A RISKY WALK 127 



case, to lighten the sledges as much as possible for the 

 return journey. 



Thus equipped, and with thirty biscuits as an extra 

 ration, the three men started off in the directions laid 

 down. Their march was by no means free from danger, 

 and does great honour to those who undertook it, not 

 merely without raising the smallest objection, but with 

 the greatest keenness. Let us consider for a moment 

 the risk they ran. Our tent on the boundless plain, 

 without marks of any kind, may very well be compared 

 with a needle in a haystack. From this the three men 

 were to steer out for a distance of twelve and a half 

 miles. Compasses would have been good things to take 

 on such a walk, but our sledge-compasses were too 

 heavy and unsuitable for carrying. They therefore had 

 to go without. They had the sun to go by, certainly, 

 when they started, but who could say how long it would 

 last? The weather was then fine enough, but it was 

 impossible to guarantee that no sudden change would 

 take place. If by bad luck the sun should be hidden, 

 then their own tracks might help them. But to trust 

 to tracks in these regions is a dangerous thing. Before 

 you know where you are the whole plain may be one mass 

 of driving snow, obliterating all tracks as soon as they 

 are made. With the rapid changes of weather we had so 

 often experienced, such a thing was not impossible. 

 That these three risked their lives that morning, when 

 they left the tent at 2.30, there can be no doubt at all, 



