208 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
high mountains. Here he was so fortu- 
nate as to find a glacier route up to the 
inland plateau easier than the Beardmore 
Glacier, which was used by Shackleton 
to ascend to the inland plateau three 
years before. 
Amundsen and four companions ac- 
complished the ascent from the ice plain 
to the plateau, 10,500 feet, in the mar- 
velously short time of four days. He 
was now about 275 miles from the pole, 
and thence onward his greatest difficul- 
ties were encountered. The rare atmos- 
phere at this high elevation made breath- 
ing difficult. Storms delayed them, but 
they pushed on and reached the pole 
December 14, staying there for three 
days. The pole is at an elevation of 
10,500 feet. Amundsen reports a lofty 
chain of mountains, some attaining 
15,000 feet; extending southeastward as 
far as he could see. The chain is proba- 
bly an extension of the lofty range seen 
by Shackleton, and probably stretches 
across the South Polar area to Waddell 
Sea. 
Shackleton in 1909 reached a point so 
near the South Pole that we have known 
pretty accurately the conditions at that 
extreme point, so that the part of 
Amundsen's narrative dealing with the 
pole itself, while highly entertaining, is 
not so important or so novel as it would 
otherwise have been. 
Amundsen owes his success to his very 
carefully prepared equipment, to his 
splendid dogs and his skill in handling 
them, and to many years of previous 
experience in battling with the ice and 
snow of the far North. Next to Peary, 
he is the most experienced traveler on 
ice in the world. The following notes 
from his cable to the New York Times, 
to whom the world is indebted for his 
story, illustrate the minute care with 
which every detail was anticipated: 
"Washing was a luxury never in- 
dulged in on the journey, nor was there 
any shaving; but, as the beard has to be 
kept short, to prevent ice accumulating 
from one's breath, a beard- cutting ma- 
chine which we had taken along proved 
invaluable. Another article taken was a 
tooth extractor, and this also proved 
valuable, for one man had a tooth which 
became so bad that it was absolutely 
essential that it should be pulled out, and 
this could hardly have been done without 
a proper instrument. 
"For food we relied entirely on pem- 
mican, biscuits, chocolate, powdered 
milk, and, of course, dog meat. The 
dogs were fed on pemmican. 
"In my opinion we had the best and 
most satisfying provisions possible. In. 
fact, from the beginning to the end of the 
journey we never felt an undue cravings 
for something to eat or any feeling of 
not having had sufficient nourishment."" 
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PANAMA 
CANAL 
A GRAPHIC picture of the entire 
Panama Canal is given in the 
"Bird's-eye View of the Panama Canal," 
published as a supplement to this number 
of the Magazine. The great features, 
which make the canal so remarkable- — 
the giant Gatun Dam and spillway, the 
enormous cut at Culebra, the big arti- 
ficial lake which forms about one-half of 
the canal route, and the long double 
locks — are presented so clearly that the 
reader vividly realizes the entire work. 
For the convenience of the readers of 
the Magazine, a limited edition of the 
map has been printed on heavy stock 
suitable for framing, and may be ob- 
tained at the offices of the Society for 
50 cents per copy. 
IMPORTANT NOTICE 
THE very great popularity of the 
Magazine during the last several 
months, which has necessitated increas- 
ing the edition by more than 50 per cent, 
delayed the publication of the January 
and February numbers. The March 
number will follow very quickly, and we 
hope soon to catch up with the calendar. 
The March number of the Magazine 
will contain a comprehensive map of 
China and its territories, iS^/^ x 21 
inches. 
