Therefore, when the man is there, it carries him through all difficulties as if they did not exist; every one of them has been foreseen and encountered in advance.  Let no one come and prate about luck and chance.  Amundsen’s luck is that of the strong man who looks ahead.

How like him and the whole expedition is his telegram home —­ as simple and straightforward as if it concerned a holiday tour in the mountains.  It speaks of what is achieved, not of their hardships.  Every word a manly one.  That is the mark of the right man, quiet and strong.

It is still too early to measure the extent of the new discoveries, but the cablegram has already dispersed the mists so far that the outlines are beginning to shape themselves.  That fairyland of ice, so different from all other lands, is gradually rising out of the clouds.

In this wonderful world of ice Amundsen has found his own way.  From first to last he and his companions have traversed entirely unknown regions on their ski, and there are not many expeditions in history that have brought under the foot of man so long a range of country hitherto unseen by human eye.  People thought it a matter of course that he would make for Beardmore Glacier, which Shackleton had discovered, and by that route come out on to the high snow plateau near the Pole, since there he would be sure of getting forward.  We who knew Amundsen thought it would be more like him to avoid a place for the very reason that it had been trodden by others.  Happily we were right.  Not at any point does his route touch that of the Englishmen —­ except by the Pole itself.

This is a great gain to research.  When in a year’s time we have Captain Scott back safe and sound with all his discoveries and observations on the other route, Amundsen’s results will greatly increase in value, since the conditions will then be illuminated from two sides.  The simultaneous advance towards the Pole from two separate points was precisely the most fortunate thing that could happen for science.  The region investigated becomes so much greater, the discoveries so many more, and the importance of the observations is more than doubled, often multiplied many times.  Take, for instance, the meteorological conditions:  a single series of observations from one spot no doubt has its value, but if we get a simultaneous series from another spot in the same region, the value of both becomes very much greater, because we then have an opportunity of understanding the movements of the atmosphere.  And so with other investigations.  Scott’s expedition will certainly bring back rich and important results in many departments, but the value of his observations will also be enhanced when placed side by side with Amundsen’s.

An important addition to Amundsen’s expedition to the Pole is the sledge journey of Lieutenant Prestrud and his two companions eastward to the unknown King Edward VII.  Land, which Scott discovered in 1902.  It looks rather as if this land was connected with the masses of land and immense mountain-chains that Amundsen found near the Pole.  We see new problems looming up.