THE JOURNEY SOUTHWARD 529 



made my way in towards land among the numerous 

 hummocks and inequalities. Suddenly I thought I heard 

 a shout from a human voice, a strange voice, the first 

 for three years. How my heart beat and the blood rush- 

 ed to my brain as I ran up on to a hummock and 

 hallooed with all the strength of my lungs! Behind 

 that one human voice in the midst of the icy desert — 

 this one message from life — stood home and she who 

 was waiting there ; and I saw nothing else as I made 

 my way between bergs and ice - ridges. Soon I heard 

 another shout, and saw, too, from an ice-ridge, a dark form 

 movino- amono; the hummocks farther in. It was a doo- • 

 but farther off came another figure, and that was a man. 

 Who was it? Was it Jackson, or one of his companions, 

 or was it perhaps a fellow-countryman } W' e approached 

 one another quickly. I waved my hat ; he did the same. 

 I heard him speak to the dog, and I listened. It was 

 English, and as I drew nearer I thought I recognized Mr. 

 Jackson, whom I remembered once to have seen. 



" I raised my hat; we extended a hand to one another, 

 with a hearty ' How do you do T Above us a roof of 

 mist shutting out the world around, beneath our feet the 

 rugged, packed drift-ice, and in the background a glimpse 

 of the land, all ice, Qrlacier, and mist. On one side the 

 civilized European in an English check suit and high 

 rubber water-boots, well shaved, well groomed, bringing 

 with him a perfume of scented soap, perceptible to the 



wild man's sharpened senses ; on the other side the wild 

 n.-34 



