it by a large snow-hut, in which we were to have a vapour bath.  That was something like a plan —­ a vapour bath in 79deg.S.  Hanssen, snow-hut builder by profession, went to work at it.  He built it quite small and solid, and extended it downward, so that, when at last it was finished, it measured 12 feet from floor to roof.  Here we should have plenty of room to fit up a vapour bath.  Meanwhile the tunnellers were advancing; we could hear the sound of their pickaxes and spades coming nearer and nearer.  This was too much for Hanssen.  As he had now finished the hut, he set to work to dig his way to the others; and when he begins a thing, it does not take him very long.  We could hear the two parties continually nearing each other.  The excitement increases.  Will they meet?  Or are they digging side by side on different lines?  The Simplon, Mont Cenis, and other engineering works, flashed through my brain.  If they were going to hit it off, we must be —­ hullo!  I was interrupted in my studies by a glistening face, which was thrust through the wall just as I was going to dig my spade into it.  It was Wisting, pioneer of the Framheim tunnel.  He had good reason to be glad he escaped with his nose safe and sound.  In another instant I should have had it on my spade.  It was a fine sight, this long, white passage, ending in the high, shining dome.  As we dug forward, we dug down at the same time so as not to weaken the roof.  There was plenty to take down below; the Barrier was deep enough.

When this was finished, we began to work on the carpenter’s shop.  This had to be dug considerably deeper, as the drift was rounded off a little to the side.  We therefore dug first into the drift, and then right down; as far as I remember, we went 6 feet down into the Barrier here.  The shop was made roomy, with space enough for both carpenters and length enough for our sledges.  The planing-bench was cut out in the wall and covered with boards.  The workshop terminated at its western end in a little room, where the carpenters kept their smaller tools.  A broad stairway, cut in the snow and covered with boards, led from the shop into the passage.  As soon as the workshop was finished, the workmen moved in, and established themselves under the name of the Carpenters’ Union.  Here the whole sledging outfit for the Polar journey was remodelled.  Opposite the carpenters came the smithy, dug to the same depth as the other; this was less used.  On the other side of the smithy, nearer to the hut, a deep hole was dug to receive all the waste water from the kitchen.  Between the Carpenters’ Union and the entrance to the pent-house, opposite the ascent to the Barrier, we built a little room, which, properly speaking, deserves a very detailed explanation; but, for want of space, this must be deferred till later.  The ascent to the Barrier, which had been left open while all these works were in progress, was now closed by a contrivance which is also worth mentioning.  There