220 DEPOT JOURNEYS 



at night, but this did not prevent our being up again at 

 four and off at half -past seven. At half -past nine in the 

 evening we drove into Framheim, after covering sixty- 

 two miles that day. Our reason for driving that 

 distance was not to set up any record for the Barrier, 

 but to get home, if possible, before the Fram sailed, and 

 thus have an opportunity of once more shaking hands 

 with our comrades and wishing them a good voyage. 

 But as we came over the edge of the Barrier we saw 

 that, in spite of all our pains, we had come too late. 

 The Fram was not there. It gave us a strange and 

 melancholy feeling, not easy to understand. But the 

 next moment common sense returned, and our joy at 

 her having got away from the Barrier undamaged after 

 the long stay was soon uppermost. We heard that she 

 had left the bay at noon the same day just as we were 

 spurting our hardest to reach her. 



This depot journey was quite sufficient to tell us what 

 the future had in store. After this we were justified in 

 seeing it in a rosy light. We now had experience of the 

 three important factors the lie of the ground, the 

 going, and the means of traction and the result was 

 that nothing could be better. Everything was in the 

 most perfect order. I had always had a high opinion of 

 the dog as a draught animal, but after this last per- 

 formance my admiration for these splendid animals rose to 

 the pitch of enthusiasm. Let us look at what my dogs 

 accomplished on this occasion: On February 14 they went 



