The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-03-09
lnUAOsEn TELLS
Of his STRUGGLE
ih0 DIFFICULTIES
IN REACHING POLE
Continued from First page.l

that there was no question about set
ting out. So on September eight
men and seven sledges, ninety dogs
and provisions for four months start
ed In their quest for the pole. The
ground was perfect The tempera-
ture was not extreme. But the next
day II appeared that they had start
cd too soon, for the temperature fell.
and on the following days kept stead
lily down between 80 degrees and SO
degrees Celsius. Personally. Amund-
zen and his men did not suffer any
from the cold. The fine furs with
which they were provided protected
them. But il was a very different
matter with their dogs, which shrank
visibly from day to day
Forced to Turn Back.
Amundsen soon realized that the
dogs could not stand the long run
to his depot in 80 degrees OF south
latitude, so he determined to return
TO his depot. and await the arrival
OF spring. His provisions were each
ed. and off he went back TO his hut.
He lost a few dogs and couple OF
his men had their heels frozen. But
everything else was all right.
1t was only In the middle OF Oc-
tober that spring came In earnest:
seals and birds appeared; the tenn
perature was steady between 20 and
80 degrees Celsius. Amundsens orig
inal plan was that all OF his little
party should so towards the south;
but he changed 1t. He selected -FOUR
men to go with him. while the ottc.
three were detailed to start to The
east and visit King Edward VII land.
The explorer had not included that
trip In his original program, but Sa-
cause the English expe dttion had r"t
reached King Edward VII land In The
previous summer. as was their ih-
tention. Amundsen determined that
Journey also.
the best thing to do was to make this
On October 20 the party goTng
south started. 1t consisted OF the
leader, four of his men. four sledges
and fifty-two dogs: they took with
them provisions for four months. s.N-
erything was In excellent order.
Amundsen had determined to make
the first part of the trip with as little
la Dor as possible. go as not to take
too much out Of his men and his
dogs and to give them an opportunity
to get fat They made their depot
In the eightieth degree on the -au.
and went right ahead. although there
was a dense fog. Because OF the log.
an error Of two or three kilometers
happened once in a while, TheS GOT
out of tfA way. but found II again
by catching sight of the flags mat
marked their depots.
Dogs Are Willing.
Having rested and fed the dogs on
ALI the seal meat they would eat.
the party started again on the 26th
The temperature remained steady al
between 90 and 80 degrees Celsius.
1t had been Arnundsen's intention not
To drive more than twenty 10 thirty
kslometers a day. but ii soon appeared
that this was too slow. for their dogs
were strong and willing
In so degrees south. they began
to build snow cairns of the height
OF a man so as To mark the WAY Tor
their return. On the Slst they reach
ed the depot in 81 degrees south.
They stopped there day and FED the
dogs on as much Pemtcan as they
wanted. They reached the depot IN
81 degrees south on November 9Th.
where the dogs for the last time
got all they wanted TO eat !
On November sth they started
again, making daliy
march OF Atty kilometers- To tighten
their heavy sledges. they set up depotS
as they completed each degree the
trip from the eightg-seeond TO the
eighty third degree was a little more
than pleasure 5aunt The ground
was In excellent condition for siedg-
ing. and the temperature Was an
they could ask for.
Everything went on like d dance.
Amundsen in telling the
story,
On the 9Th he sighted Victoria
Land, a continuation OF the mountain
range that Shackieton recorded on his
chart as running towards the south
cas-, from Beardmura Glacier. On the
same day they reached the eighty
third degree and there established
depot No. 4. On the 18th Amund-
sen made the interesting and i'm
portaut discovery that Ross Barrier
terminates In blight towards the
southeast, formed between noun
tain range running southeast from
South Victoria Land and "A range on
the opposite side running in south
westerly direction, which Is probably
a continuation of King Edward VII.
Land.
On the 18th they reached the
ctg i,iy-fourth degree. where they
placed another depot, On the 10th
they reached the eighty-Afth degree.
where they made vet another depot.
From their winter quarters. Fran
helm ihey had been marching due
south.
Establishes Head Depot.
On November II they arrived at
place where t..n land ami the barrier
were connected. the BARRED here ris-
Ing In an undulation about three hun
lired feet high. Here Amundsen made
his head depot, and took provisions
for sixty days on sledges ana left
sufficient for thirty days there. The
land under which they lay and winch
they had now to attack looked quite
The barrier ranged from two thou-
sand to ten thousand feet In height.
L Several ether gssEssastsfurthsr soath
were fifteen Thousand 4 ct or more.
They began to climb. The first part
81 It was an easy task the grouno RS .
ing in light slopes. 1t did not take
long with their willing dogs to work
their way up. AT the furtherest point
they met some small but very steep
glaciers. There they had to harness
twenty dogs to each sledge, and to
take four slcdges In two shifts. In
some places the going was so steep
that II was difficult 10 use their snls.
Some great crevasses comrclled them
from time to time to make retour.
The FIRST day they climbed two thou
rand feet. and the next day during
which the going was Chiefly over small
glaciers, they campcd at height OF
I, 500 feet.
On the third day. huge glacier.
Axel Heidelburg's Glacier. which d.
vides the coast mountains and the
lr~ f.v~ r. -