A DANGEROUS DESCENT.--HOW TO DESCEND THE MOUNTAINS.--THE MOST PERILOUS
PORTION OF THE JOURNEY.--EXHAUSTION OF THE REINDEER.--ALL SAFE AT
THE BOTTOM.--ARRIVAL AT THE SHORE OF THE ARCTIC SEA.
As we were ready to start, John said to me: "Paulus, we are soon to come
to the most dangerous part of the journey; we are to descend the western
slopes of the mountains, which at times are very abrupt, to the sea. We
will go over mountain tops and descend their steep declivities. We shall
have to drive twice along the sides of deep ravines; all that are here
are going together, so that we may help each other. Get into your sleigh
and follow us closely. I will lead, and my brother will be behind you."
We set forth, and soon afterwards I noticed that our reindeer went much
faster than at the start. I knew by this that we were approaching the
slope of a mountain. I was right. Next we came to the brink of a hill,
and descended with a rapidity of at least twenty-five miles an hour. The
animals simply flew.
When my reindeer reached the bottom of the hill he made the usual sudden
curve to the left to keep the sleigh, which had a tremendous momentum,
from striking against his legs. I had prepared myself for the sudden
motion; I had been there before! I bent my body almost out of the sleigh
in the opposite direction, and succeeded in keeping in. It was a fine
sight to see sleigh after sleigh coming down the hill, but no man
followed exactly in the track of the others, so that in case of accident
the one behind would not pitch headlong into the sleigh ahead.
I thought this was lots of fun. But ascending the hill on the opposite
side was no fun at all. It was indeed hard work for the reindeer and for
the men. The snow had drifted on one side of the hill and was very deep,
and in many places very soft. The poor reindeer spread their hoofs as
wide as they could, so as not to sink too deeply. But in many places it
was of no avail; they would sink to their flanks and even deeper; but it
was wonderful to see how quickly they sprang out.
We should never have been able to ascend the hill without going in
zigzag. We had often to get out of our sleighs and take to our skees.
One Finn lent me a pair of them that were much shorter than mine, to
ascend the hills. I should never have been able to do it had I not
followed the track of those ahead. Though it was 43 degrees below zero,
I was in a profuse perspiration.
[Illustration: "Once in a while I gave a look towards the ugly
precipice."]
At times the poor reindeer panted; their tongues protruded. They would
fall down on their backs, breathing heavily. My reindeer was so
exhausted and breathed so hard, with protruding tongue and mouth wide
open, that I thought he was going to die. "Don't be afraid," said
John to me with a smile, as he saw my anxious face, "reindeer often act
like this when they are exhausted; yours will soon be all right."
John was not mistaken.
It was wonderful how quickly they all recovered, and after eating plenty
of snow they went on as if nothing had happened to them, until they
again became exhausted and powerless. When we reached the top of a
mountain, we waited for those of our party that lagged behind. I said to
John, "I hope we have not many more of these hills to ascend." "We have
none so steep; but, Paulus, now we have come to the most dangerous part
of our whole journey; we are going to run along the brink of one of the
ravines of which I spoke to you. Look ahead," said he, pointing to the
deep ravine.
When all the men of our party had arrived at the top of the hill, every
one began to make careful preparations for the descent, and I watched
with great earnestness what was done. Once in a while I gave a look
towards the ugly precipice. I did not like the sight a bit. The men were
anxious, and showed this in the care and pains they took in testing
every plaited leather cord, and those were especially strong that were
to be used for such an emergency. They knew how dangerous was the ride
and that no cord must snap.
A number of sleighs were lashed with mine by a very strong plaited
leather cord. When John was through he said to me: "This cord cannot
break."
Behind each sleigh a reindeer was fastened, the cord being attached at
the base of his horns. John said to me: "Reindeer cannot bear to be
pulled quickly, and make every effort to disengage themselves, and by
doing so act as a drag." All the sleighs had been lashed together by
fours, sixes, eights, or tens. We had plenty of spare reindeer with us,
and at the end of each set of sleighs two or three reindeer were made
fast to the last one. A man was in the front sleigh of the set to lead,
and another man in the last one. John was to lead the set in which I
was, and his brother was to be in the last. As usual each man rode his
sleigh with his legs outside, turned back somewhat, or reversed, with
the top of his shoes touching the snow, the feet to act as rudder.
When I did the same a great cry went up. I heard, "No! No! Paulus, your
legs will surely be broken; put them inside your sleigh, as you have
always done!" and before I could say a word in reply John and a Finn
were by me, each taking one of my legs and putting it inside.
A short time was to elapse between the start of each set of sleighs, so
that there would be no chance of their coming in contact. The signal was
given, and one set after another started with great speed. It was one of
the grandest and most dangerous sights I had ever seen, but the Lapps
and Finns were accustomed to this, for they generally went twice every
winter to the Arctic Sea with their produce for sale.
Then my turn came. John started and off we went.
As the sleighs swerved in the descent the tension was very great. I said
to myself, "If the cord that keeps our sleighs together breaks we shall
be pitched far below and be dashed against the rocks with incredible
force."
In the mean time every reindeer was holding back with all his power,
making efforts to disengage himself, and by doing this acted as a brake
on the sleighs in front. If they had not done so the descent would have
been impossible.
What speed! I had never seen anything like this descent before. Here was
a terrifying precipice, the sloping rocks leading towards the chasm. I
was afraid the reindeer would miss their footing. I hoped that no bare
ice would be met. At any moment we might have been thrown out headlong.
After we reached the dale, which closed abruptly at the head of the
ravine, I was breathless from excitement. I had just ended one of two of
the most exciting rides I had ever taken. We waited for those that were
behind, and when they had arrived we rested for a while.
I asked John what would have happened if one of the cords had snapped.
He did not answer my question, but simply looked at me with a serious
expression. I knew what it would have meant. Death!
Further on we had another descent of the same character, but not so
dangerous.
We were all glad when we reached the station of refuge; we were so tired
from the excitement of the day.
We had crossed the backbone of the mountain, and had come down the
western slope. Each stream now flowed to the Arctic Sea.
The next day we continued the descent. The day before we had come to the
zone where the juniper grew; to-day we passed the birch. Then came the
fir trees. Darkness overtook us, and I could not make out what sort of
land it was, but soon we came to the house of a fisherman, where we all
spent the night.
When I awoke in the morning and looked out I found that I was at the
bottom of a great chasm with towering mountains on each side. I had
never seen the like. It seemed to me that I had come to a world unknown
before. Looking towards the west I saw a long dark green line of water,
sunk deeply into the ragged and precipitous mountains. I had come to the
Ulf Fjord. The water was the Arctic Sea. I was on the shores of grand
old Norway.
The fjord was frozen at its inner extremity for about one mile with
thick solid ice. At the inner end of every fjord there is a river,
flowing through a valley, which is the continuation of the fjord;
consequently the water is only brackish and freezes more easily than
salt water. Further on the fjord is free of ice, for in this part of the
world, though so far north, the sea is made warm by the Gulf Stream, the
very same Gulf Stream that starts from West Africa and flows westward to
the coast of Brazil, then branches off northward and runs close to our
American shores. Without the Gulf Stream this part of Norway would be a
land of ice, just as the land of North-west America is, in the same
latitude.
I remembered that I had sailed over the Gulf Stream waters near the
African coast, and it had come to meet the same stream again on that
far-away northern shore--beyond the Arctic Circle.
My journey over mountains 5,000 feet high, between the 69th and 70th
degrees of north latitude, was over.
I saw a vessel in the distance, and with one of the fishermen living on
this inhospitable shore we went on board. It was good luck the vessel
was going to sail north. The captain was willing to take me with him on
his voyage.
I thanked John and my other travelling companions for the kindness they
had shown me. We parted with great tokens of friendship.