Evening star., 1926-05-02

| ice. Shortly after this episode snow
| drove us to our tent. Oh. that tent,
with its soggy floor and its stale to-
! bacco SMELL how pleasant 1t would
| have been to see its makers strug-
| Cling to put 1t up. and breaking their
| finger nails in their vain endeavors.
| However, we had made IL miles
| westing. II was still showing when
| we started the next day. 1t was also
| freezing, and the going was very
| bad. We found ourselves in laby-
rinth of crevasses.
\ y X
A S the fog showed no signs OF lift
"a ing and we were plunging deep
er still into we knew not what, we
shortly decided to halt. and to sit in
the tent until the weather improved.
We were stuck here for "a hours
wretched hours. cold in damp bed
ding. playing Norwegian whist with
sodden cards. The dogs howled dis
mallv without.
OFF again, and after a rafting good
two hours over hard surface we
had the exhilaration of seeing land
tutting out from the snow-our first
land since We left the east coast. 1t
was a feast for the eyes. We soon
cier ice.
Huge crevasses yawned on either
side Of us, with lazy nonchalance
which seemed to say: IF YOU are
such fools as TO cross North East
Land in n mist. you are bound 10
meet people like us. We have ample
accommodation a thousand feet be-
low for your five dogs, your sledge
and yourselves. Just one slip, and
we'll do the rest"
We could not shake Off the mist.
We twisted and turned as we came
to impossible crevasses. and visited
every point of the compass. There
was certainly more crevasse than
glacier. Hansen said we could not
camp, as the dogs might break loose
and fall down one of the many
chasms.
So we went on. the dogs every now
and then falling through a rotten
snow bridge, suspended by their har-
ness over eternity. When they were
dragged up there was always night.
those in front imagining that they had
been pushed down by their brethren
behind. It was madness TO attempt
any further progress until we could
see If there was a possible route.
So we camped, perched on strip of
ice about the size of table-cloth, with
the dogs tethered to the sledge with
the greatest care. The wind blew bit
terly, and blizzard soon banked up
the sides of our tent. We retired to
our sleeping bags, eXasperated with
the elements.
One of the distinctions Of these en-
forced delays was to persuade Hans
sen to talk of the South Pole journey.
and of the Northwest Passage and
the Northeast Passage expeditions.
Sometimes he spoke in Norwegian
and sometimes in English, but it made
little difference; he had such fund
of stories, and told them with such
eclat. and SO graphically. that the
meaning Of mere words was unneces-
sary, If not hindrance, to the spirit
of his tales.
northern Siberia and Of their customs:
Of the Indians Of the Mackenzie River;
and of the great SO days journey to
the South Pole and back. Herodotus
never had a better tale to tell, and he
certainly never told 1t so well.
A T midday on August 13 the sun re-
L appeared. unfolding a magnificent
panorama. Our camp was in the
center of the great glacier which lies
below us lay the sea. ice-f1ecked. To
the north stretched an area of low
lying land, so far unknown and un-
explored. Westwards in the hazy
distance the peaks Of New Friesland
were visible. To the south rose
line Of dark cliffs. and on the shore
below them lay the haven of our
wanderings.
But what perturbed our minds was
the immediate prospect around us.
Every conceivable form Of glacial
deviltry barred our way. and a re-
connaissance made even Hansen pes
simistic. Never was a sledge more
securely packed and lashed as was
ours for that Journey. We fortified
ourselves with much pemmican.
Our route lay southwards. We had
to negotiate an ice-fall, cross an al
most impossible area of serac and
crevasse, and then climb out on the
other side on to comparatively good