6 THE START FOR THE POLE 



time, and were beginning to get near the ugly trap, 

 forty-six and a half miles from the house, that had been 

 found on the last depot journey, so we had to be careful. 

 The next day, the 21st, brought very thick weather: 

 a strong breeze from the south-east, with thick driving 

 snow. It would not have been a day for crossing the 

 trap if we had not found our old tracks. It was true 

 that we could not see them far, but we could still see the 

 direction they took. So as to be quite safe, I now set 

 our course north-east by east — two points east was the 

 original course. And compared with our old tracks, 

 this looked right, as the new course was considerably 

 more easterly than the direction of the tracks. One last 

 glance over the camping-ground to see whether anything 

 was forgotten, and then into the blizzard. It was really 

 vile weather, snowing from above and drifting from 

 below, so that one was quite blinded. We could not 

 see far; very often we on the last sledge had difficulty 

 in seeing the first. Bjaaland was next in front of us. 

 For a long time we had been going markedly downhill, 

 and this was not in accordance with our reckoning; but 

 in that weather one could not make much of a reckon- 

 ing. We had several times passed over crevasses, but 

 none of any size. Suddenly we saw Bjaaland's sledge 

 sink over. He jumped off and seized the trace. The 

 sledge lay on its side for a few seconds, then began to 

 sink more and more, and finally disappeared altogether. 

 Bjaaland had got a good purchase in the snow, and the 



