SNOW SETTLING 385 



build two snow-huts. The snow was not good for 

 this purpose, but, by fetching blocks from all sides, we 

 managed to put up the huts. Hanssen built one and 

 Wisting the other. In a temperature such as we now 

 had, a snow-hut is greatly preferable to a tent, and 

 we felt quite comfortable when we came in and got the 

 Primus going. That night we heard a strange noise 

 round us. I looked under my bag to see whether we 

 had far to drop, but there was no sign of a disturbance 

 anywhere. In the other hut they had heard nothing. 

 We afterwards discovered that the sound was only due 

 to snow " settling." By this expression I mean the 

 movement that takes place when a large extent of the 

 snow surface breaks and sinks (settles down). This 

 movement gives one the idea that the ground is sink- 

 ing under one, and it is not a pleasant feeling. 

 It is followed by a dull roar, which often makes the 

 dogs jump into the air and their drivers, too, for that 

 matter. Once we heard this booming on the plateau so 

 loud that it seemed like the thunder of cannon. We 

 soon grew accustomed to it. 



Next day the temperature was - 62'5 F., calm, and 

 perfectly clear. We did eighteen and a half miles, and 

 kept our course as well as we could with the help of 

 the sun. It was - 69'3 F. when we camped. This 

 time I had done a thing that I have always been 

 opposed to: I had brought spirits with me in the form 



of a bottle of Norwegian aquavit and a bottle of gin. 

 VOL. i. 25 



