BACK ON THE LINE 13 



ing chasm. Hanssen cast a last regretful glance upon 

 it, and then turned back. 



We could now see all our surroundings clearly. This 

 place lay, as we had remarked before, in a hollow; we 

 followed it round, and came up the rise on the south 

 without accident. Here we caught sight of one of our 

 flags ; it stood to the east of us, and thus confirmed our 

 suspicion that we had been going too far to the west. 

 We had one more contact with the broken ground, 

 having to cross some crevasses and pass a big hole; but 

 then it was done, and we could once more rejoice in 

 having solid ice beneath us. Hanssen, however, was 

 not satisfied till he had been to look into the hole. In 

 the evening we reached the two snow-huts we had built 

 on the last trip, and we camped there, twenty-six miles 

 from the depot. The huts were drifted up with snow, 

 so we left them in peace, and as the weather was now 

 so mild and fine, we preferred the tent. 



It had been an eventful day, and we had reason to 

 be satisfied that we had come off so easily. The going 

 had been good, and it had all gone like a game. When 

 we started the next morning it was overcast and thick, 

 and before we had gone very far we were in the midst 

 of a south-wester, with snow so thick that we could 

 hardly see ten sledge-lengths ahead of us. We had 

 intended to reach the depot that day, but if this con- 

 tinued, it was more than doubtful whether we should 

 find it. Meanwhile we put on the pace. It was a long 



