But
it is astonishing how soon one gets accustomed to that sort of thing,
and how little he minds it after a while. The warmth of the feet soon
thaws the ice, and then a wet stocking is nearly as warm as a dry one,
except in the wind. During the next day we were passing through a high
rolling country, but with plenty of snow and not bad sledging. We found
the descent of the hills always greater than the ascent, and presumed
that we were approaching the bed of Wager River, as our route crossed
the lower branch of that river, as mapped, well down toward the fork.
The slope of these hills was usually so steep that we had to take the
dogs off the sledges and let them run down upon the lakes by gravity.
This was an exciting but not very dangerous method of travelling. So
rapid would be the descent, that we had all we could do to hold on to
the sleds trying to retard their progress. Some would be taking steps
ten feet long, while others, with their feet planted straight out
before them, were ploughing up the snow and scattering it in every
direction. The dogs followed behind the sleds, running and barking,
some of them, entangled in their harness, rolling over and dragged
along by their swifter comrades. We were gratified to see plenty of
reindeer nearly every day, as it relieved our anxiety concerning our
commissariat.
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