Wednesday, 8 March 1911

Amundsen

Despite their achievement, tempers were somewhat short. "I have slept in many kinds of tent," Johansen wrote, "and without tent, but this is the worst, and ditto the cooking arrangements." [1] The five men shared two small tents, cooking in one.

"[We] gathered in the cooking tent in various squeezed up postures in order to profit a little from the warmth of the Primus. And then we discussed how best we were to reach our goal in the spring, by using our dogs in the best possible way. Now we have seen that they have been strained because the load was too heavy and time too short. A. gave it as his opinion that the motto from 82 degrees must be as few people and as many dogs as possible. That is the whole principle." [2]


Notes:

[1] Hjalmar Johansen, [diary? date not given], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.353.
[1] Hjalmar Johansen, diary [9 March 1911], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.353-354.