FIRST CROSSING OF ANTARCTICA— ELLSWORTH 313 



purely in the nature of discovery, to open the way for future research 

 to follow. To achieve my purpose I believed that, by carrying suffi- 

 cient food and equipment in the plane, we could, if required, spend 

 several weeks on the journey, and if by chance our plane was wrecked, 

 we could either hold out until my ship could return to civilization, 

 pick up another plane, and come to our rescue, or else meet us at a 

 predetermined point to which we might walk, and where we might 

 find additional native food. 



Adequate radio precaution would assure us of communication with 

 our base at all times, and to cover this I prepared not only for two-way 

 radio communication from the plane but carried as well a complete 

 engine generator set for use when the plane was on the ground, and a 

 complete hand-driven set for use when sledging. This, we beUeved, 

 would take care of all emergencies. But we were wrong, for during 

 our flight a terminal inside the sending set, and which we could not 

 reach, burned out. While we were on the ground between flights we 

 maintained the prearranged schedules three times daily, but the 

 signals sent out by the engine generator set were never heard. The 

 oil in the hand-driven generator froze stiff and stripped its gears. 



Believing that we had ample fuel, we did not conserve our supply 

 either when climbing to high altitudes over Hearst Land or during the 

 various landings, and this brought us to a landing out of fuel when 

 within 16 miles of our goal. There was no useful radio gear at Little 

 America, and with a frozen foot and considering the difficulties of 

 crossing the terribly crevassed area and pressure ridges which lay 

 between Little America and our plane, I did not think it possible to 

 haul equipment and fuel sufficient to bring the machine to Little 

 America, where in time it might have been possible to repair the 

 wireless set. So after the set failed, when we were about half-way 

 across the Antarctic continent, we were out of touch with our base. 

 We did, however, pick up time signals on three separate days from a 

 station at Buenos Aires, and this made it possible for us to check up 

 on our chronometers and establish our positions. 



With the exception of our wireless, our equipment served its purpose 

 admirably. There was no difficulty with the airplane equipment 

 because of the cold. Wherever we landed on the plateau surface the 

 snow was smooth and hard packed. The skis sank less than an inch, 

 and we had no difficulty in landing or taking off, or in securing our 

 plane so that it was safe during the blizzards we experienced. This 

 shows that a carefully selected macliine and suitable equipment, in 

 the hands of a skilled pilot, will serve for preliminary reconnaissance 

 in the Antarctic. Even in the mountainous areas we crossed in Hearst 

 Land, there appeared to be many places, which would be difficult to 

 reach by dog team, where we could have landed safely. 



