248 DEPOT JOURNEYS 



the situation was too comical. Hanssen picked himself 

 up again just as the last sledge was passing and jumped 

 on. We all collected in a mass below the ridge 

 sledges and dogs mixed up together. 



The last part of the way was rather hard work. We 

 now found the tracks that we had lost early in the day; 

 one dried fish after another stuck up out of the snow 

 and led us straight on. We reached Framheim at seven 

 in the evening, half an hour earlier than we had thought. 

 It was a day's march of thirty-seven miles not so bad 

 for exhausted dogs. Lassesen was the only one I 

 brought home out of my team. Odin, whom I had 

 sent home from 81 S., died after arriving there. We 

 lost altogether eight dogs on this trip; two of Stub- 

 berud's died immediately after coming home from 81 S. 

 Probably the cold was chiefly responsible; I feel sure 

 that with a reasonable temperature they would have 

 come through. The three men who came home from 

 81 S. were safe and sound. It is true that they had 

 run short of food and matches the last day, but if the 



/ ' 



worst came to the worst, they had the dogs. Since their 

 return they had shot, brought in, cut up, and stowed 

 away, fifty seals a very good piece of work. 



Lindstrom had been untiring during our absence; he 

 had put everything in splendid order. In the covered 

 passage round the hut he had cut out shelves in the 

 snow and filled them with slices of seal meat. Here 

 alone there were steaks enough for the whole time we 



