empty sledges down to the ship was often particularly troublesome.  From this point the dogs could hear their companions on the other side of Nelson in the lower camp, and then it happened more than once that the dogs took command.  If they once got in the humour for playing tricks of that sort, it was by no means easy to get them under control.  We all of us had this experience without exception.  Not one of us escaped this little extra turn.  As the provisions came up each driver took them off his sledge, and laid the cases in the order in which they should lie.  We began by placing each sort by itself in small groups over the slope.  This plan had the advantage that everything would be easy to find.  The load was usually 660 pounds, or 6 cases to each sledge.  We had about 900 cases to bring up, and reckoned that we should have them all in place in the course of a week.  Everything went remarkably well according to our reckoning.

By noon on Saturday, January 28, the hut was ready, and all the 900 cases were in place.  The depot of provisions had quite an imposing appearance.  Great rows of cases stood in the snow, all with their numbers outward, so that we could find what we wanted at once.  And there was the house, all finished, exactly as it had stood in its native place on Bundefjord.  But it would be difficult to imagine more different surroundings:  there, green pinewoods and splashing water; here, ice, nothing but ice.  But both scenes were beautiful; I stood thinking which I preferred.  My thoughts travelled far —­ thousands of miles in a second.  It was the forest that gained the day.

As I have already mentioned, we had everything with us for fastening the but down to the Barrier, but the calm weather we had had all the time led us to suppose that the conditions would not be so bad as we had expected.  We were therefore satisfied with the foundation dug in the Barrier.  The outside of the but was tarred, and the roof covered with tarred paper, so that it was very visible against the white surroundings.  That afternoon we broke up both camps, and moved into our home, “Framheim.”  What a snug, cosy, and cleanly impression it gave us when we entered the door!  Bright, new linoleum everywhere —­ in the kitchen as well as in our living-room.  We had good reason to be happy.  Another important point had been got over, and in much shorter time than I had ever hoped.  Our path to the goal was opening up; we began to have a glimpse of the castle in the distance.  The Beauty is still sleeping, but the kiss is coming, the kiss that shall wake her!

It was a happy party that assembled in the hut the first evening, and drank to the future to the music of the gramophone.  All the full-grown dogs were now brought up here, and were fastened to wire ropes stretched in a square, 50 yards on each side.  It may be believed that they gave us some music.  Collected as they were, they performed under the leadership of some great singer or other daily, and, what was