Roald Amundsen's the North West Passage; Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Gjoa 1903-1907 Volume 2

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...dogs, and I, one over the other, till we stopped at the bottom of the valley. For the most of the way I had had the dogs and the toboggan on top of me, and was mad at the stupid creatures for having spoilt my slide. I got up and brushed off the snow from myself and saw Mogg, who had found his own way down, standing a little distance off, splitting his sides with laughter. On the summit of the hill, Kappa and Jimmy were screaming with delight. I thought of venting my wrath on the dogs and giving them a good thrashing, but eventually decided to join in the general laughter. The Eskimo, with their heavy toboggan, were wiser than I. They took hold of it on each side and let it down quietly. The little valley led first towards the south-east, then due south, and eventually it led again into the mountains; so it did not extend very far. The sun shone brightly in the mid-day sky right in front of us, showing us the way. By going straight towards it we should pass over the mountains to Porcupine River. In cases of this kind, the Eskimo are invaluable; they at once see, from the general lie of the land in which direction progress will be easiest. This time, however, there was a difference of opinion between Jimmy and Kappa, but Kappa's arguments seemed to be the most convincing and Jimmy at last yielded to them. Later, however, we found that Jimmy was right, though Kappa, of course, would not admit it. It began to be very cold up here in the mountains. We had no thermometer with us, but judging from the drift snow I calculated the temperature to be considerably below--2 2 Fahr. We now started in the early morning when it was dark, the Aurora Borealis every now and then lighting us on our way. I often regretted now that I had not brought my snow...