On 14th December they reached their goal; the weather was beautiful, the ground perfect for sledging.
"At 3 p.m. we made halt," says Amundsen. "According to our reckoning, we had reached our destination. All of us gathered round the colours—a beautiful silken flag; all hands took hold of it, and, planting it on the spot, we gave the vast plateau on which the Pole is situate the name of 'The King Haakon VII.' It was a vast plain, alike in all directions, mile after mile."
Here in brilliant sunshine the little party camped, taking observations till 17th December, when, fastening to the ground a little tent with the Norwegian flag and the Fram pennant, they gave it the name "Polheim" and started for home.
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CAPTAIN ROALD AMUNDSEN TAKING SIGHTS AT THE SOUTH POLE. From a photograph, by permission of Mr. John Murray and the Illustrated London News. |
So the North and South Poles yielded up their well-hoarded secrets after centuries of waiting, within two and a half years of one another.
They had claimed more lives than any exploration had done before, or is ever likely to do again.
And so ends the last of these great earth-stories—stories which have made the world what it is to-day—and we may well say with one of the most successful explorers of our times, "The future may give us thrilling stories of the conquest of the air, but the spirit of man has mastered the earth."