THE ARCTIC AND THE ANTARCTIC 69 



felt its glassy sides with interest ; then I noticed a great 

 cavity between the giant mass and the mountain-ledge. 

 It was indeed a calved glacier, and in its fall it had 

 formed a truly acceptable place of shelter. I cried 

 loudly to my companions, but only the shriek of the 

 blizzard was my reply. I was afraid to leave my 

 ' find ' in case I might not discover it again, so I 

 drew my Colt Navy and fired rapidly into the air. 

 The sound seemed dull and insignificant in the howling 

 storm, but a feeble bark near at hand answered back, 

 and through the mists loomed my doughty henchmen, 

 with their sleigh-ropes over their shoulders and crawling 

 on ' all fours ' beside the dog. They had been forced 

 to divide their weight over the snow in this strange 

 fashion, and even as it was they sank at intervals with 

 many a gasp and splutter into the great white depths. 



' Happy Camp ! ' I cried. 



* This is an end o' us a' noo,' Mac groaned, stagger- 

 ing into the ice cavern. 



' Happy Camp ' was the name derisively applied to 

 the vicinity in the summer. It was then the first halting 

 stage after crossing the pass, and as no timber existed 

 near no fires could be made, and hence the name. 

 But what it was like at this time, in midwinter, is 

 beyond my powers to describe. Imagine a vast, glitter- 

 ing field of ice stretching from the peaks above to the 

 frozen stream below, and a small idea of its miseries 

 as a camping-ground is at once apparent. 



Yet it was a welcome shelter to us at such a time, 

 and we dragged the sleigh into the dark aperture 

 thankfully, and, wrapping ourselves in our blankets, 

 listened to the moaning of the storm outside. At each 

 great rush of wind the walls of our cave would quiver 





