MY FIRST SLEDGE JOURNEY 



was going to Hebron, and that Jerry and Julius were 

 to be the drivers. A goodly number of the people 

 made up their minds to go too, and thus it came 

 about that I headed a procession of fourteen sledges. 

 At the outset I knew nothing about it, for we 

 started in pitchy darkness at five o'clock in the 

 morning. Julius called it a fine morning, but as far 

 as I was concerned it might have been midnight. 

 I could see nothing but some black and shadowy 

 shapes moving to and fro in the dim glimmer of a 

 hurricane lamp, and if it had not been for the spice 

 of new excitement I could have wished myself back 

 among the blankets. I was well padded with woollens 

 and sealskins, but the night air nipped my nose a 

 little, and I was glad to keep rubbing it with my 

 sealskin glove. 



Julius, like the experienced driver he is, went 

 through the list of travelling necessaries to make 

 sure that he had got them all aboard, and then told 

 me that he was ready to start. 



Immediately hands were thrust towards me from 

 all parts of the darkness, and I realised that a huge 

 j crowd of people had silently collected to watch us 

 off, and to shake our hands and say " Aksunai." 

 " Aksuse," I shouted ; " taimak (ready), Julius " ; and 

 at the word Jerry sprinted along the track, and 

 the dogs went racing after him. The line tightened 

 with a jerk, and the sledge started with a bound 

 that nearly threw me off. Some good friend seized 

 ithe hurricane lantern, and ran along with it to 

 ishow the way among the boulders, but he had to 

 be nimble to keep out of the way of the boisterous 

 dogs. Sledge dogs, unless they are very tired, are 

 always eager to be on the move ; and ours were in 



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