ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE AND RESEARCH 



give the party a chance of return were placed on board. 

 On November i8th Byrd had made a depot of fuel and 

 food at the foot of the Queen Maud Range in 85° 

 of latitude. Finally, on November 28th the local 

 meteorologists at Little America and also wireless in- 

 formation from Gould, then approaching the moun- 

 tains, indicated fair weather. At 3:29 p.m. Byrd set 

 out on his most hazardous flight. The great Ford 

 plane passed over Gould's sledges at 8:15, dropping 

 mail to them. His plane was so heavily laden that it 

 was not expedient to climb above twelve thousand feet, 

 and obviously he had not much margin in crossing the 

 ice divide at eleven thousand feet. On reaching the 

 great scarp Byrd decided to attempt the valley occupied 

 by the Liv Glacier, which lies just to the west of the 

 Axel Heiberg Glacier used by Amundsen. As they 

 climbed between the giant walls of the cafion it was 

 found necessary to lighten the plane. Byrd, accord- 

 ingly, risked his safe return and threw overboard nearly 

 half the store of food. He was flying only about three 

 hundred feet above the crevassed glacier. By mid- 

 night they had safely reached the plateau and were 

 approaching the South Pole last attained by Scott's 

 ill-fated party of five in January, 191 2. Around i :30 

 A.M. Byrd cruised about the Pole in order to be sure 

 of covering the exact region. In returning Byrd had 

 two checks on his direction. He could use the sun 

 compass, which was based on the known position of 

 the sun at the time of observation. He could also use 

 the magnetic compass, which was fairly reliable at that 

 distance from the South Magnetic Pole. The south- 



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