and the cooker filled with snow.  Meanwhile the others fed their dogs and let them loose.  Instead of the “guard,” we shovelled loose snow round the tent; this proved to be sufficient protection —­ the dogs respected it.  The bindings were taken off all our ski, and either stowed with other loose articles in a provision-case, or hung up together with the harness on the top of the ski, which were lashed upright to the front of the sledge.  The tent proved excellent in every way; the dark colour subdued the light, and made it agreeable.

Neptune, a fine dog, was let loose when we had come six miles over the plain; he was so fat that he could not keep up.  We felt certain that he would follow us, but he did not appear.  We then supposed that he had turned back and made for the flesh-pots, but, strangely enough, he did not do that either.  He never arrived at the station; it is quite a mystery what became of him.  Rotta, another fine animal, was also set free; she was not fit for the journey, and she afterwards arrived at home.  Ulrik began by having a ride on the sledge; he picked up later.  Bjorn went limping after the sledge.  Peary was incapacitated; he was let loose and followed for a time, but then disappeared.  When the eastern party afterwards visited the depot in 80deg.  S., they found him there in good condition.  He was shy at first, but by degrees let them come near him and put the harness on.  He did very good service after that.  Uranus and Fuchs were out of condition.  This was pretty bad for the first day, but the others were all worth their weight in gold.

During the night it blew a gale from the east, but it moderated in the morning, so that we got away at 10 a.m.  The weather did not hold for long; the wind came again with renewed force from the same quarter, with thick driving snow.  However, we went along well, and passed flag after flag.  After going nineteen and a quarter miles, we came to a snow beacon that had been erected at the beginning of April, and had stood for seven months; it was still quite good and solid.  This gave us a good deal to think about:  so we could depend upon these beacons; they would not fall down.  From the experience thus gained, we afterwards erected the whole of our extensive system of beacons on the way south.  The wind went to the south-east during the day; it blew, but luckily it had stopped snowing.  The temperature was -11.5deg.  F., and bitter enough against the wind.  When we stopped in the evening and set our tent, we had just found our tracks from the last trip; they were sharp and clear, though six weeks old.  We were glad to find them, as we had seen no flag for some time, and were beginning to get near the ugly trap, forty-six and a half miles from the house, that had been found on the last depot journey, so we had to be careful.