RE-CROSSING 151 



They were in a great hurry to be off; but I had made 

 up my mind that we had earned some food and rest. 

 And when they said there was nothing there for the 

 reindeer to eat I bid them turn the reindeer loose, who 

 soon would find it. So, in spite of their grumbling, they 

 tied up five reindeer for the morrow's adliurs, and set 

 the others free. 



The excitement when we produced our English axe 

 from its hole in the bank was beyond all holding. They 

 all wanted it — ' my axe now, yes yes, very good, make 

 sleigh very good — not a Kolguev axe— Kolguev axe no 

 good— how much skins for it ? ' and so on, and so on. 

 But I put them off. Only Shabla, the dirty driver, 

 watched the axe with an eye so cunning, I mistrusted 

 him much, and you may be sure watched him too. We 

 had two big lumps of salt pork from the ship, and on 

 this we fed them, boiling it in our only pot. For we 

 had made a splendid fire from the drift-wood lying 

 round. 



They did not eat much of this pork ; had it been goose 

 or reindeer they would have eaten four times as much. 

 They could not make out what it was, and I did not 

 remember the Russian word for it, though ' okorok ' I 

 knew was ham; so I told them it was 'okorok.' But 

 this did not help, so pencil and pantomine as usual were 

 my resort. I drew them a pig, but they took it for 

 some form of seal, and said its legs were wrongly done. 

 This put me to squeaking and grunting on all-fours, at 



