THE DEVIL'S BALLROOM 103 



Then ski were put on again, and we continued our way 

 to the south with satisfaction. 



We were all rejoicing that we had now conquered 

 this treacherous glacier, and congratulating ourselves 

 on having at last arrived on the actual plateau. As we 

 were going along, feeling pleased about this, a ridge 

 suddenly appeared right ahead, telling us plainly that 

 perhaps all our sorrows were not yet ended. The 

 ground had begun to sink a little, and as we came 

 nearer we could see that we had to cross a rather wide, 

 but not deep, valley before we arrived under the ridge. 

 Great lines of hummocks and haycock-shaped pieces of 

 ice came in view on every side; we could see that we 

 should have to keep our ej^es open. 



And now we came to the formation in the glacier 

 that we called the Devil's Ballroom. Little by little 

 the covering of snow that we had praised in such 

 high terms disappeared, and before us lay this wide 

 valley, bare and gleaming. At first it went well 

 enough; as it was downhill, we were going at a good 

 pace on the smooth ice. Suddenly Wisting's sledge 

 cut into the surface, and turned over on its side. We 

 all knew what had happened — one of the runners was 

 in a crevasse. Wisting set to work, with the assistance 

 of Hassel, to raise the sledge, and take it out of its 

 dangerous position; meanwhile Bjaaland had got out 

 his camera and was setting it up. Accustomed as we 

 were to such incidents, Hanssen and I were watching 



