136 FROM MADEIRA TO THE BARRIER 



the South Pole. It was a little masterpiece of a tent, 

 made of thin silk, which, when folded together, would 

 easily have gone into a fair-sized pocket, and weighed 

 hardly a kilogram. 



At this time we could not count with certainty on 

 the possibility of all those who made the southern 

 journey reaching latitude 90. On the contrary, we 

 had to be prepared for the probability of some of the 

 party being obliged to turn back. It was intended that 

 we should use the tent in question, in case it might be 

 decided to let two or three men make the final dash, 

 and therefore it was made as small and light as possible. 

 Fortunately we had no need to use it, as every man 

 reached the goal; and we then found that the best way 

 of disposing of Ronne's work of art was to let it stay 

 there as a mark. 



Our sailmaker had no dogs of his own to look after ; 

 he had no time for that. On the other hand, he often 

 assisted me in attending to my fourteen friends up on 

 the bridge; but he seemed to have some difficulty in 

 getting on terms of familiarity with the dogs and all 

 that belonged to them. It did not quite agree with 

 his idea of life on board ship to have a deck swarming 

 with dogs. He regarded this abnormal state of things 

 with a sort of scornful compassion. ' So you carry 

 dogs, too, aboard this ship," he would say, every time 

 he came on deck and found himself face to face with 

 the " brutes." The poor brutes, I am sure, made no 



