GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



A seal pops his head up some distance out in the fjord, look- 

 ing curiously after the boats, which speed away without paying 

 any attention to it. For a long time we can hear the firm 

 strokes of the oars ; laughter mingles with shouts from those 

 who drive the dogs along the steep, sloping mountain-sides. 

 Then they disappear behind a headland and everything around 

 us is quiet. 



The fjord wind, which has blown freshly from the glacier 

 through the day, calms down with the sinking of the sun ; dusk 

 throws its sharp shadows across the mountain, whilst the ocean 

 gleams with a silvery sheen towards the western horizon, 

 between ice-mountains and drifting floes. 



A sweet and rare feeling of peace settled on our minds ; for 

 the first time for long we can go to rest with a roof over our 

 heads, without needing to trouble about the morrow. 



258 



