I remember that dinner well:  at the same table where eight of us had sat for so many months, there were now only three left —­ Johansen, Stubberud, and I. We had more room, it is true, but that gain was a poor satisfaction.  We missed those who had gone very badly, and our thoughts were always following them.  The first thing we discussed on this occasion was how many miles they might be expected to do that day:  nor was this the last dispute we had on the same theme.  During the weeks and months that followed, it was constantly to the fore, and gave plenty of material for conversation when we had exhausted our own concerns.  As regards these latter, my instructions were

1.  To go to King Edward VII.  Land, and there carry out what exploration time and circumstances might permit.

2.  To survey and map the Bay of Whales and its immediate surroundings.

3.  As far as possible to keep the station at Framheim in order, in case we might have to spend another winter there.

As regards time, my orders were to be back at Framheim before we could reasonably expect the arrival of the Fram.  This was, and would necessarily remain, somewhat uncertain.  No doubt we all had a great idea of the Fram’s capacity for keeping time, and Lieutenant Nilsen had announced his intention of being back by Christmas or the New Year; but nevertheless a year is a long time, and there are many miles in a trip round the world.  If we assumed that no mishap had occurred to the Fram, and that she had left Buenos Aires at the time fixed in the plan —­ October 1, 1911 —­ she would in all probability be able to arrive at the Bay of Whales about the middle of January, 1912.  On the basis of this calculation we decided, if possible, to get the sledge journey to King Edward Land done before Christmas, while the surveying work around the bay would have to be postponed to the first half of January, 1912.  I thought, however, seeing the advantages of working while the bay was still frozen over, that it would pay to devote a few days —­ immediately following the departure of the southern party —­ to the preparatory work of measuring.  But this did not pay at all.  We had reckoned without the weather, and in consequence were well taken in.  When one thinks over it afterwards, it seems reasonable enough that the final victory of mild weather over the remains of the Antarctic winter cannot be accomplished without serious disturbances of the atmospheric conditions.  The expulsion of one evil has to be effected by the help of another; and the weather was bad with a vengeance.  During the two weeks that followed October 20 there were only three or four days that offered any chance of working with the theodolite and plane-table.  We managed to get a base-line measured, 1,000 metres long, and to lay out the greater part of the east side of the bay, as well as the most prominent points round the camp; but one had positively to snatch one’s opportunities by stealth, and every excursion ended regularly in bringing the instruments home well covered with snow.