SOVETSKIY SOYUZ
lit
I saw that we had passed up6n a new belt of ice that was
obviously unsafe. To the righl~ and left and front was one
great expanse of snow-flowered ice. The nearest solid
floe was a mere lump， which stood like an island in the
white level. To turn was impossible: we had to keep up
our gait. We urged on the dogs with whip and voice， the
ice rolling like leather beneath the sledge-runners: it was
more than a mile to the lump of solid ice. Fear gave to the
poor beasts their utmost speed， and our voices were soon
hushed to silence.
The suspense， unrelieved by action or effort， was intol-
erable: we knew that there was no remedy but to reach
the floe， and that every thing depended upon our dogs，
and our dogs alone. A moment s check would plunge the
whole concern into the rapid tideway: no presence of
mind or resource bodily or mental could avail us. The
seals were looking at us with that strange curiosity
which seems to be their characteristic expression: we
must have passed some fifty of them， breast-high out of
water， mocking us by their self-complacence.
This desperate race against fate could not last: the roll-
ing of the tough salt-water ice terrified our dogs; and
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