ch. lxi] Amundsen's jotirney to the Sotith Pole 483 
great rapidity — "a four days' pleasure- trip/' Amundsen 
called it. They were no less favoured in finding Ross 
Sea free from icebergs, and on January nth they reached 
the Great Barrier and altered course due east for the 
Bay of Whales, their destination, which they reached on 
the following day. Their hut was in 78 0 40' S. and 
i64°W., three miles from the edge of the Barrier, and 
150 ft. above the sea. Great herds of seals were found 
here — Weddell's seals and "crab-eaters" — but at that 
time not many penguins. The crew were now divided into 
two parties. It had been decided to despatch the Fram 
on an oceanographical cruise while the Polar journey was 
attempted, and with her went ten men under Capt. 
Nilsen. The party to be left on shore consisted of eight. 
Without loss of time the hut, "Framheim," which had 
been brought out in pieces, was erected, and the party 
set to work to shoot and store seals, of which they soon 
had a pile of 100 or more. On February 4th Capt. Scott's 
ship, the Terra Nova, entered the bay on its way from 
M'Murdo Sound. 
On February 10th the first expedition for the placing 
of depots started; it consisted of four men and three 
sledges, each drawn by six dogs, and left a depot in Lat. 
8o° S., a distance of 93 miles, which took them 4J days. 
They drove back in two days, running no less than 62 
miles in one day. On February 22nd the second depot 
expedition started, consisting of eight men, seven sledges, 
and 42 dogs. They passed the depot in 8o° S., and reached 
8i° S. on March 3rd, where they left a depot of 1234 lb. 
of dogs' pemmican, and three men returned. They 
flagged their depots for a distance of 5| miles at right 
angles on each side, the flags being about 1000 yards 
apart, so that they should be sure of not missing them. 
The weather was very cold for the season, - 49 0 Fahr. 
Five days later, March 8th, Lat. 82 0 S. was attained, and 
1370 lb. of pemmican placed in depot. But the dogs 
had suffered greatly and they could not get farther. They 
got back to the base March 21st, having lost 8 dogs 
altogether. On March 31st the third depot party left 
for Lat. 82 0 S., returning April nth, and by the time winter 
arrived they had a total of 3 tons of supplies in their 
depots. 
31—2 
