SINGING US OFF 



of God-speed as we set out on our dangerous 

 errand. 



" Takkotigelarminiptingnut 

 Gude illagilisetok " 



;hey sang, and the charmingly balanced harmony 

 ame fainter and ever fainter as the wind began 

 sigh about us and the snow to beat on our 

 >es. " God be with you till we meet again "and 

 settled confidently to our task. 

 That was the quietest day I have ever spent 

 >n a dog-sledge. There was none of the chatter 

 id banter to which we were used ; there was work 

 for us all to do, and we did it seriously, and all 

 ic time the drivers chewed pensively at their 

 ittered tobacco pipes and said nothing. 



It was slow going until the dogs had got over 

 their feed, but towards evening the pace improved 

 id we made our usual six or seven miles an hour 

 spite of the storm. As often as the dogs got 

 igled up Julius straightened their traces without 

 >pping the sledge. I had heard tell of this feat, 

 id so was very much interested when he set 

 ibout it; but I thought it a very risky piece of 

 acrobatic work. He pulled the team back close 

 to the sledge, so as to get the frozen knot in the 

 hauling line within reach of his teeth. The dogs, 

 of course, thought they were going to be thrashed, 

 and tugged and galloped most frantically, so that 

 the man had hard work to hold them. 



We should have been in a pretty plight if they 

 had got away, for they would have turned in their 

 tracks and gone back to Nain, and we should have 



been left to walk. However, Julius tied the line 



173 



