Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-30
BY COMDR. r. E. BYRD.

BY Wireless to The Star and New York Times.
BAY OF WHALES, January 30
There are not many good flying days
down here On account of the I'M
natural conditions of visibility where
one appears simply to begin big and
indeterminate bowl of misty white
which nerges into an equally misty
gray sky. Therefore when Cyclone
HaineS trusted weather maps of our
North Pole expedition told us the
weather was o. K. we felt that it would
be pity not to take off.
| 1t seemed rather tough to leave with
| the Eleanor Boiling near us vending
| through the ice fields, for it we should
| have a forced landing it would upset
| the biggest operation of the expedition,
that of unloading the Eleanor Boiling
on the shifting ice of the bay. We gave
our plane, the Star and Stripes, the
gun at $50 o'clock and got off with our
heavy load IN 30 SecondS-thus indi-
eating the strength Of the ski landing
gear and the practicability Of getting
off of the ice barrier with a full load.
So we got some kick when the skis
left the ground without breaking and
we saw little America looking little, in
deed, as she faded away behind us.
Another river was crossed. For this
take off we must give Balchen credit.
His face and Junes showed their
pleasure and relief We were almost
Immediately looking into unknown
areas. To our left was the uncharted
coast line of the Barrier Cliffs and
ahead and to our right we had visi-
bility of UNEMPLOYED parts of the barrier
surface of at least 40 miles. When
conditions are best down here visibility
is extraordinary. In the after part
of our small cabin crouched June sit
ting on one of our sleeping bags and
busy with the radio. Forward was
Balchen gradually getting the plane on
the course as the sluggish compass set
tied down.
Cabin Full of Gear.
AS long as the bright sun would hold
we could check the magnetic compass
with the sun compass and could be GER
tain of our course. We knew before
starting from pilot balloons HaineS had
sent up to high altitude that we would
have a strong wind with us. We were
making about 100 miles an hour. The
cabin was so full of gear that we could
not stand up. I found myself sitting
on our Primus stove cooker. It was
necessary to have TOO pounds of equip
ment in the plane in case Of forced
landing. I looked back to see If could
make out the maStS of the Eleanor
Boiling over the horizon, but could see
nothing except icebergs in the blue
| water Twenty minutes after our skis
| left the snow, we sighted bay in the
| barrier to our left and to the right for
ward Of the beam was a long deep
| fissure and pressure ridge which indi-
Gated that there was land somewhere
about. After an hour or so we passed
beautiful bay in the ice barrier the
mouth of which was several miles wide
and or miles deep.
Bay Named Hal Flood.
We have decided to name this bay
''Hal Flood" after my mothers broth
| er. Shortly afterward there could be
seen many miles in the distance to the
right some small peaks. In looking
over my chart I find the following
pencil notation: "Small peak to the
right-land may shoW-looks like it."
| We decided that we would investigate
| that peak later on. The barrier surface
on the right began to get higher, which
| indicated that land was beneath, and on
the left between the plane and the coast
line, there was a chaotic mass of
| crevasses extending for about 20 miles
that no foot traveller could make head
4 way over.
| We were exploring to the right of our
i course alone 1000 square miles an hour
of area hitherto unknown. 1t occurred
to me again how well 1t had paid us
to fight our way to the inaccessible spot,
now Little America, where at our very
doors there are unexplored regions. We
have had to cross many hazardous rivers
to get there, and there is still one more
river to cross-the unloading of the
tons of material on the Eleanor Boiling.
We went until a snow peak loomed
| dead ahead 1t was Scott Nunataks