128 
LEAPING A CHASM. 
we were only two men; and, in the event of the ani¬ 
mals failing to leap any of the rapidly-multiplying 
fissures, we could hardly expect to extricate our laden 
sledge. Three times in less than three hours my shaft 
or hinder dogs went in; and John and myself, who had 
been trotting alongside the sledge for sixteen miles, 
were nearly as tired as they were. This state of 
things could not last; and I therefore made for the old 
ice to seaward. 
We were nearing it rapidly, when the dogs failed in 
leaping a chasm that was somewhat wider than the 
others, and the whole concern came down in the water. 
I cut the lines instantly, and, with the aid of my com¬ 
panion, hauled the poor animals out. We owed the 
preservation of the sledge to their admirable docility 
and perseverance. The tin cooking-apparatus and the 
air confined in the India-rubber coverings kept it afloat 
till we could succeed in fastening a couple of seal-skin 
cords to the cross-pieces at the front and back. By 
these John and myself were able to give it an uncertain 
support from the two edges of the opening, till the dogs, 
after many fruitless struggles, carried it forward at last 
upon the ice. 
Although the thermometer was below zero, and in 
our wet state we ran a considerable risk of freezing, 
the urgency of our position left no room for thoughts 
of cold. We started at a run, men and dogs, for the 
solid ice; and by the time we had gained it we were 
steaming in the cold atmosphere like a couple of 
Nootka Sound vapor-baths. 
