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Sinceslateisnomorethanametamorphicformationintowhichasedimentarystratumispressed,andsincethepressureitselfproducesodddistortingeffectsonanymarkingswhichmayexist,Isawnoreasonforextremewonderoverthestriateddepression.
OnJanuary6th,1931,Lake,Pabodie,Danforth,theothersixstudents,andmyselfflewdirectlyoverthesouthpoleintwoofthegreatplanes,beingforceddownoncebyasuddenhighwind,which,fortunately,didnotdevelopintoatypicalstorm. Thiswas,asthepapershavestated,oneofseveralobservationflights,duringothersofwhichwetriedtodiscernnewtopographicalfeaturesinareasunreachedbypreviousexplorers. Ourearlyflightsweredisappointinginthislatterrespect,thoughtheyaffordedussomemagnificentexamplesoftherichlyfantasticanddeceptivemiragesofthepolarregions,ofwhichourseavoyagehadgivenussomebriefforetastes. Distantmountainsfloatedintheskyasenchantedcities,andoftenthewholewhiteworldwoulddissolveintoagold,silver,andscarletlandofDunsaniandreamsandadventurousexpectancyunderthemagicofthelowmidnightsun. Oncloudydayswehadconsiderabletroubleinflyingowingtothetendencyofsnowyearthandskytomergeintoonemysticalopalescentvoidwithnovisiblehorizontomarkthejunctionofthetwo.
Atlengthweresolvedtocarryoutouroriginalplanofflyingfivehundredmileseastwardwithallfourexploringplanesandestablishingafreshsub-baseatapointwhichwouldprobablybeonthesmallercontinentaldivision,aswemistakenlyconceivedit. Geologicalspecimensobtainedtherewouldbedesirableforpurposesofcomparison. Ourhealthsofarhadremainedexcellent-limejuicewelloffsettingthesteadydietoftinnedandsaltedfood,andtemperaturesgenerallyabovezeroenablingustodowithoutourthickestfurs.
