I went back to the pass to look out over the Barrier for the last time.  The new mountain chain lay there sharp and clear; we could see how it turned from the east up to east-north-east, and finally disappeared in the north-east —­ as we judged, about 84deg.  S. From the look of the sky, it appeared that the chain was continued farther.  According to the aneroid, the height of the terrace on which we stood was 4,000 feet above the sea.  From here there was only one way down, and we began to go.  In making these descents with loaded sledges, one has to use the greatest care, lest the speed increase to such a degree that one loses command over the sledge.  If this happens, there is a danger, not only of running over the dogs, but of colliding with the sledge in front and smashing it.  This was all the more important in our case, as the sledges carried sledge-meters.  We therefore put brakes of rope under our runners when we were to go downhill.  This was done very simply by taking a few turns with a thin piece of rope round each runner; the more of these turns one took, the more powerful, of course, was the brake.  The art consisted in choosing the right number of turns, or the right brake; this was not always attained, and the consequence was that, before we had come to the end of these descents, there were several collisions.  One of the drivers, in particular, seemed to have a supreme contempt for a proper brake; he would rush down like a flash of lightning, and carry the man in front with him.  With practice we avoided this, but several times things had an ugly look.

The first drop took us down 800 feet; then we had to cross a wide, stiff piece of valley before the ascent began again.  The snow between the mountains was loose and deep, and gave the dogs hard work.  The next ascent was up very steep glaciers, the last of which was the steepest bit of climbing we had on the whole journey —­ stiff work even for double teams.  Going in front of the dogs up these slopes was, I could see, a business that Bjaaland would accomplish far more satisfactorily than I, and I gave up the place to him.  The first glacier was steep, but the second was like the side of a house.  It was a pleasure to watch Bjaaland use his ski up there; one could see that he had been up a hill before.  Nor was it less interesting to see the dogs and the drivers go up.  Hanssen drove one sledge alone; Wisting and Hassel the other.  They went by jerks, foot by foot, and ended by reaching the top.  The second relay went somewhat more easily in the tracks made by the first.

Our height here was 4,550 feet, the last ascent having brought us up 1,250 feet; we had arrived on a plateau, and after the dogs had rested we continued our march.  Now, as we advanced, we had a better view of the way we were going; before this the nearest mountains had shut us in.  The mighty glacier opened out before us, stretching, as we could now see, right up from the Barrier between the lofty mountains running east