The South Pole, vol 2 | Page 9

decisively that we must turn back, follow our tracks, and go round it all.
Hanssen looked quite disappointed. "Well," he said, "but we shall be
over it directly." "I dare say we shall," I replied; "but we must go back
first." This was evidently hard on him; there was one formation in
particular that attracted him, and he wanted to try his strength with it. It
was a pressure-mass that, as far as appearance went, might just as well
have been formed out in the drift-ice. It looked as if it was formed of
four huge lumps of ice raised on end against each other. We knew what
it contained without examination -- a yawning chasm. Hanssen cast a
last regretful glance upon it, and then turned back.
We could now see all our surroundings clearly. This place lay, as we
had remarked before, in a hollow; we followed it round, and came up
the rise on the south without accident. Here we caught sight of one of
our flags; it stood to the east of us, and thus confirmed our suspicion
that we had been going too far to the west. We had one more contact
with the broken ground, having to cross some crevasses and pass a big
hole; but then it was done, and we could once more rejoice in having
solid ice beneath us. Hanssen, however, was not satisfied till he had
been to look into the hole. In the evening we reached the two snow-huts
we had built on the last trip, and we camped there, twenty-six miles
from the depot. The huts were drifted up with snow, so we left them in

peace, and as the weather was now so mild and fine, we preferred the
tent.
It had been an eventful day, and we had reason to be satisfied that we
had come off so easily. The going had been good, and it had all gone
like a game. When we started the next morning it was overcast and
thick, and before we had gone very far we were in the midst of a
south-wester, with snow so thick that we could hardly see ten
sledge-lengths ahead of us. We had intended to reach the depot that day,
but if this continued, it was more than doubtful whether we should find
it. Meanwhile we put on the pace. It was a long way on, so there was no
danger of driving past it. During this while it had remained clear in the
zenith, and we had been hoping that the wind and snow would cease;
but we had no such luck -- it increased rather than dropped. Our best
sledge-meter -- one we knew we could depend on -- was on Wisting's
sledge; therefore he had to check the distance. At 1.30 p.m. he turned
round to me, and pointed out that we had gone the exact distance; I
called out to Hanssen to use his eyes well. Then, at that very moment,
the depot showed up a few sledge-lengths to the left of us, looking like
a regular palace of snow in the thick air. This was a good test both for
the sledge-meter and the compass. We drove up to it and halted. There
were three important points to be picked up on our way south, and one
of them was found; we were all glad and in good spirits.
The ninety-nine miles from Framheim to this point had been covered in
four marches, and we could now rest our dogs, and give them as much
seal's flesh as they were capable of eating. Thus far the trip had been a
good one for the animals; with one exception, they were all in the best
condition. This exception was Uranus. We had never been able to get
any fat on his bones; he remained thin and scraggy, and awaited his
death at the depot, a little later, in 82° S. If Uranus was lanky to look at,
the same could not be said of Jaala, poor beast! In spite of her condition,
she struggled to keep up; she did her utmost, but unless her dimensions
were reduced before we left 82° S., she would have to accompany
Uranus to another world.
The cases of provisions and outfit that we had left here on the last trip

were almost entirely snowed under, but it did not take long to dig them
out. The first thing to be done was to cut up the seals for the dogs.
These grand pieces of meat, with the blubber attached, did not have to
be thrown at the dogs; they just helped themselves as long as there was
any meat cut up, and when that was finished, they did not hesitate to
attack the "joint." It was a