THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY 



of the difficulties we had made 22 kilometres forward, half the 

 distance having been traversed twice. 



Sleep is sweet as honey and milk after such a day ! 



Seven hours later we were again in harness. We were in 

 for a race where the lives of the dogs were the stake, for we 

 had only two feeds left and the country south of Humboldt's 

 Glacier was yet 350 kilometres away. 



Seven hundred metres above sea-level with the inland-ice on 

 all sides, and notwithstanding this we have 3° of warmth (Cent.) 

 at three o'clock in the afternoon ! Some time elapsed in 

 getting properly going again, for tender were our feet after the 

 many small, sharp stones, and stiff were shoulders, neck, and 

 back after the heavy burdens. But I must admit that every 

 man accepts it all cheerfully, and we try to stimulate each other 

 by poking fun at the miserable appearance which many of us 

 present. There is nothing for it but sucking nourishment from 

 one's humour during these days ; home-sickness turns us into 

 giants forcing our way through all difficulties, and we do 

 manage surprisingly well. On our meagre rations we toil like 

 Icelandic ponies, or perhaps rather like hunger-hardened 

 coolies. For it cannot be denied that we get hungry all too 

 soon after the meals which we now eat with an almost religious 

 solemnity. 



We must try to get out of this desert as soon as possible. A 

 depressing and barren land where the deep silence is unbroken 

 even by the little chirp of a bird or the low murmur of a brook ; 

 a remarkable piece of snow and ice-bare karst which might be 

 moved into the midst of the Libyan Desert without causing a 

 break in the unity of the landscape. 



We have almost reached the edge of the inland-ice ; in a 

 couple of hours this toilsome transport will be a mere memory, 

 and then at length the journey across the next and last big 

 desert will commence in earnest. 



217 



