EXPLORING THE WAY 53 



glacier; to all appearance it was free from disturbance. 

 We saw some crevasses, of course, but they were far 

 apart, and did not give us the idea that they would 

 be a hindrance. But we were still too far from the 

 spot to be able to draw any certain conclusions as to 

 the character of the ground; we therefore set off 

 towards the bottom to examine the conditions more 

 closely. The surface was loose up here, and the snow 

 fairly deep; our ski slipped over it well, but it would 

 be heavy for dogs. We advanced rapidly, and soon 

 came to the huge crevasses. They were big enough 

 and deep enough, but so scattered that, without much 

 trouble, we could find a way between them. The 

 hollow between the two mountains, which was filled 

 by the Heiberg Glacier, grew narrower and narrower 

 towards the end, and, although appearances were still 

 very pleasant, I expected to find some disturbance when 

 we arrived at the point where the mountain-side passed 

 into the glacier. But my fears proved groundless; by 

 keeping right under Don Pedro we went clear of all 

 trouble, and in a short time, to our great joy, we found 

 ourselves above and beyond that chaotic part of the 

 Heiberg Glacier which had completely barred our 

 progress. 



Up here all was strangely peaceful; the mountain- 

 side and the glacier united in a great flat terrace — a 

 plain, one might call it — without disturbance of any 

 kind. We could see depressions in the surface where 



