We at once proceeded to reconnoitre, and the first thing to be examined was the way we had seen from below.  This led in the right direction —­ that is, in the direction of the glacier, east and west —­ and was thus the shortest.  But it is not always the shortest way that is the best; here, in any case, it was to be hoped that another and longer one would offer better conditions.  The shortest way was awful —­ possibly not altogether impracticable, if no better was to be found.  First we had to work our way across a hard, smooth slope, which formed an angle of 45 degrees, and ended in a huge, bottomless chasm.  It was no great pleasure to cross over here on ski, but with heavily-laden sledges the enjoyment would be still less.  The prospect of seeing sledge, driver, and dogs slide down sideways and disappear into the abyss was a great one.  We got across with whole skins on ski, and continued our exploration.  The mountain-side along which we were advancing gradually narrowed between vast fissures above and vaster fissures below, and finally passed by a very narrow bridge —­ hardly broader than the sledges —­ into the glacier.  On each side of the bridge, one looked down into a deep blue chasm.  To cross here did not look very inviting; no doubt we could take the dogs out and haul the sledges over, and thus manage it —­ presuming the bridge held —­ but our further progress, which would have to be made on the glacier, would apparently offer many surprises of an unpleasant kind.  It was quite possible that, with time and patience, one would be able to tack through the apparently endless succession of deep crevasses; but we should first have to see whether something better than this could not be found in another direction.  We therefore returned to camp.

Here in the meantime everything had been put in order, the tent set up, and the dogs fed.  Now came the great question:  What was there on the other side of the ridge?  Was it the same desperate confusion, or would the ground offer better facilities?  Three of us went off to see.  Excitement rose as we neared the saddle; so much depended on finding a reasonable way.  One more pull and we were up; it was worth the trouble.  The first glance showed us that this was the way we had to go.  The mountain-side ran smooth and even under the lofty summit-like a gabled church tower —­ of Mount Don Pedro Christophersen, and followed the direction of the glacier.  We could see the place where this long, even surface united with the glacier; to all appearance it was free from disturbance.  We saw some crevasses, of course, but they were far apart, and did not give us the idea that they would be a hindrance.  But we were still too far from the spot to be able to draw any certain conclusions as to the character of the ground; we therefore set off towards the bottom to examine the conditions more closely.  The surface was loose up here, and the snow fairly deep; our ski slipped over it well, but it would be heavy for dogs.  We advanced