 Section 26 of the South Pole. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recorded by Ken Campbell. The South Pole by Roald Amundsen. Translation by A.G. Carter. Section 26, Volume 2, Chapter 12. At the Pole. In latitude 87 degrees south, according to Dead Reckoning, we saw the last of the land to the northeast. The atmosphere was then apparently as clear as could be, and we felt certain that our view covered all the land there was to be seen from that spot. We were deceived again on this occasion, as we'll be seen later. Our distance that day, December 4th, was close upon 25 miles, height above sea, 10,100 feet. The weather did not continue fine for long. On the day, December 5th, there was a gale from the north, and once more the whole plain was a mass of drifting snow. In addition to this, there was thick falling snow, which blinded us and made things worse. But a feeling of security had come over us and helped us to advance rapidly and without hesitation, although we could see nothing. That day we encountered new surface conditions, big hard snow waves, sastrugy. They were anything but pleasant to work among, especially when one could not see them. There was of no use for us forerunners to think of going in advance under these circumstances, as it was impossible to keep on one's feet. Three or four paces was often the most we managed to do before falling down. The sastrugy were very high and often abrupt. If one came upon them unexpectedly, one required to be more than an acrobat to keep on one's feet. The plan we found worked best in these conditions was to let Hanson's dog go first. This was an unpleasant job for Hanson and for his dogs, too, but it succeeded and succeeded well. And upset here and there was, of course, unavoidable, but with a little patience the sledge always write it again. The drivers had as much as they could do to support their sledges among these sastrugy, but while supporting the sledges, they had at the same time a support for themselves. It was worse for us who had no sledges. But by keeping in the wake of them we could see where the irregularities lay and thus got over them. Hanson deserves a special word of praise for his driving on this surface in such weather. It is a difficult matter to drive Eskimo dogs forward when they cannot see, but Hanson managed it well, both getting the dogs on and steering his course by compass. One would not think it possible to keep an approximate right course when the uneven ground gives such violent shocks that the needle flies several times around the compass and is no sooner still again than it recommences the same dance. But when at last we got an observation, it turned out that Hanson had steered to a hair for the observation and dead reckoning agreed to a mile. In spite of all hindrances and of being able to see nothing, the sledge meter showed nearly 25 miles. The hypsometer showed 11,070 feet above the sea. We had therefore reached a greater altitude than the butchers. December 6 brought the same weather. Thick snow, sky and plain all-one. Nothing to be seen. Nevertheless we made splendid progress. The sastrugy gradually became leveled out until the surface was perfectly smooth. It was a relief to have even ground to go upon once more. These irregularities that one was constantly falling over were a nuisance. If we had met with them in our usual surroundings it would not have mattered so much. But up here on the high ground where we had to stand and gasp for every breath every time we rolled over it was certainly not pleasant. That day we passed 88 degrees south and camped in 88 degrees 9 minutes south. A great surprise awaited us in the tent that evening. I expected to find as on the previous evening that the boiling point had fallen somewhat. In other words, that it would show a continued rise of the ground. But to our astonishment this was not so. The water boiled at exactly the same temperature as on the preceding day. I tried it several times to convince myself that there was nothing wrong each time with the same result. There was great rejoicing among us all when I was able to announce that we had arrived on top of the plateau. December 7th began like the 6th with absolutely thick weather. But as they say you never know what the day is like before sunset. Possibly I might have chosen a better expression than this last. One more in agreement with the natural conditions. But I'll let it stand. Though for several weeks now the sun had not set and this will not be so critical as to reproach me with an accuracy. With a light wind from the northeast we now went southward at a good speed over the perfectly level plain with excellent going. The uphill work had taken it out of our dogs, though not to any serious extent. They had turned greedy. There's no denying that, and the half kilo of pemmican they got each day was not enough to fill their stomachs. And late they were looking for something, no matter what to devour. To begin with they contented themselves with such loose objects as ski bindings, whips, boots, and the like. But as we came to know their proclivities we took such care of everything that they found no extra meals lying about. But that was not the end of the matter. They then went for the fixed lashings of the sledges, and if we had allowed it they would very quickly had resolved the various sledges into the component parts. But we found a way of stopping that. Every evening on halting the sledges they were buried in the snow so as to hide all the lashings. That was successful. Curiously enough they never tried to force the snow rampart. I may mention as a curious thing that these ravenous animals that devoured everything they came across even to the ebonite points of our ski sticks never made any attempt to break into the provisioned cases. They lay there and went about among the sledges with their nose just on the level of the split cases, seeing and senting the pemicin, without once making a sign of taking any. But if one raised the lid they were not long in showing themselves. Then they all came in a great hurry and flocked about the sledges in hope of getting a little bit extra. I am at a loss to explain this behavior, but my wishfulness was not at the root of it. I am tolerably certain. During the forenoon the thick gray curtain of cloud began to grow thinner on the horizon, and for the first time for three days we could see a few miles about us. The feeling was something like that one has on waking from a good nap, rubbing one's eyes and looking around. We'd become so accustomed to the great twilight that this positively dazzled us. Meanwhile the upper layer of air seemed obstinately to remain the same and to be doing its best to prevent the sun from showing itself. We badly wanted to get a meridian altitude so that we could determine our latitude. Since 86 degrees, 47 minutes south, we had no observation, and it was not easy to say when we should get one. Hither too the weather conditions on the high ground had not been particularly favorable. Although the prospects were not very promising, we halted at 11 a.m. and made ready to catch the sun if it should be kind enough to look out. Hansel and Wisting used one sextant and artificial horizon. Hansen and I, the other set. I don't know that I had ever stood and absolutely pulled at the sun to get it out as much as I did that time. If we got an observation here which agreed with our reckoning, then it would be possible, if the worst came to the worst, to go to the pole on dead reckoning. But if we got none, now, it was a question whether our claim to the pole would be admitted on the dead reckoning we should be able to produce. Whether my pulling helped or not, it is certain that the sun appeared. It was not very brilliant to begin with, but practice as we now were in availing ourselves to even the poorest chances, it was good enough. Down it came, it was checked by all in the altitude written down. The curtain of cloud was rent more and more, and before we had finished our work, that is to say, caught the sun at its highest and convinced ourselves that it was descending again, it was shining in all its glory. We had put away our instruments and were sitting on the sledges engaged in the calculations. I can safely say that we were excited. What would the result be after marching blindly for so long over such impossible ground as we had been doing? We added and subtracted, and at last there was the result. We looked at each other in sheer incredulity. The result was as astonishing as the most consummate conjuring trick, 88 degrees 16 minutes south, precisely to the minute the same as our reckoning, 88 degrees 16 minutes south. If we were forced to go to the pole on dead reckoning, then surely the most exacting would admit our right to do so. We put away our observation books, one or two biscuits, and one at it again. We had a great piece of work before us that day, nothing less than carrying our flag farther south and the foot of man had trod. We had our silk flag ready. It was made fast to two ski sticks and laid on Hanson's sledge. I had given him orders that as soon as we had covered the distance to 88 degrees south, which was Shackleton's farthest south, the flag was to be hoisted on the sledge. It was my turn as the forerunner, and I pushed on. There was no longer any difficulty in holding one's course. I had the grandest cloud formations to steer by, and everything now went like a machine. First came the forerunner, for the time being, then Hanson and Wisting, and finally Bealland. The forerunner, who was not on duty, went where he liked. As a rule he accompanied one or other of the sledges. I had long ago fallen into a reverie, far removed from the scene in which I was moving. What I thought about, I do not remember now, but I was so preoccupied that I had entirely forgotten my surroundings. Then suddenly I was roused from my dreaming by a jubilant shout, followed by ringing cheers. I turned around quickly to discover the reason for this unwanted occurrence, and stood speechless and overcome. I find it impossible to express the feelings that possessed me at this moment. All the sledges had stopped, and from the foremost of them, the Norwegian flag was flying. It shook itself out, waved, and flapped so that the silk rustled. It looked wonderfully well in the pure, clean, and shining white surroundings. Eighty-eight degrees, twenty-three minutes was passed. We were farther south than any human being had been. No other moment of the whole trip affected me like this. The tears forced their ways to my eyes, but no effort of will could keep them back. It was the flag yonder that conquered me and my will. Luckily I was some way in advance of the others, so that I had time to pull myself together and master my feelings before reaching my comrades. We all shook hands with mutual congratulations. We had won our way far by holding together, and we would go farther yet to the end. We did not pass that spot without according the highest tribute of admiration to the man who, together with his gallant companions, had planted his country's flag so infinitely nearer to the pole than any of his precursors. Sir Ernest Shackleton's name will always be written in the annals of Antarctic exploration in letters of fire. Pluck and grit can work wonders, and I know of no better example of this than what that man has accomplished. The cameras, of course, came out and we got an excellent photograph of the scene which none of us will ever forget. We went a couple miles more to 88 degrees 25 minutes, then camped. The weather had improved and kept on improving all the time. It was now almost perfectly calm, radiantly clear and under the circumstances quite summer-like, minus .4 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside the tent it was quite sultry. This was more than we had expected. After much consideration and discussion we had come to the conclusion that we ought to lay down a depot, the last one at this spot. The advantages of lightening our sledges were so great that we should have to risk it. Nor would there be any great risk attached to it after all since we should adopt a system of marks that would lead even a blind man back to the place. We had determined to mark it not only at right angles to our course, that is from east to west, but by snow beacons at every two geographical miles to the south. We stayed here on the following day to arrange this depot. Hanson's dogs were really marvellous, all of them. Nothing seemed to have any effect on them. They had grown rather thinner, of course, but they were still as strong as ever. It was therefore decided not to lighten Hanson's sledge, but only the two others, both Wistings and Ballon's teams had suffered, especially the ladders. The reduction in weight that was affected was considerable, nearly 110 pounds on each of the two sledges. There was thus about 220 pounds in the depot. The snow here was ill adapted for building, but we put up quite a respectable monument all the same. It was dogs, pemmican, and biscuits that we left behind. We carried with us on the sledges provisions for about a month. If, therefore, contrary to expectation, we should be so unlucky as to miss the depot, we should nevertheless be fairly sure of reaching our depot at 86 degrees 21 minutes before the supplies ran short. The cross markings on the depot were done with 60 splinters of black packing case on each side, with 100 paces between each. Every other one had a shred of black cloth on the top. The splinters on the east side were all marked, so that on seeing them, we should know instantly that we were to the east of the depot. Those on the west had no marks. The warmth of the past few days seemed to have matured our frost sores, and we presented an awful appearance. It was wisting Hanson and I who suffered the worst damage in the last southeast blizzard. The left side of our faces was one massive sore bathed in matter and serum. We looked like the worst types of tramps and ruffians and would probably not have been recognized by our nearest relations. These sores were a great trouble to us during the latter part of the journey. The lightest gust of wind produced a sensation as if one's face were being cut backwards and forwards with a blunt knife. It lasted a long time, too. I can remember Hanson removing his last scab when we were coming into Hobart three months later. We were very lucky in the weather during this depot work. The sun came out all at once and we had an excellent opportunity of taking some good azimuth observations, the last of any use that we got on the journey. December 9th arrived with the same fine weather and sunshine. True, we felt our frost sores rather sharply that day with minus 18.4 degrees Fahrenheit and little breeze dead against us, but that could not be helped. We had once began to put up beacons, a work which was continued with great regularity right up to the pole. These beacons were not so big as those we had built down on the barrier. We could see that they would be quite large enough with a height of about three feet. As it was, very easy to see the slightest irregularities on this perfect flat surface. While thus engaged, we had an opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the nature of the snow. Often, very often indeed, on this part of the plateau, to the south, 88 degrees 25 minutes, we had difficulty in getting snow good enough that is solid enough for cutting blocks. The snow up here seemed to have fallen very quickly and like breezes or calms. We could thrust the tempo, which was six feet long, right down without meeting resistance, which showed that there was no hard layer of snow. The surface was also perfectly level. There was not a sign of sastrugy in any direction. Every step we now took in advance brought us rapidly nearer the goal. We could feel fairly certain of reaching it on the afternoon of the 14th. It was very natural that our conversation should be chiefly concerned with the time of arrival. None of us would admit that he was nervous, but I am inclined to think that we all had a little touch of this malady. What should we see when we get there? A vast, endless plane that no eye had yet seen or no foot had trodden or no, it was an impossibility. With the speed at which we traveled we must reach the goal first. There could be no doubt about it. And yet, and yet, whenever there is a smallest loophole doubt creeps in and gnaws and gnaws and never leaves a poor wretch in peace. What on earth is Eurus senting? It was Bialyn who made this remark on one of the last days when I was going by the side of his sledge and talking with him. And the strange thing is is that he sent it to the south. It can never be. Milus Ring and Suggan showed the same interest in the southerly direction. It was quite extraordinary to see how they raised their heads with every sign of curiosity put their noses to the air and sniffed due south. One would really have thought there was something remarkable to be found there. From 88 degrees 25 minutes south the barometer and the hypsometer indicated slowly but surely that the plateau was beginning to descend towards the other side. This was a pleasant surprise to us. We had thus not only found the summit of the plateau but also the slope down on the far side. This would have a very important bearing for obtaining an idea of the construction of the whole plateau. On December 9th observations in dead reckoning agreed within a mile. The same result was on the 10th. Observation 2 kilometers behind reckoning. The weather and going remained about the same as on the preceding days. Light southeasterly breezed at 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The snow surface was loose but the ski and the sledges glided over it well. On the 11th the same weather conditions temperature minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit observation and reckoning again agreed exactly. Our latitude was 89 degrees 15 minutes south. On the 12th we reached 89 degrees 30 minutes reckoning one kilometer behind observation. Going in surface was as good as ever. The weather splendid calm with sunshine. The noon observation on the 13th gave 89 degrees 37 minutes south. Reckoning 89 degrees 38.5 minutes south. We had halted in the afternoon after going 8 geographical miles and camped in 89 degrees 45 minutes according to reckoning. The weather during the 4 noon had been just as fine as before. In the afternoon we had some snow showers from the southeast. It was like the eve of some great festival that night in the tent. One could feel that a great event was at hand. Our flag was taken out again and lashed to the same two ski sticks as before. Then it was rolled up and laid aside to be ready when the time came. I was awake several times during the night and had the same feeling that I can remember as a little boy on the night before Christmas Eve. An intense expectation of what was going to happen. Otherwise I think we slept just as well that night as any other. On the morning of December 14th the weather was of its finest just as if it had been made for arriving at the pole. I am not quite sure but I believe we dispatched our breakfast rather more quickly than usual and were out of the tent sooner so I must admit that we always accomplished this with all reasonable haste. We went in the usual order the forerunner, Hanson, Wisting, Bialyn and the reserve forerunner. By noon we had reached 89 degrees 53 minutes by dead reckoning and made ready to take the rest in one stage. At 10 am a light breeze had sprung up from the southeast and it had clouded over so that we got no noon altitude. But the clouds were not thick and from time to time we had a glimpse of the sun through them. The going on that day was rather different from what it had been. Sometimes the ski went over it well but others it was pretty bad. We advanced that day in the same mechanical way as before. Not much was said but eyes were used all the more. Hanson's neck grew twice as long as before and is endeavored to see a few inches farther. I'd asked him before we started to spy out ahead for all he was worth and he did so with a vengeance. But however keenly he stared he could not decry anything in the endless flat plain ahead of us. The dogs had dropped their senting and appeared to have lost their interest in the regions about the earth's axis. At three in the afternoon a simultaneous halt rang out from the drivers. They had carefully examined their sledge meters and they all showed the full distance our pole by reckoning. The goal was reached the journey ended. I cannot say, though as I know it would sound much more effective if my life was obtained that would be romancing rather to bare-facedly. I had better be honest and admit straight out that I have never known any man to be placed in such a diametrically opposite position to the goal of his desires as I was at that moment. The regions around the North Pole yes, the North Pole itself had attracted me from childhood and here I was at the South Pole. Can anything be more topsy-turvy? Be imagined? We reckon now that we were at the pole. Of course, every one of us knew that we were not standing on the absolute spot. It would be an impossibility with the time and instruments at our disposal to ascertain the exact spot. But we were so near it that a few miles which possibly separated us from it could not be of the slightest importance. It was our intention to make a circle around this camp radius of twelve and a half miles, twenty kilometers, and to be satisfied with that. After we had halted, we collected and congratulated each other. We had good grounds for mutual respect in what had been achieved and I think that was just the feeling that was expressed in the firm and powerful grasps of the fists that were exchanged. After this we proceeded to the greatest and most solemn act of the whole journey, the planting of our flag. Pride and affection shown in the five pairs of eyes that gazed upon the flag as it unfurled itself with a sharp crack and waved over the pole. I had determined that the act of planning it, the historic event, should be equally divided among us. It was not for one man to do this. It was for all who would stake their lives in the struggle and held together through thick and thin. This was the only way in which I could show my gratitude to my comrades and show it spot. I could see that they understood and accepted it in the spirit in which it was offered. Five weather-beaten frost-bitten fists they were grasped the pole, raised the waving flag in the air and planted it as the first at the geographical south pole. Thus we plant the beloved flag at the south pole and give to the plane on which it lies the name of King Hakon's the seventh's plateau. This moment will certainly be remembered by all of us who stood there. One gets out of the way of protracted ceremonies in those regions. The shorter they are, the better. Every day life began again at once. When we had gotten a tent up, Hanson said about slaughtering Helge and it was hard for him to have to part from his best friend. Helge had been an uncommonly useful and good-natured dog without making any fuss he had pulled from morning to night and it had been a shining example to the team. But during the last week he had quite fallen away and on our arrival at the pole there was only a shadow of the old Helge left. It was only a drag on the others and did absolutely no work. One blow on the skull and Helge had ceased to live. What is death to one is food to another. Is a saying that can scarcely find a better application than these dog meals. Helge was portioned out on the spot and within a couple of hours there was nothing left of him but teeth and the turf at the end of his tail. This was the second of our eighteen dogs that we had lost. The major, one of Wisting's fine dogs left us at eighty-eight degrees twenty-five minutes south and never returned. He was fearfully worn out and must have gone away to die. We now had sixteen dogs left and these were intended to make a living balance sled behind. Of course there was festivity in the tent that evening, not that champion corks were popping and wine flowing. No, we contented ourselves with a little piece of seal meat each and it tasted well and did us good. There was no other sign of festival indoors. Outside we heard the flag flapping in the breeze. Conversation was lightly in the tent of what we had done. Everything we had with us now had to be marked with the words South Pole and the date to serve afterwards as souvenirs. Wisting proved to be a first-class engraver and many were the articles he had to mark. Tobacco in the form of smoke and hither too never made its appearance in the tent. From time to time I had seen one or two of the others take a quid but now these things were to be altered. I had brought with me an old briar pipe which bore inscriptions from the many places in the Arctic regions and now I wanted it marked South Pole. When I produced the pipe and was about to mark it, I received an unexpected gift Wisting offered me tobacco for the rest of the journey. He had some cakes of plug in his kit bag which he would prefer to see me smoke. Can anyone grasp what such an offer meant at such a spot made to a man who to tell you the truth is very fond of a smoke after meals? There are not many who can understand it fully. I accepted the offer jumping with joy and on the way home I had a pipe of fresh fine-cut plug every evening. Ah, that Wisting, he spoiled me entirely. Not only did he give me tobacco but every evening and I must confess I yielded to the temptation after a while and had a morning smoke as well. He undertook the disagreeable work of cutting the plug and pulling my pipe in all kinds of weather. But we did not let our talk make us forget other things. As we had got no noon altitude we should have to try and take one at midnight. The weather had brightened again and it looked as if midnight would be a good time for the observation. We therefore crept into our bags to get a little nap in the intervening hours. In good time, soon after eleven p.m. we were out again and ready to catch the sun. The weather was of the best and the opportunity excellent. We four navigators all had a share in it, as usual and stood watching the course of the sun. This was a labor of patience as the difference of altitude was now very slight. The result of which we finally arrived was of great interest as it clearly shows how unreliable and valueless a single observation like this is in these regions. At twelve thirty a.m. we put our instruments away well satisfied with our work and quite convinced that it was the midnight altitude that we had observed. The calculations which were carried out immediately afterwards gave us eighty-nine degrees fifty-six minutes south. We're all well pleased with this result. The arrangement now was that we should encircle this camp with a radius of about twelve and a half miles. By encircling it I do not of course mean that we should go around in a circle with this radius and was not to be thought of. The encircling was accomplished in this way. Three men went out in three different directions two at right angles to the course we had been steering and one in continuation of that course. To carry out this work I had chosen Whisting, Hansel and Bialand. Having concluded our observations we put the kettle on to give ourselves a drop of chocolate. The pleasure of standing out there in rather light attire as we were engaged in swallowing the scalding drink balance suddenly observed, I'd like to tackle this encircling straight away. We shall have lots of time to sleep when we get back. Hansel and Whisting were quite of the same opinion and it was agreed that they should start the work immediately. Here we have yet another example of the good spirit that prevailed in our little community. We had only lately come in from our day's work, a march of about eighteen and a half miles asking to be allowed to go another twenty five miles. It seemed as if these fellows could never be tired. We therefore turned this meal into a little breakfast. That is to say each man ate what he wanted of his bread ration and then began to get ready for the work. First three small bags of light windproof stuff were made and in each of these was placed a paper giving the position of our camp. In addition each of them carried a large square flag of the same dark material which could be easily seen at a distance. As flag poles we elected to use our spare sledge runners which were both long, twelve feet and strong, at which we were going to take off here in any case to lighten the sledges as much as possible for a return journey. Thus he quipped and with thirty biscuits as an extra ration the three men started off in the directions laid down. Their march was by no means free of danger and does great honor to those who undertook it. Not merely without raising the smallest objection but with a greatest keenness. Let us consider for a moment the risk they ran. Our tent on the mountainous plane without marks of any kind may very well be compared with a needle and a haystack. From this the three men were to steer out for a distance of twelve and a half miles. Compasses would have been a good thing to take on such a walk but our buses were too heavy and unsuitable for carrying. They therefore had to go without. They had the sun to go by certainly when they started but who could say how long that would last. The weather was then fine enough but it was impossible to guarantee that no sudden change would take place. If by bad luck the sun should be hidden then their own tracks might help them. But to trust the tracks in these regions is a dangerous thing. Before you know where you are the whole plane may be one mass of driving snow obliterating the tracks as soon as they are made. With rapid changes of weather we had so often experience such a thing was not impossible. That these three risked their lives that morning when they left the tent at two thirty there can be no doubt at all. And they all three knew it very well. But if anyone thinks on this account they took a solemn farewell of us who stayed behind he is much mistaken. Not a bit. They all vanished in their different directions amid laughter and chaff. The first thing we did Hansen and I was to set about arranging a lot of trifling matters. There was something to be done here something there and above all we had to be ready for this series of observations we were to carry out together so as to get as accurate a termination of our position as possible. The first observation told us at once how necessary this was. For it turned out that this instead of giving us a greater altitude than the midnight observation gave us a smaller one and it was clear that we had gone out of the meridian we thought we were following. Now the first thing to be done was to get our north and south line and latitude determined so that we could find our position once more. Luckily for us the weather looked as if it would hold. We measured the sun's altitude every hour from six a.m. to seven p.m. and from these observations found in some degree of certainty our latitude and direction of the meridian. By nine in the morning we began to expect the return of our comrades according to our calculations they should then have covered the distance 25 miles. It was not till ten o'clock that Hansen made out the first black dot on the horizon and not long after the second and third appeared. We both gave a sigh of relief as they came on almost simultaneously after three arrived at the tent. We told them the result of our observations up to that time. It looked as if our camp was in about 89 degrees 54 minutes and 30 seconds south and that with our encircling we had therefore included the actual pole. With this result we might have been content but as the weather was so good and gave the impression that it would continue so and our store of provisions proved on examination to be very ample we decided to go on for the remaining ten kilometers five and a half geographical miles and get our position determined as near to the pole as possible. Meanwhile the three wanderers turned in not so much because they were tired as because it was the right thing to do and Hansen and I continued the series of observations. In the afternoon we again went very carefully through our provision supply before discussing the future. The result was that we had food enough for ourselves and the dogs for eighteen days. The surviving sixteen dogs were divided into two teams of eight each and the contents of Bialyn's sled were shared between Hansen's and Wistings. The abandoned sledge was set up right in the snow and proved to be a splendid mark. The sledge meter was screwed to the sledge and we left it there. Our other two were quite sufficient for the return journey. They had all shown themselves very accurate. A couple of empty provision cases were also left behind. I wrote in pencil on a piece of the case the information that our tent, Polheim, would be found five and a half geographical miles northwest quarter west by compass from the sledge. Having put all these things in order the same day we turned in very well satisfied. Early next morning, December 16th we were on our feet again. Bialyn who had now left the company of the drivers had been received with jubilation and the four runners was immediately entrusted with the honorable task of leading the expedition forward to the pole itself. I assigned this duty which we all regarded as a distinction to him as a mark of gratitude to the gallant telemarkers for their preeminent work in the advancement of ski sport. The leader that day had to keep as straight as the line and if possible to follow the direction of our meridian. A little way after Bialyn came Hansen, then Wisting, and I followed a good way behind. I could thus check the direction of the march very accurately and see that no great deviation was made. Bialyn on this occasion showed himself a matchless four runner. He went perfectly straight the whole time. Not once did he inclined to one side or the other and when we arrived at the end of the distance we could still clearly see the sledge we had set up and take its bearing. This showed it to be absolutely in the right direction. It was 11 a.m. when we reached our destination. While some of us were putting up the tent others began to get everything ready for the coming observations. A solid snow pedestal was put up on which the artificial horizon was to be placed and a smaller one to rest the sexton on when it was not in use. At 11.30 a.m. the first observation was taken. We looked at ourselves into two parties, Hanson and I and one, Hanson and Wisting and the other. While one party slept the other took observations and the watches were of six hours each. The weather was altogether grand though the sky was not perfectly bright the whole time. The very light, fine, vaporous curtain would spread across the sky from time to time and then quickly disappear again. This film of cloud was not thick enough to hide the sun which we could see the whole time but the atmosphere seemed to be disturbed. The effect of this was that the sun appeared not to change its altitude for several hours until it suddenly made a jump. Observations were now taken every hour through the whole 24. It was very strange to turn in at 6.00 p.m. and then on turning out again at midnight to find the sun apparently still at the same altitude and then once more at 6.00 a.m. it's still no higher. The altitude had changed of course but so slightly that it was imperceptible with the naked eye. To us it appeared as though the sun made the circuit of the heavens at exactly the same altitude. The times of the day that I have given here are calculated according to the Meridian of the Fromheim. We continue to reckon our time from this. The observations soon told us that we were not on the absolute pole but as close to it as we could hope for our instruments. The observations which have been submitted to Mr. Anton Alexander will be published and the results given later in this book. On December 17th at noon we had completed our observation and it is certain that we had done all that could be done. In order if possible to come a few inches nearer to the actual pole Hansen and Bialyn went out four geographical miles in the direction of the newly found Meridian. Today speeches had not hitherto been a feature of this journey but now Bialyn evidently thought the time had come and surprised us all with a really fine oration. My amazement reached its culmination when at the conclusion of his speech he produced a cigar case full of cigars and offered it round. The cigar at the pole. What do you say to that? But it did not end there. When the cigars had gone round there were still four left. It was quite touched when he handed the case of cigars to me with the words keep this to remind you of the pole. I have taken good care of that case and shall preserve it as one of the many happy signs of my comrade's devotion on this journey. The cigars I shared out afterwards on Christmas Eve and they gave us a visible mark of that occasion. When this festival dinner at the pole was ended we began our preparations for departure. First we set up the little tent we had brought with us in case we should be compelled to divide into two parties. It had been made by our able sailmaker Rani and was a very thin, windproof gabardine. Its drab color made it easily visible against the white surface. Another pole was lashed to the tent pole making its total height about 13 feet. On the top of this a little Norwegian flag was lashed fast and underneath it a pennant on which Fromm was painted. The tent was well secured with guy ropes on all sides. Inside the tent, in a little bag I left the letter addressed to H.M., the king, giving information on what we had accomplished. The way home was a long one and so many things might happen to make it impossible for us to give an account of our expedition. Besides this letter I wrote a short epistle to Captain Scott who I assumed would be the first to find the tent. Other things we left there were a sextant with a glass horizon, a posimeter case, three reindeer skin foot bags, some chemics and mitts. When everything had been laid inside we went into the tent. One by one to write our names on a tablet we had fastened to the tent pole. On this occasion we received the congratulations of our companions on the successful result. For the following messages were written on a couple of strips of leather Good luck and welcome to ninety degrees. These good wishes which we suddenly discovered put us in very good spirits. They were signed by Beck and Ronny. They had good faith in us. When we had finished this we came out and the tent door was securely laced together so that there was no danger of the wind getting hold on that side. And so good-bye to Pohlheim. It was a solid moment when we bared our heads and bade farewell to our home and our flag. And then the traveling tent was taken down and the sledges packed. Now the homeward journey was to begin homeward, step by step, mile after mile, until the whole distance was accomplished. We drove it once into the old tracks and followed them. Many were the times we turned to send the last look at Pohlheim. The vaporous white air set in again and it was not long before the last of Pohlheim, our little flag disappeared from view. End of Section 26 and of Volume 2 Chapter 12 at the Pohl, recorded by Ken Campbell. The going was splendid and all were in good spirits so we went along at a great pace. One would almost have thought the dogs knew there were homeward bound. A mild summer-like wind with a temperature of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit was our last greeting from the pole. When we came to our last camp where the sledge was left we stopped and took a few things with us. From Pohlheim to Pohlheim we took a few things with us. From this point we came into the line of beacons. Our tracks had already become very indistinct but thanks to his excellent sight Bjarland kept in them quite well. The beacons however served their purpose so satisfactorily that the tracks were almost superfluous. Although these beacons were not more than about three feet high they were extremely conspicuous on the level surface. When the sun was on them they shone like electric stars. And when the sun was on the other side they looked so dark in the shadow that one would have taken them for black rocks. We intended in future to travel at night the advantages of this were many and great. In the first place we should have the sun behind us which meant a good deal to our eyes. Going against the sun on a snow surface like this tells fearfully on the eyes even if one has good snow goggles but with the sun at one's back Another great advantage which we did not reap till later was that it gave us the warmest part of the twenty-four hours in the tent during which time we had an opportunity of drying wet clothes and so on. This last advantage was however a doubtful one as we shall see in due course. It was a great comfort to turn our backs to the south. The wind which had nearly always been in this quarter had often been very painful to our cracked faces. Now we should always have it at our backs and it would help us on our way besides giving our faces time to heal. Another thing we were longing for was to come down to the barrier again so that we could breathe freely. Up here we were seldom able to draw a good long breath if we only had to say yes we had to do it in two instalments. The asthmatic condition in which we found ourselves during our six weeks stay on the plateau was anything but pleasant. We had fixed fifteen geographical miles seventeen and three-eighths statute miles as a suitable day's march on the homeward journey. We had of course many advantages now as compared with the southward journey which would have enabled us to do longer marches than this but we were afraid of overworking the dogs and possibly using them up before we had gone very far if we attempted too great a distance daily. It soon proved however that we had underestimated our dog's powers and took us five hours to cover the appointed distance and our rest was therefore a long one. On December the nineteenth we killed the first dog on the homeward trip. This was Lassa my own favourite dog. He had worn himself out completely and was no longer worth anything. He was divided into fifteen portions as nearly equal as possible and given to his companions. They had now learnt to set great store by fresh meat and it is certain that the extra feeds like this one that took place from time to time on the way home had no small share in the remarkably successful result. They seemed to benefit by these meals of fresh meat for several days afterwards and worked much more easily. December the twentieth began with bitter weather a breeze from the southeast grey and thick. We lost the trail and for some time had to go by compass but as usual it suddenly cleared and once more the plain lay before us light and warm. Yes, too warm it was. We had to take off everything nearly and still the sweat poured off us. It was not for long that we were uncertain of the way. Our excellent beacons did us brilliant service and one after another they came up on the horizon flashed and shone and drew us on to our all important depot in eighty-eight degrees twenty-five minutes south. We were now going slightly uphill but so slight that it was unnoticeable. The hypsometer and barometer however were not to be deceived and both fell in precisely the same degree as they had risen before. Even if we had not exactly noticed the rise the feeling of it was present. It may perhaps be called imagination but I certainly thought I could notice the rise by my breathing. Our appetite had increased alarmingly during the last few days. It appeared that we ski-runners evinced a far greater veracity than the drivers. There were days, only a few days be it said, when I believe any of us three Bjarland, Hassel and myself would have swallowed pebbles without winking. The drivers never showed such signs of starvation. It has occurred to me that this may possibly have been due to their being able to lean on the sledges as they went along and us have a rest and support which we had to do without. It seems little enough simply to rest one's hand on a sledge on the march but in the long run, day after day, it may perhaps make itself felt. Fortunately we were so well supplied that when this sensation of hunger came over us we could increase our daily rations. On leaving the pole we added to our pemican ration with the result that our wild beast appetites soon gave way and shrank to an ordinary good everyday twist. Our daily programme on entering upon the return journey was so arranged that we began to get breakfast ready at 6 p.m. and by 8 p.m. we were usually quite ready to start the day's march. An hour or so after midnight the fifteen geographical miles were accomplished and we could once more put up our tent, cook our food and seek our rest. But this rest soon became so insufferably long and then there was a fearful heat considering the circumstances which often made us get out of our sleeping bags and lie with nothing over us. These rests of twelve, fourteen sometimes as much as sixteen hours were what most tried our patience during the early part of the return journey. We could see so well that all this rest was unnecessary but still we kept it up as long as we were on the high ground. Our conversation at this time used to turn very often on the best way of filling up these long unnecessary weights. That day, December the twentieth Per, good, faithful, conscientious Per broke down utterly and had to be taken on the sledge the last part of the way. On arrival at the camping ground he had his reward. A little blow of the back of the axe was enough for him without making a sound the worn-out animal collapsed. In him, Visning lost one of his best dogs. The curious animal always went about quietly and peacefully and never took part in the other's battles. From his looks and behaviour one would have judged him quite mistakenly to be a queer sort of beast who was good for nothing. But when he was in harness he showed what he could do. Without needing any shouts or cuts of the whip he put himself into it from morning to night and was priceless as a draught dog. But like others of the same character he could not keep it going any longer. He collapsed, was killed and eaten. Christmas Eve was rapidly approaching for us it could not be particularly festive but we should have to try to make as much of it as circumstances would permit. We ought therefore to reach our depot that evening so as to keep Christmas with a dish of porridge. The night before Christmas Eve we slaughtered Svartflecken there was no morning on this occasion Svartflecken was one of Hassel's dogs and had always been a reprobate. I found the following in my diary written the same evening. Slaughtered Svartflecken this evening he would not do any more though there was not much wrong with his looks. Bad character! If a man he would have ended in penal servitude. He was comparatively fat and was consumed with evidence satisfaction. Christmas Eve came. The weather was rather changeable now overcast now clear when we set out at eight p.m. the night before. We had not far to go before reaching our depot. At twelve midnight we arrived there in the most glorious weather calm and warm. Now we had the whole of Christmas Eve before us and could enjoy it at our ease. Our depot was at once taken down and divided between the two sledges. All crumbs of biscuit were carefully collected by this thing the cooks of the day and put into a bag. This was taken into the tent and vigorously beaten and kneaded. The result was polymerised biscuit. With this product and a sausage of dried milk this thing succeeded in making a capital dish of Christmas porridge. I doubt whether anyone at home enjoyed his Christmas dinner so much as we did that morning in the tent. One of Bjarland's cigars to follow brought a festival spirit over the whole camp. Another thing we had to rejoice about that day was that we had again reached the summit of the plateau and after two or three more days March would begin to go downhill finally reaching the barrier and our old haunts. Our daily March had hitherto been interrupted by one or two halts. We stopped to rest both the dogs and ourselves. On Christmas Eve we instituted a new order of things and did the whole distance fifteen geographical miles to the top. We liked this arrangement best after all and it seemed as if the dogs did the same. As a rule it was hard to begin the March again after the rest one got rather stiff, lazy too perhaps and had to become supple again. On the 26th we passed 88 degrees south going well. The surface of it had been exposed to powerful sunshines as we left it as it had become quite polished. Going over these polished levels was like crossing smooth ice but was the important difference that here the dogs had a good foothold. This time we sighted high land even in 88 degrees and it had great surprises in store for us. It was clear that this was the same mighty range running to the southeast as we had seen before but this time it stretched considerably farther to the south. The weather was radiantly clear and we could see by the land that the range of vision was very great. Summit after summit the range extended to the southeast until it gradually disappeared but to judge from the atmosphere it was continued beyond our range of vision in the same direction. That this chain traverses the Antarctic continent I therefore consider beyond a doubt. Here we had a very good example of how deceptive the atmosphere is in these regions. On a day that appeared perfectly clear we had lost sight of the mountains in 87 degrees and now we saw them as far as the eye could reach in 88 degrees. That we were astonished is a mild expression. We looked and looked entirely unable to recognize our position. Little did we guess that the huge mountain mass that stood up so high and clear on the horizon was Mount Torvald Nilsson. How utterly different it had looked in the misty air when we said goodbye to it. It is amusing to read my diary of this time and see how persistently we took the bearings of land every day and thought it was new. We did not recognize that vast mountain until Mount Helmahunterson began to stick up out of the plain. On December the 28th we left the summit of the plateau and began the descent. Although the incline was not perceptible to the naked eye its effect could easily be seen in the dogs. This thing now used to sail on his sledge and was thus able to keep up with Hanson. If anyone had seen the procession that came marching over the plateau at that time he would hardly have thought we had been out for seventy days at a stretch for we came at a swinging pace. We always had the wind at our backs with sunshine and warmth the whole time. There was never a thought of using the whip now. The dogs were bursting with health and tugged at their harness to get away. It was a hard time for a worthy forerunner as he often had to spurt as much as he could to keep clear of Hanson's dogs. Visiting in full sail with his dogs howling for joy came close behind. Hassel had his work cut out to follow and indeed I had the same. The surface was absolutely polished and for long stretches at a time we could push ourselves along with our sticks. The dogs were completely changed since we had left the pole. It is nevertheless true that they were putting on flesh day by day and getting quite fat. I believe it must have been feeding them on fresh meat and pomegran together that did this. We were able again to increase our ration of pomegran from December the 28th. The daily ration was one pound 450 grams per man and we could not manage more at least I think not. On December the 29th we went downhill more and more and it was indeed tough work being a ski-runner. The drivers stood so jauntily by the side of their sledges letting themselves be carried over the plain at a phenomenal pace. The surface consisted of sastrugi alternating with smooth stretches like ice. Heaven helped me how we ski-runners had a struggle to keep up. It was all very well for Bjarland he had flown faster on even worse ground but for Hassel and me it was different. I saw Hassel put out now an arm, now a leg and make the most desperate efforts to keep on his feet. Fortunately I could not see myself. If I had been able to I am sure I should have been in sits of laughter. Early that day Mount Helmahansen appeared. The ground now went in great undulations a thing we had not noticed in the mist when we were going south. So high were these undulations that they suddenly hid the view from us. The first we saw of Mount Helmahansen was from the top of one of these big waves. It then looked like the top of a pressure hummock that was just sticking up above the surface. At first we did not understand at all what it was it was not till the next day that we really grasped it when the pointed blocks of ice covering the top of the mountain came into view. As I have said it was only then that we made sure of being on the right course all the rest of the land that we saw were so entirely strange to us we recognised absolutely nothing. On the 30th we passed 87 degrees south and were thus rapidly nearing the devil's ballroom in Glacier. The next day was brilliantly fine temperature minus 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit with a good breeze right aft. To our great joy we got sight of the land around the butcher's shop it was still a long way off of course but was mirrored up in the warm sunny air we were extraordinarily lucky on our homeward trip we escaped the devil's ballroom altogether. On January the 1st we ought according to our reckoning to reach the devil's glacier and this held good we could see it at a great distance huge hummocks and ice waves towered into the sky but what astonished us was that between these disturbances and on the far side of them we seemed to see an even, unbroken plane highly unaffected by the broken surface Mount Hassel, Visting and Bjarland lay as we had left them they were easy to recognise when we came a little nearer to them now Mount Helmer Hansen again towered high into the air it flashed and sparkled like diamonds as it lay bathed in the rays of the morning sun we assumed that we had come nearer to this range than when we were going south and that this was the reason of our finding ground so changed when we were going south it certainly looked impossible between us and the mountains but who could tell perhaps in the middle of all the broken ground that we then saw there was a good even stretch and that we had now been lucky enough to stumble upon it but it was once more the atmosphere that deceived us as we found out on the following day for instead of being nearer the range we had come farther out from it and this was the reason of our only getting a little strip of this undesirable glacier we had our camp that evening in the middle of a big filled up crevasse we were a trifle anxious as to what kind of surface we should find farther on that these few hummocks and old crevasses where all the glacier had to offer us this time was more than we dared to hope but the second came and brought, thank God, no disappointment with incredible luck we had slipped past all those ugly and dangerous places and now before we knew where we were we found ourselves safe and sound on the plane below the glacier the weather was not first rate when we started at seven in the evening it was fairly thick and we could only just distinguish the top of Mount Bjarland this was bad as we were now in the neighbourhood of our depot and would have liked clear weather to find out where it lay but instead of clearing as we hoped we knew thicker and thicker and when we had gone about six and three-quarter miles it was so bad that we thought it best to stop and wait for a while we had all the time been going on the erroneous assumption that we had come too far to the east that is too near the mountains and under the circumstances in the short gleams that had come from time to time we had not been able to recognise the ground below the glacier according to our idea we were on the east of the depot the bearings which had been taken in thick air and were now to guide us in this heavy mist you have no result whatever there was no depot to be seen we had just swallowed the grateful warm pemican when the sun suddenly showed itself I don't think the camp was ever broken and the sledges packed in such a short time from the moment we jumped out of our bags till the sledges were ready it only took us fifteen minutes which is incredibly quick what on earth is that shining over there through the fog? the question came from one of the lads the mist had divided and was rolling away on both sides in the western bank something big and white peeped through along the ridge running north and south hurrah! it's Heland Hansen can't possibly be anything else our only landmark on the west we all shouted with joy on meeting this old acquaintance but in the direction of the depot the fog hung thick we held a brief consultation and agreed to let it go to steer for the butchers and put on the pace we had food enough anyhow no sooner said than done and we started off it rapidly cleared and then on our way towards Heland Hansen we found that we had come not too far to the east but too far to the west but the turn round and begin to search for our depot was not to our liking below Mount Heland Hansen we came up on a fairly high ridge we had now gone our fixed distance and so halted behind us in the brightest, clearest weather lay the glacier as we had seen it for the first time on our way to the south break after break, crevasse after crevasse but in among all this nastiness there ran a white unbroken line the very path we had stood and looked at a few weeks back and directly below that white stripe we knew, as sure as anything could be, that our depot lay we stood there expressing our annoyance rather forcibly at the depot having escaped us so easily and talking of how jolly it would have been to have picked up all our depots from the plain we had strewn them over dead tired as I felt that evening I had not the least desire to go back the fifteen miles that separated us from it if anybody would like to make the trip he shall have many thanks they all wanted to make it all as one man there was no lack of volunteers in that company I chose Hansen and Bjarland they took nearly everything off the sledge and went away with it empty it was then five in the morning at three in the afternoon they came back to the tent Bjarland running in front, Hansen driving the sledge that was a notable feat both for men and dogs Hansen, Bjarland and that team had covered about fifty miles that day at an average rate of three to three and a half miles an hour they had found the depot without much search their greatest difficulty had been in the undulating surface for long stretches at a time they were in the hollows between the waves which shut in their view entirely Ridge succeeded Ridge endlessly we had taken care that everything was ready for their return above all great quantities of water water, water was the first thing and generally the last that was in request when their thirst was a little quenched great interest was shown in the pemecan while these two were being well looked after the depot they had brought in was divided between the two sledges and in a short time all was ready for our departure meanwhile the weather had been getting finer and finer and before us lay the mountains sharp and clear we thought we recognized Fritjof Nansen and Don Pedro Christofferson and took the bearings of them in case the fog should return with most of us the ideas of day and night began to get rather mixed six o'clock someone would answer when asked the time yes in the morning remarks the other no what are you talking about answers the first one again it's evening of course the date was hopeless it was a good thing if we remembered the year only when writing in our diaries and observation books did we come across such things as dates while at work we had not the remotest idea of them splendid whether it was when we turned out on the morning of January the third we had now agreed to go as it suited us and take no notice of day or night for some time past we'd all been sick of the long hours of rest and wanted to break them up at any price as I have said the weather could not have been finer brilliantly clear and a dead calm the temperature of minus 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit felt altogether like summer in this bright still air before we began our march all unnecessary clothes were taken off and put on the sledges it almost looked as if everything would be considered superfluous and the costume in which we finally started out have been regarded as somewhat unseemly in our latitudes we smiled and congratulated ourselves that at present no ladies had reached the Antarctic regions or they might have objected to our extremely comfortable and serviceable costume the high land now stood out still more sharply it was very interesting to see in these conditions the country we had gone through on the southward trip in the thickest blizzard we had then been going along the foot of this immense mountain chain without a suspicion of how near we were to it or how colossal it was the ground was fortunately quite undisturbed in this part I say fortunately as heaven knows what would have happened to us if we had been obliged to cross a crevasse surface in such weather as we then had perhaps we should have managed it perhaps not the journey before us was a stiff one as the butchers lay 2,680 feet higher than the place where we were we had been expecting to stumble upon one of our beacons before long but this did not happen until we had gone 12 and a half miles then one of them suddenly came in sight and was greeted with joy we knew well enough that we were on the right track but an old acquaintance like this was very welcome all the same the sun had evidently been at work up here while we were in the south as some of the beacons were quite bent over the great icicles told us clearly enough how powerful the sunshine had been after a march of about 25 miles we halted at the beacon we had built right under the hill where we had been forced to stop by thick weather on November the 25th January the fourth was one of the days to which we looked forward with anxiety as we were then due at our depot at the butchers and had to find it this depot which consisted of the finest fresh dog's flesh was of immense importance to us not only had our animals got into the way of preferring this food to Pemican but what was of still greater importance it had an extremely good effect on the dog's state of health no doubt our Pemican was good enough indeed it could not have been better but a variation of diet is a great consideration and seems according to my experience to mean even more to the dogs than to the men on a long journey like this on former occasions I've seen dogs refuse Pemican presumably because they were tired of it having no variety and the result was that the dogs grew thin and weak although we had food enough the Pemican I'm referring to on that occasion was made for human use so that their distaste cannot have been due to the quality it was 1.15 a.m. when we set out we had not had a long sleep but it was very important to avail ourselves of this fine clear weather while it lasted we knew by experience that up here in the neighbourhood of the Butchers the weather was not to be depended upon from the outward journey we knew that the distance from the Pemican where our camp was to the depot at the Butchers was 13.5 miles we had not put up more than two Pemicans on this stretch but the ground was of such a nature that we thought we could not go wrong that it was not so easy to find the way in spite of the Pemicans we were soon to discover in the fine clear weather and with Hanson's sharp eyes we picked up both our Pemicans meanwhile we were astonished at the appearance of the mountains as I've already mentioned we thought the weather was perfectly clear when we reached the Butchers for the first time on November the 20th I then took a bearing from the tent of the way we had come up on the plateau between the mountains and carefully recorded it after passing our last Pemican when we were beginning to approach the Butchers as we reckoned we were greatly surprised at the aspect of our surroundings last time on November the 20th we had seen mountains on the west and north but a long way off now the whole of that part of the horizon seemed to be filled with colossal mountain masses which were right over us what in the world was the meaning of this? was it witchcraft? I'm sure I began to think so for a moment I would readily have taken my most solemn oath that I had never seen that landscape before in my life we had now gone the full distance and according to the Beacons we had passed we ought to be on the spot this was very strange in the direction in which I had taken the bearing of our ascent we now only saw the side of a perfectly unknown mountain sticking up from the plain there could be absolutely no way down in that precipitous wall only on the north west did the ground give the impression of allowing a descent there a natural depression seemed to be formed running down towards the barrier which we could see far, far away we halted and discussed the situation hello, Hanson suddenly exclaimed somebody's been here before yes, broken vesting, I'm hanged if that isn't my broken ski that I stuck up by the depot so it was vesting's broken ski that brought us out of this unpleasant situation it was a good thing he put it there, very thoughtful in any case I now examined the place with the glasses and by the side of a snow mound which proved to be our depot but might easily have escaped our notice we could see the ski sticking up out of the snow we cheerfully set our course for the spot but did not reach it until we had gone three miles there was rejoicing in our little band when we arrived and saw that what we had considered the most important point of our homeward journey had been reached it was not so much for the sake of the food it contained that we considered it so necessary to find this spot as for discovering the way down to the barrier again and now that we stood there we recognised this necessity more than ever for although we now knew from our bearings exactly where the descent lay, we could see nothing of it at all the plateau there seemed to go right up to the mountain without any opening towards the lower ground beyond and yet the compass told us that such an opening must exist and would take us down the mountain on which we had thus walked all day on the outward journey without knowing anything of it was Mount Fritjos Nansen yes the difference in the light made a surprising alteration in the appearance of things end of section 27 section 28 of the South Pole this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Philippa Jevons the South Pole by Rowald Amundsen translation by A. G. Carter section 28 volume 2 chapter 13 the return to Framheim part 2 the first thing we did on reaching the depot was to take out the dog's carcasses that lay there and cut them into big lumps that were divided among the dogs they looked rather surprised there had not been accustomed to such rations we threw three carcasses onto the sledges so as to have a little extra food for them on the way down the butchers was not a very friendly spot this time either true it was not the same awful weather as on our first visit but it was blowing a fresh breeze with a temperature of minus 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit which after the heat of the last few days seemed to go to one's marrow and did not invite us to stay longer than was absolutely necessary therefore as soon as we had finished feeding the dogs and putting our sledges in order we set out although the ground had not given us the impression of sloping we soon found out that it did so when we got under way it was not only downhill but the pace became so great that we had to stop and put brakes under the sledges as we advanced the apparently unbroken wall opened more and more and showed us at last our old familiar ascent there lay Mount Ola Engelstadt snow-clad and cold as we saw it the first time as we rounded it we came onto the severe steep slope where on the way south I had so much admired the work done by my companions and the dogs that day but now I had an even better opportunity of seeing how steep this ascent really had been many with the brakes we had to put on before we could reduce the speed to a moderate pace but even so we came down rapidly and soon the first part of the descent lay behind us so as not to be exposed to possible gusts from the plane we went round Mount Engelstadt and camped under the lee of it well content with the day's work the snow lay here as on our first visit deep and loose and it was difficult to find anything like a good place for the tent we could soon feel that we had descended a couple of thousand feet and come down among the mountains it was still absolutely still and the sun broiled us as on a day of high summer at home I thought too that I could notice a difference in my breathing it seemed to work much more easily and pleasantly perhaps it was only imagination at one o'clock on the following morning we were out again the sight that met our eyes that morning when we came out of the tent was one of those that will always live in our memories the tent stood in the narrow gap between Fridtjof Nansen and Ole Engelstadt the sun which now stood in the south was completely hidden by the latter mountain and our camp was thus in the deepest shadow but right against us on the other side the Nansen mountain raised its splendid ice-clad summit high towards heaven gleaming and sparkling in the rays of the midnight sun the shining white passed gradually very gradually into pale blue then deeper and deeper blue until the shadow swallowed it up but down below right on the Highburg Glacier its ice-covered side was exposed dark and solemn the mountain mass stood out Mount Engelstadt lay in shadow but on its summit rested a beautiful light little cirrus cloud red with an edge of gold down over its side the blocks of ice lay scattered pale mel and farther down on the east rose Don Pedro Christopherson partly in shadow partly gleaming in the sun a marvellously beautiful sight and all was so still one almost feared to disturb the incomparable splendour of the scene we now knew the ground well enough to be able to go straight ahead without any detours the huge avalanches were more frequent than on the outward journey mass of snow after another plunged down Don Pedro was getting rid of his winter coat the going was precisely the same loose fairly deep snow we went quite easily over it however and it was all downhill on the ridge where the descent to the glacier began we halted to make our preparations brakes were put under the sledges and our two ski sticks were fastened together to make one strong one we should have been able to stop instantly if surprised by crevasse as we were going we ski runners went in front the going was ideal here on the steep slope just enough loose snow to give one good steering on ski we went whizzing down and it was not many minutes before we were on the highberg glacier for the drivers it was not quite such plain sailing they followed our tracks but had to be extremely careful on the steep fall we camped that evening on the self-same spot where we had had our tents on November the 18th at about 3100 feet above the sea from here one could see the course of the Axel highberg glacier right down to its junction with the barrier it looked fine and even and we decided to follow it instead of climbing over the mountain as we had down on the way south perhaps the distance would be somewhat longer but probably we should make a considerable saving of time we had now agreed upon a new arrangement of our time the long spells of rest were becoming almost unbearable another very important side of the question was that by a reasonable arrangement we should be able to save a lot of time and reach home several days sooner than we had reckoned after a great deal of talk on one side and on the other we agreed to arrange matters thus we were to do our 15 geographical miles or 28 kilometers and then have a sleep of six hours turn out again and do 15 miles more and so on in this way we should accomplish a very good average distance on our day's march we kept to this arrangement for the rest of the journey and thus saved a good many days our progress down the highberg glacier did not encounter any obstructions only at the transition from the glacier to the barrier where there are a few crevasses that had to be circumvented at 7 a.m. on January the 6th we halted at the angle of land that forms the entrance to the highberg glacier and then extends northward we had not yet recognized any of the land we lay under but that was quite natural as we now saw it from the opposite side we knew though that we were not far away from our main depot in 85 degrees 5 minutes south on the afternoon of the same day we were off again from a little ridge we crossed immediately after starting Bialand thought he could see the depot down on the barrier and it was not very long before we came inside of Mount Betty and our way up and now we could make sure with the glasses that it really was our depot that we saw the same that Bialand thought he had seen before we therefore set our course straight for it and in a few minutes we were once more on the barrier January the 6th 11 p.m. after a stay of 51 days on land it was on November the 17th that we had begun the ascent we reached the depot and found everything in order the heat here must have been very powerful our lofty solid depot was melted by the sun into a rather low mound of snow the pemicun rations that had been exposed to the direct action of the sun's rays had assumed the strangest forms and of course they had become rancid we got the sledges ready at once taking all the provisions out of the depot and loading them we left behind some of the old clothes we had been wearing all the way from here to the pole and back when we had completed all this repacking and had everything ready two of us went over to Mount Betty and collected as many different specimens of rock as we could lay our hands on at the same time we built a great cairn and left there a can of 17 litres of paraffin two packets of matches containing 20 boxes and an account of our expedition possibly someone may find a use for these things in the future we had to kill Frithjof one of Bjarland's dogs at this camp he had laterally been showing marked signs of shortness of breath and finally this became so painful to the animal that we decided to put an end to him thus brave Frithjof ended his career uncutting him open it appeared that his lungs were quite shriveled up nevertheless the remains disappeared pretty quickly into his companion's stomachs what they had lost in quantity did not apparently affect their quality Nigga one of Hassel's dogs had been destroyed on the way down from the plateau we thus reached this point again with twelve dogs as we had reckoned on doing and left it with eleven I see in my diary the following remark the dogs looked just as well as when we left Framheim on leaving the place a few hours later we had provisions for thirty-five days on the sledges besides this of course we had a depot at every degree of latitude up to eighty degrees it looked as though we had found our depot at the right moment for when we came out to continue our journey the whole barrier was in a blizzard a gale was blowing from the south with the sky completely clouded over falling snow and drift united in a delightful dance and made it difficult to see the lucky thing was that now we had the wind with us and thus escaped getting it all in our eyes as we had been accustomed to the big crevasse which as we knew lay right across the line of our route made us go very carefully to avoid any risk Bjarland and Hassel who went in advance fastened an alpine rope between them the snow was very deep and loose and the going very heavy fortunately we were warned in time of our approach to the expected cracks by the appearance of some bare ice ridges these told us clearly enough that disturbances is taking place here and that ever greater ones might be expected probably near at hand at that moment the thick curtain of cloud was torn asunder and the sun pierced the whirling mass of snow instantly Hansen shouted stop Bjarland he was just on the edge of the yawning crevasse Bjarland himself has splendid sight but his excellent snow goggles his own patent entirely prevented his seeing well Bjarland would not have been in any serious danger if he had fallen into the crevasse as he was roped to Hassel but it would have been confoundedly unpleasant all the same as I've said before I assume that these great disturbances here mark the boundary between the barrier and the land this time curiously enough they seemed also to form a boundary between good and bad weather for on the far side of them to the north the barrier lay bathed in sunshine on the south the blizzard raged worse than ever Mount Betty was the last to send us its farewell South Victoria land had gone into hiding and did not show itself again as soon as we came into the sunshine we ran upon one of our beacons our course lay straight towards it that was not bad steering in the dark at 9 p.m. we reached the depot in 85 degrees south now we could begin to be liberal with the dog's food too they had double pemican rations besides as many oatmeal biscuits as they would eat we had such masses of biscuits now that we could positively throw them about of course we might have left a large part of these provisions behind but there was a great satisfaction in being so well supplied with food and the dogs did not seem to mind the little extra weight in the least as long as things went so capital as they were going that is with men and dogs exactly keeping pace with one another we could ask for nothing better but the weather that had cheered us was not of long duration same beastly weather, my diary says of the next stage the wind had shifted to the north west with overcast thick weather and very troublesome drifting snow in spite of these unfavorable conditions we passed beacon after beacon and at the end of our march had picked up all the beacons we had erected on this distance of 17 miles and three eighths but as before we owed this to Hanson's good eyes on our way southward we had taken a good deal of seal meat and had divided it among the depots we built on the barrier in such a way that we were now able to eat fresh meat every day this had not been done without an object if we should be visited with scurvy this fresh meat would be invaluable as we were sound and healthy as we had never been before the seal beef was a pleasant distraction in our menu nothing more the temperature had risen greatly since we came down onto the barrier and kept steady at about plus 14 degrees Fahrenheit we were so warm in our sleeping bags that we had to turn them with a hair out that was better we breathed more freely and felt happier just like going into an ice cellar somebody remarked the same feeling as when on a really warm summer day one comes out of the hot sun into cool shade January the ninth same beastly weather snow snow snow nothing but snow is there no end to it? thick too so that we have not been able to see ten yards ahead temperature plus 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit thawing everywhere on the sledges everything getting wet have not found a single beacon in this blind man's weather the snow was very deep to begin with and the going exceedingly heavy but in spite of this the dogs managed their sledges very well that evening the weather improved fortunately and became comparatively clear by the time we resumed our journey at 10 p.m not long after we sighted one of our beacons it lay to the west about 200 yards away we were thus not far out of our course we turned aside and went up to it as it was interesting to see whether our reckoning was in order the beacon was somewhat damaged by sunshine and storms but we found the paper left in it which told us that this beacon was erected on November the 14th in 84 degrees 26 minutes south it also told us what course to steer by compass to reach the next beacon which lay five kilometers from this one as we were leaving this old friend and setting our course as it advised to our unspeakable astonishment two great birds skewer-girls suddenly came flying straight towards us they circled round us once or twice and then settled on the beacon can anyone who reads these lines form an idea of the effect this had upon us it is hardly likely they brought us a message from the living world into this realm of death a message of all that was dear to us I think the same thoughts filled us all they did not allow themselves a long rest these first messengers from another world they sat still a while no doubt wondering who we were then rose aloft and flew on to the south mysterious creatures they were now exactly half way between Framheim and the pole and yet they were going farther inland were they going over to the other side our march ended this time at one of our beacons in 84 degrees 15 minutes it felt so good and safe to lie beside one of these it always gave us a sure starting point for the following stage we were up at 4 a.m. and left the place a few hours later with the result that the day's march brought us 34 miles nearer Framheim with our present arrangement we had these long day marches every other day our dogs need no better testimonial than this one day 17 miles the next day 34 and fresh all the way home the two birds agreeably as their first appearance had affected me led my thoughts after a while in another direction which was anything but agreeable it occurred to me that these two might only be representatives of a larger collection of these voracious birds and that the remainder might now be occupied in consuming all the fresh meat we had so laboriously transported with us and spread all over the plain in our depots it is incredible what a flock of these birds of prey can get rid of it would not matter if the meat were frozen as hard as iron they would have managed it even if it had been a good deal harder than iron of the seals carcasses we had lying in 80 degrees I saw in my thoughts nothing but the bones of the various dogs we had killed on our way south and laid on the tops of beacons I did not see even so much as that well it was possible that my thoughts had begun to assume too dark a hue perhaps the reality would be brighter weather and going began by degrees to right themselves it looked as if things would improve in proportion to our distance from land finally both became perfect the sun shone from a cloudless sky and the sledges ran on the fine even surface with all the ease and speed that could be desired Bjarland who had occupied the position of forerunner all the way from the pole performed his duties admirably but the old saying that nobody is perfect applied even to him none of us no matter who it may be can keep in a straight line when he has no marks to follow all the more difficult is this when as so often happened with us one has to go blindly most of us I suppose would swerve now to one side now to the other and possibly end after all this groping by keeping pretty well to the line not so with Bjarland he was a right hand man I can see him now Hanson has given him the direction by compass and Bjarland turns around points his ski in the line indicated and sets off with decision his movements clearly show that he has made up his mind costrotted may to keep in the right direction he sends his ski firmly along so that the snow spurts from them and looks straight before him but the result is the same if Hanson had let Bjarland go on without any correction in the course of an hour or so the latter would probably have described a beautiful circle and brought himself back to the spot from which he had started perhaps after all this was not a fault to complain of since we always knew with absolute certainty that when we had got out of the line of beacons we were to the right of it and had to search for the beacons to the west this conclusion proved very useful to us more than once and we gradually became so familiar with Bjarland's right-handed tendencies that we actually counted on them on January the 13th according to our reckoning we ought to reach the depot in 83 degrees south this was the last of our depots that was not marked at right angles to the route and therefore the last critical point the day was not altogether suited for finding the needle in the haystack it was calm with a thick fog so thick that we could only see a few yards in front of us we did not see a single beacon the whole march at 4 p.m. we had completed the distance according to the sledge-meters and reckoned that we ought to be in 83 degrees south by the depot but there was nothing to be seen we decided therefore to set our tent and wait till it cleared while we were at work with this there was a rift in the thick mass of fog and there not many yards away to the west of course lay our depot we quickly took the tent down again packed it on the sledge and drove up to our food mound which proved to be quite in order there was no sign of the birds having paid it a visit but what was that? fresh, well-marked dog-tracks in the newly fallen snow we soon saw that they must be the tracks of the runaways that we had lost here on the way south judging by appearances they must have lain under the lee of the depot for a considerable time two deep hollows in the snow told us that plainly and evidently they must have had enough food but where on earth had they got it from? the depot was absolutely untouched in spite of the fact that the lumps of peme can lay exposed to the light of day and were very easy to get at besides which the snow on the depot was not so hard as to prevent the dogs pulling it down and eating up all the food meanwhile the dogs had left the place again as shown by the fresh trail which pointed to the north we examined the tracks very closely and agreed that they were not more than two days old they went northward and we followed them from time to time on our next stage at the beacon in 82 degrees 45 minutes where we halted we saw them still going to the north in 82 degrees 24 minutes the trail began to be much confused and ended by pointing due west that was the last we saw of the tracks but we had not done with these dogs or rather with their deeds we stopped at the beacon in 82 degrees 20 minutes Elsa who had been laid on the top of it had fallen down and laid by the side the sun had thawed away the lower part of the beacon so the roving dogs had not been here so much was certain for otherwise we should not have found Elsa as we did we camped at the end of that stage by the beacon in 82 degrees 15 minutes and shared out Elsa's body although she had been lying in the strong sunshine the flesh was quite good when we had scraped away a little mouldiness it smelt rather old perhaps but our dogs were not for studious when it was a question of meat on January the 16th we arrived at the depot in 82 degrees south we could see from a long way off that the order in which we had left it no longer prevailed when we came up to it we saw at once what had happened the innumerable dog tracks that had trampled the snow quite hard round the depot declared plainly enough that the runaways had spent a good deal of time here several of the cases belonging to the depot had fallen down presumably from the same cause as Elsa and the rascals had succeeded in breaking into one of them of the biscuits and pemecan which it had contained nothing of course was left but that made no difference to us now as we had food in abundance the two dogs' carcasses that we had placed on top of the depot Uranus and Yala were gone not even the teeth were to be seen yet they had left the teeth of Lucy whom they had eaten in 82 degrees three minutes Yala's eight puppies were still lying on the top of a case curiously enough they had not fallen down in addition to all the rest the beasts had devoured some ski bindings and things of that sort it was no loss to us as it happened but who could tell which way these creatures had gone if they had succeeded in finding the depot in 80 degrees south they would probably by this time have finished our supply of seal meat there of course it would be regressible if this had happened although it would entail no danger either to ourselves or our animals if we got as far as 80 degrees we should come through all right for the time being we had to console ourselves with the fact that we could see no continuation of the trail northward we permitted ourselves a little feast here in 82 degrees the chocolate pudding that this thing served as dessert is still fresh in my memory we all agreed it came nearer perfection than anything it had hitherto fallen to our lots to taste I may disclose the receipt biscuit crumbs, dried milk and chocolate are put into a kettle of boiling water what happens afterwards I don't know for further information apply to this thing between 82 degrees and 81 degrees we came into our old marks of the second depot journey on that trip we had marked this distance with splinters of packing case at every geographical mile that was in March 1911 and now we were following these splinters in the second half of January 1912 apparently they stood exactly as they'd been put in this marking stopped in 81 degrees 33 minutes south with two pieces of case on a snow pedestal the pedestal was still intact and good I shall let my diary describe what we saw on January the 18th unusually fine weather today light south southwest breeze which in the course of our march cleared the whole sky in 81 degrees 20 minutes we came abreast of our old big pressure ridges we now saw far more of them than ever before they extended as far as the eye could see running northeast to southwest in ridges and peaks great was our surprise when a short time after we made out high bare land in the same direction and not long after that two lofty white summits to the southeast probably in about 82 degrees south it could be seen by the look of the sky that the land extended from the northeast to southwest this must be the same land that we saw lose itself in the horizon at about 84 degrees south when we stood at a height of about 4000 feet and looked out over the barrier during our ascent we now have sufficient indications to enable us without hesitation to draw this land as continuous Carmen land the surface against the land is violently disturbed crevasses and pressure ridges waves and valleys in all directions we shall no doubt feel the effect of it tomorrow although what we have seen apparently justifies us in concluding that Carmen land extends from 86 degrees south to this position about 81 degrees 30 minutes south and possibly farther to the northeast I've not ventured to lay it down thus on the map I have contented myself with giving the name of Carmen land to the land between 86 degrees and 84 degrees and have called the rest appearance of land it will be a profitable task for an explorer to investigate this district more closely as we had expected on our next stage we were made to feel the effect of the disturbances three times we had now gone over this stretch of the barrier without having really clear weather this time we had it and were able to see what it actually looked like the irregularities began in 81 degrees 12 minutes south and did not extend very far from north to south possibly about five kilometers three and a quarter miles how far they extended from east to west is difficult to say but at any rate as far as the eye could reach immense pieces of the surface had fallen away and opened up the most horrible yawning gulfs big enough to swallow many caravans the size of ours from these open holes ugly wide cracks ran out in all directions beside which mounds and haycocks were everywhere to be seen perhaps the most remarkable thing of all was that we had passed over here unharmed we went across as light footedly as possible and at top speed Hanson went half way into a crevasse but luckily got out of it again without difficulty the depot in 81 degrees south was in perfect order no dog tracks to be seen there our hopes that the depot in 80 degrees south would be intact rose considerably in 80 degrees 45 minutes south lay the first dog we had killed Bourne, he was particularly fat and was immensely appreciated the dogs no longer cared very much for Pemekin on January the 21st we passed our last beacon which stood in 80 degrees 23 minutes south glad as we were to leave it behind I cannot deny that it was with a certain feeling of melancholy that we saw it vanish we had grown so fond of our beacons and whenever we met them we greeted them as old friends many and great were the services these silent watchers did us on our long and lonely way on the same day we reached our big depot in 80 degrees south and now we considered that we were back we could see at once that others had been at the depot since we had left it and we found a message from Lieutenant Prestred the leader of the eastern party saying that he, with Stubbrood and Johansson, had passed here on November the 12th with two sledges, sixteen dogs and supplies for thirty days everything thus appeared to be in the best of order immediately on arriving at the depot we let the dogs loose and they made a dash for the heap of seals flesh which had been attacked neither by birds nor dogs in our absence it was not so much for the sake of eating that our dogs made their way to the meat mound as for the sake of fighting now they really had something to fight about they went round the seals' carcasses a few times looked to sconce at the food and at each other and then flung themselves into the wildest scrimmage when there had been duly brought to a conclusion they went away and lay round their sledges the depot in 80 degrees south is still large, well supplied and well marked so it is not impossible that it may be found useful later the journey from 80 degrees south to Framheim has been so often described that there is nothing new to say about it on January the twenty-fifth at four a.m. we reached our good little house again with two sledges and eleven dogs, men and animals all hail and hearty we stood and waited for each other outside the door in the early morning our appearance must be made altogether it was so still and quiet they must be all asleep we came in Stuberidge started up in his bunk and glared at us no doubt he took us for ghosts one after another they woke up not grasping what was happening then there was a hearty welcome home on all sides where's the Fram was of course our first question our joy was great when we heard all as well and what about the pole have you been there yes of course otherwise you would hardly have seen us again then the coffee kettle was put on and the perfume of hot cakes rose as in old days we agreed that it was good outside but still better at home ninety-nine days the trip had taken distance about one thousand eight hundred and sixty miles the Fram had come into the barrier on January the eighth after a three months voyage from Buenos Aires all were well on board meanwhile bad weather had forced her to put out again on the following day the lookout man reported that the Fram was approaching there was life in the camp on with furs and out with the dogs they should see that our dogs were not worn out yet we heard the engine panting and grunting saw the crow's nest appear over the edge of the barrier and at last she glided in sure and steady it was with a joyful heart I went on board and greeted all these gallant men who had brought the Fram to her destination through so many fatigues and perils and had accomplished so much excellent work on the way they all looked pleased and happy but nobody asked about the pole at last it slipped out of Gibson have you been there Joy is a poor name for the feeling that beamed in my comrades' faces it was something more I shut myself up in the Charthouse with Captain Nielsen who gave me my mail and all the news three names stood high above the rest when I was able to understand all that had happened the names of the three who gave me their support when it was most needed I shall always remember them in respectful gratitude His Majesty the King Professor Fridjof Nansen Don Pedro Christopherson End of Section 28 End of Volume 2, Chapter 13 The Return to Framheim