On October 20 the southern party left. It consisted of five men
with four sledges and fifty-two dogs, and had provisions for four
months. Everything was in excellent order, and we had made up our minds
to take it easy during the first part of the journey, so that we and
the dogs might not be too fatigued, and we therefore decided to make
a little halt on the 22nd at the depot that lay in lat. 80deg.. However,
we missed the mark owing to thick fog, but after two or three miles'
march we found the place again.

When we had rested here and given the dogs as much seal meat as
they were able to eat, we started again on the 26th. The temperature
remained steady, between -5deg. and -22deg. F.

At first we had made up our minds not to drive more than twelve to
eighteen miles a day; but this proved to be too little, thanks to
our strong and willing animals. At lat. 80deg. we began to erect snow
beacons, about the height of a man, to show us the way home.

On the 31st we reached the depot in lat. 81deg.. We halted for a day
and fed the dogs on pemmican. On November 5 we reached the depot
in 82deg., where for the last time the dogs got as much to eat as they
could manage.

On the 8th we started southward again, and now made a daily march of
about thirty miles. In order to relieve the heavily laden sledges, we
formed a depot at every parallel we reached. The journey from lat. 82deg.
to 83deg. was a pure pleasure trip, on account of the surface and the
temperature, which were as favourable as one could wish. Everything
went swimmingly until the 9th, when we sighted South Victoria Land