To catch a loose dog sometimes requires more or less time and ingenuity and may result in a few bites. Our usual method of capturing one of these polar wolves was to coax him within reach by throwing out morsels of meat to him, then throw ourselves upon him and quickly bury his head in the snow. We soon became expert enough in this to avoid more than a few bites. Sometimes a dog is too wily to be caught in any such way and has to be lassooed and choked almost senseless before he can be put back in harness.
Up to 1895 the basic principle of polar sledging was that overland traveling was not practicable, that the only highway lay along the sea-ice off the coast. Therefore the journey I mapped out—the crossing of the inland ice-cap of northern Greenland—was an unprecedented one in point of distance to be covered without caches or supply depots. The successful carrying out of this plan has shown the practicability of the inland ice for a road, and since that time Greenland has been crossed by Nansen and Spitzbergen by Conway. The capabilities of overland traveling having been about exhausted in 1895, the invaluable experience gained in my Greenland work was concentrated upon a persistent effort to solve the polar question.
In this connection the following grouping of material may be of interest:
“My comprehensive scheme for work in Greenland, based upon the utilization of the Inland Ice for overland sledge journeys, and my subsequent development and execution, in actual practice, of methods, means, and details, justify me, I think, in claiming to have originated a new departure in Arctic work. Since my origination of that departure, Nansen has crossed Greenland; Conway has crossed Spitzbergen; and if our present idea of conditions in the Antarctic be correct, it is entirely within the possibilities, that the conqueror of the South Pole will achieve success by adopting my methods and equipment.”—Peary in “Northward Over the Great Ice,” 1898, Vol. I, page lvii.
“The North Pole is reached.”
In a flash the news spread over the world. The goal of which so many had dreamed, for which so many had labored and suffered and sacrificed their lives, was attained. It was in September, 1909, that the news reached us.
At the same instant I saw quite clearly that the original plan of the Fram’s third voyage—the exploration of the North Polar basin—hung in the balance. If the expedition was to be saved, it was necessary to act quickly and without hesitation. Just as rapidly as the message had traveled over the cables I decided on my change of front—to turn to the right-about, and face to the south.
The North Pole, the last problem but one of popular interest in polar exploration, was solved. If I was not to succeed in arousing interest in my undertaking, there was nothing left for me but to try to solve the last great problem—the South Pole.
The British expedition was designed entirely for scientific research. The pole was only a side-issue, whereas in my extended plan it was the main object.
If Peary could make a record trip on the Arctic ice with dogs, one ought, surely, with equally good tackle, to be able to beat Peary’s record.—Amundsen in “The South Pole,” 1913.