54 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 



the huge crevasses had formerly existed, but now they 

 were entirely filled up, and formed one with the surround- 

 ing level. We could now see right to the end of this 

 mighty glacier, and form some idea of its proportions. 

 Mount Wilhelm Christophersen and Mount Ole Engel- 

 stad formed the end of it; these two beehive-shaped 

 summits, entirely covered with snow, towered high into 

 the sky. We understood now that the last of the ascent 

 was before us, and that what we saw in the distance 

 between these two mountains was the great plateau 

 itself. The question, then, was to find a way up, and to 

 conquer this last obstruction in the easiest manner. In 

 the radiantly clear air we could see the smallest details 

 with our excellent prismatic glasses, and make our 

 calculations with great confidence. It would be possible 

 to clamber up Don Pedro himself; we had done things 

 as difficult before. But here the side of the mountain 

 was fairly steep, and full of big crevasses and a fearful 

 quantity of gigantic blocks of ice. Between Don Pedro 

 and WiUiehn Christophersen an arm of the glacier went 

 up on to the plateau, but it was so disturbed and broken 

 up that it could not be used. Between Wilhelm 

 Christophersen and Ole Engelstad there was no means 

 of getting through. Between Ole Engelstad and Fridtjof 

 Nansen, on the other hand, it looked more promising, 

 but as yet the first of these mountains obstructed our 

 view so much that we could not decide with certainty. 

 We were all three rather tired, but agreed to continue 



