The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1912-03-15

L.. j
to go down on mighty glacier,
"Axel Heibergs Glacier. which divided
the cor st mountains and the noun
tains farther south.
The next day began the longest part
of our climb Many detours had to be
made in order to avoid broad cracks
and open crevices.
Glaciers Source OF Peril.
These were apparently mostly filed
up, as the glaciers in all probability
had long ago stopped moving. but we
had to be careful never knowing for
certain how thick was the layer that
covered them.
Our camp that night lay in pic
turesque surroundings at height of
5000 feet. The glacier here was mar
rowed in between the two $4,000 feet
high mountains, the FTidtjof hansen
and the Don Pedro Christophersen.
From the bottom of the glacier rose
Mount Ole Englstad, big snow cone
1880 feet high The glacier was
much broken in this comparatively
narrow pass. The mighty crevices
seemed to stop us from going farther,
but it was not so serious as it ap-
peared.
Dogs In Record Feat.
Our dogs, which up to this time had
covered a distance of about 700 kilo-
meters, the last days very hard work,
ran this day thirty-five kilometers, the
ascent being $500 feet-an almost in
credible record.
1t took US only four days from the
barrier to get up on the vast inland
plateau
We camped that night at a height
of 10000 feet Here we had to kill "a
of our brave companions and keep IS,
six for each of our three sledges.
We stopped here four days. on &C
count of bad weather. Tired of this,
We set out on the 25th of November
On the Goth, in a furious blizzard
and in a dense snowdrift, absolutely
nothing was to be seen, but we felt
| that, contrary TO expectations, we
were going fast downhill. The hypso-
meter gave US that day a descent of
600 feet
Faces Frozen During Gale.
We continued our march the next
day in a gale, and a dense snowdrift
| got our faces badly frozen. We coald
see nothing
We reached that day sc degrees
dead reckoning. The hypsometer In
! Dictated a fall of 500 feet. The next
day was similar
The weather cleared a little at din
ner time and exposed to our view a
| mighty mountain range to the east,
| and not far off, only for a moment,
and then it disappeared in the dense
snowdrift
On the 10Th it Gained down and
the sun shone, though it was not the
only pleasant surprise he gave US. In
our course stretched big glacier run
ming toward the south.
Discover Mountain RANGE.
| At its eastern end was the mountain
range going in q southeasterly direc-
| ton. Of the western part of it no
! view was to be had, it being hidden in
| the dense fog.
! IFS glacier, depot for six days was
established at 1921 degrees south iati-
| tude. The hypsometer indicated
| 5000 feet above sea level.
On November 80 we began to climb
| the glacier. The lower part of 1t was
much broken and dangerous. More
! over, the snow bridges often burst
| Erop, o,,y mr., i,r.t uo baa n
splendid view over the mountain top
| to the east
See Many Great Peaks.
There was Helmer Nansen's sum
| NIT" the most remarkable of them all.
| 1t was 10000 feet high and covered
with such broken glaciers that in all
| probability no foothold was to be
| found oscar Wistings," "Sverre
! hasses," and 'Oiav Hjanlands" noun
| tains also lay here beautifully iIlumi-
| mated in the rays OF the bright sun.
In the distance, only alternately to
! be viewed in the fog, appeared from
time to time Mount Nelson" with its
| SUBMITS and peaks, about $4,000 feet
high We only saw the nearest sur
roundings.
1t took US three days to surmount
the Devils glacier, always in misty
weather. u
On the first of December we left
this broken glacier with holes and
crevices without number, with it's
| height Of 100 feet Before US, look
ing, in the mist and snowdrift, like a
frozen sea, appeared a light, sloping
ice plateau filled with small hum
) mocks.
Man and Dogs Fall in Sea.
The walk over this frozen sea was
not pleasant The ground under us
was quite hollow, and it sounded as
! though we were walking on the bot
toms of empty barrels. AS it was, a
man fell through, with a couple of
dogs. We could not use our skis on
this polished ice. Sledges had the
best of it.
This place got the name of the
Devils Dancing Room" This part of
our march was the most unpleasant.
On December we got our greatest
height, according to the hypsometer
and aneroid, 1O,750 feet, at 81 de-
grees 40 minutes south.
On December we came out of the
| bad weather. Once again the sun
smiled down on US. Once again we
could get an observation Dead reck-
oning and observation were exactly