76 THROUGH THE INIOUNTAINS 



from here to the Pole Hassel and I took it in turns to 

 occupy the position. 



The weather improved in the course of the day, and 

 when we camped in the afternoon it looked quite 

 smihng. The sun came through and gave a delightful 

 warmth after the last few bitter days. It was not yet 

 clear, so that we could see nothing of our surroundings. 

 The distance according to our three sledge-meters was 

 eighteen and a half miles; taking the bad going into 

 consideration, we had reason to be well satisfied with it. 

 Our altitude came out at 9,475 feet above the sea, or a 

 drop of 825 feet in the course of the day. This surprised 

 me greatly. What did it mean? Instead of rising 

 gradually, we were going slowly down. Something 

 extraordinary must await us farther on, but what? 

 According to dead reckoning our latitude that evening 

 was 86° S. 



November 27 did not bring us the desired weather; 

 the night was filled with sharp gusts from the north; 

 the morning came with a slack wind, but accompanied 

 by mist and snowfall. This was abominable; here we 

 were, advancing over absolutely virgin ground, and able 

 to see nothing. The surface remained about the same 

 — possibly rather more undulating. That it had been 

 blowing here at some time, and violently too, was shown 

 bv the under-surface, which was composed of sastmgi 

 as hard as iron. Luckily for us, the snowfall of the last 

 few days had filled these up, so as to present a level 



