224 DEPOT JOURNEYS 



to the height of a man. It took us two days to put 

 our eight dog tents in order. 



Before the Fram sailed one of the whale-boats had 

 been put ashore on the Barrier. One never knew; if 

 we found ourselves in want of a boat, it would be bad 

 to have none, and if we did not have to use it, there 

 was no great harm done. It was brought up on two 

 sledges drawn by twelve dogs, and was taken some 

 distance into the Barrier. The mast stood high in the 

 air, and showed us its position clearly. 



Besides all their other work, the four men had found 

 time for shooting seals while we were away, and large 

 quantities of meat were now stowed everywhere. We 

 had to lose no time in getting ready the tent in which 

 we stored our chief supply of seal meat. It would not 

 have lasted long if we had left it unprotected on the 

 ground. To keep off the dogs, we built a wall 7 feet high 

 of large blocks of snow. The dogs themselves saw to 

 its covering with ice, and for the time being all possi- 

 bility of their reaching the meat was removed. 



We did not let the floor grow old under our feet; it 

 was time to be off again to the south with more food. 

 Our departure was fixed for February 22, and before 

 that time we had a great deal to do. All the provisions 

 had first to be brought from the main depot and pre- 

 pared for the journey. Then we had to open the 

 cases of pemmican, take out the boxes in which it was 

 soldered, four rations in each, cut these open, and put 



