178 NEW LAND. 



It was so gloomy down there among the dark shadows thrown 

 by the walls of rock that I soon had to take off my snow-goggles. 

 The snow was deep, too, and lay as it had fallen, untouched and 

 unaffected by the wind. Mile after mile I followed the valley, 

 which did not change in appearance until I reached a spot where 

 a canon from the east opened into it. After that it widened con- 

 siderably, becoming broader and broader, and the sides less and 

 less abrupt, with hare-tracks innumerable on them. Compared 

 with this, what I had hitherto seen in this way was nothing. The 

 snow was almost trodden hard by their pads. 



It was time to stop now if I wished to get back to camp at a 

 reasonable hour, but just to gain some idea of what there was 

 northward, I went a little way up the east side of the mountains. 

 There was little snow on the slopes, and the herbage appeared 

 to be very luxuriant ; wherever I turned I saw vigorous vegetation. 

 The view, however, was not much to boast of, for to the north, 

 which was the direction I wanted, it was entirely cut off by the 

 shoulder of a mountain. 



While I was standing up there looking round me, a herd of 

 polar cattle came slowly grazing upwards in my direction. I had 

 no wish to frighten the peaceable animals, and hid myself behind 

 a stone. There were eleven animals in the herd, the greater 

 number being cows, as far as I could see. 



I had left my ' ski ' behind me at the bottom of the valley 

 before striking up the slopes, somewhat obliquely towards the 

 north. On my downward way I found it easier to take a straight 

 line to the bottom of the valley, and then follow it to the place 

 where I had left my 'ski.' 



As I was walking slowly down the slopes I saw a score or so 

 of hares sitting nibbling the grass on a little stony hill. I made my 

 way very slowly down towards them, just to see how near they 

 would let rne come. They soon caught sight of me, and slowly 

 collected. At last they became an unbroken white mass at 

 the bottom of the hill, where they arranged themselves with 

 their heads inwards and their tails out. There were so many of 

 them that there were several rings, one within the other, and 

 it was a life-and-death matter to be in the inmost ring at least, 



