Amundsen
Temperatures hovered around fifty degrees of frost.
"After dinner," wrote Hassel, "the Chief raised the question of whether we should start on Saturday or wait until Monday. Himself, he was certainly anxious to get away on Saturday. He (oddly enough) took a poll, four were for Saturday, 4 were for Sunday [sic]. So it was still a draw. It was decided therefore to flip a coin. This settled the start for Monday the 4th September. -- This, that departure was Monday, not Saturday, suited everyone all right. It turned out that everyone, even the boss, had some essential things to do with their personal equipment." [1]
Amundsen himself took the opportunity to alter the sleeves of his under-anorak.
Notes
[1] Sverre Hassel, diary, 3 September, 1911, published as Dagboksnotater fra Sydpolen (Skien : Vågemot Miniforlag, 1997), p.5. Presumably Hassel is writing a little after the fact, as he talks on Sunday the 3rd of possibly departing on Saturday, that is, the 2nd.
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