Polheim ("Home at the Pole") was Roald Amundsen's name for his camp (the first ever) at the South Pole. He arrived there on December 14, 1911, along with four other members of his expedition: Helmer Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland, Oscar Wisting, and Sverre Hassel. Calculations At the first estimated position of the South Pole, Amundsen declared "So we plant you, dear flag, on the South Pole, and give the plain on which it lies the name King Haakon VII's Plateau." Both the Norwegian and Fram's flag were planted. Due to the historical disputes over the claims of polar explorers prior to Amundsen's expedition, particularly the competing claims of Frederick Cook and Robert Peary to have reached the North Pole first, Amundsen took special care in making his polar observations. Approaching the Geographic South Pole (or North Pole) the meridians of longitude converge, eventually making a measure of longitude meaningless, as a degree of longitude will become smaller and smaller. At the pole itself, assuming one has accurate enough instruments, all meridians meet. Amundsen reasoned that the extra effort in obtaining longitude could be saved, and he focused on latitude. Amundsen had adopted this strategy after attending a lecture at The Royal Geographical Society in London in November 1909, given by the British astronomer and geographer, Arthur Robert Hinks. In his lecture on Surveying and Cartography at Cambridge University, Hinks put forward this theory when discussing the subject of determining positions near the Pole. With the instruments he had, Amundsen estimated that he could determine the position of the pole by no better than a nautical mile (1.85 km). In order to ensure that there was no doubt that his expedition had in fact reached the South Pole, he determined to encircle, or "box" the pole. Three members of the expedition were sent out from the current estimated position of the pole, one continuing on the current expedition track and two at right angles to this direction. Each skier continued and erected a spare sledge runner with a black flag and note for Robert Falcon Scott when and if he arrived. Scott did not arrive until more than a month later. The note contained the position to Amundsen's camp. While the skiers erected the encircling markers, Amundsen took altitudes of the sun for fixing his position. Since his theodolite had been damaged, observations were made with a sextant, the sun slowly circling