126 AT THE POLE 



continuation of that course. To carry out this work 

 I had chosen Wisting, Hassel, and Bjaaland. Having 

 concluded our observations, we put the kettle on to 

 give ourselves a drop of chocolate; the pleasure of 

 standing out there in rather light attire had not exactly 

 put warmth into our bodies. As we were engaged in 

 swallowing the scalding drink, Bjaaland suddenly ob- 

 served: "I'd like to tackle this encircling straight 

 away. We shall have lots of time to sleep when we 

 get back." Hassel and Wisting were quite of the same 

 opinion, and it was agreed that they should start the 

 work immediately. Here we have yet another example 

 of the good spirit that prevailed in our little community. 

 We had only lately come in from our day's work — - 

 a march of about eighteen and a half miles — and now 

 they were asking to be allowed to go on another 

 twenty-five miles. It seemed as if these fellows could 

 never be tired. We therefore turned this meal into 

 a little breakfast — that is to say, each man ate what he 

 wanted of his bread ration, and then they began to get 

 ready for the work. First, three small bags of light 

 windproof stuff were made, and in each of these was 

 placed a paper, giving the position of our camp. In 

 addition, each of them carried a large square flag of the 

 same dark brown material, which could be easily seen 

 at a distance. As flag-poles we elected to use our spare 

 sledge-runners, which were both long — 12 feet — and 

 strong, and which we were going to take ofl' here in any 



