312 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



seemed as if the light of heaven was shed faintly upon 

 the earth — and under the Pole Star hung a splendid 

 comet like a sword. The whole spectacle of aurora, 

 comet, and starlight was so amazing and so rare that 

 it suggested the fantastic idea that here the earth was 

 symbolised in the skies. To the north, under Corona 

 Borealis, lay the arctic lands where no man may walk, 

 vast and pure in the first grasp of winter. To the 

 south, behind the cloud-pack, was a continent seething 

 with evil passions and filled with the din of war. . . . 

 Much as we longed for home, I think that we were both 

 sorry that the voyage was over. To-morrow we should 

 reach Europe again, and what news should we hear ? 



At noon we sighted land, and presently entered 

 Hammerfest fiord. Its rocky islands and capes were 

 dimmed with snow. Sometimes the clouds drooped 

 until their driving skirts hung like a curtain in front 

 of the cliffs ; and at other times they parted to show 

 fierce headlands that butted into the surf Once or 

 twice a gleam of sunshine burst upon tiers of snow- 

 mountains. It was very beautiful, and the scenery 

 seemed perhaps even more than usually overwhelming 

 and grand after the infinite blankness of the tundra. 



Hammerfest itself lay in the midst of these sea- 

 mountains. Steep cliffs rose up behind it, and the 

 grey houses harmonised so closely with the grey rock 

 around that the town was almost invisible at first sight, 

 and even afterwards, one was constantly realising odd 

 little outcrops of buildings that had been overlooked 

 before. Part of Hammerfest was burnt down about 



