THE COLD CONTINUES 245 



sinuated myself into their confidence, and we became 

 very good friends. But they were a terrible power on 

 board; wherever these three villains showed themselves, 

 there was always a row. They loved fighting. They 

 were our fastest dogs. In our races with empty 

 sledges, when we were driving around Framheim, none 

 of the others could beat these three. I was always 

 sure of leaving the rest behind when I had them in my 

 team. 



I had quite given up Lassesen, who had been left 

 behind that morning, and I was very sorry for it, as he 

 was my strongest and most willing beast. I was glad, 

 therefore, when he suddenly appeared again, apparently 

 fit and well. We presumed that he had dug up Thor 

 again, and finished him. It must have been food that 

 had revived him. From 80 S. home he did remarkably 

 good work in Wisting's team. 



That day we had a curious experience, which was 

 useful for the future. The compass on Hanssen's sledge, 

 which had always been reliability itself, suddenly began 

 to go wrong; at any rate, it did not agree with the 

 observations of the sun, which we fortunately had that 

 day. We altered our course in accordance with our 

 bearings. In the evening, when we took our things 

 into the tent, the housewife, with scissors, pins, needles, 

 etc., had lain close against the compass. No wonder it 

 turned rebellious. 



On March 19 we had a breeze from the south-east 



