REPAIRS TO ENGINE 103 



the brunt and answer as well as he could an extremely 

 thankless and unpleasant task for a man who already 

 had his hands more than full. 



In order to relieve his difficult situation, I resolved, 

 shortly before leaving Christiansand, to inform Lieu- 

 tenants Prestrud and Gjertsen of the true state of affairs. 

 After having signed an undertaking of secrecy, they 

 received full information of the intended dash to the 

 South Pole, and an explanation of the reasons for 

 keeping the whole thing secret. When asked whether 

 they wished to take part in the new plan, they both 

 answered at once in the affirmative, and that settled it. 



There were now three men on board all the officers 

 who were acquainted with the situation, and were thus 

 in a position to parry troublesome questions and remove 

 possible anxieties on the part of the uninitiated. 



Two of the members of the expedition joined during 

 the stay at Christiansand Hassel and Lindstrom and 

 one change was made: the engineer Eliassen was dis- 

 charged. It was no easy matter to find a man who 

 possessed the qualifications for taking over the post 

 of engineer to the Fram. Few, or perhaps no one, 

 in Norway could be expected to have much knowledge 

 of motors of the size of ours. The only thing to be done 

 was to go to the place where the engine was built- 

 to Sweden. Diesel's firm in Stockholm helped us out 

 of the difficulty ; they sent us the man, and it afterwards 

 turned out that he was the right man. Knut Sundbeck was 



