We had difficulty in finding a place for the tent that evening; the surface was equally hard everywhere, and at last we had to set it on the bare ice.  Luckily for our tent-pegs, this ice was not of the bright, steely variety; it was more milky in appearance and not so hard, and we were thus able to knock in the pegs with the axe.  When the tent was up, Hassel went out as usual to fetch snow for the cooker.  As a rule he performed this task with a big knife, specially made for snow; but this evening he went out armed with an axe.  He was very pleased with the abundant and excellent material that lay to his hand; there was no need to go far.  Just outside the tent door, two feet away, stood a fine little haycock, that looked as if it would serve the purpose well.  Hassel raised his axe and gave a good sound blow; the axe met with no resistance, and went in up to the haft.  The haycock was hollow.  As the axe was pulled out the surrounding part gave way, and one could hear the pieces of ice falling down through the dark hole.  It appeared, then, that two feet from our door we had a most convenient way down into the cellar.  Hassel looked as if he enjoyed the situation.  “Black as a sack,” he smiled; “couldn’t see any bottom.”  Hanssen was beaming; no doubt he would have liked the tent a little nearer.  The material provided by the haycock was of the best quality, and well adapted for cooking purposes.

The next day, December 1, was a very fatiguing one for us all.  From early morning a blinding blizzard raged from the south-east, with a heavy fall of snow.  The going was of the very worst kind —­ polished ice.  I stumbled forward on ski, and had comparatively easy work.  The drivers had been obliged to take off their ski and put them on the loads, so as to walk by the side, support the sledges, and give the dogs help when they came to a difficult place; and that was pretty often, for on this smooth ice surface there were a number of small scattered sastrugi, and these consisted of a kind of snow that reminded one more of fish-glue than of anything else when the sledges came in contact with it.  The dogs could get no hold with their claws on the smooth ice, and when the sledge came on to one of these tough little waves, they could not manage to haul it over, try as they might.  The driver then had to put all his strength into it to prevent the sledge stopping.  Thus in most cases the combined efforts of men and dogs carried the sledge on.

In the course of the afternoon the surface again began to be more disturbed, and great crevasses crossed our path time after time.  These crevasses were really rather dangerous; they looked very innocent, as they were quite filled up with snow, but on a nearer acquaintance with them we came to understand that they were far more hazardous than we dreamed of at first.  It turned out that between the loose snow-filling and the firm ice edges there was a fairly broad, open space, leading straight down into the depths.