Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-11
Escaped Many Troubles.

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troubles and continued his march to the
long sought-for goal without experiencing
these never-to-be-forgottenh ardships.
Leaving ones personal memories and
reverting to the possibility that Capt
Scott may have reached the pole at ap-
proximately the same time as Amundsen.
there Is chance that some slight undu-
lation. though not apparent to the eye
when making cairn. might limit the
miles. So it is still possible that the
British expedition may have reached the
goal before the Norwegian.
"Amundsen certainly allows that the
season was very favorable. and there is
every chance of Scott having accomplish
ed his mission under the same good
conditions that he himself had, but we
must wait for news later. giving the date
when he reached the pole, IL he did so.
before 1t can be definitely said who had
the honor OF being there first.
'Amundsen points out that his remark
able speed was made by marching six
hours, spending two hours tending the
dogs and feeding them, six hours rest
that he must have been driving dogs,
and that the men We're not engaged in
hauling sedges themselves, and in this
he was fortunate.
Helped Ponies Pull.
During the 1875 days of our southern
journey, for the first thirty-three days
we pulled beside the ponies. Then. when
all our ponies were gone, for the last
ninety lone days we dragged the sledges
ourselves ten hours a day on the scan
test rations. This produced ravenous ap.
petites, with nought save a little tough
pony meat, a couple of biscuits and four
Jumps of sugar to satisfy the pangs Of
hunger.
In view Of Amundsen's fortunate cir
eumstances, recall that wrote the fol-
lowing just after my southern journey:
1--WE brought back with us from the
journey toward the pole vivid memories
Of how 1t feels to be intensely and
fiercely hungry. During the period from
November Is. 1908. to February %. 1903.
we had but one full meal. and that was
on Christmas day. Even then we did
not keep the sense Of repletion very long,
for within an hour or two it seemed to
US that we were as hungry as ever.
Not Enough Food.
"'Our daily allowance Of food would
have been a small one for a city worker
In a temperate climate. In our case
this hunger was increased by the fact
that we were performing vigorous phys
ical labor in a very low temperature
"Amundsen states that his greatest
difficulties were the height encountered,
and that he reached an elevation of
1880 feet. There may be some tele-
graphic error here in the cable, for to
reach this enormous altitude he must
have gone right over the mountains anu
also found the highest mountain in the
south polar regions.
In his original cable Amundsen states
that 10. $50 feet was the highest he had
reached. This is much more likely
figure.
Of 1880 feet. When we stopped ninety
seven miles from the pole our altitude
was 1O.O5O feet. and the plateau was
slowly rising at the rate OF about 800
feet for every 100 miles So it appears
that the observations Of both expeditions
Il presume here that Amundsen has
corrected his attitudes with reference to
his base camp at the Bay Of Whales, be-
cause we had to reduce our attitudes by
hypsometer measurement by over a thou
sand feet, and, ii correct. our approximate
altitude by hypsometric measurement was
over II COO feet. Working at such low
temperatures at high attitudes. one well
knows from experience. Is very trying.
Amundsen Was Fortunate.
"-Amundsen was fortunate In being able
to take SUFFICIENT provisions throughout
the Journey. so that he and his comrades
| were not seriously Inconvenience. ! note
that they had to resort eventually to
eating dogs. and certainly 1t requires an
antarctic appetite to consider dog de-
licious' food Lack OF food IL most try
INK, especially at such high attitudes, and
with such low temperatures everybody
| needs not only sufficient food to keep the
body temperature up, but also to supply
muscle wastage under strenuous working
| conditions.
eat SAN degrees he observed two skua
Gulls. The instinct Of these birds to 20
nearly $50 miles from sea in search OF
| food is remarkable
"A most interesting biological statement
| that Amundsen makes 10 that the King
Edward VII Land party reports seeing q
| bird OF q new species also. scientific
men will eagerly await full statement
1 as to what the bird was like.
| "Amundsen pays a we'll deserved tribute
10 his comrades. We hope soon to hear
the names Of these men. We would par
| ticu.arly like to hear In which Journey
Nansen's old lieutenant to the north.
Johansen, took part.
| ..Amundsen wisely took beard-cutting
machine. q precaution We neglected.
hence we suffered agonies from our
frozen boards sticking to our clothes.
Boards Froze.
'I make no excuse for again referring
to our own journey south. taking this
/ extract from my diary. written on top Of
the plateau, In my mountain sleeping bag;
II we had OILY known We were goina
Ito get such cold weather az we have al