712 ATSTNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



ice blocks on the mountain. This mountain was christened "Helmer- 

 Hansen Mountain," and became our best point of reference. There 

 we saw also the ''Oscar Wis ting Mountains," the "Olav Bjaaland 

 Mountains," the ''Sverre Hassel Mountains," which, dark and red, 

 glittered in the rays of the midnight sun and reflected a white and 

 blue Hght. In the distance the mountains seen before loomed up 

 romantically; they looked very high when one saw them through the 

 thick clouds and masses of fog which passed over them from time 

 to time and occasionally allowed us to catch glimpses of their mighty 

 peaks and their broken glaciers. For the first time we saw the 

 ''Thorvald Nilsen Mountain," which has a height of 16,400 feet. 



It took us three days to climb the "Devil's Glacier." On the 1st 

 of December we had left behmd us this glacier with its crevasses and 

 bottomless pits and were now at an elevation of 9,350 feet above sea 

 level. In front of us lay an inclined block-covered ice plateau which, 

 in the fog and snow, had the appearance of a frozen lake. Traveling 

 over this "Devil's Ball Room," as we called the plateau, was not 

 particularly pleasant. Southeasterly storms and snow flurries oc- 

 curred daily, durmg which we could see absolutely nothing. The 

 floor on which we were walking was hollow beneath us; it sounded 

 as if we were going over empty barrels. We crossed this disagree- 

 able and uncanny region as quickly as was compatible with the great 

 care we had to exercise, for during the whole time we were thinking 

 of the unwelcome possibility of sinking through. 



On December 6 we reached our highest point — according to hypso- 

 metric measurement 11,024 feet above sea level. From there on the 

 interior plateau remained entirely level and of the same elevation. 

 In 88° 23' S. we had reached the place which corresponded to Shack- 

 leton's southernmost advance. We camped in 88° 25' S. and estab- 

 lished there our last — the tenth — depot, in which we left 220 pounds 

 of provisions. Our way now gradually led downward. The sur- 

 face was in excellent condition, entirely level, without a single hill 

 or undulation or other obstacle. Our sleds forged ahead to per- 

 fection; the weather was beautiful; we daily covered 17 miles. Noth- 

 ing prevented us from increasing our daily distance. But we had 

 time enough and ample provisions; we thought it wiser, also, to spare 

 our dogs and not to work them harder than necessary. Without a 

 mishap we reached the eighty-ninth parallel on December 11. It 

 seemed as if we had come into a region where good weather con- 

 stantly prevails. The surest sign of continued calm weather was the 

 absolutely level sm-face. We could push a tent pole 7 feet deep into 

 the snow without meeting with any resistance. Tliis proved clearly 

 enough that the snow had fallen in equable weather; calm must have 

 prevailed or a slight breeze may have blown at the most. Had the 



