As we were leaving this old friend and setting our course as it advised, to our unspeakable astonishment two great birds —­ skua gulls —­ suddenly came flying straight towards us.  They circled round us once or twice and then settled on the beacon.  Can anyone who reads these lines form an idea of the effect this had upon us?  It is hardly likely.  They brought us a message from the living world into this realm of death —­ a message of all that was dear to us.  I think the same thoughts filled us all.  They did not allow themselves a long rest, these first messengers from another world; they sat still a while, no doubt wondering who we were, then rose aloft and flew on to the south.  Mysterious creatures! they were now exactly half-way between Framheim and the Pole, and yet they were going farther inland.  Were they going over to the other side?

Our march ended this time at one of our beacons, in 84deg. 15’.  It felt so good and safe to lie beside one of these; it always gave us a sure starting-point for the following stage.  We were up at 4 a.m. and left the place a few hours later, with the result that the day’s march brought us thirty-four miles nearer Framheim.  With our present arrangement, we had these long-day marches every other day.  Our dogs need no better testimonial than this —­ one day seventeen miles, the next day thirty-four, and fresh all the way home.  The two birds, agreeably as their first appearance had affected me, led my thoughts after a while in another direction, which was anything but agreeable.  It occurred to me that these two might only be representatives of a larger collection of these voracious birds, and that the remainder might now be occupied in consuming all the fresh meat we had so laboriously transported with us and spread all over the plain in our depots.  It is incredible what a flock of these birds of prey can get rid of; it would not matter if the meat were frozen as hard as iron, they would have managed it, even if it had been a good deal harder than iron.  Of the seals’ carcasses we had lying in 80deg., I saw in my thoughts nothing but the bones.  Of the various dogs we had killed on our way south and laid on the tops of beacons I did not see even so much as that.  Well, it was possible that my thoughts had begun to assume too dark a hue; perhaps the reality would be brighter.

Weather and going began by degrees to right themselves; it looked as if things would improve in proportion to our distance from land.  Finally, both became perfect; the sun shone from a cloudless sky, and the sledges ran on the fine, even surface with all the ease and speed that could be desired.  Bjaaland, who had occupied the position of forerunner all the way from the Pole, performed his duties admirably; but the old saying that nobody is perfect applied even to him.  None of us —­ no matter who it may be —­ can keep in a straight line, when he has no marks to follow.  All the more difficult is this when, as so often happened with