AMUNDSEN IN THE SOUTH.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1384, 9 March 1912, Page 5

AMUNDSEN IN THE SOUTH.

NARRATIVE BY THE EXPLORER. AN INTERESTING LETTER. The following letter was written by Amundsen on February 9, 1911, from Framheim (long. lGldeg. W., Int. 78deg. 40miu. S.):A joyful "Yes!" was my comrade's answer to my question whether they would go south with me, even if it were to the Pole. It was on a dark hot evening in Fnnclial Roadstead that I laid before them my plan for extending the programme of our expedition. I had never for an instant doubted that they would want to go with me; nevertheless the unanimous ''Yes!" made ms happy. The goal of our voyago was the bay that indents the great Antarctic icebarriei- in longitude lGtdcg. N . and latitude 78deg. .Tflinin. S. It was a long voyage that we had before ns—lo,ooo nautical miles from homo—and it was decided to make no stop on th? way, for the- time was short and it was necessary to make, the most of it. Wβ should have to reach the Barrier by tlio middle of January if we were to get our work done. With tin , Frain as a steam vessel this vnj-iign would hardly have been oapiil>li< (if (ireoiniilisliincnt, ev(-n it' we hud a fairly largo deck cargo or coal; bill now, with' our ecouomi.'iil motor, capable engiiie"rs, and abumUuicc ol pntriiletini, it might under favourable circumstances ho done \ (|iieslion that teemed more difficult to fulve whs thai of die supply of fre'li wiiU-r. Besides 1!) men, there ivero 100 Eskimo dogs cm board, and they iy,o\ild probably require a considerable niiantity of water through the tropics. "With our tanks full and the. lnnp-lwat half full nf "nl"r, w pet mil. popitiK to I'm nli1«! to refill in llm t^sic l " of rmJtnn, lrhieU Iμ loiiownod lor iU Croauwt (!*•

luges of rain. Wo saw nothing of tho deluges of rain, but we did succeed further southwards in catching a few drops from time to time by careful management in other ways. We at last surmounted this serious obstacle, and both men and dogs passed through the tropics without the slightest ailment I must say, however, that a great deal was done for our dogs, and the best proof of the attention they received is that we took 115 well-conditioned dogs ashore at the Barrier. An awning was stretched over tho entiro vessel, and boards were nailed together and laid all over the deck, so that the dogs were out of the way of any water that might bo lying .upon it. I have seen men set a part of their dinner rations aside for their dogs. As puppies made their appearance moro care was required; and I havo seen my comrades sit in wind and cold, snow and sleet, feeding their little orphan puppies—not once only, but for days and weeks on our southward voyage. If an animal showed tho slightest sign of illness it was immediately placed under treatment, and a certificated veterinary surgeon could not have done better than our men did. We had no wind to speak of until we got down to tho "roaring forties"; possibly that is a good name, but there must l>o a good deal of wind before tho Fram finds it "roaring." I am quite sure that her equal is not to be found on the seas. You should sco her take a heavy sea when one. comes! We went through somo parts of the Southern Ocean where tho sea was sometimes pretty rough—probably on account of currents—and where one great wave followed another; but when they reached the vessel and appeared to bo coining over her, she just gave herself a little twist, and under went the wave. The Fram was built for the ico; but when Colin Archer built his famous masterpicco for the ice ho made at the same time a masterpiece for the water, a vessel whose equal in seaworthiness it would be difficult to find. The Ice at Last, On thu first day of January the first ice was sighted. That fitted well. Next day a few detached ice-floes began to appear. In tho evening of tho 2nd wo crossed tho Antarctic Circle, and at 10 p.m. thero lay the Antarctic drift ico before us! It did not look particularly imposing—a few .strips of spring-frozen, newly-broken ice. Nothing of that kind could hinder us, and wo stood straight in, in longitude 17Gdeg. W. (about) and latitude CGdeg. SOmin. S. It took us four days and nights to pet through tho belt of pack-ice, and on the evening of the Gth wo emerged into open sea—Rosa Ren—in latitude 70deg. S. and longitudo ISOdeg. W. It was moro liko the North Sen on a fine summer (lay than anything else. With the exception of two small bergs, we did not see a sign of ice from tho time we entered it until wo sighted the Barrier in nlout 78deg. S. latitude. The Great Barrier. We sighted the mighty Barrier at 2.30 p.m. on January 11. One would be less than, human if one could behold such a sight unmoved. As far as the eye can see, from Western to Eastern horizon, this wall of ice rises perpendicularly to n height of 100 ft. And yet it is only n very small part of it that one sees. What must the man hnvo thought who first I camo upon this wall, and for whom all further advance seemed an impossibility? It was one of .the world's boldest nnd cleverest sailors (not to say tho cloverest of them all), James Clark Ross, who, after making his way through the ice-pack rith his two sailing vessels, the Erebus and the Terror, came, in .February, 1812, upon this remarkable ice-wall. Lven at that time ho observed tho great bay, but, of course, did not venture into it with sailing vessels. For years after tho Harrier was regarded ns a bar to all further advance 'southwards. It fell to the lot of a Norwegian, Carsten Borchgrevink, in the Southern Cross in 1900, to prove that this was not the case; ho succeeded in entering a small bay (which has since disappeared and been merged with the adjoining great bay), and tlieuco getting on to tho Barrier. Hero he made a short expedition, and found that the Barrier extended southwards in the form of a wide, level plain, reaching as far as the eyo could see. This demolished the theory of its unas.snilablo character, and opened the way towards tho south. Subsequently an Englishman, Captain Scott, succeeded in landing in Jlacllurdo Strait, and thence mado an expedition southwards. Sir Ernest Shackleton's brilliant expedition in 1908, in which ho reached a latitude of 88dcg. 23min., will bo known to overybody. The great bay running south-west into the Barrier, which I havo chosen as the base of all expedition towards the South Pole, has been observed not only by Hoss and Borchgrevink, but also by Scott and Shackleton, nnd thus appears to lie a constant formation, something that can be counted upon. ShacUleton also thought he saw a ridge of hills at tho head of this bay, which would indicate land. After reading these various accounts and thinking the matter over, I camo to tho conelusion (hat this bay, which has boon proved to havo had tho same situation for a period of GO years, could not be a chance formation in thp Barrier caused by the breaking off of icebergs, but must have been produced by underlying land or rising ground. If not, tlio Barrier would have continued its course unchecked, mid no bay would have, been formed. The' day after we sighted the Barrier we reached this bay, slill in (he same situation—about longitude lG4dcg. W. It was so full, however, of recently brokentii> bay ice Hint then- was no fjiu'slion of getting in. We therefore took a little run eastwards along the edge of the Barrier In await event.-. The next mnrning (January lit) we returned, and then found that so" much of the ire had lloaled out that thorn w;i- an opportunity for us In got in. Jly belief a:< to the origin of (ho bay was strengthened as wo got furl her south; tho formations stood out more clearly and s-linrjily, and at the miiiHi<!l'ii end ive could distinctly mnlep out hills nnd vallrys. It was pertain thai underlying land or shnnls here arrested the course of the mighty glacier, nnd forced it out to cither side. There would bo no mriloiin Bintiring nn n. Routine bnrn'er. I'lin ground wn,'! imfn vuouuh, On t)i« following d<vj yanuATi 11) iv» found t,

inii'lini; jiliici> well suiletl for our enter- (•<■ i-*-- 'Ihi' liiii|[ 18,000 miles' voyn&o was •uil'i'l.v iimimiiliMnMl, null wo were only "ii" iliiv mil in our enlciilalion. We lim! 11l l-l Vl-fl il ||;iy ( (H | Kir ly. The DiiildinQ of "Framheim." •Ul't having safely moored tlio vp.wpl I" Hi" id', we n't uiV to find a suitable (.Inc.. fin H-iiil<Tintr. This <!i<! lint take I'liiH. Almiil i<. kilometres l'nim tlm ship, i'l Hi" I'iml. ill , a riilßf, well pri.tecled from Hi" M.iii|,.(.;i-|, iviinlv. we found :in idonl |iliin-j null on Monday (January Hi) we lii-Hiiii In iniliiMil our Vaißo. Tivo men "I llll>-<! H'l. llllOllL tllß iTWtiOH C,f (lie lioim',' Hhili' Hi" rest of Hip land parly <■■• illiniicil lo Iniiijr ,ip du> Imildins inn-. l"iliili mill proviMims. With oiir US iliiic'. Hii Inn! di'iiu«[ht-i)Ott"cr pnaUßli, but 11. mis iillitn (,|o\v work gcltiiijf tlio lii'iivily.lndcii slod|;cs up In tlio w'l". n-liirli lit,- ill; height of IWllt, lint our dogs know how to ilrnw. ]| i-; a plonsurc to work with thorn. Tlicv nri) nil [lidii'il animals from Grponliinil. II: is tlirpo wenUs since we bpgvin the biiildiiii; of our stjition, nnd now ovpryUiiiiK ia ready. Tlio desolate, icy lnndKciipn hiis undprgdno a ffreat clinnßO. The Kili'iiro is brokmi. Where formerly only a solilury piMifjuin or tlio truck of a seal crosspd the height there now lies a wholo liltli) villiigo. Our solidly-built littlo lioiisc staiuls- F.ife and sociiro, sunk 4ft. down in snow as .hard as rock, and supported by backstays on all sides. We have (,'ivpn il. tlio name of l'ramheiin. Un Jpusitiido is about IGldctr. W., its latitude 78deg. dOniiii. R., so, that it is probably tho most Routhorly human habitation. Round it nro set up 15 tents large enoiißh to nrcommoilatc 1C men each, for the nso of the dogs and as storehouses for our provisions, coal, wood,' clothing, etc. The principal food depot is about a kilometre from tho station, and contains provisions sufficient for two years. Since wo camo Lore wo have lived almost entirely on sen! mrat, and would not exchange, seal steak for nny dish in the world. There are great numbers of seals here, and we shall soon have preserved enough both for ourselves awl all our dogs for the winter. In a few days the Fram will be ready to leave ns. She goes north with Rrcetings and messages, and wo slmll begin our journey towards tho south. It is my intention" to lay down a main depot in SSfldeK. latitude, and a smaller one ag far south as possible; and I hope that, with the excellent mcaiiß at our disposal, we shall Ret to BMeg. with the smaller depot as early as tho autumn, before the dark season sets in, I can say nothing more with regard to our future prospects. We shall do what we can.