EXPEDITION TO SOUTH POLE AMUNDSEN. 711 



Farther down toward the west at the end of the glacier "Ole 

 Engelstad Mountain" rises to an elevation of about 13,000 feet. At 

 this relative!}'- narrow place the glacier was very hummocky and rent 

 by many deep crevasses, so that we often feared that we could not 

 advance farther. On the following day we reached a slightly inclined 

 plateau which we assumed to be the same which Shackleton de- 

 scribes. Our dogs accomplished a feat on this day which is so 

 remarkable that it should be mentioned here. After having already 

 done heavy work on the preceding days, they covered 19 miles 

 on this day and overcame a difference in altitude of 5,700 feet. On 

 the follo^\'ing night we camped at a place which lay 10,800 feet above 

 sea level. The time had now come when we were forced to kill 

 some of our dogs. Twenty-four of our faithful comrades had to die. 

 The place where this happened was named the "Slaughterhouse." 

 On account of bad weather we had to stay here for four days. Dur- 

 ing this stay both we and the dogs had nothing except dog meat to 

 eat. When we could at last start again on November 26, the meat of 

 10 dogs only remained. This we deposited at our camp; fresh meat 

 would furnish a welcome change on our return. During the follow- 

 ing davs we had stormy weather and thick snow flurries, so that we 

 could see nothing of the surrounding countr}'. We observed, how- 

 ever, that we were descending rapidly. For a moment, when the 

 weather improved for a short time, we saw high mountains directly 

 to the east. During the heavy snow squall on November 28 we 

 passed two peculiarly shaped mountains lying in a north-south 

 direction; they were the only ones that we could see on our right hand. 

 These "Helland-Hansen Mountains" were entirely covered by snow 

 and had an altitude of 9,200 feet. Later they served as an excellent 

 landmark for us. 



On the next day the clouds parted and the sun burst forth. It 

 seemed to us as if we had been transferred to a totally new country. 

 In the direction of our advance rose a large glacier, and to the east 

 of it lay a mountain range running from southeast to northwest. 

 Towaid the west impenetrable fog lay over the glacier and obscured 

 even our immediate surroundings. A measurement by hypsometer 

 gave 8,200 feet for the point lying at the foot of this, the ''Devil's 

 Glacier." We had therefore descended 2,600 feet since leaving the 

 "Slaughterhouse." This was not an agreeable discovery as we 

 no doubt would have to ascend as much again, if not more. We 

 left provisions here for six days and continued our march. 



From the camp of that night we had a superb view of the eastern 

 mountain range. Belonging to it we saw a mountain of more won- 

 derful form than I have ever seen before. The altitude of the moun- 

 tain was 12,300 feet; its peaks roundabout were covered by a glacier. 

 It looked as if Nature, in a fit of anger, had dropped sharp cornered 



