The South Pole, vol 2 | Page 5

one of
the "Challenger's" Stations, to the South of the South Equatorial
Current 433 14. Temperatures at one of the "Fram's" and one of the
"Valdivia's" Stations, in the Benguela Current 435 15. Temperatures at
the "Planet's" Station 25, And the "Fram's" Station 39 -- Both in the
Neighbourhood of St. Helena 437 16. Salinities at the "Planet's" Station
25 (March 19, 1906), and the "Fram's" Station 39 (July 29, 1911) 437
Chart of the Antarctic Region At end of Volume

CHAPTER X
The Start for the Pole
At last we got away, on October 19. The weather for the past few days
had not been altogether reliable; now windy, now calm -- now snowing,
now clear: regular spring weather, in other words. That day it continued
unsettled; it was misty and thick in the morning, and did not promise
well for the day, but by 9.30 there was a light breeze from the east, and
at the same time it cleared.
There was no need for a prolonged inquiry into the sentiments of the
party. -- What do you think? Shall we start?" -- Yes, of course. Let's be
jogging on." There was only one opinion about it. Our coursers were
harnessed in a jiffy, and with a little nod -- as much as to say, "See you
to-morrow" -- we were off. I don't believe Lindström even came out of
doors to see us start. "Such an everyday affair: what's the use of making
a fuss about it?"
There were five of us -- Hanssen, Wisting, Hassel, Bjaaland, and
myself. We had four sledges, with thirteen dogs to each. At the start our
sledges were very light, as we were only taking supplies for the trip to
80° S., where all our cases were waiting for us; we could therefore sit
on the sledges and flourish our whips with a jaunty air. I sat astride on
Wisting's sledge, and anyone who had seen us would no doubt have
thought a Polar journey looked very inviting.

Down on the sea-ice stood Prestrud with the cinematograph, turning the
crank as fast as he could go as we went past. When we came up on to
the Barrier on the other side, he was there again, turning incessantly.
The last thing I saw, as we went over the top of the ridge and
everything familiar disappeared, was a cinematograph; it was coming
inland at full speed. I had been engaged in looking out ahead, and
turned round suddenly to throw a last glance in the direction of the spot
that to us stood for all that was beautiful on earth, when I caught sight
of -- what do you think? A cinematograph. "He can't be taking anything
but air now, can he?" -- "Hardly that." The cinematograph vanished
below the horizon.
The going was excellent, but the atmosphere became thicker as we
went inland. For the first twelve miles from the edge of the Barrier I
had been sitting with Hassel, but, seeing that Wisting's dogs could
manage two on the sledge better than the others, I moved. Hanssen
drove first; he had to steer by compass alone, as the weather had got
thicker. After him came Bjaaland, then Hassel, and, finally, Wisting
and I. We had just gone up a little slope, when we saw that it dropped
rather steeply on the other side; the descent could not be more than 20
yards long. I sat with my back to the dogs, looking aft, and was
enjoying the brisk drive. Then suddenly the surface by the side of the
sledge dropped perpendicularly, and showed a yawning black abyss,
large enough to have swallowed us all, and a little more. A few inches
more to one side, and we should have taken no part in the Polar journey.
We guessed from this broken surface that we had come too far to the
east, and altered our course more westerly. When we had reached safer
ground, I took the opportunity of putting on my ski and driving so; in
this way the weight was more distributed. Before very long it cleared a
little, and we saw one of our mark-flags straight ahead. We went up to
it; many memories clung to the spot -- cold and slaughter of dogs. It
was there we had killed the three puppies on the last trip.
We had then covered seventeen miles, and we camped, well pleased
with the first day of our long journey. My belief that, with all in one
tent, we should manage our camping and preparations much better than
before was fully justified. The tent went up as though it arose out of the

ground, and everything was done as though we had had long practice.
We found we had ample room in