246 DEPOT JOURNEYS 



and -45'4 F. "Rather fresh," I find noted in my 

 diary. Not long after we had started that morning, 

 Hanssen caught sight of our old tracks. He had splendid 

 eyesight saw everything long before anyone else. 

 Bjaaland also had good sight, but he did not come up 

 to Hanssen. The way home was now straightforward, 

 and we could see the end of our journey. Meanwhile a 

 gale sprang up from the south-east, which stopped us 

 for a day; temperature, - 29'2 F. Next day the tem- 

 perature had risen, as usual, with a south-east wind; we 

 woke up to find it + 15'8 F. on the morning of the 21st. 

 That was a difference that could be felt, and not an 

 unpleasant one; we had had more than enough of - 40. 

 It was curious weather that night: violent gusts of 

 wind from the east and south-east, with intervals of 

 dead calm just as if they came off high land. On our 

 way northward that day we passed our flag No. 6, and 

 then knew that we were fifty-three miles from Fram- 

 heim. Pitched our camp that evening at thirty-seven 

 miles from the station. We had intended to take this 

 stretch of the way in two days, seeing how tired the 

 dogs were; but it turned out otherwise, for we lost our 

 old tracks during the forenoon, and in going on we 

 came too far to the east, and high up on the ridge men- 

 tioned before. Suddenly Hanssen sang out that he saw 

 something funny in front what it was he did not know. 

 When that was the case, we had to apply to the one who 

 saw even better than Hanssen, and that was my glass. 



