d that this trip would require five months. The _Fram_,
which has justly been called the stanchest polar ship in the world, on
this voyage across practically all of the oceans, proved herself to be
extremely seaworthy. Thus we traversed without a single mishap the
regions of the northeast and of the southeast trades, the stormy seas
of the "roaring forties," the fogs of the fifties, the ice-filled
sixties, and reached our field of work at the Ice Barrier on January
14, 1911. Everything had gone splendidly.

The ice in the Bay of Whales had just broken up, and we were able to
advance considerably farther south than any of our predecessors had
done. We found a quiet little nook behind a projecting ice cape; from
here we could transfer our equipment to the Barrier with comparative
safety. Another great advantage was that the Barrier at this place
descended very gradually to the sea ice, so that we had the best
possible surface for our sleds. Our first undertaking was to ascend the
Barrier in order to get a general survey and to determine a suitable
place for the erection of the house which we had brought with us. The
supposition that this part of the Barrier rests on land seemed to be
confirmed immediately by our surroundings. Instead of the smooth, flat
surface which the outer wall of the Barrier presents, we here found the
surface to be very uneven. We everywhere saw sharp hills, and points
between which there were pressure-cracks and depressions filled with
large masses of drift. These features were not of recent date. On the
contrary, it was easy to see that they were very old and that they must
have had their origin at a time which long preceded the period of
Ross's visit.

Originally we had planned to establish our station several miles from
the edge of the Barrier, in order not to subject ourselves to the
danger of an unwelcome and involuntary sea trip, which might have
occurred had the part of the Barrier on which we erected our house
broken off. This precaution, however, was not necessary, as the
features which we observed on our first examination of the area offered
a sufficient guaranty for the stability of the Barrier at this point.

In a small valley, hardly two and a half miles from the ship's
anchorage, we therefore selected a place for our winter quarters. It
was protected from the wind on all sides. On the next day we began
unloading the ship. We had brought with us material for house-building
as well a