LAST VIEW OF THE BARRIER 45 



go a long way, but we also saw that the glacier forbade 

 us to use it in its full extent. Between the first and 

 second terraces the ice was evidently impassable. But 

 we could see that there was an unbroken ledge up on the 

 side of the mountain; Don Pedro would help us out. 

 On the north along the Nansen Mountain there was 

 nothing but chaos, perfectly impossible to get through. 

 We put up a big beacon where we were standing, and 

 took bearings from it all round the compass. 



I went back to the pass to look out over the Barrier 

 for the last time. The new mountain chain lay there 

 sharp and clear; we could see how it turned from the 

 east up to east-north-east, and finally disappeared in 

 the north-east — as we judged, about 84° S. From the 

 look of the sky, it appeared that the chain was continued 

 farther. According to the aneroid, the height of the 

 terrace on which we stood was 4,000 feet above the sea. 

 From here there was only one way down, and we began 

 to go. In making these descents with loaded sledges, 

 one has to use the greatest care, lest the speed increase 

 to such a degree that one loses command over the 

 sledge. If this happens, there is a danger, not only of 

 running over the dogs, but of colliding with the sledge 

 in front and smashing it. This was all the more im- 

 portant in our case, as the sledges carried sledge-meters. 

 We therefore put brakes of rope under our runners 

 when we were to go downhill. This was done very 

 simply by taking a few turns with a thin piece of rope 



