before one knows anything about it 

 one may find one's self standing on the brink of an impassable gulf. 

 Our fears proved to be well founded ; after a short two-hours' 

 march, we were stopped by a new canon, with precipices on each 

 side, four to five hundred feet in height. 



What was to be done ? To the west coast we meant to go, 

 cost what it would but the way ? Suddenly a bit of advice given 

 me by a Lapp, when I was a youngster, crossed my mind. We 

 were out bear-shooting, and. were stopped by a river that was too 

 deep and swift to be waded. I said we must cross it, and asked 

 the Lapp what we had better do. ' Why, go round it,' he 

 answered. I was rather dismayed at first, I must confess ; but 

 I followed his advice, and the manoeuvre was a success. 



We did the same thing now, and marched a good way north- 

 ward along the edge of the precipice. But the country became 

 more and more impracticable, till at last there was nothing for it 

 but to retrace our steps and follow the same canon back, until 

 we discovered that it issued into the canon which had first 

 stopped us, and which was the chief valley. The edge of this we 

 now followed eastward until, wonderful to relate, we succeeded 

 in finding a passage down to the bottom of the valley, west of the 

 gorge which had stopped us before. There was no possibility of 

 getting the sledge, with its load, down here, for it was as much as 

 we could do to get down ourselves without it. 



We descended on to a large expanse of sand, which was so level 

 that we were actually unable to decide in what direction water 

 would run. Beyond the sand was a lake or large tarn, and at the 

 western extremity of the tarn a fine glacier, which closed the 

 valley. We concluded that the river must have its outlet towards 



