so well supplied with food, and the dogs did not seem to mind the little extra weight in the least.  As long as things went so capitally as they were going —­ that is, with men and dogs exactly keeping pace with one another —­ we could ask for nothing better.  But the weather that had cheered us was not of long duration.  “Same beastly weather,” my diary says of the next stage.  The wind had shifted to the north-west, with overcast, thick weather, and very troublesome drifting snow.  In spite of these unfavourable conditions, we passed beacon after beacon, and at the end of our march had picked up all the beacons we had erected on this distance of seventeen miles and three-eighths.  But, as before, we owed this to Hanssen’s good eyes.

On our way southward we had taken a good deal of seal meat and had divided it among the depots we built on the Barrier in such a way that we were now able to eat fresh meat every day.  This had not been done without an object; if we should be visited with scurvy, this fresh meat would be invaluable.  As we were —­ sound and healthy as we had never been before —­ the seal-beef was a pleasant distraction in our menu, nothing more.  The temperature had risen greatly since we came down on to the Barrier, and kept steady at about + 14deg.  F. We were so warm in our sleeping-bags that we had to turn them with the hair out.  That was better; we breathed more freely and felt happier.  “Just like going into an ice-cellar,” somebody remarked.  The same feeling as when on a really warm summer day one comes out of the hot sun into cool shade.

January 9. —­ “Same beastly weather; snow, snow, snow, nothing but snow.  Is there no end to it?  Thick too, so that we have not been able to see ten yards ahead.  Temperature + 17.6deg.  F. Thawing everywhere on the sledges.  Everything getting wet.  Have not found a single beacon in this blind man’s weather.  The snow was very deep to begin with and the going exceedingly heavy, but in spite of this the dogs managed their sledges very well.”  That evening the weather improved, fortunately, and became comparatively clear by the time we resumed our journey at 10 p.m.  Not long after we sighted one of our beacons.  It lay to the west, about 200 yards away.  We were thus not far out of our course; we turned aside and went up to it, as it was interesting to see whether our reckoning was in order.  The beacon was somewhat damaged by sunshine and storms, but we found the paper left in it, which told us that this beacon was erected on November 14, in 84deg. 26’ S. It also told us what course to steer by compass to reach the next beacon, which lay five kilometres from this one.