IN GUSINA CAMP 77 



On the lichened peat the traces of the runners were 

 often quite invisible, but this did not matter as the 

 reindeer's feet had always split the crust a little. By 

 far the worst tracking was over the dry moss of the old 

 bogs. This was so wonderfully elastic that we always 

 lost the track on it and had to cast about and pick it up 

 on the other side. Our own steps in the same way left 

 no impression on the dry moss. 



Well, we stuck to this work for about three hours, 

 until, in short, the track took us back in a ring almost to 

 the Gusina again, when it suddenly turned and went 

 straight off in an easterly direction. The man had gone 

 home — wherever ' home ' was. 



And then I came to the conclusion that I didn't think 

 much of following five reindeer and a sleigh ; and that 

 home was the best place for us also. I learned afterwards 

 that the mysterious hunter was On Tipa. Had we only 

 succeeded in finding him we should have been spared 

 many days of weary walking. But we had not. So 

 there was nothing more to be said, excepting what I 

 uttered at the time, and that was very short. 



At this moment we were on a bit of rising ground, and 

 looking out to sea we saw, apparently in the middle 

 of the ice, a sail. With my glass I made her out to 

 be of a sort of cutter rig. No doubt she was a walrus 

 sloop. 



This time we took a slightly different line to our ford. 

 As we came in sight of a little round lake a snowy owl, 



