As the expense of using airships was prohibitive, we could only consider the employment of flying-machines. The choice of type depended upon the idea we could form of the landing conditions among the ice. The highest authority in the “world of polar-exploration,” and many others who had hunted and fished Greenland’s east coast for many years, all contended that there would be many suitable landing places on the numerous big flat ice-floes, and also that we should find water-lanes where the seaplanes could land. Some voices were raised against these contentions but as they were only “voices” we didn’t lay much weight on their opinion, though, as was proved later, these latter were right,--but that is a different matter. We regarded it at that time as certain that we should find plenty of big-enough landing places. Accordingly we based our plans, on making an expedition which could land to carry out observations and which would be of considerably more value than an exploration expedition which would only fly over the ice. An expedition thus equipped would be safer, as a forced landing might have to be made at any time. We decided therefore to use two machines, which would allow the expedition to continue with one plane if the other had to make a forced landing on account of irreparable engine trouble. In a forced landing, too, the machine might be damaged, as there would not be the same opportunity to find a suitable landing-place, as in the case of a voluntary landing. It is also certain that it would double the chances of reaching the goal ahead to set off with two machines rather than with only one,--always, of course, banking on the probability of good opportunities for landing being found. On the other hand, if such opportunities for landing did not offer, the use of two machines would halve the chances of success, as the risk of engine trouble where two are concerned is naturally double what it would be if only one machine were employed. The arrangements, therefore, were, that both seaplanes’ crews should keep together. When we made our forced landing on the ice we were convinced that there were no suitable landing places to be found up there, and in consequence we decided that we would only use one seaplane for the homeward flight. We spent some days at first getting both machines ready for a start, because starting conditions were _so_ difficult, that it was an advantage to hold one machine in reserve in case the other should get damaged in attempting to get away; but we discovered that it would take the six of us to tackle the work in each case, so we chose the machine which was in the best condition and therefore safest for the homeward flight.