It will also be noticed from the illustrations that the “Wal” is fitted with two engines and that these are placed immediately behind each other--one pulls and one pushes--thus the aft propeller turns contrariwise to the fore propeller, each rotating in its own way. The wonderfully effective qualities which are thus attained, in conjunction with the suitable lines and ingenious “wing-frontage,” make it possible for a weight equal to that of the machine itself to be lifted. As we started from King’s Bay we had a load of 3,100 kilograms, while the “Wal” itself weighs 3,300 kilograms--yet the machine rose with such ease from the ice that I am sure we could have taken an additional 200 kilograms on board. This very fact seemed most apparent during the hardships we underwent in the ice regions, when we thought longingly of how many boxes of biscuits or how much tobacco we might safely have brought with us. We always closed these ruminations by a unanimous agreement that it was a good thing we had carried no more with us than we actually _had_ brought, for a heavier load might have demanded more revolutions from the engine. [Illustration: JUST BEFORE THE TAKE-OFF] [Illustration: OUR FOOTGEAR] The fact that the “Wal” had twin-engines gave us greater confidence in it. In view of the situation of each engine it is possible with a “Wal” to fly with one engine alone, with a heavy load on board, much more easily than if the engines had been placed by each wing, as they are in many other twin-motor machines. With a light load on board a “Wal” can rise quite easily from the water with one engine alone. Our machine was built by “S. A. I. di Construzioni Mecchaniche i Marina di Pisa” with only a few unimportant differences from the usual Dornier-Wal. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to the factory’s technical director, Herr Schulte-Frohlinde, for the great interest he showed in our expedition. The director accompanied us to Spitzbergen and superintended the setting up of the machines. In all he spent three months of his valuable time on us. We, who otherwise would have been taken up with this work, could now (while the work of mounting was proceeding) give ourselves up to the completion of other tasks. We also owe much gratitude to the Rolls-Royce factory. They sent five men to Marina di Pisa to introduce certain new improvements and inventions which they had hardly had time to “try out,” and they also sent Mr. Green with us to Spitzbergen. Mr. Green superintended all the trial flights and cared for the engines as though they were his “darlings.” As he (after his final inspection on the 21st of May) smiled and nodded in answer to my request to be told if all was in order, I set off at full speed feeling just as safe as if I were only going to cross the waters of the fjord. _Measures Against the Cold_