412 POLAR PROBLEMS 



basin at that point to be 3750 meters (12,300 feet), thus precluding the 

 likehhood of any land in the sector between the north pole and Green- 

 land-Spitsbergen. In addition the flight had shown that the meteoro- 

 logical conditions prevailing over the Arctic Basin offered no hindrance 

 to its successful exploration by the proper kind of aircraft. 



There were two things that most impressed me during ouf long 

 sojourn so near the pole. First was the stability of the meteorological 

 conditions in that isolated area — the winds blowing from the same 

 direction day after day, with a velocity just sufficient to keep our 

 Norwegian flag fully extended. The mean average temperature dur- 

 ing the first two weeks of our stay was 14° Fahrenheit (—10° C), 

 but on June 2, with the onset of Arctic summer, the fogs descended on 

 us and the thermometer rose to freezing and did not vary more than 

 4° F. during all the rest of our stay. Although the sun at that lati- 

 tude — so close to the pole — maintained practically the same altitude 

 above the horizon during the entire twenty-four hours, there was 

 always a drop of a few degrees during the night period. The second 

 thing that impressed me most was the manner in which we maintained 

 our strength to do hard manual labor on a diet consisting of liquid 

 food only — the equivalent of one half pound per day per man of nour- 

 ishment — a mug of weak chocolate morning and night, accompanied 

 by three small oat wafers, and a mug of pemmican soup at noon. 



The mournful sound of the wind blowing through the rigging of 

 our plane made us quick to seek shelter in its interior after our day's 

 labor of clearing. Although our four-walled compartment was of 

 metal and heavily coated with hoarfrost, it shut out the damp, fog- 

 bound waste in which we were but mites, a colorless waste that 

 seemed to reach into infinity. The scanty heat from the Primus 

 stove, together with that given out by our bodies, was sufficient to 

 raise the temperature above freezing. Nothing could dampen our 

 spirits. Spitsbergen was but eight hours away; maybe tomorrow we 

 should be on the way! Thus passed twenty-four days, but on the 

 twenty-fifth — the day we had actually set, two weeks previously, 

 to start on foot for the Greenland coast, 400 miles away, but which 

 we knew we could not reach — our efforts were rewarded, and one 

 plane, with six men in it, rose and left that prison forever. 



The Transpolar Flight of 1926 by Airship^ 



But our work was not yet finished. Beyond, to the northward, 

 between the pole and Alaska, still stretched the unknown — an area 

 twice the size of the United States east of the Mississippi River. 



For our next venture we decided to try an airship. A dirigible 

 was available in Italy that appeared to fit both our needs and the size 



2 Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth: First Crossing of the Polar Sea, New York, 1927. with 

 map showing route, 1:17,500,000, facing p. 138. 



