CHAPTER XXXIII 



GOOD BY TO THE POLE 



WE turned our backs upon the Pole at about 

 four o'clock of the afternoon of April 7. 

 Some effort has been made to give an 

 adequate impression of the joy with which that remote 

 spot had been reached, but however much pleasure we 

 experienced upon reaching it, I left it with only that 

 tinge of sadness that sometimes flashes over one at 

 the thought, "This scene my eyes will never see again." 



Our pleasure at being once more upon the home- 

 ward trail was somewhat lessened by a distinct feeling 

 of anxiety with regard to the task that still lay before 

 us. All the plans for the expedition were formulated 

 quite as much with an eye toward a safe return from 

 the Pole as toward the task of reaching it. The North 

 Pole expedition has some relation to the problem of 

 flying: a good many people have found that, while 

 it was not so very difficult to fly, the difficulties of 

 alighting in safety were more considerable. 



It will be remembered, doubtless, that the greatest 

 dangers of the expedition of 1905-06 were encountered 

 not upon the upward journey, but in the course of our 

 return from our farthest north over the polar ice, 

 for it was then that we encountered the implacable 

 "Big Lead, "whose perils so nearly encompassed the 

 destruction of the entire party. And it will be further 



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