VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 169 



the slope on the other side of the valley. But no reindeer 

 came, and soon we were having a struggle to keep our 

 eyes open and our heads up — we had not had much sleep 

 the last few days. They vmst be coming ! We shook 

 ourselves awake, and gave another look along the bank, 

 till again the eyes softly closed and the heads began to 

 nod, while the chill wind blew through our wet clothes, 

 and I shivered with cold. This sort of thin^ went on for 

 an hour or two, until the sport began to pall on me, and 

 I scrambled from my shelter along towards Sverdrup, 

 who was enjoying it about as much as I was. We 

 climbed the slope on the other side of the valley, and 

 were hardly at the top before we saw the horns of six 

 splendid reindeer on a height in front of us. They were 

 restless, scenting westward, trotting round in a circle, 

 and then sniffing again. They could not have noticed 

 us as yet, as the wind was blowing at right angles to the 

 line between them and us. We stood a lone time 

 watching their manoeuvres, and waiting their choice of 

 a direction, but they had apparently great difficulty in 

 making it. At last off they swung south and east, and 

 off we went southeast as hard as we could 2:0, to set 

 across their course before they got scent of us. Sverdrup 

 had got well ahead, and I saw him rushing across a fiat 

 piece of ground : presently he would be at the right place 

 to meet them. I stopped, to be in readiness to cut them 

 off on the other side if they should face about and make 

 off northward again. There were six splendid animals, 



