A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

The South Pole, Volume 2

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The Franz had come in to the Barrier on January 8, after a three
months' voyage from Buenos Aires; all were well on board. Meanwhile,
bad weather had forced her to put out again. On the following day the
lookout man reported that the Fram was approaching There was life in
the camp; on with furs and out with the dogs. They should see that our
dogs were not worn out yet. We heard the engine panting and grunting,
saw the crow's-nest appear over the edge of the Barrier, and at last
she glided in, sure and steady. It was with a joyful heart I went
on board and greeted all these gallant men, who had brought the
Franz to her destination through so many fatigues and perils, and
had accomplished so much excellent work on the way. They all looked
pleased and happy, but nobody asked about the Pole. At last it slipped
out of Gjertsen: "Have you been there?" Joy is a poor name for the
feeling that beamed in my comrades' faces; it was something more.

I shut myself up in the chart-house with Captain Nilsen, who gave
me my mail and all the news. Three names stood high above the rest,
when I was able to understand all that had happened -- the names of
the three who gave me their support when it was most needed. I shall
always remember them in respectful gratitude --

H. M. The King, Professor Fridtjof Nansen, Don Pedro Christophersen.



CHAPTER XIV

Northward

After two days of bustle in getting on board the things we were
to take with us, we managed to be ready for sea on the afternoon of
January 30. There could scarcely have been anything at that moment that
rejoiced us more than just that fact, that we were able at so early a
date to set our course northward and thus take the first step on the
way to that world which, as we knew, would soon begin to expect news
from us, or of us. And yet, I wonder whether there was not a little
feeling of melancholy in the midst of all our joy? It can hardly be
doubted that such was really the case, although to many this may seem
a flat contradiction. But it is not altogether so easy to part from
a place that has been one's home for any length of time, even though
this home lie in the 79th degree of latitude, more or less buried in
snow and ice. We human beings are far too dependent on habit to be
able to tear ourselves abruptly from the surroundings with which we
have been obliged to be familiar for many months. That outsiders would
perhaps pray all the powers of goodness to preserve them from such
surroundings, does not counteract the full validity of this rule. To
an overwhelming majority of our fellow-men Framheim will certainly
appear as one of those spots on our planet where they would least of
all wish to find themselves -- a God-forsaken, out-of-the-way hole
that could offer nothing but the very climax of desolation, discomfort,
and boredom. To us nine, who stood on the gangway ready to leave this
place, things appeared somewhat differently. That strong little house,
that now lay entirely hidden beneath the snow behind Mount Nelson, had
for a whole year been our home, and a thoroughly good and comfortable
home it was, where after so many a hard day's work we had found all
the rest and quiet we wanted. Through the whole Antarctic winter --
and it is a winter -- those four walls had protected us so well that
many a poor wretch in milder latitudes would have envied us with all
his heart, if he could have seen us. In conditions so hard that every
form of life flies headlong from them, we had lived on at Framheim
undisturbed and untroubled, and lived, be it said, not as animals,
but as civilized human beings, who had always within their reach most
of the good things that are found in a well-ordered home. Darkness
and cold reigned outside, and the blizzards no doubt did their best
to blot out most traces of our activity, but these enemies never came
within the door of our excellent dwelling; there we shared quarters
with light and warmth and comfort. What wonder was it that this spot
exercised a strong attraction upon each of us at the moment when we
were to turn our backs upon it for good? Outside the great world
beckoned to us, that is true; and it might have much to offer us
that we had had to forego for a long time; but in what awaited us
there was certainly a great deal that we would gladly have put off
for as long as possible. When everyday life came with its cares and
worries, it might well happen that we should look back with regret
to our peaceful and untroubled existence at Framheim.

However, this feeling of melancholy was hardly so strong that we
could not all get over it comparatively quickly. Judging by the
faces, at any rate, one would have thought that joy was the most
predominant mood. And why not? It was no use dwelling on the past,
however attractive it might seem just then, and as to the future, we
had every right to expect the best of it. Who cared to think of coming
troubles? No one. Therefore the Fram was dressed with flags from stem
to stern, and therefore faces beamed at each other as we said good-bye
to our home on the Barrier. We could leave it with the consciousness
that the object of our year's stay had been attained, and, after all,
this consciousness was of considerably more weight than the thought
that we had been so happy there. One thing that in the course of our
two years' association on this expedition contributed enormously to
making time pass easily and keeping each of us in full vigour was
the entire absence of what I may call "dead periods." As soon as one
problem was solved, another instantly appeared. No sooner was one goal
reached, than the next one beckoned from afar. In this way we always
had our hands full, and when that is the case, as everyone knows,
time flies quickly. One often hears it asked, How is it possible to
make the time pass on such a trip? My good friends, I would answer,
if anything caused us worry, it was the thought of how we should
find time enough for all we had to do. Perhaps to many this assertion
will bear the stamp of improbability; it is, nevertheless, absolutely
true. Those who have read this narrative through will, in any case,
have received the impression that unemployment was an evil that was
utterly unknown in our little community.

At the stage where we now found ourselves, with the main object of
our enterprise achieved, there might have been reason to expect
a certain degree of relaxation of interest. This, however, was
not the case. The fact was that what we had done would have no
real value until it was brought to the knowledge of mankind, and
this communication had to be made with as little loss of time as
possible. If anyone was interested in being first in the market it was
certainly ourselves. The probability was, no doubt, that we were out
in good time; but, in spite of all, it was only a probability. On the
other hand, it was absolutely certain that we had a voyage of 2,400
nautical miles to Hobart, which had been selected as our first port
of call; and it was almost equally certain that this voyage would be
both slow and troublesome. A year before our trip through Ross Sea had
turned out almost like a pleasure cruise, but that was in the middle of
summer. Now we were in February, and autumn was at hand. As regards the
belt of drift-ice, Captain Nilsen thought that would cause us no delay
in future. He had discovered a patent and infallible way of getting
through! This sounded like a rather bold assertion, but, as will be
seen later, he was as good as his word. Our worst troubles would be
up in the westerlies, where we should this time be exposed to the
unpleasant possibility of having to beat. The difference in longitude
between the Bay of Whales and Hobart is nearly fifty degrees. If we
could have sailed off this difference in longitude in the latitudes
where we then were, and where a degree of longitude is only about
thirteen nautical miles, it would all have been done in a twinkling;
but the mighty mountain ranges of North Victoria Land were a decisive
obstacle. We should first have to follow a northerly course until we
had rounded the Antarctic Continent's northern outpost, Cape Adare,
and the Balleny Islands to the north of it. Not till then would the
way be open for us to work to the west; but then we should be in a
region where in all probability the wind would be dead against us,
and as to tacking with the Fram -- no, thank you! Every single man on
board knew enough of the conditions to be well aware of what awaited
us, and it is equally certain that the thoughts of all were centred
upon how we might conquer our coming difficulties in the best and
quickest way. It was the one great, common object that still bound,
and would continue to bind, us all together in our joint efforts.

Among the items of news that we had just received from the outer
world was the message that the Australian Antarctic Expedition under
Dr. Douglas Mawson would be glad to take over some of our dogs,
if we had any to spare. The base of this expedition was Hobart,
and as far as that went, this suited us very well. It chanced that
we were able to do our esteemed colleague this small service. On
leaving the Barrier we could show a pack of thirty-nine dogs, many
of which had grown up during our year's stay there; about half had
survived the whole trip from Norway, and eleven had been at the South
Pole. It had been our intention only to keep a suitable number as the
progenitors of a new pack for the approaching voyage in the Arctic
Ocean, but Dr. Mawson's request caused us to take all the thirty-nine
on board. Of these dogs, if nothing unforeseen happened, we should be
able to make over twenty-one to him. When the last load was brought
down, there was nothing to do but to pull the dogs over the side,
and then we were ready. It was quite curious to see how several of
the old veterans seemed at home again on the Fram's deck. Wisting's
brave dog, the old Colonel, with his two adjutants, Suggen and Arne,
at once took possession of the places where they had stood for so
many a long day on the voyage south -- on the starboard side of the
mainmast; the two twins, Mylius and Ring, Helmer Hanssen's special
favourites, began their games away in the corner of the fore-deck
to port, as though nothing had happened. To look at those two merry
rascals no one would have thought they had trotted at the head of
the whole caravan both to and from the Pole. One solitary dog could
be seen stalking about, lonely and reserved, in a continual uneasy
search. This was the boss of Bjaaland's team. He was unaffected by
any advances; no one could take the place of his fallen comrade and
friend, Frithjof, who had long ago found a grave in the stomachs of
his companions many hundreds of miles across the Barrier.

No sooner was the last dog helped on board, and the two ice-anchors
released, than the engine-room telegraph rang, and the engine was at
once set going to keep us from any closer contact with the ice-foot
in the Bay of Whales. Our farewell to this snug harbour took almost
the form of a leap from one world to another; the fog hung over us
as thick as gruel, concealing all the surrounding outlines behind its
clammy curtain, as we stood out. After a lapse of three or four hours,
it lifted quite suddenly, but astern of us the bank of fog still stood
like a wall; behind it the panorama, which we knew would have looked
wonderful in clear weather, and which we should so gladly have let
our eyes rest upon as long as we could, was entirely concealed.

The same course we had steered when coming in a year before could
safely be taken in the opposite direction now we were going out. The
outlines of the bay had remained absolutely unchanged during the year
that had elapsed. Even the most projecting point of the wall on the
west side of the bay, Cape Man's Head, stood serenely in its old place,
and it looked as if it was in no particular hurry to remove itself. It
will probably stay where it is for many a long day yet, for if any
movement of the ice mass is taking place at the inner end of the bay,
it is in any case very slight. Only in one respect did the condition of
things differ somewhat this year from the preceding. Whereas in 1911
the greater part of the bay was free of sea-ice as early as January
14, in 1912 there was no opening until about fourteen days later. The
ice-sheet had stubbornly held on until the fresh north-easterly
breeze, that appeared on the very day the southern party returned,
had rapidly provided a channel of open water. The breaking up of the
ice could not possibly have taken place at a more convenient moment;
the breeze in question saved us a great deal, both of time and trouble,
as the way to the place where the Fram lay before the ice broke up
was about five times as long as the distance we now had to go. This
difference of fourteen days in the time of the disappearance of the
ice in two summers showed us how lucky we had been to choose that
particular year -- 1911 -- for our landing here. The work which we
carried out in three weeks in 1911, thanks to the early breaking up
of the ice, would certainly have taken us double the time in 1912,
and would have caused us far more difficulty and trouble.

The thick fog that, as I have said, lay over the Bay of Whales when we
left it, prevented us also from seeing what our friends the Japanese
were doing. The Kainan Maru had put to sea in company with the Fram
during the gale of January 27, and since that time we had seen nothing
of them. Those members of the expedition who had been left behind in
a tent on the edge of the Barrier to the north of Framheim had also
been very retiring of late. On the day we left the place, one of our
own party had an interview with two of the foreigners. Prestrud had
gone to fetch the flag that had been set up on Cape Man's Head as a
signal to the Fram that all had returned. By the side of the flag a
tent had been put up, which was intended as a shelter for a lookout
man, in case the Fram had been delayed. When Prestrud came up, he was
no doubt rather surprised to find himself face to face with two sons
of Nippon, who were engaged in inspecting our tent and its contents,
which, however, only consisted of a sleeping-bag and a Primus. The
Japanese had opened the conversation with enthusiastic phrases about
"nice day" and "plenty ice"; when our man had expressed his absolute
agreement on these indisputable facts, he tried to get information
on matters of more special interest. The two strangers told him that
for the moment they were the only inhabitants of the tent out on
the edge of the Barrier. Two of their companions had gone on a tour
into the Barrier to make meteorological observations, and were to be
away about a week. The Kainan Maru had gone on another cruise in the
direction of King Edward Land. As far as they knew, it was intended
that the ship should be back before February 10, and that all the
members of the expedition should then go on board and sail to the
north. Prestrud had invited his two new acquaintances to visit us at
Framheim, the sooner the better; they delayed their coming too long,
however, for us to be able to wait for them. If they have since been
at Framheim, they will at any rate be able to bear witness that we
did our best to make things comfortable for any successors.

When the fog lifted, we found ourselves surrounded by open sea,
practically free from ice, on all sides. A blue-black sea, with a
heavy, dark sky above it, is not usually reckoned among the sights
that delight the eye. To our organs of vision it was a real relief to
come into surroundings where dark colours predominated. For months
we had been staring at a dazzling sea of white, where artificial
means had constantly to be employed to protect the eyes against the
excessive flood of light. As a rule, it was even necessary to limit
the exposure of the pupils to a minimum, and to draw the eyelids
together. Now we could once more look on the world with open eyes,
literally "without winking "; even such a commonplace thing as this
is an experience in one's life. Ross Sea showed itself again on its
most favourable side. A cat's paw of south-westerly wind enabled us
to use the sails, so that after a lapse of two days we were already
about two hundred miles from the Barrier. Modest as this distance
may be in itself, when seen on the chart it looked quite imposing in
our eyes. It must be remembered that, with the means of transport we
had employed on land, it cost us many a hard day's march to cover a
distance of two hundred geographical miles.

Nilsen had marked on the chart the limits of the belt of drift-ice
during the three passages the Fram had already made. The supposition
that an available opening is always to be found in the neighbourhood
of the 150th meridian appears to be confirmed. The slight changes in
the position of the channel were only caused, according to Nilsen's
experiences, by variations in the direction of the wind. He had found
that it always answered his purpose to turn and try to windward, if the
pack showed signs of being close. This mode of procedure naturally had
the effect of making the course somewhat crooked, but to make up for
this it had always resulted in his finding open water. On this trip
we reached the edge of the pack-ice belt three days after leaving the
Barrier. The position of the belt proved to be very nearly the same
as on previous passages. After we had held our course for some hours,
however, the ice became so thick that it looked badly for our further
progress. Now was the time to try Nilsen's method: the wind, which,
by the way, was quite light, came about due west, and accordingly
the helm was put to starboard and the bow turned to the west. For a
good while we even steered true south, but it proved that this fairly
long turn had not been made in vain; after we had worked our way to
windward for a few hours, we found openings in numbers. If we had held
our course as we began, it is not at all impossible that we should have
been delayed for a long time, with a free passage a few miles away.

After having accomplished this first long turn, we escaped having to
make any more in future. The ice continued slack, and on February
6 the rapidly increasing swell told us that we had done with the
Antarctic drift-ice for good. I doubt if we saw a single seal during
our passage through the ice-belt this time; and if we had seen any,
we should scarcely have allowed the time for shooting them. There
was plenty of good food both for men and dogs this time, without our
having recourse to seal-beef. For the dogs we had brought all our
remaining store of the excellent dogs' pemmican, and that was not
a little. Besides this, we had a good lot of dried fish. They had
fish and pemmican on alternate days. On this diet the animals kept
in such splendid condition that, when on arrival at Hobart they had
shed most of their rough winter coats, they looked as if they had
been in clover for a year.

For the nine of us who had just joined the ship, our comrades on board
had brought all the way from Buenos Aires several fat pigs, that were
now living in luxury in their pen on the after-deck; in addition to
these, three fine sheep's carcasses hung in the workroom. It need
scarcely be said that we were fully capable of appreciating these
unexpected luxuries. Seal-beef, no doubt, had done excellent service,
but this did not prevent roast mutton and pork being a welcome change,
especially as they came as a complete surprise. I hardly think one
of us had counted on the possibility of getting fresh meat before we
were back again in civilization.

On her arrival at the Bay of Whales there were eleven men on board
the Fram, all included. Instead of Kutschin and Nödtvedt, who had gone
home from Buenos Aires while the ship was there in the autumn of 1911,
three new men were engaged -- namely, Halvorsen, Olsen and Steller;
the two first-named were from Bergen; Steller was a German, who had
lived for several years in Norway, and talked Norwegian like a native.

All three were remarkably efficient and friendly men; it was a pleasure
to have any dealings with them. I venture to think that they, too,
found themselves at home in our company; they were really only engaged
until the Fram called at the first port, but they stayed on board all
the way to Buenos Aires, and will certainly go with us farther still.

When the shore party came on board, Lieutenant Prestrud took up his
old position as first officer; the others began duty at once. All
told, we were now twenty men on board, and after the Fram had sailed
for a year rather short-handed, she could now be said to have a
full crew again. On this voyage we had no special work outside the
usual sea routine, and so long as the weather was fair, we had thus
a comparatively quiet life on board. But the hours of watch on deck
passed quickly enough, I expect; there was material in plenty for many
a long chat now. If we, who came from land, showed a high degree of
curiosity about what had been going on in the world, the sea-party
were at least as eager to have full information of every detail of
our year-long stay on the Barrier. One must almost have experienced
something similar oneself to be able to form an idea of the hail
of questions that is showered upon one on such an occasion. What we
land-lubbers had to relate has been given in outline in the preceding
chapters. Of the news we heard from outside, perhaps nothing interested
us so much as the story of how the change in the plan of the expedition
had been received at home and abroad.

It must have been at least a week before there was any noticeable ebb
in the flood of questions and answers. That week went by quickly;
perhaps more quickly than we really cared for, since it proved
that the Fram was not really able to keep pace with time. The
weather remained quite well behaved, but not exactly in the way we
wished. We had reckoned that the south-easterly and easterly winds,
so frequent around Framheim, would also show themselves out in
Ross Sea, but they entirely forgot to do so. We had little wind,
and when there was any, it was, as a rule, a slant from the north,
always enough to delay our honest old ship. It was impossible to take
any observations for the first eight days, the sky was continuously
overcast. If one occasionally asked the skipper about her position,
he usually replied that the only thing that could be said for certain
was that we were in Ross Sea. On February 7, however, according to a
fairly good noon observation, we were well to the north of Cape Adare,
and therefore beyond the limits of the Antarctic Continent. On the
way northward we passed Cape Adare at a distance hardly greater than
could have been covered with a good day's sailing; but our desire
of making this detour had to give way to the chief consideration --
northward, northward as quickly as possible.

There is usually plenty of wind in the neighbourhood of bold
promontories, and Cape Adare is no exception in this respect; it is
well known as a centre of bad weather. Nor did we slip by without
getting a taste of this; but it could not have been more welcome,
as it happened that the wind was going the same way as ourselves. Two
days of fresh south-east wind took us comparatively quickly past the
Balleny Islands, and on February 9 we could congratulate ourselves on
being well out of the south frigid zone. It was with joy that we had
crossed the Antarctic Circle over a year ago, going south; perhaps
we rejoiced no less at crossing it this time in the opposite direction.

In the bustle of getting away from our winter-quarters there had been
no time for any celebration of the fortunate reunion of the land
and sea parties. As this occasion for festivity had been let slip,
we had to look out for another, and we agreed that the day of our
passage from the frigid to the temperate zone afforded a very good
excuse. The pre-arranged part of the programme was extremely simple:
an extra cup of coffee, duly accompanied by punch and cigars, and
some music on the gramophone. Our worthy gramophone could not offer
anything that had the interest of novelty to us nine who had wintered
at Framheim: we knew the whole repertoire pretty well by heart; but
the well-known melodies awakened memories of many a pleasant Saturday
evening around the toddy table in our cosy winter home down at the
head of the Bay of Whales -- memories which we need not be ashamed
of recalling. On board the Fram gramophone music had not been heard
since Christmas Eve, 1910, and the members of the sea party were glad
enough to encore more than one number.

Outside the limits of the programme we were treated to an extra number
by a singer, who imitated the gramophone in utilizing a big megaphone,
to make up for the deficiencies of his voice -- according to his
own statement. He hid behind the curtain of Captain Nilsen's cabin,
and through the megaphone came a ditty intended to describe life on
the Barrier from its humorous side. It was completely successful,
and we again had a laugh that did us good. Performances of this kind,
of course, only have a value to those who have taken part in or are
acquainted with the events to which they refer. In case any outsider
may be interested in seeing what our entertainment was like, a few
of the verses are given here.

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