WORK FOR BJAALAND 137 



attempt to attack Ronne's person more than anyone 

 else's, but he seemed for a long time to have great 

 doubts about it. I don't think he felt perfectly safe 

 until the dogs had been muzzled. 



A part of our equipment to which we gave special 

 care was, of course, the ski; in all probability they 

 would be our chief weapon in the coming fight. How- 

 ever much we might have to learn from Scott's and 

 Shackleton's narratives, it was difficult for us to under- 

 stand their statements that the use of ski on the Barrier 

 was not a success. From the descriptions that were 

 given of the nature of the surface and the general con- 

 ditions, we were forced to the opposite conclusion, that 

 ski were the only means to employ. Nothing was 

 spared to provide a good skiing outfit, and we had an 

 experienced man in charge of it Olav Bjaaland. It 

 is sufficient to mention his name. When, on leaving 

 Norway, it was a question of finding a good place for 

 our twenty pairs of ski, we found we should have to 

 share our own quarters with them; they were all dis- 

 posed under the ceiling of the fore-cabin. At any rate, 

 we had no better place to put them. Bjaaland, who 

 during the last month or two had tried his hand at the 

 unaccustomed work of a seaman, went back to his old 

 trade of ski-maker and carpenter when we came into 

 the trade-winds. Both ski and bindings were de- 

 livered ready for use by Hagen and Co., of Christiania; 

 it remained to adapt them, and fit the backstraps 



