CAPT. AMUNDSEN'S FULL STORY
OF HIS DASH TO THE SOUTH POLE
Norwegian Explorer With Four ol His Men and Eighteen Dogs
Crosses Ice Barrier and Reaches the Goal in 55 Days
Copyright, Underwood & Underwood.
THE DISCOVERER OF THE SOUTH POLE.
Captain Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, whose return to
Hobart, Tasmania, is followed by the announcement of his great discovery.
AT POLE DEC. 14, 3 P. M.-ON A
VAST PLATEAU A HUT WAS
BUILT AND THE NORWEGIAN
FLAG UNFURLED FOR THREE
DAYS—EXPEDITION PLANNED
WITH SCIENTIFIC EXACTNESS
WAS CARRIED OUT WITH MILI
TARY PRECISION.
By ROALD AMUNDSEN.
Copyright 1912, by The New York Times Co.
(All Rights Reserved)
Special Cable to The New York Times.
Hobart, Tasmania, March 8, 11.20
A. M. —On the 10th of February, 1911,
we commenced to work our way to
ward the south, from that day to the
11th of April establishing three de
pots, which in all contained a quan
tity of provisions of about 3,000 kilos.
One thousand six hundred kilos, in
cluding 1,100 kilos of seal meat, were
cached in 80 degrees, 700 kilos in 81
degrees, and 800 kilos in 82 degrees
South Latitude.
As no landmarks were to be seen,
these depots were marked with flags,
seven kilometers on each side in the
easterly and westerly directions.
The ground and the state of the
Barrier were of the best, and special
ly well adapted to driving with dogs.
On Feb. 15, we had thus traveled
about 100 kilometers. The weight of
the sledges was 300 kilos, and the
number of dogs was six for each
sledge. The surface of the Barrier
was smooth and fine with no sastrugi
(Snow furrows thrown up by the
wind.) The crevices w : ere very local
and were found dangerous in only two
places. For the rest —long, smooth
undulations.
The weather was excellent —calm
or a light breeze. The lowest tem
perature on these depot trips was min
us 45 Celsius or centigrade. (49 de
grees below zero, Fahrenheit.) On
the 4th of March, on our return from
the first trip beginning on the 15th of
February, we found out that the Fram
had already left us. With pride and
delight we heard that her smart cap
tain had succeeded in sailing her fur
thest south and there hoisting the
colors of his country—a glorious mo
ment for him and his comrades—the
furthest north and the furthest south
—good o'd Fram! The highest south
latitude attained was 78 degrees 41
minutes.
Winter on the Ice Barrier.
Before the arrival of Winter we had
6,000 kilos of seal meat in the de
pots, enough for ourselves and 110
dogs. Eight dog houses, a combina
tion of tents ajid snow huts, were
built.
Having eared for the dogs, the turn
came to use our solid little hut. It
was almost entirely covered with
snow by the middle of April. First we
had to get light and air. The Lux
lamp, which had a power of 200 stand
ard candles, gave us a brilliant light
and kept the temperature up to 20
degrees Celsius (08 degrees Fahren-1
lieit) throughout the Winter and our
excellent ventilation system gave us
all the air we wanted.
I In direct communication with the
! hut and dug-out on the Barrier were
■ workshops, packing-rooms, cellars for
; provisions, coal, wood, and oil, a plain
j bath, steam bath, and observatories.
Thus we had everything within doors
if the weather should be too cold and
stormy.
The sun left us on the 22d of April
and did not return until four months
later. The Winter was spent in chang
ing our whole outfit, which on the de
pot trips was found to be too clumsy
and solid for the smooth surface of
the Barrier. Besides this, as much
I scientific work as possible was done,
and some astonishing meteorological
observations were taken.
Open Water All Winter.
There was very little snow, and
there was open water close by
throughout the Winter. For the same
reason higher temperature had been
expected, but it remained very low.
In five months there were observed
temperatures between minus 50 and 60
degrees Celsius, (58 and 76 degrees be
low zero Fahrenheit), the lowest tem
perature on the 13th of August being
minus 59 degrees Celsius. It was
then calm. On the Ist of August the
temperature was minus 58 degrees
Celsius, and there were 6 meters of
wind. The mean temperature for the
year was minus 26 degrees Celsius
(14.8 below zero Fahrenheit.)
I had expected hurricane after hur
ricane, but I observed only two mod
erate storms and many excellent au
roras-austrails in all directions.
The sanitary conditions were of the
best all the Winter and when the sun
returned on the 24th of August he met
the men sound in mind and body
ready to set about the task that had
to be solved.
Already, the day before, we had
brought our sledges to the starting
place for our march toward the south.
Only in the beginning of September
did the temperature rise to such an
extent that there was any question of
setting out
First Start for the Pole.
On the Bth of September eight men,
with seven sledges, ninety dogs, and
provisions for four months started.
The ground was perfect. The temper
ature was not bad. The next day it
appeared that we had started too ear
ly, as the temperature of the follow
ing days fell and was kept steady be
tween minus 50 and 60 Celsius (58 de
grees and 76 degrees) below Fahren
heit zero. Personally we did not suf
fer at all from this cold. Our good
furs protected us. But with our dogs
it was a different matter. It could
easily be seen that they shrunk from
day today, and we understood pretty
soon that they could not stand the
long run to our depot at 80 degrees
south.
We agreed on returning and to wait
for the arrival of Spring. The provi
sions were cached, and off we went
for the hut. With the exception of
the loss of a few dogs and a couple
of frozen heels everything was all
right.
Only in the middle of October
Spring came in earnest. Seals and
birds appeared. The temperature was
steady between minus 20 and 30 Cel
sius (4 degrees and 22 degrees below
zero Fahrenheit.)
The original plan that all of us
should go toward the south had been
changed. Five men had to do this
work, while the other three were to
start for the east and visit King Ed
warjl VII. Land.
Tnis last mentioned trip was not
included in our programme, but, ow
ing to the fact that the English had
not reached it, at least this Summer,
as was their intention, we agreed that
the best thing to do was to make this
trip.
On Oct. 20 the southern party start
ed —five men, four sledges, fifty-two
dogs, and provisions for four months
—everything in excellent order.
The Journey to the Pole.
We had made up our minds to take
the first part of the trip as easily as
possible, in order to give ourselves and
the dogs a rational training, and on
the 23d we made our depot in 80 de
grees south. We went right ahead.
In spite of the dense fog an error
of two to three kilometers happened
only once in a while, but we were
caught by the flagmarks, and found
these on our way without difficulty.
Having rested and fed the dogs on
all the seal meat they were able to
eat, we started again on the 26th,
with the temperature steadily be
tween minus 20 and 30 Celsius (4 de
grees and 22 degrees below zero Fah
renheit).
From the start it was the intention
not to drive more than 30 kilometers a
day, but it appeared that this was too
little for our strong, willing animals.
At 80 degrees south we began to
build snow cairns of a man's height,
in order to have marks on our return
trip. On the 31st we reached the de
pot at 81 degrees, and stopped there
one day, and fed the dogs on as much
pemmican as they wanted.
We reached the depot at 82 de
grees on the sth of November, where
the dogs for the last time got all they
wanted to eat. On the Bth, southward
again, with a daily march of 50 kilo
meters.
In order to lighten our heavy sledges
we established depots at each degree
of south latitude.
Like a Pleasure Trip.
The trip from 82 degrees to S3 de
grees became a pleasure trip—excel
lent ground, fine sledging, and an even
temperature. Everything went like a
dance.
On the 9th we sighted South Vic
toria Land and the continuation of
the mountain range which Sir Ernest
Shackleton mentioned in his chart as
running toward the southeast from
the Beardmore Glacier, and on the
same day we reached 83 degrees and
j established here Depot No. 4. On the
111 th we made the interesting discov
| ery that the Ross Barrier terminated
in a bight toward the southeast at 86
degrees south latitude and 163 de
i grees west longitude, formed be
| tween the southeast mountain range
i running from South Victoria Land and
| a range on the opposite side running
!in a southwesterly direction —proba-
j lily a continuation of King Edward
I VII. Land.
I On the 13th we reached 84 degrees,
where we established a depot; on the
16th we were at 85 degrees, where,
also, we made a depot.
From our Winter quarters, "Fram
heim," 78 degrees 38 minutes south
latitude, we had been marching due
south. On the 17th of November, at
S5 degrees, we arrived at a place
j where the land and barrier were con
nected. This was done without any
great difficulty. The barrier here
rises in undulations to about 300 feet.
Some few big crevices indicated the
limited boundary.
Here we made our head depot, tak
ing provisions for sixty days on
sledges, and leaving thirty days' pro
visions on the spot.
A Difficult Climb.
The land under which we lay and
which we now had to attack looked
quite imposing. The nearest sum
mits along the Barrier had a
height from 2,000 to 10,000 feet, but
several others further south were 15,-
000 feet or more.
The next day we began the climb.
The first part of it was an easy task —
light slopes and well-filled mountain
sides. It did not take a long time,
for our willing dogs worked their way
up. Further up, we met with some
small but very steep glaciers. Here
we had to harness 20 dogs to each
sledge and take the four sledges in
two turns. In some places it was so
steep that it was difficult enough to
use our skis.
Some big crevices forced us from
time to time to make detours. The
first day we climbed 2,000 feet, the
next day mostly up some small glaci
eers, camping at a height of 4,500 feet.
The third day we were obliged togo
down on a mighty glacier, "Axel Hei
berg's Glacier," which divided the
coast mountains and the mountains
further south.
The next day began the longest part
of our climb. Many detours had to be
made in order to avoid broad cracks
and open crevices. These were appar
ently mostly filled up, as the glaciers
in all probability had long ago stopped
moving, but we had to be very careful,
never knowing for certain how thick
was the layer that covered them.
Our camp that night lay in very )i
turesque surroundings at a height of
5,000 feet. The glacier here was nar
rowed in between tho two 15,000 feet
high mountains, the "Fridtjof Nan
sen" and tho "Don Pedro Christopher
sen." From the bottom of the glacier
rose Mouont "Ole Englstad"—& bit
snow cone 13,500 feet high.
Dogs' Splendid Work.
The glacier was very much broken
in this comparatively narrow pass.
The mighty crevices seemed to stop
us from going further, but it was not
so serious as It appeared. Our dogs,
which up to this time had covered a
distance of about 700 kilometers, the
last day's very hard work, ran this
day 35 kilometers, the ascent being
5,600 feet, an almost incredible record.
It took us only four days from the
Barrier to get up on the vast inland
plateau.
We camped that night at a height
of 10,600 feet. Here we had to kill
thirty-four of our brave companions
and keep eighteen—six for each of
our three sledges.
We stopped here four days on ac
count of bad weather. Tired of this,
we set out on the 25th of November.
On the 26th, in a furious blizzard and
in a dense snow drift, absolutely noth
ing was to be seen, but we felt that,
contrary to expectations, we were go
ing fast down hill. The hypsometer
gave us that day a descent of 600 feet.
We continued our march the next
day in a gale, and a dense snowdrift
got our faces badly frozen. We could
see nothing. We reached that day 86
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it
4W AMWIDSfN
CASH POLC * •
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Map Showing Relative Distances to
South Pole.
degrees, dead reckoning The hypso
meter indicated a fall of 800 feet.
The next day was similar. The wea
ther cleared a little at dinner time and
exposed to our view a mighty moun
tain range to the east, and not far
off —only for a moment—and then it
disappeared in the dense snowdrift.
On the "9th it calmed down and the
sun shone, though it was not the only
pleasant surprise he gave. In our
course stretched a big glacier running
toward the south. At its eastern end
was the mountain range going in a
southeasterly direction. Of the west
ern part of it no view was to be had,
it being hidden in the dense fog. At
the foot of this glacier, the "Devil's
Glacier." a depot for six days was es
tablished, at 86.21 deg'-oes south lati
tude. The hypsometer indicated 8,000
feet above sea level.
A Fine Mountain View.
On Nov. 30 we began to climb the
glacier. The lower part of it was very
much broken and dangerous. More
over. the snow bridges very often
i hurst. From our camp that night we
had a splendid view over the iuoun
i tain to the oast. There was "Helmer
Hansen's Summit," the most remarka
ble of them all. It was 12,000 foet
high and covered with such broken
glaciers that in all probability no foot
hold was to be found. "Oscar Wist
ing's," "Sverre Hassel's" and. "Olav
Hjanland's" Mountains also lay here,
beautifully illuminated in the rays of
the bright sun.
In the distance, and only occasion
ally to be viewed in the fog, "Mount
Nielsen," with its summits and peaks
about 15,000 feet high. We only saw
the nearest surroundings.
It took us three days to surmount
the Devil's Glacier, always in misty
weather.
On the Ist of December we left this
broken glacier with holes and crevices
without number, with its height of 9,-
100 feet. Before us, looking, in the
mist and snowdrift, like a frozen sea,
appeared a light, sloping ice plateau
tilled with small hummocks.
The walk over this frozen sea
was not pleasant. The ground under
us was quite hollow and it sounded as
though we were walking on the bot
toms of empty barrels. As it.was, a
man fell through, then a couple of j
dogs. We could not use our skis on
this policed ice. Sledges had tlie best
of it.
The place got the name the "Devil's
Dancing Room." This part of our
march was the most unpleasant. On
Dec. 6 we got our greatest height, ac
cording to the hypsometer and ane
roid, 10,750 feet, at 87 degrees 40 min
utes south.
On Dec. 8 we came out of the bad
weather. Once again the sun smiled
down on us. Once again we could get
an observation. Dead reckoning and
observation were exactly alike—Bß de
grees 16 minutes 16 seconds south.
Before us lay an absolutely plain
plateau, only here and there marked
with a tiny sastrugi.
In the afternoon we passed SS de
grees 23 minutes (Shackleton's fur
thest south was 88 degrees 25 min
utes.) We camped and established
our last depot, depot No. 10. From
88 degrees 25 minutes tho plateau be
gan to slope down very gently and
smoothly toward the other side.
On the 9th of December we reached
88 degrees 39 minutes; on Dec. 10, 88
degrees 56 minutes; Dec. 11, 89 de
grees, 15 minutes; Dec. 12, 30 min
utes; Dec. 13, 89 degrees, 46 minutes.
Up to this time the observations
and dead reckoning agreed remarka
bly well, and we made out that we
ought to be at the pole on Dec. 14th
in the afternoon.
The Pole Attained.
That day was a beautiful one—a
light breeze from southeast, the tem
perature minus 23 Celsius, (9.4 de
grees below zero Fahrenheit,) and the
ground and sledging were perfect.
The day went along as usual, and at
3 P. M., w© made a halt.
According to our reckoning we had
reached our destination. All of us
gathered around the colors—a beauti
ful silk flag—all hands taking hold of
it and planting It.
The vast plateau on which the pole
is standing got the name of the "King
Haakon VII. Plateau." It is a vast
plain, alike in all directions; mile
after mile during the night we circled
around the camp.
In the fine weather we spent the fol
lowing day taking a series of observa
tions from 0 A. M„ to 7 P. M. The re
sult gave us 89 degrees 55 minutes.
In order to observe the pole as close
as possible we traveled, as near south
as possible, the remaining 9 kilo
meters.
On Dec. 16 there we camped. It
was an excellent opportunity There
was a brilliant sun. Four of us took
observations every hour of the day's
twenty-four hours. The exact result
will be the matter of a professional
private report.
This much is certain—that wo ob
served the pole as close as it is in hu
man power to do it with the instru
ments we had—a sextant and an arti
ficial horizon.
On Dec. 17 everything was in order
on the spot. We fastened to the
ground a little tent we had brought
along, a Norwegian flag, and the Fram
pendant on the top of it.
The Norwegian home at the South
Pole was called "Pollieim."
The distance from our Winter quar
ters to the pole was about 1,400 kilo
meters. The average march a day was
25 kilometers.
The Return Journey.
We started on the return trip on the
17th of December. Unusually favora
ble weather made our way home con
siderably easier than the journey to
the pole. We arrived at our Winter
quarters, "Framheim," on the 25th of
January, 1912. with two sledges and
eleven dogs, all well.
The daily average speed on the re
turn trip was 30 kilometers; the low-
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Copyright, Underwood & Underwood.
THE FRAM.
The Stout Ship Which Carried the Amundsen Expedition.
est temperature was minus 31 Celsius,
(23.8 degrees below U Fahrenheit,) the
highest minus 5 Celsius, (23 degrees
above 0 Fahrenheit).
Among the results are the determi
nation of the extent and character of
the Ross Barrier, and the discovery
of the connection of South Victoria
Land and probably King Edward VII.
Land, with their continuation in the
mighty mountains running toward the
southeast, which were observed as far
as 88 degrees south, but which in all
probability continue across the ant
arctic continent.
The entire length of the newly dis
covered mountains is about 850 kilo
meters. They have been named
"Queen Maud's Range."
The expedition to King Edward VII.
Land, under the command of Lieut.
Prestud has given excellent results.
Scott's discoveries have been confirm
ed, and the survey of the Bay of
Whales and of the Barrier dome by
the Prestud party are of great inter
est..
A good geological collection from
King Edward VII. and South Victoria
Laud is being brought home.
The Fram arrived at the Bay of
Whales on the 9th of January. She
had been delayed by the "Roaring
Forties" on account of the easterly I
winds.
On Jan. 1« the Japanese expedltio*
arrived at the Bay of Whales and
landed on the Barrier near our Winter
quarters. We left the Bay of Whales
on Jan. 30. It was a long voyage,
with contrary winds. All are well.
ROALD AMUNDSEN.
HOW THE MESSAGE CAME.
Crossed the Pacific, Canada, the At*
lantic, and Back to New York.
London, March 9.—Capt. Amundsen
wrote the long dispatch telling of his
trip aboard the Frarn and handed it
in at Hobart, whence it was trans
mitted to Sydney by the Australian
State Telegraph Department. At Syd
ney it was put on the cable of tli®
Pacific Cable Board for transmission
over 4,000 miles of sea to Bamfleld,
Van couver, where it was received in
recorder characters by the automatic
curb system, originally designed by
the late Lord Kelvin, and in which
the letters of the alphabet are taken
like Hertzian waves.
At Bamfield the message was trans
ferred into Morse code, and passed
through Canada over the line which
the Pacific Cable Board rents from the
Canadian Pacific Railway to Montreal,
a distance of 3,000 miles. From Mon
treal message was transferred to
the Commercial Cable Company for
transmission to The London Chroni
cle, whence it was dispatched by
Western Union cable to The New
York Times.
KING SENDS CONGRATULATIONS
English Monarch Also Wires Norwe
gian Ruler His Felicitations.
Christiania, March 9.—When Capt.
Roald Amundsen's brother, Leon, per
sonally took the explorer's telegram
announcing that he had attained the
South Pole to King Haakon, His Ma
jesty was attending the manouvres at
Sandviken.
"I thank you for the information.
The Queen and I beg to send you and
all on board the Fram our most cor
dial congratulations on the occasion
of your results, which are so satisfac
tory to all of us. HAAKON."
This is all the correspondence that
has passed between King Haakon and
Capt. Amundsen.
King George of Great Britain and
King Frederick of Denmark have tele-,
graphed their felicitations to King
Haakon.
| TO GO NORTH POLE, TOO.
; That Is Said to be the Ambition ot
Capt. Amundsen.
London, March 9. —According to C.
[ A. Bang, a personal friend of Capt.
Amundsen and the manager of the
Heinmann publishing house, the Nor
wegian explorer will not be satisfied
• until he has reached the north pole as
: well as the south.
Mr. Bang says that in order to get
funds for his antarctic expedition Cap
■ tain Amundsen mortgaged everything
he possessed, and that his father and
Nansen, the explorer, also helped.
No Word From Scott.
Hobart, Tasmania, March 9. —Capt.
Uoald Amundsen, the Norwegian ex
plorer, denies having telegraphed any
thing regarding Capt. Robert Scott or
. the British expedition.
Capt. Amundsen, up to the present,
is the only member of the antarctic
expedition who has landed from the
Fram. Nobody is allowed togo oa
j board the vessel under any pretext
J whatever.
View Amundsen's Old Ship.
San Francisco, March 9. —The sloop
Gjon. in which Capt Amundsen navi
gated the Northwest Passage, was an
I object of unusual interest here. Th®
1 little siitp is at Golden Gate Park..