ACROSS MELTING ICE TO SUMMER VALLEY 



out shady places in order not to suffer too much from 

 the heat. 



In strange contrast to this teeming summer is the Polar Sea 

 with its thawing, whitish-grey ice stretching northward as tar 

 as the eye can reach. 



Snorre mentions somewhere in " Hejmskringla " that 

 Hakon Jarl, during his visit to Harald Gormson, the King of 

 the Danes, whilst a fugitive from Gunhild's sons, had so much 

 to think about through the winter that he took to his bed. He 

 often lay awake, and ate and drank only sufficient to keep up 

 the strength of his body. 



I am on the point of sharing his fate ; I have serious prob- 

 lems to consider, and although conditions do not permit me to 

 go to bed to seek the perfect quietness in which the tangled 

 skein may be unravelled, I fully understand the old Viking and 

 his eccentric behaviour. I often lie awake during this period 

 while the others sleep, and it appears to me that one is never 

 nearer to the " pink dawn of decision " than when, with one's 

 body at rest in the sleeping-bag, one's brain is working. Un- 

 deniably at this time there is plenty of food for thought for one 

 upon whom rests decision and responsibility. 



The bad going of melting ice and water through which we 

 must force our way leads naturally to considerations of the 

 practicability of a summering in this valley where, so far, game 

 seems to abound. 



My comrades have repeatedly asked me if I did not consider 

 it wisest to break the journey for the time being, and continue 

 later on when the air was cold enough to freeze the water on the 

 ice. But I have postponed my decision and maintained that 

 we ought to continue so long as we make any advance on even 

 the most modest daily journey. 



During the days we have spent here I have thoroughly con- 

 sidered the question and made my decision. 



We must continue, and in spite of the demoralizing state of 

 the ground we must make all efforts to reach a point of access 



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