The distance covered, out and back, was 1,530 geographical miles.  The time occupied was 127 days —­ 73 days out and 54 days back.  The average daily march was about 12 miles.

Meanwhile the other party, composed of Professor David, Mawson, and Mackay, had set off to determine the position of the South Magnetic Pole.  They had neither ponies nor dogs, and had therefore to depend solely on their own powers.  It seems almost incredible, but these men succeeded in working their way on foot over sea-ice and land-ice, cracks and crevasses, hard snow and loose snow, to the Magnetic Pole, and making observations there.  What was better still, they all came back safe and sound.  The total distance covered was 1,260 geographical miles.

It must have been a proud day for the two parties of the expedition when they met again on the deck of the Nimrod, and could tell each other of their experiences.  More than any of their predecessors, these men had succeeded in raising the veil that lay over “Antarctica.”

But a little corner remained.

CHAPTER II

Plan and Preparations

“The deity of success is a woman, and she insists on being won, not courted.  You’ve got to seize her and bear her off, instead of standing under her window with a mandolin.” —­ Rex Beach.

“The North Pole is reached.”

In a flash the news spread over the world.  The goal of which so many had dreamed, for which so many had laboured and suffered and sacrificed their lives, was attained.  It was in September, 1909, that the news reached us.

At the same instant I saw quite clearly that the original plan of the Fram’s third voyage —­ the exploration of the North Polar basin —­ hung in the balance.  If the expedition was to be saved, it was necessary to act quickly and without hesitation.  Just as rapidly as the message had travelled over the cables I decided on my change of front —­ to turn to the right-about, and face to the South.

It was true that I had announced in my plan that the Fram’s third voyage would be in every way a scientific expedition, and would have nothing to do with record-breaking; it was also true that many of the contributors who had so warmly supported me had done so with the original plan before them; but in view of the altered circumstances, and the small prospect I now had of obtaining funds for my original plan, I considered it neither mean nor unfair to my supporters to strike a blow that would at once put the whole enterprise on its feet, retrieve the heavy expenses that the expedition had already incurred, and save the contributions from being wasted.

It was therefore with a clear conscience that I decided to postpone my original plan for a year or two, in order to try in the meantime to raise the funds that were still lacking.  The North Pole, the last problem but one of popular interest in Polar exploration, was solved.  If I was now to succeed in arousing interest in my undertaking, there was nothing left for me but to try to solve the last great problem —­ the South Pole.