DANGEROUS CREVASSES 81 



on the way back. An observation we had contrived to 

 take while the work was in progress gave us our latitude 

 as 86° 21' S. This did not agree very well with the 

 latitude of our dead reckoning — 86° 23' S. Meanwhile 

 the fog had again enveloped everything, and a fine, 

 light snow was falling. We had taken a bearing of the 

 line of glacier that was most free of crevasses, and so we 

 moved on again. It was some time before we felt our 

 way up to the glacier. The crevasses at its foot were 

 not large, but we had no sooner entered upon the ascent 

 than the fun began. There was something uncanny 

 about this perfectly blind advance among crevasses and 

 chasms on all sides. We examined the compass from 

 time to time, and went forward cautiously. 



Hassel and I went in front on a rope ; but that, after 

 all, was not much of a help to our drivers. We naturally 

 glided lightly on our ski over places where the dogs 

 would easily fall through. This lowest part of the 

 glacier was not entirely free from danger, as the crevasses 

 were often rendered quite invisible by a thin overlying 

 layer of snow. In clear weather it is not so bad to have 

 to cross such a surface, as the effect of light and shade 

 is usually to show up the edges of these insidious pitfalls, 

 but on a day like this, when everything looked alike, 

 one's advance is doubtful. We kept it going, however, 

 by using the utmost caution. Wisting came near to 

 sounding the depth of one of these dangerous crevasses 

 with sledge, dogs and all, as the bridge he was about to 



