sions. On April 11th we returned from this excursion; this
ended all of our work connected with the establishment of depots. Up to
that date we had carried out 6,700 pounds of provisions and had
distributed these in three repositories.

The part of the Barrier over which we had gone heretofore has an
average height of 165 feet and looked like a flat plain which continued
with slight undulations without any marked features that could have
served for orientation. It has heretofore been the opinion that on such
an endless plain no provisions can be cached without risking their
loss. If we were, however, to have the slightest chance of reaching our
goal we had to establish depots, and that to as great an extent as
possible. This question was discussed among us, and we decided to
establish signs across our route, and not along it, as has been
generally done heretofore. We therefore set up a row of signs at right
angles to our route, that is, in an east-west direction from our
depots. Two of these signs were placed on opposite sides of each of the
three depots, at a distance of 5.6 miles (9 kilometers) from them; and
between the signs and the depot two flags were erected for every
kilometer. In addition, all flags were marked so that we might know the
direction and distance of the depot to which it referred. This
provision proved entirely trustworthy; we were able to find our depots
even in dense fog. Our compasses and pedometers were tested at the
station; we knew that we could rely upon them.

By our excursions to the depots we had gained a great deal. We had not
only carried a large amount of provisions toward the south, but we had
also gained valuable experience. That was worth more and was to be of
value to us on our final advance to the Pole.

The lowest temperature we had observed on these depot excursions was
-50 deg. Centigrade. The fact that it was still summer when we recorded
this temperature warned us to see that our equipment was in good
condition. We also realized that our heavy sleds were too unwieldy and
that they could easily be made much lighter. This criticism was equally
applicable to the greater part of our equipment.

Several days before the disappearance of the sun were devoted to
hunting seal. The total weight of the seals killed amounted to 132,000
pounds. We therefore had ample provisions for ourselves as well as for
our 115 dogs.

Our next problem was to supply a protective roof for our dogs.