All these observations led to the following result: “Conditions to-day are as favorable as can be expected so late in the summer. It was not without nervousness that I advised the airmen of this result on the morning of the 21st--never have I given a weather forecast with such a heavy sense of responsibility. It was almost weighing me down with its fateful importance, but on the other hand it was bracing to note how the airmen arrived at their _much more responsible_ decision: “We start to-day.” And it was so! The last reports which were received at midday did not show any change for the worse, so there was not the slightest reason for calling off the start. The sky grew clearer continually; Mr. Calwagen had the opportunity of following the ascension of a pilot balloon with binoculars to a height of 4,000 meters. It showed a northeasterly wind, apart from the lowest belt, where the wind blew southeast from King’s Bay. The northeast wind high up had a speed of between eighteen to twenty kilometers per hour. Therefore if this strength should continue throughout the eight hours of the flight towards the Pole, it would give the planes a deviation of 130–160 kilometers. So much petrol was to be kept in reserve that the last stretch could also be flown, especially if one could reckon on the wind being _with_ the planes throughout the flight homeward. Mr. Calwagen wrote down the results of the pilot’s calculations and handed them over to Captain Amundsen to assist him in the work of navigation. Herewith the task of the meteorologists was ended, and in the last unforgettable minutes we all stood as spectators, filled with admiration for the six brave men who smilingly said good-by as if they were just going on an everyday flying-trip. Not long afterwards both machines were out of sight in the bright blue sky flying in the direction of Cape Mitra. * * * * * Forty-five days later the polar flyers are home in Oslo again and Captain Amundsen and Ellsworth’s meteorological notes are handed over to us. We read them through with excitement. They contain news from that part of the world which otherwise is out of the meteorologists reach. They give him something to think about--especially after he has dared to predict what kind of weather the polar flyers were likely to meet in the unknown. We start with the reports referring to the very beginning of the flight from King’s Bay and see what the meteorological notes tell us. After flying along the coast and passing the seven glaciers, the flyers find Danskeöen’s and Amsterdamöen’s hills enveloped in fog which continues northwards as far as the eye can see. What can this have been caused by?