CHRISTMAS EVE 141 



the result was pulverized biscuit. With this product 

 and a sausage of dried milk, Wisting succeeded in 

 making a capital dish of Christmas porridge. I doubt 

 whether anyone at home enjoyed his Christmas dinner 

 so much as we did that morning in the tent. One of 

 Bjaaland's cigars to follow brought a festival spirit over 

 the whole camp. 



Another thing we had to rejoice about that day was 

 that we had again reached the summit of the plateau, 

 and after two or three more days' march would begin to 

 go downhill, finally reaching the Barrier and our old 

 haunts. Our daily march had hitherto been interrupted 

 by one or two halts; we stopped to rest both the dogs 

 and ourselves. On Christmas Eve we instituted a new 

 order of things, and did the whole distance — fifteen 

 geographical miles — without a stop. We liked this 

 arrangement best, after all, and it seemed as if the 

 dogs did the same. As a rule it was hard to begin the 

 march again after the rest; one got rather stiff — lazy, 

 too, perhaps — and had to become supple again. 



On the 26th we passed 88° S., going well. The 

 surface appeared to have been exposed to powerful 

 sunshine since we left it, as it had become quite 

 polished. Going over these polished levels was like 

 crossing smooth ice, but with the important difference 

 that here the dogs had a. good foothold. This time we 

 sighted high land even in 88°, and it had great surprises 

 in store for us. It was clear that this was the same 



