Monday 6 November [Actually November 05]Better weather cannot be found. Absolutely calm. Burning sunshine and lovely warmth ca. –14°. The doggies are lying stretched out and enjoying themselves.
Have taken the opportunity to take all possible obs. The compass variation has increased somewhat since 81°. There it was 119° NE. Here we have 129° NE. We have checked the variation in every conceivable way, with the same result. We go further s’wards tomorrow; build snow cairns every third nautical mile, and lay a depot every degree – for the return journey. From the latest calculation, it appears that we cannot count on traction further than back to 86°. Thereafter we will have to haul ourselves. The small packing case slats with blue-black pennants which were set up here transversely remain just as high as when they were placed out. The pennants show no signs of wear and tear. This seems to suggest little snowfall and wind. The day has been spent in patching. Put a report in the cairn here. Have taken zero point observation and boiling point observation. Shot Jålå this evening. She was heavily pregnant and could not continue. She is lying on the depot. This transcript comes from “Race for the South Pole - The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen” by Roland Huntford. It appears by courtesy of the author and The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. |
South Pole 1911–2011 is an informational outreach project run by the Norwegian Polar Institute
Contact person:
