230 DEPOT JOURNEYS 



were stiff in the legs in the morning and difficult to 

 set going. 



On February 27, at 10.30 a.m., we reached the depot 

 in 80 S. The depot was standing as we had left it, 

 and no snow-drifts had formed about it, from which we 

 concluded that the weather conditions had been quiet. 

 The snow, which we had found very loose when we 

 were there before, was now hardened by the cold. We 

 were lucky with the sun, and got the position of the 

 depot accurately determined. 



On our way across these endless plains, where no 

 landmarks of any kind are to be found, we had repeatedly 

 thought of a means of marking our depots so that we 

 might be perfectly sure of finding them again. Our 

 fight for the Pole was entirely dependent on this autumn 

 work, in laying down large supplies of provisions as far 

 to the south as possible in such a way that we could be 

 certain of finding them again. If we missed them, the 

 battle would probably be lost. As I have said, we had 

 discussed the question thoroughly, and come to the con- 

 clusion that we should have to try to mark our depots 

 at right angles to the route, in an east and west direc- 

 tion, instead of in a line with the route, north and south. 

 These marks along the line of the route may easily be 

 missed in fog, if they are not close enough together ; and 

 if one thus gets out of the line, there is a danger of not 

 picking it up again. According to this new arrange- 

 ment we therefore marked this depot in 80 S. with 



