BY SLEDGE AND KAYAK 289 



voyage. A highly remarkable convoy we must have been, 



laden as we were with sledges, sacks, guns, and dogs ; a 



tribe of gypsies, Johansen said it was. If any one had 



suddenly come upon us then, he would hardly have known 



what to make of the troupe, and certainly would not have 



taken us for polar explorers. Paddling between the 



sledges and the snow-shoes, which projected far out on 



either side, was not easy work ; but we managed to get 



along, and were soon of the opinion that we should think 



ourselves lucky could we go on like this the whole day, 



instead of hauling and wading through the snow. Our 



kayaks could hardly have been called water-tight, and 



we had recourse to the pumps several times ; but we 



could easily have reconciled ourselves to that, and only 



wished we had more open water to travel over. At last 



we reached the end of the pool; I jumped ashore on the 



edge of the ice, to pull up the kayaks, and suddenly 



heard a great splash beside us. It was a seal which had 



been lying there. Soon afterwards I heard a similar 



splash on the other side, and then for the third time a 



huge head appeared, blowing and swimming backward 



and forward, but, alas! only to dive deep under the t Ige 



of the ice before we had time to get the guns ou ,. It was 



a fine, large blue or bearded seal {Phoca barbata). 



" We were quite sure that it had disappeared for good, 



but no sooner had I got one of the sledges half-way up 



the side than the immense head came up again close 



beside the kayaks, blowing and repeating the same ma- 

 il.— 19 



