26 THE START FOR THE POLE 



a temperatui'e, although it did blow a little. The day- 

 after we had a light breeze from the north. The heavy- 

 going of the day before had completely disappeared; 

 instead of it we had the best surface one could desire, 

 and it made our dogs break into a brisk gallop. That 

 was the day we were to reach the depot in 82° S., but 

 as it was extremely thick, our chances of doing so were 

 small. In the course of the afternoon the distance was 

 accomplished, but no depot was visible. However, our 

 range of vision was nothing to boast of — ten sledge- 

 lengths; not more. The most sensible thing to do, 

 under the circumstances, was to camp and wait till it 

 cleared. 



At four o'clock next morning the sun broke through. 

 We let it get warm and disperse the fog, and then 

 went out. What a morning it was — radiantly clear 

 and mild. So still, so still lay the mighty desert before 

 us, level and white on every side. But, no; there in 

 the distance the level was broken: there was a touch of 

 colour on the white. The third important point was 

 reached, the extreme outpost of civilization. Our last 

 depot lay before us ; that was an unspeakable relief. The 

 victory now seemed half won. In the fog we had come 

 about three and a half miles too far to the west; but 

 we now saw that if we had continued our march the 

 day before, we should liave come right into our line of 

 flags. There they stood, flag after flag, and the little 

 strip of black cloth seemed to wave quite proudly, as 



