Full text of "Farthest north; being a record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Fram" 1893-96, and of a fifteen month's sleigh journey by Dr. Nansen and Lieut. Johannsen"

See other formats

FARTHEST NORTH

Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration

of the Ship ''Frant' i8gj-g6 and of a

Fifteen Months Sleigh Journey by

Dr. Nansen and Lieut. Johansen

DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEN

WITH AN APPENDIX

BY OTTO SVERDRUP
CAPTAIN OF THE FRAM

About 120 Full -page and Nume7-ous Text Illustrations
16 Colored Plates in Facsimile fro7n Dr. Nansen's 0~vn
Sketches, Etched Portrait, Photogravures, and Jf. Maps

IN TWO VOLUMES
Vol. I.

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

1897

All riirhts reserved.

College
Library

HER

WHO CHRISTENED THE SHIP

AXD

HAD THE COURAGE TO REMAIN BEHIND

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

CHAP. PAGE

I. Introduction i

II. Preparations and Equipment 54

III. The Start 81

IV. Farewell to Norway 104

V. Voyage through the Kara Sea 146

VI. The Winter Night 237

VII. The Spring and Summer of 1894 442

VIII. Second Autumn in the Ice 525

ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. I.

FRIDTJOF NANSEN Etched Frontispiece

COLIN ARCHER 5^

DESIGN OF THE " FRAM " 6l

SIGURD SCOTT-HANSEN 85

ADOLF JUELL §9

THE " FRAM " LEAVING BERGEN 93

OTTO SVERDRUP 99

FIRST DRIFT-ICE (jULY 28, 1 893) IO7

THE NEW CHURCH AND THE OLD CHURCH AT KHABA-

ROVA

PETER HENRIKSEN

OUR TRIAL TRIP WITH THE DOGS

EVENING SCENE AT KHABAROVA

O. CHRISTOFERSEN AND A. TRONTHEIM

LANDING ON YALMAL

THE PLAIN OF YALMAL

IN THE KARA SEA

THE "FRAM" IN THE KARA SEA

OSTROVA KAMENNI (ROCKY ISLAND), OFF THE COAST OF

SIBERIA

THEODOR C. JACOBSEN, MATE OF THE " FRAM " . . . .

HENRIK BLESSING

A DEAD BEAR ON REINDEER ISLAND (AUGUST 21, 1 893) .

" WE FIRST TRIED TO DRAG THE BEARS "

BERNARD NORDAHL

IVAR MOGSTAD

35
48
50

52
55

58
61

n
85

Vlll ILL USTRA TIONS

PAGE

BERNT BENTZEN I93

LARS PETTERSEN 205

ANTON AMUNDSEN 213

CAPE CHELYUSKIN, THE NORTHERNMOST POINT OF THE

OLD WORLD 218

ON LAND EAST OF CAPE CHELYUSKLN (SEPTEMBER JO,

1893) 219

A WARM CORNER AMONG THE WALRUSES, OFF EAST

TAIMUR 223

THE ICE INTO WHICH THE " FRAM " WAS FROZEN (SEP-
TEMBER 25, 1893) 234

THE SMITHY ON THE " FRAM " 239

THE THERMOMETER HOUSE 244

MAGNETIC OBSERVATIONS 247

A SMOKE IN THE GALLEY OF THE " FRAM " 250

"THE SALOON WAS CONVERTED INTO A READING-
ROOM" 252

SCOTT-HANSEN AND JOHANSEN INSPECTING THE BAROM-
ETERS , , Facing p. 254

DR. BLESSING IN HIS CABIN 257

"I LET LOOSE SOME OF THE DOGS " 263

THE MEN WHO WERE AFRAID OF FRIGHTENING THE

BEAR. "OFF STEALS BLESSING ON TIPTOE" . . . 267

DOGS CHAINED ON THE ICE 272

WE LAY IN OPEN WATER 275

MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT DOc; DRIVING 289

A CHRONOMETER - OBSERVATION WITH THE THEODO-
LITE Facing p. 314

A LIVELY GAME OF CARDS 318

" ' I TOOK THE LANTERN AND GAVE HIM SUCH A WHACK

ON THE HEAD WITH IT ' " 33O

A NOCTURNAL VISITANT 336

SVERDRUP'S BEAR- TRAP (MOONLIGHT, DECEMBER 20,

1893) • • • 339

ILL USTRA TIONS i X

PAGE

" HE STARED, HESITATING, AT THE DELICIOUS MORSEL ". 34I
PROMENADE IN TIMES OF PEACE WITH SVERDRUP'S

PATENT FOOT-GEAR 345

"FRAM" FELLOWS ON THE WAR-PATH: DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE SVERDRUP AND THE LAPP FOOT-
GEAR 346

" FRAM " FELLOWS STILL ON THE WAR-PATH .... 347
" IT WAS STRANGE ONCE MORE TO SEE THE MOONLIGHT

PLAYING ON THE COAL-BLACK WAVES" 35 1

A GAME OF HALMA 355

FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE SUN 394

DIAGRAMS OF ICE WITH LAYERS 4OI

JOHANSEN READING THE ANEMOMETER 4O9

TWO FRIENDS 418

EXPERIMENT IN SLEDGE SAILING 42 1

AT THE COMING OF THE SPRING (MARCH, 1 894) . . . 425

RETURNING HOME AFTER SUNSET (MARCH 31, 1 894) . . 429

OBSERVING THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN (APRIL 6, 1 894) . 433

TAILPIECE 441

TAKING A SOUNDING OF 2058 FATHOMS 447

HOME-SICKNESS (jUNE 16, 1894) 45 1

SAILING ON THE FRESH-WATER POOL (JULY 12, 1 894) . 454

READING TEMPERATURES WITH LENS .... Facing p. 456
PETER HENRIKSEN IN A BROWN STUDY (jULY 6,

1894) 461

TAKING WATER TEMPERATURES 466

SUMMER GUESTS 469

RHODOS TETHIA 473

NANSEN TAKES A WALK (jULY 6, 1 894) 477

OUR KENNELS (SEPTEMBER 27, 1 894) 480

THE DOGS BASKING IN THE SUN (jUNE 13, 1 894) . . . 482

THE SEVENTEENTH-OF-MAY PROCESSION, 1 894 .... 485

THE DRIFT-ICE IN SUMMER (jULY 12, 1 894) 4^7

A SUMMER SCENE (jULY 21, 1 894) 493

X ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

THE STERN OF THE " FRAM." JOHANSEN AND " SULTAN "

(JUNE l6, 1894) 499

BLESSING GOES OFF IN SEARCH OF ALG^ 503

A SUMMER EVENING (jULY 1 4, 1 894) 505

BLESSING FISHING FOR ALG^ 507

PRESSURE -RIDGE ON THE PORT QUARTER OF THE

"FRAM" (JULY I, 1894) 509

SKELETONS OF A KAYAK FOR ONE MAN (BAMBOO) AND

OF A DOUBLE KAYAK, LYING ON A HAND-SLEDGE . 511

A SUMMER EVENING (jULY I4, 1 894) 519

TAILPIECE 524

PETTERSEN AFTER THE EXPLOSION 529

SNOW-SHOE PRACTICE (SEPTEMBER 28, 1 894) 542

RETURN FROM A SNOW-SHOE RUN (SEPTEMBER 28, 1 894) 544

BLOCK OF ICE (SEPTEMBER 28, 1 894) 546

THE WANING DAY (OCTOBER, 1 894) 548

A SNOW-SHOE EXCURSION (OCTOBER, 1 894) 553

IN LINE FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER 555

DEEP-WATER TEMPERATURE. "UP WITH THE THERMOM-
ETER" (JULY 12, 1894) 559

ON THE AFTER-DECK OF THE " FRAM " (OCTOBER, 1 894). 563

THE RETURN OF SNOW-SHOERS Facing p. 566

MAPS [In Cover-pocket]

PRELIMINARY SKETCH-MAP OF FRANZ JOSEF LAND.

PRELIMINARY MAP OF THE ROUTE OF THE " FRAM."

MAP SHOWING THE ROUTE OF THE " FRAM," AND NANSEN'S

AND JOHANSEN'S SLEDGE JOURNEY.
PHYSICAL CHART OF NORTH POLAR REGIONS.

COLORED PLATES IN VOL. I.

I. WALRUSES KILLED OFF THE EAST COAST OF
THE TAIMUR PENINSULA (SEPTEMBER

12, 1893) Facing- p. 220

11. SLEEPY AND CROSS (SEPTEMBER 12, 1 893) . " 228

III. SUNSET OFF THE NORTH COAST OF ASIA,

NORTH OF THE MOUTH OF THE CHA-

TANGA (SEPTEMBER 12, 1 893) .... " 232

IV. OFF THE EDGE OF THE ICE. — GATHERING

STORM (SEPTEMBER I4, 1 893) .... " 290
V. EVENING AMONG THE DRIFT-ICE (SEPTEMBER

22, 1893) "304

VI. AT SUNSET (SEPTEMBER 22, 1 893) .... " 324

VII. THE WANING POLAR DAY (SEPTEMBER 22, 1893) " 352

VIII. MOONLIGHT (NOVEMBER 22, 1 893) .... " 576

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

The Author had not originally contemplated the publication
of the colored sketches which are produced in this work. He
has permitted their reproduction because they may be useful
as showing .olor effects in the Arctic ; but he wishes it under-
stood that he claims no artistic merit for them.

For permission to reproduce the map of Franz Josef Land,
in Julius Payer's '' New Lands Within the Arctic Circle," the
publishers are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Macmillan
and Company.

FARTHEST NORTH

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

" A time will come in later years when the Ocean will unloose the
bands of things, when the immeasurable earth will lie open, when sea-
farers will discover new countries, and Thule will no longer be the ex-
treme point among the lands." — Seneca.

Unseen and untrodden under their spotless mantle of
ice the rigid polar regions slept the profound sleep of
death from the earliest dawn of time. Wrapped in his
white shroud, the mighty giant stretched his clammy
ice-limbs abroad, and dreamed his age-long dreams.

Ages passed — deep was the silence.

Then, in the dawn of history, far away in the south,
the awakening spirit of man reared its head on high
and gazed over the earth. To the south it encountered
warmth, to the north, cold ; and behind the boundaries
of the unknown it placed in imagination the twin king-
doms of consuming heat and of deadly cold.

But the limits of the unknown had to recede step by
step before the ever-increasing yearning after light and

2 FARTHEST NORTH

knowledge of the human mind, till they made a stand in
the north at the threshold of Nature's great Ice Temple
of the polar regions with their endless silence.

Up to this point no insuperable obstacles had op-
posed the progress of the advancing hosts, which con-
fidently proceeded on their way. But here the ram-
parts of ice and the long darkness of winter brought
them to bay. Host after host marched on towards the
north, only to suffer defeat. Fresh ranks stood ever
ready to advance over the bodies of their predecessors.
Shrouded in fog lay the mythic land of Nivlheim, where
the " Rimturser " * carried on their wild gambols.

Why did we continually return to the attack ? There
in the darkness and cold stood Helheim, where the
death -goddess held her sway; there lay Nastrand, the
shore of corpses. Thither, where no living being could
draw breath, thither troop after troop made its way.
To what end '^. Was it to bring home the dead, as did
Hermod when he rode after Baldur } No ! It was
simply to satisfy man's thirst for knowledge. Nowhere,
in truth, has knowledge been purchased at greater cost
of privation and suffering. But the spirit of mankind
will never rest till every spot of these regions has been
trodden by the foot of man, till every enigma has been
solved.

Minute by minute, degree by degree, we have stolen

* Frost-giants.

INTR on UCTION 3

forward, with painful effort. Slowly the day has ap-
proached ; even now we are but in its early dawn ;
darkness still broods over vast tracts around the Pole.

Our ancestors, the old Vikings, were the first Arctic
voyagers. It has been said that their expeditions to the
frozen sea were of no moment, as they have left no en-
during marks behind them. This, however, is scarcely
correct. Just as surely as the whalers of our age, in their
persistent struggles with ice and sea, form our outposts
of investigation up in the north, so were the old North-
men, with Eric the Red, Leif, and others at their head,
the pioneers of the polar expeditions of future gener-
ations.

It should be borne in mind that as they were the first
ocean navigators, so also were they the first to combat
with the ice. Long before other seafaring nations had
ever ventured to do more than hug the coast lines, our
ancestors had traversed the open seas in all directions,
had discovered Iceland and Greenland, and had colo-
nized them. At a later period they discovered America,
and did not shrink from making a straight course over
the Atlantic Ocean, from Greenland to Norway. Many
and many a bout must they have had with the ice along
the coasts of Greenland in their open barks, and many
a life must have been lost.

And that which impelled them to undertake these
expeditions was not the mere love of adventure, though
that is, indeed, one of the essential traits of our national

4 FARTHEST NORTH

character. It was rather the necessity of discovering new
countries for the many restless beings that could find no
room in Norway. Furthermore, they were stimulated by
a real interest for knowledge. Othar, who about 890
resided in England at Alfreds Court, set out on an
errand of geographical investigation ; or, as he says him-
self, " he felt an inspiration and a desire to learn, to know,
and to demonstrate how far the land stretched towards
the north, and if there were any regions inhabited b}''
man northward beyond the desert waste." He lived in
the northernmost part of Helgeland, probably at Bjarkoi,
and sailed round the North Cape and eastward, even to
the White Sea.

Adam of Bremen relates of Harald Hardrade, " the
experienced king of the Northmen," that he undertook a
voyage out into the sea towards the north and "explored
the expanse of the northern ocean with his ships, but
darkness spread over the verge where the world falls
away, and he put about barely in time to escape being
swallowed in the vast abyss." This was Ginnungagap,
the abyss at the world's end. How far he went no one
knows, but at all events he deserves recognition as one
of the first of the polar navigators that were animated
by pure love of knowledge. Naturally, these Northmen
were not free from the superstitious ideas about the
polar regions prevalent in their times. There, indeed,
they placed their Ginnungagap, their Nivlheim, Helheim,
and later on Trollebotn ; but even these mythical and

^ INTRODUCTION 5

poetical ideas contained so large a kernel of observation
that our fathers may be said to have possessed a re-
markably clear conception of the true nature of things.
How soberly and correctly they observed may best be
seen a couple of hundred years later in Kongespeilet
(" The Mirror of Kings "), the most scientific treatise of
our ancient literature, where it is said that " as soon as
one has traversed the greater part of the wild sea, one
comes upon such a huge quantity of ice that nowhere in
the whole world has the like been known. Some of the
ice is so flat that it looks as if it were frozen on the sea
itself; it is from 8 to lo feet thick, and extends so far
out into the sea that it would take a journey of four
or more days to reach the land over it. But this ice
lies more to the northeast or north, beyond the limits
of the land, than to the south and southwest or
west. . . .

" This ice is of a wonderful nature. It lies at times
quite still, as one would expect, with openings or large
fjords in it ; but sometimes its movement is so strong
and rapid as to equal that of a ship running before
the wind, and it drifts against the wind as often as
with it."

This is a conception all the more remarkable when
viewed in the light of the crude ideas entertained by
the rest of the world at that period with regard to
foreign climes.

The strength of our people now dwindled away, and

6 FARTHEST NORTH

centuries elapsed before explorers once more sought the
northern seas. Then it was other nations, especially
the Dutch and the English, that led the van. The
sober observations of the old Northmen were forgot-
ten, and in their stead we meet with repeated in-
stances of the attraction of mankind towards the most
fantastic ideas ; a tendency of thought that found ample
scope in the regions of the north. When the cold
proved not to be absolutely deadly, theories flew to the
opposite extreme, and marvellous were the erroneous
ideas that sprang up and have held their own down
to the present day. Over and over again it has been
the same — the most natural explanation of phenomena
is the very one that men have most shunned; and, if
no middle course was to be found, they have rushed
to the wildest hypothesis. It is only thus that the be-
lief in an open polar sea could have arisen and held
its ground. Though everywhere ice was met with, peo-
ple maintained that this open sea must lie behind the
ice. Thus the belief in an ice-free northeast and north-
west passage to the wealth of Cathay or of India, first
propounded towards the close of the 15th century,
cropped up again and again, only to be again and again
refuted. Since the ice barred the southern regions, the
way must lie farther north ; and finally a passage over
the Pole itself was sought for. Wild as these theories
were, they have worked for the benefit of mankind ; for
by their means our knowledge of the earth has been

INTR OD UCTION 7

widely extended. Hence we may see that no work done
in the service of investigation is ever lost, not even when
carried out under false assumptions. England has to
thank these chimeras in no small desfree for the fact that
she has become the mightiest seafaring nation of the
world.

By many paths and by many means mankind has
endeavored to penetrate this kingdom of death. At
first the attempt was made exclusively by sea. Ships
were then ill adapted to combat the ice, and people were
loath to make the venture. The clinker-built pine and
fir barks of the old Northmen were no better fitted for
the purpose than were the small clumsy carvels of the
first English and Dutch Arctic explorers. Little by
little they learnt to adapt their vessels to the conditions,
and with ever -increasing daring they forced them in
among the dreaded floes.

But the uncivilized polar tribes, both those that
inhabit the Siberian tundras and the Eskimo of North
America, had discovered, long before polar expeditions
had begun, another and a safer means of traversing these
regions — to wit, the sledge, usually drawn by dogs. It
was in Siberia that this excellent method of locomotion
was first applied to the service of polar exploration.
Already in the 17th and i8th centuries the Russians
undertook very extensive sledge journeys, and charted
the whole of the Siberian coast from the borders of
Europe to Bering Strait, And they did not merely

8 • FARTHEST NORTH

travel alone the coasts, but crossed the drift-ice itself to
the New Siberian Islands, and even north of them.
Nowhere, perhaps, have travellers gone through so many
sufferings, or evinced so much endurance.

In America, too, the sledge was employed by English-
men at an early date for the purpose of exploring the
shores of the Arctic seas. Sometimes the toboggan or
Indian sledge was used, sometimes that of the Eskimo.
It was under the able leadership of M'Clintock that
sledge journeys attained their highest development.
While the Russians had generally travelled with a large
number of dogs, and only a few men, the English
employed many more men on their expeditions, and
their sledges were entirely, or for the most part, drawn
by the explorers themselves. Thus in the most ener-
getic attempt ever made to reach high latitudes, Albert
Markham's memorable march . towards the north from
the Alert's winter quarters, there were 33 men who
had to draw the sledges, though there were plenty of
dogs on board the ship. It would appear, indeed, as
if dogs were not held in great estimation by the
English.

The American traveller Peary has, however, adopted
a totally different method of travelling on the inland ice
of Greenland, employing as few men and as many dogs
as possible. The great importance of dogs for sledge
journeys was clear to me before I undertook my Green-
land expedition, and the reason I did not use them then

INTR OD UCTION 9

was simply that I was unable to procure any serviceable
animals.*

A third method may yet be mentioned which has
been employed in the Arctic regions — namely, boats and
sledges combined. It is said of the old Northmen in
the Sagas and in the Kongespeilet, that for days on end
they had to drag their boats over the ice in the Green-
land sea, in order to reach land. The first in modern
times to make use of this means of travelling was Parry,
who, in his memorable attempt to reach the Pole in 1827,
abandoned his ship and made his way over the drift-ice
northward with boats, which he dragged on sledges.
He succeeded in attaining the highest latitude (82° 45^)
that had yet been reached; but here the current carried
him to the south more quickly than he could advance
against it, and he was obliged to turn back.

Of later years this method of travelling has not been
greatly employed in approaching the Pole. It may,
however, be mentioned that Markham took boats with
him also on his sledge expedition. Many expeditions
have through sheer necessity accomplished long distances
over the drift-ice in this way, in order to reach home
after having abandoned or lost their ship. Especial
mention may be made of the Austro-Hungarian Tegcthoff
expedition to Franz Josef Land, and the ill-fated Amer-
ican Jeannette expedition.

* First Crossing of Green/and, Vol. I., p. 30.

lO FARTHEST NORTH

It seems that but few have thought of following the
example of the Eskimo — living as they do, and, instead
of heavy boats, taking light kayaks drawn by dogs. At
all events, no attempts have been made in this direction.

The methods of advance have been tested on four
main routes : the Smith Sound route, the sea route
between Greenland and Spitzbergen, Franz Josef Land
route, and the Bering Strait route.

In later times, the point from which the Pole has
been most frequently assailed is Smith Sound, probably
because American explorers had somewhat too hastily
asserted that they had there descried the open Polar
Sea, extending indefinitely towards the north. Every
expedition was stopped, however, by immense masses of
ice, which came drifting southward, and piled them-
selves up against the coasts. The most important expe-
dition by this route was the English one conducted by
Nares in 1875-76, the equipment of which involved a
vast expenditure. Markham, the next in command to
Nares, reached the highest latitude till then attained,
82° 20', but at the cost of enormous exertion and loss ;
and Nares was of opinion that the impossibility of reach-
ing the Pole by this route was fully demonstrated for
all future ages.

During the stay of the Greely expedition (from 1881
to 1884) in this same region, Lockwood attained a
somewhat higher record, viz., '6^^'' 24', the most north-
erly point on the globe that human feet had trodden

INTR on UCTION 1 1

previous to the expedition of which the present work
treats.

By way of the sea between Greenland and Spitzber-
gen, several attempts have been made to penetrate the
secrets of the domain of ice. In 1607 Henry Hudson
endeavored to reach the Pole along the east coast of
Greenland, where he was in hopes of finding an open
basin and a waterway to the Pacific. His progress was,
however, stayed at 'j'^ north latitude, at a point of the
coast which he named " Hold with Hope." The Ger-
man expedition under Koldeway (1869-70), which vis-
ited the same waters, reached by the aid of sledges as
far north as ']']° north latitude. Owing to the enormous
masses of ice which the polar current sweeps southward
along this coast, it is certainly one of the most unfavor-
able routes for a polar expedition. A better route is that
by Spitzbergen, which was essayed by Hudson, when his
progress was blocked off Greenland. Here he reached
80° 23' north latitude. Thanks to the warm current
that runs by the west coast of Spitzbergen in a north-
erly direction, the sea is kept free from ice, and it is
without comparison the route by which one can the most
safely and easily reach high latitudes in ice-free waters.
It was north of Spitzbergen that Edward Parry made his
attempt in 1827, above alluded to.

Farther eastward the ice - conditions are less favor-
able, and therefore few polar expeditions have directed
their course through these regions. The original object

12 FARTHEST NORTH

of the Austro- Hungarian expedition under Weyprecht
and Payer (1872-74) was to seek for the Northeast
Passage; but at its first meeting with the ice it was
set fast off the north point of Novaya Zemlya, drifted
northward, and discovered Franz Josef Land, whence
Payer endeavored to push forward to the north with
sledges, reaching 82" 5' north latitude on an island,
which he named Crown- Prince Rudolfs Land. To the
north of this he thought he could see an extensive
tract of land, lying in about 83"" north latitude, which he
called Petermann's Land. Franz Josef Land was after-
wards twice visited by the English traveller Leigh Smith
in 1880 and 1S81-82; and it is here that the English
Jackson-Harmsworth expedition is at present established.

The plan of the Danish expedition under Hovgaard
was to push forward to the North Pole from Cape
Chelyuskin along the east coast of an extensive tract
of land which Hovgaard thought must lie to the east
of Franz Josef Land. He got set fast in the ice, how-
ever, in the Kara Sea, and remained the winter there,
returning home the following year.

Only a few attempts have been made through Bering
Strait. The first was Cook's, in 1776; the last the
Jeannette expedition (1879-81), under De Long, a
lieutenant in the American navy. Scarcely anywhere
have polar travellers been so hopelessly blocked by ice in
comparatively low latitudes. The last-named expedition,
however, had a most important bearing upon my own.

INTR OD UCTION 1 3

As De Long himself says in a letter to James Gor-
don Bennett, who supplied the funds for the expedition,
he was of opinion that there were three routes to choose
from — Smith Sound, the east coast of Greenland, or
Bering Strait ; but he put most faith in the last, and
this was ultimately selected. His main reason for this
choice was his belief in a Japanese current running
north through Bering Strait and onward along the
east coast of Wrangel Land, which was believed to
extend far to the north. It was urged that the warm
water of this current would open a way along that
coast, possibly up to the Pole. The experience of
whalers showed that whenever their vessels were set
fast in the ice here they drifted northwards ; hence it
was concluded that the current generally set in that
direction. " This will help explorers," says De Long,
" to reach high latitudes, but at the same time will
make it more difficult for them to come back.'' The
truth of these words he himself was to learn by bitter
experience.

The Jeannette stuck fast in the ice on September 6th,
1879, in 71° 35' north latitude and 175° 6' east longitude,
southeast of Wrangel Land — which, however, proved
to be a small island — and drifted with the ice in a west-
northwesterly direction for two years, when it foundered,
June 1 2th, 1 88 1, north of the New Siberian Islands, in
77° 15' north latitude and 154^ 59' east longitude.

Everywhere, then, has the ice stopped the progress of

14 FARTHEST NORTH

mankind towards the north. In two cases only have ice-
bound vessels drifted in a northerly direction — in the
case of the Tegetlwff and the Jeanuette — while most of
the others have been carried away from their goal by
masses of ice drifting southward.

On reading the history of Arctic explorations, it early
occurred to me that it would be very difficult to wrest
the secrets from these unknown regions of ice by adopt-
ing the routes and the methods hitherto employed. But
where did the proper route lie t

It was in the autumn of 1884 that I happened to
see an article by Professor Mohn in the Norwegian
Morgenblad, in which it was stated that sundry articles
which must have come from the Jeanuette had been
found on the southwest coast of Greenland. He
conjectured that they must have drifted on a floe right
'across the Polar Sea. It immediately occurred to me
vthat here lay the route ready to hand. If a floe could
drift right across the unknown region, that drift might
also be enlisted in the service of exploration — and my
plan was laid. Some years, however, elapsed before, in
February, 1890, after my return from my Greenland
expedition, I at last propounded the idea in an address
before the Christiania Geographical Society. As this
address plays an important part in the history of the
expedition, I shall reproduce its principal features, as
printed in the March number of Natiiren, 1891.

After giving a brief sketch of the different polar

INTR OD UCTION 1 5

expeditions of former years, I go on to say : " The
results of these numerous attempts, as I have pointed
out, seem somewhat discouraging. They appear to
show plainly enough that it is impossible to sail to the
Pole by any route whatever; for everywhere the ice has
proved an impenetrable barrier, and has stayed the
progress of invaders on the threshold of the unknown
regions.

" To drag boats over the uneven drift-ice, which more-
over is constantly moving under the influence of the cur-
rent and wind, is an equally great difficulty. The ice
lays such obstacles in the way that any one who has ever
attempted to traverse it will not hesitate to declare it
well-nigh impossible to advance in this manner with
the equipment and provisions requisite for such an
undertaking."

Had we been able to advance over land, I said, that
would have been the most certain route ; in that case
the Pole could have been reached " in one summer by
Norwegian snow-shoe runners." But there is every
reason to doubt the existence of any such land. Green-
land, I considered, did not extend farther than the most
northerly known point of its west coast. " It is not
probable that Franz Josef Land reaches to the Pole ;
from all we can learn it forms a group of islands separated
from each other by deep sounds, and it appears im-
probable that any large continuous track of land is to be
found there.

1 6 FARTHEST NORTH

" Some people are perhaps of opinion that one ought
to defer the examination of regions Hke those around the
Pole, beset, as they are, with so many difficulties, till
new means of transport have been discovered. I have
heard it intimated that one fine day we shall be able to
reach the Pole by a balloon, and that it is only waste of
time to seek to get there before that day comes. It need
scarcely be shown that this line of reasoning is untenable.
Even if one could really suppose that in the near or
distant future this frequently mooted idea of travelling to-
the Pole in an air-ship would be realized, such an expe-
dition, however interesting it might be in certain respects^
would be far from yielding the scientific results of expe-
ditions carried out in the manner here indicated. Scien-
tific results of importance in all branches of research
can be attained only by persistent observations during^
a lengthened sojourn in these regions, while those of
a balloon expedition cannot but be of a transitory-
nature.

" VVe must, then, endeavor to ascertain if there are
not other routes — and I believe there are. I believe
that if we pay attention to the actually existent forces of
nature, and seek to work with and not against them, we
shall thus find the safest and easiest method of reach-
ing the Pole. It is useless, as previous expeditions have
done, to work agahist the current ; we should see if there
is not a current we can work with. The Jeannette expe-
dition is the only one, in my opinion, that started on the

INTR on UCTION' i /

right track, though it may have been unwittingly and un-
willingly.

" The Jeannette drifted for two years in the ice, from
Wrangel Land to the New Siberian Islands. Three
years after she foundered to the north of these islands
there was found frozen into the drift-ice, in the neighbor-
hood of Julianehaab, on the southwest coast of Green-
land, a number of articles which appeared, from sundry
indubitable marks, to proceed from the sunken vesseL
These articles were first discovered by the Eskimo^
and were afterwards collected by Mr. Lytzen, Colonial
Manager at Julianehaab, who has given a list of them
in the Danish Geographical Journal iox 1885. Among
them the following may especially be mentioned :

" I. A list of provisions, signed by De Long, the com-
mander of the Jeannette.

" 2. A MS. list of the Jeannette s boats.

" 3. A pair of oilskin breeches marked ' Louis Noros,''
the name of one of the Jeannette s crew, who
was saved.

" 4. The peak of a cap on which, according to Lytzen's
statement, was written F. C. Linde^nann. The
name of one of the crew of the Jeannette, who
was also saved, was F. C. Nindemann. This
may either have been a clerical error on Lyt-
zen's part or a misprint in the Danish jour-
nal.

I8 FARTHEST NORTH

" In America, when it was reported that these articles
had been found, people were very sceptical, and doubts of
their genuineness were expressed in the American news-
papers. The facts, however, can scarcely be sheer in-
ventions; and it may therefore be safely assumed that
an ice-floe bearing these articles from the Jeannette had
drifted from the place where it sank to Julianehaab.

" By what route did this ice-floe reach the west coast
of Greenland ?

" Professor Mohn, in a lecture before the Scientific
Society of Christiania, in November, 1894, showed that it
could have come by no other way than across the Pole.*

" It cannot possibly have come through Smith Sound,
as the current there passes along the western side of
Baf^n's Bay, and it would thus have been conveyed to
Baffin's Land on Labrador, and not to the west coast of
Greenland. The current flows along this coast in a
northerly direction, and is a continuation of the Green-
land polar current, which comes along the east coast of

* Mr. Lytzen, of Julianehaab, afterwards contributed an article to the
Geografisk Tidsskrift (8th Vol., 1885-86, pp. 49-51, Copenhagen), in which
he expressed himself, so far at least as I understand him, in the same sense,
and, remarkably enough, suggested that this circumstance might possibly
be found to have an important bearing on Arctic exploration. He says:
" It will therefore be seen that polar explorers who seek to advance tow-
ards the Pole from the Siberian Sea will probably at one place or another
be hemmed in by the ice, but these masses of ice will be carried by the
current along the Greenland coast. It is not, therefore, altogether impos-
sible that, if the ship of such an expedition is able to survive the pressure
of the masses of ice for any length of time, it will arrive safely at South
Greenland ; but in that case it must be prepared to spend several years
on the way."

INTR on UCTION 1 9

Greenland, takes a bend round Cape Farewell, and passes
upward along the west coast.

" It is by this current only that the floe could have
come.

" But the question now arises : What route did it take
from the New Siberian Islands in order to reach the east
coast of Greenland ?

" It is conceivable that it might have drifted along the
north coast of Siberia, south of Franz Josef Land, up
through the sound between Franz Josef Land and
Spitzbergen, or even to the south of Spitzbergen, and
might after that have got into the polar current which
flows along Greenland. If, however, we study the di-
rections of the currents in these regions so far as they
are at present ascertained, it will be found that this is
extremely improbable, not to say impossible."

Having shown that this is evident from the Tegethoff
drift and from many other circumstances, I proceeded :

" The distance from the New Siberian Islands to the
80th degree of latitude on the east coast of Greenland
is 1 360 miles, and the distance from the last-named place
to Julianehaab 1540 miles, making together a distance
of 2900 miles. This distance was traversed by the floe
in 1 100 days, which gives a speed of 2.6 miles per
day of 24 hours. The time during which the relics
drifted after having reached the 80th degree of latitude,
till they arrived at Julianehaab, can be calculated with
tolerable precision, as the speed of the above-named

20 FARTHEST NORTH

current alons: the east coast of Greenland is well known.
It may be assumed that it took at least 400 days to
accomplish this distance ; there remain, then, about
700 days as the longest time the drifting articles can
have taken from the New Siberian Islands to the 80th
degree of latitude. Supposing that they took the
shortest route — i. e., across the Pole — this computation
gives a speed of about 2 miles in 24 hours. On the
other hand, supposing they went by the route south of
Franz Josef Land, and south of Spitzbergen, they must
have drifted at much higher speed. Two miles in the
24 hours, however, coincides most remarkably with the
rate at which the Jeannette drifted during the last months
of her voyage, from January i to June 12, 1881. In
this time she drifted at an average rate of a little over
2 miles in the 24 hours. If, however, the average speed
of the whole of the Jeannette s drifting be taken, it will
be found to be only i mile in the 24 hours.
V " But are there no other evidences of a current flowingr
across the North Pole from Bering Sea on the one side
to the Atlantic Ocean on the other }

"Yes, there are.

" Dr. Rink received from a Greenlander at Godthaab
a remarkable piece of wood which had been found among
the drift-timber on the coast. It is one of the ' throwing
sticks ' which the Eskimo use in hurling their bird-darts,
but altogether unlike those used by the Eskimo on the
west coast of Greenland. Dr. Rink conjectured that it

INTR on UCTION 21

possibly proceeded from the Eskimo on the east coast
of Greenland.

" From later inquiries * however, it appeared that it
must have come from the coast of Alaska in the neigh-
borhood of Bering Strait, as that is the only place
where ' throwing sticks ' of a similar form are used. It
was even ornamented with Chinese glass beads, exactly
similar to those which the Alaskan Eskimo obtain by
barter from Asiatic tribes, and use for the decoration
of their ' throwing sticks.'

" We may, therefore, with confidence assert that this
piece of wood was carried from the west coast of Alaska
over to Greenland by a current the whole course of
which we do not know, but which may be assumed to
flow very near the North Pole, or at some place between
it and Franz Josef Land.

" There are, moreover, still further proofs that such a
current exists. As is well known, no trees grow in
Greenland that can be used for making boats, sledges,
or other appliances. The driftwood that is carried
down by the polar current along the east coast of Green-
land and up the west coast is, therefore, essential to the
existence of the Greenland Eskimo. But whence does
this timber come?

" Here our inquiries again carry us to lands on the

* See on this point Dr. Y. Nielsen, in ForJuiJidlmger i Videnskabssel-
skabet i Christiania. Meeting held June ii, 1886.

22 FARTHEST NORTH

other side of the Pole. I have myself had an opportu-
nity of examining large quantities of driftwood both on
the west coast and on the east coast of Greenland. I
have, moreover, found pieces drifting in the sea off the
east coast, and, like earlier travellers, have arrived at the
conclusion that much the greater part of it can only
have come from Siberia, while a smaller portion may
possibly have come from America. For amongst it are
to be found fir, Siberian larch, and other kinds of wood
peculiar to the north, which could scarcely have come
from any other quarter. Interesting in this respect are
the discoveries that have been made on the east coast
of Greenland by the second German Polar Expedition.
Out of twenty-five pieces of driftwood, seventeen were
Siberian larch, five Norwegian fir (probably Picea obo-
vata), two a kind of alder {Alnus mcana F), and one a
poplar {Populus trenmla ? the common aspen), all of
which are trees found in Siberia.

" By way of supplement to these observations on
the Greenland side, it may be mentioned that the Jcan-
nette expedition frequently found Siberian driftwood
(fir and birch) between the floes in the strong north-
erly current to the northward of the New Siberian Isl-
ands.

" Fortunately for the Eskimo, such large quantities
of this driftwood come every year to the coasts of
Greenland that in my opinion one cannot but assume
that they are conveyed thither by a constantly flowing

INTRODUCTION 23

current, especially as the wood never appears to have
been very long in the sea — at all events, not without
having been frozen in the ice.

" That this driftwood passes south of Franz Josef
Land and Spitzbergen is quite as unreasonable a theory
as that the ice-floe with the relics from the Jeannette
drifted by this route. In further disproof of this assump-
tion it may be stated that Siberian driftwood is found
north of Spitzbergen in the strong southerly current,
against which Parry fought in vain.

" It appears, therefore, that on these grounds also
we cannot but admit the existence of a current flow-
ing across, or in close proximity to, the Pole.

" As an interesting fact in this connection, it may
also be mentioned that the German botanist Grisebach
has shown that the Greenland flora includes a series
of Siberian vegetable forms that could scarcely have
reached Greenland in any other way than by the help
of such a current conveying the seeds.

" On the drift-ice in Denmark Strait (between Iceland
and Greenland) I have made observations which tend to
the conclusion that this ice too was of Siberian origin.
For instance, I found quantities of mud on it, which
seemed to be of Siberian origin, or might possibly have
come from North American rivers. It is possible, how-
ever, to maintain that this mud originates in the gla-
cier rivers that flow from under the ice in the north of
Greenland, or in other unknown polar lands; so that

24 FARTHEST NORTH

this piece of evidence is of less importance than those
already named.

" Putting all this together, we seem driven to the
conclusion that a current flows at some point between the
Pole and Franz Josef Land from the Siberian Arctic
Sea to the east coast of Greenland.

" That such must be the case we may also infer in
another way. If we regard, for instance, the polar cur-
rent— that broad current which flows down from the un-
known polar regions between Spitzbergen and Green-
land— and consider w^hat an enormous mass of water
it carries along, it must seem self-evident that this
cannot come from a circumscribed and small basin, but
must needs be gathered from distant sources, the more
so as the Polar Sea (so far as we know it) is remarkably
shallow everywhere to the north of the European, Asiatic,
and American coasts. The polar current is no doubt
fed by that branch of the Gulf Stream which makes its
way up the west side of Spitzbergen ; but this small
stream is far from being sufficient, and the main body
of its w^ater must be derived from farther northward.

" It is probable that the polar current stretches its
suckers, as it were, to the coast of Siberia and Bering
Strait, and draws its supplies from these distant regions.
The water it carries off is replaced partly through the
warm current before mentioned which makes its way
through Bering Strait, and partly by that branch of the
Gulf Stream which, passing by the north of Norway,

INJ'R on UCTION 2 S

bends eastward towards Novaya Zemlya, and of which a
great portion unquestionably continues its course along
the north coast of this island into the Siberian Arctic
Sea. That a current coming from the south takes
this direction — at all events, in some measure — appears
probable from the well-known fact that in the northern
hemisphere the rotation of the earth tends to compel a
northward -flowing current, whether of water or of air,
to assume an easterly course. The earth's rotation may
also cause a southward -flowing stream, like the polar
current, to direct its course westward to the east coast
of Greenland.

" But even if these currents flowing in the polar basin
did not exist, I am still of opinion that in some other
way a body of water must collect in it, sufflcient to form
a polar current. In the first place, there are the North
European, the Siberian, and North American rivers
debouching into the Arctic Sea, to supply this water.
The fluvial basin of these rivers is very considerable,
comprising a large portion of Northern Europe, almost
the whole of Northern Asia or Siberia down to the Altai
Mountains and Lake Baikal, together with the principal
part of Alaska and British North America. All these
added together form no unimportant portion of the
earth, and the rainfall of these countries is enormous.
It is not conceivable that the Arctic Sea of itself could
contribute anything of importance to this rainfall ; for, in
the first place, it is for the most part covered with drift-

26 FARTHEST NORTH

ice, from which the evaporation is but trifling; and,
in the next place, the comparatively low temperature
in these regions prevents any considerable evaporation
taking place even from open surfaces of water. The
moisture that produces this rainfall must consequently in
a great measure come from elsewhere, principally from
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the amount of
water which thereby feeds the Arctic Sea must be very
considerable. If we possessed sufficient knowledge of
the rainfall in the different localities it might be exactly
calculated.*

" The importance of this augmentation appears even
greater when we consider that the polar basin is com-
paratively small, and, as has been already remarked, very
shallow; its greatest known depth being from 60 to 80
fathoms.

" But there is still another factor that must help to
increase the quantity of water in the polar basin, and
that is its own rainfall. Weyprecht has already pointed
out the probability that the large influx of warm, moist
atmosphere from the south, attracted by the constant
low atmospheric pressure in the polar regions, must en-
gender so large a rainfall as to augment considerably

* Since writing the above I have tried to make such a calculation, and
have come to the conclusion that the aggregate rainfall is not so large as
I had at first supposed. See my paper in The Norwegian Geographical
Society's Annual, III., 1891-92, p. 95 ; and The Geographical Journal, Lon-
don, 1893, p. 5.

INTR OD UCTION 2 7

the amount of water in the Polar Sea. Moreover, the
fact that the polar basin receives large supplies of fresh
water is proved by the small amount of salt in the water
of the polar current.

" From all these considerations it appears unquestion-
able that the sea around the Pole is fed with considera-
ble quantities of water, partly fresh, as we have just seen,
partly salt, as we indicated further back, proceeding from
the different ocean currents. It thus becomes inevitable,
according to the law of equilibrium, that these masses
of water should seek such an outlet as we find in the
Greenland polar current.

" Let us now inquire whether further reasons can be
found to show why this current flows exactly in the given
direction.

" If we examine the ocean soundings, we at once
find a conclusive reason why the main outlet must lie
between Spitzbergen and Greenland. The sea here, so
far as we know it, is at all points very deep ; there is,
indeed, a channel of as much as 2500 fathoms depth;
while south of Spitzbergen and Franz Josef Land it is
remarkably shallow — not more than 160 fathoms. As
has been stated, a current passes northward through
Bering Strait and Smith Sound, and the sounds between
the islands north of America, though here, indeed, there
is a southward current, are far too small and narrow to
form adequate outlets for the mass of water of which
we are speaking. There is, therefore, no other assump-

28 FARTHEST NORTH

tion left than that this mass of water must find its outlet
by the route actually followed by the polar current. The
channel discovered by the Jeannette expedition between
Wrangel Land and the New Siberian Islands may here be
mentioned as a notable fact. It extended in a northerly
direction, and was at some points more than 80 fathoms
deep, while at the sides the soundings ran only to 40 or
50 fathoms. It is by no means impossible that this chan-
nel may be a continuation of the channel between Spitz-
bergen and Greenland,* in which case it would certainly
influence, if not actually determine, the direction of the
main current.

" If we examine the conditions of wind and atmos-
pheric pressure over the Polar Sea, as far as they
are known, it would appear that they must tend to
produce a current across the Pole in the direction
indicated. From the Atlantic to the south of Spitz-
bergen and Franz Josef Land a belt of low atmospheric
pressure (minimum belt) extends into the Siberian Arctic
Sea, In accordance with well-known laws, the wind
must have a preponderating direction from west to east
on the south side of this belt, and this would promote an
eastward-flowing current along the north coast of Siberia,
such as has been found to exist there.! The winds on

* The discovery during our expedition of a great depth in the polar
basin renders it highly probable that this assumption is correct.

t The experience of our expedition, however, does not point to any
such eastward-flowing current along the Siberian coast.

INTR OD UCTION 29 .

the north side of the minimum belt must, however, blow
mainly in a direction from east to west, and will conse-
quently produce a westerly current, passing across the
Pole towards the Greenland Sea, exactly as we have seen
to be the case.

"It thus appears that, from whatever side we consider
this question, even apart from the specially cogent evi-
dences above cited, we cannot escape the conclusion that
a current passes across or very near to the Pole into the
sea between Greenland and Spitzbergen.

" This being so, it seems to me that the plain thing
for us to do is to make our way into the current on that
side of the Pole where it flows northward, and by its
help to penetrate into those regions which all who have
hitherto worked against it have sought in vain to
reach. X

" My plan is, briefly, as follows : I propose to have a
ship built as small and as strong as possible — just big
enough to contain supplies of coals and provisions for
twelve men for five years. A ship of about 1 70 tons
(gross) will probably suffice. Its engine should be pow-
erful enough to give a speed of 6 knots ; but in addition
it must also be fully rigged for sailing.

" The main point in this vessel is that it be built on
such principles as to enable it to withstand the pressure
of the ice. The sides must slope sufficiently to prevent
the ice, when it presses together, from getting firm hold
of the hull, as was the case with \\\q Jeanne ttc and other

30 FARTHEST NORTH

vessels. Instead of nipping the ship, the ice must raise
it up out of the water. No very new departure in con-
struction is likely to be needed, for the Jeannette, not-
withstanding her preposterous build, was able to hold
out against the ice pressure for about two years. That
a vessel can easily be built on such lines as to fulfil these
requirements no one will question who has seen a ship
nipped by the ice. For the same reason, too, the ship
ought to be a small one ; for, besides being thus easier to
manoeuvre in the ice, it will be more readily lifted by the
pressure of the ice, not to mention that it will be easier
to give it the requisite strength. It must, of course, be
built of picked materials. A ship of the form and size
here indicated will not be a good or comfortable sea-boat,
but that is of minor importance in waters filled with ice
such as we are here speaking of. It is true that it would
have to travel a long distance over the open sea before it
would get so far, but it would not be so bad a sea-boat as
to be unable to get along, even though sea-sick pas-
sengers might have to offer sacrifices to the gods of
the sea.

" With such a ship and a crew of ten, or at the most
twelve, able-bodied and carefully picked men, with a full
equipment for five years, in every respect as good as
modern appliances permit of, I am of opinion that the
undertaking would be well secured against risk. With
this ship we should sail up through Bering Strait and
westward alonor the north coast of Siberia towards the

INTR OD UCTION 3 1

New Siberian Islands* as early in the summer as the ice
would permit.

" Arrived at the New Siberian Islands, it will be ad-
visable to employ the time to the best advantage in ex-
amining the conditions of currents and ice, and to wait
for the most opportune moment to advance as far as
possible in ice-free water, which, judging by the accounts
of the ice conditions north of Bering Strait given by
American whalers, will probably be in August or the
beginning of September.

" When the right time has arrived, then we shall
plough our way in amongst the ice as far as we can. We
may venture to conclude from the experience of the
Jcanriette expedition that we should thus be able to reach
a point north of the most northerly of the New Siberian
Islands. De Long notes in his journal that while the ex-
pedition was drifting in the ice north of Bennett Island
they saw all around them a dark ' water-sky ' — that is to
say, a sky which gives a dark reflection of open water —
indicating such a sea as would be, at all events, to some
extent navigable by a strong ice -ship. Next, it must
be borne in mind that the whole Jeaiinette expedition
travelled in boats, partly in open water, from Bennett
Island to the Siberian coast, where, as we know, the

* I first thought of choosing the route through Bering Strait, because
I imagined that I could reach the New Siberian Islands safer and earlier in
the year from that side. On further investigation I found that this was
doubtful, and I decided on the shorter route through the Kara Sea and
north of Cape Cheliuskin.

32 FARTHEST NORTH

majority of them met with a lamentable end.
Nordenskiold advanced no farther northward than
to the southernmost of the islands mentioned (at the
end of August) but here he found the water every-
where open.

" It is, therefore, probable that we may be able to
push our way up past the New Siberian Islands, and
that accomplished we shall be right in the current which
carried the Jeamiette. The thing will then be simply to
force our way northward till we are set fast.*

" Next we must choose a fitting place and moor the
ship firmly between suitable ice-floes, and then let the
ice screw itself together as much as it likes — the more
the better. The ship will simply be hoisted up and will
ride safely and firmly. It is possible it may heel over
to a certain extent under this pressure ; but that will
scarcely be of much importance. . . . Henceforth the
current will be our motive power, while our ship, no
longer a means of transport, will become a barrack, and
we shall have ample time for scientific observations.

" In this manner the expedition will, as above in-
dicated, probably drift across the Pole, and onward
to the sea between Greenland and Spitzbergen. And
when we get down to the Soth degree of latitude, or

* As subsequently stated in my lecture in London {Geographical
Society's Journal, p. i8). I purposed to go north along the west coast of
the New Siberian Islands, as I thought that the warm water coming from
the Lena would keep the sea open here.

INTR OD UCTION 3 3

even sooner, if it is summer, there is every likelihood of
our getting the ship free and being able to sail home.
Should she, however, be lost before this — which is
certainly possible, though, as I think, very unlikely if
she is constructed in the way above described — the
expedition will not, therefore, be a failure, for our home-
ward course must in any case follow the polar cur-
rent on to the North Atlantic basin ; there is plenty
of ice to drift on, and of this means of locomotion
we have already had experience. If the Jeaimette
expedition had had suf^cient provisions, and had re-
mained on the ice-floe on which the relics were ulti-
mately found, the result would doubtless have been
very different from what it was. Our ship cannot
possibly founder under the ice-pressure so quickly but
that there would be time enough to remove, with all
our equipment and provisions, to a substantial ice-floe,
which we should have selected beforehand in view of
such a contingency. Here the tents, which we should
take with us to meet this contingency, would be pitched.
In order to preserve our provisions and other equip-
ments, we should not place them all together on one
spot, but should distribute them over the ice, laying
them on rafts of planks and beams which we should
have built on it. This will obviate the possibility of
any of our equipments sinking, even should the floe
on which they are break up. The crew of the Hansa,
who drifted for more than half a year along the east

34 FARTHEST NORTH

coast of Greenland, in this way lost a great quantity of
their supplies.

" For the success of such an expedition two things
only are required, viz., good clothing and plenty of
food, and tliese we can take care to have with us.
We should thus be able to remain as safely on our
ice-floe as in our ship, and should advance just as
well towards the Greenland Sea. The only difference
would be that on our arrival there, instead of proceed-
ing by ship, we must take to our boats, which would
convey us just as safely to the nearest harbor.

" Thus it seems to me there is an overwhelming
probability that such an expedition would be successful.
Many people, however, will certainly urge: 'In all cur-
rents there are eddies and backwaters ; suppose, then,
you get into one of these, or perhaps stumble on an un-
known land up by the Pole and remain lying fast there,
how will you extricate yourselves.'^' To this I would
merely reply, as concerns the backwater, that we must
get out of it just as surely as we got into it, and that we
shall have provisions for five years. And as regards the
other possibilit}', we should hail such an occurrence with
delight, for no spot on earth could well be found of
greater scientific interest. On this newly discovered
land we should make as many observations as possible.
Should time wear on and find us still unable to get our
ship into the set of the current again, there would be
nothing for it but to abandon her, and with our boats

INTR OD UCTION 3 5

and necessary stores to search for the nearest current, in
order to dritt in the manner before mentioned.

" How long may we suppose such a voyage to occu-
py ? As we have already seen, the relics of the Jean-
nette expedition at most took two years to drift along
the same course down to the Soth degree of latitude,
where we may, with tolerable certainty, count upon get-
ting loose. This would correspond to a rate of about
two miles per day of twenty-four hours.

" We may therefore not unreasonably calculate on
reaching this point in the course of two years ; and it is
also possible that the ship might be set free in a higher
latitude than is here contemplated. Five years' provi-
sions must therefore be regarded as ample.

" But is not the cold in winter in these resfions so
severe that life will be impossible 1 There is no prob-
ability of this. We can even say with tolerable cer-
tainty that at the Pole itself it is not so cold in winter
as it is (for example) in the north of Siberia, an inhabit-
ed region, or on the northern part of the west coast of
Greenland, which is also inhabited. Meteorologists have
calculated that the mean temperature at the Pole in
January is about —33° Fahr. ( — 36° C), while, for exam-
ple, in Yakutsk it is —43^ Fahr. ( — 42'' C), and in Ver-
khoyansk — 54° Fahr. ( — 48° C). We should remember
that the Pole is probably covered with sea, radiation from
which is considerably less than from large land surfaces,
such as the plains of North Asia. The polar region

36 FARTHEST NORTH

has, therefore, in all probability a marine climate with
comparatively mild winters, but, by way of a set-off, with
cold summers.

" The cold in these regions cannot, then, be any direct
obstacle. One difficulty, however, which many former
expeditions have had to contend against, and which must
not be overlooked here, is scurvy. During a sojourn of
any long duration in so cold a climate this malady will
unquestionably show itself unless one is able to obtain
fresh provisions. I think, however, it may be safely
assumed that the very various and nutritious foods now
available in the form of hermetically closed preparations
of different kinds, together with the scientific knowledge
we now possess of the food -stuffs necessary for bodily
health, will enable us to hold this danger at a distance.
Nor do I think that there will be an entire absence of
fresh provisions in the waters we shall travel through.
Polar bears and seals we may safely calculate on finding
far to the north, if not up to the very Pole. It may be
mentioned also that the sea must certainly contain quan-
tities of small animals that might serve as food in case of
necessity.

" It will be seen that whatever difficulties may be
suggested as possible, they are not so great but that they
can be surmounted by means of a careful equipment, a
fortunate selection of the members of the expedition,
and judicious leadership ; so that good results may be
hoped for. We may reckon on getting out into the sea

INTR OD UCTION 3 7

between Greenland and Spitzbergen as surely as we can
reckon on getting into the Jeannette current off the New
Siberian Islands.

" But if this Jeannette current does not pass right
across the Pole ? If, for instance, it passes between the
Pole and Franz Josef Land, as above intimated ? What
will the expedition do in that case to reach the earth's
axis ? Yes, this may seem to be the Achilles' heel of the
undertaking; for should the ship be carried past the
Pole at more than one degree's distance it may then
appear extremely imprudent and unsafe to abandon it in
mid-current and face such a long sledge-journey over un-
even sea-ice, which itself is drifting. Even if one reached
the Pole it would be very uncertain whether one could
find the ship again on returning. ... I am, however, of
opinion that this is of small import: // is not to seek for
the exact mathematical point that forms the northern ex-
tremity of the earth's axis that we set ont, for to reach this
point is intrinsically of small moment. Onr object is to
investigate the great unknown region that surrounds the
Pole, and these investigations will be equally important,
from a scientific point of view, whether the expedition
passes over the polar point itself or at some distance
from it,"

In this lecture I had submitted the most important
data on which my plan was founded ; but in the follow-
ing years I continued to study the conditions of the
northern waters, and received ever fresh proofs that my

38 FARTHEST NORTH

surmise of a drift riirht across the Polar Sea was correct.
In a lecture delivered before the Geographical Society in
Christiania, on September 28, 1892, I alluded to some of
these inquiries.* I laid stress on the fact that on con-
sidering the thickness and extent of the drift-ice in the
seas on both sides of the Pole, one cannot but be struck
by the fact that while the ice on the Asiatic side, north
of the Siberian coast, is comparatively thin (the ice in
which the Jeannette drifted was, as a rule, not more than
from 7 to 10 feet thick), that on the other side, which
comes driftins: from the north in the sea between Green-
land and Spitzbergen, is remarkably massive, and this,
notwithstanding that the sea north of Siberia is one of
the coldest tracts on the earth. This, I susraested, could
be explained only on the assumption that the ice is con-
stantly drifting from the Siberian coast, and that, while
passing through the unknown and cold sea there is time
for it to attain its enormous thickness, partly by freezing,
partly by the constant packing that takes place as the
floes screw themselves to2:ether.

I further mentioned in the same lecture that the mud
found on this drift-ice seemed to point to a Siberian
origin. I did not at the time attach great importance
to this fact, but on a further examination of the deposits
I had collected during my Greenland expedition it ap-
peared that it could scarcely come from anywhere else

* See the Society s Annual, III., 1892, p. 91.

INTR OD C/CTION 39

but Siberia. On investigating its mineralogical compo-
sition, Dr. Tornebohm, of Stockholm, came to the con-
clusion that the greater part of it must be Siberian river
mud. He found about twent}^ different minerals in
it. " This quantity of dissimilar constituent mineral
parts appears to me," he says, " to point to the fact
that they take their origin from a very extensive tract
of land, and one's thoughts naturally turn to Siberia."
Moreover, more than half of this mud deposit consisted
of humus, or boggy soil. More interesting, however,
than the actual mud deposit were the diatoms found in
it, which were examined by Professor Cleve, of Upsala,
who says : " These diatoms are decidedly marine (/>.,
take their origin from salt-water), with some few fresh-
water forms which the wind has carried from land. The
diatomous flora in this dust is quite peculiar, and unlike
what I have found in many thousands of other speci-
mens, with one exception, with which it shows the most
complete conformity — namely, a specimen which was col-
lected by Kellman during the Vega expedition on an
ice-floe off Cape Wankarem, near Bering Strait. Spe-
cies and varieties were perfectl}^ identical in both speci-
mens." Cleve was able to distinguish sixteen species
of diatoms. All these appear also in the dust from
Cape Wankarem, and twelve of them have been found
at that place alone, and nowhere else in all the world.
This was a notable coincidence between two such re-
mote points, and Cleve is certainly right in saying :

40 FARTHEST NORTH

" It is, indeed, quite remarkable that the diatomous flora
on the ice-floes off Bering Strait and on the east coast
of Greenland should so completely resemble each other,
and should be so utterly unlike all others ; it points to
an open connection between the seas east of Greenland
and north of Asia." " Through this open connection,"
I continued in my address, "drift-ice is, therefore, yearly
transported across the unknown Polar Sea. On this same
drift-ice, and by the same route, it must be no less possi-
ble to transport an expedition^

When this plan was propounded it certainly met with
approval in various quarters, especially here at home.
Thus it was vigorously supported by Professor Mohn,
who, indeed, by his explanation of the drift of the
Jeannette relics, had given the original impulse to it.
But as might be expected, it met with opposition in the
main, especially from abroad, while most of the polar
travellers and Arctic authorities declared, more or less
openly, that it was sheer madness. The year before we
set out, in November, 1892, I laid it before the Geo-
graphical Society in London in a lecture at which the
principal Arctic travellers of England were present.
After the lecture a discussion took place,* which plainly
showed how greatly I was at variance with the generally
accepted opinions as to the conditions in the interior of
the Polar Sea, the principles of ice navigation, and the

* Both my lecture and the discussion are printed in The Geographical
Journal, London, 1893, Vol. I., pp. 1-32.

INTRODUCTION 41

methods that a polar expedition ought to pursue.
The eminent Arctic traveller, Admiral Sir Leopold
M'Clintock, opened the discussion with the remark:
*' I think I may say this is the most adventurous
programme ever brought under the notice of the
Royal Geographical Society." He allowed that the
facts spoke in favor of the correctness of my theories,
but was in a high degree doubtful whether my plan
could be realized. He was especially of opinion that
the danger of being crushed in the ice was too great.
A ship could, no doubt, be built that would be strong
enough to resist the ice pressure in summer ; but should
it be exposed to this pressure in the winter months,
when the ice resembled a mountain frozen fast to the
ship's side, he thought that the possibility of being forced
up on the surface of the ice was very remote. He firmly
believed, as did the majority of the others, that there
was no probability of ever seeing the Fram again when
once she had given herself over to the pitiless polar ice,
and concluded by saying, " I wish the doctor full and
speedy success. But it will be a great relief to his
many friends in England when he returns, and more
particularly to those who have had experience of the
dangers at all times inseparable from ice navigation,
even in regions not quite so far north."

Admiral Sir George Nares said :

"The adopted Arctic axioms for successfully navi-
gating an icy region are that it is absolutely necessary

42 FARTHEST NORTH

to keep close to a coast line, and that the farther we
advance from civilization, the more desirable it is to
insure a reasonably safe line of retreat. Totally dis-
regarding these, the ruling principle of the voyage is
that the vessel — on which, if the voyage is in any way
successful, the sole future hope of the party will depend —
is to be pushed deliberately into the pack-ice. Thus, her
commander — in lieu of retaining any power over her
future movements — will be forced to submit to be drifted
helplessly about in agreement with the natural move-
ments of the ice in which he is imprisoned. Supposing
the sea currents are as stated, the time calculated as
necessary to drift with the pack across the polar area is
several years, during which time, unless new lands are
met with, the ice near the vessel will certainly never be
quiet and the ship herself never free from the danger of
being crushed b}'^ ice presses. To guard against this the
vessel is said to be unusually strong, and of a special
form to enable her to rise when the ice presses against
her sides. This idea is no novelty whatever ; but when
once frozen into the polar pack the form of the vessel goes
for nothing. She is hermetically sealed to, and forms a
part of, the ice block surrounding her. The form of the
ship is for all practical purposes the form of the block of
ice in which she is frozen. This is a matter of the first
importance, for there is no record of a vessel frozen into
the polar pack having been disconnected from the ice,
and so rendered capable of rising under pressure as a

INTR on UCTION 43

separate body detached from the ice block, even in the
heioht of summer. In the event of the destruction of
the vessel, the boats — necessarily fully stored, not only
for the retreat, but for continuing the voyage — are to be
available. This is well in theory, but extremely difficult
to arrange for in practice. Preparation to abandon the
vessel is the one thing that gives us the most anxiety.
To place boats, etc., on the ice, packed ready for use,
involves the danger of being separated from them by
a movement of the ice, or of losing them altogether
should a sudden opening occur. If we merely have every-
thing handy for heaving over the side, the emergen-
cy may be so sudden that we have not time to save
anything. . . ."

As regards the assumed drift of the polar ice, Nares
expressed himself on the whole at variance with me.
He insisted that the drift was essentially determined by
the prevailing winds :

" As to the probable direction of the drift, the Fram,
starting from near the mouth of the Lena River, may
expect to meet the main pack not farther nortli than
about latitude 76° 30'. I doubt her getting farther north
before she is beset, but taking an extreme case, and
giving her 60 miles more, she will then only be in the
same latitude as Cape Chelyuskin, 730 miles from the
Pole, and about 600 miles from my supposed limit of the
effective homeward-carrying ocean current. After a close
study of all the information we possess, I think the wind

44 FARTHEST NORTH

will be more likely to drift her towards the west than
towards the east. With an ice-encumbered sea north of
her, and more open water or newly made ice to the south-
ward, the chances are small for a northerly drift, at all
events, at first, and afterwards I know of no natural forces
that will carry the vessel in any reasonable time much
farther from the Siberian coast than the Jcannette was
carried, and during the whole of this time, unless pro-
tected by newly discovered lands, she will be to all intents
and purposes immovably sealed up in the pack, and
exposed to its well-known dangers. There is no doubt
that there is an ocean connection across the area pro-
posed to be explored."

In one point, however, Nares was able to declare him-
self in atjreement with me. It was the idea "that the
principal aim of all such voyages is to explore the un-
known polar regions, not to reach exactly that mathe-
matical point in which the axis of our globe has its
northern termination." *

Sir Allen Young says, among other things: "Dr.
Nansen assumes the blank space around the axis of the
earth to be a pool of water or ice ; I think the great
danger to contend with will be the land in nearly every
direction near the Pole. Most previous navigators seem

* After our return home, Admiral Nares, in the most chivalrous fashion,
sent me a letter of congratulation, in which he said that the Frain's re-
markable voyage over the Polar Sea proved that my theory was correct
and his scepticism unfounded.

INTR on UCTION 45

to have continued seeing land again and again farther
and farther north. These Jeannette relics may have
drifted through narrow channels, and thus finally arrived
at their destination, and, I think, it would be an extreme-
ly dangerous thing for the ship to drift through them,
where she might impinge upon the land, and be kept for
years."

With regard to the ship's form, Sir Allen Young says:
" I do not think the form of the ship is any great point,
for, when a ship is fairly nipped, the question is if there
is any swell or movement of the ice to lift the ship. If
there is no swell the ice must go through her, whatever
material she is made of."

One or two authorities, however, expressed themselves
in favor of my plan. One was the Arctic traveller. Sir
E. Inglefield, another Captain (now Admiral) Wharton,
Director of the Hydrographic Department of England.

In a letter to the Geographical Society, Admiral Sir
George H. Richards says, on the occasion of my address :
" I regret to have to speak discouragingly of this proj-
ect, but I think that any one who can speak with au-
thority ought to speak plainly where so much may be at
stake."

With regard to the currents, he says : " I believe
there is a constant outflow (I prefer this word to current)
from the north, in consequence of the displacement of
the water from the region of the Pole by the ice-cap
which covers it, intensified in its density by the enor-

46 FARTHEST NORTH

mous weight of snow accumulated on its surface." This
outflow takes place on all sides, he thinks, from the polar
basin, but should be most pronounced in the tract
between the western end of the Parry Islands and
Spitzbergen ; and with this outflow all previous expedi-
tions have had to contend. He does not appear to make
anv exception as to the Tcgethoff or Jeannette, and can
find no reason "for believing that a current sets north
over the Pole from the New Siberian Islands, which
Dr. Nansen hopes for and believes in. ... It is my
opinion that when really within what may be called the
inner circle, say about 78^ of latitude, there is little
current of any kind that would influence a ship in the
close ice that must be expected ; it is when we get
outside this circle — round the corners, as it were — into
the straight wide channels, where the ice is loose, that
we are really affected by its influence, and here the ice
gets naturally thinner, and more decayed in autumn, and
less dangerous to a ship. Within the inner circle prob-
ably not much of the ice escapes ; it becomes older and
heavier every year, and in all probability completely
blocks the navigation of ships entirely. This is the
kind of ice which was brought to Nares s winter quarters
at the head of Smith Sound in about 82' 30' north;
and this is the ice which Markham struggled against in
his sledge journey, and against which no human power
could prevail."

He attached " no real importance " to the Jea^inette

INTR OD UCTION 47

relics. " If found in Greenland, they may well have
drifted down on a floe from the neighborhood of Smith
Sound, from some of the American expeditions which
went to Greely's rescue." "It may also well be that
some of De Longs printed or written documents in
regard to his equipment may have been taken out by
these expeditions, and the same may apply to the other
articles." He does not, however, expressly say whether
there was any indication of such having been the case.

In a similar letter to the Geographical Society the
renowned botanist Sir Joseph Hooker says : " Dr. Nan-
sen's project is a wide departure from any hitherto put
in practice for the purpose of polar discovery, and it
demands the closest scrutiny both on this account, and
because it is one involving the greatest peril. . . .

" From my experience of three seasons in the Antarc-
tic regions I do not think that a ship, of whatever
build, could long resist destruction if committed to the
movements of the pack in the polar regions. One built
as strongly as the Fravi would no doubt resist great
pressures in the open pack, but not any pressure or re-
peated pressures, and still less the thrust of the pack
if driven with or by it against land. The lines of the
Fram might be of service so long as she was on an
even keel or in ice of no great height above the water-
line; but amongst floes and bergs, or when thrown on
her beam-ends, they would avail her nothing."

If the Fram were to drift towards the Greenland

48 FARTHEST NORTH

coast or the American polar islands he is of opinion
that, supposing a landing could be effected, there would
be no probability at all of salvation. Assuming that a
landing could be effected, it must be on an inhospitable
and probably ice-bound coast, or on the mountainous
ice of a palaeocrystic sea. With a certainly enfeebled,
and probably reduced ship's company, there could, in
such a case, be no prospect of reaching succor. Putting
aside the possibility of scurvy (against which there is
no certain prophylactic), have the depressing influence
on the minds of the crew resulting from long confine-
ment in very close quarters during many months of dark-
ness, extreme cold, inaction, ennui, constant peril, and the
haunting uncertainty as to the future, been sufficiently
taken into account '^. Perfunctory duties and occupations
do not avert the effects of these conditions ; they hardly
mitigate them, and have been known to aggravate them.
I do not consider the attainment of Dr. Nansen's object
by the means at his disposal to be impossible ; but I do
consider that the success of such an enterprise would
not justify the exposure of valuable lives for its attain-
ment."

In America, General Greely, the leader of the ill-fated
expedition generally known by his name (1881-84), wrote
an article in The Forum (August, 1891), in which he
says, among other things : " It strikes me as almost in-
credible that the plan here advanced by Dr. Nansen
should receive encouragement or support. It seems to

INTRODUCTION 49

me to be based on fallacious ideas as to physical condi-
tions within the polar regions, and to foreshadow, if
attempted, barren results, apart from the suffering and
death anions: its members. Dr. Nansen, so far as I
know, has had no Arctic service ; his crossing of Green-
land, however difficult, is no more polar work than the
scaling of Mount St. Elias. It is doubtful if any hydrog-
rapher would treat seriously his theory of polar currents,
or if any Arctic traveller would indorse the whole scheme.
There are perhaps a dozen men whose Arctic service has
been such that the positive support of this plan by even
a respectable minority would entitle it to consideration
and confidence. These men are : Admiral M'Clintock,
Richards, Collinson, and Nares, and Captain Markham
of the Royal Navy, Sir Allen Young and Leigh-Smith
of England, Koldewey of Germany, Payer of Austria,
Nordenskibld of Sweden, and Melville in our own coun-
try. I have no hesitation in asserting that no two of
these believe in the possibility of Nansen s first proposi-
tion— to build a vessel capable of living or navigating
in a heavy Arctic pack, into which it is proposed to put
his ship. The second proposition is even more hazard-
ous, involving as it does a drift of more than 2000 miles
in a straight line through an unknown region, during
which the party in its voyage (lasting two or more years,
we are told) would take only boats along, encamp on an
iceberg, and live there while floating across."

After this General Greely proceeds to prove the

50 FARTHEST NORTH

falsity of all my assumptions. Respecting the objects
from the Jeannette, he says plainly that he does not
believe in them. " Probably some drift articles were
found," he says, " and it would seem more reasonable to
trace them to the Portcns, which was wrecked in Smith
Sound, about looo miles north of Julianehaab. . . .
It is further important to note that, if the articles
were really from the Jeannette, the nearest route would
have been, not across the North Pole along the east coast
of Greenland, but down Kennedy Channel and by way
of Smith Sound and Baffin's Bay, as was suggested, as to
drift from the Porteusr

We could not possibly get near the Pole itself by a
long distance, says Greely, as " we know almost as well
as if we had seen it that there is in the unknown re-
gions an extensive land which is the birthplace of the
flat-topped icebergs or the palaeocrystic ice." In this
glacier-covered land, which he is of opinion must be over
300 miles in diameter, and which sends out icebergs to
Greenland as well as to Franz Josef Land,* the Pole
itself must be situated.

" As to the indestructible ship," he says, " it is certain-
ly a most desirable thing for Dr. Nansen." His mean-
ing, however, is that it cannot be built, " Dr. Nansen
appears to believe that the question of building on such

* With reference to his statement that Leigh-Smith had observed such
icebergs on the fwrt/iwesi coast of Franz Josef Land, it may be re-
marked that no human being has ever been there.

INTR OD UCTION 5 1

lines as will give the ship the greatest power of resistance
to the pressure of the ice-floe has not been thoroughly
and satisfactorily solved, although hundreds of thousands
of dollars have been spent for this end by the seal and
whaling companies of Scotland and Newfoundland." As
an authority he quotes Melville, and says " every Arctic
navigator of experience agrees with Melville's dictum
that even if built solid a vessel could not withstand the
ice-pressure of the heavy polar pack." To my assertion
that the ice along the " Siberian coast is comparatively
thin, 7 to 10 feet," he again quotes Melville, who speaks
of ice " 50 feet high, etc." (something we did not dis-
cover, by-the-way, during the whole of our voyage).

After giving still more conclusive proofs that the
Fram must inevitably go to the bottom as soon as it
should be exposed to the pressure of the ice, he goes on
to refer to the impossibility of drifting in the ice with
boats. And he concludes his article with the remark
that " Arctic exploration is sufficiently credited with
rashness and danger in its legitimate and sanctioned
methods, without bearing the burden of Dr. Nansen's
illoirical scheme of self-destruction."

From an article Greely wrote after our return home,
in Harpei's Weekly for September 19th, 1896, he
appears to have come to the conclusion that the
Jeannette relics were genuine and that the assump-
tion of their drift may have been correct, mentioning
" Melville, Dall, and others " as not believing in them.

52 FARTHEST NORTH

He allows also that my scheme has been carried out
in spite of what he had said. This time he concludes
the article as follows : " In contrasting the expeditions
of De Long and Nansen, it is necessary to allude to
the single blemish that mars the otherwise magnificent
career of Nansen, who deliberately quitted his comrades
on the ice-beset ship hundreds of miles from any known
land, with the intention of not returning, but, in his own
reported words, ' to go to Spitzbergen, where he felt
certain to find a ship,' 600 miles away. De Long and
Ambler had such a sense of honor that they sacrificed
their lives rather than separate themselves from a dying
man, whom their presence could not save. It passes
comprehension how Nansen could have thus deviated
from the most sacred duty devolving on the commander
of a naval expedition. The safe return of brave Cap-
tain Sverdrup with the Fram does not excuse Nansen.
Sverdrup's consistency, courage, and skill in holding fast
to the Fram and bringing his comrades back to Nor-
way will win for him, in the minds of many, laurels even
brighter than those of his able and accomplished chief."

One of the few who publicly gave to my plan the
support of his scientific authority was Professor Supan,
the well-known editor of Petermanns Mitteilungen. In
an article in this journal for 1891 (p. 191), he not only
spoke warmly in its favor, but supported it with new
susfeestions. His view was that what he terms the
Arctic " wind-shed " probably for the greater part of the

INTR on UCTION 5 3

year divides the unknown polar basin into two parts.
In the eastern part the prevaiHng winds blow towards
the Bering Sea, while those of the western part blow
towards the Atlantic. He thought that, as a rule, this
"wind-shed" must lie near the Bering Sea, and that the
prevailing winds in the tracts we purposed traversing
would thus favor our drift. Our experience bore out
Professor Supan's theory in a remarkable degree.

CHAPTER II
PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT

Foolhardy as the scheme appeared to some, it re-
ceived powerful support from the Norwegian Government
and the King of Norway. A bill was laid before the
Storthing for a grant of ^11,250 (200,000 kroner), or
two-thirds of the estimated cost. The remaining third
I hoped to be able to raise from private sources, as I
had already received promises of support from many
quarters.

On June 30, 1890, the amount demanded was voted
by the Storthing, which thereby expressed its wish that
the expedition should be a Norwegian one. In January,
1 89 1, Mr. Thomas Fearnley, Consul Axel Heiberg, and
INIr. Ellef Ringnes set to work to collect the further
sum required, and in a few days the amount was sub-
scribed.

His Majesty King Oscar gave /1125 (20,000 kroner),
while private individuals in Norway gave as follows :

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 55

i
Consul Axel Heiberg 562

Ditto (later) 393

Mr. Anton Chr. Houen 11 25

Mr. A. Dick, Hovik 281

Ditto (later) 393

Mr. Thomas Fearnley (merchant) 281

Ditto (later) 56

Messrs. Ringnes & Co. (brewers) 281

Ditto (later) 56

Mr. A. S. Kjosterud (merchant), Drammen . . . 281

Ditto (later) . 56

Mr. E. Sundt (merchant), Bergen 281

Consul Westye Egeberg 562

Mr. Halver Schou 281

Baron Harald Wedel Jarlsberg and C. lovenskiold.

Minister of State 562

Consul Nicolav H. Knudtzon, Christiansund . . . 281

Among foreign contributors may be mentioned the
Royal Geographical Society of London, which showed
its sympathy with the undertaking by subscribing ^300
sterling. Baron Oscar Dickson provided at his own cost
the electric installation (dynamo accumulators, and con-
ductors).

As the work of equipment proceeded, it appeared that
the first estimate was not sufficient. This was especially
due to the ship, which was estimated to cost ^8437 ^^.y.
(150,000 kroner), but which came to nearly double that
sum. Where so much was at stake, I did not think it
right to study the cost too much, if it seemed that a little
extra outlay could insure the successful result of the
expedition. The three gentlemen who had taken the
lead in the first collection, Mr. Thomas Fearnley, Con-

$6 FARTHEST NORTH

sul Axel Heiberg, and INIr. EUef Ringnes, undertook at
my request to constitute themselves the committee of
the expedition and to take charge of its pecuniary affairs.
In order to cover a portion of the deficiency, they, to-
gether with certain members of the Council of the Geo-
graphical Society, set on foot another private subscrip-
tion all over the country, while the same society at a
later period headed a national subscription. By these
means about ^956 ^s. was collected in all. I had further
to petition the Norwegian Storthing for an additional
sum of ^4500, when our national assembly again gave
proof of its sympathy with the undertaking by granting
the amount named (June 9, 1890).

Finally Consul Axel Heiberg and Mr. Dick subscribed
an additional ;^337 lo^-. each, while I myself made up the
deficiency that still remained on the eve of our departure.

Statement of Accounts of the Expedition on its Setting

Out, 1893.

Ificovie.

Kroner ore.

State Grant 280,000 o

H.M. The King, and original private subscribers . . 105,000 o

Private subscription of the Geographical Society . . 12,781 23

National subscription 2,287 23

Interest accrued 9729 78

Guaranteed by private individuals 5.400 o

Deficit covered by A. Heiberg and A. Dick .... 12,000 o

Ditto F. Nansen 5.400 o

Geographical Society, London (;^3oo)

H. Simon, Manchester (^100)

A Norwegian in Riga (1000 roubles) and others . . 9.278 62

Total 444.339 36*

* Nearly ;/^25.ooo.

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT S7

Expenditure.

Kroner ore.

Wages account ..." 46,440 o

Life insurance premiums of married participators . . 5,361 90

Instruments account 12,978 68

Ship account 271,927 8

Provisions account 39.172 98

Expenses account 10,612 38

Equipment account 57.846 34

Total 444.339 36

It will be evident from the plan above expounded that
the most important point in the equipment of our
expedition was the building of the ship that was to carry
us through the dreaded ice regions. The construction
of this vessel was accordingly carried out with greater
care, probably, than has been devoted to any ship that
has hitherto ploughed the Arctic waters. I found in the
well - known shipbuilder, Colin Archer, a man who
thoroughly understood the task I set him, and who
concentrated all his skill, foresight, and rare thorough-
ness upon the work. We must gratefully recognize that
the success of the expedition was in no small degree due
to this man.

If we turn our attention to the long list of former ex-
peditions and to their equipments, it cannot but strike
us that scarcely a single vessel had been built specially
for the purpose — in fact, the majority of explorers have
not even provided themselves with vessels which were
originally intended for ice navigation. This is the more

FARTHEST NORTH

surprising when we remember the sums of money that
have been lavished on the equipment of some of these
expeditions. The fact is, they have generally been in
such a hurry to set out that there has been no time to

1
\

^^^^^^^^^■riL

•*a

^^^HeSI^^^^^^. .ju> a^Bt '"^

S|Si3c«Jsa*.

COLIN ARCHER

devote to a more careful equipment. In many cases,
indeed, preparations were not begun until a few months
before the expedition sailed. The present expedition,

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 59

however, could not be equipped in so short a time, and
if the voyage itself took three years, the preparations
took no less time, while the scheme was conceived thrice
three years earlier.

Plan after plan did Archer make of the projected
ship; one model after another was prepared and aban-
doned.

Fresh improvements were constantly being suggested.
The form we finally adhered to may seem to many peo-
ple by no means beautiful ; but that it is well adapted to
the ends in view I think our expedition has fully proved.
What was especially aimed at was, as mentioned on page
29, to give the ship such sides that it could readily be
hoisted up during ice -pressure without being crushed
between the floes. Greely, Nares, etc., etc., are certainly
right in saying that this is nothing new. I relied here
simply on the sad experiences of earlier expeditions.
What, however, may be said to be new is the fact that we
not only realized that the ship ought to have such a form,
but that we gave it that form, as well as the necessary
strength for resisting great ice -pressure, and that this
was the guiding idea in the whole work of construction.
Colin Archer is quite right in what he says in an article
in the N^orsk Tidsskrift for Sovcesen, 1892: "When one
bears in mind what is, so to speak, the fundamental idea
of Dr. Nansen's plan in his North Pole Expedition . . .
it will readily be seen that a ship which is to be built
with exclusive regard to its suitability for this object

6o FAR THE S 7^ NORTH

must differ essentially from any other previously known
vessel. . . ••

" In the construction of the ship two points must be
especially studied: (i)that the shape of the hull be such
as to offer as small a vulnerable target as possible to the
attacks of the ice ; and (2) that it be built so solidly as to
be able to withstand the greatest possible pressure from
without in any direction whatsoever."

And thus she was built, more attention being paid to
making her a safe and warm stronghold while drifting in
the ice than to endowing her with speed or good sailing
qualities.

As above stated, our aim was to make the ship as small
as possible. The reason of this was that a small ship is,
of course, lighter than a large one, and can be made
stronger in proportion to her weight. A small ship, too,
is better adapted for navigation among the ice ; it is
easier to handle her in critical moments, and to find a
safe berth for her between the packing ice-floes. I was
of opinion that a vessel of 1 70 tons register would suffice,
but the Fram is considerably larger, 402 tons gross and
307 tons net. It was also our aim to build a short vessel,
which could thread her way easily among the floes, es-
pecially as great length would have been a source of
weakness when ice-pressure set in. But in order that
such a ship, which has, moreover, very sloping sides, shall
possess the necessary carrying capacity, she must be
broad ; and her breadth is, in fact, about a third of her

?^.?j^-teH

■S-

•^

PCI

|-;

p ■

(Ti

i-t

Q-

-1

r-i

g s-^^q

<" S,o ^

=;• "■ ft

~.cn 53 r-

fe-r-Ei

s.gs^

3 -" 3 CAl

' IT "'^

Ef si o O

ffCJ

CO i;..-^

■^^

--•

?r 3

7t3

0
0

;:i.

„_

•&.

"-1

t33

<:-■»

nr*

•^

"-!;

o ^

3- Jig- fit-
£-0" S CA)

<^ 3 3 §-

►t)

2 t^^

•5-3^h:

o" " en r-

ine-r
Plac
re-h

0 "> 0 Sj.

3 p

?^?3 C3

(n 3

lessing'
. A/
r the d
/ Pa

C n>
2 v:

s -< :^ '■

. n

~ 3 3 n

• p cr5 P,

H^B s =■■

62 FARTHEST NORTH

length. Another point of importance was to make the
sides as smooth as possible, without projecting edges,
while plane surfaces were as much as possible avoided in
the neighborhood of the most vulnerable points, and the
hull assumed a plump and rounded form. Bow, stern,
and keel — all were rounded off so that the ice should not
be able to get a grip of her anywhere. For this reason,
too, the keel was sunk in the planking, so that barely
three inches protruded, and its edges were rounded.
The object was that " the whole craft should be able to
slip like an eel out of the embraces of the ice."

The hull was made pointed fore and aft, and some-
what resembles a pilot-boat, minus the keel and the sharp
garboard strakes. Both ends were made specially strong.
The stem consists of three stout oak beams, one inside
the other, forming an aggregate thickness of 4 feet
(1.25 m.) of solid oak; inside the stem are fitted solid
breasthooks of oak and iron to bind the ship's sides
together, and from these breasthooks stays are placed
against the pawl-bit. The bow is protected by an iron
stem, and across it are fitted transverse bars which run
some small distance backwards on either side, as is usual
in sealers.

The stern is of a special and somewhat particular
construction. On either side of the rudder and propeller
posts — which are sided 24 inches (65 cm.) — is fitted a
stout oak counter-timber following the curvature of the
stern right up to the upper deck, and forming, so to

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 63

speak, a double stern-post. The planking is carried out-
side these timbers, and the stern protected by heavy iron
plates wrought outside the planking.

Between these two counter-timbers there is a well for
the screw, and also one for the rudder, throuHi which
they can both be hoisted up on deck. It is usual in
sealers to have the screw arranged in this way, so that
it can easily be replaced by a spare screw should it
be broken by the ice. But such an arrangement is not
usual in the case of the rudder, and, while with our small
crew, and with the help of the capstan, we could hoist
the rudder on deck in a few minutes in case of any sud-
den ice-pressure or the like, I have known it take seal-
ers with a crew of over 60 men several hours, or even a
whole day, to ship a fresh rudder.

The stern is, on the whole, the Achilles' heel of ships
in the Polar Seas ; here the ice can easily inflict great
damage, for instance, by breaking the rudder. To guard
against this danger, our rudder was placed so low down
as not to be visible above water, so that if a floe should
strike the vessel aft, it would break its force against the
strong stern-part, and could hardly touch the rudder it-
self. As a matter of fact, notwithstanding the violent
pressures we met with, we never suffered any injury in
this respect.

Everything was of course done to make the sides of
the ship as strong as possible. The frame timbers were
of choice Italian oak that had originally been intended

64 FARTHEST NORTH

for the Norwegian navy, and had lain under cover at
Horten for 30 years. They were all grown to shape, and
lo-ii inches thick. The frames were built in two
courses or tiers, closely wrought together, and connected
by bolts, some of which were riveted. Over each joint
flat iron bands w^re placed. The frames were about 21
inches (56 cm.) wide, and were placed close together, with
only about an inch or an inch and a half between; and
these interstices were filled wdth pitch and sawdust mixed,
from the keel to a little distance above the water-line,
in order to keep the ship moderately water-tight, even
should the outer skin be chafed through.

The outside planking consists of three layers. The
inner one is of oak, 3 inches thick, fastened with spikes
and carefully calked ; outside this another oak sheathing,
4 inches thick, fastened \vith through bolts and calked;
and outside these comes the ice-skin of greenheart, which
like the other planking runs right dow^n to the keel. At
the water-line it is 6 inches thick, gradually diminishing
towards the bottom to 3 inches. It is fastened with nails
and jagged bolts, and not with through bolts ; so that if
the ice had stripped off the whole of the ice sheathing
the hull of the ship would not have suffered any great
damage. The lining inside the frame timbers is of pitch-
pine planks, some 4, some 8 inches thick ; it was also
carefully calked once or twice.

The total thickness of the ship's sides is, therefore,
from 24 to 28 inches of solid water-tight wood. It will

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 65

readily be understood that such a ship's side, with its
rounded form, would of itself offer a very good resistance
to the ice ; but to make it still stronger the inside was
shored up in every possible way, so that the hold looks
like a cobweb of balks, stanchions, and braces. In the
first place, there are two rows of beams, the upper deck
and between decks, principally of solid oak, partly also
of pitch pine ; and all of these are further connected
with each other, as well as with the sides of the ship, by
numerous supports. The accompanying diagrams will
show how they are arranged. The diagonal stays are,
of course, placed as nearly as possible at right angles to
the sides of the ship, so as to strengthen them against
external pressure and to distribute its force. The ver-
tical stanchions between both tiers of beams and be-
tween the lower beams and keelson are admirably
adapted for this latter object. All are connected to-
gether with strong knees and iron fastenings, so that
the whole becomes, as it were, a single coherent mass.
It should be borne in mind that, while in former ex-
peditions it was thought sufficient to give a couple of
beams amidships some extra strengthening, every single
cross beam in the Frain was stayed in the manner de-
scribed and depicted.

In the engine-room there was, of course, no space for

supports in the middle, but in their place two stay ends

were fixed on either side. The beams of the lower deck

were placed a little under the water-line, where the ice

66 FARTHEST NORTH

pressure would be severest. In the after-hold these
beams had to be raised a little to give room for the
engine. The upper deck aft, therefore, was somewhat
higher than the main deck, and the ship had a poop or
half-deck, under which were the cabins for all the
members of the expedition, and also the cooking-galley.
Strong iron riders were worked in for the whole length
of the ship in the spaces between the beams, extending
in one length from the clamp under the upper deck
nearly to the keelson. The keelson was in two tiers
and about 31 inches (80 cm.) high, save in the engine-
room, where the height of the room only allows one tier.
The keel consists of two heavy American elm logs 14
inches square ; but, as has been mentioned, so built in
that only 3 inches protrude below the outer planking.
The sides of the hull are rounded downward to the
keel, so that a transverse section at the midship frame
reminds one forcibly of half a cocoanut cut in two. The
higher the ship is lifted out of the water, the heavier
does she, of course, become, and the greater her press-
ure on the ice, but for the above reason the easier also
does it become for the ice to lift. To obviate much
heeling, in case the hull should be lifted very high, the
bottom was made flat, and this proved to be an excellent
idea. I endeavored to determine experimentally the
friction of ice against wood, and taking into account the
strength of the ship, and the angle of her sides with the
surface of the water, I came to the conclusion that her

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 67

Strength must be many times sufficient to withstand the
pressure necessary to Hft her. This calculation was
amply borne out by experience.

The principal dimensions of the ship were as fol-
lows: Length of keel, 102 feet; length of water-line,
113 feet; length from stem to stern on deck, 128 feet;
extreme breadth, 36 feet ; breadth of water-line, exclusive
of ice - skin, 34 feet ; depth, 1 7 feet ; draught of water
with light cargo, i2i feet; displacement with light cargo,
530 tons; with heavy cargo the draught is over 15 feet
and the displacement is 800 tons ; there is a freeboard of
about 3 feet 6 inches. The hull, with boilers filled, was
calculated to weigh about 420 tons, and with 800 tons
displacement there should, therefore, be spare carrying-
po\yer for coal and other cargo to the amount of 380
tons. Thus, in addition to the requisite provisions for
dogs and men for more than five years, we could carry
coal for four months' steaming at full speed, which was
more than sufficient for such an expedition as this.

As regards the rigging, the most important object was
to have it as simple and as strong as possible, and at
the same time so contrived as to offer the least possible
resistance to the wind while the ship was under steam.
With our small crew it was, moreover, of the last import-
ance that it should be easy to work from deck. For this
reason the Fravi was rigged as a three-masted fore-and-
aft schooner. Several of our old Arctic skippers dis-
approved of this arrangement. They had always been

68 FARTHEST NORTH

used to sail with square - rigged ships, and, with the
conservatism peculiar to their class, were of opinion
that what they had used was the only thing that could
be used in the ice. However, the rig we chose was un-
questionably the best for our purpose. In addition to
the ordinary fore-and-aft sails we had two movable yards
on the foremast for a square foresail and topsail. As the
yards were attached to a sliding truss they could easily
be hauled down when not in use. The ship's lower
masts were tolerably high and massive. The mainmast
was about '^o feet high, the maintopmast was 50 feet
high, and the crow's-nest on the top was about 102 feet
(32 m.) above the water. It was important to have this
as high as possible, so as to have a more extended view
when it came to picking our way through the ice. The
aggregate sail area was about 6000 square feet.

The ship's engine, a triple expansion, was made with
particular care. The work was done at the Akers
Mechanical Factory, and Engineer Norbeck deserves
especial credit for its construction. With his quick
insight he foresaw the various possibilities that might
occur, and took precautions against them. The triple-
expansion system was chosen as being the most econom-
ical in the consumption of coal ; but as it might happen
that one or other of the cylinders should get out of order,
it was arranged, by means of separate pipes, that any of
the cylinders could be cut off, and thus the other two, or,
at a pinch, even one alone, could be used. In this way

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 69

the engine, by the mere turning of a cock or two, could
be changed at will into a compound high-pressure or
low-pressure engine. Although nothing ever went wrong
with any of the cylinders, this arrangement was fre-
quently used with advantage. By using the engine as a
compound one, we could, for instance, give the Fram
greater speed for a short time, and when occasion de-
manded we often took this means of forcing our way
throufjh the ice. The eno^ine was of 220 indicated horse-
power, and we could in calm weather with a light cargo
attain a speed of 6 or 7 knots.

The propellers, of which we had two in reserve, were
two-bladed, and made of cast-iron; but we never used
either the spare propellers or a spare rudder which we
had with us.

Our quarters lay, as before mentioned, abaft under the
half-deck, and were arranc^ed so that the saloon, which
formed our dining-room and drawing-room, was in the
middle, surrounded on all sides by the sleeping-cabins.
These consisted of four state-rooms with one berth apiece
and two with four berths. The object of this arrange-
ment was to protect the saloon from external cold ; but,
further, the ceiling, floors, and walls were covered with
several thick coatings of non-conducting material, the
surface layer, in touch with the heat of the cabin, con-
sisting of air-tight linoleum, to prevent the warm, damp
air from penetrating to the other side and depositing
moisture, which would soon turn to ice. The sides of

70 FARTHEST NORTH

the ship were lined with tarred felt, then came a space
with cork padding, next a deal panelling, then a thick
layer of felt, next air-tight linoleum, and last of all an
inner panelling. The ceiling of the saloon and cabins
consisted of many different layers: air, felt, deal panelling,
reindeer-hair stufiFing, deal panelling, linoleum, air and
deal panelling, which, with the 4-inch deck planks, gave
a total thickness of about 15 inches. To form the floor
of the saloon, cork padding, 6 or 7 inches thick, was laid
on the deck planks, on this a thick wooden floor, and
above all linoleum. The skylight which was most
exposed to the cold was protected by three panes of
glass, one within the other, and in various other ways.
One of the greatest difliculties of life on board ship
which former Arctic expeditions had had to contend
with was that moisture collecting on the cold outside
walls either froze at once or ran down in streams into
the berths and on to the floor. Thus it was not unusual
to find the mattresses converted into more or less solid
masses of ice. We, however, by these arrangements,
entirely avoided such an unpleasant state of things, and
when the fire was lighted in the saloon there was no^~~ar
trace of moisture on the walls, even in the sleeping-
cabins. In front of the saloon lay the cook's galley,
on either side of which was a companion leading to the
deck.

As a protection against the cold, each of these com-
panion-ways was fitted with four small solid doors con-

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 71

sisting of several layers of wood with felt between, all
of which had to be passed through on going out. And
the more completely to exclude the cold air the thresholds
of the doors were made more than ordinarily high. On
the half-deck over the cook's galley, between the main-
mast and the funnel, was a chart-room facing the bow,
and a smaller work-room abaft.

In order to secure the safety of the ship in case of a
leak, the hold was divided into three compartments by
water-tight bulkheads. Besides the usual pumps, we had
a powerful centrifugal pump driven by the engine, which
could be connected with each of the three compartments.
It may be mentioned as an improvement on former expe-
ditions that the Fram was furnished with an electric
light installation. The dynamo was to be driven by the
engine while we were under steam ; while the intention
was to drive it partly by means of the wind, partly by
hand power, during our sojourn in the ice. For this
purpose we took a windmill with us, and also a " horse-
mill " to be worked by ourselves. I had anticipated that
this latter might have been useful in giving us exercise
in the long polar night. We found, however, that there
were plenty of other things to do, and we never used it ;
on the other hand, the windmill proved extremely ser-
viceable. For illumination when we might not have
enough power to produce electric light, we took with us
about 1 6 tons of petroleum, which was also intended for
cooking purposes and for warming the cabins. This

12 FARTHEST NORTH

petroleum, as well as 20 tons of common kerosene* in-
tended to be used along with coal in the boiler, was stored
in massive iron tanks, eight of which were in the hold^
and one on deck. In all, the ship had eight boats, two
of which were especially large, 29 feet long and 9 feet
wide. These were intended for use in case the ship
should, after all, be lost, the idea being that we should
live in them while drifting in the ice. They were large
enough to accommodate the whole ship's company with
provisions for many months. Then there were four
smaller boats of the form sealers generally use. They
were exceedingly strong and lightly built, two of oak and
two of elm. The seventh boat was a small pram, and the
eighth a launch with a petroleum engine, which, however,,
was not very serviceable, and caused us a great deal of
trouble.

As I shall have frequent occasion later on to speak of
other details of our equipment, I shall content myself
here with mentioning a few of the most important.

Special attention was, of course, devoted to our com-
missariat with a view to obviating the danger of scurvy
and other ailments. The principle on which I acted in

* This oil, by means of a specially constructed steam-jet apparatus, was
injected into the furnaces in the form of a fine spray, where it burned in a
very economical and saving manner, giving forth a great amount of heat.
The apparatus was one which has been applied to locomotives in England,
whence it was procured. It appeared, however, that it tended to overheat
the boiler at one particular point, where it made a dent, so that we soork
abandoned this method of firing.

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 73

the choice of provisions was to combine variety with
wholesomeness. Every single article of food was chem-
ically analyzed before being adopted, and great care was
taken that it should be properly packed. Such articles,
even, as bread, dried vegetables, etc., etc., were soldered
down in tins as a protection against damp.

A good library was of great importance to an expedi-
tion like ours, and thanks to publishers and friends, both
in our own and in other countries, we were very well sup-
plied in this respect.

The instruments for taking scientific observations of
course formed an important part of our equipment, and
special care was bestowed upon them. In addition to
the collection of instruments I had used on my Green-
land expedition, a great many new ones were provided,
and no pains were spared to get them as good and com-
plete as possible. For meteorological observations, in ad-
dition to the ordinary thermometers, barometers, ane-
roids, psychrometers, hygrometers, anemometers, etc.,
etc., self -registering instruments w^ere also taken. Of
special importance were a self-registering aneroid barom-
eter (barograph) and a pair of self-registering thermom-
eters (thermographs). For astronomical observations we
had a large theodolite and two smaller ones, intended
for use on sledge expeditions, together with several sex-
tants of different sizes. We had, moreover, four ship's
chronometers and several pocket -chronometers. For
magnetic observations, for taking the declination, inch-

74 FARTHEST NORTH

nation, and intensity (both horizontal and total intensity)
we had a complete set of instruments. Among others
may be mentioned a spectroscope especially adapted for
the northern lights, an electroscope for determining the
amount of electricity in the air, photographic apparatus-
es, of which we had seven, large and small, and a photo-
graphometer for making charts. I considered a pendu-
lum apparatus with its adjuncts to be of special impor-
tance to enable us to make pendulum experiments in the
far north. To do this, however, land was necessary, and,
as we did not find any, this instrument unfortunately did
not come into use. For hydrographic observations we
took a full equipment of water-samplers, deep-water ther-
mometers, etc. To ascertain the saltness of the water, we
had, in addition to the ordinary areometers, an electric
apparatus specially constructed by Mr. Thornoe. Alto-
gether, our scientific equipment was especially excellent,
thanks in great measure to the obliging assistance ren-
dered me by many men of science. I would take this
opportunity of tendering my special thanks to Professor
Mohn, who, besides seeing to the meteorological instru-
ments, helped me in many other ways with his valuable
advice ; to Professor Geelmuyden, who undertook the
supervision of the astronomical instruments ; to Dr. Neu-
meyer, of Hamburg, who took charge of the magnetic
equipment ; and to Professor Otto Petterson, of Stock-
holm, and Mr. Thornoe, of Christiania, both of whom
superintended the hydrographic department. Of no less

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 75

importance were the physiologico-medicinal preparations,
to which Professor Torup devoted particular care.

As it might be of the utmost importance in several
contingencies to have good sledge-dogs, I applied to my
friend, Baron Edward von Toll, of St. Petersburg, and
asked him whether it was possible to procure serviceable
animals from Siberia.* With great courtesy Von Toll
replied that he thought he himself could arrange this for
me, as he was just on the point of undertaking his sec-
ond scientific expedition to Siberia and the New Siberian
Islands. He proposed to send the dogs to Khabarova,
on Yugor Strait. On his journey through Tiumen in
January, 1893, by the help of an English merchant
named Wardroper, who resided there, he engaged Alex-
ander Ivanovitch Trontheim to undertake the purchase
of thirty Ostiak dogs and their conveyance to Yugor
Strait. But Von Toll was not content with this. Mr.
Nikolai Kelch having offered to bear the expense, my
friend procured the East Siberian dogs, which are ac-
knowledged to be better draught dogs than those of
West Siberia (Ostiak dogs), and Johan Torgersen, a
Norwegian, undertook to deliver them at the mouth of
the Olenek, where it was arranged that we should touch.

Von Toll, moreover, thought it would be important to
establish some depots of provisions on the New Siberian

* I had thought of procuring dogs from the Eskimo of Greenland and
Hudson Bay, but there proved to be insuperable difficulties in the way of
getting them conveyed from there.

76 FARTHEST NORTH

Islands, in case the F^'am should meet with disaster and
the expedition should be obliged to return home that
way. On Von Toll's mentioning this, Kelch at once
expressed himself willing to bear the cost, as he wished
us in that event to meet with Siberian hospitality even
on the New Siberian Islands. As it was difficult to
find trustworthy agents to carry out a task involving
so much responsibility. Von Toll determined to establish
the depots himself, and in May, 1893, he set out on an
adventurous and highly interesting journey from the
mainland over the ice to the New Siberian Islands,
where, besides laying down three depots for us,* he
made some very important geological researches.

Another important matter, I thought, was to have a
cargo of coal sent out as far as possible on our route, so
that when we broke off all connection with the rest
of the world we should have on board the Fram as
much coal as she could carry. I therefore joyfully ac-
cepted an offer from an Englishman, who was to accom-
pany us with his steam-yacht to Novaya Zemlya or the

* These depots were arranged most carefully, and every precaution so
well taken that we certainly should not have suffered from famine had we
gone there. In the northernmost depot at Stan Durnova on the west
coast of Kotelnoi, at 75° 37' N. L., we should have found provisions for a
week; with these we could easily have made our way 65 miles southward
along the coast to the second depot at Urassalach, where, in a house built
by Baron Von Toll in 1886, we should have found provisions for a whole
month. Lastly, a third depot in a house on the south side of Little Liak-
hoflf Island, with provisions for two months, would have enabled us to
reach the mainland with ease.

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 77

Kara Sea and give us lOO tons of coal on parting com-
pany. As our departure was drawing nigh I learnt, how-
ever, that other arrangements had been made. It being
now too late to take any other measures, I chartered
the sloop Urania, of Bronosund, in Nordland, to bring
a cargo of coals to Khabarova, on the Yugor Strait.

No sooner did the plan of my expedition become
known than petitions poured in by the hundred from
all quarters of the earth — from Europe, America, Aus-
tralia— from persons who wished to take part in it, in
spite of the many warning voices that had been raised.
It was no easy thing to choose among all the brave men
who applied. As a matter of course, it was absolutely
essential that every man should be strong and healthy,
and not one was finally accepted till he had been care-
fully examined by Professor Hialmar Heiberg, of Chris-
tiania.

The following is a list of the members of the expe-
dition :

Otlo Neumann Sverdrup, commander of the Fram,
was born in Bindal, in Helgeland, 1855. At the age of
seventeen he went to sea, passed his mate's examination
in 1878, and for some years was captain of a ship. In
1888-89 he took part in the Greenland expedition. As
soon as he heard of the plan of the polar expedition he
expressed his desire to accompany it, and I knew that
I could not place the Fram in better hands. He is
married, and has one child.

78 FARTHEST NORTH

Sigurd Scott-Hansen, first lieutenant in the navy, un-
dertook the management of the meteorological, astro-
nomical, and magnetic observations. He was born in
Christiania in 1868. After passing through the naval
school at Horten, he became an of^cer in 1889, and
first lieutenant in 1892. He is a son of Andreas Han-
sen, parish priest in Christiania.

Henrik Greve Blessing, doctor and botanist to the
expedition, was born in Drammen in 1866, where his
father was at that time a clergyman. He became a
student in 1885, and graduated in medicine in the spring
of 1893.

Theodore Claudius Jacobsen, mate of the Fi^am, was
born at Tromso in 1855, where his father was a ship's
captain, afterwards harbor- master and head pilot. At
the age of fifteen he went to sea, and passed his mate's
examination four years later. He spent two years in
New Zealand, and from 1886-90 he went on voyages to
the Arctic Sea as skipper of a Tromso sloop. He is
married, and has one child.

Anton Amundsen, chief engineer of the Fram, was
born at Horten in 1853. In 1884 he passed his tech-
nical examination, and soon afterwards his engineer's
examination. For twenty-live years he has been in the
navy, where he attained the rank of chief engineer. He
is married, and has six children.

Adolf Jttell, steward and cook of the Fram, was born
in the parish of Skato, near Kragerb, in i860. His

PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT 79

father, Claus Nielsen, was a farmer and ship-owner. In
1879 he passed his mate's examination, and has been
captain of a ship many years. He is married, and has
four children.

Lars Pettersen, second engineer of the Fram, was
born in i860, at Borre, near Landskrona, in Sweden, of
Norwegian parents. He is a fully qualified smith and
machinist, in which capacity he has served in the Nor-
wegian navy for several years. Is married, and has
children.

Frederik Hjalmar Johansen, lieutenant in the Re- ^
serve, was born at Skien in 1867, and matriculated at
the University in 1886. In 1891-92 he went to the
Military School and became a supernumerary officer.
He was so eager to take part in the expedition that, as
no other post could be found for him, he accepted that
of stoker.

Peter Leonard Henriksen^ harpooner, was born in /
Balsfjord, near Tromsb, in 1859. From childhood he
has been a sailor, and from fourteen years old has gone
on voyages to the Arctic Sea as harpooner and skipper.
In 1888 he was shipwrecked off Novaya Zemlya in the
sloop Eiiigheden, from Christiansund. He is married,
and has four children.

Bernhard Nordahl was born in Christiania in 1862.
At the age of fourteen he entered the navy, and ad-
vanced to be a gunner. Subsequently he has done a
little of everything, and, among other things, has worked

8o FARTHEST NORTH

as an electrical engineer. He had charge of the dynamo
and electric installation on board, acted, moreover, as
stoker, and for a time assisted in the meteorological ob-
servations. He is married, and has five children.
\\ Ivar Otto Irgens Mogstad was born at Aure, in

Nordmore, in 1856. In 1877 passed his examination as
first assistant, and from 1882 onward was one of the
head keepers at the Gaustad Lunatic Asylum.

Bernt Bentzen, born in i860, went to sea for several
years. In 1890 he passed his mate's examination, since
which he has sailed as mate in several voyages to the
Arctic Sea. We engaged him at Tromso, just as we
were starting. It was 8.30 when he came on board to
speak to me, and at 10 o'clock the Fram set sail.

CHAPTER III

THE START

" So travel I north to the gloomy abode
That the sun never shines on —
There is no day."

It was midsummer day. A dull, gloomy day; and
with it came the inevitable leave-taking. The door closed
behind me. For the last time I left my home and went
alone down the garden to the beach, where the Frams
little petroleum launch pitilessly awaited me. Behind
me lay all I held dear in life. And what before me }
How many years would pass ere I should see it all again '^
What would I not have given at that moment to be able
to turn back ; but up at the window little Liv was sitting
clapping her hands. Happy child, little do you know
what life is — how strangely mingled and how full of
change. Like an arrow the little boat sped over Lysaker
Bay, bearing me on the first stage of a journey on which
life itself, if not more, was staked.

At last everything was in readiness. The hour had
arrived towards which the persevering labor of years
had been incessantly bent, and with it the feeling that,
everything being provided and completed, responsibility

82 FARTHEST NORTH

might be thrown aside and the weary brain at last find
rest The Fram Hes yonder at Pepperviken, impatiently
panting and waiting for the signal, when the launch
comes puffing past Dyna and runs alongside. The deck
is closely packed with people come to bid a last farewell,
and now all must leave the ship. Then the Fram weighs
anchor, and, heavily laden and moving slowly, makes the
tour of the little creek. The quays are black with
crowds of people weaving their hats and handkerchiefs.
But silently and quietly the Fram heads towards the
fjord, steers slowly past Bygdo and Dyna out on her
unknown path, while little nimble craft, steamers, and
pleasure-boats swarm around her. Peaceful and snug
lay the villas along the shore behind their veils of foliage,
just as they ever seemed of old. Ah, "fair is the wood-
land slope, and never did it look fairer !" Long, long,
will it be before we shall plough these well-known w^aters
again.

And now a last farewell to home. Yonder it lies on
the point — the fjord sparkling in front, pine and fir
woods around, a little smiling meadow -land and long
wood-clad ridges behind. Through the glass one could
descry a summer-clad figure by the bench under the fir-
tree. . . .

It was the darkest hour of the whole journey.

And now out into the fjord. It was rainy weather,
and a feeling of melancholy seemed to brood over the
familiar landscape with all its memories.

THE START 83

It was not until noon next day (June 25th) that the
Fram glided into the bay by Raekvik, Archer's ship-
yard, near Laurvik, where her cradle stood, and where
many a golden dream had been dreamt of her vic-
torious career. Here we were to take the two long-
boats on board and have them set up on their davits,
and there were several other things to be shipped. It
took the whole day and a good part of the next before
all was completed. About three o'clock on the 26th we
bade farewell to Raekvik and made a bend into Laurvik
Bay, in order to stand out to sea by Frederiksvaern.
Archer himself had to take the wheel and steer his child
this last bit before leaving the ship. And then came
the farewell hand-shake ; but few words were spoken, and
they got into the boat, he, my brothers, and a friend,
while the Fram glided ahead with her heavy motion,
and the bonds that united us were severed. It was sad
and strange to see this last relic of home in that little
skiff on the wide blue surface, Anker's cutter behind,
and Laurvik farther in the distance. I almost think a
tear orlittered on that fine old face as he stood erect in

the boat and shouted a farewell to us and to the Fram.
Do you think he does not love the vessel } That he
believes in her I know well. So we gave him the first
salute from the Frames guns — a worthier inauguration
they could not well have had.

Full speed ahead, and in the calm, bright summer
weather, while the setting sun shed his beams over the

84 FARTHEST NORTH

land, the Fi'am stood out towards the blue sea, to get
its first roll in the long, heaving swell. They stood up
in the boat and watched us for long.

We bore along the coast in good weather, past
Christiansand. The next evening, June 27th, we were
off the Naze. I sat up and chatted with Scott-Hansen
till late in the night. He acted as captain on the trip
from Christiania to Trondhjem, where Sverdrup was to
join, after having accompanied his family to Steenkiaer.
As we sat there in the chart-house and let the hours slip
by while we pushed on in the ever-increasing swell, all at
once a sea burst open the door and poured in. We
rushed out on deck. The ship rolled like a log, the seas
broke in over the rails on both sides, and one by one up
came all the crew. I feared most lest the slender davits
which supported the long-boats should give way, and the
boats themselves should go overboard, perhaps carrying
away with them a lot of the rigging. Then twenty-five
empty parafifin casks which were lashed on deck broke
loose, washed backward and forward, and gradually filled
with water ; so that the outlook was not altogether
agreeable. But it was worst of all when the piles of
reserve timber, spars, and planks began the same dance,
and threatened to break the props under the boats. It
was an anxious hour. Sea-sick, I stood on the bridge,
occupying myself in alternately making libations to Nep-
tune and trembling for the safety of the boats and the
men, who were trying to make snug what they could for-

SKIURI) SCOTT-HANSEN
(From a photograph taken m December, 1S03)

THE START 87

ward on deck. I often saw only a hotch-potch of sea,
drifting planks, arms, legs, and empty barrels. Now a
green sea poured over us and knocked a man off his legs
so that the water deluged him ; now I saw the lads jump-
ing over hurtling spars and barrels, so as not to get their
feet crushed between them. There was not a dry thread
on them. Juell, who lay asleep in the " Grand Hotel," as
we called one of the long-boats, awoke to hear the sea
roaring under him like a cataract. I met him at the
cabin door as he came running down. It was no longer
safe there, he thought ; best to save one's rags — he had a
bundle under his arm. Then he set off forward to secure
his sea-chest, which was floating about on the fore-deck,
and dragged it hurriedly aft, while one heavy sea after
another swept over him. Once the Fram buried her
bows and shipped a sea over the forecastle. There was
one fellow clinging to the anchor-davits over the frothing
water. It was poor Juell again. We were hard put to it
to secure our goods and chattels. We had to throw all
our good paraffin casks overboard, and one prime timber
balk after another went the same way, while I stood and
watched them sadly as they floated off. The rest of the
deck cargo was shifted aft on to the half-deck. I am
afraid the shares in the expedition stood rather low at
this moment. Then all at once, when things were about
at their worst with us, we sighted a bark looming out of
the fog ahead. There it lay with royals and all sails set,
as snugly and peacefully as if nothing were the matter,

88 FARTHEST NORTH

rocking gently on the sea. It made one feel almost sav-
age to look at it. Msions of the Flying Dutchman and
other devilry flashed through my mind.

Terrible disaster in the cook's galley! Mogstad goes
in and sees the whole wall sprinkled over with dark-red
stains — rushes off to Nordahl, and says he believes Juell
has shot himself through despair at the insufferable heat
he complains so about. " Great revolver disaster on
board the Fram ! . . ." On close inspection, however,
the stains appeared to proceed from a box of chocolate
that had upset in the cupboard.

Owing to the fog we dared not go too near land, so
kept out to sea, till at last, towards morning, the fog lifted
somewhat, and the pilot found his bearings between Far-
sund and Hummerdus. We put into Lister Fjord, in-
tending to anchor there and get into better sea trim;
but as the weather improved we went on our way. It
was not till the afternoon that we steered into Ekersund,
owing to thick weather and a stiff breeze, and anchored in
Hovland's Bay, where our pilot, Hovland,* lived. Next
morning the boat davits, etc., were put in good work-
ing order. The Fram, however, was too heavily laden to
be at all easy in a seaway ; but this we could not alter.
What we had we must keep, and if we only got every-

* Both Hovland, who piloted us from Christiania to Bergen, and Johan
Hagensen, who took us from Bergen to Vardo, were most kindly placed
at the disposal of the expedition by the Nordenfjeldske Steamship Com-
pany, of Trondhjem.

ADOLF JUELL

\Froi>i a photograph taken in December, 1S93)

THE START 91

thing on deck shipshape and properly lashed, the sea
could not do us much harm, however rough it might be ;
for we knew well enough that ship and rigging would
hold out.

It was late in the evening of the last day of June
when we rounded Kvarven and stood in for Bereen in
the gloom of the sullen night. Next morning when I
came on deck Vagen lay clear and bright in the sun,
all the ships being gayly decked out with bunting from
topmost to deck. The sun was holding high festival in
the sky — Ulriken, Floiren, and Lovstakken sparkled and
glittered, and greeted me as of old. It is a marvellous
place, that old Hanseatic town !

In the evening I was to give a lecture, but arrived
half an hour too late. For just as I was dressing to go
a number of bills poured in, and if I was to leave the
town as a solvent man I must needs pay them, and so
the public perforce had to wait. But the worst of it was
that the saloon was full of those everlastingly inquisitive
tourists. I could hear a whole company of them besieg-
ing my cabin door while I was dressing, declaring " they
must shake hands with the doctor!"* One of them act-
ually peeped in through the ventilator at me, my secre-
tary told me afterwards. A nice sight she must have
seen, the lovely creature ! Report says she drew her
head back very quickly. Indeed, at every place where we

* English in the original.

92 FARTHEST NORTH

put in we were looked on somewhat as wild animals in a
menagerie. For they peeped unceremoniously at us in
our berths as if we had been bears and lions in a den,
and we could hear them loudly disputing among them-
selves as to who was who, and whether those nearest and
dearest to us whose portraits hung on the walls could be
called pretty or not. When I had finished my toilette I
opened the door cautiously and made a rush through the
gaping company. "There he is — there he is!"* they
called to each other as they tumbled up the steps after
me. It was no use ; I was on the quay and in the car-
riage long before they had reached the deck.

At 8 o'clock there was a great banquet, many fine
speeches, good fare and excellent wine, pretty ladies,
music, and dancing till far into the night.

Next morning at ii o'clock — it was Sunday — in
bright, sunshiny weather, we stood northward over Bergen
Fjord, many friends accompanying us. It was a lovely,
never-to-be-forgotten summer day. In Herlo Fjord, right
out by the skerries, they parted from us, amid wavings of
hats and pocket-handkerchiefs ; we could see the little
harbor boat for a long while with its black cloud of smoke
on the sparkling surface of the water. Outside, the sea
rolled in the hazy sunlight ; and within lay the fiat Man-
gerland, full of memories for me of zoological investiga-
tions in fair weather and foul, years and years ago. Here

* English in the original.

o
Pi
w
m

< -S

THE START 95

it was that one of Norway's most famous naturalists, a
lonely pastor far removed from the outer world, made his
great discoveries. Here I myself first groped my way
along the narrow path of zoological research.

It was a wondrous evening. The lingering flush of
vanished day suffused the northern sky, while the moon
hung large and round over the mountains behind us.
Ahead lay Alden and Kinn, like a fairyland rising up
from the sea. Tired as I was, I could not seek my berth ;
I must drink in all this loveliness in deep refreshing
draughts. It was like balm to the soul after all the tur-
moil and friction with crowds of strangers.

So we went on our way, mostly in fair weather, occa-
sionally in fog and rain, through sounds and between
islands, northward along the cost of Norway. A glorious
land — I wonder if another fairway like this is to be found
the whole world over.-* Those never-to-be-forgotten
mornings, when nature wakens to life, wreaths of mist
glittering like silver over the mountains, their tops soar-
ing above the mist like islands of the sea ! Then the day
gleaming over the dazzling white snow-peaks ! And the
evenings, and the sunsets with the pale moon overhead,
white mountains and islands lay hushed and dreamlike as
a youthful longing! Here and there past homely little
havens with houses around them set in smiline ereen
trees ! Ah ! those snug homes in the lee of the skerries
awake a longing for life and warmth in the breast. You
may shrug your shoulders as much as you like at the

96 FARTHEST NORTH

beauties of nature, but it is a fine thing for a people to
have a fair land, be it never so poor. Never did this seem
clearer to me than now when I was leaving it.

Every now and then a hurrah from land — at one
time from a troop of children, at another from grown-
up people, but mostly from wondering peasants who
gaze long at the strange-looking ship and muse over its
enis:matic destination. And men and women on board
sloops and ten-oared boats stand up in their red shirts
that glow in the sunlight, and rest on their oars to look
at us. Steamboats crowded with people came out from
the towns we passed to greet us, and bid us God-speed
on our way with music, songs, and cannon salutes. The
great tourist steamboats dipped flags to us and fired
salutes, and the smaller craft did the same. It is em-
barrassing and oppressive to be the object of homage
like this before anything has been accomplished. There
is an old saying :

" At eve the day shall be praised,
The wife when she is burnt,
The sword when tried,
The woman when married,
The ice when passed over,
Ale when drunk."

Most touching was the interest and sympathy with which
these poor fisher-folk and peasants greeted us. It often
set me wondering. I felt they followed us with fervent
eagerness. I remember one day — it was north in Hel-
geland — an old woman was standing waving and waving

THE START 97

to us on a bare crag. Her cottage lay some distance
inland. " I wonder if it can really be us she is wav-
ing to," I said to the pilot, who was standing beside
me. " You may be sure it is," was the answer. " But
how can she know who we are.^*" "Oh! they know all
about the Fram up here, in every cabin, and they will
be on the lookout for you as you come back, I can tell
you," he answered. Aye, truly, it is a responsible task
we are undertaking, when the whole nation are with us
like this. What if the thing should turn out a huge
disappointment !

In the evening I would sit and look around — lonely
huts lay scattered here and there on points and islets.
Here the Norwegian people wear out their lives in the
struggle with the rocks, in the struggle with the sea ;
and it is this people that is sending us out into the great
hazardous unknown; the very folk who stand there in
their fishing-boats and look wonderingly after the Fram
as she slowly and heavily steams along on her northward
course. Many of them wave their sou'-westers and shout
" Hurrah !" Others have barely time to gape at us in
wonderment. In on the point are a troop of women wav-
ing and shouting; outside a few boats with ladies in light
summer-dresses, and gentlemen at the oars entertaining
them with small-talk as they wave their parasols and
pocket-handkerchiefs. Yes ; it is they who are sending
us out. It is not a cheering thought. Not one of them,
probably, knows what they are paying their money for.

98 FARTHEST NORTH

Maybe they have heard it is a glorious enterprise ; but
why? To what end? Are we not defrauding them?
But their eyes are riveted on the ship, and perhaps there
dawns before their minds a momentary vision of a new
and inconceivable world, with aspirations after a some-
thing of which they know naught. . . , And here on
board are men who are leaving wife and children behind
them. How sad has been the separation ! what longing,
what yearning, await them in the coming years ! And it
is not for profit they do it. For honor and glory then ?
These may be scant enough. It is the same thirst for
achievement, the same craving to get beyond the limits
of the known, which inspired this people in the Saga
times that is stirring in them again to-day. In spite of
all our toil for subsistence, in spite of all our "peasant
politics," sheer utilitarianism is perhaps not so dominant
among us, after all.

As time was precious I did not, as originally intended,
put in at Trondhjem, but stopped at Beian, where Sver-
drup joined us. Here Professor Brogger also came on
board, to accompany us as far as Tromso.

Here, too, our doctor received three monstrous chests
with the medicine supply, a gift from Apothecary Bruun,
of Trondhjem.

And so on towards the north, along the lovely coast
of Nordland. We stopped at one or two places to take
dried fish on board as provision for the dogs. Past
Torghatten, the Seven Sisters, and Hestemanden ; past

OTTO SVERDRUP

iFroi'i a f>hotograph taken in 1895)

THE START lOl

Lovunen and Trasnen, far out yonder in the sea ; past
Lofoten and all the other lovely places — each bold gigan-
tic form wilder and more beautiful than the last. It is
unique — a fairyland — a land of dreams. We felt afraid
to go on too fast, for fear of missing something.

On July 1 2th we arrived at Tromso, where we were to
take in coal and other things, such as reindeer cloaks,
" komager " ( a sort of Lapp moccasin ), Finn shoes,
" senne " grass, dried reindeer flesh, etc., etc., all of which
had been procured by that indefatigable friend of the ex-
pedition. Advocate Mack. Tromso gave us a cold recep-
tion— a northwesterly gale, with driving snow and sleet.
Mountains, plains, and house-roofs were all covered with
snow down to the water's edge. It was the very bitter-
est July day I ever experienced. The people there said
they could not remember such a July. Perhaps they
were afraid the place would come into disrepute, for in
a town where they hold snow-shoe races on Midsummer
Day one may be prepared for anything in the way of
weather.

In Tromso the next day a new member of the expe-
dition was engaged, Bernt Bentzen — a stout fellow to
look at. He originally intended accompanying us only
as far as Yugor Strait, but as a matter of fact he went
the whole voyage with us, and proved a great acquisi-
tion, being not only a capital seaman, but a cheerful and
amusing comrade.

After a stay of two days we again set out. On the

102 FARTHEST NORTH

night of the i6th, east of the North Cape or Magerb, we
met with such a nasty sea, and shipped so much water
on deck, that we put into Kjollefjord to adjust our cargo
better by shifting the coal and making a few other
changes. We worked at this the whole of two days, and
made everything clear for the voyage to Novaya Zemlya.
I had at first thought of taking on board a fresh supply
of coal at \"ardo, but as we were already deeply laden,
and the Ui^aiiia was to meet us at Yugor Strait with
coal, we thought it best to be contented with what we
had already got on board, as we might expect bad weath-
er in crossins: the White Sea and Barents Sea. At ten
o'clock in the evening we weighed anchor, and reached
Vardb next evening, where we met with a magnificent
reception. There was a band of music on the pier, the
fjord teemed with boats, flags waved on every hand, and
salutes were fired. The people had been waiting for us
ever since the previous evening, we were told — some of
them, indeed, coming from Vadsb — and they had seized
the opportunity to get up a subscription to provide a big
drum for the town band, the " North Pole." And here
we were entertained at a sumptuous banquet, with
speeches, and champagne flowing in streams, ere we
bade Norway our last farewell.

The last thing that had now to be done for the Fi'cim
was to have her bottom cleaned of mussels and weeds,
so that she might be able to make the best speed possi-
ble. This work was done by divers, who were readily

THE START 1 03

placed at our service by the local inspector of the Gov-
ernment Harbor Department.

But our own bodies also claimed one last civilized
feast of purification before entering on a life of savagery.
The bath-house of the town is a small timber building.
The bath-room itself is low, and provided with shelves
where you lie down and are parboiled with hot steam,
which is constantly kept up by water being thrown on
the glowing hot stones of an awful oven, worthy of hell
itself; while all the time young quasn (lasses) flog you
with birch twigs. After that you are rubbed down,
washed, and dried delightfully — everything being well
managed, clean, and comfortable. I wonder whether old
Father Mahomet has set up a bath like this in his para-
dise.

CHAPTER IV

FAREWELL TO NORWAY

I FELT in a strange mood as I sat up the last night
writing letters and telegrams. We had bidden farewell
to our excellent pilot, Johan Hagensen, who had piloted
us from Bergen, and now we were only the thirteen
members of the expedition, together with my secretary,
Christofersen, who had accompanied us so far, and was
to go on with us as far as Yugor Strait. Everything
was so calm and still, save for the scraping of the pen
that was sending off a farewell to friends at home.

All the men were asleep below.

The last telegram was written, and I sent my secre-
tary ashore with it. It was 3 o'clock in the morning
when he returned, and I called Sverdrup up, and one or
two others. We weighed anchor, and stood out of the
harbor in the silence of the morning. The town still
lay wrapped in sleep ; everything looked so peaceful and
lovely all around, with the exception of a little stir of
awakening toil on board one single steamer in the har-
bor. A sleepy fisherman stuck his head up out of the
half-deck of his ten-oared boat, and stared at us as we

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 105

Steamed past the breakwater; and on the revenue cutter
outside there was a man fishing in that early morning
light.

This last impression of Norway was just the right one
for us to carry away with us. Such beneficent peace
and calm ; such a rest for the thoughts ; no hubbub and
turmoil of people with their hurrahs and salutes. The
masts in the harbor, the house-roofs, and chimneys stood
out against the cool morning sky. Just then the sun
broke through the mist and smiled over the shore —
rugged, bare, and weather-worn in the hazy morning,
but still lovely — dotted here and there with tiny houses
and boats, and all Norway lay behind it. . . .

While the Frain was slowly and quietly working her
way out to sea, towards our distant goal, I stood and
watched the land gradually fading away on the horizon.
I wonder what will happen to her and to us before we
again see Norway rising up over the sea ?

But a fog soon came on and obscured everything.

And through fog, nothing but fog, we steamed away
for four days without stopping, until, when I came on
deck on the morning of the 25th of July, behold clear
weather! The sun was shining in a cloudless sky, the
bright blue sea was heaving with a gentle swell. Again
it was good to be a living being, and to drink in the peace-
fulness of the sea in long draughts. Towards noon we
sighted Goose Land on Novaya Zemlya, and stood in
towards it. Guns and cartridges were got ready, and we

io6 FARl'HEST NORTH

looked forward with joyful anticipation to roast goose and
other Q:ame ; but we had s:one but a short distance when
the s:rav woolly foe: from the southeast came up and
enveloped us. Again we were shut off from the world
around us. It was scarcely prudent to make for land,
so we set our course eastward towards Yugor Strait ;
but a head -wind soon compelled us to beat up under
steam and sail, which we went on doing for a couple
of days, plunged in a world of fog. Ugh! that endless,
stubborn fog of the Arctic Sea ! When it lowers its
curtain, and shuts out the blue above and the blue below,
and everything becomes a damp gray mist, day in and
day out, then all the vigor and elasticity of the soul is
needed to save one from being stifled in its clammy
embrace. Fog, and nothing but fog, wherever we turn
our eyes. It condenses on the rigging and drips down
on every tiniest spot on deck. It lodges on your clothes,
and finally wets you through and through. It settles
down on the mind and spirits, and everything becomes
one uniform gray.

On the evening of July 27th, while still fog-bound, we
quite unexpectedly met with ice; a mere strip, indeed,
which we easily passed through, but it boded ill. In
the night we met with more — a broader strip this time,
which also we passed through. But next morning I was
called up with the information that there was thick, old
ice ahead. Well, if ice difflculties were to begin so soon,
it would be a bad lookout indeed. Such are the chill

C/0

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 109

surprises that the Arctic Sea has more than enough of.
I dressed and was up in the crow's-nest in a twinkhng.
The ice lay extended everywhere, as far as the eye could
reach through the fog, which had lifted a little. There
was no small quantity of ice, but it was tolerably open,
and there was nothing for it but to be true to our watch-
word and " ga fram" — push onward. For a good while
we picked our way. But now it began to lie closer, with
large floes every here and there, and at the same time
the fog grew denser, and we could not see our way at
all. To go ahead in diflficult ice and in a fog is not very
prudent, for it is impossible to tell just w^iere you are
going, and you are apt to be set fast before you know
where you are. So we had to stop and wait. But still
the fos: ofrew ever denser, while the ice did the same.
Our hopes meanwhile rose and fell, but mostly the latter,
I think. To encounter so much ice already in these
waters, where at this time of year the sea is, as a rule,
quite free from it, boded anything but good. Already
at Tromso and Vardo we had heard bad news ; the
White Sea, they said, had only been clear of ice a very
short time, and a boat that had tried to reach Yugor
Strait had had to turn back because of the ice. Neither
were our anticipations of the Kara Sea altogether cheer-
ful. What might we not expect there } For the Urania,
with our coals, too, this ice was a bad business; for it would
be unable to make its way through unless it had found
navigable water farther south along the Russian coast.

no FARTHEST NORTH

Just as our prospects were at their darkest, and we
were preparing to seek a way back out of the ice, whicli
kept getting ever denser, the joyful tidings came that
the fog was lifting, and that clear water was visible
ahead to the east on the other side of the ice. After
forcing our way ahead for some hours between the
heavy floes, we were once more in open water. This
first bout with the ice, however, showed us plainly what
an excellent ice-boat the Fi'am was. It was a royal
pleasure to work her ahead through difficult ice. She
twisted and turned " like a ball on a platter." No
channel between the floes so windinf^ and awkward
but she could Qret throuoh it. But it is hard work
for the helmsman. " Hard astarboard ! Hard aport !
Steady ! Hard astarboard again !" goes on incessantly
without so much as a breathing-space. And he rattles
the wheel round, the sweat pours off him, and round
it goes again like a spinning-wheel. And the ship
swings round and wriggles her way forward among the
floes without touching, if there is only just an open-
ing wide enough for her to slip through ; and where
there is none she drives full tilt at the ice, with
her heavy plunge, runs her sloping bows up on it,
treads it under her, and bursts the floes asunder.
And how strong she is too ! Even when she goes
full speed at a floe, not a creak, not a sound, is to be
heard in her; if she gives a little shake it is all she
does.

FAREWELL TO NORWAY in

On Saturday, July 29th, we again headed eastward
towards Yugor Strait as fast as sails and steam could
take us. We had open sea ahead, the weather was fine
and the wind fair. Next morning we came under the
south side of Dolgoi or Langoia, as the Norwegian
whalers call it, where we had to stand to the northward.
On reaching the north of the island we again bore east-
ward. Here I descried from the crow's-nest, as far as I
could make out, several islands which are not given on
the charts. They lay a little to the east of Langoia.

It was now pretty clear that the Urania had not made
her way through the ice. While we were sitting in the
saloon in the forenoon, talking about it, a cry was heard
from deck that the sloop was in sight. It was joyful
news, but the joy was of no long duration. The next
moment we heard she had a crow's-nest on her mast, so
she was doubtless a sealer. When she sighted us she
bore off to the south, probably fearing that we were a
Russian war-ship or something equally bad. So, as we
had no particular interest in her, we let her go on her
way in peace.

Later in the day we neared Yugor Strait. We • kept
a sharp lookout for land ahead, but none could be seen.
Hour after hour passed as we glided onward at good
speed, but still no land. Certainly it would not be high
land, but nevertheless this was strange. Yes — there it
lies, like a low shadow over the horizon, on the port bow.
It is land — it is Vaigats Island. Soon we sight more of

112 FARTHEST NORTH

it — abaft the beam; then, too, the mainland on the south
side of the strait. More and more of it comes in sight —
it increases rapidly. All low and level land, no heights,,
no variety, no apparent opening for the strait ahead.
Thence it stretches away to the north and south in a soft
low curve. This is the threshold of Asia's boundless
plains, so different from all we have been used to.

We now glided into the strait, with its low rocky
shores on either side. The strata of the rocks He end-
ways, and are crumpled and broken, but on the surface
everything is level and smooth. No one who travels
over the flat green plains and tundras would have any
idea of the mysteries and upheavals that lie hidden
beneath the sward. Here once upon a time were
mountains and valleys, now all worn away and washed
out.

We looked out for Khabarova. On the north side of
the sound there was a mark ; a shipwrecked sloop lay
on the shore ; it was a Norwegian sealer. The wreck of
a smaller vessel lay by its side. On the south side was
a flag-staff, and on it a red flag ; Khabarova must then
lie behind it. At last one or two buildinors or shanties
appeared behind a promontory, and soon the whole place
lay exposed to view, consisting of tents and a few houses.
On a little jutting-out point close by us was a large red
building, with white door-frames, of a very homelike
appearance. It was indeed a Norwegian warehouse
which Sibiriakoff had imported from Finmarken. But

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 113

here the water was shallow, and we had to proceed care-
fully for fear of running aground. We kept heaving
the lead incessantly' — we had 5 fathoms of water, and
then 4, then not much more than we needed, and then it
shelved to a little over 3 fathoms. This was rather too
close work, so we stood out again a bit to wait till we
got a little nearer the place before drawing in to the
shore.

A boat was now seen slowly approaching from the
land. A man of middle height, with an open, kindly face
and reddish beard, came on board. He might have been
a Norwegian from his appearance. I went to meet him,
and asked him in German if he was Trontheim. Yes, he
was. After him there came a number of stranije figures
clad in heavy robes of reindeer - skin, which nearly
touched the deck. On their heads they wore peculiar
"bashlyk "-like caps of reincalf - skin, beneath which
strongly marked bearded faces showed forth, such as
might well have belonged to old Norwegian Vikings.
The whole scene, indeed, called up in my mind a pict-
ure of the Viking Age, of expeditions to Gardarike and
Bjarmeland. They were fine, stalwart - looking fellows,
these Russian traders, who barter with the natives, erivinsf
them brandy in exchange for bearskins, sealskins, and
other valuables, and who, when once they have a hold on a
man, keep him in such a state of dependence that he can
scarcely call his soul his own. " Es ist eine alte Ge-
schichte, doch wird sie immer neu." Soon, too, the

114 FARTHEST NORTH

Samoyedes came flocking on board, pleasant -featured
people of the broad Asiatic type. Of course it was only
the men who came.

The first question I asked Trontheim was about the
ice. He replied that Yugor Strait had been open a
long while, and that he had been expecting our arrival
every day since then with ever-increasing anxiety. The
natives and the Russians had begun to jeer at him as
time went on, and no Fram was to be seen ; but now he
had his revenge and was all sunshine. He thought the
state of the ice in the Kara Sea would be favorable ;
some Samoyedes had said so, who had been seal-hunting
near the eastern entrance of the Strait a day or two pre-
viously. This was not very much to build upon, certainly,
but still sufficient to make us regret that we had not got
there before. Then we spoke of the Ui'ania, of which
no one, of course, had seen anything. Ko ship had put
in there for some time, except the sealing sloop we had
passed in the morning.

Next we inquired about the dogs, and learned that
everything was all right with them. To make sure,
Trontheim had purchased forty dogs, though I had only
asked for thirty. Five of these, from various mishaps,
had died during their journey — one had been bitten to
death, two had got hung fast and had been strangled
while passing through a forest, etc., etc. One, more-
over, had been taken ill a few days before, and was
still on the sick list; but the remaining thirty-four were

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 115

ill good condition : we could hear them howHng and
barking. During this conversation we had come as
near to Khabarova as we dared venture, and at seven
in the evening cast anchor in about 3 fathoms of water.

Over the supper-table Trontheim told us his advent-
ures. On the way from Sopva and Ural to the Pechora
he heard that there was a dog epidemic in that locality;
consequently he did not think it advisable to go to the
Pechora as he had intended, but laid his course instead
direct from Ural to Yugor Strait. Towards the end of
the journey the snow had disappeared, and, in company
with a reindeer caravan, he drove on with his doo^s over
the bare plain, stocks and stones and all, using the
sledges none the less. The Samoyedes and natives of
Northern Siberia have no vehicles but sleda:es. The
summer sledge is somewhat higher than the winter
sledge, in order that it may net hang fast upon stones
and stumps. As may be supposed, however, summer
sledging is anything but smooth work.

After supper we went ashore, and were soon on the
flat beach of Khabarova, the Russians and Samoyedes
regarding us with the utmost curiosity. The first ob-
jects to attract our attention were the two churches — an
old venerable-looking wooden shed, of an oblong rectan-
gular form, and an octagonal pavilion, not unlike many
summer-houses or garden pavilions that I have seen at
home. How far the divergence between the two forms
of religion was indicated in the two mathematical figures

ii6

FARTHEST NORTH

I am unable to say. It might be that the simplicity of
the old faith was expressed in the simple, four - sided
buildine, while the rites and ceremonies of the other
were typified in the octagonal form, with its double
number of corners to stumble against. Then we must

hb *^

i!!^

•

•■•Ha-

''^y^'i-^^amsmm^-^

6i^

^z^-

;Ji

W^n

>«>^

THE NEW CHURCH AND THE OLD CHURCH AT KHABAROVA

[From a Photograph)

go and see the monastery — " Skit," as it was called —
where the six monks had lived, or rather died, from what
people said was scurvy, probably helped out by alcohol.
It lay over against the new church, and resembled an
ordinary low Russian timber- house. The priest and

FAREWELL TO NORWAY

117

his assistants were living there now, and had asked
Trontheim to take up his quarters with them. Tront-
heim, therefore, invited us in, and we soon found our-
selves in a couple of comfortable log - built rooms with
open fireplaces like our Norwegian " peis."

After this we proceeded to the dog-camp, which was
situated on a plain at some distance from the houses and
tents. As we approached it the howling and barking
kept getting worse and worse. When a short distance
off we were surprised to see a Norwegian flag on the
top of a pole. Trontheim's face beamed with joy as our
eyes fell on it. It was, he said, under the same flag as
our expedition that his had been undertaken. There
stood the dogs tied up, making a deafening clamor.
Many of them appeared to be well-bred animals— long-
haired, snow- white, with up -standing ears and pointed
muzzles. With their gentle, good-natured looking faces
they at once ingratiated themselves in our affections.
Some of them more resembled a fox, and had shorter
coats, while others were black or spotted. Evidently they
were of different races, and some of them betrayed by
their drooping ears a strong admixture of European
blood. After having duly admired the ravenous way v
in which they swallowed raw fish (gwiniad), not with-
out a good deal of snarling and wrangling, we took a
walk inland to a lake close by in search of game ; but
we only found an Arctic gull with its brood. A channel
had been dug from this lake to convey drinking-water to

ii8 FARTHEST NORTH

Khabarova. According to what Trontheim told us, this
was the work of the monks — about the only work, prob-
ably, they had ever taken in hand. The soil here was a
soft clav, and the channel was narrow and shallow, like a
roadside ditch or gutter ; the work could not have been
very arduous. On the hill above the lake stood the flag-
staff which we had noticed on our arrival. It had been
erected bv the excellent Trontheim to bid us welcome,
and on the fiag itself, as I afterwards discovered by
chance, was the word " Vorwarts." Trontheim had been
told that was the name of our ship, so he was not a little
disappointed when he came on board to find it was Fram
instead. I consoled him, however, by telling him they
both meant the same thing, and that his welcome was
just as well meant, whether written in German or Nor-
wegian. Trontheim told me afterwards that he was by
descent a Norwegian, his father having been a ship's
captain from Trondhjem, and his mother an Esthonian,
settled at Riga. His father had been much at sea, and
had died early, so the son had not learnt Norwegian.

Naturally our first and foremost object was to learn
all we could about the ice in the Arctic Sea. We had
determined to push on as soon as possible ; but we must
have the boiler put in order first, while sundry pipes and
valves in the engine wanted seeing to. As it would take
several days to do this, Sverdrup, Peter Henriksen, and I
set out next morning in our little petroleum launch to
the eastern opening of the Yugor Strait, to see with our

PETER HENRIKSEN

(Front a photograph taken in 1896)

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 121

own eyes what might be the condition of the ice to the
eastward. It was 28 miles thither. A quantity of ice
was drifting through the strait from the east, and, as
there was a northerly breeze, we at once turned our
course northward to get under the lee of the north shore,
where the water was more open. I had the rather thank-
less task of acting as helmsman and engineer at one and
the same time. The boat went on like a little hero and
made about six knots. Everything looked bright. But,
alas ! good fortune seldom lasts long, especially when one
has to do with petroleum launches. A defect in the cir-
culation-pump soon stopped the engine, and we could
only go for short distances at a time, till we reached the
north shore, where, after two hours' hard work, I got the
engines so far in order as to be able to continue our jour-
ney to the northeast through the sound between the drift-
ing floes. We got on pretty well, except for an interrup-
tion every now and then when the engine took it into its
head to come to a standstill. It caused a good deal of
merriment when the stalwart Peter turned the crank to
set her off again and the engine gave a start so as nearly
to pull his arms out of joint and upset him head over
heels in the boat. Every now and then a flock of long-
tailed duck {Harelda glacialis) or other birds came whiz-
zing by us, one or two of them invariably falling to our
guns.

We had kept along the Vaigats shore, but now crossed
over towards the south side of the strait. When about

122 FARTHEST NORTH

the middle of the channel I was startled by all at once
seeing the bottom grow light under us, and had nearly
run the boat on a shoal of which no one knew anything.
There was scarcely more than two or three feet of water,
and the current ran over it like a rapid river. Shoals and
sunken rocks abound there on every hand, especially on
the south side of the strait, and it required great care to
navigate a vessel through it. Near the eastern mouth of
the strait we put into a little creek, dragged the boat up
on the beach, and then, taking our guns, made for some
high-lying land we had noticed. We tramped along over
the same undulating plain-land with low ridges, as we had
seen everywhere round the Yugor Strait. A brownish-
green carpet of moss and grass spread over the plain, be-
strewn with flowers of rare beauty. During the long, cold
Siberian winter the snow lies in a thick mass over the
tundra ; but no sooner does the sun get the better of it
than hosts of tiny northern flowers burst their way up
through the fast-disappearing coating of snow and open
their modest calices, blushing in the radiant summer day
that bathes the plain in its splendor. Saxifrages with
large blooms, pale -yellow mountain poppies {Papaver
nudicaule) stand in bright clusters, and here and there
with bluish forget-me-nots and white cloud-berry flowers ;
in some boggy hollows the cotton-grass spreads its wavy
down carpet, while in other spots small forests of blue-
bells softly tingle in the wind on their upright stalks.
These flowers are not at all brilliant specimens, being in

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 123

most cases not more than a couple of inches high, but
they are all the more exquisite on that account, and in
such surroundings their beauty is singularly attractive.
Wliile the eye vainly seeks for a resting-place over the
boundless plain, these modest blooms smile at you and
take the fancy captive.

And over these mighty tundra-plains of Asia, stretch-
ing infinitely onward from one sky-line to the other, the
nomad wanders with his reindeer herds, a glorious, free
life ! Where he wills he pitches his tent, his reindeer
around him; and at his will again he goes on his way.
I almost envied him. He has no ofoal to struQ^orle tow-
ards, no anxieties to endure — he has merely to live !
I wellnigh wished that I could live his peaceful life,
with wife and child, on these boundless, open plains, un-
fettered, happy.

After we had proceeded a short distance, we became
aware of a white object sitting on a stone heap beneath
a little ridge, and soon noticed more in other directions.
They looked quite ghostly as they sat there silent and
motionless. With the help of my field-glass I discovered
that they were snow-owls. ' We set out after them, but
they took care to keep out of the range of a fowling-
piece. Sverdrup, however, shot one or two with his rifle.
There was a great number of them; I could count as
many as eight or ten at once. They sat motionless on
tussocks of s^rass or stones, watching:, no doubt, for
lemmings, of which, judging from their tracks, there

124 FARTHEST NORTH

must have been quantities. We, however, did not see
any.

From the tops of the ridges we could see over the
Kara Sea to the northeast. Everywhere ice could be
descried through the telescope, far on the horizon — ice,
too, that seemed tolerably close and massive. But be-
tween it and the coast there was open water, stretching,
like a wide channel, as far as the eye could reach to the
southeast. This was all we could make out, but it was
in reality all we wanted. There seemed to be no doubt
that we could make our way forward, and, well satisfied,
we returned to our boat. Here we lighted a fire of drift-
wood, and made some glorious coffee.

As the coffee-kettle was singing over a splendid fire,
and we stretched ourselves at full length on the slope by
its side and smoked a quiet pipe, Sverdrup made himself
thoroughly comfortable, and told us one story after
another. However gloomy a country might look, how-
ever desolate, if only there were plenty of driftwood on
the beach, so that one could make a right good fire, the
bigger the better, then his eyes would glisten with de-
light— that land was his El Dorado. So from that time
forth he conceived a high opinion of the Siberian coast
— a right good place for wintering, he called it.

On our way back we ran at full speed on to a sunken
rock. After a bump or two the boat slid over it; but
just as she was slipping off on the other side the pro-
peller struck on the rock, so that the stern gave a

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 125

bound into the air while the engine whizzed round at
a tearing rate. It all happened in a second, before I
had time to stop her. Unluckily one screw blade was
broken off, but we drove ahead with the other as best
we could. Our progress was certainly rather uneven,
but for all that we managed to get on somehow.

Towards morning we drew near the Fram, passing
two Samoyedes, who had drawn their boat up on an
ice-floe and were looking out for seals. I wonder what
they thought when they saw our tiny boat shoot by
them without steam, sails, or oars. We, at all events,
looked down on these " poor savages " with the self-sat-
isfied compassion of Europeans, as, comfortably seated,
we dashed past them.

But pride comes before a fall ! We had not gone
far when — whir, whir, whir — a fearful racket! bits
of broken steel springs whizzed past my ears, and the
whole machine came to a dead stop. It was not to be
moved either forward or backward. The vibration of
the one-bladed propeller had brought the lead line little
by little within the range of the fly-wheel, and all at
once the whole line was drawn into the machinery, and
got so dreadfully entangled in it that we had to take
the whole thing to pieces to get it clear once more.
So we had to endure the humiliation of rowing back to
our proud ship, for whose flesh-pots we had long been
anhuno;ered.

The net result of the day was: tolerably good news

126 FARTHEST NORTH

about the Kara Sea; forty birds, principally geese and
lonsf-tailed ducks ; one seal ; and a disabled boat.
Amundsen and I, however, soon put this in complete
repair again — but in so doing I fear I forfeited for-
ever and a day the esteem of the Russians and Samoy-
edes in these parts. Some of them had been on board
in the morning and seen me hard at work in the boat
in my shirt- sleeves, face and bare arms dirty with oil
and other messes. They went on shore afterwards to
Trontheim, and said that I could not possibly be a
great person, slaving away like any other workman on
board, and looking worse than a common rough. Tront-
heim, unfortunately, knew of nothing that could be said
in my excuse; there is no fighting against facts.

In the evening some of us went on shore to try the
dogs. Trontheim picked out ten of them and harnessed
them to a Samoyede sledge. No sooner were we ready
and I had taken my seat than the team caught sight
of a wretched strange dog that had come near, and off
dashed dogs, sledge, and my valuable person after the
poor creature. There was a tremendous uproar ; all the
ten tumbled over each other like wild wolves, biting and
tearing wherever they could catch hold ; blood ran in
streams, and the culprit howled pitiably, while Trontheim
tore round like a madman, striking right and left with his
long switch. Samoyedes and Russians came screaming
from all sides. I sat passively on the sledge in the
middle of it all, dumb with fright, and it was ever so long

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 127

before it occurred to me that there was perhaps something
for me too to do. With a horrible yell I flung myself on
some of the worst fighters, got hold of them by the neck»
and managed to give the culprit time to get away.

OUR TRIAL TRIP WITH THE DOGS

{By Otto Sindiug,froin a Photograph)

Our team had got badly mixed up during the battle,
and it took some time to disentangle them. At last
everything was once more ready for the start. Tront-
heim cracked his whip, and called, " Pr-r-r-r, pr-r-r-r," and
ofT we went at a wild gallop, over grass, clay, and stones,
until it seemed as if they were going to carry us right
across the lao^oon at the mouth of the river. I kicked
and pulled in with all my might, but was dragged along,
and it was all that Trontheim and I with our united
strength could do to stop them just as they were going
into the water, although we shouted " Sass, sass," so that
it echoed over the whole of Khabarova. But at last we
got our team turned in another direction, and off we set

128 FARTHEST NORTH

again merrily at such a pace that I had enough to do to
hold on. It was an extraordinary summer ride ; and it
gave us a high opinion of the dogs' strength, seeing how
easily they drew two men over this, to put it mildly, bad
sledsfino: ground. We went on board asfain well satisfied,
also the richer by a new experience, having learnt that
dog-driving, at any rate to begin with, requires much
patience.

Siberian dog-harness is remarkably primitive. A thick
rope or a strap of sail-cloth passes round the animals
back and belly. This is held in its place above by a piece
of cord attached to the collar. The single trace is
fastened under the belly, goes back between the legs,
and must often plague the animal. I was unpleasantly
surprised when I noticed that, with four exceptions, all
the dogs were castrated, and this surprise I did not
conceal. But Trontheim on his side was at least equally
astonished, and informed me that in Siberia castrated
dogs are considered the best* This was a disappoint-
ment to me, as I had reckoned on my canine family
increasing on the way. For the present I should just
have to trust to the four " whole " dogs and " Kvik," the
bitch I had brought with me from home.

Next day, August ist, there was a great religious
festival in Khabarova, that of St. Elias. Samoyedes
from far and near had come in with their reindeer teams

* The ordinary male dog is liable to get inflammation of the scro-
tum from the friction of the trace.

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 129

to celebrate the day by going to church and then getting
roarino: drunk. We were in need of men in the morninsf
to help in filling the boiler with fresh water and the
tank with drinkingr-water, but on account of this festival
it was difficult to get hold of any at all. At last, by dint
of promising sufficient reward, Trontheim succeeded in
collecting some poor fellows who had not money enough
to drink themselves as drunk as the day required of
them. I was on shore in the morning, partly to arrange
about the provision of water, partly to collect fossils, in
which the rock here abounds, especially one rock below
Sibiriakoff's warehouse. I also took a walk up the hill
to the west, to Trontheim's flag-staff, and looked out to
sea in that direction after the Urania. But there was
nothing to be seen except an unbroken sea-line. Loaded
with my find I returned to Khabarova, where I, of
course, took advantage of the opportunity to see some-
thing of the festival.

From early morning the women had been dressed in
their finest clothes — brilliant colors, skirts with many
tucks, and great colored bows at the end of plaits of
hair which huno: far down their backs. Before service
an old Samoyede and a comely young girl led out a lean
reindeer which was to be offered to the church — to the
old church, that is to say. Even up here, as already
mentioned, religious differences have found their way.
Nearly all the Samoyedes of these parts belong to the old

faith and attend the old church. But they go occasion-

130 FARTHEST NORTH

ally to the new one too ; as far as I could make out, so as
not to offend the priest and Sibiriakoff — or perhaps to
be surer of heaven? From what I got out of Tront-
heim on the subject, the chief difference between the two
religions lies in the way they make the sign of the cross,
or something of that sort. To-day was high festival in
both churches. All the Samoyedes first paid a short
visit to the new church and then immediately streamed
over into the old one. The old church was for the
moment without a priest, but to - day they had clubbed
together and offered the priest of the new church two
roubles to hold a service in the old one too. After care-
ful consideration, he agreed, and in all his priestly pomp
crossed the old threshold. The air inside was so bad
that I could not stand it for more than two minutes, so
I now made my way on board again.

During the afternoon the howling and screaming be-
gan, and increased as time went on. We did not need
to be told that the serious part of the festival had now
begun. Some of the Samoyedes tore about over the
plain with their reindeer teams like furious animals.
They could not sit on their sledges, but lay on them, or
were dragged behind them, howling. Some of my com-
rades went on shore, and brought back anything but an
edifying account of the state of things. Every single
man and woman appeared to be drunk, reeling about the
place. One young Samoyede in particular had made an
ineffaceable impression on them. He mounted a sledge,

FAREWELL TO NORWAY

131

lashed at the reindeer, and drove " amuck " in among the
tents, over the tied-up dogs, foxes, and whatever came in
his way ; he himself fell off the sledge, was caught in the

EVENING SCENE AT KHABAROVA

{By Otto Sindi'ig, from a Photograph)

reins, and dragged behind, shrieking, through sand and
clay. Good St. Elias must be much flattered by such
homage. Towards morning the howling gradually died

132 FARTHEST NORTH

away, and the whole town slept the loathsome sleep of
the drunkard.

There was not a man to be got to help with our coal-
shifting next day. Most of them slept all day after the
orgie of the night. We had just to do without help;
but we had not finished by evening, and I began to be
impatient to get away. Precious time was passing; I
had long ago given up the Urania. We did not really
need more coal. The wind had been favorable for sev-
eral days. It was a south wind, which was certainly
blowing: the ice to the northward in the Kara Sea.
Sverdrup was now positive that we should be able to sail
in open water all the way to the New Siberian Islands,
so it was his opinion that there was no hurry for the
present. But hope is a frail reed to lean on, and my
expectations were not quite so bright; so I hurried
things on, to get away as soon as possible.

At the supper-table this evening King Oscar's gold
medal of merit was solemnly presented to Trontheim, in
recognition of the great care with which he had executed
his difficult commission, and the valuable assistance
thereby rendered to the expedition. His honest face
beamed at the sight of the beautiful medal and the bright
ribbon.

Next day, August 3d, we were at last ready for a start,
and the 34 dogs were brought on board in the afternoon,
with great noise and confusion. They were all tied
up on the deck forward, and began by providing more

FAREWELL TO XORWAY 133

musical entertainment than we desired. By evening the
hour had come. We got up steam — everything was
ready. But such a thick fog had set in that we could
not see the land. Now came the moment when our last
friend, Christofersen, was to leave the ship. We sup-
plied him with the barest sufficiency of provisions and
some Ringnes's ale. While this was being done, last
lines were added in feverish eagerness to the letters
home. Then came a last hand-clasp; Christofersen and
Trontheim got into the boat, and had soon disappeared
in the fog. With them went our last post ; our last link
with home was broken. We were alone in the mist on
the sea. It was not likely that any message from us
would reach the world before we ourselves brougrht the
news of our success or defeat. How much anxiety were
those at home to suffer between now and then ! It is
true we might possibly be able to send letters home from
the mouth of the Olenek, where, according to the agree-
ment with Baron Toll, we were to call in for another
supply of dogs; but I did not consider this probable. It
was far on in the summer, and I had an instinctive feel-
ing that the state of the ice was not so favorable as I
could have wished it to be.

TRONTHEIM S NARRATIVE

Alexander Ivanovitch Trontheim has himself given
an account, in the Tobolsk official newspaper, of his long

134 FARTHEST NORTH

and difficult journey with our dogs. The account was
written by A. Kryloff from Trontheim's story. The fol-
lowing is a short resume :

After having made the contract with Baron Toll,
Trontheim was on January 2Sth (January i6th by Rus-
sian reckoning) already at Berezoff, where there was then
a Yassak-meeting,"^ and consequently a great assembly of
Ostiaks and Samoyedes. Trontheim made use of this
opportunity and bought 2)3 (this ought probably to be
40) choice sledge dogs. These he conveyed to the little
country town of Muzhi, where he made preparations for
the " very long journey," passing the time in this way
till April 1 6th. By this date he had prepared 300 pud
(about 9600 lbs.) of dog provender, consisting chiefly of
dried fish. For 300 roubles he engaged a Syriane,
named Terentieff, with a reindeer herd of 450, to convey
him, his dosfs, and baCTaaore to Yus^or Strait. For three
months these two with their caravan — reindeer, drivers,
dogs, women, and children — travelled through the barren
tracts of northern Siberia. At first their route lay
through the Ural Mountains. " It was more a sort of
nomadic life than a journey. They did not go straight
on towards their destination, but wandered over wide
tracts of country, stopping wherever it was suitable for
the reindeer, and where they found lichen. From the
little town of Muzhi the expedition passed up the Voikara

* Yassak is a tax paid in fur by the Siberians.

O. CHRISTOFERSEN AND A. TRONTHEIM

(From ti fihotogrnfili)

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 137

River to its sources ; and here began the ascent of the
Ural Mountains by the Pass of Kjaila (Kjola). In their
crossing of the chain they tried to skirt along the foot of
the mountains, climbing as little as possible. . . .

" They noticed one marked contrast between the
mountains in the northern and those in the southern part
of the Ural chain. In the south the snow melts quickly
in the lower regions and remains lying on the tops.
Here (in the northern Ural), on the contrary, the moun-
tain-tops are free from snow before the sun's rays pene-
trate into the valleys and melt it there. In some valleys,
especially those closed by mountains to the south, and
more exposed to north winds, the snow lies the whole
summer. When they had got across the Ural Moun-
tains they first followed the course of the River Lemva,
then crossed it, and now followed a whole system of small
rivers, for which even the natives have no names. At
last, on May 4th, the expedition reached the River Ussa,
on the banks of which lay the hut of the Syriane Nikit-
sa." This was " the one inhabited spot in this enormous
tract of country," and here they stopped two weeks to
rest the reindeer and get provender for them. " The
country lying between the sources of the Voikara and
the Ussa is wooded in every direction." " Between the
River Ussa and the River Vorkuta, and even beyond that,
Trontheim and his company travelled through quite lux-
uriant wood. In the middle of May, as the caravan ap-
proached the tundra region, the wood got thinner and

138 FARTHEST NORTH

thinner, and by May 27th it was nothing but scattered
underwood. After this came quite small bushes and
weeds, and then at last the interminable tundra came in
sight. Not to be without fuel on the tundra, they felled
some dead trees and other wood — eight sledge loads. The
day after they got out on the tundra (May 29th) the cara-
van set off at full speed, the Syrianes being anxious to
get quickly past a place where a whole herd of reindeer
had perished some years before. The reindeer-drivers
take good note of such places, and do everything possi-
ble to avoid them, as the animals may easily be infected
by gnawing the bones of their dead comrades. God help
the herd that this happens to ! The disease passes rapid-
ly from animal to animal, and scores may die of it in a
day.*

" In this region there are many bogs ; the low land
forms one continuous morass. Sometimes we had to
walk up to the waist in water; thus on June 5th we
splashed about the whole day in water, in constant fear
of the dogs catching cold. On the 6th a strong north-
east wind blew, and at night the cold was so severe that
two reindeer-calves were frozen to death; and besides
this two grown ones were carried off by wolves."

The caravan had often to cross rapid rivers, where it
was sometimes very difficult to find a ford. They were
frequently obliged to construct a bridge with the help of

* This disease is probably anthrax, or something of the same nature.

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 139

tent-poles and sometimes blocks of ice, and it occasionally
took them a whole day to get across. By degrees their
supply of wood was used up, and it was dif^cult to get
food cooked. Few bushes were to be found. On June
17th they met a Syriane reindeer driver and trader; from
him they bought two bottles of wine (brandy) at 70 ko-
pecks each. '' It was, as is customary, a very friendly
encounter, and ended with treatings on both sides. One
can see a long way on the tundra ; the Syriane's keen
eye detects another herd, or smoke from inhabited
tents, 10 versts off; and a nomad who has discovered the
presence of another human being 10 or 12 versts off
never lets slip the opportunity of visiting him in his
camp, having a talk, and being regaled with tea, or, in
preference, brandy. The day after, June iSth, some
Samoyedes, who had heard of the caravan, came on four
sledges to the camp. The}^ were entertained with tea.
The conversation, carried on in Samoyede, was about the
health of the reindeer, our journey, and the way to Yugor
Strait. When the scanty news of the tundra had been
well discussed they took their departure."

By the end of June, when they had got through all
the ramifications of the Little Ural Mountains, the time
was drawing near wiien, according to his agreement,
Trontheim was due at Yugor Strait. He was obliged
to hasten the rate of travelling, which w^as not an easy
matter, with more than 40 sledges and 450 reindeer,
not countine^ the calves. He, therefore, determined to

HO FARTHEST NORTH

divide the caravan into two parts, leave the women,
children, and domestic animals behind, and push forward
without any baggage, except the necessary food. So, on
June 28th, "thirty sledges, tents, etc., were left with the
women and children, who were to live their nomadic life
as best they could. The male Syrianes took ten sledges
and went on with Trontheim." At last, on July 9th,
after more wanderings, they saw the sea from a "high
hill," and next day they reached Khabarova, where
Trontheim learned that no steamer had arrived yet in
Yugor Strait, nor had any sail been seen. At this time
the whole shore of Yugor Strait and all the sea within
sight was covered with ice, driven there by northerly
winds. The sea was not quite open till July 2 2d.
Trontheim passed the time while he was waiting for
the Fram in huntin2[ and makinsf excursions with his
dogs, which were in excellent condition. He was often
in the Sibiriakoff colony, a meeting - place for the
Samoyedes of the district, who come here in considerable
numbers to dispose of their wares. And it was a
melancholy phase of life he saw here in this little " world-
forsaken " colony. " Every summer two or three mer-
chants or peasant traders, generally from Pustozersk,
come for the purpose of bartering with the Samoyedes,
and sometimes the Syrianes, too, for their wares — bear-
skins, blubber, and sealskins, reindeer -skins, and such
like — giving in exchange tea, sugar, flour, household
utensils, etc. No transaction takes place without the

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 141

drinking of brandy, for which the Samoyede has an
insatiable craving. When the trader has succeeded in
making a poor wretch quite tipsy, he fleeces him, and
buys all he wants at some ridiculous price — the result of
the transaction generally being that the Samoyede is in
debt to his ' benefactor.' All the traders that come to
the colony bring brandy, and one great drinking-bout
goes on all the summer. You can tell where much busi-
ness is done by the number of brandy casks in the trad-
er's booth. There is no police inspection, and it would
be difificult to organize anything of the kind. As soon
as there is snow enough for the sledges, the merchants'
reindeer caravans start from the colony on their home-
ward journey, loaded with empty brandy casks and with
the proceeds of this one-sided bartering.

" On July 30th [this ought to be 29th] Trontheim saw
from the shore, first, smoke, and soon after a steamer.
There could be no doubt of its being the Frani. He
went out in a little Samoyede boat to meet her, and
called out in Russian that he wanted to be taken on
board. From the steamer they called back, asking who
he was, and when they heard his name he was hauled
up. On deck he met Nansen himself, in a greasy work-
ing-jacket. He is still quite a young man, of middle
height. ..." Here follows a flattering description of the
leader of the expedition, and the state of matters on ^
board. " It is evident," he then goes on, " that we have v
here one family, united and inspired by one idea, for the ^

142 FARTHEST NORTH

carrying out of wliicli all labor devotedly. The hard
and dirty work on board is fairly divided, no difference
being made between the common sailor and the captain,
or even the chief of the expedition. The doctor, too,
takes his share in the general work, and this com^iunity
of labor is a close bond between all on board. The
existence of such relations among the ship's company
made a very favorable impression on Trontheim, and
this most of all (in his opinion) justified the hope that
in difficult crises the expedition would be able to hold
its own.

" A. I. Trontheim was on board the Fram every
day, breakfasting and dining there. From what he re-
lates, the ship must be admirably built, leaving noth-
ing whatever to be desired. The cabins are roomy,
and comfortably fitted up ; there is an excellent library,
containing the classics of European literature ; various
musical instruments, from a beautiful grand -piano* to
flutes and guitars ; then chess, draughts, etc. — all for the
recreation of the company."

Here follows a description of the Fram, her general
equipments, and commissariat. It seems to have made
a great impression on him that we had no wine (brandy)
on board. " I was told," he exclaims, " that only among

* By this he probably means our organ. Our other musical instru-
ments were as follows: An accordion, belonging to the ship, and a flute,
violin, and several Jew's-harps, belonging to one of the ships's com-
pany.

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 143

the medicine stores have they some 20 or 30 bottles of
the best cognac — pure, highly rectified spirit. It is Nan-
sen's opinion that brandy-drinking in these northern
regions is injurious, and may, if indulged in on such a
difficult and dangerous voyage, have very serious con-
sequences ; he has therefore considered it expedient to
supply its place by fruit and various sorts of sweets, of
which there are large supplies on board." " In harbor
the crew spent most of the day together; in spite of
community of work, each individual's duties are fixed
down to the minutest detail. They all sit down to
meals together, with the exception of the acting cook,
whose duty they take by turns. Health and good spir-
its are to be read on every face ; Nansen's immova-
ble faith in a successful and happy issue to their ex-
pedition inspires the whole crew with courage and
confidence.

" On August 3d they shifted coal on board the Fram
from the ship's hold down to the stoke -hold (coal
bunkers). All the members of the expedition took part
in this work, Nansen at their head, and they worked . ,
unitedly and cheerfully. This same day Nansen and his
companions tried the dogs on shore. Eight [this should
be ten] where harnessed to a sledge on which three
persons took their places. Nansen expressed his satis-
faction with the dogs, and thanked Trontheim for the
good selection he had made, and for the excellent
condition the animals were in. When the dogs were

144 FARTHEST NORTH

taken over and brought on board,* Trontheim applied
to Nansen for a certificate of the exact and scrupulous
way in which he had fulfilled his contract. Nansen's
answer was : ' No ; a certificate is not enough. Your
duty has been done with absolute conscientiousness,
and you have thereby rendered a great service to the
expedition. I am commissioned to present you with a
gold medal from our king in recognition of the great
help you have given us.' With these words Nansen
handed to Trontheim a very large gold medal with a
crown on it. On the obverse is the following inscrip-
tion: 'Oscar II., King of Norway and Sweden. For
the Welfare of the Brother-Nations.' And on the re-
verse : ' Reward for valuable service, A. I. Trontheim.'
Along with this Nansen also gave Trontheim a written
testimonial as to the admirable manner in which he had
carried out his commission, mentioning that for this he
had been rewarded with a medal.

" Nansen determined to weigh anchor during the
night of this same day,t and set sail on his long voyage
without waiting for the coal sloop Urania^ which he
thought must have been delayed by the ice. In the
evening Trontheim took leave of the whole party, with
hearty wishes for the success of the expedition. Along
with him Herr Ole Christofersen, correspondent of one

* It will be observed that there is some slip of memory here — it was
the evening before.

t It was, in fact, the day after.

FAREWELL TO NORWAY 145

of the chief London newspapers,* left the ship. He had
accompanied Nansen from Vardo. At parting, Nansen
gave them a plentiful supply of provisions, Christofersen
and Trontheim having to await the arrival of the Urania,
as they were to go home by her. Precisely at 1 2 o'clock
on the night between August 4th and 5th the signal for
starting was given, and the Fram stood out to sea."

On August 7th the Urania at last arrived. As I had
supposed, she had been stopped by ice, but had at last
got out of it uninjured. Christofersen and Trontheim
were able to sail for home in her on the iith, and
reached Vardo on the 2 2d, food having been very scarce
during the last part of the time. The ship, which had
left her home port, Brono, in May, was not provided for
so long a voyage, and these last days they lived chiefly
on dry biscuits, water, and — weevils.

* I do not believe that Christofersen ever in his life had anything to
do with a London newspaper.

CHAPTER V
VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA

It was well into the night, after Christofersen and
Trontheim had left us, before we could get away. The
channel was too dangerous for us to risk it in the thick
fog. But it cleared a little, and the petroleum launch
was got ready; I had determined to go on ahead with
it and take soundings. We started about midnight.
Hansen stood in the bow with the lead-line. First we
bore over towards the point of Vaigats to the north-
west, as Palander directs, then on through the strait,
keeping to the Vaigats side. The fog was often so thick
that it was with dif^culty we could catch a glimpse of
the Fram, which followed close behind us, and on board
the Fram they could not see our boat. But so long
as we had enough water, and so long as we saw that
they were keeping to the right course behind us, we
went ahead. Soon the fog cleared again a little. But
the depth was not quite satisfactory ; we had been hav-
ing steadily 4^ to 5 fathoms ; then it dropped to 4, and
then to 3L This was too little. We turned and sig-
nalled to the Fram to stop. Then we held farther out

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA H?

from land and got into deeper water, so that the Fram
could come on again at full speed.

From time to time our petroleum engine took to its
old tricks and stopped. I had to pour in more oil to set
it going again, and as I was standing doing this the boat
gave a lurch, so that a little oil was spilt and took fire.
The burning oil ran over the bottom of the boat, where
a good deal had been spilt already. In an instant the
whole stern was in a blaze, and my clothes, which were
sprinkled with oil, caught fire. I had to rush to the
bow, and for a moment the situation was a critical one,
especially as a big pail that was standing full of oil also
took fire. As soon as I had stopped the burning of my
clothes I rushed aft again, seized the pail, and poured
the flaming oil into the sea, burning my fingers badly.
At once the whole surface of the water round was in
flames. Then I got hold of the baler, and baled water
into the boat as hard as I could, and soon the worst
was over. Things had looked anything but well from
the Fram, however, and they were standing by with
ropes and buoys to throw to us.

Soon we were out of Yugor Strait. There was now
so little fog that the low land round us was visible, and
we could also see a little way out to sea, and, in the dis-
tance, all drift-ice. At 4 o'clock in the morning (August
4th) we glided past Sokolii, or Hawk Island, out into the
dreaded Kara Sea.

Now our fate was to be decided. I had always said

148

FARTHEST NORTH

that if we could get safely across the Kara Sea and past
Cape Cheliuskin, the worst would be over. Our pros-
pects were not bad — an open passage to the east, along
the land, as far as we could see from the masthead.

'^%%t

XS*"

LANDING ON YALMAL

(By Otto Sinding,frojn a Photograph)

An hour and a half later we were at the edsfe of the
ice. It was so close that there was no use in attempting
to go on through it. To the northwest it seemed much
looser, and there was a good deal of blue in the atmos-
phere at the horizon there.* We kept southeast along

* There is a white reflection from white ice, so that the sky above
fields of ice has a light or whitish appearance ; wherever there is open
water it is blue or dark. In this way the Arctic navigator can judge by
the appearance of the sky what is the state of the sea at a considerable
distance.

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 149

the land through broken ice, but in the course of the day
went further out to sea, the blueness of the atmosphere
to the east and northeast promising more open water in
that direction. However, about 3 p.m. the ice became
so close that I thought it best to get back into the open
channel along the land. It was certainly possible that
we might have forced our way through the ice in the
sea here, but also possible that we might have stuck fast,
and it was too early to run this risk.

Next morning (August 5th), being then off the coast
near to the moiith of the River Kara, we steered across
towards Yalmal. We soon had that low land in sight,
but in the afternoon we got into fog and close ice. Next
day it was no better, and we made fast to a great ice-
block which was lying stranded off the Yalmal coast.

In the eveninor some of us went on shore. The water
was so shallow that our boat stuck fast a good way from
the beach, and we had to wade. It was a perfectly flat,
smooth sand -beach, covered by the sea at full tide, and
beyond that a steep sand - bank, 30 to 40 feet, in some
places probably 60 feet, high.

We wandered about a little. Flat, bare country on
every hand. Any driftwood we saw was buried in the
sand and soaking wet. Not a bird to be seen except
one or two snipe. We came to a lake, and out of the
fog in front of me I heard the cry of a loon, but saw no
living creature. Our view was blocked by a wall of fog
whichever way we turned. There were plenty of rein-

I50

FARl^HEST NORTH

deer tracks, but of course they were only those of the
Samoyedes' tame reindeer. This is the land of the
Samoyedes — and oh but it is desolate and mournful!
The only one of us that bagged anything was the

THE PLAIN OF YALMAL

( By Otto S hiding, from a Photograph )

botanist. Beautiful flowers smiled to us here and there
among the sand - mounds — the one message from a
brighter world in this land of fogs. We went far in over
the flats, but came only to sheets of water, with low spits
running out into them, and ridges between. We often
heard the cry of loons on the water, but could never
catch sight of one. All these lakelets were of a remark-
able, exactly circular conformation, with steep banks all

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 151

round, just as if each had dug out a hole for itself in the
sandy plain.

With the oars of our boat and a large tarpaulin we
had made a sort of tent. We were lucky enough to find
a little dry wood, and soon the tent was filled with the
fragrant odor of hot coffee. When we had eaten and
drunk and our pipes were lit, Johansen, in spite of fa-
tigue and a full meal, surprised us by turning one som-
ersault after another on the heavy, damp sand in front
of the tent in his long military cloak and sea-boots half
full of water.

By 6.30 next morning we were on board again. The
fog had cleared, but the ice, which lay drifting back-
ward and forward according to the set of the tide,
looked as close as ever towards the north. Durino; the
morning we had a visit from a boat with two stalwart
Samoyedes, who were well received and treated to food
and tobacco. They gave us to understand that they
were living in a tent some distance inland and farther
north. Presently they went off again, enriched with
s:ifts. These were the last human beings we met.

Next day the ice was still close, and, as there was
nothing else to be done, some of us went ashore again
in the afternoon, partly to see more of this little-known
coast, and partly, if possible, to find the Samoyedes'
camp, and get hold of some skins and reindeer flesh.
It is a strange, flat country. Nothing but sand, sand
everywhere. Still flatter, still more desolate than the

152

FARTHEST NORTH

country about Yugor Strait, with a still wider horizon.
Over the plain lay a green carpet of grass and moss,
here and there spoiled by the wind having torn it up and
swept sand over it. But trudge as we might, and search
as we might, we found no Samoyede camp. We saw

IN THE KARA SEA

three men in the far distance, but they went off as fast
as they could the moment they caught sight of us.
There was little game — just a few ptarmigan, golden
plovers, and long -tailed ducks. Our chief gain was
another collection of plants, and a few geological and
geographical notes. Our observations showed that the
land at this place was charted not less than half a degree
or 36 to 38 minutes too far west.

It was not till next forenoon (August 9th) that we

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 153

went on board again. The ice to the north now seemed
to be rather looser, and at 8 p.m. we at last began once
more to make our way north. We found ice that was
easy to get through, and held on our course until, three
days later, we got into open water. On Sunday, August
1 8th, we stood out into the open Kara Sea, past the north
point of Yalmal and Bieloi - Ostrov (White Island).
There was no ice to be seen in any direction. During
the days that followed we had constant strong east winds,
often increasing to half a gale. We kept on tacking to
make our way eastward, but the broad and keelless Fi'am
can hardly be called a good "beater"; we made too much
leeway, and our progress was correspondingly slow. In
the journal there is a constantly recurring entry of
" Head - wind," " Head - wind." The monotony was ex-
treme ; but as they may be of interest as relating to the
navigation of this sea, I shall give the most important
items of the journal, especially those regarding the state
of the ice.

On Monday, August 14th, we beat with only sail
against a strong wind. Single pieces of ice were seen
during the middle watch, but after that there was none
within sight.

Tuesday, August 15th. The wind slackened in the
middle watch ; we took in sail and got up steam. At 5
in the morning we steamed away east over a sea perfectly
clear of ice ; but after mid-day the wind began to freshen
a^ain from E.N.E., and we had to beat with steam and

154 FARTHEST NORTH

sail. Single floes of ice were seen during the evening
and night.

Wednesday, August i6th. As the Kara Sea seemed
so extraordinarily free from ice, and as a heavy sea was
running from the northeast, we decided to hold north as
far as we could, even if it should be to the Einsamkeit
(Lonely) Island. But about half-past three in the after-
noon we had a strip of close ice ahead, so that we had to
turn. Stiff breeze and sea. Kept on beating east along
the edge of the ice. Almost lost the petroleum launch
in the evening. The waves were constantly breaking
into it and filling it, the gunwale was burst in at two
places, and the heavy davits it hung on were twisted as
if they had been copper wires. Only just in the nick of
time, with the waves washing over us, some of us managed
to get it lashed to the side of the ship. There seemed to
be some fatality about this boat.

Thursday, August 17th. Still beating eastward under
sail and steam through scattered ice, and along a margin
of fixed ice. Still blowing hard, with a heavy sea as soon
as we headed a little out from the ice.

Friday, August 1 8th. Continued storm. Stood south-
east. At 4.30 A.M., Sverdrup, who had gone up into
the crow's-nest to look out for bears and walrus on the
ice-floes, saw land to the south of us. At 10 a.m. I went
up to look at it — we were then probably not more than
10 miles away from it. It was low land, seemingly of
the same formation as Yalmal, with steep sand-banks,

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 157

and grass-grown above. The sea grew shallower as we
neared it. Not far from us, small icebergs lay aground.
The lead showed steadily less and less water; by 11.30
A.M. there were only some 8 fathoms ; then, to our sur-
prise, the bottom suddenly fell to 20 fathoms, and after
that we found steadily increasing depth. Between the
land and the blocks of stranded ice on our lee there ap-
peared to be a channel with rather deeper water and not
so much ice aground in it. It seemed difficult to conceive
that there should be undiscovered land here, where both
Nordenskibld and Edward Johansen, and possibly sever-
al Russians, had passed without seeing anything. Our
observations, however, were incontestable, and we imme-
diately named the land Sverdrup's Island, after its dis-
coverer.

As there was still a great deal of ice to windward, we
continued our southwesterly course, keeping as close to
the wind as possible. The weather was clear, and at 8
o'clock we sighted the mainland, with Dickson's Island
ahead. It had been our intention to run in and anchor
here, in order to put letters for home under a cairn.
Captain Wiggins having promised to pick them up on his
way to the Yenisei. But in the meantime the wind had
fallen : it was a favorable chance, and time was precious.
So gave up sending our post, and continued our course
along the coast.

The country here was quite different from Yalmal.
Though not very high, it was a hilly country, with

I5« FARTHEST XORTH

patches and even large drifts of snow here and there,
some of them lying close down by the shore. Next
mornino: I sighted the southernmost of the Kamenni
Islands. We took a tack in under it to see if there were

OSTROVA KAMENNI (rOCKY ISLAND), OFF THE COAST
OF SIBERIA

animals of any kind, but could catch sight of none.
The island rose evenly from the sea at all points, with
steep shores. They consisted for the most part of rock,
which was partly solid, partly broken up by the action of
the weather into heaps of stones. It appeared to be a
stratified rock, with strongly marked oblique strata. The
island was also covered with quantities of gravel, some-
times mixed with larger stones ; the whole of the
northern point seemed to be a sand heap, with steep
sand-banks towards the shore. The most noticeable
feature of the island was its marked shore-lines. Near
the top there was a specially pronounced one, which was
like a sharp ledge on the west and north sides, and
stretched across the island like a dark band. Nearer the
beach were several other distinct ones. In form they all

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 159

resembled the upper one with its steep ledges, and had
evidently been formed in the same way — by the action of
the sea, and more especially of the ice. Like the upper
one, they also were most marked on the west and north
sides of the island, which are those faciuQ; most to the
open sea.

To the student of the history of the earth these marks
of the former level of the sea are of great interest, show-
ing as they do that the land has risen or the sea sunk
since the time they were formed. Like Scandinavia, the
whole of the north coast of Siberia has undergone these
changes of level since the Great Ice Age.

It was strange that we saw none of the islands which,
according to Nordenskiold's map, stretch in a line to the
northeast from Kamenni Islands. On the other hand, I
took the bearings of one or two other islands lying almost
due east, and next morning we passed a small island far-
ther north.

We saw few birds in this neighborhood — only a few
flocks of geese, some Arctic gulls {Lestris parasitica and
L . biiffonii), and a few sea-gulls and tern.

On Sunday, August 20th, we had, for us, uncommon-
ly fine weather — blue sea, brilliant sunshine, and light
wind, still from the northeast. In the afternoon we ran
in to the K jell man Islands. These we could recognize
from their position on Nordenskiold's map, but south
of them we found many unknown ones. They all had
smoothly rounded forms, these Kjellman Islands, like

i6o FARTHEST NORTH

rocks that have been ground smooth by the glaciers of
the Ice Aee. The Fraw anchored on the north side
of the largest of them, and while the boiler was being
refitted, some of us went ashore in the evening for some
shooting. We had not left the ship when the mate,
from the crow's - nest, caught sight of reindeer. At
once we were all agog; every one wanted to go ashore,
and the mate was quite beside himself with the hunter's
fever, his eyes as big as saucers, and his hands trembling
as thoueh he were drunk. Not until we were in the boat
had we time to look seriously for the mate's reindeer.
We looked in vain — not a living thing was to be seen in
any direction. Yes — when we were close inshore we at
last descried a large fiock of geese waddling upward from
the beach. We were base enough to let a conjecture
escape us that these were the mate's reindeer — a sus-
picion which he at first rejected with contempt. Gradu-
ally, however, his confidence oozed away. But it is pos-
sible to do an injustice even to a mate. The first thing
I saw when I sprang ashore was old reindeer tracks.
The mate had now the laugh on his side, ran from track
to track, and swore that it was reindeer he had seen.

When we got up on to the first height we saw several
reindeer on flat ground to the south of us ; but, the wind
being from the north, we had to go back and make our
way south along the shore till we got to leeward of them.
The only one who did not approve of this plan was the
mate, who was in a state of feverish eagerness to rush

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA

i6i

straight at some reindeer he thought he had seen to the
east, which, of course, was an absolutely certain way to
clear the field of every one of them. He asked and re-

THEODOR C. JACOBSEN, MATE OF THE " FRAM

[From a Photograph, December ii, 1893)

ceived permission to remain behind with Hansen, who
was to take a magnetic observation ; but had to promise

not to move till he got the order,

1 62 FARTHEST NORTH

On the way along the shore we passed one great flock
of geese after another; they stretched their necks and
waddled aside a little until we were quite near, and only
then took flight ; but we had no time to waste on such
small game. A little farther on we caught sight of one
or two reindeer we had not noticed before. We could
easily have stalked them, but were afraid of getting to
windward of the others, which were farther south. At
last we got to leeward of these latter also, but they were
grazing on flat ground, and it was anything but easy to
stalk them — not a hillock, not a stone to hide behind.
The only thing was to form a long line, advance as best
we could, and, if possible, outflank them. In the mean-
time we had caught sight of another herd of reindeer
farther to the north, but suddenly, to our astonishment,
saw them tear off across the plain eastward, in all proba-
bility startled by the mate, who had not been able to
keep quiet any longer.

A little to the north of the reindeer nearest us there
was a hollow, opening from the shore, from which it
seemed that it might be possible to get a shot at them.
I went back to try this, while the others kept their
places in the line. As I went down again towards the
shore I had the sea before me, quiet and beautiful. The
sun had gone down behind it not long before, and the
sky was glowing in the clear, light night. I had to
stand still for a minute. In the midst of all this beauty,
man was doing the work of a beast of prey ! At this

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 163

moment I saw to the north a dark speck move down the
height where the mate and Hansen ought to be. It
divided into two, and the one moved east, just to the
windward of the animals I was to stalk. They would
get the scent immediately and be off. There was
nothing for it but to hurry on, while I rained anything
but good wishes on these fellows' heads. The gully
was not so deep as I had expected. Its sides were
just high enough to hide me when I crept on all fours.
In the middle were large stones and clayey gravel,
with a little runnel soaking through them. The reindeer
were still grazing quietly, only now and then raising
their heads to look round. My " cover " got lower and
lower, and to the north I heard the mate. He would
presently succeed in setting off my game. It was im-
perative to get on quickly, but there was no longer
cover enough for me to advance on hands and knees.
My only chance was to wriggle forward like a snake on
my stomach. But in this soft clay — in the bed of the
stream ? Yes — meat is too precious on board, and the
beast of prey is too strong in a man. My clothes must
be sacrificed ; on I crept on my stomach through the
mud. But soon there was hardly cover enough even for
this. I squeezed myself flat among the stones and
ploughed forward like a drain-cutting machine. And I
did make way, if not quickly and comfortably, still surely.
All this time the sky was turning darker and darker
red behind me, and it was getting more and more

l64 FARTHEST NORTH

difficult to use the sights of my gun, not to mention
the trouble I had in keeping the clay from them and
from the muzzle. The reindeer still grazed quietly on.
When they raised their heads to look round I had to lie
as quiet as a mouse, feeling the water trickling gently
under my stomach ; when they began to nibble the
moss again, off I went through the mud. Presently I
made the disagreeable discovery that they were moving
away from me about as fast as I could move forward,
and I had to redouble my exertions. But the darkness
was gettino[ worse and worse, and I had the mate to
the north of me, and presently he would start them off.
The outlook was anything but bright either morally
or physically. The hollow was getting shallower and
shallower, so that I was hardly covered at all. I
squeezed myself still deeper into the mud. A turn in
the ground helped me forward to the next little height;
and now the}' were right in front of me, within what I
should have called easy range if it had been daylight. I
tried to take aim, but could not see the bead on my gun.
Man's fate is sometimes hard to bear. My clothes
were dripping with wet clay, and after what seemed
to me most meritorious exertions, here I was at the
goal, unable to take advantage of my position. But
now the reindeer moved down into a small depression.
I crept forward a little way farther as quickly as I could.
I was in a splendid position, so far as I could tell in the
dark, but I could not see the bead any better than

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA i6s

before. It was impossible to get nearer, for there was
only a smooth slope between us. There was no sense
in thinking: of waitinsf for liorht to shoot bv. It was now
midnight, and I had that terrible mate to the north of
me ; besides, the wind was not to be trusted. I held the
rifle up against the sky to see the bead clearly, and then
lowered it on the reindeer. I did this once, twice, thrice.
The bead was still far from clear; but, all the same, I
thought I might hit, and pulled the trigger. The two
deer gave a sudden start, looked round in astonishment,
and bolted off a little way south. There they stood still
again, and at this moment were joined by a third deer,
which had been standing rather farther north. I fired
off all the cartridges in the magazine, and all to the same
good purpose. The creatures started and moved off a
little at each shot, and then trotted farther south. Pres-
ently they made another halt, to take a long careful look
at me ; and I dashed off westward, as hard as I could
run, to turn them. Now they were off straight in the
direction where some of my comrades ought to be. I
expected every moment to hear shots and see one or two
of the animals fall; but away they ambled southward,
quite unchecked. At last, far to the south, crack went
a rifle. I could see by the smoke that it was at too long
a range ; so in high dudgeon I shouldered my rifle and
lounged in the direction of the shot. It was pleasant to
see such a good result for all one's trouble.

No one was to be seen anywhere. At length I met

1 66 FARTHEST NORTH

Sverdrup ; it was he who had fired. Soon Blessing
joined us, but all the others had long since left their
posts. While Blessing went back to the boat and his
botanizing box, Sverdrup and I went on to try our luck
once more. A little farther south we came to a valley
stretching right across the island. On the farther side
of it we saw a man standing on a hillock, and not far
from him a herd of five or six reindeer. As it never
occurred to us to doubt that the man was in the act of
stalking these, we avoided going in that direction, and
soon he and his reindeer disappeared to the west. I
heard afterwards that he had never seen the deer. As
it was evident that when the reindeer to the south of us
were startled they would have to come back across this
valley, and as the island at this part was so narrow that
we commanded the whole of it, we determined to take
up our posts here and wait. We accordingly got in the
lee of some great boulders, out of the wind. In front of
Sverdrup was a large flock of geese, near the mouth of
the stream, close down by the shore. They kept up an
incessant gabble, and the temptation to have a shot at
them was very great ; but, considering the reindeer, we
thought it best to leave them in peace. They gabbled
and waddled away down through the mud and soon took
wing.

The time seemed long. At first we listened with all
our ears — the reindeer must come very soon — and our
eyes wandered incessantly backward and forward along

HENRIK BLESSING

(From a photograph taken in 183'i),

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 169

the slope on the other side of the valley. But no reindeer
came, and soon we were having a struggle to keep our
eyes open and our heads up — we had not had much sleep
the last few days. They i7iusi be coming ! We shook
ourselves awake, and gave another look along the bank,
till again the eyes softly closed and the heads began to
nod, while the chill wind blew through our wet clothes,
and I shivered with cold. This sort of thing went on for
an hour or two, until the sport began to pall on me, and
I scrambled from my shelter along towards Sverdrup,
who was enjoying it about as much as I was. We
climbed the slope on the other side of the valley, and
were hardly at the top before we saw the horns of six
splendid reindeer on a height in front of us. They were
restless, scenting westward, trotting round in a circle,
and then sniffing again. They could not have noticed
us as yet, as the wind was blowing at right angles to the
line between them and us. We stood a long time
watchins: their manoeuvres, and waiting: their choice of
a direction, but they had apparently great difficulty in
making it. At last off they swung south and east, and
off we went southeast as hard as we could go, to get
across their course before they got scent of us. Sverdrup
had got well ahead, and I saw him rushing across a fiat
piece of ground : presently he would be at the right place
to meet them. I stopped, to be in readiness to cut them
off on the other side if they should face about and make
off northward again. There were six splendid animals,

I/O FARTHEST A'OKTH

a big buck in front. They were heading straight for
Sverdrup, who was now crouching down on the slope.
I expected every moment to see the foremost fall. A
shot rang out ! Round wheeled the whole ilock like
lightning, and back they came at a gallop. It was my
turn now to run with all my mio^ht, and off I went over
"the stones, down towards the valley we had come from.
I only stopped once or twice to take breath, and to make
sure that the animals were coming in the direction I had
reckoned on — then off again. We were getting near
each other now; they were coming on just where I had
calculated ; the thing now was to be in time for them.
I made my long legs go their fastest over the boulders,
and took leaps from stone to stone that would have
surprised myself at a more sober moment. More than
once my foot slipped, and I went down head first among
the boulders, gun and all. But the wild beast in me had
the upper hand now. The passion of the chase vibrated
through every fibre of my body.

We reached the slant of the valley almost at the same
time — a leap or two to get up on some big boulders, and
the moment had come — I nmst shoot, though the shot
was a long one. When the smoke cleared away I saw
the big buck trailing a broken hind -leg. When their
leader stopped, the whole flock turned and ran in a ring
round the poor animal. They could not understand
what was happening, and strayed about wildly with the
balls whistling round them. Then off they went down,

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA l/l

the side of the valley again, leaving another of their
number behind with a broken leg. I tore after them,
across the valley and up the other side, in the hope of
getting another shot, but gave that up and turned back
to make sure of the two wounded ones. At the bottom
of the valley stood one of the victims awaiting its fate.
It looked imploringly at me, and then, just as I was go-
ing forward to shoot it, made off much quicker than I
could have thought it possible for an animal on three
legs to go. Sure of my shot, of course I missed ; and
now began a chase, which ended in the poor beast,
blocked in every other direction, rushing down towards
the sea and wading into a small lagoon on the shore,
whence I feared it might get right out into the sea. At
last it got its quietus there in the water. The other one
was not far off, and a ball soon put an end to its suffer-
ings also. As I was proceeding to rip it up, Henriksen
and Johansen appeared ; they had just shot a bear a little
farther south.

After disembowelling the reindeer, we went towards
the boat again, meeting Sverdrup on the way. It was
now well on in the morning, and as I considered that we
had already spent too much time here, I was impatient
to push northward. While Sverdrup and some of the
others went on board to get ready for the start, the rest
of us rowed south to fetch our two reindeer and our
bear. A strong breeze had begun to blow from the
northeast, and as it would be hard work for us to row

1/2

FARTHEST NORTH

back against it, I had asked Sverdrup to come and meet
us with the Fram, if the soundings permitted of his do-
ing so. We saw quantities of seal and white fish along

A DEAD BEAR ON REINDEER ISLAND (AUGUST 2 1, 1 893)

(From a Photograph)

the shore, but we had not time to go after them ; all we
wanted now was to get south, and in the first place to
pick up the bear. When we came near the place where
we expected to find it, we did see a large white heap
resembling: a bear Ivins: on the sfround, and I was sure it
must be the dead one, but Henriksen maintained that it
was not. We went ashore and approached it, as it lay
motionless on a grassy bank. I still felt a strong sus-

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA

173

picion that it had already had all the shot it wanted.
We drew nearer and nearer, but it gave no sign of life.
I looked into Henriksen's honest face, to make sure that
they were not playing a trick on me ; but he was staring
fixedly at the bear. As I looked, two shots went off, and
to my astonishment the great creature bounded into the
air, still dazed with sleep. Poor beast! it was a harsh
awakening. Another shot, and it fell lifeless.

We first tried to drag the bears down to the boat, but

WE FIRST TRIED TO DRAG THE BEARS

{By A. Eiebakke, frotji a Photograph]

they were too heavy for us ; and we now had a hard
piece of work skinning and cutting them up, and carry-
ing down all we wanted. But, bad as it was, trudging
through the soft clay with heavy quarters of bear on our

174 FARTHEST NORTH

backs, there was worse awaiting us on the beach. The
tide had risen, and at the same time the waves had got
larger and swamped the boat, and were now breaking
over it. Guns and ammunition were soaking in the
water; bits of bread, our only provision, floated round,
and the butter-dish lay at the bottom, with no butter in
it. It required no small exertion to get the boat drawn
up out of this heavy surf and emptied of water. Luckily,
it had received no injury, as the beach was of a soft sand;
but the sand had penetrated with the water everywhere,
even into the most delicate parts of the locks of our
rifles. But worst of all was the loss of our provisions, for
now we were ravenously hungry. We had to make the
best of a bad business, and eat pieces of bread soaked
in sea-water and flavored with several varieties of dirt.
On this occasion, too, I lost my sketch-book, with some
sketches that were of value to me.

It was no easy task to get our heavy game into the
boat with these big waves breaking on the flat beach.
We had to keep the boat outside the surf, and haul both
skins and flesh on board with a line ; a good deal of water
came with them, but there was no help for it. And then
we had to row north along the shore against the wind and
sea as hard as we could. It was very tough work. The
wind had increased, and it was all we could do to make
headway against it. Seals were diving round us, white
whales coming and going, but we had no eyes for them
now. Suddenly Henriksen called out that there was a

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA ^75

bear on the point in front. I turned round, and there
stood a beautiful white fellow rummaging among the
flotsam on the beach. As we had no time to shoot it, we
rowed on, and it went slowly in front of us northward
along the shore. At last, with great exertions, we reached
the bay where we were to put in for the reindeer. The
bear was there before us. It had not seen the boat
hitherto ; but now it got scent of us, and came nearer.
It was a tempting shot. I had my finger on the trigger
several times, but did not draw it. After all, we had no
use for the animal ; it was quite as much as we could
do to stow away what we had already. It made a beau-
tiful target of itself by getting up on a stone to have a
better scent, and looked about, and, after a careful sur-
vey, it turned round and set off inland at an easy trot.

The surf was by this time still heavier. It was a fiat,
shallow shore, and the waves broke a good way out from
land. We rowed in till the boat touched ground and
the breakers began to wash over us. The only way of
getting ashore was to jump into the sea and wade. But
getting the reindeer on board was another matter. There
was no better landing-place farther north, and hard as it
was to give up the excellent meat after all our trouble,
it seemed to me there was nothing else for it, and we
rowed off towards our ship.

It was the hardest row I ever had a hand in. It went
pretty well to begin with ; we had the current with us,
and got quickly out from land ; but presently the wind

i;^ FARTHEST NORTH

rose, the current slackened, and wave after wave broke
over us. After incredible toil we had at last only a
short way to go. I cheered up the good fellows as
best I could, reminding them of the smoking hot tea that
awaited them after a few more tough pulls, and picturing
all the good things in store for them. We really were
all pretty well done up now, but we still took a good grip
of the oars, soaking wet as we were from the sea con-
stantly breaking over us, for of course none of us had
thought of such things as oilskins in yesterday's beautiful
weather. But we soon saw that with all our pulling and
toiling the boat was making no headway whatever. Apart
from the wind and the sea we had the current dead
against us here ; all our exertions were of no avail. We
pulled till our finger-tips felt as if they were bursting ;
but the most we could manage was to keep the boat
where it was ; if we slackened an instant it drifted back.
I tried to encourage my comrades : " Now we made
a little way ! It was just strength that was needed !"
But all to no purpose. The wind whistled round
our ears, and the spray dashed over us. It was mad-
dening to be so near the ship that it seemed as if
we could almost reach out to her, and yet feel that
it was impossible to get on any farther. We had to
go in under the land again, where we had the current
with us, and here we did succeed in making a little
progress. We rowed hard till we were about abreast of
the ship ; then we once more tried to sheer across to

BERNARD NORDAHL

(From a photograph taken in December , 1S!)3)

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 1/9

her, but no sooner did we get into the current again
than it mercilessly drove us back. Beaten again ! And
again we tried the same manoeuvre with the same result.
Now we saw them lowering a buoy from the ship — if
we could only reach it we were saved ; but we did not
reach it. They were not exactly blessings that we
poured on those on board. Why the deuce could they
not bear down to us when they saw the straits we were
in ; or why, at any rate, could they not ease up the an-
chor, and let the ship drift a little in our direction } They
saw how little was needed to enable us to reach them.
Perhaps they had their reasons.

We would make our last desperate attempt. We
went at it with a will. Every muscle was strained to
the utmost — it was only the buoy we had to reach this
time. But to our rage we now saw the buoy being
hauled up. We rowed a little way on, to the windward
of the Fram, and then tried again to sheer over. This
time we got nearer her than we had ever been before ;
but we were disappointed in still seeing no buoy, and
none was thrown over ; there was not even a man to be
seen on deck. We roared like madmen for a buoy — we
had no strength left for another attempt. It was not a
pleasing prospect to have to drift back, and go ashore
again in our wet clothes — we would get on board ! Once
more we yelled like wild Indians, and now they came
rushing aft and threw out the buoy in our direction.
One more cry to my mates that we must put our last

I So FARTHEST NORTH

strength into the work. There were only a few boat
lensfths to cover; we bent to our oars with a will. Now
there were three boat lengths. Another desperate
spurt. Now there were two and a half boat lengths —
presently two — then only one ! A few more frantic
pulls, and there was a little less. " Now, boys, one or
two more hard pulls and it's over ! Hard ! hard ! ! Keep
to it! Now another! Don't give up! One more!
There, we have it ! ! /" And one joyful sigh of relief
passed round the boat. " Keep the oars going or the
rope will break. Row, boys !" And row we did, and
soon they had hauled us alongside of the Fram. Not
till we were lying there getting our bearskins and flesh
hauled on board did we really know what we had had to
fio;ht asrainst. The current was running^ alonsf the side
of the ship like a rapid river. At last we were actually
on board. It was evening by this time, and it was splen-
did to get some good hot food and then stretch one's
limbs in a comfortable dry berth. There is a satisfaction
in feeling that one has exerted one's self to some pur-
pose. Here was the net result of four-and-twenty hours'
hard toil: we had shot two reindeer which we did not
get, got two bears that we had no use for, and had totally
ruined one suit of clothes. Two washings had not the
smallest effect upon them, and they hung on deck to
air for the rest of this trip.

I slept badly that night, for this is what I find in my
diary : " Got on board after what I think was the

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA i8i

hardest row I ever had. Slept well for a little, but am
now lying tossing about in my berth, unable to sleep.
Is it the coffee I drank after supper .^^ or the cold tea I
drank when I awoke with a burning thirst.'^ I shut my
eyes and try again time after time, but to no purpose.
And now memory's airy visions steal softly over my
soul. Gleam after gleam breaks through the mist. I
see before me sunlit landscapes — smiling fields and
meadows, green, leafy trees and woods, and blue moun-
tain ridges. The singing of the steam in the boiler-pipe
turns to bell-ringing — church bells — ringing in Sab-
bath peace over Vestre-Aker on this beautiful summer
morning. I am walking with father along the avenue
of small birch-trees that mother planted, up towards the
church, which lies on the height before us, pointing up
into the blue sky and sending its call far over the
country-side. From up there you can see a long way.
Naesodden looks quite close in the clear air, especially on
an autumn morning. And we give a quiet Sunday
greeting to the people that drive past us, all going our
way. What a look of Sunday happiness dwells on their
faces !

" I did not think it all so delightful then, and would
much rather have run off to the woods with my bow and
arrow after squirrels — but now — how fair, how wonder-
fully beautiful that sunlit picture seems to me ! The
feeling of peace and happiness that even then no doubt
made its impression, though only a passing one, comes

1 82 FARTHEST NORTH

back now with redoubled strength, and all nature seems
one mighty, thrilling song of praise ! Is it because of
the contrast with this poor, barren, sunless land of mists
— without a tree, without a bush — nothing but stones and
clay ? No peace in it either — nothing but an endless
struggle to get north, always north, without a moment's
delay. Oh, how one yearns for a little careless happi-
ness !"

Next day we were again ready to sail, and I tried to
force the Fi'ain on under steam against wind and current.
But the current ran strong as a river, and we had to
be specially careful with the helm ; if we gave her the
least thing too much she would take a sheer, and we
knew there were shallows and rocks on all sides. We
kept the lead going constantly. For a time all went well,
and we made way slowly, but suddenly she took a sheer
and refused to obey her helm. She went off to starboard.
The lead indicated shallow water. The same moment
came the order, " Let go the anchor!" And to the
bottom it went with a rush and a clank. There we lay
with 4 fathoms of water under the stern and 9 fathoms
in front at the anchor. We were not a moment too soon.
We got the Frams head straight to the wind, and tried
again, time after time, but always with the same result.
The attempt had to be given up. There was still the
possibility of making our way out of the sound to lee-
ward of the land, but the water got quickly shallow there,
and we might come on rocks at any moment. We could

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 183

have gone on in front with the boat and sounded, but I
had already had more than enough of rowing in that
current. For the present we must stay where we were
and anoint ourselves with the ointment called Patience,
a medicament of which every polar expedition ought to
lay in a large supply. We hoped on for a change, but
the current remained as it was, and the wind certainly
did not decrease. I was in despair at having to lie here
for nothing but this cursed current, with open sea out-
side, perhaps as far as Cape Chelyuskin, that eternal cape,
whose name had been sounding in my ears for the last
three weeks.

When I came on deck next morning (August 23d)
winter had come. There was white snow on the deck,
and on every little projection of the rigging where it
had found shelter from the wind ; white snow on the
land, and white snow floating through the air. Oh,
how the snow refreshes one's soul, and drives away all
the gloom and sadness from this sullen land of fogs !
Look at it scattered so delicately, as if by a loving hand,
over the stones and the grass-flats on shore ! But wind
and current are much as they were, and during the day
the wind blows up to a regular storm, howling and rat-
tling in the Frajns rigging.

The following day (August 24th) I had quite made
up my mind that we must get out some way or other.
When I came on deck in the morning the wind had gone
down considerably, and the current was not so strong.

1 84 FARTHEST NORTH

A boat would almost be able to row against it ; anyhow
one could be eased away by a line from the stern, and
keep on taking soundings there, while we " kedged " the
Fram with her anchor just clear of the bottom. But
before having recourse to this last expedient I would
make another attempt to go against the wind and the
current. The engineers were ordered to put on as
much pressure of steam as they dared, and the Fram
was urged on at her top speed. Our surprise was not
small when we saw that we were making way, and even
at a tolerable rate. Soon we were out of the sound or
" Knipa " (nipper) as we christened it, and could beat out
to sea with steam and sail. Of course, we had, as usual,
contrary wind and thick weather. There is ample space
between every little bit of sunshine in these quarters.

Next day we kept on beating northward between the
edge of the ice and the land. The open channel was
broad to begin with, but farther north it became so
narrow that we could often see the coast when we put
about at the edge of the ice. At this time we passed
many unknown islands and groups of islands. There
was evidently plenty of occupation here, for any one
who could spare the time, in making a chart of the
coast. Our voyage had another aim, and all that we
could do was to make a few occasional measurements of
the same nature as Nordenskibld had made before us.

On August 25th I noted in my diary that in the
afternoon we had seven islands in sight. They were

IVAR MOGSTAD
(From a photograph taken in l8i)k)

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 187

higher than those we had seen before, and consisted of
precipitous hills. There were also small glaciers or
snow-fields, and the rock formation showed clear traces
of erosion by ice or snow, this being especially the case
on the largest island, where there were even small valleys,
partially filled with snow.

This is the record of August 26th : " Many new isl-
ands in various directions. There are here," the diary
continues, " any number of unknown islands, so many
that one's head gets confused in trying to keep account
of them all. In the morning we passed a very rocky
one, and beyond it I saw two others. After them land
or islands farther to the north and still more to the north-
east. We had to go out of our course in the afternoon,
because we dared not pass between two large islands on
account of possible shoals. The islands were round in
form, like those we had seen farther back, but were of
a good height. Now we held east again, with four big-
gish islands and two islets in the offing. On our other
side we presently had a line of flat islands with steep
shores. The channel was far from safe here. In the
evening we suddenly noticed large stones standing up
above the water among some ice-floes close on our port
bow, and on our starboard beam was a shoal with stranded
ice-floes. We sounded, but found over 21 fathoms of
water."

I think this will suffice to give an idea of the nature
of this coast. Its belt of skerries, though it certainly can-

1 88 FARTHEST NORTH

not be classed with the Norwegian one, is yet of the
kind that it would be difficult to find except off glacier-
formed coasts. This tends to strengthen the opinion I
had formed of there having been a glacial period in the
earlier history of this part of the world also. Of the
coast itself, we unfortunately saw too little at any dis-
tance from which we could get an accurate idea of its
formation and nature. We could not keep near land,
partly because of the thick weather, and partly because
of the number of islands. The little I did see was
enough to give me the conviction that the actual coast
line differs essentially from the one we know from maps ;
it is much more winding and indented than it is shown
to be. I even several times thought that I saw the
openings into deep fjords, and more than once the sus-
picion occurred to me that this w-as a typical fjord coun-
try we were sailing past, in spite of the hills being com-
paratively low and rounded. In this supposition I was
to be confirmed by our experiences farther north.

Our record of August 27th reads as follows: "Steamed
among a variety of small islands and islets. Thick fog
in the morning. At 12 noon we saw a small island right
ahead, and therefore changed our course and went north.
We were soon close to the ice, and after 3 in the after-
noon held northeast along its edge. Sighted land when
the fog cleared a little, and were about a mile off it at

7 P.M."

It was the same striated, rounded land, covered with

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 189

clay and large and small stones strewn over moss and
grass flats. Before us we saw points and headlands,
with islands outside, and sounds and fjords between ; but
it was all locked up in ice, and we could not see far for
the fog. There was that strange Arctic hush and misty
light over everything — that grayish-white light caused by
the reflection from the ice being cast high into the air
against masses of vapor, the dark land offering a won-
derful contrast. We were not sure whether this was
the land near Taimur Sound or that by Cape Palander,
but were agreed that in any case it would be best to hold
a northerly course, so as to keep clear of Almquist's
Islands, which Nordenskibld marks on his map as lying
off Taimur Island. If we shaped our course for one
watch north, or north to west, we should be safe after
that, and be able again to hold farther east. But we
miscalculated, after all. At midnight we turned north-
eastward, and at 4 a.m. (August 28th) land appeared out
of the fog about half a mile off. It seemed to Sverdrup,
who was on deck, the highest that we had seen since we
left Norway. He consequently took it to be the main-
land, and wished to keep well outside of it, but was
oblicjed to turn from this course because of ice. We
held to the W.S.W\, and it was not till 9 a.m. that we
rounded the western point of a large island and could
steer north again. East of us were many islands or
points with solid ice between them, and we followed
the edge of the ice. All the morning we went north

I90 FARTHEST NORTH

along the land against a strong current. There seemed
to be no end to this land. Its discrepancy with every
known map grew more and more remarkable, and I was
in no slight dilemma. We had for long been far to
the north of the most northern island indicated by
Nordenskiold."^ My diary this day tells of great uncer-
tainty. " This land (or these islands, or whatever it is)
goes confoundedly far north. If it is a group of islands
they are tolerably large ones. It has often the appearance
of connected land, with fjords and points ; but the weather
is too thick for us to get a proper view. . . . Can this that
we are now coasting along be the Taimur's Island of the
Russian maps (or more precisely, Lapteff's map), and is
it separated from the mainland by the broad strait
indicated by him, while Nordenskiold's Taimur Island
is what Lapteff has mapped as a projecting tongue of
land ? This supposition would explain everything, and
our observations would also fit in with it. Is it possible
that Nordenskibld found this strait, and took it for Taimur
Strait, while in reality it was a new one ; and that he
saw Almquist's Islands, but had no suspicion that Taimur
Island lay to the outside of them? The difficulty about
this explanation is that the Russian maps mark no islands
round Taimur Island. It is inconceivable that any one

* It is true that in his account of the voyage he expressly states that
the continued very thick fog " prevented us from doing more than map-
ping out most vaguely the islands among and past which the Vega sought
her way."

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 191

should have travelled all about here in sledges without
seeing all these small islands that lie scattered around.*

"In the afternoon the water-gauge of the boiler got
choked up ; we had to stop to have it repaired, and
therefore made fast to the edge of the ice. We spent
the time in taking in drinking-water. We found a pool
on the ice, so small that we thought it would only do to
begin with ; but it evidently had a " subterranean "
communication with other fresh-water ponds on the floe.
To our astonishment it proved inexhaustible, however
much we scooped. In the evening we stood in to the head
of an ice bay, which opened out opposite the most northern
island we then had in sight. There was no passage
beyond. The broken drift-ice lay packed so close in
on the unbroken land-ice that it was impossible to tell
where the one ended and the other began. We could see
islands still farther to the northeast. From the atmos-
phere it seemed as if there might also be open water in
that direction. To the north it all looked very close,
but to the west there was an open waterway as far as
one could see from the masthead. I was in some doubt

* Later, when I had investigated the state of matters outside Norden-
skiold's Taimur Island, it seemed to me that the same remark applied
here with even better reason, as no sledge expedition could go round the
coast of this island without seeing Almquist's Islands, which lie so near,
for instance, to Cape LaptefT, that they ought to be seen even in very-
thick weather. It would be less excusable to omit marking these islands,
which are much larger, than to omit the small ones lying off the coast of
the large island (or as I now consider it, group of large islands) we were at
present skirting.

192 FARTHEST NORTH

as to what should be done. There was an open channel
for a short way up past the north point of the nearest
island, but farther to the east the ice seemed to be close.
It might be possible to force our way through there,
but it was just as likely that we should be frozen in ; so I
thought it most judicious to go back and make another
attempt between these islands and that mainland which
I had some difficulty in believing that Sverdrup had seen
in the morning.

" Thursday, August 20th. Still foggy weather. New
islands were observed on the way back. Sverdrup's
high land did not come to much. It turned out to be an
island, and that a low one. It is wonderful the way
things loom up in the fog. This reminded me of the
story of the pilot at home in the Drbbak Channel. He
suddenly saw land right in front, and gave the order,
' Full speed astern !' Then they approached carefully
and found that it was half a baling-can floating in the
water."

After passing a great number of new islands we
got into open water off Taimur Island, and steamed in
still weather through the sound to the northeast. At
5 in the afternoon I saw from the crow's-nest thick ice
ahead, which blocked farther progress. It stretched from
Taimur Island right across to the islands south of it. On
the ice bearded seals {P/ioca barbata) were to be seen in
all directions, and we saw one walrus. We approached
the ice to make fast to it, but the Fram had got into

BERNT BENTZEN

[From a photograph taken in December, IS'JS)

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 195

dead-water, and made hardly any way, in spite of the
engine going full pressure. It was such slow work that
I thought I would row ahead to shoot seal. In the mean-
time the Frani advanced slowly to the edge of the ice
with her machinery still going at full speed.

For the moment we had simply to give up all thoughts
of getting on. It was most likely, indeed, that only a few
miles of solid ice lay between us and the probably open
Taimur Sea; but to break through this ice was an impos-
sibility. It was too thick, and there were no openings in
it. Nordenskiold had steamed through here earlier in
the year (August 18, 1878) without the slightest hinder-
ance,* and here, perhaps, our hopes, for this year at any
rate, were to be wrecked. It was not possible that the ice
should melt before winter set in in earnest. The only
thing to save us would be a proper storm from the south-
west. Our other slight hope lay in the possibility that
Nordenskiold's Taimur Sound farther south might be
open, and that we might manage to get the Fram through
there, in spite of Nordenskiold having said distinctly "that
it is too shallow to allow of the passage of vessels of any
size."

After having been out in the kayak and boat and shot

* In his account of his voyage Nordenskiold writes as follows of the
condition of this channel : " We were met by only small quantities of that
sort of ice which has a layer of fresh-water ice on the top of the salt, and
we noticed that it was all melting fjord or river ice. I hardly think that
we came all day on a single piece of ice big enough to have cut up a seal
upon."

196 FARTHEST NORTH

some seals, we went on to anchor in a bay that lay rather
farther south, where it seemed as if there would be a
little shelter in case of a storm. We wanted now to
have a thorough cleaning out of the boiler, a very neces-
sary operation. It took us more than one watch to
steam a distance we could have rowed in half an
hour or less. We could hardly get on at all for the
dead-water, and we swept the whole sea along with us.
It is a peculiar phenomenon, this dead-water. We had
at present a better opportunity of studying it than we
desired. It occurs where a surface layer of fresh water
rests upon the salt water of the sea, and this fresh
water is carried along with the ship, gliding on the
heavier sea beneath as if on a fixed foundation. The
difference between the two strata was in this case so
great that, while we had drinking-water on the surface,
the water we got from the bottom cock of the engine-
room was far too salt to be used for the boiler. Dead-
water manifests itself in the form of larger or smaller
ripples or waves stretching across the wake, the one
behind the other, arising sometimes as far forward as
almost amidships. We made loops in our course, turned
sometimes right round, tried all sorts of antics to get
clear of it, but to very little purpose. The moment the
eno-ine stopped it seemed as if the ship were sucked
back. In spite of the Frams weight and the mo-
mentum she usually has, we could in the present in-
stance go at full speed till within a fathom or two of

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 197

the edge of the ice, and hardly feel a shock when she
touched.

Just as we were approaching we saw a fox jump-
ino: backward and forward on the ice, takino- the most
wonderful leaps and enjoying life. Sverdrup sent a
ball from the forecastle which put an end to it on the
spot.

About midday two bears were seen on land, but they
disappeared before we got in to shoot them.

The number of seals to be seen in every direction was
something extraordinary, and it seemed to me that this
would be an uncommonly good hunting-ground. The
flocks I saw this first day on the ice reminded me of
the crested-seal hunting-grounds on the west coast of
Greenland.

This experience of ours may appear to contrast
strangely with that of the Vega expedition. Norden-
skiold writes of this sea, comparing it with the sea
to the north and east of Spitzbergen : " Another strik-
ing difference is the scarcity of warm-blooded animals in
this region as yet unvisited by the hunter. We had not
seen a single bird in the whole course of the day, a
thing that had never before happened to me on a sum-
mer voyage in the Arctic regions, and we had hardly
seen a seal." The fact that they htid not seen a seal is
simply enough explained by the absence of ice. From
my impression of it, the region must, on the contrary,
abound in seals. Nordenskiold himself says that "num-

198 FARTHEST NORTH

bers of seals, both Phoca barbata and Phoca Jiispida,
were to be seen" on the ice in Taimur Strait.

So this was all the progress we had made up to the
end of August. On August 18, 1878, Nordenskiold had
passed through this sound, and on the 19th and 20th
passed Cape Chelyuskin, but here was an impenetrable
mass of ice frozen on to the land lying in our way at the
end of the month. The prospect was anything but
cheering. Were the many prophets of evil — there is
never any scarcity of them — to prove right even at this
early stage of the undertaking } No ! The Taimur
Strait must be attempted, and should this attempt fail
another last one should be made outside all the islands
again. Possibly the ice masses out there might in the
meantime have drifted and left an open way. We could
not stop here.

September came in with a still, melancholy snowfall,
and this desolate land, with its low, rounded heights, soon
la}' under a deep covering. It did not add to our cheer-
fulness to see winter thus gently and noiselessly ushered
in after an all too short summer.

On September 2d the boiler was ready at last, was
filled with fresh water from the sea surface, and we pre-
pared to start. While this preparation was going on
Sverdrup and I went ashore to have a look after rein-
deer. The snow was lying thick, and if it had not been
so wet we could have used our snow-shoes. As it was,
we tramped about in the heavy slush without them, and

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 199

without seeing so much as the track of a beast of any
kind. A forlorn land, indeed ! Most of the birds of
passage had already taken their way south ; we had met
small flocks of them at sea. They were collecting for
the great flight to the sunshine, and we, poor souls, could
not help wishing that it were possible to send news and
greeting with them. A few solitary Arctic and ordinary
gulls were our only company now. One day I found a
belated straggler of a goose sitting on the edge of
the ice.

We steamed south in the evening, but still followed
by the dead-water. According to Nordenskiold's map, it
was only about 20 miles to Taimur Strait, but we were
the whole night doing this distance. Our speed was
reduced to about a fifth part of what it would otherwise
have been. At 6 a.m. (September 3d) we got in among
some thin ice that scraped the dead-water off us. The
chans^e was noticeable at once. As the Frain cut into
the ice crust she gave a sort of spring forward, and, after
this, went on at her ordinary speed ; and henceforth we
had very little more trouble with dead-water.

We found what, according to the map, was Taimur
Strait entirely blocked with ice, and we held farther
south, to see if we could not come upon some other
strait or passage. It was not an easy matter finding
our way by the map. W'e had not seen Hovgaard's
Islands, marked as lying north of the entrance to Tai-
mur Strait ; yet the weather was so beautifully clear

200 FAR THE SI' X0R2JI

that it seemed unlikely they could have escaped us if
they lay where Nordenskiold's sketch-map places them.
On the other hand, we saw several islands in the offing.
These, however, lay so far out that it is not probable that
Nordenskiold saw them, as the weather was thick when
he was here ; and, besides, it is impossible that islands
lying many miles out at sea could have been mapped
as close to land, with only a narrow sound separating
them from it. Farther south we found a narrow open
c/ strait or fjord, which we steamed into, in order if possible

^' to get some better idea of the lay of the land. I sat up

^ ^' in the crow's-nest, hoping for a general clearing up of

-^ ""^ matters ; but the prospect of this seemed to recede

OQ O O farther and farther. What we now had to the north of

5 us, and what I had taken to be a projection of the main-

land, proved to be an island ; but the fjord wound on
farther inland. Now it got narrower — presently it
widened out again. The mystery thickened. Could
this be Taimur Strait, after all? A dead calm on the
sea. Fog everywhere over the land. It was wellnigh
impossible to distinguish the smooth surface of the water
from the ice, and the ice from the snow-covered land.
Everything is so strangely still and dead. The sea rises
and falls with each twist of the fjord through the silent
land of mists. Now we have open water ahead, now
more ice, and it is impossible to make sure which it is.
Is this Taimur Strait ? Are we getting through ? A
whole year is at stake ! . . . No ! here we stop — nothing

—\

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 20i

but ice ahead. No ! it is only smooth water with the
snowy land reflected in it. This imist be Taimur Strait !
But now we had several large ice-floes ahead, and it
was difficult to get on ; so we anchored at a point, in a
good, safe harbor, to make a closer inspection. We now
discovered that it was a strong tidal current that was car-
rying the ice-floes with it, and there could be no doubt
that it was a strait we were lying in. I rowed out in the
evening to shoot some seals, taking for the purpose my
most precious weapon, a double-barrelled Express rifle,
calibre 577. As we were in the act of taking a sealskin
on board the boat heeled over, I slipped, and my rifle fell
into the sea — a sad accident. Peter Henriksen and
Bentzen, who were rowing me, took it so to heart that
they could not speak for some time. They declared that
it would never do to leave the valuable gun lying there
in 5 fathoms of water. So we rowed to the Fra?n for the
necessary apparatus, and dragged the spot for several
hours, well on into the dark, gloomy night. While we
were thus employed a bearded seal circled round and
round us, bobbing up its big startled face, now on one side
of us, now on the other, and always coming nearer; it was
evidently anxious to find out what our night work might
be. Then it dived over and over again, probably to see
how the dragging was getting on. Was it afraid of our
finding the rifle .'* At last it became too intrusive. I
took Peter's rifle, and put a ball through its head ; but it
sank before we could reach it, and we gave up the whole

202 FARTHEST NORTH

business in despair. The loss of that rifle saved the Hfe
of many a seal ; and, alas! it had cost me ^28.

We took the boat again next day and rowed eastward,
to find out if there really was a passage for us through
this strait. It had turned cold during the night and
snow had fallen, so the sea round the Fi^ain was covered
with tolerably thick snow-ice, and it cost us a good deal
of exertion to break through it into open water with the
boat. I thought it possible that the land farther in on
the north side of the strait might be that in the neigh-
borhood of Actinia Bay, where the Vega had lain ; but
I sought in vain for the cairn erected there by Norden-
skiold, and presently discovered to my astonishment that
it was only a small island, and that this island lay on the
south side of the principal entrance to Taimur Strait.
The strait was very broad here, and I felt pretty certain
that I saw where the real Actinia Bay cut into the land
far to the north.

We were hungry now, and were preparing to take a
meal before we rowed on from the island, when we
discovered to our disappointment that the butter had
been forgotten. We crammed down the dry biscuits as
best we could, and worked our jaws till they were stiff
on the pieces we managed to hack off a hard dried rein-
deer chine. When we were tired of eating, though any-
thing but satisfied, we set off, giving this point the name
of " Cape Butterless." We rowed far in through the
strait, and it seemed to us to be a good passage for ships

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 203

— 8 or 9 fathoms right up to the shore. However, we
were stopped by ice in the evening, and as we ran the
risk of being frozen in if we pushed on any farther I
thought it best to turn. We certainly ran no danger
of starving, for we saw fresh tracks both of bears and
reindeer everywhere, and there w^ere plenty of seals in
the water; but I was afraid of delaying the Fram, in
view of the possibility of progress in another direction.
So we toiled back against a strong wind, not reaching
the ship till next morning ; and this was none too early,
for presently we were in the midst of a storm.

On the subject of the navigability of Taimur Strait,
Nordenskiold writes that, " according to soundings made
by Lieutenant Palander, it is obstructed by rocky shal-
lows ; and being also full of strong currents, it is hardly
advisable to sail through it — at least, until the direction
of these currents has been carefully investigated." I
have nothing particular to add to this, except that, as
already mentioned, the channel was clear as far as we
penetrated, and had the appearance of being practicable
as far as I could see. I was, therefore, determined that
we would, if necessary, try to force our way through with
the Fram.

The 5th of September brought snow with a stiff breeze,
which steadily grew stronger. When it was rattling in
the rigging in the evening we congratulated each other
on being safe on board — it would not have been an easy
matter to row back to-day. But altogether I was dis-

204 FARTHEST NORTH

satisfied. There was some chance, indeed, that this wind
might loosen the ice farther north, and yesterday's ex-
periences had given me the hope of being able, in case
of necessity, to force a way through this strait ; but now
the wind was steadily driving larger masses of ice in past
us; and this approach of winter was alarming — it might
quite well be on us in earnest before any channel was
opened. I tried to reconcile myself to the idea of winter-
ing in our present surroundings. I had already laid all
the plans for the way in which we were to occupy our-
selves during the coming year. Besides an investigation
of this coast, which offered problems enough to solve,
we were to explore the unknown interior of the Taimur
Peninsula right across to the mouth of the Chatanga.
With our dogs and snow-shoes we should be able to go
far and wide ; so the year would not be a lost one as
regarded geography and geology. But no ! I could not
reconcile myself to it! I could not! A year of one's life
was a year; and our expedition promised to be a long
one at best. What tormented me most was the reflec-
tion that if the ice stopped us now we could have no
assurance that it would not do the same at the same
time next year ; it has been observed so often that sev-
eral bad ice-years come together, and this was evidently
none of the best. Though I would hardly confess the
feeling of depression even to myself, I must say that it
was not on a bed of roses I lay these nights until sleep
came and carried me off into the land of forgetful ness.

LARS PETTERSEN

(Frotit a photograph taken hi IS'Ju)

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 207

Wednesday, the 6th of September, was the anniversary
of my wedding-day. I was superstitious enough to feel
when I awoke in the morning that this day would
bring a change, if one were coming at all. The storm
had gone down a little, the sun peeped out, and life
seemed brighter. The wind quieted down altogether in
the course of the afternoon, the weather becoming calm
and beautiful. The strait to the north of us, which was
blocked before with solid ice, had been swept open by
the storm ; but the strait to the east, where we had been
with the boat, was firmly blocked, and if we had not
turned when we did that evening we should have been
there yet, and for no one knows how long. It seemed
to us not improbable that the ice between Cape Lapteff
and Almquist's Islands might be broken up. We there-
fore got up steam and set off north about 6.30 p.m. to
try our fortune once more. I felt quite sure that the
day would bring us luck. The weather was still beauti-
ful, and we were thoroughly enjoying the sunshine. It
was such an unusual thing that Nordahl, when he was
working among the coals in the hold in the afternoon,
mistook a sunbeam falling through the hatch on the coal
dust for a plank, and leaned hard on it. He was not
a little surprised when he fell right through it on to
some iron lumber.

It became more and more diilficult to make anything
of the land, and our observation for latitude at noon
did not help to clear up matters. It placed us at 76° 2'

2o8 FARTHEST NORTH

north latitude, or about 14 miles from what is marked as
the mainland on Nordenskiold's or Bove's map. It was
hardly to be expected that these should be correct, as the
weather seems to have been foggy the whole time the
explorers were here.

Nor were we successful in finding Hovgaard's Isl-
ands as we sailed north. Wlicn I supposed that we
were off them, just on the north side of the entrance to
Taimur Strait, I saw, to my surprise, a high mountain
almost directly north of us, which seemed as if it must
be on the mainland. What could be the explanation of
this ? I began to have a growing suspicion that this was
a regular labyrinth of islands we had got into. We were
hoping to investigate and clear up the matter when
thick weather, with sleet and rain, most inconveniently
came on, and we had to leave this problem for the future
to solve.

The mist was thick, and soon the darkness of night
was added to it, so that we could not see land at any
great distance. It might seem rather risky to push ahead
now, but it was an opportunity not to be lost. We
slackened speed a little, and kept on along the coast all
nisfht, in readiness to turn as soon as land was observed
ahead. Satisfied that things were in good hands, as it
was Sverdrup's watch, I lay down in my berth with a
lighter mind than I had had for long.

At 6 o'clock next morning (September 7th) Sverdrup
roused me with the information that we had passed

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 209

Taimur Island, or Cape Lapteff, at 3 a.m., and were now
at Taimur Bay, but with close ice and an island ahead.
It was possible that we might reach the island, as a
channel had just opened through the ice in that direc-
tion ; but we were at present in a tearing " whirlpool "
current, and should be obliged to put back for the mo-
ment. After breakfast I went up into the crow's-nest.
It was brilliant sunshine. I found that Sverdrup's island
must be mainland, which, however, stretched remarkably
far west compared with that given on the maps. I could
still see Taimur Island behind me, and the most easterly
of Almquists Islands lay gleaming in the sun to the
north. It was a long, sandy point that we had ahead,
and I could follow the land in a southerly direction till
it disappeared on the horizon at the head of the bay in
the south. Then there was a small strip where no land,
only open water, could be made out. After that the land
emerged on the west side of the bay, stretching towards
Taimur Island. With its heights and round knolls this
land was essentially different from the low coast on the
east side of the bay.

To the north of the point ahead of us I saw open
water; there was some ice between us and it, but the
Fram forced her way through. When we got out, right
off the point, I was surprised to notice the sea suddenly
covered with brown, clayey water. It could not be a
deep layer, for the track we left behind was quite clear.
The clayey water seemed to be skimmed to either side

2IO FARTHEST NORTH

by the passage of the ship. I ordered soundings to
be taken, and found, as I expected, shallower water —
first 8 fathoms, then 6.\, then 5 A. I stopped now, and
backed. Things looked very suspicious, and round us
ice-floes lay stranded. There was also a very strong cur-
rent running northeast. Constantly sounding, we again
went slowly forward. Fortunately the lead went on
showing 5 fathoms. Presently we got into deeper water
— 6 fathoms, then 6^ — and now we went on at full speed
again. We were soon out into the clear, blue water on
the other side. There was quite a sharp boundary-line
between the brown surface water and the clear blue.
The muddy water evidently came from some river a little
farther south.

From this point the land trended back in an easterly
direction, and we held east and northeast in the open
water between it and the ice. In the afternoon this
channel grew very narrow, and we got right under the
coast, where it again slopes north. We kept close along
it in a very narrow cut, with a depth of 6 to 8 fathoms,
but in the evening had to stop, as the ice lay packed
close in to the shore ahead of us.

This land we had been coasting along bore a strong
resemblance to Yalmal. The same low plains, rising
very little above the sea, and not visible at any great
distance. It was perhaps rather more undulating. At
one or two places I even saw some ridges of a certain
elevation a little way inland. The shore the whole way

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 211

seemed to be formed of strata of sand and clay, the
margin sloping steeply to the sea.

Many reindeer herds were to be seen on the plains,
and next morning (September 8th) I went on shore on
a hunting expedition. Having shot one reindeer I was
on my way farther inland in search of more, when I
made a surprising discovery, which attracted all my
attention and made me quite forget the errand I had
come on. It was a large fjord cutting its way in
through the land to the north of me. I went as far
as possible to find out all I could about it, but did not
manage to see the end of it. So far as I could see, it
was a fine broad sheet of water, stretching eastward to
some blue mountains far, far inland, which, at the ex-
treme limit of my vision, seemed to slope down to the
water. Beyond them I could distinguish nothing. My
imagination was fired, and for a moment it seemed to
me as if this might almost be a strait, stretching right
across the land here, and making an island of the Chel-
yuskin Peninsula. But probably it was only a river,
which widened out near its mouth into a broad lake,
as several of the Siberian rivers do. All about the clay
plains I was tramping over, enormous erratic blocks, of
various formations, lay scattered. They can only have
been brought here by the great glaciers of the Ice
Age. There was not much life to be seen. Besides
reindeer there were just a few willow-grouse, snow-bunt-
ings, and snipe ; and I saw tracks of foxes and lem-

212 FARTHEST NORTH

mings. This farthest north part of Siberia is quite un-
inhabited, and has probably not been visited even by
the wandering nomads. However, I saw a circular moss-
heap on a plain far inland, which looked as if it might
be the work of man's hand. Perhaps, after all, some
Samoyede had been here collecting moss for his rein-
deer; but it must have been long ago; for the moss
looked quite black and rotten. The heap was quite
possibly only one of Nature's freaks — she is often ca-
pricious.

What a constant alternation of light and shadow
there is in this Arctic land. When I went up to the
crow's-nest next morning (September 9th) I saw that
the ice to the north had loosened from the land, and
I could trace a channel which might lead us north-
ward into open water. I at once gave the order to
get up steam. The barometer was certainly low —
lower than we had ever had it yet; it was down to 733
mm. — the wind was blowing in heavy squalls off the
land, and in on the plains the gusts were whirling up
clouds of sand and dust.

Sverdrup thought it would be safer to stay where we
were ; but it would be too annoying to miss this splendid
opportunity ; and the sunshine was so beautiful, and the
sky so smiling and reassuring. I gave orders to set sail,
and soon we were pushing on northward through the ice,
under steam, and with every stitch of canvas that we
could crowd on. Cape Chelyuskin must be vanquished !

ANTON AMUNDSEN

(Front a photograph taken iti December, 1893}

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 215

Never had the Fram gone so fast; she made more
than 8 knots by the log; it seemed as though she knew
how much depended on her getting on. Soon we were
through the ice, and had open water along the land as
far as the eye could reach. We passed point after point,
discovering new fjords and islands on the way, and soon
I thought that I caught a glimpse through the large
telescope of some mountains far away north ; they must
be in the neighborhood of Cape Chelyuskin itself.

The land along which we to-day coasted to the north-
ward was quite low, some of it like what I had seen on
shore the previous day. At some distance from the low
coast, fairly high mountains or mountain chains were to
be seen. Some of them seemed to consist of horizontal
sedimentary schist; they were flat-topped, with precipi-
tous sides. Farther inland the mountains were all white
with snow. At one point it seemed as if the whole range
were covered with a sheet of ice, or great snow-field that
spread itself down the sides. At the edge of this sheet I
could see projecting masses of rock, but all the inner part
was spotless white. It seemed almost too continuous
and even to be new snow, and looked like a permanent
snow mantle.

Nordenskibld's map marks at this place, " high moun-
tain chains inland"; and this agrees with our observa-
tions, though I cannot assert that the mountains are of
any considerable height. But when, in agreement with
earlier maps, he marks at the same place, " high, rocky

2i6 FARTHEST NORTH

coast," his terms are open to objection. The coast
is, as already mentioned, quite low, and consists, in
great part at least, of layers of clay or loose earth.
Nordenskiold either took this last description from the
earlier, unreliable maps, or possibly allowed himself to
be misled by the fog which beset them during their
voyage in these waters.

In the evening we were approaching the north end of
the land, but the current, which we had had with us
earlier in the day, was now against us, and it seemed
as if we were never to get past an island that lay off the
shore to the north of us. The mountain height which
I had seen at an earlier hour through the telescope lay
here some way inland. It was fiat on the top, with
precipitous sides, like those mountains last described.
It seemed to be sandstone or basaltic rock ; only the
horizontal strata of the ledges on its sides were not
visible. I calculated its height at looo to 1500 feet.
Out at sea we saw several new islands, the nearest of
them being of some size.

The moment seemed to be at hand when we were at
last to round that point which had haunted us for so
long — the second of the greatest difificulties I expected
to have to overcome on this expedition. I sat up in
the crow's-nest in the evening, looking out to the north.
The land was low and desolate. The sun had long
since gone down behind the sea, and the dreamy even-
ing sky was yellow and gold. It was lonely and still

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 217

up here, high above the water. Only one star was to be
seen. It stood straight above Cape Chelyuskin, shining
clearly and sadly in the pale sky. As we sailed on and
got the cape more to the east of us the star went with
it ; it was always there, straight above. I could not help
sitting watching it. It seemed to have some charm for
me, and to bring such peace. Was it my star.? Was it
the spirit of home following and smiling to me now .?
Many a thought it brought to me as the Frain toiled on
through the melancholy night, past the northernmost
point of the old world.

Tow^ards morning we were off what we took to be
actually the northern extremity. We stood in near
land, and at the change of the watch, exactly at 4
o'clock, our flags were hoisted, and our three last car-
tridges sent a thundering salute over the sea. Almost
at the same moment the sun rose. Then our poetic
doctor burst forth into the following touching lines :

" Up go the flags, off goes the gun ;
The clock strikes four — and lo, the sun !"

As the sun rose, the Chelyuskin troll, that had so long
had us in his power, w^as banned. We had escaped the
danger of a winter's imprisonment on this coast, and we
saw^ the way clear to our goal — the drift-ice to the north
of the New Siberian Islands. In honor of the occasion
all hands were turned out, and punch, fruit, and cigars
were served in the festally lighted saloon. Something

21 8 FARTHEST NORTH

special in the way of a toast was expected on such an

occasion. I Hfted my glass, and made the following

speech : " Skoal, ni}' lads, and be glad we've passed

V Chelyuskin !" Then there was some organ-playing, dur-

CAPE CHELYUSKIN, THE NORTHERNMOST POINT OF THE

OLD WORLD

ing which I went up into the crow's-nest again, to have a
last look at the land. I now saw that the height I had
noticed in the evening, which has already been described,
lies on the west side of the peninsula, while farther
east a lower and more rounded height stretches south-
ward. This last must be the one mentioned by Nor-
denskiold, and, according to his description, the real
north point must lie out beyond it ; so that we were now
off King Oscar's Bay; but I looked in vain through the
telescope for Nordenskiold's cairn. I had the greatest
inclination to land, but did not think that we could spare
the time. The bay, which was clear of ice at the time of
the Vegas visit, was now closed in with thick winter ice,
frozen fast to the land.

We had an open channel before us ; but we could see
the edge of the drift-ice out at sea. A little farther west

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 219

we passed a couple of small islands, lying a short way
from the coast. We had to stop before noon at the
northwestern corner of Chelyuskin, on account of the
drift-ice which seemed to reach right into the land be-
fore us. To judge by the dark air, there was open water
again on the other side of an island which lay ahead.
We landed and made sure that some straits or fjords

ON LAND EAST OF CAPE CHELYUSKIN (SEPTEMBER lO, 1S93)

iB}! Olto Sinding, from a Photograph)

on the inside of this island, to the south, were quite
closed with firm ice ; and in the evening the Fram
forced her way through the drift-ice on the outside of
it. We steamed and sailed southward along the coast

220 FARTHEST NORTH

all night, making splendid way ; when the wind was
blowing stiffest we went at the rate of 9 knots. We
came upon ice every now and then, but got through it
easily.

Towards morning (September iith) we had high land
ahead, and had to change our course to due east, keep-
ing to this all day. When I came on deck before noon
I saw a fine tract of hill country, with high summits and
valleys between. It was the first view of the sort since
we had left Vardo, and, after the monotonous low land
we had been coasting along for months, it was refresh-
ing to see such mountains again. They ended with a
precipitous descent to the east, and eastward from that
extended a perfectly fiat plain. In the course of the
day we quite lost sight of land, and strangely enough
did not see it again ; nor did we see the Islands of St.
Peter and St. Paul, though, according to the maps, our
course lay close past them.

Thursday, September 12th. Henriksen awoke me
this morning at 6 with the information that there
were several walruses lying on a fioe quite close to us.
" By jove !" Up I jumped and had my clothes on in a
trice. It was a lovely morning — fine, still weather ; the
walruses' guffaw sounded over to us along the clear
ice surface. They were lying crowded together on a
fioe a little to landward from us, blue mountains glitter-
ing behind them in the sun. At last the harpoons were
sharpened, guns and cartridges ready, and Henriksen,

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 221

Juell, and I set off. There seemed to be a slight breeze
from the south, so we rowed to the north side of the floe,
to get to leeward of the animals. From time to time
their sentry raised his head, but apparently did not see
us. We advanced slowly, and soon we were so near that
we had to row very cautiously. Juell kept us going, while
Henriksen was ready in the bow with a harpoon, and I
behind him with a gun. The moment the sentry raised
his head the oars stopped, and we stood motionless ;
when he sunk it again, a few more strokes brought us
nearer.

Body to body they lay close-packed on a small floe,
old and young ones mixed. Enormous masses of flesh
they were ! Now and again one of the ladies fanned
herself by moving one of her flappers backward and
forward over her body ; then she lay quiet again on her
back or side. " Good gracious ! what a lot of meat !"
said Juell, who was cook. More and more cautiously
we drew near. While I sat ready with the gun, Hen-
riksen took a good grip of the harpoon shaft, and as the
boat touched the floe he rose, and off flew the harpoon.
But it struck too hio^h, sflanced off the touo:h hide, and
skipped over the backs of the animals. Now there was
a pretty to do ! Ten or twelve great weird faces glared
upon us at once ; the colossal creatures twisted them-
selves round with incredible celerity, and came waddling
with lifted heads and hollow bellowinq-s to the edq-e of
the ice where we lay. It was undeniably an imposing

222 FARTHEST NORTH

sight; but I laid my gun to my shoulder and fired at
one of the biggest heads. The animal staggered, and
then fell head foremost into the water. Now a ball into
another head ; this creature fell too, but was able to fling
itself into the sea. And now the whole herd dashed in,
and we as well as they were hidden in spray. It had all
happened in a few seconds. But up they came again
immediately round the boat, the one head bigger and
uglier than the other, their young ones close beside them.
They stood up in the water, bellowed and roared till the
air trembled, threw themselves forward towards us, then
rose up again, and new bellowings filled the air. Then
they rolled over and disappeared with a splash, then
bobbed up again. The water foamed and boiled for
yards around — the ice-world that had been so still before
seemed in a moment to have been transformed into a
raging bedlam. Any moment we might expect to have
a walrus tusk or two through the boat, or to be heaved
up and capsized. Something of this kind was the very
least that could happen after such a terrible commotion.
But the hurly-burly went on and nothing came of it. I
again picked out my victims. They went on bellowing
and grunting like the others, but with blood streaming
from their mouths and noses. Another ball, and one
tumbled over and floated on the water ; now a ball to
the second, and it did the same. Henriksen was ready
with the harpoons, and secured them both. One more
was shot ; but we had no more harpoons, and had to

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 225

strike a seal-hook into it to hold it up. The hook
slipped, however, and the animal sank before we could
save it. While we were towing our booty to an ice-floe
we were still, for part of the time at least, surrounded
by walruses; but there was no use in shooting any
more, for we had no means of carrying them off. The
Frani presently came up and took our two on board,
and we were soon going ahead along the coast. We saw
many walruses in this part. We shot two others in the
afternoon, and could have got many more if we had had
time to spare. It was in this same neighborhood that
Nordenskiold also saw one or two small herds.

We now continued our course, as^ainst a strono- cur-
rent, southward along the coast, past the mouth of the
Chatanga. This eastern part of the Taimur Peninsula
is a comparatively high, mountainous region, but with a
lower level stretch between the mountains and the sea —
apparently the same kind of low land we had seen along
the coast almost the whole way. As the sea seemed to
be tolerably open and free from ice, we made several
attempts to shorten our course by leaving the coast and
striking across for the mouth of the Olenek ; but every
time thick ice drove us back to our channel by the land.

On September 14th we were off the land lying be-
tween the Chatanga and the Anabara. This also was
fairly high, mountainous country, with a low strip by the
sea. " In this respect," so I write in my diary, " this
whole coast reminds one very much of Jaideren, in Nor-

226 FARTHES2' NORTH

way. But the mountains here are rtot so well separated,
and arc considerably lower than those farther north.
The sea is unpleasantly shallow; at one time during the
night we had only 4 fathoms, and were obliged to put
back some distance. We have ice outside, quite close ;
but yet there is a sufficient fairway to let us push on
eastward."

The following day we got into good, open water, but
shallow — never more than 6 to 7 fathoms. We heard
the roaring of waves to the east, so there must certainly
be open water in that direction, which indeed we had
expected. It was plain that the Lena, with its masses of
warm water, was beginning to assert its influence. The
sea here was browner, and showed signs of some mixture
of muddy river-water. It was also much less salt.

" It would be foolish." I write in my diary for this day
(September 15th), "to go in to the Olenek, now that we
are so late. Even if there were no danger from shoals,
it would cost us too much time — probably a year. Be-
sides, it is by no means sure that the Fram can get in
there at all ; it would be a very tiresome business if she
went aorround in these waters. No doubt we should be
very much the better of a few more dogs, but to lose a
year is too much ; we shall rather head straight east for
the New Siberian Islands, now that there is a good op-
portunity, and really bright prospects.

" The ice here puzzles me a good deal. How in the
world is it not swept northward by the current, which.

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 227

according to my calculations, ought to set north from
this coast, and which indeed we ourselves have felt.
And it is such hard, thick ice — has the appearance of
being several years old. Does it come from the east-
ward, or does it lie and grind round here in the sea
between the ' north-going ' current of the Lena and the
Taimur Peninsula? I cannot tell yet, but anyhow it is
different from the thin, one-year-old ice we have seen
until now in the Kara Sea and west of Cape Chelyuskin.

"Saturday, September i6th. We are keeping a
northwesterly course (by compass) through open water,
and have got pretty well north, but see no ice, and the
air is dark to the northward. Mild weather, and water
comparatively warm, as high as 35° Fahr. We have
the current against us, and are always considerably west
of our reckoning. Several flocks of eider-duck were
seen in the course of the day. We ought to have land
to the north of us ; can it be that which is keeping back
the ice .?"

Next day we met ice, and had to hold a little to the
south to keep clear of it ; and I began to fear that we
should not be able to get as far as I had hoped. But in
my notes for the following day (Monday, September i8th)
I read : " A splendid day. Shaped our course north-
ward, to the west of Bielkoff Island. Open sea; good
wind from the west ; good progress. Weather clear, and
we had a little sunshine in the afternoon. Now the de-
cisive moment approaches. At 12.15 shaped our course

228 FARTHEST NORTH

north to east (by compass). Now it is to be proved if
my theory, on which the whole expedition is based, is
correct — if we are to find a Httle north from here a
north-flowing current. So far everything is better than I
had expected. We are in latitude 75.^° N., and have still
open water and dark sky to the north and west. In the
evening there was ice-light ahead and on the starboard
bow. About seven I thought that I could see ice, which,
however, rose so regularly that it more resembled land,
but it was too dark to see distinctly. It seemed as if it
might be Bielkoff Island, and a big light spot farther to
the east might even be the reflection from the snow-
covered Kotelnoi. I should have liked to run in here,
partly to see a little of this interesting island, and partly
to inspect the stores which we knew had been deposited
for us here by the friendly care of Baron von Toll ; but
time was precious, and to the north the sea seemed to lie
open to us. Prospects were bright, and we sailed stead-
ily northward, wondering what the morrow would bring
— disappointment or hope ? If all went well we should
reach Sannikoff Land — that, as yet, untrodden ground.

" It was a strange feeling to be sailing away north in
the dark night to unknown lands, over an open, rolling
sea, where no ship, no boat had been before. We might
have been hundreds of miles away in more southerly
waters, the air was so mild for September in this
latitude.

"Tuesday, September 19th. I have never had such

■5K*i*'i¥J'.;;

^: \f^\:-r '-u ; : : •: ; .y/u% ::■ -: .>^ '>p.N^^'^'' f/j.

~v*f.'"

^^.

■' ' ^^"" ■ *:- =^^??*^i^iij(??^

o
o

H
iJ
M

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 229

a splendid sail. On to the north, steadily north, with a
good wind, as fast as steam and sail can take us, and open
sea mile after mile, watch after watch, through these un-
known regions, always clearer and clearer of ice one
might almost say ! How long will this last ? The eye
always turns to the northward as one paces the bridge.
It is gazing into the future. But there is always the
same dark sky ahead, which means open sea. My plan
was standing its test. It seemed as if luck had been on
our side ever since the 6th of September. We see
' nothing but clean water,' as Henriksen answered from
the crow's-nest when I called up to him. When he was
standing at the wheel later in the morning, and I was on
the bridge, he suddenly said : ' They little think at home
in Norway just now that we are sailing straight for the
Pole in clear water,' ' No, they don't believe we have
got so far.' And I shouldn't have believed it myself if
any one had prophesied it to me a fortnight ago ; but
true it is. All my reflections and inferences on the sub-
ject had led me to expect open water for a good way
farther north ; but it is seldom that one's inspirations
turn out to be so correct. No ice-light in any direction,
not even now in the evening. We saw no land the
whole day; but we had fog and thick weather all morn-
ing and forenoon, so that we were still going at half-
speed, as we were afraid of coming suddenly on some-
thing. Now we arc almost in jy^ north latitude. How
long is it to go on "^ I have said all along that I should

230 FARTHEST NORTH

be glad if we reached 78' ; but Sverdrup is less easily sat-
isfied ; he says over 80° — perhaps 84°, 85°. He even
talks seriously of the open Polar Sea, which he once read
about; he always comes back upon it, in spite of my
lauQ^hinor at him.

" I have almost to ask myself if this is not a dream.
One must have gone against the stream to know what
it means to s:o with the stream. As it was on the
Greenland expedition, so it is here.

" ' Dort ward der Traum zur Wirklichkeit,
Hier wird die Wirklichkeit zum Traum!'

" Hardly any life visible here. Saw an auk or black
guillemot to-day, and later a sea-gull in the distance.
When I was hauling up a bucket of water in the even-
ing to wash the deck I noticed that it was sparkling with
phosphorescence. One could almost have imagined
one's self to be in the south.

" Wednesday, September 20th. I have had a rough
awakening from my dream. As I was sitting at 1 1 a.m.,
looking at the map and thinking that my cup would
soon be full — we had almost reached 78" — there was
a sudden luff, and I rushed out. Ahead of us lay the
edge of the ice, long and compact, shining through the
fog. I had a strong inclination to go eastward, on
the possibility of there being land in that direction ;
but it looked as if the ice extended farther south there,
and there was the probability of being able to reach a

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 231

higher latitude if we kept west ; so we headed that way.
The sun broke through for a moment just now, so we
took an observation, which showed us to be in about 77°
44' north latitude."

We now held northwest along the edge of the ice.
It seemed to me as if there might be land at no great
distance, we saw such a remarkable number of birds of
various kinds. A flock of snipe or wading birds met us,
followed us for a time, and then took their way south.
They were probably on their passage from some land to
the north of us. We could see nothing, as the fog lay
persistently over the ice. Again, later, we saw flocks of
small snipe, indicating the possible proximity of land.
Next day the weather was clearer, but still there was no
land in sight. We were now a good way north of the
spot where Baron von Toll has mapped the south coast of
Sannikoff Land, but in about the same longitude. So it
is probably only a small island, and in any case cannot
extend far north.

On September 21st we had thick fog again, and when
we had sailed north to the head of a bay in the ice, and
could get no farther, I decided to wait here for clear
weather to see if jDrogress farther north were possible.
I calculated that we were now in about 'j'!^h° north
latitude. We tried several times during the day to take
soundings, but did not succeed in reaching the bottom
with 215 fathoms of line.

"To-day made the agreeable discovery that there

212 FARTHEST XORTH

are bugs on board. Must plan a campaign against
them.

"Friday, September 22d. Brilliant sunshine once
again, and white dazzling ice ahead. First we lay still
in the fog because we could not see which way to go;
now it is clear, and we know just as little about it. It
looks as if we were at the northern boundary of the
open water. To the west the ice appears to extend
south again. To the north it is compact and white —
only a small open rift or pool every here and there ; and
the sky is whitish-blue everywhere on the horizon. It is
from the east we have just come, but there we could see
very little ; and for want of anything better to do we
shall make a short excursion in that direction, on the
possibility of finding openings in the ice. If there were
only time, what I should like would be to go east as far
as Sannikoff Island, or, better still, all the way to Bennet
Land, to see what condition things are in there ; but it
is too late now. The sea will soon be freezing, and we
should run a great risk of being frozen in at a dis-
advantageous point."

Earlier Arctic explorers have considered it a necessity
to keep near some coast. But this was exactly what I
wanted to avoid. It was the drift of the ice that I
wished to get into, and what I most feared was being
blocked by land. It seemed as if we might do much
worse than give ourselves up to the ice where we were
— especially as our excursion to the east had proved that

rX.

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 233

following the ice-edge in that direction would soon force
us south again. So in the meantime we made fast to a
great ice-block, and prepared to clean the boiler and shift
coals. " We are lying in open water, with only a few
large floes here and there ; but I have a presentiment
that this is our winter harbor.

" Great bug war to-day. W^e play the big steam hose
on mattresses, sofa-cushions — everything that we think
can possibly harbor the enemies. All clothes are put
into a barrel, which is hermetically closed, except where
the hose is introduced. Then full steam is set on. It
whizzes and whistles inside, and a little forces its way
through the joints, and we think that the animals must
be having a fine hot time of it. But suddenly the barrel
cracks, the steam rushes out, and the lid bursts off with
a violent explosion, and is flung far along the deck.
I still hope that there has been a great slaughter, for
these are horrible enemies. Juell tried the old experi-
ment of setting one on a piece of wood to see if it
would creep north. It would not move at all, so he took
a blubber hook and hit it to make it go ; but it would
do nothing but wriggle its head — the harder he hit the
more it wriggled. ' Squash it, then,' said Bentzen. And
squashed it was.

" Frida3% September 23d. We are still at the same
moorings, working at the coal. An unpleasant contrast
— everything on board, men and dogs included, black
and filthy, and everything around white and bright in

234

FAKTHES2' NORTH

beautiful sunshine. It looks as if more ice were driv-
ing in,

" Sunday, September 24th. Still coal - shifting. Fog
in the morning, which cleared off as the day went on,
when we discovered that we were closely surrounded
on all sides by tolerably thick ice. Between the floes

THE ICE INTO WHICH THE " FRAM WAS FROZEN
(SEPTEMBER 25, 1 893)

{From a Photograph)

lies slush- ice, which will soon be quite firm. There
is an open pool to be seen to the north, but not a
large one. From the crow's-nest, with the telescope, we
can still descry the sea across the ice to the south.
It looks as if we were being shut in. Well, we must
e'en bid the ice welcome. A dead region this ; no life
in any direction, except a single seal {PJioca foetida) in
the water; and on the floe beside us we can see a bear-

VOYAGE THROUGH THE KARA SEA 235

track some days old. We again try to get soundings,
but still find no bottom ; it is remarkable that there
should be such depth here."

Ugh! one can hardly imagine a dirtier, nastier job
than a spell of coal-shifting on board. It is a pity that
such a useful thing as coal should be so black ! What
we are doing now is only hoisting it from the hold and
filling the bunkers with it ; but every man on board
must help, and everything is in a mess. So many men
must stand on the coal-heap in the hold and fill the
buckets, and so many hoist them. Jacobsen is spe-
cially good at this last job ; his strong arms pull up
bucket after bucket as if they were as many boxes of
matches. The rest of us go backward and forward
with the buckets between the main-hatch and the half-
deck, pouring the coal into the bunkers ; and down be-
low stands Amundsen packing it, as black as he can
be. Of course coal-dust is flying over the whole deck;
the dogs creep into corners, black and toussled ; and
we ourselves — well, we don't wear our best clothes on
such days. We got some amusement out of the re-
markable appearance of our faces, with their dark com-
plexions, black streaks at the most unlikely places, and
eyes and white teeth shining through the dirt. Any
one happening to touch the white wall below with his
hand leaves a black five -fingered blot; and the doors
have a wealth of such mementos. The seats of the
sofas must have their wrong sides turned up, else they

236 FARTHES2' NORTH

would bear lasting marks of another part of the body;
and the table-cloth — well, we fortunately do not possess
such a thing. In short, coal - shifting is as dirty and
wretched an experience as one can well imagine in
these bright and pure surroundings. One good thing
is that there is plenty of fresh water to wash with ; we
can find it in every hollow on the floes, so there is
some hope of our being clean again in time, and it is
possible that this may be our last coal-shifting.

" Monday, September 25th. Frozen in faster and
faster ! Beautiful, still weather ; 1 3 degrees of frost last
night. Winter is coming now. Had a visit from a
bear, which was off again before any one got a shot
at it."

CHAPTER VI

THE WINTER NIGHT

It really looked as if we wQre now frozen in for good,
and I did not expect to get the Fram out of the ice till
we were on the other side of the Pole, nearing the
Atlantic Ocean. Autumn was already well advanced ;
the sun stood lower in the heavens day by day, and the
temperature sank steadily. The long night of winter
was approaching — that dreaded night. There was noth-
ing to be done except prepare ourselves for it, and by
degrees we converted our ship, as well as we could, into
comfortable winter quarters ; while at the same time we
took every precaution to assure her against the destruc-
tive influences of cold, drift-ice, and the other forces of
nature to which it was prophesied that we must suc-
cumb. The rudder was hauled up, so that it might not
be destroyed by the pressure of the ice. We had in-
tended to do the same with the screw ; but as it, with its
iron case, would certainly help to strengthen the stern,
and especially the rudder- stock, we let it remain in its
place. We had a good deal of work with the engine,
too; each separate part was taken out, oiled, and laid

238 FARTHEST NORTH

away for the winter; slide-valves, pistons, shafts, were
examined and thoroughly cleaned. All this was done
with the very greatest care. Amundsen looked after
that engine as if it had been his own child ; late and
early he was down tending it lovingly; and we used to
tease him about it, to see the defiant look come into his
eyes and hear him say : " It's all very well for you to
talk, but there's not such another engine in the world,
and it would be a sin and a shame not to take good care
of it." Assuredly he left nothing undone. I don't sup-
pose a day passed, winter or summer, all these three
years, that he did not go down and caress it, and do
something or other for it.

We cleared up in the hold to make room for a joiner's
workshop down there ; our mechanical workshop we had
in the engine-room. The smithy was at first on deck,
and afterwards on the ice ; tinsmith's work was done
chiefly in the chart-room; shoemaker's and sailmaker's,
and various odd sorts of work, in the saloon. And all
these occupations were carried on with interest and
activity during the rest of the expedition. There was
nothing, from the most delicate instruments down to
wooden shoes and axe-handles, that could not be made
on board the Fram. When we were found to be short
of sounding-line, a grand rope-walk was constructed on
the ice. It proved to be a very profitable undertaking,
and was w^ell patronized.

Presently we began putting up the windmill which

THE WINTER NIGHT 241

was to drive the dynamo and produce the electric light.
While the ship was going, the dynamo was driven by
the engine, but for a long time past we had had to be
contented with petroleum lamps in our dark cabins. The
windmill was erected on the port side of the fore-deck,
between the main- hatch and the rail. It took several
weeks to get this important appliance into working
order.

As mentioned on page 71, we had also brought with
us a " horse-mill " for driving the dynamo. I had
thought that it might be of service in giving us exercise
whenever there was no other physical work for us. But
this time never came, and so the "horse-mill " was never
used. There was always something to occupy us ; and
it was not difficult to find work for each man that grave

him sufficient exercise, and so much distraction that the
time did not seem to him unbearably long.

There was the care of the ship and rigging, the in-
spection of sails, ropes, etc., etc. ; there were provisions
of all kinds to be got out from the cases down in the
hold, and handed over to the cook ; there was ice —
good, pure, fresh - water ice — to be found and carried
to the galley to be melted for cooking, drinking, and
washing water. Then, as already mentioned, there was
always something doing in the various workshops. Now
" Smith Lars " had to straighten the long-boat davits,
which had been twisted by the waves in the Kara Sea;
now it was a hook, a knife, a bear-trap, or something

242 FARTHEST NORTH

else to be forged. The tinsmith, again "Smith Lars,"
had to solder together a great tin pail for the ice-melting
in the galley. The mechanician, Amundsen, would
have an order for some instrument or other — perhaps
a new current-gauge. The watchmaker, JVIogstad, would
have a thermograph to examine and clean, or a new
spring to put into a watch. The sailmaker might have
an order for a quantity of dog-harness. Then each man
had to be his own shoemaker — make himself canvas
boots with thick, warm, wooden soles, according to
Sverdrup's newest pattern. Presently there would come
an order to mechanician Amundsen for a supply of new
zinc music-sheets for the organ — these being a brand-
new invention of the leader of the expedition. The
electrician would have to examine and clean the accumu-
lator batteries, which were in danger of freezing, When
at last the windmill was ready, it had to be attended to,
turned according to the wind, etc. And when the wind
was too strong some one had to climb up and reef the
mill sails, which was not a pleasant occupation in this
winter cold, and involved much breathing on fingers and
rubbing of the tip of the nose.

It happened now and then, too, that the ship required
to be pumped. This became less and less necessary as the
water froze round her and in the interstices in her sides.
The pumps, therefore, were not touched from December,
1893, till July, 1S95. The only noticeable leakage dur-
ing that time was in the engine-room, but it was nothing

THE WINTER NIGHT 243

of any consequence : just a few buckets of ice that had
to be hewn away every month from the bottom of the
ship and hoisted up.

To these varied employments was presently added,
as the most important of all, the taking of scientific
observations, which gave many of us constant occupa-
tion. Those that involved the greatest labor were, of
course, the meteorological observations, which were
taken every four hours day and night; indeed, for a
considerable part of the time, every two hours. They
kept one man, sometimes two, at work all day. It was
Hansen who had the principal charge of this department,
and his regular assistant until March, 1S95, was Johan-
sen, whose place was then taken by Nordahl. The
night observations were taken by whoever was on watch.
About every second day, when the weather was clear,
Hansen and his assistant took the astronomical observa-
tion which ascertained our position. This was certainly
the work which was followed with most interest by all
the members of the expedition ; and it was not uncom-
mon to see Hansen's cabin, while he was making his
calculations, besieged with idle spectators, waiting to
hear the result — whether we had drifted north or south
since the last observation, and how far. The state of
feeling on board very much depended on these results.

Hansen had also at stated periods to take observa-
tions to determine the magnetic constant in this un-
known region. These were carried on at first in a

244

FARTHEST NORTH

THE THERMOMETER HOUSE

{F>oi>i a rhotograph)

tent, specially constructed for the purpose, which was
soon erected on the ice ; but later we built him a large
snow hut, as being both more suitable and more com-
fortable.

For the ship's doctor there was less occupation. He
looked long and vainly for patients, and at last had to
give it up and in despair take to doctoring the dogs.

THE WINTER NIGHT 245

Once a month he too had to make his scientific observa-
tions, which consisted in the weighing of each man, and
the counting of blood corpuscles, and estimating the
amount of blood pigment, in order to ascertain the num-
ber of red - blood corpuscles and the quantity of red
coloring matter (haemoglobin) in the blood of each.
This was also work that was watched with anxious
interest, as every man thought he could tell from the re-
sult obtained how long it would be before scurvy over-
took him.

Among our scientific pursuits may also be mentioned
the determining of the temperature of the water and of its
degree of saltness at varying depths; the collection and
examination of such animals as are to be found in these
northern seas ; the ascertaining of the amount of elec-
tricity in the air; the observation of the formation of the
ice, its growth and thickness, and of the temperature of
the different layers of ice; the investigation of the cur-
rents in the water under it, etc., etc. I had the main
charge of this departnient. There remains to be men-
tioned the regular observation of the aurora borealis.
which we had a splendid opportunity of studying. After
I had gone on with it for some time. Blessing undertook
this part of my duties ; and when I left the ship I made
over to him all the other observations that were under
my charge. Not an inconsiderable item of our scientific
work were the soundings and dredgings. At the greater
depths it was such an undertaking that every one had

246 FARTHEST XORTH

to assist ; and, from the way we were obliged to do
it later, one sounding sometimes gave occupation for
several days.

One day differed very little from another on board,
and the description of one is, in every particular of any
importance, a description of all.

We all turned out at eight, and breakfasted on hard
bread (both rye and wheat), cheese (Dutch-clove cheese,
Cheddar, Gruyere, and Mysost, or goat's-whey cheese,
prepared from dry powder), corned beef or corned
mutton, luncheon ham or Chicago tinned tongue or
bacon, cod-caviare, anchovy roe ; also oatmeal biscuits or
English ship-biscuits — with orange marmalade or Frame
Food jelly. Three times a week we had fresh -baked
bread as well, and often cake of some kind. As for our
beverages, we began by having coffee and chocolate day
about; but afterwards had coffee only two days a week,
tea two, and chocolate three.

After breakfast some men went to attend to the dogs
— give them their food, which consisted of half a stock-
fish or a couple of dog-biscuits each, let them loose, or
do whatever else there was to do for them. The others
went all to their different tasks. Each took his turn of
a week in the galley — helping the cook to wash up, lay
the table, and wait. The cook himself had to arrange
his bill of fare for dinner immediately after breakfast, and
to set about his preparations at once. Some of us would
take a turn on the floe to get some fresh air, and to exam-

THE WINTER NIGHT 249

ine the state of the ice, its pressure, etc. At i o'clock
all were assembled for dinner, which generally consisted
of three courses — soup, meat, and dessert ; or, soup, fish,
and meat ; or, fish, meat, and dessert ; or sometimes only
fish and meat. With the meat we always had potatoes,
and either green vegetables or macaroni, I think we
were all agreed that the fare w^as good ; it would hardly
have been better at home ; for some of us it would per-
haps have been worse. And we looked like fatted pigs ;
one or two even began to cultivate a double chin and a
corporation. As a rule, stories and jokes circulated at
table along with the bock-beer.

After dinner the smokers of our company would march
off, well fed and contented, into the galley, which was
smoking-room as well as kitchen, tobacco being tobooed
in the cabins except on festive occasions. Out there
they had a good smoke and chat ; many a story was
told, and not seldom some warm dispute arose. After-
wards came, for most of us, a short siesta. Then each
went to his work again until we were summoned to sup-
per at 6 o'clock, when the regulation day's work was
done. Supper was almost the same as breakfast, except
til at tea was always the beverage. Afterwards there was
again smoking in the galley, while the saloon was trans-
formed into a silent readino--room. Good use was made
of the valuable library presented to the expedition by
generous publishers and other friends. If the kind donors
could have seen us away up there, sitting round the

2;o

FARTHEST NORTH

table at night with heads buried in books or collections
of illustrations, and could have understood how invalua-
able these companions were to us, they would have felt

HENKIKSEN SVERDRUP

A SMOKE IN THE GALLEY OF THE " FRAM

rewarded by the knowledge that they had conferred
a real boon — that they had materially assisted in making
the Frain the little oasis that it was in this vast ice
desert. About half-past seven or eight cards or other
games were brought out, and we played well on into the
night, seated in groups round the saloon table. One or
other of us might go to the organ, and, with the assistance

THE WINTER NIGHT 251

of the crank-handle, perform some of our beautiful pieces,
or Johansen would bring out the accordion and play many
a fine tune. His crowning efforts were " Oh, Susanna!"
and " Napoleon's March Across the Alps in an Open
Boat." About midnight we turned in, and then the night
watch was set. Each man went on for an hour. Their
most trying work on watch seems to have been writing
their diaries and looking out, when the dogs barked, for
any signs of bears at hand. Besides this, every two
hours or four hours the watch had to go aloft or on to
the ice to take the meteorological observations.

I believe I may safely say that on the whole the time
passed pleasantly and imperceptibly, and that we throve
in virtue of the regular habits imposed upon us.

My notes from day to day will give the best idea
of our life, in all its monotony. They are not great
events that are here recorded, but in their very bare-
ness they give a true picture. Such, and no other, was
our life. I shall give some quotations direct from m}^
diary :

" Tuesday, September 25th. Beautiful weather. The
sun stands much lower now; it was 9° above the hori-
zon at midday. Winter is rapidly approaching ; there
are 14^° of frost this evening, but we do not feel it
cold. To-day's observations unfortunately show no par-
ticular drift northward ; according to them we are still
in 78' 50' north latitude. I wandered about over the
floe towards evening. Nothing more wonderfully beau-

252

FAKTJIEST XORTH

tiful can exist than the Arctic night. It is dreamland,
painted in the imagination's most delicate tints; it is
color ethereal ized. One shade melts into the other, so
that you cannot tell where one ends and the other begins,
and yet they are all there. No forms — it is all faint,

"THE SALOON WAS CONVERTED INTO A READING-ROOM "

dreamy color music, a far-away, long-drawn-out melody
on muted strings. Is not all life's beauty high, and
delicate, and pure like this night .-^ Give it brighter
colors, and it is no longer so beautiful. The sky is like
an enormous cupola, blue at the zenith, shading down
into green, and then into lilac and violet at the edges.
Over the ice-fields there are cold violet-blue shadows,

THE WINTER NIGHT 253

with lighter pink tints where a ridge here and there
catches the last reflection of the vanished day. Up in
the blue of the cupola shine the stars, speaking peace, as
they always do, those unchanging friends. In the south
stands a large red-yellow moon, encircled by a yellow
ring and lio^ht o^olden clouds floatinq; on the blue back-
ground. Presently the aurora borealis shakes over the
vault of heaven its veil of glittering silver — changing
now to yellow, now to green, now to red. It spreads, it
contracts again, in restless change; next it breaks into
waving, many-folded bands of shining silver, over which
shoot billows of glittering rays, and then the glory
vanishes. Presently it shimmers in tongues of flame
over the very zenith, and then again it shoots a bright
ray right up from the horizon, until the whole melts
away in the moonlight, and it is as though one heard the
sigh of a departing spirit. Here and there are left a few
waving streamers of light, vague as a foreboding — they
are the dust from the aurora's glittering cloak. But now
it is growing again ; new lightnings shoot up, and the
endless game begins afresh. And all the time this utter
stillness, impressive as the symphony of infinitude. I
have never been able to grasp the fact that this earth
will some day be spent and desolate and empty. To
what end, in that case, all this beauty, with not a creat-
ure to rejoice in it.'* Now I begin to divine it.
This is the coming earth — here are beauty and death.
But to what purpose } Ah, what is the purpose of all

254 FARTHEST NORTH

these spheres ? Read the answer, if you can, in the
starry blue firmament.

"Wednesday, September 27th. Gray weather and
strong wind from the south - southwest. Nordahl, who
is cook to-day, had to haul up some salt meat which,
rolled in a sack, had been steeping for two days in the
sea. As soon as he got hold of it he called out, horri-
fied, that it was crawling with animals. He let go the
sack and jumped away from it, the animals scattering
round in every direction. They proved to be sand-
hoppers, or AiJipkipoda, which had eaten their way into
the meat. There were pints of them, both inside and
outside of the sack. A pleasant discovery ; there will be
no need to starve when such food is to be had by hang-
inor a sack in the water.

"Bentzen is the wag of the party; he is always playing
some practical joke. Just now one of the men came rush-
ing up and stood respectfully waiting for me to speak to
him. It was Bentzen that had told him I wanted him.
It won't be long before he has thought of some new
trick.

" Thursday, September 28th. Snowfall with wind.
To-day the dogs' hour of release has come. Until now
their life on board has been really a melancholy one.
They have been tied up ever since we left Khabarova.
The stormy seas have broken over them, and they have
been rolled here and there in the water on the deck ;
they have half hanged themselves in their leashes, howl-

2 ^

THE WINTER NIGHT 255

ing miserably ; they have had the hose played over them
every time the deck was washed ; they have been sea-
sick ; in bad as in good weather they have had to lie on
the spot hard fate had chained them to, without more
exercise than going backward and forward the length
of their chains. It is thus you are treated, you splendid
animals, who are to be our stay in the hour of need !
When that time comes, you will, for a while at least, have
the place of honor. When they were let loose there was
a perfect storm of jubilation. They rolled in the snow,
washed and rubbed themselves, and rushed about the
ice in wild joy, barking loudly. Our floe, a short time
ago so lonesome and forlorn, was quite a cheerful sight
with this sudden population ; the silence of ages was
broken."

It was our intention after this to tie up the dogs on
the ice.

" Friday, September 29th. Dr. Blessing's birthday, in
honor of which we of course had a fete, our first great
one on board. There was a double occasion for it. Our
midday observation showed us to be in latitude 79° 5''
north ; so we had passed one more degree. We had no
fewer than five courses at dinner, and a more than usual-
ly elaborate concert during the meal. Here follows a
copy of the printed menu :

256 FARTHEST NORTH

' FRAM '

Menu. September 29, 1893

Soupe a la julienne avec des macaroni-dumplings.

Potage de poison {sic) avec des pommes de terre.

Pudding de Nordahl.

Glace du Greenland.

De la table biere de la Ringnaees.

Marmalade intacte.

Music a Dine {sic)

1. Valse Myosotic.

2. Menuette de Don Juan de Mozart.

3. Les Troubadours.

4. College Hornpipe.

5. Die letzte Rose de Martha.

6. Ein flotter Studio Marsch de Phil. Farbach.

7. Valse de Lagune de Strauss.

8. Le Chanson du Nord (Du gamla, du friska. . . . ).

9. Hoch Habsburg Marsch de Krai.

10. Josse Karads Polska.

11. Vart Land, vart Land.

12. Le Chanson de Chaseuse.

13. Les Roses, Valse de Metra.

14. Fischers Hornpipe.

15. Traum-Valse de Millocher.

16. Hemlandssang. 'A le miserable.'

17. Diamanten und Perlen.

18. Marsch de ' Det lustiga Kriget.'

19. Valse de 'Det lustige Kriget.'

20. Priere du Freischiitz.

I hope my readers will admit that this was quite a
fine entertainment to be given in latitude 79° north ; but
of such we had many on board the Fram at still higher
latitudes.

DR. BLESSING IN HIS CABIN

(From a /'hotogra/>h)

THE WINTER NIGHT 259

" Coffee and sweets were served after dinner ; and
after a better supper than usual came strawberry and
lemon ice {alias granitta) and limejuice toddy, without
alcohol. The health of the hero of the day was first
proposed 'in a few well -chosen words'; and then we
drank a bumper to the seventy-ninth degree, which we
were sure was only the first of many degrees to be con-
quered in the same way.

" Saturday, September 30th. I am not satisfied that
the Franis present position is a good one for the winter.
The great floe on the port side to which we are moored
sends out an ugly projection about amidships, which might
give her a bad squeeze in case of the ice packing. We
therefore began to-day to warp her backward into better
ice. It is by no means quick work. The comparatively
open channel around us is now covered with tolerably
thick ice, which has to be hewn and broken in pieces
with axes, ice-staves, and walrus-spears. Then the cap-
stan is manned, and we heave her through the broken
fioe foot by foot. The temperature this evening is
— 12.6'' C. A wonderful sunset.

" Sunday, October ist. Wind from the W.S.W. and
weather mild. We are taking a day of rest, which means
eating, sleeping, smoking, and reading.

" Monday, October 2d. Warped the ship farther
astern, until we found a good berth for her out in the
middle of the newly frozen pool. On the port side we
have our big floe, with the dogs' camp — thirty-five black

26o FARTHEST NORTH

dogs tied up on the white ice. This floe turns a low,
and by no means threatening, edge towards us. We
have good low ice on the starboard too ; and between
the ship and the floes we have on both sides the newly
frozen surface ice, which has, in the process of warping,
also got packed in under the ship's bottom, so that she
lies in a good bed.

*' As Sverdrup, Juell, and I were sitting in the chart-
room in the afternoon, splicing rope for the sounding-
line, Peter* rushed in shouting, 'A bear! a bear!' I
snatched up my rifle and tore out. ' Where is it T
' There, near the tent, on the starboard side ; it came
right up to it, and had almost got hold of them !'

"And there it was, big and yellow, snufling away at the
tent gear. Hansen, Blessing, and Johansen were running
at the top of their speed towards the ship. On to the
ice I jumped, and off I went, broke through, stumbled,
fell, and up again. The bear in the meantime had done
sniffing, and had probably determined that an iron spade,
an ice -staff, an axe, some tent-pegs, and a canvas tent
were too indigestible food even for a bear's stomach.
Anyhow, it was following w^ith mighty strides in the track
of the fugitives. It caught sight of me and stopped,
astonished, as if it were thinking, ' What sort of insect
can thai be ?' I went on to within easy range ; it stood
still, looking hard at me. At last it turned its head a

* Peter Henriksen.

THE WINTER NIGHT 261

little, and I gave it a ball in the neck. Without moving
a limb, it sank slowly to the ice. I now let loose some
of the dogs, to accustom them to this sort of sport, but
they showed a lamentable want of interest in it; and
' Kvik,' on whom all our hope in the matter of bear-
hunting rested, bristled up and approached the dead
animal very slowly and carefully, with her tail between
her legs — a sorry spectacle.

" I must now give the story of the others who made the
bear's acquaintance first. Hansen had to-day begun to
set up his observatory tent a little ahead of the ship, on
the starboard bow. In the afternoon he sot Blessing:
and Johansen to help him. While they were hard at
work they caught sight of the bear not far from them,
just off the bow of the Fram.

" ' Hush ! Keep quiet, in case we frighten him,' says
Hansen.

" ' Yes, yes !' And they crouch together and look at
him.

" ' I think I'd better try to slip on board and announce
him,' says Blessing.

" ' I think you should,' says Hansen.

" And off steals Blessing on tiptoe, so as not to fright-
en the bear. By this time Bruin has seen and scented
them, and comes jogging along, following his nose, tow-
ards them.

" Hansen now began to get over his fear of startling
him. The bear caught sight of Blessing slinking off to the

262 FARTHEST NORTH

ship and set after him. Blessing also was now much less
concerned than he had been as to the bear's nerves. He
stopped, uncertain what to do ; but a moment's reflection
brought him to the conclusion that it was pleasanter to be
three than one just then, and he went back to the others
faster than he had gone from them. The bear followed
at a good rate. Hansen did not like the look of things,
and thought the time had come to try a dodge he had
seen recommended in a book. He raised himself to
his full height, flung his arms about, and yelled with all
the power of his lungs, ably assisted by the others. But
the bear came on quite undisturbed. The situation was
becoming critical. Each snatched up his weapon —
Hansen an ice -staff", Johansen an axe, and Blessing
nothing. They screamed with all their strength, ' Bear !
bear!' and set off for the ship as hard as they could
tear. But the bear held on his steady course to the
tent, and examined everything there before (as we have
seen) he went after them.

" It was a lean he - bear. The only thing that was
found in its stomach when it was opened was a piece of
paper, with the names ' Liitken and Mohn.' This was
the wrapping-paper of a ' ski ' light, and had been left
by one of us somewhere on the ice. After this day
some of the members of the expedition would hardly
leave the ship without being armed to the teeth.

" Wednesday, October 4th. Northwesterly wind yes-
terday and to-day. Yesterday we had —16^, and to-day

" I LET LOOSE SOME OF THE DOGS

THE WINTER NIGHT 265

— 14° C. I have worked all day at soundings and got
to about 800 fathoms depth. The bottom samples con-
sisted of a layer of gray clay 4 to 4^ inches thick, and
below that brown clay or mud. The temperature was,
strangely enough, just above freezing-point ( + 0.18° C.)
at the bottom, and just below freezing-point ( — 0.4° C.)
75 fathoms up. This rather disposes of the story of a
shallow polar basin and of the extreme coldness of the
water of the Arctic Ocean.

" While we were hauling up the line in the afternoon
the ice cracked a little astern of the Fram, and the
crack increased in breadth so quickly that three of us,
who had to go out to save the ice-anchors, were obliged
to make a bridge over it with a long board to get back to
the ship again. Later in the evening there was some
packing in the ice, and several new passages opened out
behind this first one.

" Thursday, October 5th. As I was dressing this
morning, just before breakfast, the mate rushed down to
tell me a bear was in sight. I was soon on deck and
saw him coming from the south, to the lee of us. He
was still a good way off, but stopped and looked about.
Presently he lay down, and Henriksen and I started off
across the ice, and were lucky enough to send a bullet
into his breast at about 310 yards, just as he was mov-
ing off.

"We are making everything snug for the winter and
for the ice - pressure. This afternoon we took up the

266 FARTHEST NORTH

rudder. Beautiful weather, but cold, — 18° C. at 8 p.m.
The result of the medical inspection to-day was the dis-
covery that we still have bugs on board ; and I do not
know what we are to do. We have no steam now, and
must fi.x our hopes on the cold.

" I must confess that this discovery made me feel quite
ill. If bugs got into our winter furs the thing was hope-
less. So the next day there was a regular feast of purifi-
cation, according to the most rigid antiseptic prescriptions.
Each man had to deliver up his old clothes, every stitch
of them, wash himself, and dress in new ones from top to
toe. All the old clothes, fur rugs, and such things, were
carefully carried up on to the deck, and kept there the
whole winter. This was more than even these animals
could stand; 53' C. of cold proved to be too much for
them, and we saw no more of them. As the bug is made
to say in the popular rhyme :

" * Put me in the boiling pot, and shut me down tight ;
But don't leave me out on a cold winter night ! '

" Friday, October 6th. Cold, down to 11° below zero
(Fahr.). To-day we have begun to rig up the windmill.
The ice has been packing to the north of the Frams
stern. As the dogs will freeze if they are kept tied up
and get no exercise, we let them loose this afternoon,
and are going to try if we can leave them so. Of course
they at once began to fight, and some poor creatures
limped away from the battle-field scratched and torn.

2 I

THE WINTER NIGHT 269

But otherwise great joy prevailed ; they leaped, and ran,
and rolled themselves in the snow. Brilliant aurora in
the evening.

" Saturday, October 7th. Still cold, with the same
northerly wind we have had all these last days. I am
afraid we are drifting far south now. A few days ago
we were, according to the observations, in "j^^ 47^ north
latitude. That was 16' south in less than a week. This
is too much ; but we must make it up again ; we must get
north. It means going away from home now, but soon
it will mean going nearer home. What depth of beauty,
with an undercurrent of endless sadness, there is in these
dreamily glowing evenings ! The vanished sun has left
its track of melancholy flame. Nature's music, which
fills all space, is instinct with sorrow that all this beauty
should be spread out day after day, week after week,
year after year, over a dead world. Why ? Sunsets are
always sad at home too. This thought makes the sight
seem doubly precious here and doubly sad. There is
red burning blood in the west against the cold snow —
and to think that this is the sea, stiffened in chains, in
death, and that the sun will soon leave us, and we shall
be in the dark alone ! ' And the earth was without form
and void ;' is this the sea that is to come }

" Sunday, October 8th. Beautiful weather. Made a
snow-shoe expedition westward, all the dogs following.
The running, was a little spoiled by the brine, which
soaks up through the snow from the surface of the ice —

270 FARTHEST NORTH

flat, newly frozen ice, with older, uneven blocks breaking
throueh it. I seated mvself on a snow hummock far
away out ; the dogs crowded round to be patted. My
eye wandered over the great snow plain, endless and
solitary — nothing but snow, snow everywhere.

" The observations to-day ga\'e us an unpleasant sur-
prise; we are now down in 78^ 35' north latitude; but
there is a simple enough explanation of this when one
thinks of all the northerly and northwesterly wind we
have had lately, with open water not far to the south
of us. As soon as everything is frozen we must go north
again ; there can be no question of that ; but none the
less this state of matters is unpleasant. I find some
comfort in the fact that we have also drifted a little
east, so that at all events we have kept with the wind
and are not drifting down westward.

" Monday, October 9th. I was feverish both during
last night and to-day. Goodness knows what is the
meaning of such nonsense. When I was taking water
samples in the morning I discovered that the water-
lifter suddenly stopped at the depth of a little less than
80 fathoms. It was really the bottom. So we have
drifted south again to the shallow water. We let the
weight lie at the bottom for a little, and saw by the line
that for the moment we were drifting north. This was
some small comfort, anyhow.

" All at once in the afternoon, as we were sitting idly
chattering, a deafening noise began, and the whole ship

THE WINTER NIGHT 2JI

shook. This was the first ice -pressure. Every one
rushed on deck to look. The Frani behaved beauti-
fully, as I had expected she would. On pushed the ice
with steady pressure, but down under us it had to go,
and we were slowly lifted up. These ' squeezings ' con-
tinued off and on all the afternoon, and were sometimes
so strong that the Fram was lifted several feet ; but then
the ice could no longer bear her, and she broke it below
her. Towards evenins^ the whole slackened ao^ain, till
we lay in a good-sized piece of open water, and had hur-
riedly to moor her to our old floe, or we should have
drifted off. There seems to be a good deal of move-
ment in the ice here. Peter has just been telling us
that he hears the dull booming of strong pressures not
far off.

" Tuesday, October loth. The ice continues dis-
turbed.

"Wednesday, October nth. The bad news was
brought this afternoon that ' Job ' is dead, torn in pieces
by the other dogs. He was found a good way from the
ship, ' Old Suggen ' lying watching the corpse, so that
no other dog could get to it. They are wretches, these
dogs; no day passes without a fight. In the day-time
one of us is generally at hand to stop it, but at night
they seldom fail to tear and bite one of their comrades.
Poor 'Barabbas' is almost frightened out of his wits.
He stays on board now, and dares not venture on the
ice, because he knows the other monsters would set on

272

FARTHEST NORTH

him. There is not a trace of chivalry about these curs.
When there is a fight, the whole pack rush like wild
beasts on the loser. But is it not, perhaps, the law of

DOGS CHAINED ON THE ICE

nature that the strong, and not the weak, should be pro-
tected ? Have not we human beings, perhaps, been tr}'-
ing to turn nature topsy-turvy by protecting and doing
our best to keep life in all the weak ?

" The ice is restless, and has pressed a good deal
to-day again. It begins with a gentle crack and moan
along the side of the ship, which gradually sounds louder
in every key. Now it is a high plaintive tone, now it
is a grumble, now it is a snarl, and the ship gives a
start up. The noise steadily grows till it is like all the

THE WINTER NIGHT 273

pipes of an organ ; the ship trembles and shakes, and
rises by fits and starts, or is sometimes gently lifted.
There is a pleasant, comfortable feeling in sitting listen-
ing to all this uproar and knowing the strength of our
ship. Many a one would have been crushed long ago.
But outside the ice is ground against our ship's sides,
the piles of broken-up floe are forced under her heavy,
invulnerable hull, and we lie as if in a bed. Soon the
noise begins to die down ; the ship sinks into its old
position again, and presently all is silent as before. In
several places round us the ice is piled up, at one spot
to a considerable height. Towards evening there was a
slackening, and we lay again in a large, open pool.

"Thursday, October 12th. In the morning we and
our floe were drifting on blue water in the middle of a
large, open lane, which stretched far to the north, and in
the north the atmosphere at the horizon was dark and
blue. As far as we could see from the crow's-nest with
the small field-glass, there was no end to the open water,
with only single pieces of ice sticking up in it here and
there. These are extraordinary changes. I wondered
if we should prepare to go ahead. But they had long
ago taken the machinery to pieces for the winter, so
that it would be a matter of time to get it ready for
use again. Perhaps it would be best to wait a little.
Clear weather, with sunshine — a beautiful, inspiriting
winter day — but the same northerly wind. Took sound-
ings, and found 50 fathoms of water (90 metres). We

274 FARTHEST NORTH

are drifting slowly southward. Towards evening the
ice packed together again with much force ; but the
Fram can hold her own. In the afternoon I fished in
a depth of about 27 fathoms (50 metres) with Murray's
silk net,* and had a good take, especially of small crusta-
ceans {Copepoda, Ostracoda, Amphipoda, etc.) and of a
little Arctic worm [Spadelld) that swims about in the sea.
It is horribly difficult to manage a little fishing here. No
sooner have you found an opening to slip your tackle
through than it begins to close again, and you have to
haul up as hard as you can, so as not to get the line
nipped and lose everything. It is a pity, for there are
interesting hauls to be made. One sees phosphores-
cence! in the water here whenever there is the smallest
opening in the ice. There is by no means such a scarc-
ity of animal life as one might expect.

" Friday, October 1 3th. Now we are in the very midst
of what the prophets would have had us dread so much.
The ice is pressing and packing round us with a noise
like thunder. It is piling itself up into long walls, and
heaps high enough to reach a good way up the Frams
rigging; in fact, it is trying its very utmost to grind the
Fram into powder. But here we sit quite tranquil, not

* This silk bag-net is intended to be dragged after a boat or ship to
catch the living animals or plant organisms at various depths. We used
them constantly during our drifting, sinking them to different depths
under the ice, and they often brought up rich spoils.

tThis phosphorescence is principally due to small luminous Crus-
tacea {Copepoda).

IIIIIIMIMlliailllllllllM^^^ III I

WE LAY IN OPEN WATER

{From a photograph)

THE WINTER NIGHT 277

even going up to look at all the hurly-burly, but just
chatting and laughing as usual. Last night there was
tremendous pressure round our old dog- floe. The ice
had towered up higher than the highest point of the
floe and hustled down upon it. It had quite spoiled a
well, where we till now had found good drinking-water,
filling it with brine. Furthermore, it had cast itself
over our stern ice - anchor and part of the steel cable
which held it, burying them so effectually that we had
afterwards to cut the cable. Then it covered our planks
and sledges, which stood on the ice. Before long the '

dogs were in danger, and the watch had to turn out all
hands to save them. At last the floe split in two. This
morning the ice was one scene of melancholy confusion,
gleaming in the most glorious sunshine. Piled up all
round us were high, steep ice walls. Strangely enough,
we had lain on the very verge of the worst confusion,
and had escaped with the loss of an ice-anchor, a piece
of steel cable, a few planks and other bits of wood, and
half of a Samoyede sledge, all of which might have been
saved if we had looked after them in time. But the
men have grown so indifferent to the pressure now that
they do not even go up to look, let it thunder ever so
hard. They feel that the ship can stand it, and so long
as that is the case there is nothing to hurt except the ice
itself. \

" In the morning the pressure slackened again, and
we were soon lying in a large piece of open water, as we

278 FARTHEST NORTH

did yesterday. To-day, again, this stretched far away
towards the northern horizon, where the same dark at-
mosphere indicated some extent of open water. I now
gave the order to put the engine together again ; they
told me it could be done in a day and a half or at most
two days. We must go north and see what there is up
there. I think it possible that it may be the boundary
between the ice-drift the Jcannette was in and the pack
we are now drifting south with — or can it be land ?

" We had kept company quite long enough with the
old, now broken-up floe, so worked ourselves a little way
astern after dinner, as the ice was beginning to draw
together. Towards evening the pressure began again in
earnest, and was especially bad round the remains of our
old floe, so that I believe we may congratulate ourselves
on having left it. It is evident that the pressure here
stands in connection with, is perhaps caused by, the tidal
wave. It occurs with the greatest regularity. The ice
slackens twice and packs twice in 24 hours. The
pressure has happened about 4, 5, and 6 o'clock in the
morning, and almost at exactly the same hour in the
afternoon, and in between we have always lain for some
part of the time in open water. The very great pressure
just now is probably due to the spring-tide ; we had new
moon on the 9th, which was the first day of the press-
ure Then it was just after mid-day when we noticed
it, but it has been later every day, and now it is at

8 P.M."

THE WINTER NIGHT 279

The theory of the ice - pressure being caused to a
considerable extent by the tidal wave has been ad-
vanced repeatedly by Arctic explorers. During the
Frams drifting we had better opportunity than most
of them to study this phenomenon, and our experience
seems to leave no doubt that over a wide region the
tide produces movement and pressure of the ice. It
occurs especially at the time of the spring -tides, and
more at new moon than at full moon. During the in-
tervening periods there was, as a rule, little or no trace
of pressure. But these tidal pressures did not occur
during: the whole time of our drifting. We noticed
them especially the first autumn, while we were in the
neighborhood of the open sea north of Siberia, and
the last year, when the Fram was drawing near the
open Atlantic Ocean ; they were less noticeable while
we were in the polar basin. Pressure occurs here more
irregularly, and is mainly caused by the wind driv-
ing the ice. When one pictures to one's self these
enormous ice -masses, drifting in a certain direction,
suddenly meeting hinderances — for example, ice-masses
drifting from the opposite direction, owing to a change
of wind in some more or less distant quarter-;— it is
easy to understand the tremendous pressure that must
result.

Such an ice conflict is undeniably a stupendous
spectacle. One feels one's self to be in the presence
of titanic forces, and it is easy to understand how

28o FARTHEST NORTH

timid souls may be overawed and feel as if nothing
could stand before it. For when the packing begins in
earnest it seems as though there could be no spot on
the earth s surface left unshaken. First you hear a sound
like the thundering rumbling of an earthquake far away
on the great waste; then you hear it in several places, al-
ways coming nearer and nearer. The silent ice world re-
echoes with thunders ; nature's giants are awakening to
the battle. The ice cracks on every side of you, and be-
gins to pile itself up ; and all of a sudden you too find
yourself in the midst of the struggle. There are bowlings
and thunderings round you ; you feel the ice trembling,
and hear it rumbling under your feet; there is no peace
anywhere. In the semi-darkness you can see it piling and
tossing itself up into high ridges nearer and nearer you
— floes lo, 12, 15 feet thick, broken, and fiung on the top
of each other as if they were feather-weights. They are
quite near you now, and you jump away to save your life.
But the ice splits in front of you, a black gulf opens, and
water streams up. You turn in another direction, but
there through the dark you can just see a new ridge of
moving ice-blocks coming towards you. You try another
direction, but there it is the same. All round there is
thundering and roaring, as of some enormous waterfall,
with explosions like cannon salvoes. Still nearer you it
comes. The floe you are standing on gets smaller and
smaller ; water pours over it ; there can be no escape
except by scrambling over the rolling ice-blocks to get to

THE WINTER NIGHT 281

the other side of the pack. But now the disturbance
begins to calm down. The noise passes on, and is lost
by degrees in the distance.

This is what goes on away there in the north month
after month and year after year. The ice is split and
piled up into mounds, which extend in every direction.
If one could get a bird's-eye view of the ice-fields, they
would seem to be cut up into squares or meshes by a
network of these packed ridges, or pressure-dikes, as we
called them, because they reminded us so much of snow-
covered stone dikes at home, such as, in many parts of
the country, are used to enclose fields. At first sight
these pressure-ridges appeared to be scattered about in
all possible directions, but on closer inspection I was
sure that I discovered certain directions which they
tended to take, and especially that they were apt to run
at right angles to the course of the pressure which
produced them. In the accounts of Arctic expeditions
one often reads descriptions of pressure-ridges or press-
ure-hummocks as high as 50 feet. These are fairy tales.
The authors of such fantastic descriptions cannot have
taken the trouble to measure. During the whole period
of our drifting and of our travels over the ice-fields in
the far north I only once saw a hummock of a greater
height than 23 feet. Unfortunately, I had not the op-
portunity of measuring this one, but I believe I may say
with certainty that it was very nearly 30 feet high. All
the highest blocks I measured — and they were many —

282 FARTHEST NORTH

had a height of 1 8 to 23 feet; and I can maintain with
certainty that the packing of sea ice to a height of over
25 feet is a very rare exception.*

"Saturday, October 14th. To-day we have got on
the rudder; the engine is pretty well in order, and we
are clear to start north when the ice opens to-morrow
morning. It is still slackening and packing quite
regularly twice a day, so that we can calculate on
it beforehand. To-day we had the same open chan-
nel to the north, and beyond it open sea as far as
our view extended. What can this mean } This even-
ing the pressure has been pretty violent. The fioes
were packed up against the Fram on the port side, and
were once or twice on the point of toppling over the rail.
The ice, however broke below ; they tumbled back
again, and had to go under us after all. It is not thick
ice, and cannot do much damage; but the force is some-
thing enormous. On the masses come incessantly without
a pause ; they look irresistible ; but slowly and surely they
are crushed against the Frams sides. Now (8.30 p.m.)
the pressure has at last stopped. Clear evening, spark-
ling stars, and flaming northern lights."

I had finished writing my diary, gone to bed, and

* Markham's account gives us to understand that on the north side
of Grinnell Land he came across hummocks which measured 43 feet.
I do not feel at all certain that these were not in reality icebergs; but it
is no doubt possible that such hummocks might be formed by violent
pressure against land or something resembling it. After our experience,
however, 1 cannot believe in the possibility of their occurring in open sea.

THE WINTER NIGHT 283

was lying reading, in The Origin of Species, about the
struggle for existence, when I heard the dogs out on the
ice making more noise than usual. I called into the
saloon that some one ought to go up and see if it was
bears they were barking at. Hansen went, and came
back immediately, saying that he believed he had seen
some large animal out in the dark. " Go and shoot it,
then," That he was quite ready to do, and went up
again at once, accompanied by some of the others. A
shot went off on deck above my head, then another;
shot followed shot, nine in all. Johansen and Henriksen
rushed down for more cartridges, and declared that the
creature was shot, it was roaring so horribly ; but so far
they had only indistinctly seen a large grayish - white
mass out there in the dark, moving about among the
dogs. Now they were going on to the ice after it.
Four of them set off, and not far away they really did
find a dead bear, with marks of two shots. It was a
young one. The old one must be at hand, and the dogs
were still barking loudly. Now they all felt sure that
they had seen two together, and that the other also
must be badly wounded. Johansen and Henriksen
heard it groaning in the distance when they were out
on the ice again afterwards to fetch a knife they had
left lying where the dead one had lain. The creature
had been dragged on board and skinned at once, before
it had time to stiffen in the cold.

"Sunday, October 15th. To our surprise, the ice

284 FARTHEST NORTH

did not slacken away much during last night after the
violent pressure ; and, what was worse, there was no
indication of slackening in the morning, now that we
were quite ready to go. Slight signs of it showed
themselves a little later, upon which I gave orders to
get up steam ; and while this was being done I took
a stroll on the ice, to look for traces of yesterday
evening. I found tracks not only of the bear that had
been killed and of a larger one that might be the
mother, but of a third, which must have been badly
wounded, as it had sometimes dragged itself on its hind
quarters, and had left a broad track of blood. After
following the traces for a good way and discovering
that I had no weapon to despatch the animal with but
my own fists, I thought it would be as well to return to
the ship to get a gun and companions who would help
to drag the bear back. I had also some small hope
that in the meantime the ice might have slackened,
so that, in place of going after game, we might go
north with the Frain. But no such luck ! So I put on
my snow-shoes and set off after our bear, some of the
dogs with me, and one or two men following. At
some distance we came to the place where it had spent
the night — poor beast, a ghastly night! Here I also
saw tracks of the mother. One shudders to think of her
watching over her poor young one, which must have had
its back shot through. Soon we came up to the cripple,
dragging itself away from us over the ice as best it could.

THE WINTER NIGHT 285

Seeing no other way of escape, it threw itself into a
small water opening and dived time after time. While
we were putting a noose on a rope the dogs rushed
round the hole as if they had gone mad, and it was
difficult to keep them from jumping into the water after
the bear. At last we were ready, and the next time
the creature came up it got a noose round one paw and
a ball in the head. While the others drew it to the
ship, I followed the mother's tracks for some way, but
could not find her. I had soon to turn back to see if
there was no prospect of moving the Fram; but I
found that the ice had packed together again a little at
the very time when we could generally calculate on its
slackening. In the afternoon Hansen and I went off
once more after the bear. We saw, as I expected, that
she had come back, and had followed her daughter's
funeral procession for some way, but then she had
gone off east, and as it grew dark we lost her tracks
in some newly packed ice. We have only one matter
for regret in connection with this bear episode, and
that is the disappearance of two dogs — ' Narrifas ' and
' Fox.' Probably they went off in terror on the first
appearance of the three bears. They may have been
hurt, but I have seen nothing to suggest this. The ice
is quiet this evening also, only a little pressure about
7 o'clock.

"Monday, October i6th. Ice quiet and close. Ob-
servations on the 12th placed us in 78° 5' north latitude.

286 FARTHEST NORTH

Steadily southward. This is almost depressing. The
two runaways returned this morning.

"Tuesday, October 17th. Continuous movement in
the ice. It slackened a little again during the night;
some way off to starboard there was a large opening.
Shortly after midnight there was strong pressure, and
between 11 and 12 a.m. came a tremendous squeeze;
since then it has slackened again a little.

"Wednesday, October i8th. When the meteorolo-
gist, Johansen, was on deck this morning reading the
thermometers, he noticed that the dogs, which are now
tied up on board, were barking loudly down at some-
thing on the ice. He bent over the rail astern, near the
rudder, and saw the back of a bear below him, close in at
the ship's side. Off he went for a gun, and the animal
fell with a couple of shots. We saw afterwards by its
tracks that it had inspected all the heaps of sweepings
round the ship.

" A little later in the morning I went for a stroll on
the ice. Hansen and Johansen were busy with some
magnetic observations to the south of the ship. It was
beautiful sunshiny weather. I was standing beside an
open pool a little way ahead, examining the formation
and growth of the new ice, when I heard a gun go off on
board. I turned, and just caught a glimpse of a bear
making off towards the hummocks. It was Henriksen
who had seen it from the deck coming marching towards
the ship. When it was a few paces off it saw Hansen

THE WINTER NIGHT 287

and Johansen, and made straight for them. By this
time Henriksen had got his gun, but it missed fire
several times. He has an unfortunate liking for smear-
ing the lock so well with vaseline that the spring works
as if it lay in soft soap. At last it went off, and the ball
went through the bear's back and breast in a slanting
direction. The animal stood up on its hind-legs, fought
the air with its fore-paws, then flung itself forward and
sprang off, to fall after about 30 steps; the ball had
srrazed the heart. It was not till the shot went off that
Hansen saw the bear, and then he rushed up and put
two revolver -balls into its head. It was a large bear,
the largest we had got yet.

"About midday I was in the crow's-nest. In spite of
the clear weather I could not discover land on any side.
The opening far to the north has quite disappeared ; but
during the night a large new one has formed quite close
to us. It stretches both north and south, and has now a
covering of ice. The pressure is chiefly confined to the
edges of this opening, and can be traced in walls of
packed ice as far as the horizon in both directions. To
the east the ice is quite unbroken and flat. We have
lain just in the worst pressure.

"Thursday, October 19th. The ice again slackened
a little last night. In the morning I attempted a drive
with six of the dogs. When I had managed to harness
them to the Samoyede sledge, had seated myself on it,
and called ' Pr-r-r-r, pr-r-r-r !' they went off in quite good

288 FARl'HEST NORTH

style over the ice. But it was not long before we came
to some high pack-ice and had to turn. This was hardly
done before they were off back to the ship at lightning
speed, and they were not to be got away from it again.
Round and round it they went, from refuse-heap to refuse-
heap. If I started at the gangway on the starboard side,
and tried by thrashing them to drive them out over the
ice, round the stern they flew to the gangway on the port
side. I tugged, swore, and tried everything I could
think of, but all to no purpose. I got out and tried to
hold the sledge back, but was pulled off my feet, and
dragged merrily over the ice in my smooth sealskin
breeches, on back, stomach, side — just as it happened.
When I managed to stop them at some pieces of pack-ice
or a dust-heap, round they went again to the starboard
gangway, with me dangling behind, swearing madly that
I would break every bone in their bodies when I got at
them. This game went on till they probably tired of
it, and thought they might as well go my way for a
change. So now they went off beautifully across the flat
floe until I stopped for a moment's breathing space. But
at the first movement I made in the sledge they were off
again, tearing wildly back the way we had come. I held
on convulsively, pulled, raged, and used the whip ; but the
more I lashed the faster they went on their own way. At
last I got them stopped by sticking my legs down into
the snow between the sledge-shafts, and driving a strong
seal-hook into it as well. But while I was off my guard

THE WINTER NIGHT

289

for a moment they gave a tug. I lay with my hinder-part
where my legs had been, and we went on at lightning
speed — that substantial part of my body leaving a deep

^Z/?.

MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT DOG DRIVING

[Drawn by A. Block)

track in the snow. This sort of thing went on time after
time. I lost the board I should have sat on, then the
whip, then my gloves, then my cap — these losses not im.
19

290 FARTHEST NORTH

proving my temper. Once or twice I ran round in front
of the dogs, and tried to force them to turn by lashing at
them with the whip. They jumped to both sides and
only tore on the faster ; the reins got twisted round my
ankles, and I was thrown fiat on the sledge, and they went
on more wildly than ever. This was my first experience
in dog driving on my own account, and I will not pretend
that I was proud of it. I inwardly congratulated myself
that my feats had been unobserved.

" In the afternoon I examined the melted water of the
newly formed brownish-red ice, of which there is a good
deal in the openings round us here. The microscope
proved this color to be produced by swarms of small or-
ganisms, chiefly plants — quantities of diatomae and some
algae, a few of them very peculiar in form.

"Saturday, October 21st. I have stayed in to-day
because of an affection of the muscles, or rheumatism,
which I have had for some days on the right side of
my body, and for which the doctor is ' massaging '
me, thereby greatly adding to my sufferings. Have
I really grown so old and palsied, or is the whole
thing imagination } It is all I can do to limp about ;
but I just wonder if I could not get up and run with
the best of them if there happened to be any great
occasion for it : I almost believe I could. A nice
Arctic hero of 32, lying here in my berth ! Have
had a good time reading home letters, dreaming my-
self at home, dreaming of the home-coming — in how

1 o

THE WINTER NIGHT 291

many years? Successful or unsuccessful, what does that
matter?

" I had a sounding taken ; it showed over 73 fathoms
(135 m.), so we are in deeper water again. The sound-
ing-line indicated that we are drifting southwest. I do
not understand this steady drift southward. There has
not been much wind either lately ; there is certainly a
little from the north to-day, but not strong. What can
be the reason of it ? With all my information, all my
reasoning, all my putting of two and two together, I can-
not account for any south -going current here — there
ought to be a north -going one. If the current runs
south here, how is that great open sea we steamed north
across to be explained ? and the bay we ended in
farthest north ? These could only be produced by the
north-going current which I presupposed. The only
thing which puts me out a bit is that west-going current
which we had against us during our whole voyage along
the Siberian coast. We are never going to be carried
away south by the New Siberian Islands, and then west
along the coast of Siberia, and then north by Cape
Chelyuskin, the very way we came ! That would be
rather too much of a good thing — to say nothing of its
being dead against every calculation.

" Well, who cares? Somewhere we must go ; we can't
stay here forever. ' It will all come right in the end,' as
the saying goes ; but I wish we could get on a little faster
wherever we are going. On our Greenland expedition,

292 FARTHEST NORTH

too, we were carried south to begin with, and that ended
well."

" Sunday, October 2 2d. Henriksen took soundings
this morning, and found 70 fathoms (129 m.) of water.
' If we are drifting at all,' said he, 'it is to the east; but
there seems to be almost no movement.' No wind to-
day. I am keeping in my den.

" Monday, October 23d. Still in the den. To-day,
5 fathoms shallower than yesterday. The line points
southwest, which means that we are drifting northeast-
ward. Hansen has reckoned out the observation for the
19th, and finds that we must have got 10 minutes
farther north, and must be in 78° 1 5' N. lat. So at last,
now that the wind has gone down, the north-going cur-
rent is making itself felt. Some channels have opened
near us, one along the side of the ship, and one ahead,
near the old channel. Only slight signs of pressure in
the afternoon.

" Tuesday, October 24th. Between 4 and 5 a.m.
there was strong pressure, and the Fram was lifted up a
little. It looks as if the pressure were going to begin
again ; we have spring-tide with full moon. The ice
opened so much this morning that the Fram was afioat
in her cutting ; later on it closed again, and about 1 1
there was some strong pressure; then came a quiet time;
but in the afternoon the pressure began once more, and
was violent from 4 to 4.30. The Fram was shaken
and lifted up; didn't mind a bit. Peter gave it as his

THE WINTER NIGHT 293

opinion that the pressure was coming from the north-
east, for he had heard the noise approaching from that
direction. Johansen let down the silk net for me about
1 1 fathoms. It was all he could do to get it up again
in time, but it brought up a good catch. Am still keep-
ing in,

" Wednesday, October 25th. We had a horrible press-
ure last night. I awoke and felt the Fra7n being lifted,
shaken, and tossed about, and heard the loud cracking of
the ice breaking against her sides. After listening for a
little while I fell asleep again, with a snug feeling that it
was good to be on board the Fram ; it would be con-
foundedly uncomfortable to have to be ready to turn out
every time there was a little pressure, or to have to go
off with our bundles on our backs like the Tegethoff
people.

" It is quickly getting darker. The sun stands lower
and lower every time we see it ; soon it will disappear
altogether, if it has not done so already. The long, dark
winter is upon us, and glad shall we be to see the
spring; but nothing matters much if we could only begin
to move north. There is now southwesterly wind, and
the windmill, which has been ready for several days, has
been tried at last and works splendidly. We have beau-
tiful electric light to-day, though the wind has not been
especially strong (5-8 m. per second). Electric lamps
are a grand institution. What a strong influence light
has on one's spirits ! There was a noticeable bright-

294 FARTHEST NORTH

ening-up at the dinner-table to-day; the light acted on
our spirits like a draught of good wine. And how fes-
tive the saloon looks ! We felt it quite a great occasion
— drank Oscar Dickson's health, and voted him the best
of good fellows.

" Wonderful moonshine this evening, light as day ;
and along with it aurora borealis, yellow^ and strange in
the white moonlight ; a large ring round the moon — all
this over the great stretch of white, shining ice, here and
there in our neighborhood piled up high by the pressure.
And in the midst of this silent silvery ice - world the
windmill sweeps round its dark wings against the deep-
blue sky and the aurora. A strange contrast: civiliza-
tion making a sudden incursion into this frozen ghostly
world.

"To-morrow is the Frams birthday. How many
memories it recalls of the launch-day a year ago !

" Thursday, October 26th. 54 fathoms (90 m, ) of
water when the soundings were taken this morning.
We are moving quickly north — due north — says Peter.
It does look as if things were going better. Great cel-
ebration of the day, beginning with target -shooting.
Then we had a splendid dinner of four courses, which
put our digestive apparatus to a severe test. The
Fravis health was drunk amidst great and stormy ap-
plause. The proposer's words were echoed by all hearts
w'hen he said that she was such an excellent ship for
our purpose that we could not imagine a better (great

THE WINTER NIGHT 295

applause), and we therefore wished her, and ourselves
with her, long life (hear, hear!). After supper came
strawberry and lemon punch, and prizes were presented
with much ceremony and a good deal of fun ; all being
' taken off ' in turn in suitable mottoes, for the most
part composed by the ship's doctor. There was a prize
for each man. The first prize-taker was awarded the
wooden cross of the Order of the Fram, to wear sus-
pended from his neck by a ribbon of white tape ; the
last received a mirror, in which to see his fallen great-
ness. Smoking in the saloon was allowed this evening,
so now pipes, toddy, and an animated game of whist
ended a bright and successful holiday.

" Sitting here now alone, my thoughts involuntarily
turn to the year that has gone since we stood up there
on the platform, and she threw the champagne against
the bow, saying: ^ Fram is your name!' and the strong,
heavy hull began to glide so gently. I held her hand
tight ; the tears came into eyes and throat, and one
could not get out a word. The sturdy hull dived into
the glittering water; a sunny haze lay over the whole
picture. Never shall I forget the moment we stood
there together, looking out over the scene. And to think
of all that has happened these four last months ! Sepa-
rated by sea and land and ice ; coming years, too, ly-
ing between us — it is all just the continuation of what
happened that day. But how long is it to last .? I
have such difficulty in feeling that I am not to see

296 FARTHEST NORTH

home again soon. When I begin to reflect, I know that
it may be long, but I will not believe it.

" To-day, moreover, we took solemn farewell of the
sun. Half of its disk showed at noon for the last time
above the edge of the ice in the south, a flattened body,
with a dull red sflow, but no heat. Now we are en-
tering the night of winter. What is it bringing us.?'
Where shall we be when the sun returns? No one
can tell. To console us for the loss of the sun we
have the most wonderful moonlight ; the moon goes
round the sky night and day. There is, strange to
say, little pressure just now; only an occasional slight
squeeze. But the ice often opens considerably; there
are large pieces of water in several directions; to-day
there were some good-sized ones to the south.

"Friday, October 27th. The soundings this morn-
ing showed 52 fathoms (95 m.) of water. According
to observations taken yesterday afternoon, we are about
3' farther north and a little farther west than on the
19th. It is disgusting the way we are muddling about
here. We must have got into a hole where the ice
grinds round and round, and can't get farther. And the
time is passing all to no purpose ; and goodness only
knows how long this sort of thing may go on. If only a
good south wind would come and drive us north out of
this hobble ! The boys have taken up the rudder again
to-day. While they were working at this in the after-
noon, it suddenly grew as bright as day. A strange fire-

THE WINTER NIGHT 297

ball crossed the sky in the west — giving a bluish-white
light, they said. Johansen ran down to the saloon to tell
Hansen and me ; he said they could still see the bright
trails it had left in its train. When we got on deck we
saw a bent bow of light in the Triangle, near Deheb.
The meteor had disappeared in the neighborhood of
Epsilon Cygni (constellation Swan), but its light re-
mained for a long time floating in the air like glowing
dust. No one had seen the actual fire-ball, as they had
all had their backs turned to it, and they could not say
if it had burst. This is the second great meteor of
exceptional splendor that has appeared to us in these
regions. The ice has a curious inclination to slacken,
without pressure having occurred, and every now and
then we find the ship floating in open water. This is
the case to-day.

" Saturday, October 28th. Nothing of any impor-
tance. Moonshine night and day. A glow in the south
from the sun.

" Sunday, October 29th. Peter shot a white fox this
morning close in to the ship. For some time lately we
have been seeing fox -tracks in the mornings, and one
Sunday Mogstad saw the fox itself. It has, no doubt,
been coming regularly to feed on the offal of the bears.
Shortly after the first one was shot another was seen ; it
came and smelt its dead comrade, but soon set off again
and disappeared. It is remarkable that there should be
so many foxes on this drift-ice so far from land. But,

298 FARTHEST NORTH

after all, it is not much more surprising than my coming
upon fox-tracks out on the ice between Jan Mayen and
Spitzbergen.

" Monday, October 30th. To-day the temperature has
gone down to 18' below zero { — 2'j'^ C). I took up the
dredge I had put out yesterday. It brought up two
pails of mud from the bottom, and I have been busy all
day washing this out in the saloon in a large bath, to get
the many animals contained in it. They were chiefly
starfish, waving starfish, medusae {Astrophyton\ sea-slugs,
coral insects {Alcyonaria), worms, sponges, shell-fish, and
crustaceans ; and were, of course, all carefully preserved
in spirits.

"Tuesday, October 31st. Forty-nine fathoms (90 m.)
of water to-day, and the current driving us hard to the
southwest. We have good wind for the mill now, and
the electric lamps burn all day. The arc lamp under the
skylight makes us quite forget the want of sun. Oh!
light is a glorious thing, and life is fair in spite of all
privations ! This is Sverdrup's birthday, and we had
revolver practice in the morning. Of course a mag-
nificent dinner of five courses — chicken soup, boiled
mackerel, reindeer ribs with baked cauliflower and po-
tatoes, macaroni pudding, and stewed pears with milk
— Ringnes ale to wash it down.

" Thursday, November 2d. The temperature keeps
at about 22"^ below zero ( — 30^ C.) now; but it does not
feel very cold, the air is so still. We can see the aurora

THE WINTER NIGHT 299

borealis in the daytime too. I saw a very remarkable
display of it about 3 this afternoon. On the south-
western horizon lay the glow of the sun ; in front of it
light clouds were swept together — like a cloud of dust
rising above a distant troop of riders. Then dark
streamers of gauze seemed to stretch from the dust-
cloud up over the sky, as if it came from the sun, or
perhaps rather as if the sun were sucking it in to itself
from the whole sky. It was only in the southwest that
these streamers were dark ; a little higher up, farther
from the sun -glow, they grew white and shining, like
fine, glistening silver gauze. They spread over the
vault of heaven above us, and right away towards the
north. They certainly resembled aurora borealis ; but
perhaps they might be only light vapors hovering high
up in the sky and catching the sunlight } I stood long
looking at them. They were singularly still, but they
were northern lights, changing gradually in the south-
west into dark cloud-streamers, and ending in the dust-
cloud over the sun. Hansen saw them too, later, when
it was dark. There was no doubt of their nature. His
impression was that the aurora borealis spread from the
sun over the whole vault of heaven like the stripes on
the inner skin of an orange.

" Sunday, November 5th. A great race on the ice
was advertised for to-day. The course was measured,
marked off, and decorated with flags. The cock had
prepared the prizes — cakes, numbered, and properly

30O FARTHEST NORTH

graduated in size. The expectation was great ; but it
turned out that, from excessive training during the few
last days, the whole crew were so stiff in the legs that
they were not able to move. We got our prizes all the
same. One man was blindfolded, and he decided who
was to have each cake as it was pointed at. This just
arrangement met with general approbation, and we all
thought it a pleasanter way of getting the prizes than
runninor half a mile for them.

" So it is Sunday once more. How the days drag
past ! I work, read, think, and dream ; strum a little on
the organ ; go for a walk on the ice in the dark. Low
on the horizon in the southwest there is the flush of the
sun — a dark fierce red, as if of blood aglow with all life's
smouldering longings — low and far-off, like the dream-
land of youth. Higher in the sky it melts into orange,
and that into green and pale blue; and then comes deep
blue, star-sown, and then infinite space, where no dawn
will ever break. In the north are quivering arches of
faint aurora, trembling now like awakening longings, but
presently, as if at the touch of a magic wand, to storm
as streams of light through the dark blue of heaven —
never at peace, restless as the very soul of man. I can
sit and gaze and gaze, my eyes entranced by the dream-
glow yonder in the west, where the moon's thin, pale,
silver sickle is dipping its point into the blood; and
my soul is borne beyond the glow, to the sun, so far
off now — and to the home-coming! Our task accom-

THE WINTER NIGHT 30 1

plished, we are making our way up the fjord as fast as
sail and steam can carry us. On both sides of us the
homeland lies smiling in the sun ; and then . . . the
sufferings of a thousand days and hours melt into a
moment's inexpressible joy. Ugh ! that was a bitter
gust — I jump up and walk on. What am I dreaming
about ! so far yet from the goal — hundreds and hundreds
of miles between us, ice and land and ice again. And
we are drifting round and round in a ring, bewildered,
attaining nothing, only waiting, always waiting, for
what 1

" ' I dreamt I la\^ on a grassy bank,
And the sun shone warm and clear ;
I wakened on a desert isle,
And the sky was black and drear.'

" One more look at the star of home, the one that
stood that evening over Cape Chelyuskin, and I creep
on board, where the windmill is turning in the cold
wind, and the electric light is streaming out from the
skylight upon the icy desolation of the Arctic night.

" Wednesday, November 8th. The storm (which we
had had the two previous days) is quite gone down ;
not even enough breeze for the mill. We tried letting
the dogs sleep on the ice last night, instead of bringing
them on board in the eveninsr, as we have been doinsf
lately. The result was that another dog was torn to
pieces during the night. It was ' Ulabrand,' the old
brown, toothless fellow, that went this time. 'Job' and
' Moses ' had gone the same way before. Yesterday

302 FARTHEST NORTH

evening's observations place us in 77' 43' north latitude
and 138^ 8' east longitude. This is farther south than we
have been yet. No help for it; but it is a sorry state of
matters ; and that we are farther east than ever before is
only a poor consolation. It is new moon again, and we
may therefore expect pressure ; the ice is, in fact, already
moving; it began to split on Saturday, and has broken
up more each day. The channels have been of a good
size, and the movement becomes more and more per-
ceptible. Yesterday there was slight pressure, and we
noticed it again this morning about 5 o'clock. To-day
the ice by the ship has opened, and we are almost
afloat.

" Here I sit in the still winter nis^ht on the driftinsf
ice-floe, and see only stars above me. Far off I see the
threads of life twusting themselves into the intricate web
which stretches unbroken from life's sweet morning dawn
to the eternal death-stillness of the ice. Thought follows
thought — you pick the whole to pieces, and it seems
so small — but high above all towers one form. . . .
Why did you take this voyage! . . . Could I do other-
wise ? Can the river arrest its course and run up
hill? My plan has come to nothing. That palace
of theory which I reared, in pride and self-confidence,
high above all silly objections has fallen Hke a house of
cards at the first breath of wind. Build up the most in-
genious theories and you may be sure of one thing — that
fact will defy them all. Was 1 so very sure } Yes, at

THE WINTER NIGHT 303

times; but that was self-deception, intoxication. A se-
cret doubt lurked behind all the reasoning. It seemed
as though the longer I defended my theory, the nearer I
came to doubting it. But no, there is no getting over
the evidence of that Siberian drift-wood.

" But if, after all, we are on the wrong track, what
then .^ Only disappointed human hopes, nothing more.
And even if we perish, what will it matter in the endless
cycles of eternity ?

" Thursday, November 9th. I took temperatures and
sea-water samples to-day every 10 yards from the surface
to the bottom, The depth was 9^ fathoms. An extraor-
dinarily even temperature of 30° Fahr. (—1.5 C.) through
all the layers. I have noticed the same thing before as
far south as this. So it is only polar water here } There
is not much pressure ; an inclination to it this morning,
and a little at 8 o'clock this evening ; also a few squeezes
later, when we were playing cards.

" Friday, November loth. This morning made de-
spairing examinations of yesterday's water samples with
Thornoe's electric apparatus. There must be absolute
stillness on board when this is going on. The men are
all terrified, slip about on tiptoe, and talk in the lowest
possible whispers. But presently one begins to hammer
at something on deck, and another to file in the engine-
room, when the chief's commanding voice is at once
heard ordering silence. These examinations are made
by means of a telephone, through which a very faint

304 FARTHEST NORTH

noise is heard, which dies slowly away; the moment at
which it stops must be exactly ascertained.

" I find remarkably little salt all the way to the bottom
in the water licre ; it must be mixed with fresli water
from the Siberian river.

" There was some pressure this morning, going on till
nearly noon, and we heard the noise of it in several direc-
tions. In the afternoon the ice was quite slack, with a
large opening alongside the port side of the ship. At
half -past seven pretty strong pressure began, the ice
crashing and grinding along the ship's side. About
midnight the roar of packing was heard to the south.

" Saturday, November nth. There has been some
pressure in the course of the day. The newly formed ice
is about 1 5 inches thick. It is hard on the top, but looser
and porous below. This particular piece of ice began
to form upon a large opening in the night between the
27th and 28th October, so it has frozen 15 inches in 15
days. I observed that it froze 3 inches the first nighty
and 5 inches altogether during the three first nights; so
that it has taken 12 days to the last 10 inches."

Even this small observation serves to show that the
formation of ice goes on most easily where the crust is
thin, becoming more and more difiicult as the thickness
increases, until at a certain thickness, as we observed
later, it stops altogether. " It is curious that the pressure
has gone on almost all day — no slackening such as we
have usually observed."

ElJ

7'HE WINTER NIGHT 30S

"Sunday, November 19th. Our life has gone on its
usual monotonous routine since the nth. The wind
has been steadily from the south all week, but to-day
there is a little from N.N.W. We have had pressure
several times, and have heard sounds of it in the south-
east. Except for this, the ice has been unusually quiet,
and it is closed in tightly round the ship. Since the
last strong pressure we have probably 10 to 20 feet of
ice packed in below us.* Hansen to-day worked out
an observation taken rfie day before yesterday, and sur-
prised us with the welcome intelligence that we have
travelled 44' north and a little east since the 8th. We
are now in 78^ 27' north latitude, 139° 23' east longitude.
This is farther east than we have been yet. For any
sake, let us only keep on as we are going !

" The Fram is a warm, cozy abode. Whether the
thermometer stands at 22° above zero or at 22° below
it we have no fire in the stove. The ventilation is ex-
cellent, especially since we rigged up the air sail, which
sends a whole winter's cold in through the ventilator; yet
in spite of this we sit here warm and comfortable, with
only a lamp burning. I am thinking of having the
stove removed altogether; it is only in the way. At least,
as far as our protection from the winter cold is concern-
ed, my calculations have turned out well. Neither do
we suffer much from damp. It does collect and drop

* On a later occasion they bored down 30 feet without reaching the
lower surface of the ice.

3o6 FARTHEST NORTH

a little from the roof in one or two places, especially
astern in the four-man cabins, but nothing in comparison
with what is common in other ships ; and if we lighted
the stove it would disappear altogether. When I have
burned a lamp for quite a short time in ni}- cabin every
trace of damp is gone.* These are extraordinary fellows
for standing the cold. With the thermometer at 22° be-
low zero Bentzen goes up in his shirt and trousers to
read the thermometer on deck.

"Monday, November 27th. The prevailing wind has
been southerly, with sometimes a little east. The tem-
perature still keeps between 13° and 22° below zero; in
the hold it has fallen to 12°."

It has several times struck me that the streamers
of the aurora borealis followed in the direction of the
wind, from the wind's eye on the horizon. On Thurs-
day morning, when we had very slight northeasterly
wind, I even ventured to prophesy, from the direction of
the streamers, that it would go round to the southeast,
which it accordingly did. On the whole there has been
much less of the aurora borealis lately than at the be-
ginning of our drift. Still, though it may have been
faint, there has been a little every day. To night it is
very strong again. These last days the moon has some-

* When we had fire in the stov^es later, especially during the follow-
ing winter, there was not a sign of damp anywhere — neither in saloon
nor small cabins. It was, if anything, rather too dry, for the panels of
the walls and roof dried and shrank considerably.

THE WINTER NIGHT 307

times had rings round it, with mock -moons and axes,
accompanied by rather strange phenomena. When the
moon stands so low that the ring touches the horizon,
a bright field of light is formed where the horizon cuts
the ring. Similar expanses of light are also formed
where the perpendicular axis from the moon intersects the
horizon. Faint rainbows are often to be seen in these
shining light-fields ; yellow was generally the strongest
tint nearest the horizon, passing over into red, and then
into blue. Similar colors could also be distinguished in
the mock-moons. Sometimes there are two laree rines.
the one outside the other, and then there may be four
mock-moons. I have also seen part of a new ring above
the usual one, meeting it at a tangent directly above the
moon. As is well known, these various ring formations
round the sun, as well as round the moon, are produced
by the refraction of rays of light by minute ice crystals
floating in the air.

" We looked for pressure with full moon and spring-
tide on 23d of November; but then, and for several days
afterwards, the ice was quite quiet. On the afternoon of
Saturday, the 25th, however, its distant roar was heard
from the south, and we have heard it from the same
direction every day since. This morning it was very
loud, and came gradually nearer. At 9 o'clock it w^as
quite close to us, and this evening we hear it near us
again. It seems, however, as if we had now got out of
the groove to which the pressure principally confines

308 FARTHEST NORTH

itself. We were regularly in it before. The ice round
us is perfectly quiet. The probability is that the last
severe pressure packed it very tight about us, and that
the cold since has frozen it into such a thick, strono-
mass that it offers great resistance, while the weaker ice
in other places yields to the pressure. The depth of
the sea is increasing steadily, and we are drifting north.
This evening: Hansen has worked out the observations
of the day before yesterday, and finds that we are in
79° ii' north latitude. That is good, and the way we
ought to get on. It is the most northern point we have
reached yet, and to-day we are in all likelihood still far-
ther north. We have made good way these last days,
and the increasing depth seems to indicate a happy
change in the direction of our drift. Have we, perhaps,
really found the right road at last } We are drifting
about 5 a day. The most satisfactory thing is that
there has not been much wind lately, especially not the
last two days; yesterday it was only i metre per second;
to-day is perfectly still, and yet the depth has increased
2 1 fathoms (40 m.) in these two days. It seems as if
there were a northerly current, after all. No doubt many
disappointments await us yet ; but why not rejoice while
fortune smiles ?

" Tuesday, November 28th. The disappointment lost
no time in comino^. There had been a mistake either
in the observation or in Hansen's calculations. An alti-
tude of Jupiter taken yesterday evening shows us to be in

THE WINTER NIGHT 309

76° 36^ north latitude. The soundings to-day showed 74
fathoms (142 m.) of water, or about the same as yester-
day, and the sounding-Hne indicated a southwesterly drift.
However anxious one is to take things philosophically,
one can't help feeling a little depressed. I try to find
solace in a book; absorb myself in the learning of the
Indians — their happy faith in transcendental powers, in
the supernatural faculties of the soul, and in a future life.
Oh, if one could only get hold of a little supernatural
power now, and oblige the winds always to blow from the
south !

" I went on deck this evening in rather a gloomy frame
of mind, but was nailed to the spot the moment I got
outside. There is the supernatural for you — the northern
lights flashing in matchless power and beauty over the sky
in all the colors of the rainbow! Seldom or never have
I seen the colors so brilliant. The prevailing one at first
was yellow, but that gradually flickered over into green,
and then a sparkling ruby-red began to show at the bot-
tom of the rays on the under side of the arch, soon
spreading over the whole arch. And now from the far-
away western horizon a fiery serpent writhed itself up
over the sky, shining brighter and brighter as it came.
It split into three, all brilliantly glittering. Then the
colors changed. The serpent to the south turned almost
ruby -red, with spots of yellow; the one in the middle,
yellow; and the one to the north, greenish white. Sheaves
of rays swept along the side of the serpents, driven

3IO FARTHEST NORTH

through the ether-like waves before a storm-wind. They
sway backward and forward, now strong, now fainter
again. The serpents reached and passed the zenith.
Thousfh I was thinly dressed and shivering with cold, I
could not tear myself away till the spectacle was over,
and only a faintly glowing fiery serpent near the western
horizon showed where it had begun. When I came on
deck later the masses of light had passed northward and
spread themselves in incomplete arches over the northern
sky. If one wants to read mystic meanings into the phe-
nomena of nature, here, surely, is the opportunity.

" The observation this afternoon showed us to be in
78° 38' 42" north latitude. This is anything but rapid
progress.

"Wednesday, November 29th. Another dog has
been bitten to death to-day — ' Fox,' a handsome, power-
ful animal. He was found lying dead and stiff on the ice
at our stern this evening when they went to bring the
dogs in, 'Suggen' performing her usual duty of watching
the body. They are wretches, these dogs. But now I
have given orders that some one must always watch them
when they are out on the ice.

" Thursday, November 30th. The lead showed a
depth of exactly 83 fathoms (i 70 m.) to-day, and it seemed
by the line as if we were drifting northwest. We are
almost certainly farther north now ; hopes are rising,
and life is looking brighter again. My spirits are like
a pendulum, if one could imagine such an instrument

THE WINTER NIGHT iw

giving all sorts of irregular swings backward and for-
ward. It is no good trying to take the thing philo-
sophically ; I cannot deny that the question whether
we are to return successful or unsuccessful affects me
very deeply. It is quite easy to convince myself with
the most incontrovertible reasoning that what really
matters is to carry through the expedition, whether
successful!}^ or not, and get safe home again. I could
not but undertake it ; for my plan was one that I felt
must succeed, and therefore it was my duty to try it.
Well, if it does not succeed, is that my affair } I have
done my duty, done all that could be done, and can
return home with an easy conscience to the quiet hap-
piness I have left behind. What can it matter whether
chance, or whatever name you like to give it, does or
does not allow the plan to succeed and make our names
immortal t The worth of the plan is the same whether
chance smiles or frowns upon it. And as to immor-
tality, happiness is all we want, and that is not to be
had here.

" I can say all this to myself a thousand times ; I can
bring myself to believe honestly that it is all a matter
of indifference to me ; but none the less my spirits
change like the clouds of heaven according as the wind
blows from this direction or from that, or the sound-
ings show the depth to be increasing or not, or the
observations indicate a northerly or southerly drift.
When I think of the many that trust us, think of

312 FARTHEST NORTH

Norway, think of all the friends that gave us their time,
their faith, and their money, the wish comes that they
may not be disappointed, and I grow sombre when our
progress is not what we expected it would be. And
she that gave most — does she deserve that her sacrifice
should have been made in vain ? Ah, yes, we must and
will succeed !

" Sunday, December 3d. Sunday again, with its feel-
ing of peace, and its permission to indulge in the nar-
cotic of happy day-dreams, and let the hours go idly by
without any prickings of conscience.

"To-day the bottom was not reached with over 133
fathoms (250 m.) of line. There was a northeasterly drift.
Yesterday's observation showed us to be in 78° 44' north
latitude, that is 5' farther north than on Tuesday. It is
horribly slow ; but it is forward, and forward we must
go ; there can be no question of that.

" Tuesday, December 5th. This is the coldest day
we have had yet, with the thermometer 31'' below zero
{ — 35.7° C.) and a biting wind from the E.S.E. Obser-
vation in the afternoon shows 78"" 50 north latitude ;
that is 6 farther north than on Saturday, or 2 per day.
In the afternoon we had magnificent aurora borealis
— o-litterinsf arches across the whole vault of the skv
from the east towards west ; but when I was on deck
this evening the sky was overcast : only one star shone
through the cloudy veil — the home star. How I love
it ! It is the first thing my eye seeks, and it is always

THE WINTER NIGHT 313

there, shining on our path. I feel as if no ill could be-
fall us as long as I see it there. . . .

" Wednesday, December 6th. This afternoon the ice
cracked abaft the starboard quarter ; this evening I see
that the crack has opened. We may expect pressure
now, as it is new moon either to-day or to-morrow."

" Thursday, December 7th. The ice pressed at the
stern at 5 o'clock this morning for about an hour. I
lay in my berth and listened to it creaking and grind-
ing and roaring. There was slight pressure again in
the afternoon ; nothing to speak of. No slackening in
the forenoon.

" Friday, December 8th. Pressure from seven till
eight this morning. As I was sitting drawing in the
afternoon I was startled by a sudden report or crash. It
seemed to be straight overhead, as if great masses of ice
had fallen from the rigging on to the deck above my
cabin. Every one starts up and throws on some extra
garment; those that are taking an afternoon nap jump
out of their berths right into the middle of the saloon,
calling out to know what has happened. Pettersen
rushes up the companion-ladder in such wild haste that
he bursts open the door in the face of the mate, who is
standing in the passage holding back ' Kvik,' who has
also started in fright from the bed in the chart -room,
where she is expecting her confinement. On deck we
could discover nothing, except that the ice was in mo-
tion, and seemed to be sinking slowly away from the

3T4 FARTHEST NORTH

ship. Great piles had been packed up under the stern
this morning and yesterday. The explosion was proba-
bly caused by a violent pressure suddenly loosening all
the ice along the ship's side, the ship at the same time
taking a strong list to port. There was no cracking of
wood to be heard, so that, whatever it was, the Fram
cannot have been injured. But it was cold, and we crept
down again.

" As we were sitting at supper about 6 o'clock,
pressure suddenly began. The ice creaked and roared
so along the ship's sides close by us that it was not
possible to carry on any connected conversation ; we
had to scream, and all agreed with Nordahl when he re-
marked that it would be much pleasanter if the pressure
would confine its operations to the bow instead of coming
bothering us here aft. Amidst the noise we caught every
now and again from the organ a note or two of Kjerulf's
melody — ' I could not sleep for the nightingale's voice.'
The hurly-burly outside lasted for about twenty minutes,
and then all was still.

" Later in the evening Hansen came down to give
notice of what really was a remarkable appearance of
aurora borealis. The deck was brightly illuminated by
it, and reflections of its light played all over the ice. The
whole sky was ablaze with it, but it was brightest in the
south ; high up in that direction glowed waving masses
of fire. Later still Hansen came again to say that now
it was quite extraordinary. No words can depict the

THE WINTER NIGHT 31 5

glory that met our eyes. The glowing fire-masses had
divided into glistening, many-colored bands, which were
writhing and twisting across the sky both in the south
and north. The rays sparkled with the purest, most
crystalline rainbow colors, chiefly violet-red or carmine
and the clearest green. Most frequently the rays of the
arch were red at the ends, and changed higher up into
sparkling green, which quite at the top turned darker and
went over into blue or violet before disappearing in the
blue of the sky ; or the rays in one and the same arch
might change from clear red to clear green, coming and
going as if driven by a storm. It was an endless phan-
tasmagoria of sparkling color, surpassing anything that
one can dream. Sometimes the spectacle reached such
a climax that one's breath was taken away ; one felt that
now something extraordinary must happen — at the very
least the sky must fall. But as one stands in breathless
expectation, down the whole thing trips, as if in a few
quick, light scale-runs, into bare nothingness. There is
something most undramatic about such a denouement,
but it is all done with such confident assurance that one
cannot take it amiss ; one feels one's self in the presence
of a master who has the complete command of his instru-
ment. With a single stroke of the bow he descends
lightly and elegantly from the height of passion into
quiet, every-day strains, only with a few more strokes to
work himself up into passion again. It seems as if he
were trying to mock, to tease us. When we are on

3i6 FARTHEST NORTH

the point of going below, driven by 6i degrees of frost
( — 34.7 C), such magnificent tones again vibrate over the
strings that we stay until noses and ears are frozen. For
a finale, there is a wild display of fireworks in every tint
of flame — such a conflagration that one expects every
minute to have it down on the ice, because there is not
room for it in the sky. But I can hold out no longer.
Thinly dressed, without a proper cap and without gloves,
I have no feeling left in body or limbs, and I crawl away
below^

"Sunday, December loth. Another peaceful Sunday.
The motto for the day in the English almanac is : ' He
is happy whose circumstances suit his temper: but he
is more excellent who can suit his temper to any cir-
cumstances' (Hume). Very true, and exactly the phi-
losophy I am practising at this moment. I am lying
on my berth in the light of the electric lamp, eating
cake and drinking beer while I am writing my journal ;
presently I shall take a book and settle down to read
and sleep. The arc lamp has shone like a sun to-day
over a happy company. We have no difficulty now in
distinguishing hearts from diamonds on our dirty cards.
It is wonderful what an effect light has. I believe I am
becoming a fire-worshipper. It is strange enough that
fire-worship should not exist in the Arctic countries.

" ' For the sons of men
Fire is tiie best,
And the sight of the sun.'

THE WINTER NIGHT 317

" A newspaper appears on board now. Framsjaa*
(news of, or outlook from, the Fram) is its name, and our
doctor is its irresponsible editor. The first number was
read aloud this evening, and gave occasion for much
merriment. Among its contents are :

"'WINTER IN THE ICE

(Contribution to the Infant Framsjaa)

Far in the ice there lies a ship, boys,

Mast and sail ice to the very tip, boys ;

But, perfectly clear,

If you listen you can hear,

There is life and fun on board that ship, boys.

What can it be?

Come along and see —

It is Nansen and his men that laugh, boys.

Nothing to be heard at night but glasses' clink, boys.

Fall of greasy cards and counters' chink, boys;

If he won't " declare,"

Nordahl he will swear

Bentzen is stupid as an owl, boys.

Bentzen cool, boys.

Is not a fool, boys ;

"You're another!" quickly he replies, boys.

Among those sitting at the table, boys,

Is "Heika,"t with his body big and stable, boys;

He and Lars, so keen.

It would almost seem

* Apparently modelled on the title of the well - known magazine,
Kringsjaa, which means " A Look Around " or " Survey." Framsjaa
might be translated "The Frani's Lookout."

t The name Peter Henriksen generally went by on board.

318

FARTHEST NORTH

They would stake their lives if they were able, boys.

Amundsen, again.

Looks at these two men,

Shakes his head and sadly goes to bed, boys.*

A LIVELY GAME OF CARDS

{.From a Photograph)

Sverdrup, Blessing, Hansen, and our Mohn.f boys,

Say of "marriage," "This game is our own," boys;

Soon for them, alas!

The happy hour is past;

And Hansen he says, " Come away, old Mohn !" boys.

" It is getting late.

And the stars won't wait.

You and I must up and out alone," boys.

* Refers to the fact that Amundsen hated card-playing more than any-
thing else in the world. He called cards " the devil's playbooks."

t Nickname of our meteorologist, Johansen, Professor Mohn being a
distinguished Norwegian meteorologist.

THE WINTER NIGHT 319

The doctor here on board has nought to do, boys ;

Not a man to test his skill among the crew, boys ;

Well may he look blue,

There's nought for him to do.

When every man is strong and hearty, too, boys.

" Now on the Fram," boys,

He says " I am," boys,

" Chief editor of newspaper for you !" boys.

"'Warning! ! !

" ' I think it is my duty to warn the public that a
travelling watchmaker has been making the round of
this neighborhood lately, getting watches to repair, and
not returning them to their owners. How long is this
to be allowed to go on under the eyes of the authorities }

" ' The watchmaker's appearance is as follows : Middle
height, fair, gray eyes, brown full beard, round shoulders,
and generally delicate-looking.

"'A. JUELL.*

" ' The person above notified was in our ofifice yester-
day, asking for work, and we consider it right to add the
following particulars as completing the description. He
generally goes about with a pack of mongrel curs at his
heels ; he chews tobacco, and of this his beard shows
traces. This is all we have to say, as we did not consider
ourselves either entitled or called upon to put him under

the microscope.

" ' Ed. Fra77isjaa'

* This signature proved to be forged, and gave rise to a lawsuit so-
long and intricate that space does not permit an account of it to be given.

320 FARTHEST NORTJI

" Yesterday's observation placed us in 79° o' north
latitude, 139° 14' east longitude. At last, then, we have
got as far north again as we were in the end of Septem-
ber, and now the northerly drift seems to be steady : 10
minutes in 4 days.

"Monday, December nth. This morning I took a
long excursion to westward. It is hard work struggling
over the packed ice in the dark, something like scram-
bling about a moraine of big boulders at night. Once I
took a step in the air, fell forward, and bruised my right
knee. It is mild to-day, only 9^° below zero (—23° C.j.
This evening there was a strange appearance of aurora
borealis — white, shining clouds, which I thought at first
must be lit up by the moon, but there is no moon yet.
They were light cumuli, or cirro-cumuli, shifting into a
brightly shining mackerel sky. I stood and watched
them as long as my thin clothing permitted, but there
was no perceptible pulsation, no play of flame ; they
sailed quietly on. The light seemed to be strongest in
the southeast, where there were also dark clouds to be
seen. Hansen said that it moved over later into the
northern sky ; clouds came and went, and for a time
there were many white shining ones — 'white as lambs,'
he called them — but no aurora played behind them.

" In this day's meteorological journal I find noted for
4 P.M. : ' Faint aurora borealis in the north. Some dis-
tinct branchings or antlers (they are of ribbon crimped
like blond) in some diffused patches on the horizon in

THE WINTER NIGHT 321

the N.N.E.' 111 his aurora boreahs journal Hansen de-
scribes that of this evening as follows: 'About 8 p.m. an
aurora borealis arch of light was observed, stretching
from E.S.E. to N.W., through the zenith ; diffused quiet
intensity 3-4 most intense in N.W. The arch spread at
the zenith by a wave to the south. At 10 o'clock there
was a fainter aurora borealis in the southern sky ; eight
minutes later it extended to the zenith, and two minutes
after this there was a shining broad arch across the
zenith with intensity 6. Twelve seconds later flaming
rays shot from the zenith in an easterly direction. Dur-
ing the next half-hour there was constant aurora, chiefly
in bands across or near the zenith, or lower in the south-
ern sky. The observation ended about 10.38. The in-
tensity was then 2, the aurora diffused over the southern
sky. There were cumulus clouds of varying closeness
all the time. They came up in the southeast at the be-
ginning of the observation, and disappeared towards the
end of it; they were closest about 10 minutes past 10.
At the time that the broad shininor arch throusfh the
zenith was at its highest intensity the cumulus clouds
in the northwest shone quite white, though we were un-
able to detect any aurora borealis phenomena in this
quarter. The reflection of light on the ice-field was
pretty strong at the same time. In the aurora borealis
the cumulus clouds appeared of a darker color, almost
the gray of wool. The colors of the aurora were yellow-
ish, bluish white, milky blue — cold coloring.' According

322 FARTHEST XORTH

to the meteorological journal there was still aurora bore-
alis in the southern sky at midnight.

"Tuesday, December 12th. Had a long walk south-
east this morning. The ice is in much the same con-
dition there as it is to the west, packed or pressed up
into mounds, with flat floes between. This evening the
dogs suddenly began to make a great commotion on
deck. We were all deep in cards, some playing whist,
others ' marriage.' I had no shoes on, so said that
some one else must go up and see what was the mat-
ter. Mogstad went. The noise grew worse and worse.
Presently Mogstad came down and said that all the dogs
that could get at the rail were up on it, barking out
into the dark towards the north. He was sure there
must be an animal of some sort there, but perhaps it
was only a fox, for he thought he had heard the bark
of a fox far in the north; but he was not sure. Well,
- — it must be a devil of a fox to excite the dogs like
that. As the disturbance continued, I at last went up
myself, followed by Johansen. From different positions
we looked long and hard into the darkness in the
direction in which the doo;s were barkincj, but we
could see nothing moving. That something must be
there was quite certain ; and I had no doubt that it
was a bear, for the dogs were almost beside themselves.
' Pan ' looked up into my face with an odd expression,
as if he had something important to tell me, and then
jumped up on the rail and barked away to the north.

THE WINTER NIGHT 323

The dogs' excitement was quite remarkable ; they had
not been so keen when the bear was close in to the
side of the ship. However, I contented myself with re-
marking that the thing to do would be to loose some
dogs and go north with them over the ice. But these
wretched dogs won't tackle a bear, and besides it is so
dark that there is hardly a chance of finding anything.
If it is a bear he will come again. At this season, when
he is so hungry, he will hardly go right away from all the
good food for him here on board, I struck about with
my arms to get a little heat into me, then went below
and to bed. The dogs w^ent on barking, sometimes
louder than before. Nordahl, whose watch it was, went
up several times, but could discover no reason for it.
As I was lying reading in my berth I heard a peculiar
sound; it was like boxes being dragged about on deck,
and there was also scraping, like a dog that wanted to
get out, scratching violently at a door. I thought of
' Kvik,' who was shut up in the chart-room. I called
into the saloon to Nordahl that he had better go up
again and see what this new noise was. He did so, but
came back saying that there was still nothing to be seen.
It was difiFicult to sleep, and I lay long tossing about.
Peter came on watch. I told him to go up and turn the
air-sail to the wdnd, to make the ventilation better. He
was a good time on deck doing this and other things,
but he also could see no reason for the to-do the dogs
were still making. He had to go forward, and then

324 FARTHEST NORTH

noticed that tlie three dogs nearest the starboard gang-
way were missing. He came down and told me, and
we agreed that possibly this might be what all the ex-
citement was about ; but never before had they taken it
so to heart when some of their number had run away.
At last I fell asleep, but heard them in my sleep for a
long time.

"Wednesday, December 13th. Before I was rightly
awake this morning I heard the dogs 'at it ' still, and
the noise went on all the time of breakfast, and had, I
believe, s^one on all nisfht. After breakfast Mosfstad
and Peter went up to feed the wretched creatures and
let them loose on the ice. Three were still missing.
Peter came down to get a lantern ; he thought he might
as well look if there were any tracks of animals. Jacob-
sen called after him that he had better take a gun. No,
he did not need one, he said. A little later, as I was sit-
ting sorrowfully absorbed in the calculation of how much
petroleum we had used, and how short a time our sup-
ply would last if we went on burning it at the same rate,
I heard a scream at the top of the companion. ' Come
with a gun !' In a moment I was in the saloon, and
there was Peter tumbling in at the door, breathlessly
shouting, ' A gun ! a gun !' The bear had bitten him
in the side. I was thankful that it was no worse.
Hearing him put on so much dialect,* I had thought

* He says " ei borsja " for " a gun " instead of " en bosse."

'72

THE WINTER NIGHT 325

it was a matter of life and death. I seized one gun,
he another, and up we rushed, the mate with his gun
after us. There was not much difificulty in knowing
in what direction to turn, for from the rail on the
starboard side came confused shouts of human voices,
and from the ice below the gangway the sound of a
frightful uproar of dogs. I tore out the tow-plug at the
muzzle of my rifle, then up with the lever and in with a
cartridge ; it was a case of hurry. But, hang it ! there is
a plug in at this end too. I poked and poked, but could
not get a grip of it. Peter screamed : ' Shoot, shoot !
Mine won't go off! He stood clicking and clicking, his
lock full of frozen vaseline again, w^hile the bear lay chew-
ing at a dog just below us at the ship's side. Beside me
stood the mate, groping after a tow-plug which he also
had shoved down into his gun, but now he flung the gun
angrily away and began to look round the deck for a
walrus spear to stick the bear with. Our fourth man,
Mogstad, was waving an empty rifle (he had shot away
his cartridges), and shouting to some one to shoot the
bear. Four men, and not one that could shoot, although
we could have prodded the bear's back with our gun-
barrels. Hansen, making a fifth, was lying in the pas-
sage to the chart-room, groping with his arm through
a chink in the door for cartridges ; he could not get the
door open because of ' Kvik's ' kennel. At last Johan-
sen appeared and sent a ball straight down into the
bear's hide. That did some good. The monster let go

326 FARTHEST NORTH

the doo" and gave a growl. Another shot flashed and
hissed down on the same spot. One more, and we saw
the white dog the bear had under him jump up and run
off, while the other dogs stood round, barking. Another
shot still, for the animal began to stir a little. At this
moment my plug came out, and I gave him a last ball
throuQfh the head to make sure. The dos^s had crowd-
ed round barking as long as he moved, but now that
he lay still in death they drew back terrified. They
probably thought it was some new ruse of the enemy.
It was a little thin one-year-old bear that had caused all
this terrible commotion.

"While it was being flayed I went off in a north-
westerly direction to look for the dogs that were still
missing. I had not gone far when I noticed that the
dogs that were following me had caught scent of some-
thing to the north and wanted to go that way. Soon
they got frightened, and I could not get them to go on ;
they kept close in to my side or slunk behind me. I
held my gun ready, while I crawled on all-fours over the
pack-ice, which was anything but level. I kept a steady
lookout ahead, but it was not far my eyes could pierce in
that darkness. I could only just see the dogs, like black
shadows, when they were a few steps away from me. I
expected every moment to see a huge form rise among
the hummocks ahead, or come rushing towards me. The
doss sot more and more cautious ; one or two of them
sat down, but they probably felt that it would be a shame

THE WINTER NIGHT 327

to let me go on alone, so followed slowly after. Terrible
ice to force one's way over. Crawling along on hands
and knees does not put one in a very convenient posi-
tion to shoot from if the bear should make a sudden
rush. But unless he did this, or attacked the dogs, I
had no hope of getting him. We now came out on
some flat ice. It was only too evident that there must
be something quite near now. I went on, and presently
saw a dark object on the ice in front of me. It was not
unlike an animal. I bent down — it was poor ' Johan-
sen's Friend,' the black dog with the white tip to his tail,
in a sad state, and frozen stiff. Beside him was some-
thing else dark. I bent down again and found the sec-
ond of the missing dogs, brother of the corpse-watcher
' Suggen.' This one was almost whole, only eaten a
little about the head, and it was not frozen quite stiff.
There seemed to be blood all round on the ice. I
looked about in every direction, but there was nothing
more to be seen. The dogs stood at a respectful dis-
tance, staring and sniffing in the direction of their dead
comrades. Some of us went, not long after this, to fetch
the do2:s' carcasses, taking a lantern to look for bear
tracks, in case there had been some big fellows along
with the little one. We scrambled on among the pack-
ice. ' Come this way with the lantern, Bentzen ; I
think I see tracks here.' Bentzen came, and we turned
the light on some indentations in the snow; they were
bear -paw marks, sure enough, but only the same little

328 FARTHEST NORTH

fellow's. ' Look ! the brute has been dragging a dog
after him here.' By the liglit of the lantern we traced
the blood-marked path on among the hummocks. We
found the dead dogs, but no footprints except small ones,
which we all thought must be those of our little bear.
' Svarten,' alias ' Johansen's Friend,' looked bad in the
lantern-light. Flesh and skin and entrails were gone;
there was nothing to be seen but a bare breast and back-
bone, with some stumps of ribs. It was a pity that the
fine strong dog should come to such an end. He had
just one fault : he was rather bad-tempered. He had a
special dislike to Johansen ; barked and showed his
teeth whenever he came on deck or even opened a door,
and when he sat whistling in the top or in the crow's-
nest these dark winter days the ' Friend ' would answer
with a howl of rage from far out on the ice. Johansen
bent down with the lantern to look at the remains.

'"Are you glad, Johansen, that your enemy is done
for.?'

" ' No, I am sorry.'

" ' Why ?'

" ' Because we did not make it up before he died.'

"And we went on to look for more bear- tracks, but
found none; so we took the dead dogs on our backs and
turned homeward.

" On the way I asked Peter what had really happened
with him and the bear. ' Well, you see,' said he, ' when
I came along with the lantern we saw a few drops of

THE WINTER NIGHT 329

blood by the gangway ; but that might quite well have
been a dog that had cut itself. On the ice below the
gangway we saw some bear-tracks, and we started away
west, the whole pack of dogs with us, running on far
ahead. When we had got away a bit from the ship,
there was suddenly an awful row in front, and it wasn't
long before a great beast came rushing at us, with the
whole troop of dogs around it. As soon as we saw what
it was, we turned and ran our best for the ship. Mog-
stad, you see, had moccasins (komager) on, and knew his
way better and got there before me. I couldn't get
along so fast with my great wooden shoes, and in my
confusion I got right on to the big hummock to the west
of the ship's bow, you know. I turned here and lighted
back to see if the bear was behind me, but I saw nothing
and pushed on again, and in a minute these slippery
wooden shoes had me flat on my back among the hum-
mocks. I was up again quick enough ; but when I got
down on to the flat ice close to the ship I saw something
coming straight for me on the right-hand side. First I
thought it was a dog — it's not so easy to see in the dark,
you know. I had no time for a second thought, for the
beast jumped on me and bit me in the side. I had lifted
my arm like this, you see, and so he caught me here,
right on the hip. He growled and hissed as he bit.'

'"What did you think then, Peter?"

"'What did I think? I thought it was all up with
me. What was I to do ? I had neither gun nor knife.

330

FAR THES T NOR TH

But I took the lantern and gave liim such a whack on
the head with it that the thing broke, and went flying
away over the ice. The moment he felt the blow he sat
down and looked at me. I was just taking to my heels

" ' I TOOK THE LANTERN AND GAVE HIM SUCH A WHACK
ON THE HEAD WITH IT ' "

(Drawn by H. Egidius)

when he got up ; I don't know whether it was to grip me
again or what it was for, but anyhow at that minute he
caught sight of a dog coming and set off after it, and I
got on board.'

" ' Did you scream, Peter.?'

THE WINTER NIGHT 331

" ' Scream ! I screamed with all my might.'
" And apparently this was true, for he was quite hoarse.
" ' But where was Mogstad all this time ?'
" ' Well, you see, he had reached the ship long be-
fore me, but he never thought of running down and
giving the alarm, but takes his gun from the round-
house wall and thinks he'll manage all right alone ; but
his gun wouldn't go off, and the bear would have had
time to eat me up before his nose.'

" We were now near the ship, and Mogstad, who had
heard the last part of the story from the deck, cor-
rected it in so far that he had just reached the gang-
way when Peter began to roar. He jumped up and fell
back three times before he got on board, and had no
time to do anything then but seize his gun and go to
Peters assistance.

" When the bear left Peter and rushed after the
dogs he soon had the whole pack about him again.
Now he would make a spring and get one below him ;
but then all the rest would set upon him and jump
on his back, so that he had to turn to defend him-
self. Then he would spring upon another dog, and
the whole pack would be on him again. And so the
dance went on, backward and forward over the ice,
until they were once more close to the ship. A dog
stood there, below the gangway, wanting to get on
board ; the bear made a spring on it, and it was there,
by the ship's side, that the villain met his fate.

332 FARTHEST NORTH

" An examination on board showed that the hook of
' Svartcn's ' leash was pulled out quite straight ; ' Gam-
melen's ' was broken through ; but the third dog's was
only wrenched a little; it hardly looked as if the bear
had done it. I had a slight hope that this dog might
still be in life, but, though we searched well, we could
not find it.

" It was altogether a deplorable story. To think that
we should have let a bear scramble on board like this,
and should have lost three dogs at once ! Our dogs are
dwindling down ; we have only 26 now. That was a
wily demon of a bear, to be such a little one. He had
crawled on board by the gangway, shoved away a box
that was standing in front of it, taken the dog that stood
nearest, and gone off with it. When he had satisfied the
first pangs of his hunger, he had come back and fetched
No. 2, and, if he had been allowed, he would have con-
tinued the performance until the deck was cleared of
dogs. Then he would probably have come bumping
down-stairs ' and beckoned wath cold hand ' in at the gal-
ley door to Juell. It must have been a pleasant feeling
for ' Svarten ' to stand there in the dark and see the bear
come creeping in upon him.

" When I went below after this bear affair, Juell said
as I passed the galley door, 'You'll see that "Kvik" will
have her pups to-day ; for it's ahvays the way here on
board, that things happen together.' And, sure enough,
when we were sitting in the saloon in the evening, Mog-

THE WINTER NIGHT 333

stad, who generally plays ' master of the hounds,' came
and announced the arrival of the first. Soon there was
another, and then one more. This news was a little
balsam to our wounds. ' Kvik ' has got a good warm
box, lined w^ith fur, up in the passage on the starboard ; it
is so warm there that she is lying sweating, and we hope
that the young ones will live, in spite of 54 degrees of
frost. It seems this evening as if every one had some
hesitation in going out on the ice unarmed. Our bayonet-
knives have been brought out, and I am providing myself
with one. I must say that I felt quite certain that we
should find no bears as far north as this in the middle of
winter; and it never occurred to me, in making: lone ex-
cursions on the ice without so much as a penknife in my
pocket, that I was liable to encounters with them. But,
after Peter's experience, it seems as if it might be as well
to have, at any rate, a lantern to hit them with. The
long bayonet-knife shall accompany me henceforth.

" They often chaffed Peter afterwards about having
screamed so horribly when the bear seized him. ' H'm !
I wonder,' said he, ' if there aren't others that would
have screeched just as loud. I had to yell after the
fellows that were so afraid of frightening the bear that
when they ran they covered seven yards at each stride.'

"Thursday, December 14th. 'Well, Mogstad, how
many pups have you now T I asked at breakfast.
' There are five now.' But soon after he came down to
tell me that there were at least twelve. Gracious ! that

334 FARTHEST NORTH

is s:ood N'alue for what we have lost. But we were
almost as pleased when Johansen came down and said
that he heard tlie missing dog howling on the ice far
away to the northw^est Several of us went up to listen,
and we could all hear him quite well ; but it sounded
as if he were sitting still, howling in despair. Perhaps
he was at an opening in the ice that he could not get
across. Blessing had also heard him during his night-
w^atch, but then the sound had come more from a south-
westerly direction. When Peter went after breakfast to
feed the dogs, there was the lost one, standing below
the gangway wanting" to get on board. Hungry he was
— he dashed straight into the food-dish — but otherwise
hale and hearty.

" This evening Peter came and said that he was cer-
tain he had heard a bear moving about and pawing the
ice; he and Pettersen had stood and listened to him
scraping at the snow crust. I put on my ' pesk ' (a fur
blouse), got hold of my double-barrelled rifle, and w^nt
on deck. The whole crew were collected aft, gazing out
into the night. We let loose ' Ulenka ' and ' Pan,' and
went in the direction where the bear was said to be. It
was pitch-dark, but the dogs w^ould find the tracks if
there was anything there. Hansen thought he had seen
something moving about the hummock near the ship,
but w'e found and heard nothing, and, as several of the
others had by this time come out on the ice and could
also discover nothing, we scrambled on board again. It

THE WINTER NIGHT 335

is extraordinary all the sounds that one can fancy one
hears out on that great, still space, mysteriously lighted
by the twinkling stars.

"Friday, December 15th. This morning Peter saw
a fox on the ice astern, and he saw it again later, when
he was out with the dogs. There is something remark-
able about this appearance of bears and foxes now, after
our seeing no life for so long. The last time we saw a
fox we were far south of this, possibly near Sannikoff
Land. Can we have come into the neighborhood of
land again ?

" I inspected ' Kvik's' pups in the afternoon. There
were thirteen, a curious coincidence — thirteen pups on
December 13th, for thirteen men. Five were killed;
' Kvik ' can manage eight, but more would be bad for
her. Poor mother ! she was very anxious about her
young ones — wanted to jump up into the box beside
them and take them from us. And you can see that
she is very proud of them.

" Peter came this evening and said that there must be a
ghost on the ice, for he heard exactly the same sounds of
walking and pawing as yesterday evening. This seems
to be a populous region, after all.

"According to an observation taken on Tuesday we
must be pretty nearly in 79^ 8' north latitude. That
was 8 minutes' drift in the three days from Saturday; we
are getting on better and better.

" Why will it not snow .'' Christmas is near, and what

336

FARTIIES2' NORTH

is Christmas without snow, thickly falling snow ? We
have not had one snowfall all the time we have been
drifting. The hard grains that come down now and
again are nothing. Oh the beautiful white snow, falling
so gently and silently, softening every hard outline with
its sheltering purity! There is nothing more deliciously
restful, soft, and white. This snowless ice -plain is like

A NOCTURNAL VISITANT

(By H. Egidiu5,/rom a Photograph)

a life without love — nothing to soften it. The marks of
all the battles and pressures of the ice stand forth just
as when they were made, rugged and difficult to move

THE WINTER NIGHT 337

among. Love is life's snow. It falls deepest and softest
into the gashes left by the fight — whiter and purer than
snow itself. What is life without love } It is like this
ice — a cold, bare, rugged mass, the wind driving it and
rending it and then forcing it together again, nothing to
cover over the open rifts, nothing to break the violence
of the collisions, nothing to round away the sharp cor-
ners of the broken floes — nothing, nothing but bare, rug-
ged drift-ice.

"Saturday, December i6th. In the afternoon Peter
came quietly into the saloon, and said that he heard all
sorts of noises on the ice. There was a sound to the
north exactly like that of ice packing against land, and
then suddenly there was such a roar through the air that
the dogs started up and barked. Poor Peter! They
laucjh at him when he comes down to Sfive an account of
his many observations ; but there is not one among us as
sharp as he is.

" Wednesday, December 20th. As I was sitting at
breakfast, Peter came roaring that he believed he had
seen a bear on the ice, ' and that " Pan " set off the
moment he was loosed.' I rushed on to the ice with my
gun. Several men were to be seen in the moonlight, but
no bear. It was long before ' Pan ' came back ; he had
followed him far to the northwest.

"Sverdrup and 'Smith Lars' in j^artnership have made
a great bear-trap, which was put out on the ice to-day.
As I was afraid of more dosrs than bears beinof caught in

338 FARTHEST NORTH

it, it was hung from a gallows, too high for the dogs to
jump up to the piece of blubber which hangs as bait
right in the mouth of the trap. All the dogs spend the
evenins: now sittins: on the rail barkim^ at this new man
they see out there on the ice in the moonlight.

" Thursday, December 21st. It is extraordinary, after
all, how the time passes. Here we are at the shortest
day, though we have no day. But now we are moving
on to lieht and summer ac^ain. We tried to sound to-
day; had out 2100 metres {over 1 100 fathoms) of line
without reaching the bottom. We have no more line ;
what is to be done ? Who could have guessed that we
should find such deep water } There has been an arch
of light in the sky all day, opposite the moon; so it is a
lunar rainbow, but without color, so far as I have been
able to see.

" Friday, December 2 2d. A bear was shot last night.
Jacobsen saw it first, during his watch. He shot at it.
It made off; and he then went down and told about
it in the cabin. Mogstad and Peter came on deck ;
Sverdrup was called, too, and came up a little later.
They saw the bear on his way towards the ship again ;
but he suddenly caught sight of the gallows with the trap
on the ice to the west, and went off there. He looked
well at the apparatus, then raised himself cautiously on
his hind-legs, and laid his right paw on the cross-beam
just beside the trap, stared for a little, hesitating, at
the delicious morsel, but did not at all like the ugly jaws

THE WINTER AUGHT

341

round it. Sverdrup was by this time out at the deck-
house, watching in the sparkling moonshine. His heart
was jumping — he expected every moment to hear the
snap of his trap. But the bear shook his head suspi-

" ME STARED, HESITATING, AT THE DELICIOUS MORSEL

{Drazvit by H. Egh/iiis)

ciously, lowered himself cautiously on to all-fours again,
and sniffed carefully at the wire that the trap was fast-
ened by, following it along to where it was made fast
to a ^reat block of ice. He went round this, and saw

342 FARTHEST NORTH

how cleverly it was all arranged, then slowly followed the
wire back, raised himself up as before, with his paw on
the beam of the gallows, had a long look at the trap,
and shook his head again, probably saying to himself,
' These wily fellows have planned this very cleverly for
me.' Now he resumed his march to the ship. When
he was within 60 paces of the bow Peter fired. The
bear fell, but jumped up and again made off. Jacobsen,
Sverdrup, and Mogstad all fired now, and he fell among
some hummocks. He was flayed at once, and in the
skin there was only the hole of one ball, which had gone
through him from behind the shoulder-blade. Peter,
Jacobsen, and Mogstad all claimed this ball. Sverdrup
gave up his claim, as he had stood so far astern.
Mogstad, seeing the bear fall directly after his shot,
called out, 'I gave him that one'; Jacobsen swears that
it was he that hit ; and Bentzen, who was standing look-
ing on, is prepared to take his oath anywhere that it was
Peter's ball that did the deed. The dispute upon this
weighty point remained unsettled during the whole course
of the expedition.

" Beautiful moonliorht. Pressure in several directions.
To-day we carried our supply of gun-cotton and cannon
and rifle pow^der on deck. It is safer there than in the
hold. In case of fire or other accident, an explosion
in the hold might blow the ship's sides out and send
us to the bottom before we had time to turn round.
Some we put on the forecastle, some on the bridge.

THE WINTER NIGHT 343

From these places it would be quickly thrown on to
the ice.

"Saturday, December 23d. What we call in Nor-
way ' Little Christmas - eve.' I went a long way west
this morning, coming home late. There was packed up
ice everywhere, with flat floes between. I was turned
by a newly formed opening in the ice, which I dared
not cross on the thin layer of fresh ice. In the after-
noon, as a first Christmas entertainment, we tried an ice-
blasting with four prisms of gun-cotton. A hole was
made with one of the large iron drills we had brought
with us for this purpose, and the charge, with the end of
the electric connecting wire, was sunk about a foot below
the surface of the ice. Then all retired, the knob was
touched, there was a dull crash, and water and pieces of
ice were shot up into the air. Although it was 60 yards
off, it gave the ship a good jerk that shook everything on
board, and brought the hoar-frost down from the rigging.
The explosion blew a hole through the four-feet-thick ice,
but its only other effect was to make small cracks round
this hole.

" Sunday, December 24th (Christmas-eve), 67 degrees
of cold { — 2)1° C.). Glittering moonlight and the end-
less stillness of the Arctic night. I took a solitary stroll
over the ice. The first Christmas-eve, and how far away !
The observation shows us to be in 79° i \' north latitude.
There is no drift. Two minutes farther south than six
days ago."

344 FARTHEST NORTH

There are no further particulars given of this day in
the diary ; but when I think of it, how clearly it all comes
back to me ! There was a peculiar elevation of mood
on board that was not at all common among us. Every
man's inmost thoughts were with those at home; but his
comrades were not to know that, and so there was more
joking and laughing than usual. All the lamps and lights
we had on board were lit, and every corner of the saloon
and cabins was brilliantly illuminated. The bill of fare
for the day, of course, surpassed any previous one —
food was the chief thing we had to hold festival with.
The dinner was a very fine one indeed ; so was the
supper, and after it piles of Christmas cakes came on
the table; Juell had been busy making them for several
weeks. After that we enjoyed a glass of toddy and a
cigar, smoking in the saloon being, of course, allowed.
The culminating point of the festival came when two
boxes with Christmas presents were produced. The one
was from Hansen's mother, the other from his fiancee —
Miss Fougner. It was touching to see the childlike
pleasure with which each man received his gift — it might
be a pipe or a knife or some little knickknack — he
felt that it was like a messasre from home. After this
there were speeches ; and then the Framsjaa appeared,
with an illustrated supplement, selections from which
are given. The drawings are the work of the famous
Arctic draughtsman, Huttetu. Here are two verses from
the poem for the day :

THE WINTER NIGHT

345

When the ship's path is stopped by fathom-thick ice,

And winter's white covering is spread,
When we're quite given up to the power of the stream.

Oh ! 'tis then that so often of home we must dream.

We wish them all joy at this sweet Christmas-tide,
Health and happiness for the next year.

Ourselves patience to wait ; 'twill bring us to the Pole,
And home the next spring, never fear ! "

I. PROMENADE IN TIMES OF PEACE WITH SVERDRUP S

PATENT FOOT-GEAR

(From the " Framsjaa")

There were many more poems, among others one
giving some account of the principal events of the last
weeks, in this style :

" Bears are seen, and dogs are born.

Cakes are baked, both small and large;
Henriksen, he does not fall.

Spite of bear's most violent charge ;
Mogstad with his rifle clicks,
Jacobsen with long lance sticks,"

346

FARTHEST NORTH

and so on. There was a long ditty on the subject of the
" Dog Rape on board the Fraui : "

" Up and down on a night so cold,
Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom,
Walk harpooner and kennelman bold,
Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom ;

II. " FRAM FELLOWS ON THE WAR-PATH! DIFFERENCE BE-
TWEEN THE SVERDRUP AND THE LAPP FOOT-GEAR

(From the " Framsjaa")

Our kennelman swings, I need hardly tell,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom.
The long, long lash you know so well,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom ;
Our harpooner, he is a man of light,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom,
A burning lantern he grasps tight,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom.
They as they walk the time beguile,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom,
With tales of bears and all their wile,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom.

Now suddenly a bear they see,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom,
Before whom all the dogs do flee,

Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom ;

THE WINTER NIGHT

347

Kennelman, like a deer, runs fast,
Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom,

Harpooner slow comes in the last,
Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom,"

and so on.

AmonCT the announcements are —

" Instruction in Fencing.

" In consequence of the indefinite postponement of our departure, a
limited number of pupils can be received for instruction in both fencing
and boxing.

" Majakoft,

"Teacher of Boxing,

" Next door to the Doctor's."

III. " FRAM FELLOWS STILL ON THE WAR-PATH

(From the " Framsjaa ")

Aeain —

" On account of want of storage room, a quantity of old clothes are at

348 FARTHEST XORTH

present for sale, by private arrangement, at No. 2 Pump Lane.^ Repeated
requests to remove them having been of no effect, I am obliged to dispose
of them in this way. The clothes are quite fresh, having been in salt for a
long time."

After the reading of the newspaper came instrumental
music and singing, and it was far on in the night before
we sought our berths.

"Monday, December 25th (Christmas -day). Ther-
mometer at 36° Fahr. below zero (-sS"^ C). I took a walk
south in the beautiful light of the full moon. At a newly
made crack I went through the fresh ice with one leg and
got soaked ; but such an accident matters very little in
this frost. The water immediately stiffens into ice; it does
not make one very cold, and one feels dry again soon.

" They will be thinking much of us just now at home
and giving many a pitying sigh over all the hardships
we are enduring in this cold, cheerless, icy region. But
I am afraid their compassion would cool if they could
look in upon us, hear the merriment that goes on, and
see all our comforts and good cheer. They can hardly
be better off at home. I myself have certainly never
lived a more sybaritic life, and have never had more
reason to fear the consequences it brings in its train.
Just listen to to-day's dinner menu :

1. Ox-tail soup ;

2. Fish-pudding, with potatoes and melted butter;

3. Roast of reindeer, with pease, French beans, potatoes,

and cranberry jam ;

* This was the nickname of the starboard four-berth cabin.

THE WINTER NIGHT 349

4. Cloudberries with cream ;

5. Cake and marchpane (a welcome present from the baker

to the expedition ; we blessed that man).

And along with all this that Ringnes bock -beer which
is so famous in our part of the world. W^as this the sort
of dinner for men who are to be hardened against the
horrors of the Arctic night ?

" Every one had eaten so much that supper had to be
skipped altogether. Later in the evening coffee was
served, with pineapple preserve, gingerbread, vanilla-
cakes, cocoanut macaroons, and various other cakes, all
the work of our excellent cook, Juell; and we ended up
with figs, almonds, and raisins.

" Now let us have the breakfast, just to complete the
day : coffee, freshly baked bread, beautiful Danish butter,
Christmas cake, Cheddar cheese, clove -cheese, tongue,
corned-beef, and marmalade. And if any one thinks that
this is a specially good breakfast because it is Christ-
mas-day he is wrong. It is just what we have always,
with the addition of the cake, which is not part of the
every-day diet.

" Add now to this Q-ood cheer our stron^rlv built, safe
house, our comfortable saloon, lighted up with the large
petroleum lamp and several smaller ones (when we have
no electric light), constant gayety, card-playing, and books
in any quantity, with or without illustrations, good and
entertaining reading, and then a good, sound sleep —
what more could one wish }

350 FARTHEST NORTH

"... But, O Arctic night, thou art hke a woman,
a marvellously lovely woman. Thine are the noble, pure
outlines of antique beauty, with its marble coldness.
On thy hiirh, smooth brow, clear with the clearness of
ether, is no trace of compassion for the little sufferings
of despised humanity ; on thy pale, beautiful cheek no
blush of feeling. Among thy raven locks, waving out
into space, the hoar-frost has sprinkled its glittering
crystals. The proud lines of thy throat, thy shoulders'
curves, are so noble, but, oh ! unbendingly cold ; thy
bosom's white chastity is feelingless as the snowy ice.
Chaste, beautiful, and proud, thou floatest through ether
over the frozen sea, thy glittering garment, woven of
aurora beams, covering the vault of heaven. But some-
times I divine a twitch of pain on thy lips, and endless
sadness dreams in thy dark eye.

" Oh, how tired I am of thy cold beauty ! I long to
return to life. Let me get home again, as conqueror or
as beggar; what does that matter.'' But let me get
home to begin life anew. The years are passing here,
and what do they bring? Nothing but dust, dry dust,
which the first wind blows away; new dust comes in its
place, and the next wind takes it too. Truth } Why
should we always make so much of truth } Life is more
than cold truth, and we live but once.

" Tuesday, December 26th. 36° Fahr. below zero
( — 38° C). This (the same as yesterday's) is the greatest
cold we have had yet. I went a long way north to-day;

THE WINTER NIGHT

351

found a big lane covered with newly frozen ice, with a
quite open piece of water in the middle. The ice rocked
up and down under my steps, sending waves out into
the open pool. It was strange once more to see the

rr WAS STRANGE ONXE MORE TO SEE THE MOONLIGHT
PLAYING ON THE COAL-BLACK WAVES "

{From a Photograph)

352 FARTHEST NORTH

moonlight playing on the coal-black waves, and awak-
ened a remembrance of well-known scenes. I followed
this lane far to the north, seemed to see the outlines of
high land in the hazy light below the moon, and went on
and on ; but in the end it turned out to be a bank of
clouds behind the moonlit vapor rising from the open
water. I saw from a high hummock that this opening
stretched north as far as the eye could reach.

"The same luxurious living as yesterday; a dinner
of four courses. Shooting with darts at a target for
cigarettes has been the great excitement of the day.
Darts and target are Johansen's Christmas present from
Miss Fougner.

"Wednesday, December 27th. Wind began to blow
this afternoon, 19^ to 26 feet per second; the windmill
is going again, and the arc lamp once more brightens
our lives. Johansen gave notice of 'a shooting -match
by electric light, with free concert,' for the evening. It
was a pity for himself that he did, for he and several
others were shot into bankruptcy and beggary, and had
to retire one after the other, leaving their cigarettes
behind them."

" Thursday, December 28th. A little forward of the
Fram there is a broad, newly formed open lane, in
which she could lie crossways. It was covered with last
night's ice, in which slight pressure began to-day. It is
strange how indifferent we are to this pressure, which
was the cause of such great trouble to many earlier

^' .5

THE WINTER NIGHT 353

Arctic navigators. We have not so much as made the
smallest preparation for possible accident, no provisions
on deck, no tent, no clothing in readiness. This may
seem like recklessness, but in reality there is not the
slightest prospect of the pressure harming us ; we know
now what the Fram can bear. Proud of our splendid,
strong ship, we stand on her deck watching the ice come
hurtling against her sides, being crushed and broken
there and having to go down below her, while new ice-
masses tumble upon her out of the dark, to meet the
same fate. Here and there, amid deafening noise, some
great mass rises up and launches itself threateningly
upon the bulwarks, only to sink down suddenly, drag-
ged the same way as the others. But at times when
one hears the roaring of tremendous pressure in the
night, as a rule so deathly still, one cannot but call to
mind the disasters that this uncontrollable power has
wrought.

" I am reading the story of Kane's expedition just
now. Unfortunate man, his preparations were misera-
bly inadequate ; it seems to me to have been a reckless,
unjustifiable proceeding to set out with such equip-
ments. Almost all the dogs died of bad food ; all the
men had scurvy from the same cause, with snow-blind-
ness, frost-bites, and all kinds of miseries. He learned a
wholesome awe of the Arctic night, and one can hardly
wonder at it. He writes on page 173: 'I feel that we
are fighting the battle of life at disadvantage, and that
23

354 FARTHEST NORTH

an Arctic day and an Arctic night age a man more
rapidly and harshly than a year anywhere else in this
weary world.' In another place he writes that it is
impossible for civilized men not to suffer in such circum-
stances. These were sad but by no means unique ex-
periences. An English Arctic explorer with whom I
had some conversation also expressed himself very dis-
couragingly on the subject of life in the polar regions,
and combated my cheerful faith in the possibility of
preventing scurvy. He was of opinion that it was
inevitable, and that no expedition yet had escaped it,
though some might have given it another name : rather
a humiliating view to take of the matter, I think. But I
am fortunately in a position to maintain that it is not
justified ; and I wonder if they would not both change
their opinions if they were here. For my own part,
I can say that the Arctic night has had no aging,
no weakening, influence of any kind upon me ; I seem,
on the contrary, to grow younger. This quiet, regular
life suits me remarkably well, and I cannot remember a
time when I was in better bodily health balance than
I am at present. I differ from these other authorities to
the extent of feeling inclined to recommend this region
as an excellent sanatorium in cases of nervousness and
general breakdown. This is in all sincerity.

" I am almost ashamed of the life we lead, with none of
those darkly painted sufferings of the long winter night
which are indispensable to a properly exciting Arctic

THE WINTER NIGHT

355

expedition. We shall have nothing to write about when
we get home. I may say the same of my comrades as I
have said for myself ; they all look healthy, fat, in good
condition ; none of the traditional pale, hollow faces ;
no low spirits — any one hearing the laughter that goes
on in the saloon, ' the fall of greasy cards,' etc. {see

A GAME OF HALMA

Juell's poem), would be in no doubt about this. But
how, indeed, should there be any illness ? With the best
of food of every kind, as much of it as we want, and
constant variety, so that even the most fastidious can-
not tire of it, good shelter, good clothing, good ventila-
tion, exercise in the open air ad libitum, no over- exer-
tion in the way of work, instructive find amusing books

356 FARTHEST NORTH

of every kind, relaxation in the shape of cards, chess,
dominoes, hahiia, music, and story-telhng — how should
any one be ill ? Every now and then I hear remarks
expressive of perfect satisfaction with the life. Truly
the whole secret lies in arranging things sensibly, and
especially in being careful about the food. A thing that
I believe has a good effect upon us is this living to-
gether in the one saloon, with everything in common.
So far as I know, it is the first time that such a thing
has been tried ; but it is quite to be recommended. I
have heard some of the men complain of sleeplessness.
This is generally considered to be one inevitable con-
sequence of the Arctic darkness. As far as I am per-
sonally concerned, I can say that I have felt nothing of
it; I sleep soundly at night. I have no great belief in
this sleeplessness ; but then I do not take an after-dinner
nap, which most of the others are addicted to ; and if
they sleep for several hours during the day they can
hardly expect to sleep all night as well. ' One must be
awake part of one's time,' as Sverdrup said.

"Sunday, December 31st. And now the last day of
the year has come ; it has been a long year, and has
brought much both of good and bad. It began with
good by bringing little Liv — such a new, strange hap-
piness that at first I could hardly believe in it. But
hard, unspeakably hard, was the parting that came later;
no year has brought worse pain than that. And the
time since has been one great longing.

THE WINTER NIGHT 357

'"Would'st thou be free from care and pain,
Thou must lov^e nothing here on earth."

"But longing — oh, there are worse things than that!
All that is good and beautiful may flourish in its shelter.
Everything would be over if we cease to long.

" But you fell off at the end, old year ; you hardly
carried us so far as you ought. Still you might have
done worse ; you have not been so bad, after all. Have
not all hopes and calculations been justified, and are we
not drifting away just where I wished and hoped we
should be '^. Only one thing has been amiss — I did not
think the drift would have gone in quite so many zig-
zags.

" One could not have a more beautiful New-year's-
eve. The aurora borealis is burning in wonderful colors
and bands of light over the whole sky, but particularly in
the north. Thousands of stars sparkle in the blue fir-
mament among the northern lights. On every side the
ice stretches endless and silent into the night. The
rime-covered rigging of the Frani stands out sharp and
dark against the shining sky.

"The newspaper was read aloud; only verses this
time; among other poems the following:

'"TO THE NEW YEAR.

"'And you, my boy, must give yourself trouble
Of your old father to be the double ;
Your lineage, honor, and fight hard to merit
Our praise for the habits we trust you inherit.

358 FARTHEST NORTH

On we must go if )'ou want to please us;

To make us lie still is the way to tease us.

In the old year we sailed not so badly,

Be it so still, or you'll hear us groan sadly.

When the time comes you must break up the ice for us ;

When the time comes you must win the great prize for us ;

We ferventh' hope, having reached our great goal,

To eat next Christmas dinner beyond the North Pole.'

" During the evening we were regaled with pineapple,
figs, cakes, and other sweets, and about midnight Han-
sen brought in toddy, and Nordahl cigars and ciga-
rettes. At the moment of the passing of the year all
stood up and I had to make an apology for a speech
— to the effect that the old year had been, after all, a
good one, and I hoped the new would not be worse ;
that I thanked them for good comradeship, and was
sure that our life together this year would be as com-
fortable and pleasant as it had been during the last.
Then they sang the songs that had been written for the
farewell entertainments given to us at Christiania and at
Bergen :

" ' Our mother, weep not ! it was thou

Gave them the wish to wander;
To leave our coasts and turn their prow

Towards night and perils yonder.
Thou pointedst to the open sea,

The long cape was thy finger ;
The white sail wings they got from thee;

Thou canst not bid them linger!

"'Yes, they are thine, O mother old I

And proud thou dost embrace them ;
Thou hear'st of dangers manifold,
But knovv'st thy sons can face them.

THE WINTER NIGHT 359

And tears of joy thine eyes will rain,

The day the Fnifii comes steering
Up fjord again to music strain,

And the roar of thousands cheering.

"'E, N.'

" Then I read aloud our last greeting, a telegram we
received at Tromso from Moltke Moe :

" ' Luck on the way.
Sun on the sea.
Sun on your minds.
Help from the winds ;
May the packed floes
Part and unclose
AVhere the ship goes.
Forward her progress be,
E'en though the silent sea,

Then
After her freeze up again.

" ' Strength enough, meat enough,
Hope enough, heat enough ;
The Frani will go sure enough then
To the Pole and so back to the dwellings of men.

Luck on the way
To thee and thy band.
And welcome back to the fatherland !'

" After this we read some of Vinje's poems, and then
sang songs from the Framsjaa and others.

" It seems strange that we should have seen the New
Year in already, and that it will not begin at home for
eight hours yet. It is almost 4 a.m. now. I had thought
of sitting up till it was New Year in Norway too ; but
no ; I will rather go to bed and sleep, and dream that
I am at home.

360 FARTHEST NORTH

"Monday, January ist, 1894. The year began well.
I was awakened by JuelTs cheerful voice wishing me a
Happy New Year. He had come to give me a cup of
coffee in bed — delicious Turkish coffee, his Christmas
present from Miss Fougner, It is beautiful clear weath-
er, with the thermometer at 36° below zero ( — 38° C). It
almost seems to me as if the twilight in the south were
beginning to grow; the upper edge of it to-day was 14''
above the horizon.

" An extra 2:ood dinner at 6 p.m.

1. Tomato soup.

2. Cod roe with melted butter and potatoes.

3. Roast reindeer, with green pease, potatoes, and cranberry jam.

4. Cloudberries with mili<.

Ringnes beer.

" I do not know if this begins to give any impression
of great sufferings and privations. I am lying in my
berth, writing, reading, and dreaming. It is always a
curious feeling to write for the first time the number of
a New Year. Not till then does one grasp the fact that
the old year is a thing of the past ; the new one is here,
and one must prepare to wrestle with it. Who knows
what it is bringing? Good and evil, no doubt, but most
good. It cannot but be that we shall go forward towards
our oroal and towards home.

"'Life is rich and wreathed in roses;
Gaze forth into a world of dreams.'

THE WINTER NIGHT 361

" Yes ; lead us, if not to our goal — that would be too
early — at least towards it; strengthen our hope; but
perhaps — no, no perhaps. These brave boys of mine
deserve to succeed. There is not a doubt in their minds.
Each one's whole heart is set on getting north. I can
read it in their faces — it shines from every eye. There
is one sigh of disappointment every time that we hear
that we are drifting south, one sigh of relief when we
be^in to 2:0 north ao;ain, to the unknown. And it is in
me and my theories that they trust. What if I have
been mistaken, and am leading them astray? Oh, I
could not help myself ! We are the tools of powers be-
yond us. We are born under lucky or unlucky stars.
Till now I have lived under a lucky one ; is its light to
be darkened } I am superstitious, no doubt, but I be-
lieve in my star. And Norway, our fatherland, what has
the old year brought to thee, and what is the new year
bringing.'' Vain to think of that; but I look at our
pictures, the gifts of Werenskjbld, Munthe, Kitty Kiel-
land, Skredsvig, Hansteen, Eilif Pettersen, and I am at
home, at home !

"Wednesday, January 3d. The old lane about 1300
feet ahead of the Frani has opened again — a large rift,
with a coating of ice and rime. As soon as ice is formed
in this temperature the frost forces it to throw out its
salinity on the surface, and this itself freezes into pretty
salt flowers, resembling hoar-frost. The temperature is
between 38° Fahr. and 40=' Fahr. below zero (—39° C. to

362 FA R THE S 7' NORTH

— 40^ C), but when there is added to this a biting wind,
with a velocity of from 9 to 16 feet per second, it must
be allowed that it is rather ' cool in the shade.'

" Sverdrup and I agreed to - da}^ that the Christmas
holidays had better stop now and the usual life begin
again ; too much idleness is not good for us. It cannot
be called a full nor a complicated one, this life of ours;
but it has one advantage, that we are all satisfied with it,
such as it is.

" They are still working in the engine-room, but ex-
pect to finish what they are doing to the boiler in a few
days, and then all is done there. Then the turning-
lathe is to be set up in the hold, and tools for it have
to be forged. There is often a job for Smith Lars,
and then the forge flames forward by the forecastle,
and sends its red glow on to the rime-covered rigging,
and farther up into the starry night, and out over the
waste of ice. From far off you can hear the strokes
on the anvil rinorinor throuo-h the silent ni2;ht. When
one is wandering alone out there, and the well-known
sound reaches one's ear, and one sees the red glow,
memory recalls less solitary scenes. While one stands
gazing, perhaps a light moves along the deck and
slowly up the rigging. It is Johansen on his way up
to the crow's-nest to read the temperature. Blessing
is at present engaged in counting blood corpuscles again,
and estimating amounts of haemoglobin. For this pur-
pose he draws blood every month from every mother's

THE WINTER NIGHT 363

son of us, the bloodthirsty dog, with supreme contempt for
all the outcry against vivisection. Hansen and his assist-
ant take observations. The meteorological ones, which
are taken every four hours, are Johansen's special depart-
ment. First he reads the thermometer, hygrometer, and
thermograph on deck (they were afterwards kept on the
ice) ; next the barometer, barograph, and thermometer
in the saloon ; and then the minimum and maximum
thermometers in the crow's-nest (this to take the record
of the temperature of a higher air stratum). Then he
goes to read the thermometers that are kept on the ice to
measure the radiations from its surface, and perhaps
down to the hold, too, to see what the temperature is
there. Every second day, as a rule, astronomical obser-
vations are taken, to decide our whereabouts and keep
us up to date in the crab's progress we are making. Tak-
ing^ these observations with the thermometer between 22°
Fahr. and 40"" Fahr. below zero ( — 30° C. to —40° C.) is a
very mixed pleasure. Standing still on deck working
with these fine instruments, and screwing in metal screws
with one's bare fingers, is not altogether agreeable. It
often happens that they must slap their arms about and
tramp hard up and down the deck. They are received with
shouts of laughter when they reappear in the saloon after
the performance of one of these thundering nigger break-
downs above our heads that has shaken the whole ship.
We ask innocently if it was cold on deck. ' Not the
very least,' says Hansen; 'just a pleasant temperature.'

364 FARTHEST NORTH

' And your feet arc not cold now ? ' ' No, I can't sa}- that
they are, but one's fingers get a little cold sometimes.'
Two of his had just been frost-bitten ; but he refused to
wear one of the wolf-skin suits which I had given out for
the meteorologists. ' It is too mild for that yet ; and it
does not do to pamper one's self,' he says.

" I believe it was when the thermometer stood at 40°
below zero that Hansen rushed up on deck one morning
in shirt and drawers to take an observation. He said he
had not time to get on his clothes.

" At certain intervals they also take magnetic observa-
tions on the ice, these tw'o, I watch them standing there
with lanterns, bending over their instruments ; and pres-
ently I see them tearing away over the floe, their arms
swinsfiniJ like the sails of the windmill when there is a

o o

wind pressure of 32 to 39 feet — but ' it is not at all cold.'*
I cannot help thinking of what I have read in the ac-
counts of some of the earlier expeditions — namely, that
at such temperatures it was impossible to take observa-
tions. It would take worse than this to make these fel-
lows give in. In the intervals between their observations
and calculations I hear a murmuring in Hansen's cabin,
which means that the principal is at present occupied in
inflicting a dose of astronomy or navigation upon his
assistant.

" It is something dreadful the amount of card-playing
that 2:oes on in the saloon in the eveninofs now ; the
gaming demon is abroad far into the night ; even our

THE WINTER NIGHT 365

model Sverdrup is possessed by him. They have not
yet played the shirts off their backs, but some of them
have literally played the bread out of their mouths ; two
poor wretches have had to go without fresh bread for a
whole month because they had forfeited their rations of
it to their opponents. But, all the same, this card-playing
is a healthy, harmless recreation, giving occasion for much
laughter, fun, and pleasure.

"An Irish proverb says, 'Be happy; and if you can-
not be happy, be careless ; and if you cannot be careless,
be as careless as you can.' This is good philosophy,
which — no, what need of proverbs here, where life is
happy! It was in all sincerity that Amundsen burst out
yesterday with, ' Yes, isn't it just as I say, that we are the
luckiest men on earth that can live up here where we have
no cares, get everything given us without needing to
trouble about it, and are well off in every possible way T
Hansen agreed that it certainly was a life without care.
Jueli said much the same a little ago; what seems to please
him most is that there are no summonses here, no cred-
itors, no bills. And I ? Yes, I am happy too. It is an
easy life ; nothing that weighs heavy on one, no letters,
no newspapers, nothing disturbing; just that monastic,
out-of-the-world existence that was my dream when I was
younger and yearned for quietness in which to give my-
self up to my studies. Longing, even when it is strong
and sad, is not unhappiness. A man has truly no right
to be anything but happy when fate permits him to fol-

366 FARTHEST NORTH

low up his ideals, exempting him from the wearing strain
of every-day cares, that he may with clearer vision striA^e
towards a lofty goal.

" ' Where there is work, success will follow,' said a
poet of the land of work. I am working as hard as I
can, so I suppose success will pay me a visit by-and-by.
I am lying on the sofa, reading about Kane's misfortunes,
drinking beer, smoking cigarettes. Truth obliges me to
confess that I have become addicted to the vice I con-
demn so strongly — but flesh is grass ; so I blow the
smoke clouds into the air and dream sweet dreams. It
is hard work, but I must do the best I can.

" Thursday, January 4th. It seems as if the twilight
were increasing quite perceptibly now, but this is very
possibly only imagination. I am in good spirits in spite
of the fact that we are drifting south again. After all,
what does it matter.'' Perhaps the gain to science will
be as great, and, after all, I suppose this desire to reach
the North Pole is only a piece of vanity. I have now a
very good idea of what it must be like up there. (' I like
that !' say you.) Our deep water here is connected with,
is a part of, the deep water of the Atlantic Ocean — of
this there can be no doubt. And have not I found
that things go exactly as I calculated they would when-
ever we get a favorable wind .■* Have not man)' be-
fore us had to wait for wind .•* And as to vanity —
that is a child's disease, got over long ago. All calcu-
lations, with but one exception, have proved correct.

THE WINTER NIGHT 367

We made our way along the coast of Asia, which many
prophesied we should have great difficulty in doing. We
were able to sail farther north than I had dared to hope
for in my boldest moments, and in just the longitude I
wished. We are closed in by the ice, also as I wished.
The Frani has borne the ice - pressure splendidly, and
allows herself to be lifted by it without so much as
creaking, in spite of being more heavily loaded with
coal, and drawino^ more water than we reckoned on when
we made our calculations ; and this after her certain de-
struction and ours was prophesied by those most ex-
perienced in such matters. I have not found the ice
higher nor heavier than I expected it to be ; and the
comfort, warmth, and good ventilation on board are far
beyond my expectations. Nothing is wanting in our
equipment, and the food is quite exceptionally good. As
Blessing and I agreed a few days ago, it is as good as at
home; there is not a thing we long for; not even the
thou2;ht of a beefsteak a la Chateaubriand, or a pork
cutlet with mushrooms and a bottle of Burgundy, can
make our mouths water ; we simply don't care about
such things. The preparations for the expedition cost me
several years of precious life ; but now I do not grudge
them: my object is attained. On the drifting ice we live
a winter life, not only in every respect better than that
of previous expeditions, but actually as if we had brought
a bit of Norway, of Europe, with us. We are as well
off as if we were at home. All together in one saloon,

68 FARTHEST NORTH

with everything in common, we are a Httle part of the
fatherland, and daily we draw closer and closer together.
In one point only have my calculations proved incor-
rect, but unfortunately in one of the most important.
I presupposed a shallow Polar Sea, the geatest depth
known in these regions up till now being 80 fathoms,
found by the Jcannctte. 1 reasoned that all currents
would have a strong influence in the shallow Polar
Sea, and that on the Asiatic side the current of the
Siberian rivers would be strong enough to drive the
ice a good way north. But here I already find a depth
which we cannot measure w-ith all our line, a depth of
certainly 1000 fathoms, and possibly double that. This
at once upsets all faith in the operation of a current ;
we find either none, or an extremely slight one ; my
only trust now is in the winds. Columbus discovered
America by means of a mistaken calculation, and even
that not his own ; heaven only knows where my mistake
will lead us. Only I repeat once more — the Siberian
driftwood on the coast of Greenland cannot lie, and the
way it went we must go.

" Monday, January 8th. Little Liv is a year old to-
day ; it will be a fete day at home. As I was lying on
the sofa reading after dinner, Peter put his head in at
the door and asked me to come up and look at a
strange star which had just shown itself above the ho-
rizon, shining like a beacon flame. I got quite a start
when I came on deck and saw a strong red light just

THE WINTER NIGHT 369

above the edge of the ice in the south. It twinkled
and changed color; it looked just as if some one were
coming carrying a lantern over the ice; I actually be-
lieve that for a moment I so far forgot our surround-
ings as to think that it really was some person ap-
proaching from the south. It was Venus, which we see
to-day for the first time, as it has till now been beneath
the horizon. It is beautiful with its red lisfht. Curious
that it should happen to come to-day. It must be Liv's
star, as Jupiter is the home star. And Liv's birthday
is a lucky day — we are on our way north again. Ac-
cording to observations we are certainly north of 79°
north latitude. On the home day, September 6th, the
favorable wind began to blow that carried us along the
coast of Asia; perhaps Liv's day has brought us into a
good current, and we are making the real start for the
north under her star,

"Friday, January 12th. There was pressure about
10 o'clock this morning in the opening forward, but I
could see no movement when I was there a little later.
I followed the opening some way to the north. It is
pretty cold work walking with the thermometer at 40°
Lahr. below zero, and the wind blowinc: with a velocitv of
16 feet per second straight in your face. But now we
are certainly drifting fast to the north under Liv's star.
After all, it is not quite indifferent to me whether we
are f^oin": north or south. When the drift is northward
new life seems to come into me, and hope, the ever-

370 FARTHEST NORTH

young, springs fresh and green from under the winter
snow. I see the way open before me, and I see the
home-coming in the distance — too great happiness to
believe in,

"Sunday, January 14th. Sunday again. The time
is passing almost quickly, and there is more light every
day. There was great excitement to-day when yester-
day evening's observations were being calculated. All
guessed that we had come a long way north again.
Several thought to 79° 18' or 20'. Others, I believe, in-
sisted on 80°. The calculation places us in 79° 19' north
latitude, 137^ 31' east longitude. A good step onward.
Yesterday the ice was quiet, but this morning there was
considerable pressure in several places. Goodness
knows what is causing it just now; it is a whole week
after new moon. I took a long walk to the southwest,
and got right in among it. Packing began where I
stood, with roars and tliunders below me and on every
side. I jumped, and ran like a hare, as if I had never
heard such a thing before ; it came so unexpectedly.
The ice was curiously fiat there to the south ; the farther
I went the flatter it grrew, with excellent sled2:in2r surface.
Over such ice one could drive many miles a day.

" Monday, January 15th. There was pressure forward
both this morning and towards noon, but we heard the
loudest sounds from the north. Sverdrup, Mogstad,
and Peter went in that direction and were stopped by
a large, open channel. Peter and I afterwards walked

THE WINTER NIGHT 3/1

a long distance N.N.E., past a large opening that I had
skirted before Christmas. It was shining, flat ice,
splendid for sledging on, always better the farther
north we went. The longer I wander about and see
this sort of ice in all directions, the more strongly does
a plan take hold of me that I have long had in my
mind. It would be possible to get with dogs and
sledges over this ice to the Pole, if one left the ship
for good and made one's way back in the direction of
Franz Josef Land, Spitzbergen, or the west coast of
Greenland. It might almost be called an easy expe-
dition for two men.

" But it would be too hasty to go off in spring. We
must first see what kind of drift the summer brings.
And as I think over it, I feel doubtful if it would be
right to go off and leave the others. Imagine if I
came home and they did not ! Yet it was to explore
the unknown polar regions that I came ; it was for that
the Norwegian people gave their money ; and surely
my first duty is to do that if I can. I must give the
drift plan a longer trial yet; but if it takes us in a
wrong direction, then there is nothing for it but to try
the other, come what may.

"Tuesday, January i6th. The ice is quiet to-day.
Does longing stupefy one, or does it wear itself out and
turn at last into stolidity } Oh that burning longing night
and day were happiness ! But now its fire has turned
to ice. Why does home seem so far away.? It is one's

372 FARTHEST NORTH

all; life without it is so empty, so empty — nothing but
dead emptiness. Is it the restlessness of spring that is
besinnins: to come over one? — the desire for action, for
something different from this indolent, enervating life ?
Is the soul of man nothing but a succession of moods
and feelings, shifting as incalculably as the changing
winds? Perhaps my brain is over-tired; day and night
my thoughts have turned on the one point, the possi-
bility of reaching the Pole and getting home. Perhaps
it is rest I need — to sleep, sleep! Am I afraid of
venturing my life? No, it cannot be that. But what
else, then, can be keeping me back ? Perhaps a secret
doubt of the practicability of the plan. My mind is
confused; the whole thing has got into a tangle; I am
a riddle to myself. I am worn out, and yet I do not
feel any special tiredness. Is it perhaps because I sat
up reading last night ? Everything around is empti-
ness, and my brain is a blank. I look at the home
pictures and am moved by them in a curious, dull way;
I look into the future, and feel as if it does not much
matter to me whether I a-et home in the autumn of this
year or next. So long as I get home in the end, a year
or two seem almost nothinor. I have never thouQ^ht this
before. I have no inclination to read, nor to draw, nor
to do anything else whatever. Folly ! Shall I try a few
pages of Schopenhauer? No, I will go to bed, though
I am not sleepy. Perhaps, if the truth were known, I
am longing now more than ever. The only thing that

THE WINTER AUGHT 373

helps me is writing, trying to express myself on these
pages, and then looking at myself, as it were, from the
outside. Yes, man's life is nothing but a succession of
moods, half memor)^ and half hope.

"Thursday, January iSth. The wind that began yes-
terday has gone on blowing all to-day with a velocity
of 1 6 to 19 feet per second, from S.S.E., S.E., and E.S.E.
It has no doubt helped us on a good way north ; but it
seems to be going down ; now, about midnight, it has
sunk to 4 metres ; and the barometer, which has been
rising all the time, has suddenly begun to fall ; let us
hope that it is not a cyclone passing over us, bringing
northerly wind. It is curious that there is almost always
a rise of the thermometer with these stronger winds ; to-
day it rose to 13^ Fahr. below zero (—25° C). A south
wind of less velocity generally lowers the temperature,
and a moderate north wind raises it. Payer's explana-
tion of this raising of the temperature by strong winds
is that the wind is warmed by passing over large open-
ings in the ice. This can hardly be correct, at any rate
in our case, for we have few or no openings. I am rath-
er inclined to believe that the rise is produced by air
from higher strata being brought down to the surface of
the earth. It is certain that the higher air is warmer
than the lower, which comes into contact with snow and
ice surfaces cooled by radiation. Our observations go to
prove that such is the case. Add to this that the air in
its fall is heated by the rising pressure. A strong wind,

374 FARTHEST NORTH

even if it does not come from the higher strata of the at-
mosphere, must necessarily make some confusion in the
mutual position of the various strata, mixing the higher
with those below them, and vice versa.

" I had a strange dream last night. I had got home.
I can still feel something of the trembling joy, mixed
with fear, with which I neared land and the first tele-
graph station, I had carried out my plan ; we had
reached the North Pole on sledges, and then got down
to Franz Josef Land. I had seen nothing but drift-ice;
and when people asked what it was like up there, and
how we knew we had been to the Pole, I had no answer
to give ; I had forgotten to take accurate observations,
and now began to feel tliat this had been stupid of me.
It is very curious that I had an exactly similar dream
when we were drifting on the ice - l^oes along the east
coast of Greenland, and thought that we were being car-
ried farther and farther from our destination. Then I
dreamed that I had reached home after crossing Green-
land on the ice; but that I was ashamed because I could
give no account of what I had seen on the way — I had
forgotten everything. Is there not a lucky omen in
the resemblance between these two dreams? I attained
my aim the first time, bad as things looked; shall I not
do so this time too t If I were superstitious I should
feel surer of it; but, even though I am not at all su-
perstitious, I have a firm conviction that our enterprise
must be successful. This belief is not merely the result

THE WINTER NIGHT 375

of the last two days' south wind ; something within me
says that we shall succeed. I laugh now at myself for
having been weak enough to doubt it. I can spend
hours staring into the light, dreaming of how, when we
land, I shall grope my way to the first telegraph station,
trembling with emotion and suspense. I write out tele-
gram after telegram ; I ask the clerk if he can give me
any news from home.

"Friday, January 19th. Splendid wind, with velocity
of 13 to 19 feet per second; we are going north at a
grand rate. The red, glowing twilight is now so bright
about midday that if we were in more southern latitudes
we should expect to see the sun rise bright and glorious
above the horizon in a few minutes; but we shall have to
wait a month yet for that.

" Saturday, January 20th. I had about 600 pounds of
pemmican and 200 pounds of bread brought up from the
hold to-day and stowed on the forecastle. It is wrong
not to have some provisions on deck against any sudden
emergency, such as fire.

"Sunday, January 21st. We took a long excursion
to the northwest ; the ice in that direction, too, was tol-
erably flat. Sverdrup and I got on the top of a high-
pressure mound at some distance from here. It was in
the centre of what had been very violent packing, but, all
the same, the wall at its highest was not over i 7 feet, and
this was one of the highest and biggest altogether that I
have seen yet. An altitude of the moon taken this even-

3/6 FARTHEST NORTH

ing showed us to be in 79' 35' north latitude — exactly what
I had thought. We are so accustomed now to calculating
our drift by the wind that we are able to tell pretty
nearly where we are. This is a good step northward, if
we could take many more such. In honor of the King's
birthday we have a treat of figs, raisins, and almonds.

" Tuesday, January 23d. When I came on deck this
morning ' Caiaphas ' was sitting out on the ice on the
port quarter, barking incessantly to the east. I knew
there must be something there, and went off with a re-
volver, Sverdrup following with one also. When I got
near the dog he came to meet me, always wriggling his
head round to the east and barking; then he ran on before
us in that direction ; it was plain that there was some
animal there, and of course it could only be a bear. The
full moon stood low and red in the north, and sent its
feeble light obliquely across the broken ice-surface. I
looked out sharply in all directions over the hummocks,
which cast long, many - shaped shadows ; but I could
distinguish nothing in this confusion. We went on,
' Caiaphas ' first, growling and barking and pricking his
ears, and I after him, expecting every moment to see a
bear loom up in front of us. Our course was eastward
along the opening. The dog presently began to go
more cautiously and straighter forward ; then he stopped
making any noise except a low growl — we were evident-
ly drawing near. I mounted a hummock to look about,
and caught sight among the blocks of ice of something

THE WINTER NIGHT m

dark, which seemed to be coming towards us. ' There
comes a black dog,' I called. ' No, it is a bear,' said
Sverdrup, who was more to the side of it and could see
better. I saw now, too, that it was a large animal, and
that it had only been its head that I had taken for a
dog. It was not unlike a bear in its movements, but
it seemed to me remarkably dark in color. I pulled
the revolver out of the holster and rushed forward to
empty all its barrels into the creature's head. When
I was just a few paces from it, and preparing to shoot, it
raised its head and I saw that it was a walrus, and that
same moment it threw itself sideways into the water.
There w'e stood. To shoot at such a fellow with a re-
volver would be of as much use as squirting water at a
goose. The great black head showed again immediate-
ly in a strip of moonlight on the dark water. The an-
imal took a long look at us, disappeared for a little,
appeared again nearer, bobbed up and down, blew, lay
with its head under water, shoved itself over towards us,
raised its head again. It was enough to drive one mad;
if we had only had a harpoon I could easily have stuck
it into its back. Yes, if we had had — and back to the
Fi^am we ran as fast as our legs would carry us to get
harpoon and rifle. But the harpoon and line were stored
away, and were not to be had at once. Who could
have guessed that they would be needed here .'' The
harpoon point had to be sharpened, and all this took
time. And for all our searching afterwards east and

378 FARTHEST NORTH

west along the opening, no walrus was to be found.
Goodness knows where it had gone, as there are hard-
ly any openings in the ice for a long distance round.
Sverdrup and I vainly fret over not having known at
once what kind of animal it was, for if we had only
guessed we should have him now. But who expects
to meet a walrus on close ice in the middle of a wild
sea of a thousand fathoms depth, and that in the heart
of winter.^ None of us ever heard of such a thing
before ; it is a perfect mystery. As I thought we
might have come upon shoals or into the neighborhood
of land, I had soundings taken in the afternoon with
130 fathoms (240 metres) of line, but no bottom was
found.

" By yesterday's observations we are in 79^ 41' north
latitude and 135° 29' east longitude. That is good progress
north, and it does not much matter that we have been taken
a little west. The clouds are driving this evening before
a strong south wind, so we shall likely be going before
it soon too; in the meantime there is a breeze from the
south so slight that you hardly feel it.

" The opening on our stern lies almost east and west.
We could see no end to it westward when we went after
the walrus ; and Mogstad and Peter had gone three miles
east, and it was as broad as ever there.

"Wednesday, January 24th. At supper this evening
Peter told some of his remarkable Spitzbergen stories —
about his comrade Andreas Bek. ' Well, you see, it was

THE WINTER NIGHT 379

up about Dutchman's Island, or Amsterdam Island, that
Andreas Bek and I were on shore and got in among
all the orraves. We thouo:ht we'd like to see what was
in them, so we broke up some of the coffins, and there
they lay. Some of them had still flesh on their jaws and
noses, and some of them still had their caps on their
heads. Andreas, he was a devil of a fellow, you see,
and he broke up the coffins and got hold of the skulls,
and rolled them about here and there. Some of them
he set up for targets and shot at. Then he wanted to
see if there was marrow left in their bones, so he took
and broke a thigh-bone — and, sure enough, there was
marrow; he took and picked it out with a wooden pin.'

" ' How could he do a thing like that V

'"Oh, it was only a Dutchman, you know. But he
had a bad dream that night, had Andreas. All the dead
men came to fetch him, and he ran from them and got
right out on the bowsprit, and there he sat and yelled,
while the dead men stood on the forecastle. And
the one with his broken thigh-bone in his hand was
foremost, and he came crawling out, and wanted
Andreas to put it together again. But just then he
wakened. We were lying in the same berth, you see,
Andreas and me, and I sat up in the berth and laughed,
listening to him yelling. I wouldn't waken him, not I.
I thought it was fun to hear him getting paid out a little.'

"Tt was bad of you, Peter, to have any part in that
horrid plundering of dead bodies.'

38o FARTHEST NORTH

"' Oh, I never did anything to them, you know. Just
once I broke up a coffin to get wood to make a fire for
our coffee; but when we opened it the body just fell to
pieces. But it was juicy wood, that, better to burn than
the best fir-roots — such a fire as it made !'

" One of the others now remarked, ' Wasn't it the
devil that used a skull for his coffee-cup T

"'Well, he hadn't anything else, you see, and he just
happened to find one. There was no harm in that, was
there ?'

" Then Jacobsen began to hold forth : 'It's not at
all such an uncommon thing to use skulls for shooting
at, either because people fancy them for targets, or
because of some other reason ; they shoot in through
the eyeholes,' etc., etc.

"I asked Peter about ' Tobiesen's ' coffin — if it had
ever been dug up to find out if it v/as true that his
men had killed him and his son.

" ' No, that one has never been dug up.'

" ' I sailed past there last year,' begins Jacobsen again ;
' I didn't go ashore, but it seems to me that I heard that
it had been dug up.'

" ' That's just rubbish ; it has never been dug up.'

" ' Well,' said I, ' it seems to me that I've heard some-
thing about it too ; I believe it was here on board, and
I am very much mistaken if it was not yourself that said
it, Peter.'

" ' No, I never said that. All I said was that a man

THE WINTER NIGHT 3^1

once struck a walrus -spear through the coffin, and it's
sticking there yet.'

" ' What did he do that for ?'

" ' Oh, just because he wanted to know if there was
anything in the coffin ; and yet he didn't want to open
it, you know. But let him lie in peace now.' "

" Friday January 26th. Peter and I went eastward
along the opening this morning for about seven miles,
and we saw where it ends, in some old pressure-ridges ;
its whole length is over seven miles. Movement in the ice
began on our way home ; indeed, there was pretty strong
pressure all the time. As we were walking on the
new ice in the opening it rose in furrows or cracked
under our feet. Then it raised itself up into two high
walls, between which we walked as if along a street,
amidst unceasing noises, sometimes howling and whining
like a dog complaining of the cold, sometimes a roar like
the thunder of a great waterfall. We were often obliged
to take refuge on the old ice, either because we came to
open water with a confusion of floating blocks, or because
the line of the packing had gone straight across the
opening, and there was a wall in front of us like a high
frozen wave. It seemed as if the ice on the south side
of the opening where the Fram is lying were moving
east, or else that on the north side was moving west; for
the floes on the two sides slanted in towards each other
in these directions. We saw tracks of a little bear which
had trotted along the opening the day before. Unfort-

382 FARTHEST NORTH

unately it had gone off southwest, and we had small
hope, with this steady south wind, of its getting scent
of the ship and coming to fetch a little of the flesh on
board.

"Saturday, January 27th. The days are turning dis-
tinctly lighter now. We can just see to read Vcrdens
Gang* about midday. At that time to-day Sverdrup
thought he saw land far astern ; it was dark and irres^ular,
in some places high ; he fancied that it might be only an
appearance of clouds. When I returned from a walk,
about I o'clock, I went up to look, but saw only pilcd-
up ice. Perhaps this was the same as he saw, or possibly
I was too late. (It turned out next day to be only an
optical illusion.) Severe pressure has been going on this
evening. It began at 7.30 astern in the opening, and
went on steadily for two hours. It sounded as if a roar-
ing waterfall were rushing down upon us with a force
that nothing could resist. One heard the big floes crash-
ing and breaking against each other. They were flung
and pressed up into high walls, which must now stretch
along the whole opening east and west, for one hears
the roar the whole way. It is coming nearer just now;
the ship is getting violent shocks ; it is like waves in the
ice. They come on us from behind, and move forward.
We stare out into the night, but can see nothing, for it
is pitch-dark. Now I hear cracking and shifting in the

* A Norwegian newspaper.

THE WINTER NIGHT 383

hummock on the starboard quarter ; it gets louder and
stronger, and extends steadily. At last the waterfall roar
abates a little. It becomes more unequal ; there is a
longer interval between each shock. I am so cold that I
creep below.

" But no sooner have I seated myself to write than
the ship begins to heave and tremble again, and I hear
through her sides the roar of the packing. As the bear-
trap may be in danger, three men go off to see to it, but
they find that there is a distance of 50 paces between
the new pressure-ridge and the wire by which the trap
is secured, so they leave it as it is. The pressure-ridge
was an ugly sight, they say, but they could distinguish
nothing well in the dark.

" Most violent pressure is beginning again. I must go
on deck and look at it. The loud roar meets one as one
opens the door. It is coming from the bow now, as well
as from the stern. It is clear that pressure-ridges are
being thrown up in both openings, so if they reach us
we shall be taken by both ends and lifted lightly and
gently out of the water. There is pressure near us
on all sides. Creaking has begun in the old hummock
on the port quarter; it is getting louder, and, so far
as I can see, the hummock is slowly rising. A lane has
opened right across the large floe on the port side ; you
can see the water, dark as it is. Now both pressure and
noise get worse and worse ; the ship shakes, and I feel
as if I myself were being gently lifted with the stern-rail,

384 FARTHEST NORTH

where I stand scazino: out at the welter of ice-masses that
resemble giant snakes writhing and twisting their great
bodies out there under the quiet, starry sky, whose peace
is only broken by one aurora serpent waving and flick-
ering restlessly in the northeast. I once more think
what a comfort it is to be safe on board the Frani, and
look out with a certain contempt at the horrible hurly-
burly Nature is raising to no purpose whatever; it will
not crush us in a hurry, nor even frighten us. Suddenly
I remember that my fine thermometer is in a hole on a
floe to port on the other side of the opening, and must
certainly be in danger. I jump on to the ice, find a
place where I can leap across the opening, and grope
about in the dark until I find the piece of ice covering
the hole; I get hold of the string, and the thermometer
is saved. I hurry on board again well pleased, and down
into my comfortable cabin to smoke a pipe of peace — alas!
this vice grows upon me more and more — and to listen
with glee to the roar of the pressure outside and feel its
shakings, like so many earthquakes, as I sit and write my
diary. Safe and comfortable, I cannot but think with
deep pity of the many who have had to stand by on deck
in readiness to leave their frail vessels on the occurrence
of any such pressure. The poor Tegethoff fellows — they
had a bad time of it, and 3'et theirs was a good ship in
comparison with many of the others. It is now 11.30,
and the noise outside seems to be subsiding.

"It is remarkable that we should have this strong

THE WINTER NIGHT 385

pressure just now, with the moon in its last quarter and
neap tide. This does not agree with our previous expe-
riences ; no more does the fact that the pressure the day
before yesterday was from 12 a.m. to about 2 p.m., and
then again at 2 a.m., and now we have had it from 7.30
to 10.30 P.M. Can land have something to do with it
here, after all .^ The temperature to-day is 42° Fahr.
below zero ( — 41.4° C), but there is no wind, and we
have not had such pleasant weather for walking for a
long time ; it feels almost mild here when the air is still.

" No, that was not the end of the pressure. When I
was on deck at a quarter to twelve roaring and trembling
began again in the ice forward on the port quarter; then
suddenly came one loud boom after another, sounding
out in the distance, and the ship gave a start ; there was
again a little pressure, and after that quietness. Faint
aurora borealis.

" Sunday, January 28th. Strange to say, there has
been no pressure since 1 2 o'clock last night ; the ice
seems perfectly quiet. The pressure-ridge astern showed
what violent packing yesterday's was ; in one place its
height was 18 or 19 feet above the surface of the water;
floe-ice 8 feet thick was broken, pressed up in square
blocks, and crushed to pieces. At one point a huge
monolith of such floe-ice rose high into the air. Beyond
this pressure-wall there was no great disturbance to be
detected. There had been a little packing here and
there, and the floe to port had four or five large cracks

386 FARTHEST .\ORTH

across it, which no doubt accounted for the explosions I
heard last niijht. The ice to starboard was also cracked
in several places. The pressure had evidently come from
the north or N.N.E. The ridge behind us is one of the
highest I have seen yet. I believe that if the Fram had
been lying there she would have been lifted right out of
the water. I walked for some distance in a northeasterly
direction, but saw no signs of pressure there.

" Another Sunday. It is wonderful that the time can
pass so quickly as it does. For one thing we are in
better spirits, knowing that we are drifting steadily north.
A rough estimate of to-day's observation gives 79° 50'
north latitude. That is not much since Monday ; but
then yesterday and to-day there has been almost no
wind at all, and the other days it has been very light —
only once or twice with as much as 9 feet velocity, the
rest of the time 3 and 6.

"A remarkable event happened yesterday afternoon: I
got Munthe s picture of the ' Three Princesses ' fastened
firmly on the wall. It is a thing that we have been going
to do ever since we left Christiania, but we have never
been able to summon up energy for such a heavy under-
taking— it meant knocking in four nails — and the picture
has amused itself by constantly falling and guillotining
whoever happened to be sitting on the sofa below it.

"Tuesday, January 30th. 79" 49' north latitude, 134°
57' east longitude, is the tale told by this afternoon's ob-
servations, while by Sunday afternoon's we were in 79'

THE WINTER NIGHT 387

50' north latitude, and 133 23' east longitude. This
fall-off to the southeast again was not more than I had
expected, as it has been almost calm since Sunday. I
explain the thing to myself thus : When the ice has
been set adrift in a certain direction by the wind blow-
ing that way for some time it gradually in process of
drifting becomes more compressed, and when that wind
dies away a reaction in the opposite direction takes
place. Such a reaction must, I believe, have been the
cause of Saturdays pressure, which stopped entirely as
suddenly as it began. Since then there has not been
the slightest appearance of movement in the ice. Prob-
ably the pressure indicates the time when the drift
turned. A light breeze has sprung up this afternoon
from S.E. and E.S.E., increasing gradually to almost
'mill wind.' We are going north again; surely we shall
get the better of the 80th degree this time.

" Wednesday, January 31st. The wind is whistling
among the hummocks ; the snow flies rustling through
the air ; ice and sky are melted into one. It is dark ; our
skins are smarting with the cold ; but we are going north
at full speed, and are in the wildest of gay spirits.

"Thursday, February ist. The same sort of weather
as yesterday, except that it has turned quite mild — 7^°
Fahr. below zero (-22'' C). The snow is falling exactly
as it does in winter weather at home. The wind is more
southerly, S.S.E. now, and rather lighter. It may be
taken for granted that we have passed the 8oth degree,

388 FARTHEST NORTH

and we had a small preliminary fete this evening — figs,
raisins, and almonds — and dart-shooting, which last result-
ed for me in a timely replenishment of my cigarette-case."

" Friday, February 2d. High festival to-day in honor
of the 80th degree, beginning with fresh rye-bread and
cake for breakfast. Took a long walk to get up an appe-
tite for dinner. According to this morning's observation,
we are in 80^ 10' north latitude and 132' 10' east longi-
tude. Hurrah ! W^ell sailed! I had offered to bet heav-
ily that we had passed 80', but no one would take the
bet. Dinner menu : Ox-tail soup, fish-pudding, potatoes,
rissoles, green pease, haricot beans, cloudberries with milk,
and a whole bottle of beer to each man. Coffee and a
ciearette after dinner. Could one wish for more.^ In the
evening we had tinned pears and peaches, gingerbread,
dried bananas, figs, raisins, and almonds. Complete hol-
iday all day. We read aloud the discussions of this ex-
pedition published before we left, and had some good
laughs at the many objections raised. But our people at
home, perhaps, do not laugh if they read them now.

" Monday, February 5th. Last time we shall have
Ringnes beer at dinner. Day of mourning.

" Tuesday, February 6th. Calm, clear weather. A
strong sun-glow above the horizon in the south ; yellow,
green, and light blue above that ; all the rest of the sky
deep ultramarine. I stood looking at it, trying to
remember if the Italian sky was ever bluer; I do not
think so. It is curious that this deep color should

THE WINTER NIGHT 389

always occur along with cold. Is it perhaps that a
current from more northerly, clear regions produces
drier and more transparent air in the upper strata?
The color was so remarkable to-day that one could not
help noticing it. Striking contrasts to it were formed
by the Franis red deck-house and the white snow on
roof and rigging. Ice and hummocks were quite violet
wherever they were turned from the daylight. This
color was specially strong over the fields of snow upon
the floes. The temperature has been 52^ Fahr. and 54°
Fahr. below zero ( — 47° and —48° C). There is a sud-
den change of 125° Fahr. when one comes up from the
saloon, where the thermometer is at 72° Fahr. ( + 22° C);
but, although thinly clad and bareheaded, one does not
feel it cold, and can even with impunity take hold of
the brass door-handle or the steel cable of the rigging.
The cold is visible, however; one's breath is like
cannon smoke before it is out of one's mouth; and
when a man spits there is quite a little cloud of steam
round the fallen moisture. The Fram always gives off
a mist, which is carried along by the wind, and a man
or a dog can be detected far off among the hummocks
or pressure-ridges by the pillar of vapor that follows
his progress.

" Wednesday, February 7th. It is extraordinary
what a frail thing hope, or rather the mind of man, is.
There was a little breeze this morning from the N.N.E.,
only 6 feet per second, thermometer at 57° Fahr. below

390 FARTHEST NORTH

zero ( — 49.6^' C), and immediately one's brow is clouded
over, and it becomes a matter of indifference how we get
home, so long as we only get home soon. I immediately
assume land to the northward, from which come these
cold winds, with clear atmosphere and frost and bright
blue skies, and conclude that this extensive tract of
land must form a pole of cold with a constant maximum
of air-pressure, which will force us south with north-
east winds. About midday the air began to grow
more hazy and my mood less gloomy. No doubt
there is a south wind coming, but the temperature is
still too low for it. Then the temperature, too, rises,
and now we can rely on the wind. And this evening it
came, sure enough, from S.S.W., and now, 12 p.m., its
velocity is 1 1 feet, and the temperature has risen to 43°
Fahr. below zero ( — 42" C). This promises well. We
should soon reach 81°. The land to the northward has
now vanished from my mind's eye.

" We had lime-juice with sugar at dinner to-day instead
of beer, and it seemed to be approved of. We call it
wine, and we agreed that it was better than cider.
Weighing has gone on this evening, and the increase in
certain cases is still disquieting. SomiC have gained as
much as 4 pounds in the last month — for instance, Sver-
drup. Blessing, and Juell, who beats the record on board
with 13 stone. ' I never weighed so much as I do now,'
says Blessing, and it is much the same story with us all.
Yes, this is a fatiguing expedition, but our menus are

THE WINTER NIGHT 391

always in due proportion to our labors. To-day's
dinner: Knorrs bean soup, toad-in-the-hole, potatoes,
rice and milk, with cranberry jam. Yesterday's dinner :
Fish au gratin (hashed fish) with potatoes, curried rabbit
with potatoes and French beans, stewed bilberries, and
cranberries with milk. At breakfast yesterday we had
freshly baked wheat-bread, at breakfast to-day freshly
baked rye-bread. These are specimens of our ordinary
bills of fare. It is as I expected : I hear the wind roar-
ing in the rigging now; it is going to be a regular storm,
according to our ideas of one here.

" Saturday, February loth. Though that wind the
other day did not come to much after all, we still hoped
that we had made good way north, and it was con-
sequently an unwelcome surprise when yesterday's ob-
servation showed our latitude to be 79° 57' N., 13'
farther south instead of farther north. It is extraordi-
nary how little inured one gets to disappointments ; the
longing begins again ; and again attainment seems so
far off, so doubtful. And this though I dream at nights
just now of getting out of the ice west of Iceland. Hope
is a rickety craft to trust one's self to. I had a long,
successful drive with the dogs to-day.

"Sunday, February nth. To-day we drove out with
two teams of dogs. Things went well ; the sledges got
on much better over this ice than I thought they would.
They do not sink much in the snow. On flat ice four
dogs can draw two men.

39- FARTHEST NORTH

"Tuesday, P^ebruary 13th. A long drive southwest
yesterday with white dogs. To-day still farther in the
same direction on snow-shoes. It is good healthy exer-
cise, with a temperature of 43° Fahr. to 47° Fahr. below
zero ( — 42' and —44 C.) and a biting north wind. Nat-
ure is so fair and pure, the ice is so spotless, and the
lights and shadows of the growing day so beautiful on
the new-fallen snow. The Frams hoar-frost-covered
riirorinQ: rises strais^ht and white with rime towards the
sparkling blue sky. One's thoughts turn to the snow-
shoeing days at home.

"Thursday, February 15th. I went yesterday on
snow-shoes farther northeast than I have ever been
before, but I could still see the ship's rigging above
the edge of the ice. I was able to go fast, because
the ice was flat in that direction. To - day I went the
same way with dogs. I am examining the 'lie of the
land ' all round, and thinking of plans for the future.

" What exaggerated reports of the Arctic cold are in
circulation ! It was cold in Greenland, and it is not
milder here; the general day temperature just now is
about 40° Fahr. and 43° Fahr. below zero. I was clothed
yesterday as usual as regards the legs — drawers, knick-
erbockers, stockings, frieze leggings, snow -socks, and
moccasins ; my body covering consisted of an ordinary
shirt, a wolf -skin cape, and a sealskin jacket, and I
sweated like a horse. To-day I sat still, driving with
only thin ducks above my ordinary leg wear, and on my

THE WINTER NIGHT 393

body woollen shirt, vest, Iceland woollen jersey, a frieze
coat, and a sealskin one. I found the temperature quite
pleasant, and even perspired a little to-day, too. Both
yesterday and to-day I had a red-flannel mask on my
face, but it made me too warm, and I had to take it off,
thouorh there was a bitter breeze from the north. That
north wind is still persistent, sometimes with a velocity
of 9 or even 1 3 feet, but yet we do not seem to be drift-
ing south ; we lie in So" north latitude, or even a few
minutes farther north. What can be the reason of this }
There is a little pressure every day just now. Curious
that it should again occur at the moons change of
quarter. The moon stands high in the sky, and there is
daylight now, too. Soon the sun will be making his ap-
pearance, and when he does we shall hold high festival.

"Friday, February i6th. Hurrah! A meridian obser-
vation to-day shows 80° i ' north latitude, so that we have
come a few minutes north since last Friday, and that in
spite of constant northerly winds since Monday. There
is something very singular about this. Is it, as I have
thought all along from the appearance of the clouds and
the haziness of the air, that there has been south wind in
the south, preventing the drift of the ice that way, or
have we at last come under the influence of a current .f*
That shove we got to the south lately in the face of south-
erly winds was a remarkable thing, and so is our remaining
where we are now in spite of the northerly ones. It would
seem that new powers of some kind must be at work.

394 FARTHEST NORTH

" To-day another noteworthy thing happened, which
was that about midday we saw the sun, or, to be more
correct, an image of the sun, for it was only a mirage.
A peculiar impression was produced by the sight of
that glowing fire lit just above the outermost edge of
the ice. According to the enthusiastic descriptions given

FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE SUN

by many Arctic travellers of the first appearance of this
god of life after the long winter night, the impres-
sion ought to be one of jubilant excitement ; but it
was not so in my case. We had not expected to see
it for some days yet, so that my feeling was rather one
of pain, of disappointment, that we must have drifted

THE WINTER NIGHT 395

farther south than we thought. So it was with pleasure
I soon discovered that it could not be the sun itself.
The mirage was at first like a flattened-out glowing red
streak of fire on the horizon ; later there were two
streaks, the one above the other, with a dark space
between; and from the main -top I could see four, or
even five, such horizontal lines directly over one another,
and all of equal length ; as if one could only imagine
a square dull-red sun with horizontal dark streaks across
it. An astronomical observation we took in the after-
noon showed that the sun must in reality have been
2° 22' below the horizon at noon; we cannot expect to
see its disk above the ice before Tuesday at the earliest :
it depends on the refraction, which is very strong in this
cold air. All the same, we had a small sun -festival
this evening, on the occasion of the appearance of its
image — a treat of figs, bananas, raisins, almonds, and
gingerbread.

"Sunday, February i8th. I went eastward yester-
day on snow-shoes, and found a good snow-shoeing and
driving road out to the flats that lie in that direction.
There is a pretty bad bit first, with hummocks and
pressure-ridges, and then you come out on these great
wide plains, which seem to extend for miles and miles
to the north, east, and southeast. To-day I drove
out there with eight clogs; the driving goes capitally
now; some of the others followed on snow-shoes. Still
northerly wind. This is slow work; but anyhow we are

396 FARTHEST NORTH

having clear, bright weather. Yes, it is all very well —
we snow-shoe, sledge, read both for instruction and
amusement, write, take observations, play cards, chat,
smoke, play chess, eat and drink; but all the same it is
an execrable life in the long-run, this — at least, so it
seems to me at times. When I look at the picture of our
beautiful home in the evening light, with my wife stand-
ing in the garden, I feel as if it were impossible that this
could go on much longer. But only the merciless fates
know when we shall stand there together again, feeling all
life's sweetness as we look out over the smiling fjord, and
. . . Taking everything into calculation, if I am to be per-
fectly honest, I think this is a wretched state of matters.
We are now in about 80^ north latitude, in September we
were in 79°; that is, let us say, one degree for five months.
If we go on at this rate we shall be at the Pole in forty-five,
or say fifty, months, and in ninety or one hundred months
at 80° north latitude on the other side of it, with probably
some prospect of getting out of the ice and home in a
month or two more. At best, if things go on as they are
doing now, we shall be home in eight years. I remember
Brogger writing before I left, when I was planting small
bushes and trees in the garden for future generations,
that no one knew what length of shadows these trees
would cast by the time I came back. Well, they are
lying under the winter snow now, but in spring they will
shoot and sfrow ao^ain — how often ? Oh ! at times this
inactivity crushes one's very soul ; one's life seems as

THE WINTER NIGHT 397

dark as the winter night outside ; there is sunlight upon
no part of it except the past and the far, far distant future.
I feel as if I imist break through this deadness, this in-
ertia, and find some outlet for my energies. Can't some-
thing happen? Could not a hurricane come and tear up
this ice, and set it rolling in high waves like the open
sea? Welcome danger, if it only brings us the chance
of fighting for our lives — only lets us move onward!
The miserable thing is to be inactive onlookers, not to be
able to lift a hand to help ourselves forward. It wants
ten times more strength of mind to sit still and trust in
your theories and let nature work them out without your
being able so much as to lay one stick across another to
help, than it does to trust in working them out by your
own energy — that is nothing when you have a pair of
strong arms. Here I sit, whining like an old woman.
Did I not know all this before I started ? Things have
not gone worse than I expected, but, on the contrary,
rather better. Where is now the serene hopefulness that
spread itself in the daylight and the sun ? Where are
those proud imaginings now that mounted like young
eagles towards the brightness of the future ? Like
broken-winged, wet crows they leave the sunlit sea, and
hide themselves in the misty marshes of despondency.
Perhaps it will all come back again with the south wind ;
but, no — I must go and rummage up one of the old phi-
losophers again.

" There is a little pressure this evening, and an ob-

398 FARTHEST NORTH

servation just taken seems to indicate a drift of 3'
south.

" 1 1 I'.M. Pressure in the opening astern. The ice
is cracking and squeezing against the ship, making it
shake.

" Monday, February 19th. Once more it may be said
that the night is darkest just before the dawn. Wind
began to blow from the south to-day, and has reached a
velocity of 1 3 feet per second. We did some ice-boring
this morning, and found that the ice to port is 5 feet
II I inches (1.875 metres) thick, with a layer of about
\^ inches of snow over it. The ice forward was 6 feet
74- inches (2.08 metres) thick, but a couple of inches of
this was snow. This cannot be called much growth for
quite a month, when one thinks that the temperature has
been down to 58° Fahr. below zero.

" Both to-day and yesterday we have seen the mirage
of the sun again ; to-day it was high above the horizon,
and almost seemed to assume a round, disk-like form.
Some of the others maintain that they have seen the
upper edge of the sun itself; Peter and Bentzen, that
they have seen at least half of the disk, and Juell and
Hansen declare that the whole of it was above the
horizon. I am afraid it is so long since they saw it
that they have forgotten what it is like.

" Tuesday, February 20th. Great sun festival to-day
without any sun. We felt certain we should see it, but
there were clouds on the horizon. However, we were

THE WINTER NIGHT 399

not going to be cheated out of our festival ; we can hold
another on the occasion of really seeing it for the first
time. We began with a grand rifle practice in the
morninor ; then there was a dinner of three or four
courses and ^ Fi^am wine,' otherwise lime-juice, coffee
afterwards with ' Frani cake.' In the evening pineapple,
cake, figs, bananas, and sweets. We go off to bed feel-
ing that we have over-eaten ourselves, while half a gale
from the S.E. is blowing us northward. The mill has
been going to-day, and though the real sun did not come
to the festival, our saloon sun lighted up our table
both at dinner and supper. Great face-washing in honor
of the day. The way we are laying on flesh is get-
ting serious. Several of us are like prize pigs, and the
bulge of cook Juell's cheeks, not to mention another
part of his body, is quite alarming. I saw him in profile
to-day, and wondered how he would ever manage to
carry such a corporation over the ice if we should have
to turn out one of these fine days. Must begin to think
of a course of short rations now.

"Wednesday, February 21st. The south wind con-
tinues. Took up the bag-nets to-day which were put
out the day before yesterday. In the upper one, which
himg near the surface, there were chiefly amphipoda ;
in Murray's net, which hung at about 50 fathoms' depth,
there was a variety of small Crustacea and other small
animals shining with such a strong phosphorescence that
the contents of the net looked like glowing embers as I^

400 FARTHEST NORTH

emptied them out in the cook's galley by lamplight
To my astonishment the net- line pointed northwest,
though from the wind there ought to be a good northerly
drift. To clear this matter up I let the net down in
the afternoon, and as soon as it got a little way under
the ice the line pointed northwest again, and continued
to do so the whole afternoon. How is this phenome-
non to be explained '^. Can we, after all, be in a current
moving northwest ? Let us hope that the future will
prove such to be the case. We can reckon on two
points of variation in the compass, and in that case the
current would make due N.N.W. There seems to be
strong movement in the ice. It has opened and formed
channels in several places.

"Thursday, February 22d. The net-line has pointed
west all day till now, afternoon, when it is pointing
straight up and down, and we are presumably lying
still. The wind slackened to-day till it was quite calm
in the afternoon. Then there came a faint breeze from
the southwest and from the west, and this evening the
long-dreaded northwester has come at last. At 9 p.m.
it is blowing pretty hard from N.N.W. An observa-
tion of Capella taken in the afternoon would seem to
show that we are in any case not farther north than 80°
11', and this after almost four days' south wind. What-
ever can be the meaning of this ? Is there dead-water
under the ice, keeping it from going either forward or
backward } The ice to starboard cracked yesterday,

THE WINTER NIGHT

40 1

away beyond the bear-trap. The thickness of the solid
floe was i\\ feet (345 metres), but, besides this, other
ice was packed on to it below. Where it was broken
across, the floe showed a marked stratified formation,
recalling the stratification of a glacier. Even the darker
and dirtier strata were there, the color in this case pro-
duced by the brownish -red organisms that inhabit the

DIAGRAMS OF ICE WITH LAYERS

water, specimens of which I found at an earlier date.
In several places the strata were bent and broken, ex-
actly in the same manner as the geological strata form-
ing the earth's crust. This was evidently the result of
the horizontal pressure in the ice at the time of pack-
ing. It was especially noticeable at one place, near a
huge mound formed during the last pressure. Here

402 FARTHEST NORTH

the Strata looked very much as they are represented in
the annexed drawing.*

It was extraordinary too to see how this floe of over
three yards in thickness was bent into great waves with-
out breaking. This was clearly done by pressure, and
was specially noticeable, more particularly near the press-
ure-ridsfes, which had forced the floe down so that its
upper surface lay even with the water-line, while at
other places it was a good half-yard above it, in these
last cases thrust up by ice pressed in below. It all
shows how extremely plastic these floes are, in spite of
the cold; the temperature of the ice near the surface
must have been from 4° Fahr. to 22° Fahr. below zero
(_20° to —30' C.) at the time of these pressures. In
many places the bending had been too violent, and the
floe had cracked. The cracks were often covered wdth
loose ice, so that one could easily enough fall into them,
just as in crossing a dangerous glacier.

" Saturday, February 24th. Observations to-day show
us to be in 79^^ 54' north latitude, 132'' 57' east longitude.
Strange that we should have come so far south when the
north or northwest wind only blew for twenty-four hours.

"Sunday, February 25th. It looks as if the ice were
drifting eastward now. Oh ! I see pictures of summer
and green trees and rippling streams. I am reading of
valley and mountain life, and I grow sick at heart and

* In spite of this bending of the strata, the surface of the ice and snow-
remained even.

THE WINTER NIGHT 403

enervated. Why dwell on such things just now? It will
be many a long day before we can see all that again.
We are going at the miserable pace of a snail, but not
so surely as it goes. We carry our house with us ; but
what we do one day is undone the next.

" Monday, February 26th. We are drifting northeast.
A tremendous snow-storm is going on. The wind has at
times a velocity of over 35 feet per second ; it is howling
in the rigging, whistling over the ice, and the snow is
drifting so badly that a man might be lost in it quite
near at hand. We are sitting here listening to the howl-
ing in the chimney and in the ventilators, just as if we
were sitting in a house at home in Norway, The wings
of the windmill have been going round at such a rate
that you could hardly distinguish them ; but we have had
to stop the mill this evening because the accumulators
are full, and we fastened up the wings so that the wind
might not destroy them. W^e have had electric light for
almost a week now.

" This is the strongest wind we have had the whole
winter. If anything can shake up the ice and drive us
north, this must do it. But the barometer is falling too
fast ; there will be north wind again presently. Hope
has been disappointed too often; it is no longer elastic;
and the gale makes no great impression on me. I look
forward to spring and summer, in suspense as to what
change they will bring. But the Arctic night, the dread-
ed Arctic night, is over, and we have daylight once again.

404 FARTHEST NORTH

I must say that I see no appearance of the sunken,
wasted faces which this night ought to have produced;
in the clearest daylight and the brightest sunshine I can
only discover plump, comfortable -looking ones. It is
curious enough, though, about the light. We used to
think it was like real day down here when the incan-
descent lamps were burning ; but now, coming down
from the daylight, though they may be all lit, it is like
coming into a cellar. When the arc lamp has been
burning all day, as it has to-day, and is then put out and
its place supplied by the incandescent ones, the effect is
much the same.

"Tuesday, February 27th. Drifting E.S.E. My
pessimism is justified. A strong west wind has blown
almost all day ; the barometer is low, but has begun to
rise unsteadily. The temperature is the highest we have
had all winter; to-day's maximum is 15'' Fahr. above zero
( — 9.7° C). At 8 P.M. the thermometer stood at 70 Fahr.
below zero ( — 22^' C). The temperature rises and falls
almost exactly conversely with the barometer. This after-
noon's observation places us in about So' 10' north lati-
tude.

" W^ednesday, February 28th. Beautiful weather to-
day, almost still, and temperature only about 15 Fahr. to
22° Fahr. below zero (—26"^ to —30° 5' C). There were
clouds in the south, so that not much was to be seen
of the sun ; but it is light wonderfully long already.
Sverdrup and I went snow-shoeing after dinner — the

THE WINTER NIGHT 405

first time this year that we have been able to do
anything of the kind in the afternoon. We made at-
tempts to pump yesterday and to-day ; there ought to
be a Httle water, but the pump would not suck, though
we tried both warm water and salt. Possibly there is
water frozen round it, and possibly there is no water at
all. In the engine-room there has been no appearance
of water for more than a month, and none comes into
the forehold, especially now that the bow is raised up by
the pack-ice ; so if there is any it can only be a little
in the hold. This tightening may be attributed chiefly
to the frost.

" The wind has begun to blow again from the S.S.W.
this evening, and the barometer is falling, which ought
to mean good wind coming ; but the barometer of hope
does not rise above its normal height. I had a bath this
evening in a tin tub in the galley; trimmed and clean,
one feels more of a human being.

"Thursday, March ist. We are lying almost still.
Beautiful mild weather, only 2)^ Fahr. below zero (—19''
C), sky overcast; light fall of snow, and light wind. We
made attempts to sound to-day, having lengthened our
hemp line with a single strand of steel. This broke off
with the lead. We put on a new lead and the whole line
ran out, about 2000 fathoms, without touching bottom,
so far as we could make out. In process of hauling in,
the steel line broke again. So the results are : no bot-
tom, and two sounding-leads, each of 100 pounds' weight,

406 FARTHEST NORTH

making their way down. Goodness knows if they have
reached the bottom yet. I declare I feel inclined to be-
lieve that Bentzen is right, and that it is the hole at the
earth's axis we are trying to .s-ound.

" Friday, March 2d. The pups have lived until now
in the chart-room, and have done all the mischief there
that they could, gnawing the cases of Hansen's instru-
ments, the log-books, etc. They were taken out on deck
yesterday for the first time, and to-day they have been
there all the morning. They are of an inquiring turn of
mind, and examine everything, being specially interest-
ed in the interiors of all the kennels in this new, large
town.

" Sunday, March 4th. The drift is still strong south.
There is northwesterly wind to-day again, but not quite
so much of it. I expected we had come a long way
south, but yesterday's observation still showed 79"^ 54'
north latitude. We must have drifted a good way north
during the last days before this wind came. The weather
yesterday and to-day has been bitter, 35' Fahr. and 36.^°
Fahr. below zero (-37^ and -38^' C), with sometimes as
much as 35 feet of wind per second, must be called cool.
It is curious that now the northerly winds bring cold, and
the southerly warmth. Earlier in the winter it was just
the opposite.

" Monday, March 5th. Sverdrup and I have been a
long way northeast on snow-shoes. The ice was in good
condition for it ; the wind has tossed about the snow

THE WINTER NIGHT 407

finely, covering over the pressure - ridge as far as the
scanty supply of material has permitted.

" Tuesday, March 6th. No drift at all. It has been
a bitter day to-day, ^f Fahr. to 50' Fahr. below zero
(—44° to —46" C), and wind up to 19 feet. This has
been a good occasion for getting hands and face frost-
bitten, and one or two have taken advantage of it.
Steady northwest wind. I am beginning to get indif-
ferent and stolid as far as the wind is concerned. I
photographed Johansen to-day at the anemometer, and
during the process his nose was frost-bitten.

" There has been a general weighing this evening
again. These weighings are considered very interesting
performances, and we stand watching in suspense to see
whether each man has gained or lost. Most of them
have lost a little this time. Can it be because we have
stopped drinking beer and begun lime-juice.'^ But Juell
goes on indefatigably — he has gained nearly a pound
this time. Our doctor generally does very well in this
line too, but to-day it is only 10 ounces. In other ways
he is badly off on board, poor fellow — not a soul will turn
ill. In despair he set up a headache yesterday himself,
but he could not make it last over the night. Of late
he has taken to studying the diseases of dogs; perhaps
he may find a more profitable practice in this depart-
ment.

" Thursday, March 8th. Drifting south. Sverdrup
and I had a good snow-shoeing trip to-day, to the north

408 FARTHEST NORTH

and west The snow was in splendid condition after the
winds; you fly along like thistledown before a breeze, and
can get about everywhere, even over the worst pressure-
mounds. The weather was beautiful, temperature only
38° Fahr. below zero ( — 39 C) ; but this evening it is
quite bitter again, 55 Fahr. ( — 48. 5' C.) and from 16 to
26 feet of wind. It is by no means pleasant work stand-
ing up on the windmill, reefing or taking in the sails ; it
means aching nails, and sometimes frost-bitten cheeks;
but it has to be done, and it is done. There is plenty of
' mill-wind ' in the daytime now — this is the third week
we have had electric li^ht — but it is wretched that it
should be always this north and northwest wind; good-
ness only knows when it is going to stop. Can there
be land north of us? We are drifting badly south. It is
hard to keep one's faith alive. There is nothing for it
but to wait and see what time will do.

" After a long rest the ship got a shake this afternoon.
I went on deck. Pressure was going on in an opening
just in front of the bow. We might almost have expected
it just now, as it is new moon ; only we have got out of
the way of thinking at all about the spring tides, as they
have had so little effect lately. They should of course
be specially strong just now, as the equinox is approach-
ing.

"Friday, March 9th. The net -line pointed slightly
southwest this morning; but the line attached to a
cheese which was only hanging a few fathoms below the

JOHANSEN READING THE ANEMOMETER

{From a fihotograph)

THE WINTER NIGHT 41 1

ice to thaw faster, seemed to point in the opposite di-
rection. Had we got a southerly current together with
the wind now? H'm! in that case something must
come of it ! Or was it, perhaps, only the tide setting
that way?

" Still the same northerly wind ; we are steadily bear-
ing south. This, then, is the change I hoped the March
equinox would bring ! We have been having northerly
winds for more than a fortnight. I cannot conceal from
myself any longer that I am beginning to despond.
Quietly and slowly, but mercilessly, one hope after the
other is being crushed and . . . have I not a right to be
a little despondent? I long unutterably after home, per-
haps I am drifting away farther from it, perhaps nearer;
but anyhow it is not cheering to see the realization of
one's plans again and again delayed, if not annihilated
altogether, in this tedious and monotonously killing way.
Nature goes her age-old round impassively; summer
changes into winter; spring vanishes away; autumn
comes, and finds us still a mere chaotic whirl of dar-
ing projects and shattered hopes. As the wheel re-
volves, now the one and now the other comes to the top
— but memory betweenwhiles lightly touches her ringing
silver chords — now loud like a roaring waterfall, now
low and soft like far off sweet music. I stand and look
out over this desolate expanse of ice with its plains and
heights and valleys, formed by the pressure arising from
the shifting tidal currents of winter. The sun is now

412 FARTHEST NORTH

shining over them with his cheering beams. In the
middle Hes the Fi^ani, hemmed in immovably. When,
my proud ship, will you float free in the open water
again t

" ' Ich schau dich an, und Wehmuth,
Schleicht mir in's Herz hinein.'

Over these masses of ice, drifting by paths unknown, a
human pondered and brooded so long that he put a
whole people in motion to enable him to force his way in
among them— a people who had plenty of other claims
upon their energies. For w^hat purpose all this to-do ?
If only the calculations were correct these ice-floes
would be orlorious — nav, irresistible auxiliaries. But if
there has been an error in the calculation — well, in that
case they are not so pleasant to deal with. And how
oftCQ does a calculation come out correct."* But were I
now free ? Wh3^ I should do it all over again, from the
same starting-point. One must persevere till one learns
to calculate correctly.

" I laugh at the scurvy ; no sanatorium better than
ours.

" I laugh at the ice ; we are living as it were in an im-
pregnable castle.

" I laugh at the cold ; it is nothins^.

" But I do not laugh at the winds ; they are every-
thing ; they bend to no man's will.

" But why always worry about the future ? Why dis-
tress yourself as to whether you are drifting forward or

THE WINTER NIGHT 413

backward ? Why not carelessly let the days glide by
like a peacefully flowing river? every now and then there
will come a rapid that will quicken the lazy flow. Ah !
what a wondrous contrivance is life — one eternal hurry-
ing forward, ever forward — to what end ? And then
comes death and cuts all short before the goal is reached.

" I went a long snow-shoe tour to-day. A little way
to the north there were a good many newly formed lanes
and pressure-ridges which were hard to cross, but patience
overcomes everything, and I soon reached a level plain
where it was delightful going. It was, however, rather
cold, about 54° Fahr. below zero ( — 48° C.) and 16 feet of
wind from N.N.E., but I did not feel it much. It is
wholesome and enjoyable to be out in such weather. I
wore only ordinary clothes, such as I might wear at home,
with a sealskin jacket and linen outside breeches, and a
half-mask to protect the forehead, nose, and cheeks.

"There has been a good deal of ice -pressure in
different directions to-day. Oddly enough, a meridian
altitude of the sun gave 79' 45^ We have therefore
drifted only 8' southward during the four days since
March 4th. This slow drift is remarkable in spite of
the high winds. If there should be land to the north ?
I begin more and more to speculate on this possibility.
Land to the north would explain at once our not pro-
gressing northward, and the slowness of our southward
drift. But it may also possibly arise from the fact of the
ice being so closely packed together, and frozen so thick

414 FARTHEST NORTH

and massive. It seems strange to me that there is so
much northwest wind, and hardly any from the northeast,
though the latter is what the rotation of the earth would
lead one to expect. As a matter of fact, the wind merely
shifts between northwest and southeast, instead of be-
tween southwest and northeast, as it ought to do. Unless
there is land I am at a loss to find a satisfactory expla-
nation, at all events, of this northwest direction. Does
Franz Josef Land jut out eastward or northward, or does
a continuous line of islands extend from Franz Josef
Land in one or other of those directions } It is by no
means impossible. Directly the Austrians got far enough
to the north they met with prevailing winds from the
northeast, while we get northwesterly winds. Does the
central point of these masses of land lie to the north,
midway between our meridian and theirs ? I can hardly
believe that these remarkably cold winds from the north
are engendered by merely passing over an ice -covered
sea. If, indeed, there is land, and we get hold of it, then
all our troubles would be over. But no one can tell what
the future may bring forth, and it is better, perhaps, not
to know.

"Saturday, March loth. The line shows a drift
northward ; now, too, in the afternoon, a slight southerly
breeze has sprung up. As usual, it has done me good to
put my despondency on paper and get rid of it. To-day
I am in good spirits again, and can indulge in happy
dreams of a larsfe and hisfh land in the north with moun-

THE WINTER NIGHT 4^5

tains and valleys, where we can sit under the mountain
wall, roast ourselves in the sun, and see the spring come.
And over its inland ice we can make our way to the very
Pole.

"Sunday, March iith. A snow-shoe run northward.
Temperature —50° C. (58° Fahr. below zero), and 10 feet
wind from N.N.E. We did not feel the cold very much,
though it was rather bad for the stomach and thighs, as
none of us had our wind trousers* on. We wore our usu-
al dress of a pair of ordinary trousers and woollen pants,
a shirt, and wolfskin cloak, or a common woollen suit
with a light sealskin jacket over it. For the first time in
my life I felt my thighs frozen, especially just over the
knee, and on the kneecap ; my companions also suffered
in the same way. This was after going a long while
against the wind. We rubbed our legs a little, and they
soon got warm again; but had we kept on much longer
without noticing it we should probably have been se-
verely frost-bitten. In other respects we did not suffer
the least inconvenience from the cold — on the contrary,
found the temperature agreeable ; and I am convinced
that 10°, 20°, or even 30° lower would not have been
unendurable. It is strange how ones sensations alter.
When at home, I find it unpleasant if I only go out-of-
doors when there are some 20 degrees of cold, even in
calm weather. But here I don't find it any colder when

* So we called some light trousers of thin close cotton, which we used
as a protection against the wind and snow.

4l6 FARTHEST NORTH

I turn out in 50 degrees of cold, with a wind into the
bargain. Sitting in a warm room at home one srets ex-
aesrerated ideas about the terribleness of the cold. It is
really not in the least terrible; we all of us find ourselves
very well in it, though sometimes one or another of us does
not take quite so long a walk as usual when a strong
wind is blowing, and will even turn back for the cold ;
but that is when he is only lightly clad and has no wind
clothes on. This evening it is 51.2" Fahr. below zero,
and 14^ feet N.N.E. wind. Brilliant northern lights in
the south. Already there is a very marked twilight even
at midnight.

"Monday, March 12th. Slowly drifting southward.
Took a long snow-shoe run alone, towards the north ;
to-day had on my wind breeches, but found them almost
too warm. This morning it was 51.6"^ Fahr. below zero,
and about 1 3 feet N. wind ; at noon it was some degrees
warmer. Ugh! this north wind is freshening; the barom-
eter has risen again, and I had thought the wind would
have changed, but it is and remains the same.

" This is what March brings us — the month on which
my hopes relied. Now I must wait for the summer.
Soon the half-year will be past, it will leave us about in
the same place as when it began. Ugh! I am weary —
so weary ! Let me sleep, sleep ! Come, sleep ! noise-
lessly close the door of the soul, stay the flowing stream
of thought ! Come dreams, and let the sun beam over
the snowless strand of Godthaab !

THE WINTER NIGHT 41?

"Wednesday, March 14th. In the evening the dogs
all at once began to bark, as we supposed on account of
bears. Sverdrup and I took our guns, let ' Ulenka' and
'Pan' loose, and set off. There was twilight still, and
the moon, moreover, began to shine. No sooner were
the dogs on the ice than off they started westward like a
couple of rockets, we after them as quickly as we could.
As I was jumping over a lane I thrust one leg through
the ice up to the knee. Oddly enough, I did not get wet
through to the skin, though I only had Finn shoes and
frieze gaiters on ; but in this temperature, 38° Fahr. below
zero ( — 39° C), the water freezes on the cold cloth be-
fore it can penetrate it. I felt nothing of it afterwards ; it
became, as it were, a plate of ice armor that almost helped
to keep me warm. At a channel some distance off we
at last discovered that it was not a bear the doo:s had
winded, but either a walrus or a seal. We saw holes in
several places on the fresh-formed ice where it had stuck
its head through. What a wonderfully keen nose those
dogs must have : it was quite two-thirds of a mile from
the ship, and the creature had only had just a little bit
of its snout above the ice. We returned to the ship to
get a harpoon, but saw no more of the animal, though
we went several times up and down the channel.
Meanwhile ' Pan,' in his zeal, got too near the edge of
the lane and fell into the water. The ice was so high
that he could not get up on it again without help, and if

I had not been there to haul him up I am afraid he

4i8

FARTHEST NORTH

would have been drowned. He is now lying in the
saloon, and making himself comfortable and drying
himself. But he, too, did not get wet through to the
skin, though he was a good time in the water: the inner
hair of his close, coarse coat is quite dry and warm.

TWO FRIENDS

(By A. B/och,/rom a Photograph)

The dogs look on it as a high treat to come in here,
for they are not often allowed to do so. They go
round all the cabins and look out for a comfortable
corner to lie down in.

" Lovely weather, almost calm, sparklingly bright, and

THE WINTER NIGHT 419

moonshine: in the north the faint flush of evening, and
the aurora over the southern sky, now Hke a row of
flaming spears, then changing into a silvery veil, un-
dulating in wavy folds with the wind, every here and
there interspersed with red sprays. These wonderful
night effects are ever new, and never fail to captivate
the soul."

"Thursday, March 15th. This morning 41.7°, and at
8 p.iM. 40.7° Fahr. below zero, while the daytime was rath-
er warmer. At noon it was 40.5° and at 4 p.m. 39° Fahr.
below zero. It would almost seem as if the sun began
to have power.

" The dogs are strange creatures. This evening they
are probably sweltering in their kennels again, for four
or five of them are lying outside or on the roof. When
there are 50 degrees of cold most of them huddle together
inside, and lie as close to one another as possible. Then,
too, they are very loath to go out for a walk ; they prefer
to lie in the sun under the lee of the ship. But now
they find it so mild and such pleasant walking that to-day
it was not difficult to get them to follow.

" Friday, March i6th. Sverdrup has of late been
occupied in making sails for the ship's boats. To-day
there was a light southwesterly breeze, so we tried one
of the sails on two hand-sledges lashed together. It is
first-rate sailing, and does not require much wind to
make them glide along. This would be a great assist-
ance if we had to go home over the ice.

420 FARTHEST NORTH

"Wednesday, March 21st. At length a reaction has
set in: the wind is S.E. and there is a strong drift north-
ward again. The equinox is past, and we are not one
degree farther nortli since the last equinox. I wonder
where the next will find us. Should it be more to the
south, then victory is uncertain ; if more to the north, the
battle is won, though it may last long. I am looking
forward to the summer; it must bring a change with it.
The open water we sailed in up here cannot possibly be
produced by the melting of the ice alone; it must be also
due to the winds and current. And if the ice in which
we are now drifts so far to the north as to make room
for all this open water, we shall have covered a good
bit on our way. It would seem, indeed, as if summer
must bring northerly winds, with the cold Arctic Sea in
the north and warm Siberia in the south. This makes
me somewhat dubious ; but, on the other hand, we have
warm seas in the west : they may be stronger ; and the
Jeannette, moreover, drifted northwest.

" It is strange that, notwithstanding these westerly
winds, we do not drift eastward. The last longitude was
only 135'' east longitude.

" Maundy Thursda)', March 2 2d. A strong south-
easterly wund still, and a good drift northward. Our
spirits are rising. The wind whistles through the rigging
overhead, and sounds like the sough of victory through
the air. In the forenoon one of the puppies had a severe
attack of convulsions; it foamed at the mouth and bit

THE WINTER NIGHT

421

furiously at everything round it. It ended with tetanus,
and we carried it out and laid it down on the ice. It
hopped about like a toad, its legs stiff and extended,
neck and head pointing upward, while its back was
curved like a saddle. I was afraid it might be hydropho-
bia or some other infectious sickness, and shot it on the

EXPERIMENT IN SLEDGE SAILING

[From a Pliotograf'k)

422 FARTHEST NORTH

spot. Perhaps I was rather too hasty ; we can scarcely
have any infection among us now. But what could it
have been.'* Was it an epileptic attack? The other day
one of the other puppies alarmed me by running round
and round in the chart-house as if it were mad, hiding
itself after a time between a chest and the wall. Some
of the others, too, had seen it do the same thing ; but
after a while it got all right again, and for the last few
days there has been nothing amiss with it.

"Good Friday, March 23d. Noonday observation
gives 80° north latitude. In four days and nights we
have drifted as far north as we drifted southward in
three weeks. It is a comfort, at all events, to know that !

" It is remarkable how quickly the nights have grown
light. Even stars of the first magnitude can now barely
manage to twinkle in the pale sky at midnight.

"Saturday, March 24t"h. Easter Eve. To-day a
notable event has occurred. We have allowed the light
of spring to enter the saloon. During the whole of the
winter the skylight was covered with snow to keep the
cold out, and the dogs' kennels, moreover, had been
placed round it. Now we have thrown out all the snow
upon the ice, and the panes of glass in the skylight have
been duly cleared and cleaned.

" Monday, March 26th. We are lying motionless — no
drift. How long will this last t Last equinox how proud
and triumphant I was ! The whole world looked bright ;
but now I am proud no longer.

THE WINTER NIGHT 423

" The sun mounts up and bathes the ice-plain with its
radiance. Spring is coming, but brings no joys with it.
Here it is as lonely and cold as ever. One's soul freezes.
Seven more years of such life — or say only four — how
will the soul appear then ? And she . . . ? If I dared to
let my longings loose — to let my soul thaw. Ah ! I long
more than I dare confess.

" I have not courage to think of the future. . . . And
how will it be at home, when year after year rolls by and
no one comes ?

" I know this is all a morbid mood ; but still this
inactive, lifeless monotony, without any change, wrings
one's very soul. No struggle, no possibility of struggle !
All is so still and dead, so stiff and shrunken, under
the mantle of ice. Ah ! . . . the very soul freezes. What
would I not give for a single day of struggle — for even a
moment of danger !

" Still I must wait, and watch the drift ; but should it
take a wrong direction, then I will break all the bridges
behind me, and stake everything on a northward march
over the ice. I know nothing better to do. It will be a
hazardous journey — a matter, maybe, of life or death. But
have I any other choice }

"It is unworthy of a man to set himself a task, and
then give in when the brunt of the battle is upon him.
There is but one way, and that is Fram — forward.

" Tuesday, March 27th. We are again drifting
southward, and the wind is northerly. The midday ob-

424 FARTHEST NORTH

servation showed 80^ 4' north latitude. But why so dis-
pirited ? I am staring myself blind at one single point —
am thinking solely of reaching the Pole and forcing our
way through to the Atlantic Ocean. And all the time
our real task is to explore the unknown polar regions.
Are we doing nothing in the service of science } It will
be a goodly collection of observations that we shall take
home with us from this region, with which we are now
rather too well acquainted. The rest is, and remains, a
mere matter of vanity. ' Love truth more, and victory
less.'

" I look at Eilif Peterssen's picture, a Norwegian pine
forest, and I am there in spirit. How marvellously
lovely it is there now, in the spring, in the dim, melan-
choly stillness that reigns among the stately stems ! I
can feel the damp moss in which my foot sinks softly and
noiselessly ; the brook, released from the winter bondage,
is murmuring through the clefts and among the rocks,
with its brownish-yellow water ; the air is full of the scent
of moss and pine-needles; while overhead, against the
light-blue sky, the dark pine-tops rock to and fro in the
spring breeze, ever uttering their murmuring wail, and
beneath their shelter the soul fearlessly expands its wings
and cools itself in the forest dew.

" O solemn pine forest, the only confidant of m)' child-
hood, it was from you I learned nature's deepest tones —
its wildness, its melancholy! You colored my soul for life.

"Alone — far in the forest — beside the glowing embers

e%j>fya//iaHi

AT THE COMING OF THE SPRING. MARCH, 1 894

{Frovt ri f>hoto,e;r<iph)

THE WINTER NIGHT 427

of my fire on the shore of the silent, murky woodland
tarn, with the gloom of night overhead, how happy I used
to be in the enjoyment of nature's harmony!

" Thursday, March 29th. It is wonderful what a
change it makes to have daylight once more in the sa-
loon. On turning out for breakfast and seeing the light
gleaming in, one feels that it really is morning.

" We are busy on board. Sails are being made for the
boats and hand-sledges. The windmill, too, is to have
fresh sails, so that it can go in any kind of weather. Ah,
if we could but give the Fram wings as well ! Knives
are being forged, bear-spears which we never have any
use for, bear-traps in which we never catch a bear, axes,
and many other things of like usefulness. For the mo-
ment there is a great manufacture of wooden shoes going
on, and a newly started nail-making industry. The only
shareholders in this company are Sverdrup and Smith
Lars, called ' Storm King,' because he always comes upon
us like hard weather. The output is excellent and is in
active demand, as all our small nails for the hand-sledge
fittings have been used. Moreover, we are very busy
putting German -silver plates under the runners of the
hand-sledges, and providing appliances for lashing sledges
together. There is, moreover, a workshop for snow-shoe
fastenings, and a tinsmith's shop, busied for the moment
with repairs to the lamps. Our doctor, too, for lack of
patients, has set up a bookbinding establishment which is
greatly patronized by the Fravis library, whereof several

428 FARTHEST NORTH

books that are in constant circulation, such as Gjest
Baardsens Liv og Lcvnct, etc., are in a very bad state.
We have also a saddlers' and sail-makers' workshop, a pho-
tographic studio, etc. The manufacture of diaries, how-
ever, is the most extensive — e\'ery man on board works at
that. In fine, there is nothing between heaven and earth
that we cannot turn out — excepting constant fair winds.

" Our workshops can be highly recommended ; they
turn out good solid work. We have lately had a notable
addition to our industries, the firm ' Nansen & Amund-
sen ' having established a music-factory. The cardboard
plates of the organ had suffered greatly from wear and
damp, so that we had been deplorably short of music dur-
ing the winter. But yesterday I set to work in earnest
to manufacture a plate of zinc. It answers admirably,
and now we shall go ahead with music sacred and pro-
fane, especially waltzes, and these halls shall once more
resound with the pealing tones of the organ, to our great
comfort and edification. When a waltz is struck up it
breathes fresh life into many of the inmates of the Fram.

" I complain of the wearing monotony of our sur-
roundings; but in reality I am unjust. The last few
days, dazzling sunshine over the snow-hills ; to-day, snow-
storm and wind, the Fram enveloped in a whirl of foam-
ing white snow. Soon the sun appears again, and the
waste around gleams as before.

" Here, too, there is sentiment in nature. How often,
when least thinking of it, do I find myself pause, spell-

THE WINTER NIGHT 431

bound by the marvellous hues which evening wears.
The ice -hills steeped in bluish -violet shadows, against
the orange - tinted sky, illumined by the glow of the
setting sun, form as it were a strange color -poem,
imprinting an ineffaceable picture on the soul. And
these bright, dream -like nights, how many associations
the}^ have for us Northmen ! One pictures to one's self
those mornings in spring when one went out into the
forest after blackcock, under the dim stars, and with the
pale crescent moon peering over the tree-tops. Dawn,
with its glowing hues up here in the north, is the breaking
of a spring day over the forest wilds at home ; the hazy
blue vapor beneath the morning glow turns to the fresh
early mist over the marshes ; the dark low clouds on a
background of dim red seem like distant ranges of hills.

" Daylight here, with its rigid, lifeless whiteness, has no
attractions ; but the evening and night thaw^ the heart of
this world of ice ; it dreams mournful dreams, and you
seem to hear in the hues of the evening sounds of its
smothered wail. Soon these will cease, and the sun will
circle round the everlasting light-blue expanse of heaven,
imparting one uniform color to day and night alike.

" Friday, April 6th. A remarkable event was to take
place to-day which, naturally, we all looked forward to
with lively interest. It was an eclipse of the sun. During
the nis^ht Hansen had made a calculation that the eclipse
would begin at 12.56 o'clock. It was important for us to
be able to Qret a grood observation, as we should thus be

432 FARTHEST NORTH

able to regulate our chronometers to a nicety. In order
to make everything sure, we set up our instruments a
couple of hours beforehand, and commenced to observe.
We used the large telescope and our large theodolite.
Hansen, Johansen, and myself took it by turns to sit for
five minutes each at the instruments, watching the rim of
the sun, as we expected a shadow would become visible
on its lower western edge, while another stood by with
the watch. We remained thus full two hours without
anything occurring. The exciting moment was now at
hand, when, according to calculation, the shadow should
first be apparent. Hansen was sitting by the large tele-
scope when he thought he could discern a quivering
in the sun's rim ; 2^-}^ seconds afterwards he cried out,
'Now!' as did Johansen simultaneously. The watch
was then at 12 hrs. 56 min. 7.5 sec. A dark body ad-
vanced over the border of the sun 7^ seconds later than
we had calculated on. It was an immense satisfaction
for us all, especially for Hansen, for it proved our chro-
nometers to be in excellent order. Little by little the
sunlight sensibly faded away, while we went below to
dinner. At 2 o'clock the eclipse was at its height, and
we could notice even down in the saloon how the day-
light had diminished. After dinner we observed the
moment when the eclipse ended, and the moon's dark
disk cleared the rim of the sun.

" Sunday, April 8th. I was lying awake yesterday
morning thinking about getting up, when all at once I

THE WINTER NIGHT 435

heard the hurried footsteps of some one running over
the half -deck above me, and then another followed.
There was something in those footsteps that involun-
tarily made me think of bears, and I had a hazy sort of
an idea that I ought to jump up out of bed, but I lay
still, listening for the report of a gun. I heard nothing,
however, and soon fell a -dreaming again. Presently
Johansen came tearing down into the saloon, crying out
that a couple of bears were lying half or quite dead
on the large ice hummock astern of the ship. He and
Mogstad had shot at them, but they had no more car-
tridijes left. Several of the men seized hold of their oruns
and hurried up. I threw on my clothes and came up
a little after, when I gathered that the bears had taken
to flight, as I could see the other fellows following them
over the ice. As I was putting on my snow-shoes they
returned, and said that the bears had made off. How-
ever, I started after them as fast as my snow-shoes would
take me across the floes and the pressure-ridges. I soon
got on their tracks, which at first were a little blood-
stained. It was a she-bear, with her cub, and, as I be-
lieved, hard hit — the she-bear had fallen down several
times after Johansen's first bullet. I thought, therefore,
it would be no difficult matter to overtake them. Several
of the dogs were on ahead of me on their tracks. They
had taken a northwesterly course, and I toiled on, perspir-
ing profusely in the sun, while the ship sank deeper and
deeper down below the horizon. The surface of the snow,

436 FARTHEST NORTH

sparkling with its eternal whiteness all around me, tried
my eyes severely, and I seemed to get no nearer the
bears. My prospects of coming up with them were
ruined by the dogs, who were keen enough to frighten
the bears, but not so keen as to press on and bring them
to bay. I would not, however, give up. Presently a fog
came on and hid everything from view except the bear-
tracks, which steadily pointed forward ; then it lifted,
and the sun shone out again clear and bright as before.
The Franis masts had long since disappeared over the
edge of the ice, but still I kept on. Presently, however, I
began to feel faint and hungry, for in my hurry I had not
even had my breakfast, and at last had to bite the sour
apple and turn back without any bears.

" On my way I came across a remarkable hummock.
It was over 20 feet in height (I could not manage to
measure it quite to the top) ; the middle part had fallen
in, probably from pressure of the ice, w^hile the remaining
part formed a magnificent triumphal arch of the whitest
marble, on which the sun glittered with all its brilliancy.
Was it erected to celebrate my defeat ? I got up on it
to look out for the Fram, but had to go some distance
yet before I could see her rigging over the horizon. It
was not till half-past five in the afternoon that I found
myself on board again, worn out and famished from this
sudden and unexpected excursion. After a day's fasting
I heartily relished a good meal. During my absence
some of the others had started after me with a sledge to

THE WINTER NIGHT 437

draw home the dead bears that I had shot ; but they had
barely reached the spot where the encounter had taken
place, when Johansen and Blessing, who were in advance
of the others, saw two fresh bears spring up from behind
a hummock a little way off. But before they could get
their oruns in readiness the bears were out of rans^e ; so a
new hunt began. Johansen tore after them in his snow-
shoes, but several of the dogs got in front of him and
kept the bears going, so that he could not get within
range, and his chase ended as fruitlessly as mine.

" Has good-luck abandoned us ? I had plumed myself
on our never havinsf shot at a sinole bear without bao-
ging it; but to-day. . . ! Odd that we should get a visit
from four bears on one day, after having seen nothing of
them for three months! Does it signify something.?
Have we got near the land in the northwest w^hich I have
so long expected ? There seems to be change in the air.
An observation the day before yesterday gave 80° 15'
north latitude, the most northerl)^ we have had yet.

"Sunday, April 15th. So we are in the middle of
April ! What a ring of joy in that word, a well-spring of
happiness! Visions of spring rise up in the soul at its
very mention — a time when doors and windows are
thrown wide open to the spring air and sun, and the
dust of winter is blown away; a time when one can no
longer sit still, but must perforce go out-of-doors to
inhale the perfume of wood and field and fresh - dug
earth, and behold the fjord, free from ice, sparkling

438 FARTHEST NORTH

in the sunliorht. What an inexhaustible fund of the
awakening joys of nature does that word April contain !
But here — here that is not to be found. True, the sun
shines long and bright, but its beams fall not on forest
or mountain or meadow, but only on the dazzling white-
ness of the fresh-fallen snow. Scarcely does it entice one
out from one's winter retreat. This is not the time of
revolutions here. If they come at all, they will come
much later. The days roll on uniformly and monoto-
nously; here I sit, and feel no touch of the restless long-
ings of the spring, and shut myself up in the snail-shell of
my studies. Day after day I dive down into the world
of the microscope, forgetful of time and surroundings.
Now and then, indeed, I may make a little excursion
from darkness to light — the daylight beams around
me, and my soul opens a tiny loophole for light and
courage to enter in — and then down, down into the
darkness, and to work once more. Before turning in
for the night I must go on deck. A little while ago
the daylight would by this time have vanished, a few
solitary stars would have been faintly twinkling, while
the pale moon shone over the ice. But now even this
has come to an end. The sun no longer sinks beneath
the icy horizon ; it is continual day. I gaze into the far
distance, far over the barren plain of snow, a boundless,
silent, and lifeless mass of ice in imperceptible motion.
No sound can be heard save the faint murmur of the air
through the rigging, or perhaps far away the low rumble

THE WINTER NIGHT 439

of packing ice. In the midst of this empty waste of white
there is but one Httle dark spot, and that is the Fram.

" But beneath this crust, hundreds of fathoms down,
there teems a world of checkered life in all its chanofins:
forms, a world of the same composition as ours, with the
same instincts, the same sorrows, and also, no doubt, the
same joys ; everywhere the same struggle for existence.
So it ever is. If we penetrate within even the hardest
shell we come upon the pulsations of life, however thick
the crust may be.

" I seem to be sitting here in solitude listening to
the music of one of Nature's mighty harp-strings. Her
grand symphonies peal forth through the endless ages of
the universe, now in the tumultuous whirl of busy life,
now in the stiffening coldness of death, as in Chopin's
Funeral March; and we — we are the minute, invisible
vibrations of the strings in this mighty music of the
universe, ever changing, yet ever the same. Its notes
are worlds ; one vibrates for a longer, another for a
shorter period, and all in turn give way to new ones. . . .

" The world that shall be ! . . . Again and again this
thought comes back to my mind. I gaze far on through
the ages. . . .

" Slowly and imperceptibly the heat of the sun de-
clines, and the temperature of the earth sinks by equally
slow degrees. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, mill-
ions of years pass away, glacial epochs come and go,
but the heat still grows ever less ; little by little these

440 FARTHEST NORTH

drifting masses of ice extend far and wide, ever towards
more southern shores, and no one notices it; but at last
all the seas of earth become one unbroken mass of ice.
Life has vanished from its surface, and is to be found in
the ocean depths alone.

" But the temperature continues to fall, the ice grows
thicker and ever thicker ; life's domain vanishes. Millions
of years roll on, and the ice reaches the bottom. The
last trace of life has disappeared ; the earth is covered
with snow. All that we lived for is no longer ; the fruit
of all our toil and sufferings has been blotted out millions
and millions of years ago, buried beneath a pall of snow.
A stiffened, lifeless mass of ice, this earth rolls on in her
path through eternity. Like a faintly growing disk the
sun crosses the sky ; the moon shines no more, and is
scarcely visible. Yet still, perhaps, the northern lights
flicker over the desert, icy plain, and still the stars
twinkle in silence, peacefully as of yore. Some have
burnt out, but new ones usurp their place ; and round
them revolve new spheres, teeming with new life, new
sufferings, without any aim Such is the infinite cycle of
eternity ; such are nature's everlasting rhythms.

" Monday, April 30th. Drifting northward. Yester-
day observations gave 80' 42', and to-day So"" 44^'. The
wind steady from the south and southeast.

" It is lovely spring weather. One feels that spring-
time must have come, though the thermometer denies it.
' Spring cleaning' has begun on board; the snow and ice

THE WINTER NIGHT

441

along the Frams sides are cleared away, and she stands
out like the crags from their winter covering decked with
the flowers of spring. The snow lying on the deck is
little by little shovelled overboard ; her rigging rises up
against the clear sky clean and dark, and the gilt trucks
at her mastheads sparkle in the sun. We go and bathe
ourselves in the broiling sun along her warm sides, where
the thermometer is actually above freezing-point, smoke a
peaceful pipe, gazing at the white spring clouds that
lightly fleet across the blue expanse. Some of us perhaps
think of spring-time yonder at home, when the birch-
trees are bursting into leaf,"

CHAPTER VII
THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1 894

So came the season which we at home call spring, the
season of joy and budding life, when Nature awakens
after her long winter sleep. But there it brought no
change ; day after day we had to gaze over the same
white lifeless mass, the same white boundless ice-plains.
Still we wavered between despondency, idle longing, and
eager energy, shifting with the winds as we drift for-
ward to our goal or are driven back from it. As before,
I continued to brood upon the possibilities of the future
and of our drift. One day I would think that everything
was going on as we hoped and anticipated. Thus on
April 17th I was convinced that there must be a current
through the unknown polar basin, as we were unmistaka-
bly drifting northward. The midday observation gave
80° 20' northeast ; that is, 9' since the day before yes-
terday. Strange ! A north wind of four whole days
took us to the south, while twenty-four hours of this
scanty wind drifts us 9' northward. This is remarkable;
it looks as if we were done with drifting southward.
And when, in addition to this, I take into consideration

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF i8g4 443

the striking warmth of the water deep down, it seems
to me that things are really looking brighter. The rea-
soning runs as follows : The temperature of the water
in the East Greenland current, even on the surface, is
nowhere over zero (the mean temperature for the year),
and appears generally to be — 1° C. (30.2° Fahr.), even
in 70° north latitude. In this latitude the temperature
steadily falls as you get below the surface ; nowhere
at a greater depth than 100 fathoms is it above — i'' C„
and generally from —1.5^ (29.3° Fahr.) to —1.7° C
(28.94° Fahr.) right to the bottom. Moreover, the bot-
tom temperature of the whole sea north of the 60th
degree of latitude is under —1° C, a strip along the
Norwegian coast and between Norway and Spitzbergen
alone excepted, but here the temperature is over — 1°
C, from 86 fathoms (160 metres) downward, and 135
fathoms (250 metres) the temperature is already +0.55°
C. (32.99° Fahr.), and that, too, be it remarked, north of
the 80th degree of latitude, and in a sea surrounding
the pole of maximum cold.

This warm water can hardly come from the Arctic Sea
itself, while the current issuing thence towards the south
has a general temperature of about —1.5° C. It can
hardly be anything other than the Gulf Stream that finds
its way hither, and replaces the water which in its upper
layers flows towards the north, forming the sources of
the East Greenland polar current. All this seems to
chime in with my previous assumptions, and supports the

444 FARTHEST NORTH

theor)' on which this expedition was planned. And
when, in addition to this, one bears in mind that the
winds seem, as anticipated, to be as a rule southeasterly,
as was, moreover, the case at the international station at
Sagastyr (by the Lena mouth), our prospects do not ap-
pear to be unfa\orable.

Frequently, moreover, I thought I could detect un-
mistakable symptoms of a steadily flowing northwesterly
current under the ice, and then, of course, my spirits
rose ; but at other times, when the drift again bore south-
ward— and that was often — my doubts would return, and
it seemed as if there was no prospect of getting through
within any reasonable time. Truly such drifting in the
ice is extremely trying to the mind ; but there is one
virtue it fosters, and that is patience. The whole expe-
dition was in reality one long course of training in this
useful virtue.

Our progress as the spring advanced grew somewhat
better than it had been during the winter, but on the
whole it was always the same sort of crab-like locomo-
tion ; for each time we made a long stretch to the
north, a longer period of reaction was sure to follow. It
was, in the opinion of one of our number, who was some-
what of a politician, a constant struggle between the
Left and Right, between Progressionists and Recession-
ists. After a period of Left wind and a glorious drift
northward, as a matter of course the " Radical Right "
took the helm, and we remained lying in dead-water or

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF jSp4 445

drifted backward, thereby putting Amundsen into a very
bad temper. It was a remarkable fact that during the
whole time the Frams bow turned towards the south,
generally S. \ W., and shifted but very little during the
whole drift. As I say on May 14th: "She went back-
ward towards her goal in the north, with her nose ever
turned to the south. It is as though she shrank from
increasing her distance from the world ; as though she
were longing for southern shores, while some invisible
power is drawing her on towards the unknown. Can it
be an ill omen, this backward advance towards the inte-
rior of the Polar Sea.^^ I cannot think it; even the crab
ultimately reaches its goal."

A statement of our latitude and lonsjitude on different
days will best indicate the general course of our drift:

May I St, 80' 46' N. lat.; May 4th, 80° 50'; May 6th,
80° 49 ; May 8th, 80° 55' N. lat, 129° 58' E. long.; May
12th, 80° 52' N. lat.; May 15th, 129^ 20' E. long.; May
2ist, 81° 20 N. lat., 125° 45' E. long.; May 23d, 81° 26'
N. lat; May 27th, 81° 31'; June 2d, 81° 31' N. lat, 121°
47' E. long. ; June 13th, 81° 46'; June i8th, 8152'. Up
to this we had made fairly satisfactory progress towards
the north, but now came the reaction: June 24th, 81°
42'; July ist, 81^ ^-i^ \ July loth, 81° 20'; July 14th, 81°
32'; July i8th, 81° 26'; July 31st 81' 2 N. lat, 126°
5' 5" E. long.; August Sth, 81° 8'; August 14th, 81°
5' N. lat., 127" 38' E. long. ; August 26th, 81° i'; Sep-
tember 5th, 81° 14' N. lat., 123° 36' E. long.

446 FARTHEST NORTH

After this we began once more to drift northward,
but not very fast.

As before, we were constantly on the look-out for land,
and were inclined, first from one thing, then from an-
other, to think we saw signs of its proximity; but they
always turned out to be imaginary, and the great depth
of the sea, moreover, showed that, at all events, land could
not be near.

Later on — August yth — when I had found over
2085 fathoms (3850 metres) depth, I say in my diary :
" I do not think we shall talk any more about the shallow
Polar Sea, wdiere land may be expected anywhere. We
may very possibly drift out into the Atlantic Ocean with-
out having seen a single mountain-top. An eventful
series of years to look forward to !"

The plan already alluded to of travelling over the ice
with dogs and sledges occupied me a good deal, and dur-
ing my daily expeditions — partly on snow-shoes, partly
with dogs — my attention was constantly given to the con-
dition of the ice and our prospects of being able to make
our way over it. During April it was specially well
adapted for using dogs. The surface was good, as the
sun's power had made it smoother than the heavy drift-
snow earlier in the winter; besides, the wind had covered
the pressure-ridges pretty evenly, and there were not
many crevasses or channels in the ice, so that one could
proceed for miles without much trouble from them. In
May, however, a change set in. So early as May 8th the

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF i8g4 AA9

wind had broken up the ice a good deal, and now there
were lanes in all directions, which proved a great obstacle
when I went out driving with the dogs. The tempera-
ture, however, was still so low that the channels were
quickly frozen over again and became passable ; but later
on in the month the temperature rose, so that ice was no
longer so readily formed on the water, and the channels
became ever more and more numerous.

On May 20th I write : " Went out on snow-shoes in
the forenoon. The ice has been very much broken up
in various directions, owing to the continual winds dur-
ing the last week. The lanes are difificult to cross over,
as they are full of small pieces of ice, that lie dispersed
about, and are partly covered with drift-snow. This is
very deceptive, for one may seem to have firm ice under
one at places where, on sticking one's staff in, it goes
right down without any sign of ice." On many occasions
I nearly got into trouble in crossing over snow like this
on snow-shoes. I would suddenly find that the snow was
giving way under me, and would manage with no little
difficulty to get safely back on to the firm ice.

On June 5th the ice and the snow surface were
about as before. I write : " Have just been out on a
snow-shoe excursion with Sverdrup in a southerly
direction, the first for a long while. The condition
of the ice has altered, but not for the better; the sur-
face, indeed, is hard and good, but the pressure - ridges
are very awkward, and there are crevasses and hummocks

450 FARTHEST NORTH

in all directions. A sledge expedition would make poor
enough progress on such ice as this."

Hitherto, however, progress had always been possible,
but now the snow began to melt, and placed almost
insuperable difficulties in the way. On June 13th I
write : " The ice gets softer and softer every day, and
large pools of water are formed on the floes all around
us. In short, the surface is abominable. The snow-
shoes break through into the water everywhere. Truly
one would not be able to get far in a day now should
one be obliged to set off towards the south or west. It
is as if every outlet were blocked, and here we stick —
we stick. Sometimes it strikes me as rather remarka-
ble that none of our fellows have become alarmed, even
when we are bearing farther and farther northward, far-
ther and farther into the unknown ; but there is no sign
of fear in any one of them. All look gloomy when
we are bearing south or too much to the west, and all
are beaming with joy when we are drifting to the north-
ward, the farther the better. Yet none of them can be
blind to the fact that it is a matter of life and death if
anything of what nearly every one prophesied should
now occur. Should the ship be crushed in this ice and
go to the bottom, like the Jeaimette, without our being
able to save sufficient supplies to continue our drift on
the ice, we should have to turn our course to the south,
and then there would be little doubt as to our fate.
The Jeaimette people fared badly enough, but their ship

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF i8g4 453

went down in ^']° north latitude, while the nearest land to
us is many times more than double the distance it was in
their case, to say nothing of the nearest inhabited land.
We are now more than ']o miles from Cape Chelyuskin,
while from there to any inhabited region we are a long
way farther. But the Fi^ain will not be crushed, and no-
body believes in the possibility of such an event. We
are like the kayak-rower, who knows well enough that
one faulty stroke of his paddle is enough to capsize him
and send him into eternity ; but none the less he goes on
his way serenely, for he knows that he will not make a
faulty stroke. This is absolutely the most comfortable
way of undertaking a polar expedition ; what possible
journey, indeed, could be more comfortable } Not even
a railway journey, for then you have the bother of chang-
ing carriages. Still a change now and then would be no
bad thing."

Later on — in July — the surface was even worse. The
floes were everywhere covered with slush, with water
underneath, and on the pressure-ridges and between the
hunimocks where the snow-drifts were deep one would
often sink in up to the middle, not even the snow-shoes
bearing one up in this soft snow. Later on in July
matters improved, the snow having gradually melted
away, so that there was a firmer surface of ice o go on.

But large pools of water now formed on .ce-floes.

Already on the 8th and 9th of June sucli a pool had
begun to appear round the ship, so that she lay in a little

454

FARTHEST NORTH

lake of fresh water, and we were obliged to make use
of a bridge in order to reach a dry spot on the ice.
Some of these fresh - water pools were of respectable
dimensions and depth. There was one of these on the

SAILING ON THE FRESH-WATER POOL (jULY 12, 1894)

(Frovi a Photograph)

starboard side of the ship, so large that in the middle
of July we could row and sail on it with the boats.
This was a favorite evening: amusement with some of
us, and the boat was fully officered with captain, mate,
and second mate, but had no common sailors. They

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 455

thought it an excellent opportunity of practising sailing
with a square sail; while the rest of our fellows, standing
on the icy shore, found it still more diverting to bombard
the navigators with snowballs and lumps of ice. It
was in this same pool that we tried one day if one of
our boats could carry all thirteen of us at once. When
the dogs saw us all leave the ship to go to the pool,
they followed us in utter bewilderment as to what this
unusual movement could mean ; but when we got into
the boat they, all of them, set to work and howled in
wild despair; thinking, probably, that they would never
see us again. Some of them swam after us, while two
cunning ones, " Pan " and " Kvik," conceived the brilliant
idea of galloping round the pool to the opposite side to
meet us. A few days afterwards I was dismayed to find
the pool dried up ; a hole had been worn through the
ice at the bottom, and all the fresh water had drained
out into the sea. So that amusement came to an end.

In the summer, when we wanted to make an excur-
sion over the ice, in addition to such pools we met with
lanes in the ice in all directions ; but as a rule could
easily cross them by jumping from one loose floe to an-
other, or leaping right across at narrow places.

These lanes never attained any great width, and
there was consequently no question of getting the
Fram afloat in any of them ; and even could we have
done so, it would have been of very little avail, as
none of them was large enough to have taken her

456 FARTHEST NORTH

more than a few cable-lengths farther north. Some-
times there were indications in the sky that there must
be large stretches of open water in our vicinity, and
we could now and then see from the crow's-nest large
spaces of clear water in the horizon; but they could
not have been large enough to be of much use when it
came to a question of pushing forward with a ship.

Sanguine folk on board, however, attached more im-
portance to such open stretches. June 15th I wrote
in my diary: "There are several lanes visible in dif-
ferent directions, but none of them is wide or of any
great extent. The mate, however, is always insist-
ing that we shall certainly get open water before au-
tumn, and be able to creep along northward, while
with the rest, Sverdrup excepted, it seems to be a gen-
erally accepted belief. Where they are to get their open
water from I do not know. For the rest, this is the first
ice-bound expedition that has not spent the summer
spying after open water, and sighing and longing for the
ice to disperse. I only wish it may keep together, and
hurry up and drift northward. Everything in this life
depends on what one has made up one's mind to. One
person sets forth to sail in open water, perhaps to the
very Pole, but gets stuck in the ice and laments ; another
is prepared to get stuck in the ice, but will not grumble
even should he find open water. It is ever the safest
plan to expect the least of life, for then one often gets
the most."

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF i8g4 457

The open spaces, the lanes, and the rifts in the ice are,
of course, produced, like the pressure and packing, by
the shifting winds and the tidal currents that set the ice
drifting first in one direction, then in another. And they
best prove, perhaps, how the surface of the Polar Sea
must be considered as one continuous mass of ice-floes
in constant motion, now frozen together, now torn apart,
or crushed against each other.

During the whole of our drift I paid great attention to
this ice, not only with respect to its motion, but to its
formation and growth as well. In the Introduction of
this book I have pointed out that, even should the ice
pass year after year in the cold Polar Sea, it could not
by mere freezing attain more than a certain thickness.
From measurements that were constantly being made,
it appeared that the ice which was formed during the
autumn in October or November continued to increase
in size during the whole of the winter and out into
the spring, but more slowly the thicker it became. On
April loth it was about 2.31 metres; April 21st, 2.41
metres; May 5th, 2.45 metres; May 31st, 2.52 metres;
June 9th, 2.58 metres. It was thus continually increas-
ing in bulk, notwithstanding that the snow now melted
quickly on the surface, and large pools of fresh water
were formed on the floes. On June 20th the thick-
ness was the same, although the melting on the sur-
face had now increased considerably. On July 4th the
thickness was 2,57 metres. On July loth I was amazed

458 FARTHEST NORTH

to find that the ice had increased to 2.76 metres, not-
withstandins: that it would now diminish several centi-
metres daily from surface melting. I bored in many
places, but found it everywhere the same — a thin, some-
what loose ice mass lay under the old floe. I first
thought it was a thin ice-floe that had got pushed under,
but subsequently discovered that it was actually a new
formation of fresh-water ice on the lower side of the
old ice, due to the layer of fresh water of about 9 feet
9 inches (3 metres) in depth, formed by the melting of
the snow on the ice. Owing to its lightness this warm
fresh water floated on the salt sea-water, which was at a
temperature of about — i-s"" C. on its surface. Thus
by contact with the colder sea-w^ater the fresh water
became cooler, and so a thick crust of ice was formed on
the fresh water, where it came in contact with the salt
water lying underneath it. It was this ice crust, then,
that auQ^mented the thickness of the ice on its under side.
Later on in the summer, however, the ice diminished
somewhat, owing to melting on the surface. On July 23d
the old ice was only 2.33 metres, and with the newly formed
layer 2.49 metres. On August loth the thickness of the old
ice had decreased to 1.94 metres, and together the aggre-
gate thickness to 3.1 7 metres. On August 2 2d the old ice
was 1.86 metres, and the aggregate thickness 3.06 metres.
On September 3d the aggregate thickness was 2.02 me-
tres, and on September 30th 1.98 metres. On October
3d it was the same; the thickness of the old ice was

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 459

then 1.75 metres. On October 12th the aggregate thick-
ness was 2.08 metres, while the old ice was 1.8 metres.
On November loth it was still about the same, with only
a slight tendency to increase. Further on, in November
and in December, it increased quite slowly. On Decem-
ber nth the aggregate thickness reached 2.1 1 metres.
On January 3d, 1895, 2.32 metres; January loth, 2.48 me-
tres ; February 6th, 2.59 metres. Hence it will be seen
that the ice does not attain any enormous thickness by
direct freezing. The packing caused by pressure can,
however, produce blocks and floes of a very different
size. It often happens that the floes get shoved in
under each other in several layers, and are frozen to-
gether so as to appear like one originally continuous
mass of ice. Thus the Fram had got a good bed un-
der her.

Juell and Peter had often disputed together during the
winter as to the thickness of ice the Fram had under
her. Peter, who had seen a good deal of the ice before,
maintained that it must at least be 20 feet thick, while
Juell would not believe it, and betted 20 kroner that it
was not as thick as that. On April 19th this dispute
again broke out, and I say of it in my diary: "Juell has
undertaken to make a bore, but unfortunately our borer
reaches no farther than 16 feet down. Peter, however,
has undertaken to cut away the 4 feet that are lacking.
There has been a lot of talk about this washer during
the whole winter, but they could never agree about it.

46o FARTHEST NORTH

Peter says that Juell should begin to bore, while Juell
maintains that Peter ought to cut the 4 feet first. This
evening it ended in Juell incautiously offering 10 kroner
to any one who would bore. Bentzen took him at his
word, and immediately set to work at it with Amundsen ;
he thought one did not always have the chance of earn-
ing 10 kroner so easily. Amundsen offered him a kroner
an hour, or else payment per foot; and time payment was
finally agreed to. They worked till late on into the
night, and when they had got down 12 feet the borer
slipped a little way, and water rose in the hole, but this
did not come to much, and presently the borer struck on
ice again. They went on for some time, but now the
borer would reach no farther, and Peter had to be called
up to cut his four feet. He and Amundsen worked away
at cutting till they were dripping with perspiration.
Amundsen, as usual, was very eager, and vowed he would
not give in till he had got through it, even if it were '}p
feet thick. Meanwhile Bentzen had turned in, but a mes-
sas:e was sent to him to sav that the hole was cut, and
that boring could now begin again. When it was only an
inch or an inch and a half short of 20 feet the borer
slipped through, and the water spurted up and filled the
hole. They now sank a lead-line down it, and at 30 feet
it again brought up against ice. Now they were obliged
to give it up. A fine lump of ice we are lying on ! Not
taking into account a large, loose ice-floe that is lying
packed up on the ice, it is 16 inches above the water; and

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OE 1894 463

adding to this the 2 feet which the Fram is raised up
above the ice, there is no small distance between her and
the water."

The temperature on the ice in summer is about thaw-
ing-point, but gradually as the winter cold comes on, it,
of course, falls rapidly on the surface, whence the cold
slowly penetrates deeper and deeper down towards the
lower surface, where it naturally keeps at an even temper-
ature with the underlying water. Observations of the
temperature of the ice in its different layers were con-
stantly taken in order to ascertain how quickly this cool-
ing-down process of the ice took place during the winter,
and also how the temperature rose again towards spring.
The lowest temperature of the ice occurred in March and
the beginning of April, when at 1.2 metres it was about
3.20 Fahr. (—16" C), and at 0.8 metre about 22"" Fahr.
below zero (—30° C). After the beginning of April it
began to rise slowly.

At these low temperatures the ice became very hard
and brittle, and was readily cracked or broken up by a
blow or by packing. In the summer, on the other hand,
when its temperature was near melting-point, the ice
became tough and plastic, and was not so readily broken
up under packing. This difference between the condition
of the ice in summer and winter was apparent also to the
ear, as the ice-packing in winter was always accompanied
by the frequently mentioned loud noises, while the pack-
ino" of the touoh summer ice was almost noiseless, so that

464 FARTHEST NORTH

the most violent convulsions might take place close to us
without our noticing them.

in the immediate vicinity of the Fram the ice remained
perfectly at rest the whole year through, and she was not
at this time exposed to any great amount of pressure ;
she lay safe and secure on the ice-floe to which she was
firmly frozen ; and gradually, as the surface of the ice
thawed under the summer sun, she rose up higher and
higher. In the autumn she again began to sink a little,
either because the ice gave way under her weight, or
because it melted somewhat on the under surface, so
that it no longer had so much buoyancy as before.

Meanwhile, life on board went on in its usual way.
Now that we had daylight there was of course more
work of various descriptions on the ice than had been
the case during the winter. I have already alluded more
than once to our unsuccessful endeavors to reach the
bottom by sounding. Unfortunately we were not pre-
pared for such great depths, and had not brought any
deep-sea sounding apparatus with us. We had, there-
fore, to do the best we could under the circumstances, and
that was to sacrifice one of the ship s steel cables in order
to make a lead-line. It was not difficult to find sufficient
space on the ice for a rope-walk, and although a tempera-
ture of from 22° Fahr. below zero (—30° C.) to 40'' Fahr.
below zero (—40'' C.) is not the pleasantest in which
to manipulate such things as steel wire, yet for all that
the work went on well. The cable was unlaid into its

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 465

separate strands, and a fresh, pliant lead-line manufact-
ured by twisting two of these strands together. In this
way we made a line of between 4000 and 5000 metres
(2150 to 2700 fathoms) long, and could now at last
reach the bottom. The depth proved to range between
3300 and 3900 metres (iSoo to 2100 fathoms).

This was a remarkable discovery, for, as I have fre-
quently mentioned, the unknown polar basin has ahvays
been supposed to be shallow, with numerous unknown
lands and islands. I, too, had assumed it to be shallow
when I sketched out my plan (see page 24), and had
thought it was traversed by a deep channel which might
possibly be a continuation of the deep channel in the
North Atlantic (see page 28).

From this assumption of a shallow Polar Sea it was
concluded that the regions about the Pole had formerly
been covered w-ith an extensive tract of land, of which the
existing islands are simply the remains. This extensive
tract of polar land was furthermore assumed to have been
the nursery of many of our animal and plant forms,
w^hence they had found their way to lower latitudes.
These conjectures now appear to rest on a somewhat
infirm basis.

This great depth indicates that here, at all events,
there has not been land in any very recent geological
period ; and this depth is, no doubt, as old as the depth
of the Atlantic Ocean, of which it is almost certainly a
part.

466

FARTHEST NORTH

SCOTT-HANSEN JOHANSEN

TAKING WATER TEMPERATURES

Another task to which I attached great importance,
and to which I have frequently alluded, was the observa-
tion of the temperature of the sea at different depths,
from the surface down to the bottom. These observa-
tions we took as often as time permitted, and, as already
mentioned, they gave some surprising results, showing
the existence of warmer water below the cold surface
stratum. This is not the place to give the results of the
different measurements, but as they are all ver}'- similar I
will instance one of them in order that an idea may be
formed how the temperature is distributed.

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894

46;

This series of temperatures, of which an extract is given
here, was taken from the 1 3th to the 1 7th of August.

TABLE OF TEMPERATURES

DEPTHS

TEMPERATURE

Fathoms

Degrees
Centigrade

Fahrenheit

Surface

4- 1.02

= 33.83

2 metres

= I

-1.32

29.62

— 1-33

29.61

40 "

-1.50

29.3

60 "

-1.50

29.3

80 "

-1.50

293

100

— 1.40 29.48

120

— 1.24

29.77

140

— 0.97

30.254

160

— 0.58

30.96

180 "

-0.31

31-44

200

109

— 0.03

31-95

220

120

+ 0.19

32-34

240

131

+ 0.20

32-36

260

142

+ 0.34

32.61

280 "

153

+ 0.42 1 32.76

300 "

164

+ 0.34 32.61

350 "

191

+ 0.44 i 32.79

400

218

+ 0-35 1 32.63

450 "

246

+ 0.36 1 32.66

500

273

+ 0.34 32.61

600

328

+ 0.26 1 32.47

700

382

+ 0.14 1 32.25

800 "

437

+ 0.07 1 32.126

900

492

— 0.04 31.928

1000

546

— o.io 31.82

1 200

656

— 0.28 31.496

1400

765

-0.-34 31.39

1600

874

— 0.46

31-17

1800

984

— 0.60

30.92

2000

1093

-0.66

30.81

2600

1421

-0.74

30.67

2900

1585

— 0.76

30.63

3000

1640

-0.73

30.69

3400 "

1859

— 0.69 30.76

3700 "

2023

— 0.65 30.83

3800 "

2077

— 0.64

30.85

325 "

177

+ 0.49

32.88

+ 0.85

33-53

+ 0.76

33-37

+ 0.78

3340

+ 0.62 33.12

468 FARTHEST XOKTH

These temperatures of the water are in many re-
spects remarkable. In the first place, the temperature
falls, as will be seen, from the surface downward to a
depth of So metres, after which it rises to 280 metres,
falls again at 300 metres, then rises again at 326 metres,
where it was +049°; then falls to rise again at 450
metres, then falls steadily down to 2000 metres, to rise
once more slowly at the bottom. Similar risings and
fallings were to be found in almost all the series of tem-
peratures taken, and the variations from one month to
another were so small that at the respective depths they
often merely amounted to the two-hundredth part of a
degree. Occasionally the temperature of the warm strata
mounted even higher than mentioned here. Thus on
October 17th at 300 metres it was +0.85°, at 350 metres
+ 0.76°, at 400 metres +0.78, and at 500 metres +0.62°,
after which it sank evenly, until, towards the bottom, it
again rose as before.

We had not expected to meet with much bird life in
these desolate regions. Our surprise, therefore, was not
small when on Whitsunday, May 13th, a gull paid us a
visit. After that date we regularly saw birds of different
kinds in our vicinity till at last it became a daily occur-
rence, to which we did not pay any particular attention.
For the most part they were ice mews {Lanes eburneus),
kitti wakes {Rissa tridactyld), fulmars {Pi^ocellaria glacialis),
and now and then a blue gull {L. glaticus), a herring gull
{L. argentatus ?), or a black guillemot {Uria grylle)\ once

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 471

or twice we also saw a skua (probably Lestris parasitica) —
for instance, on July 14th. On July 21st we had a visit
from a snow-bunting.

On August 3d a remarkable occurrence took place:
we were visited by the Arctic rose gull {Rhodostethia
rosed). I wrote as follows about it in my diary : " To-day
my longing has at last been satisfied. I have shot Ross's
gull," * three specimens in one day. This rare and
mysterious inhabitant of the unknown north, which is
only occasionally seen, and of which no one knows
whence it cometh or whither it goeth, which belongs
exclusively to the world to which the imagination as-
pires, is what, from the first moment I saw these tracts,
1 had always hoped to discover, as my eyes roamed over
the lonely plains of ice. And now it came when I was
least thinking of it. I was out for a little walk on the
ice by the ship, and as I was sitting down by a hummock
my eyes wandered northward and lit on a bird hovering
over the great pressure - mound away to the northwest.
At first I took it to be a kittiwake, but soon discovered
it rather resembled the skua by its swift flight, sharp
wings, and pointed tail. When I had got my gun, there
were two of them together flying round and round the
ship. I now got a closer view of them, and discovered
that they were too light colored to be skuas. They were
by no means shy, but continued flying about close to the

* This gull is often called by this name, after its first discoverer. It
has acquired its other name, " rose gull," from its pink color.

4/2 FARTHEST NORTH

ship. On going after them on the ice I soon shot one of
them, and was not a httle surprised, on picking it up, to
find it was a Httle bird about the size of a snipe ; the
mottled back, too, reminded me also of that bird. Soon
after this I shot the other. Later in the day there came
another, which was also shot. On picking this one up I
found it was not quite dead, and it vomited up a couple
of large shrimps, which it must have caught in some
channel or other. All three were young birds, about 12
inches in length, with dark mottled gray plumage on the
back and wings ; the breast and under side white, with a
scarcely perceptible tinge of orange-red, and round the
neck a dark ring sprinkled with gray." At a somewhat
later age this mottled plumage disappears; they then
become blue on the back, with a black ring round the
neck, while the breast assumes a delicate pink hue.
Some few days afterwards (August 6th and Sth) some
more of these birds were shot, making eight specimens
in all.

While time was passing on, the plan I had been re-
volving in my mind during the winter was ever upper-
most in my thoughts — the plan, that is to say, of ex-
ploring the unknown sea apart from the track in which
the Fraj7i was drifting. I kept an anxious eye upon the
dogs, for fear anything should happen to them, and also
to see that they continued in good condition, for all my
hopes centred in them. Several of them, indeed, had
been bitten to death, and two had been killed by bears ;

RHODOS TETHIA

{From a photograph)

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 47 S

but there were still twenty-six remaining, and as a set-
off against our losses we had the puppies, eight of which
had been permitted to live. As spring advanced they
were allowed to roam the deck, but on May 5th their
world was considerably extended. I wrote thus : "In
the afternoon we let the puppies loose on the ice, and
' Kvik ' at once took long expeditions with them to famil-
iarize them with their surroundings. First she introduced
them to our meteorological apparatus, then to the bear-
trap, and after that to different pressure-mounds. They
were very cautious at first, staring timidly all around,
and venturing out very slowly, a step at a time, from the
ship's side; but soon they began to run riot in their
newly discovered world.

" ' Kvik ' was very proud to conduct her litter out into
the world, and roamed about in the highest of spirits,
though she had only just returned from a long driving-
expedition, in which, as usual, she had done good work
in harness. In the afternoon one of the black and
white puppies had an attack of madness. It ran round
the ship, barking furiously ; the others set on it, and it
bit at everything that came in its way. At last we got
it shut in on the deck forward, where it was furious for
a while, then quieted down, and now seems to be all
risht ao:ain. This makes the fourth that has had a sim-
ilar attack. What can it possibly be } It cannot be hy-
drophobia, or it would have appeared among the grown-
up dogs. Can it be toothache, or hereditary epilepsy —

4/6 FARTHEST NORTH

or some other infernal thing?" Unfortunately, several
of them died from these strange attacks. The puppies
were such fine, nice animals, that we were all very sorry
when a thins: like this occurred.

On June 3d I write: "Another of the puppies died
in the forenoon from one of those mysterious attacks,
and I cannot conceal from myself that I take it greatly
to heart, and feel low-spirited about it, I have been
so used to these small polar creatures living their sor-
rowless life on deck, romping and playing around us
from morning to evening, and a little of the night as
well. I can watch them with pleasure by the hour to-
gether, or play with them as with little children — have a
game at hide-and-seek with them round the skylight,
the while they are beside themselves with glee. It is
the largest and strongest of the lot that has just died,
a handsome dog; I called him 'Lbva' (Lion). He was
such a confiding, gentle animal, and so affectionate.
Only yesterday he was jumping and playing about and
rubbing himself against me, and to-day he is dead. Our
ranks are thinning, and the worst of it is we try in vain
to make out what it is that ails them. This one was
apparently quite in his normal condition and as cheerful
as ever until his breakfast was cjiven him ; then he be-
gan to cry and tear round, yelping and barking as if
distracted, just as the others had done. After this con-
vulsions set in, and the froth poured from his mouth.
One of these convulsions no doubt carried him off.

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 479

Blessing and I held a post mortem upon him in the
afternoon, but we could discover no signs of anything
unusual. It does not seem to be an infectious ailment.
I cannot understand it.

" ' Ulenka,' too, the handsomest dog in the whole
pack, our consolation and our hope, suddenly became ill
the other day. It was the morning of May 24th that
we found it paralyzed and quite helpless, lying in its
cask on deck. It kept trying to get up, but couldn't, and
immediately fell down again — just like a man who has
had a stroke and has lost all power over his limbs. It
was at once put to bed in a box and nursed most care-
fully; except for being unable to walk, it is apparently
quite well." It must have been a kind of apoplectic
seizure that attacked the spinal cord in some spot or
other, and paralyzed one side of the body. The dog
recovered slowly, but never got the complete use of its
legs again. It accompanied us, however, on our subse-
quent sledge expedition.

The dogs did not seem to like the summer, it was
so wet on the ice, and so warm. On June nth I
write : " To-day the pools on the ice all round us have
increased wonderfully in size, and it is by no means
agreeable to go off the ship with shoes that are not
water-tight ; it is wetter and wetter for the dogs in the
daytime, and they sweat more and more from the heat,
though it as yet only rarely rises above zero (C). A few
days ago they were shifted on to the ice, where two long

48o

FARTHEST NORTH

kennels were set up for them."* They were made out
of boxes, and really consist of only a wall and a roof.
Here they spend the greater part of the twenty -four
hours, and we are now rid of all uncleanliness on board,

OUR KENNELS (SEPTEMBER 27, 1 894)

(From a Photograph)

except for the four puppies which still remain, and lead
a glorious life of it up there between sleep and play.
"Ulenka" is still on deck, and is slowly recovering.

■Up to now they had their kennels on deck.

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1S94 481

There is the same daily routine for the dogs as in the
winter. We let them loose in the morning about half-
past eight, and as the time for their release draws near
they begin to get very impatient. Every time any one
shows himself on deck a wild chorus of howls issues from
twenty-six throats, clamoring for food and freedom.

After being let loose they get their breakfast, consist-
ing of half a dried fish or three biscuits apiece. The rest
of the forenoon is spent in rooting round among all the
refuse heaps they can find ; and they gnaw and lick all
the empty tin cases which they have ransacked hundreds
of times before. If the cook sends a fresh tin dancing
along the ice a battle immediately rages around the prize.
It often happens that one or another of them, trying to
get at a tempting piece of fat at the bottom of a deep,
narrow tin, sticks his head so far down into it that the tin
sits fast, and he cannot release himself again ; so with this
extinguisher on his head he sprawls about blindly over
the ice, indulging in the most wonderful antics in the
effort to get rid of it, to the great amusement of us the
spectators. When tired of their work at the rubbish
heaps they stretch out their round, sausage-like bodies,
panting in the sun, if there is any, and if it is too warm
they get into the shade. They are tied up again before
dinner; but "Pan," and others like-minded, sneak away
a little before that time, and hide up behind a hummock,
so that one can only see a head or an ear sticking up
here and there. Should any one go to fetch him in he

482

FARTHEST NORTH

will probably growl, show his teeth, or even snap; after
which he will lie flat down, and allow himself to be
dragged off to prison. The remainder of the twenty-four
hours they spend sleeping, puffing and panting in the
excessive heat, which, by-the-way, is two degrees of cold.

THE DOGS BASKING IN THE SUN (jUNE 1 3, 1 894)

I From a Photograph)

Every now and then they set up a chorus of howls that
certainly must be heard in Siberia, and quarrel among
themselves till the fur flies in all directions. This
removal of the dogs on to the ice has imposed upon the
watch the arduous dutv of remaininor on deck at nifjhts,
which was not the practice before. But a bear having

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 483

once been on board and taken off two of our precious
animals, we don't want any more such visitors.

"On July 31st ' Kvik ' again increased our population
by bringing eleven puppies into the world, one of which
was deformed, and was at once killed ; two others died
later, but most of them grew up and became fine, hand-
some animals. They are still living.

" Few or no incidents occurred during this time, ex-
cept, naturally, the different red-letter days were cele-
brated with great ceremony."

May 17th* we observed with special pomp, the fol-
lowing description of which I find in my journal :

"Friday, May i8th. May 17th was celebrated yester-
day with all possible festivity. In the morning we were
awakened with organ music — the enlivening strains of
the ' College Hornpipe.' After this a splendid break-
fast off smoked salmon, ox tongues, etc., etc. The
whole ship's company wore bows of ribbon in honor
of the day — even old ' Suggen ' had one round his tail.
The wind whistled, and the Norwegian flag floated on
liigh, fluttering bravely at the mast - head. About 1 1
o'clock the conipany assembled with their banners on
the ice on the port side of the ship, and the procession
arranged itself in order. First of all came the leader of
the expedition with the ' pure ' Norwegian flag ; t after
him Sverdrup with the Franis pennant, which, with its

* The anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution.
t Without the mark of the "union" with Sweden.

484 FARTHEST NORTH

'FRAM' on a red ground, 3 fathoms long, looked
splendid. Next came a dog- sledge, with the band
(Johansen with the accordion), and Mogstad, as coach-
man ; after them came the mate with rifles and har-
poons, Henriksen carrying a long harpoon ; then Amund-
sen and Nordahl, with a red banner. The doctor fol-
lowed, with a demonstration flag in favor of a normal
working-day. It consisted of a woollen jersey, with the
letters ' N. A.'* embroidered on the breast, and at the
top of a very long pole it looked most impressive. After
him followed our chef, Juell, with 'peik's't saucepan
on his back ; and then came the meteorologists, with a
curious apparatus, consisting of a large tin scutcheon,
across which was fastened a red band, with the letters
' Al. St.,' signifying ' almindelig stemmeret,' or ' universal
suffrage.' \

"At last the procession began to move on. The dogs
marched demurely, as if they had never done anything
else in all their lives than walk in procession, and the
band played a magnificent festive march, not composed
for the occasion. The stately cortege marched twice

*" Normal arbeidsdage " = normal working-day.

t The pet name of the cooking-range in the galley.

\ Up to this day I am not quite clear as to what these emblems were
intended to signify. That the doctor, from want of practice, would
have been glad of a normal day's work (" normal Arbeidsdag ") can
readily be explained, but why the meteorologists should cry out for
universal suffrage passes my comprehension. Did they want to over-
throw despotism ?

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894

485

round the Frain, after which with great solemnity it
moved off in the direction of the large hummock, and
was photographed on the way by the photographer of
the expedition. At the hummock a hearty cheer was

THE SEVENTEENTH -OF -MAY PROCESSION, 1 894

{From a Photografili)

given for the Fram^ which had brought us hither so
well, and which would, doubtless, take us equally well
home again. After this the procession turned back,
cutting across the Frams bow. At the port gangway
a halt was called, and the photographer, mounting the
bridge, made a speech in honor of the day. This was

486 FARTHEST NORTH

succeeded by a thundering salute, consisting of six shots,
the result of which was that five or six of the dogs
rushed off over hummocks and pressure - ridges, and
hid themselves for several hours. Meanwhile we went
down into the cozy cabin, decorated with flags for the
occasion in a right festive manner, where we partook of
a splendid dinner, preluded by a lovely waltz. The
menu was as follows: Minced fish with curried lobster,
melted butter, and potatoes; music; pork cutlets, with
green pease, potatoes, mango chutney, and Worcester
sauce ; music ; apricots and custard, with cream ; much
music. After this a siesta ; then coffee, currants, figs,
cakes ; and the photographer stood cigars. Great en-
thusiasm, then more siesta. After supper the violinist,
Mogstad, gave a recital, when refreshments were served
in the shape of figs, sweetmeats, apricots, and ginger-
bread (honey cakes). On the whole, a charming and
very successful Seventeenth of May, especially consid-
ering that we had passed the 8ist degree of latitude.

" Monday, May 28th. Ugh ! I am tired of these
endless, white plains — cannot even be bothered snow-
shoeing over them, not to mention that the lanes stop
one on every hand. Day and night I pace up and
down the deck, along the ice by the ship s sides, revolv-
ing the most elaborate scientific problems. For the past
few days it is especially the shifting of the Pole that
has fascinated me. I am beset by the idea that the
tidal wave, along with the unequal distribution of land

. .OiSi;i:», ifls»jK)fiitit.v .->*

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 489

and sea, must have a disturbing effect on the sit-
uation of the earth's axis. When such an idea sets
into one's head, it is no easy matter to get it out
again. After pondering over it for several days, I
have finally discovered that the influence of the moon
on the sea must be sufficient to cause a shifting of the
Pole to the extent of one minute in 800,000 years. In
order to account for the European Glacial Age, which
was my main object, I must shift the Pole at least ten
or twenty degrees. This leaves an uncomfortably wide
interval of time since that period, and shows that the
human race must have attained a respectable age. Of
course, it is all nonsense. But while I am indefatigably
tramping the deck in a brown study, imagining myself
no end of a great thinker, I suddenly discover that my
thoughts are at home, where all is summer and loveli-
ness, arid those I have left are busy building castles in
the air for the day when I shall return. Yes, yes. I
spend rather too much time on this sort of thing; but
the drift goes as slowly as ever, and the wind, the all-
powerful wind, is still the same. The first thing my
eyes look for when I set foot on deck in the morning is
the weathercock on the mizzen-top, to see how the wind
lies ; thither they are forever straying during the whole
day, and there again they rest the last thing before I
turn in. But it ever points in the same direction, west
and southwest, and we drift now quicker, now more
slowly westward, and only a little to the north. I have

490 FARTHEST NORTH

no doubt now about the success of the expedition, and
my miscalculation was not so great, after all ; but I
scarcely think we shall drift higher than 85°, even if we
do that. It will depend on how far Franz Josef Land
extends to the north. In that case it will be hard to
give up reaching the Pole ; it is in reality a mere matter
of vanity, merely child's play, in comparison with what
we are doing and hoping to do; and yet I must confess
that I am foolish enough to want to take in the Pole
while I am about it, and shall probably have a try at it
if we get into its neighborhood within any reasonable
time.

" This is a mild May ; the temperature has been
about zero several times of late, and one can walk up
and down and almost imagine one's self at home.
There is seldom more than a few degrees of cold ; but
the summer fogs are beginning, with occasional hoar-
frost. As a rule, however, the sky, with its light, fleet-
ing clouds, is almost like a spring sky ni the south,

" We notice, too, that it has become milder on board ;
we no longer need to light a fire m the stove to make
ourselves warm and cozy ; though, indeed, we have
never indulged in much luxury in this respect. In the
store-room the rime frost and ice that had settled on
the ceiling and walls are beginning to melt; and in
the compartments astern of the saloon, and in the hold,
we have been obliged to set about a grand cleaning-up»
scraping off and sweeping away the ice and rime, to

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 491

save our provisions from taking harm, through the
damp penetrating the wrappings and rusting holes in
the tin cases. We have, moreover, for a long time
kept the hatchways in the hold open, so that there
has been a thorough draught through it, and a good
deal of the rime has evaporated. It is remarkable
how little damp we have on board. No doubt this is due
to the Frams solid construction, and to the deck over
the hold being panelled on the under side. I am getting
fonder and fonder of this ship.

" Saturday, June 9th. Our politician, Amundsen, is
celebrating the day with a white shirt and collar.* To-
day I have moved with my work up into the deck-house
again, where I can sit and look out of the window in the
davtime, and feel that I am livino- in the world and not
in a cavern, where one must have lamplight night and
day. I intend remaining here as long as possible out
into the winter : it is so cozy and quiet, and the monoto-
nous surroundings are not constantly forcing themselves
in upon me.

" I really have the feeling that summer has come. I
can pace up and down the deck by the hour together
with the sun, or stand still and roast myself in it, while
I smoke a pipe, and my eyes glide over the confused
masses of snow and ice. The snow is everywhere wet
now, and pools are beginning to form every here and

* With reference to the resolution of the Storthing, on June 9,
18S0.

492 FARTHEST NORTH

there. The ice too is getting more and more permeated
with salt-water; if one bores ever so small a hole in it,
it is at once filled with water. The reason, of course,
is that, owing to the rise in the temperature, the parti-
cles of salt contained in the ice begin to melt their sur-
roundings, and more and more water is formed with a
good admixture of salt in it, so that its freezing-point is
lower than the temperature of the ice around it. This,
too, had risen materially ; at about 4 feet depth it is only
25.2° Fahr. ( — 3.8^ C), at 5 feet it is somewhat warmer
again, 26.5' Fahr. (-3.1 C).

" Sunday, June loth. Oddly enough we have had no
cases of snow-blindness on board, with the exception of
the doctor, who, a couple of days ago, after we had been
playing at ball, got a touch of it in the evening. The
tears poured from his eyes for some time, but he soon
recovered. Rather a humiliating trick of fate that he
should be the first to suffer from this ailment." Sub-
sequently we had a few isolated cases of slight snow-
blindness, so that one or two of our men had to go about
with dark spectacles ; but it was of little importance and
was due to their not thinking it worth while to take the
necessary precautions.

"Monday, June nth. To-day I made a joyful dis-
covery. I thought I had begun my last bundle of cigars,
and calculated that by smoking one a day they would
last a month, but found quite unexpectedly a whole box
in my locker. Great rejoicing ! it will help to while

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 495

a\vay a few more months, and where shall we be then ?
Poor fellow, you are really at a low ebb ! ' To while
away time' — that is an idea that has scarcely ever
entered your head before. It has always been your
great trouble that time flew away so fast, and now it
cannot go fast enough to please you. And then so
addicted to tobacco — you wrap yourself in clouds of
smoke to indulge in your everlasting day dreams.
Hark to the south wind, how it whistles in the rigging ;
it is quite inspiriting to listen to it. On Midsummer-
eve we ought, of course, to have had a bonfire as usual,
but from my diary it does not seem to have been the
sort of weather for it.

"Saturday, June 23, 1894.

"'Mid the shady vales and the leafy trees,
How sweet the approach of the summer breeze !
When the mountain slopes in the sunlight gleam,
And the eve of St. John comes in like a dream.

The north wind continues with sleet. Gloomy weather.
Drifting south. 81° 43' north latitude; that is, 9' south-
ward since Monday.

" I have seen many Midsummer-eves under different
skies, but never such a one as this. So far, far from all
that one associates with this evening. I think of the
merriment round the bonfires at home, hear the scraping
of the fiddle, the peals of laughter, and the salvoes of the
guns, with the echoes answering from the purple-tinted

49^ FARTHEST NORTH

heights. And then I look out over this boundless, white
expanse into the fog and sleet and the driving wind.
Here is truly no trace of midsummer merriment. It is a
gloomy lookout altogether! Midsummer is past — and
now the days are shortening again, and the long night
of winter approaching, which, maybe, will find us as far
advanced as it left us.

" I was busily engaged with my examination of the
salinity of the sea-water this afternoon when Mogstad
stuck his head in at the door and said that a bear must
be prowling about in the neighborhood. On returning
after dinner to their work at the great hummock, where
they were busy making an ice-cellar for fresh meat,* the
men found bear-tracks which were not there before. I
put on my snow - shoes and went after it. But what
terrible going it had been the last few days ! Soft slush,
in which the snow-shoes sink helplessly. The bear had
come from the west right up to the Fram, had stopped
and inspected the work that was going on, had then
retreated a little, made a considerable detour, and set off
eastward at its easy, shambling gait, without deigning
to pay any further attention to such a trifle as a ship.

* It was seal, walrus, and bear's flesh from last autumn, which was
used for the dogs. During the winter it had been hung up in the ship,
and was still quite fresh. But henceforth it was stored on the ice un-
til, before autumn set in, it was consumed. It is remarkable how well
meat keeps in these regions. On June 28th we had reindeer-steak for
dinner that we had killed on the Siberian coast in September of the
previous year.

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 497

It had rummaged about in every hole and corner where
there seemed to be any chance of finding food, and had
rooted in the snow after anvthins^ the dosfs had left, or
whatever else it miorht be. It had then scone to the
lanes in the ice, and skirted them carefully, no doubt in
the hope of finding a seal or two, and after that it had
gone off between the hummocks and over floes, with a
surface of nothing but slush and water. Had the surface
been good I should no doubt have overtaken Master
Bruin, but he had too long a start in the slushy snow.

" A di.smal, dispiriting landscape — nothing but white
and gray. No shadows — merely half -obliterated forms
melting into the fog and slush. Everything is in a state
of disintegration, and one's foothold gives way at every
step. It is hard work for the poor snow-shoer who stamps
alons: throusfh the slush and fosf after bear-tracks that
wind in and out among the hummocks, or over them.
The snow - shoes sink deep in, and the water often
reaches up to the ankles, so that it is hard work to get
them up or to force them forward ; but without them
one would be still worse off.

" Every here and there this monotonous grayish
whiteness is broken by the coal-black water, which winds,
in narrower or broader lanes, in between the high hum-
mocks. White, snow-laden floes and lumps of ice float
on the dark surface, looking like white marble on a
black ground. Occasionally there is a larger dark-col-
ored pool, where the wind gets a hold of the water and

498 FARTHEST NORTH

forms small waves that ripple and plash against the edge
of the ice, the only signs of life in this desert tract. It
is like an old friend, the sound of these playful wave-
lets. And here, too, they eat away the floes and hollow
out their edges. One could almost imagine one's self in
more southern latitudes. But all around is wreathed
with ice, towering aloft in its ever -varying fantastic
forms, in striking contrast to the dark water on which
a moment before the eye had rested. Everlastingly is
this shifting ice modelling, as it w^ere, in pure, gray
marble, and, with nature's lavish prodigality, strewing
around the most glorious statuary, which perishes with-
out any eye having seen it. Wherefore 1 To what end
all this shifting pageant of loveliness.? It is governed by
the mere caprices of nature, following out those ever-
lasting laws that pay no heed to what we regard as aims
and objects.

" In front of me towers one pressure - ridge after
another, with lane after lane between. It was in June
the Jeannette was crushed and sank ; what if the Fram
were to meet her fate here } No, the ice will not get
the better of her. Yet, if it should, in spite of every-
thing ! As I stood gazing around me I remembered
it was Midsummer- eve. Far away yonder her masts
pointed aloft, half lost to view in the snowy haze. They
must, indeed, have stout hearts, those fellows on board
that craft. Stout hearts, or else blind faith in a man's
word.

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1S94 501

" It is all very well that he who has hatched a plan,
be it never so wild, should go with it to carry it out ; he
naturally does his best for the child to which his thoughts
have given birth. But they — they had no child to tend,
and could, without feeling any yearning balked, have
refrained from taking part in an expedition like this.
Why should any human being renounce life to be wiped
out here ?

"Sunday, June 24th. The anniversary of our depart-
ure from home. Northerly wind; still drifting south.
Observations to-day gave 81° 41' 7" north latitude, so
we are not going at a breakneck speed.

" It has been a long year — a great deal has been gone
through in it — though we are quite as far advanced as I
had anticipated. I am sitting, and look out of the
window at the snow whirling round in eddies as it is
swept along by the north wind. A strange Midsummer-
day ! One might think we had had enough of snow and
ice ; I am not, however, exactly pining after green fields
— at all events, not always. On the contrary, I find
myself sitting by the hour laying plans for other voy-
ages into the ice after our return from this one. . . .
Yes, I know what I have attained, and, more or less,
what awaits me. It is all very well for me to sketch
plans for the future. But those at home, . . . No, I
am not in a humor for writing this evening; I will
turn in.

" Wednesday, July nth. Lat. 81° 18' 8". At last the

502 FARTHEST NORTH

southerly wind has returned, so there is an end of drifting
south for the present.

" Now I am ahiiost longing for the polar night, for
the everlasting wonderland of the stars with the spectral
northern lights, and the moon sailing through the pro-
found silence. It is like a dream, like a glimpse into
the realms of fantasy. There are no forms, no cumbrous
reality — only a vision woven of silver and violet ether,
rising up from earth and floating out into infinity. . . .
But this eternal day, with its oppressive actuality, in-
terests me no longer — does not entice me out of my lair.
Life is one incessant hurrying from one task to anoth-
er ; everything must be done and nothing neglected, day
after day, week after week ; and the working-day is long,
seldom ending till far over midnight. But through it all
runs the same sensation of longing and emptiness, which
must not be noted. Ah, but at times there is no hold-
in": it aloof, and the hands sink down without will or
strength — so weary, so unutterably weary.

" Ah ! life's peace is said to be found by holy men in
the desert. Here, indeed, there is desert enough ; but
peace — of that I know nothing. I suppose it is the holi-
ness that is lacking.

"Wednesday, July i8th. Went on excursion with
Blessing in the forenoon to collect specimens of the
brown snow and ice, and gather seaweed and diatoms
in the water. The upper surface of the floes is nearly
everywhere of a dirty brown color, or, at least, this

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OE iSp4 503

sort of ice preponderates, while pure white floes, without
any traces of a dirty brown on their surface, are rare.
I imagained this brown color must be due to the
organisms I found in the newly-frozen, brownish-red
ice last autumn (October) ; but the specimens I took

BLESSING GOES OFF IN SEARCH OF ALG^
(From a Photograph)

to-day consist, for the most part, of mineral dust mingled
with diatoms and other ingredients of organic origin.*

" Blessing collected several specimens on the upper
surface of the ice earlier in the summer, and came to

* The same kind of dust that I found on the ice on the east co;ist of
Greenland, which is mentioned in the Introduction to this book, p. 39.

504 FARTHEST NORTH

the same conclusions. I must look further into this, in
order to see whether all this brown dust is of a mineral
nature, and consequently originates from the land.* We
found in the lanes quantities of alga^ like those we
had often found previously. There were large accumu-
lations of them in nearly every little channel. We
could also see that a brown surface layer spread it-
self on the sides of the floes far down into the water.
This is due to an alcra that G^rows on the ice. There
were also floating in the water a number of small
viscid lumps, some white, some of a yellowish red
color; and of these I collected several. Under the mi-
croscope they all appeared to consist of accumulations
of diatoms, among which, moreover, were a number of
larger cellular organisms of a very characteristic appear-
ance.! All of these diatomous accumulations kept at
a certain depth, about a yard below the surface of the
water; in some of the small lanes they appeared in
large masses. At the same depth the above-named alga
seemed especially to flourish, while parts of it rose up to

*This dust, which is to be seen in summer on the upper surface of
almost all polar ice of any age, is no doubt, for the most part, dust that
hovers in the earth's atmosphere. It probably descends with the falling
snow, and gradually accumulates into a surface layer as the snow melts
during the summer. Larger quantities of mud, however, are also often
to be found on the ice, which strongly resemble this dust in color, but
are doubtless more directly connected with land, being formed on floes
that have originally lain in close proximity to it. (Compare Wissensch.
Ergebnisse von Dr. F. Nansens Diirchqiteriing von Gronland. Ergdnzungs-
Jieft No. 105 zu Petermanns Ah'ilhetlungen.)

1 1 have not yet had time to examine them closely.

A SUMiMER EVENING. JULY 1 4, 1 894

{From a photograph)

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OE i8g4

507

the surface. It was evident that these accumulations of
diatoms and alga remained floating exacth'' at the depth
where the upper stratum of fresh water rests on the sea-

BLESSING FISHING FOR ALG^

(From a Photograph)

water. The water on the surface was entirely fresh, and
the masses of diatoms sank in it, but floated on reaching
the salt-water below.

" Thursda}', July 19th. It is as I expected. I am
beginning to know the wa)'s of the wind up here pretty

5o8 FARTHEST NORTH

well now. After having blown a ' windmill breeze ' to-
day it falls calm in the evening, and to-morrow we shall
probably have wind from the west or northwest.

" Yesterday evening the last cigar out of the old box !
And now I have smoked the first out of the last box I
have got. We were to have got so far by the time that
box was finished ; but are scarcely any farther advanced
than when I began it, and goodness knows if we shall
be that when this, too, has disappeared. But enough of
that. Smoke away.

"Sunday, July 22d. The northwest wind did not
come quite up to time ; on Friday we had northeast in-
stead, and during the night it gradually went round to
N.N.E., and yesterday forenoon it blew due north. To-
day it has ended in the west, the old well-known quarter,
of which we have had more than enough. This evening
the line* shows about N.W. to N., and it is strong, so we
are moving south again.

" I pass the day at the microscope. I am now busied
with the diatoms and algae of all kinds that grow on the
ice in the uppermost fresh stratum of the sea. These are
undeniably most interesting things, a whole new world
of organisms that are carried off by the ice from known
shores across the unknown Polar Sea, there to awaken
every summer and develop into life and bloom. Yes, it

* We always had a line, with a net at the end, hanging out, in order
to see the direction we were drifting, or to ascertain whether there was
any perceptible current in the water.

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894

509

is very interesting work, but yet there is not that same
burning interest as of old, although the scent of oil of
cloves, Canada balsam, and wood-oil awakens many dear

PRESSURE-RIDGE ON THE PORT QUARTER OF THE " FRAM "

(JULY I, 1894)

{From a Photograph)

reminiscences of that quiet laboratory at home, and every
morning as I come in here the microscope and glasses
and colors on the table invite me to work. But though

5IO FARTHEST NORTH

I work indefatigably clay after day till late in the night,
it is mostly duty work, and I am not sorry when it is
finished, to go and lie for some few hours in my berth
reading a novel and smoking a cigar. With what exul-
tation would I not throw the whole aside, spring up, and
lay hold of real life, fighting my way over ice and sea
with sledges, boats, or kayaks ! It is more than true that
it is ' easy to live a life of battle ' ; but here there is neither
storm nor battle, and I thirst after them. I long to en-
list titanic forces and fight my way forward — that would
be living ! But what pleasure is there in strength when
there is nothing for it to do ? Here we drift forward, and
here we drift back, and now we have been two months
on the same spot.

" Everything, however, is being got ready for a possible
expedition, or for the contingency of its becoming neces-
sary to abandon the ship. All the hand-sledges are
lashed together, and the iron fittings carefully seen to.
Six dog-sledges are also being made, and to-morrow we
shall begin building kayaks ready for the men. They
are easy to draw on hand-sledges in case of a retreat
over the ice without the ship. For a beginning we are
making kayaks to hold two men each. I intend to have
them about 12 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 18 inches in
depth. Six of these are to be made. They are to be
covered with sealskin or sail-cloth, and to be decked all
over, except for two holes — one for each man.

" I feel that we have, or rather shall have, everything

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 513

needful for a brilliant retreat. Sometimes I seem almost
to be longing for a defeat — a decisive one — so that we
might have a chance of showing what is in us, and put-
ting an end to this irksome inactivity.

" Monday, July 30th. Westerly wind, with north-
westerly by way of a pleasant variety; such is our daily
fare week after week. On coming up in the morning I
no longer care to look at the weathercock on the mast-
head, or at the line in the water; for I know beforehand
that the former points east or southeast, and the line in
the contrary direction, and that we are ever bearing to
the southeast. Yesterday it was 81° "]' north latitude,
the day before 81° 1 1', and last Monday, July 25th, 81° 26'.

" But it occupies my thoughts no longer. I know well
enough there will be a change some time or other, and
the way to the stars leads through adversity. I have
found a new world ; and that is the world of animal and
plant life that exists in almost every fresh-water pool on
the ice-floes. From morning till evening and till late in
the night I am absorbed with the microscope, and see
nothing around me. I live with these tiny beings in their
separate universe, where they are born and die, generation
after generation; where they pursue each other in the
struggle for life, and carry on their love affairs with the
same feelings, the same sufferings, and the same joys that
permeate every living being from these microscopic ani-
malcules up to man — self-preservation and propagation —

that is the whole story. Fiercely as we human beings

514 FARTHEST NORTH

Struggle to push our way on tlirough the labyrinth of life,
their struggles are assuredly no less fierce than ours — one
incessant, restless hurrying to and fro, pushing all others
aside, to burrow out for themselves what is needful to
them. And as to love, only mark with what passion they
seek each other out. With all our brain-cells, we do not
feel more strongly than they, never live so entirely for a
sensation. l)Ut what is life .•* What matters the individ-
ual's suffering so long as the struggle goes on '^.

" And these arc small, one-celled lumps of viscous
matter, teeming in thousands and millions, on nearly
every single fioe over the whole of this boundless sea,
which w^e are apt to regard as the realm of death. Mother
Nature has a remarkable power of producing life every-
where— even this ice is a fruitful soil for her.

" In the evening a little variety occurred in our un-
eventful existence, Johansen having discovered a bear to
the southeast of the ship, but out of range. It had, no
doubt, been prowling about for some time while we were
below at supper, and had been quite near us; but, being
alarmed by some sound or other, had gone off eastward.
Sverdrup and I set out after it, but to no purpose ; the
lanes hindered us too much, and, moreover, a fog came
on, so that we had to return after having gone a good
distance."

The world of organisms I above alluded to was the
subject of special research through the short summer, and
in many respects w-as quite remarkable. When the sun's

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF i8<p4 515

rays had gained power on the surface of the ice and
melted the snow, so that pools were formed, there was
soon to be seen at the bottom of these pools small yel-
lowish-brown spots, so small that at first one hardly
noticed them. Day by day they increased in size, and
absorbing, like all dark substances, the heat of the sun's
rays, they gradually melted the underlying ice and formed
round cavities, often several inches deep. These brown
spots were the above-mentioned algce and diatoms. They
developed speedily in the summer light, and would fill
the bottoms of the cavities with a thick layer. But there
were not plants only, the water also teemed with swarms
of animalcules, mostly infusoria and flagellata, which sub-
sisted on the plants. I actually found bacteria — even
these reQ:ions are not free from them !

But I could not always remain chained by the micro-
scope. Sometimes, when the fine weather tempted me
irresistibly, I had to go out and bake myself in the sun,
and imagine m3^self in Norway.

" Saturday, August 4th. Lovely weather yesterday
and to-day. Light, fleecy clouds sailing high aloft
through the sparkling azure sky — filling one's soul with
longings to soar as high and as free as they. I have just
been out on deck this evening; one could almost imag-
ine one's self at home by the fjord. Saturday evening's
peace seemed to rest on the scene and on one's soul.

" Our sailmakers, Sverdrup and Amundsen, have to-
day finished covering the first double kayak with sail-cloth.

5l6 FARTHEST NORTH

Fully equipped, it weighs 30.5 kilos. (60 lbs.). I think it
will prove a first-rate contrivance. Sverdrup and I tried
it on a pool. It carried us splendidly, and was so stiff that
even sitting on the deck we could handle it quite com-
fortably. It will easily carry two men with full equip-
ment for 100 days. A handier or more practical craft
for regions like this I cannot well imamne.

"Sunday, August 5th. 81° 7' north latitude.

" ' I can't forget the sparkling fjord

When the church boat rows in the morning.'

" Brilliant summer weather. I bathe in the sun and
dream I am at home either on the high mountains or
— heaven knows why — on the fjords of the west coast.
The same white fleecy clouds in the clear blue summer
sky; heaven arches itself overhead like a perfect dome,
there is nothing to bar one's way, and the soul rises
up unfettered beneath it. What matters it that the
world below is different — the ice no longer single
glittering glaciers, but spread out on every hand } Is
it not these same fleecy clouds far away in the blue
expanse that the eye looks for at home on a bright
summer day.'' Sailing on these, fancy steers its course
to the land of wistful longing. And it is just at these
glittering glaciers in the distance that we direct our
longing gaze. Why should not a summer day be as
lovely here } Ah, yes ! it is lovely, pure as a dream,
without desire, without sin ; a poem of clear white

THE SPRING AXD SUMMER OF 1894 51?

sunbeams refracted in the cool crystal blue of the ice.
How unutterably delightful does not this world appear to
us on some stifling summer day at home ?

" Have rested and ' kept Sunday.' I could not remain
in the whole day, so took a trip over the ice. Progress
is easy except for the lanes.

" Hansen practised kayak-paddling this afternoon on
the pool around the ship, from which several channels
diverge over the ice ; but he was not content with
paddling round in them, but must, of course, make an
experiment in capsizing and recovering himself as the
Eskimos do. It ended by his not coming up again,
losing his paddle, remaining head downward in the
water, and beating about with his hands till the kyak
filled, and he got a cold bath from top to toe. Nordahl,
who was standing by on the ice to help him, at last found
it necessary to go in after him and raise him up on an
even keel again, to the great amusement of us others.

" One can notice that it is summer. This evening: a
game of cards is being played on deck, with ' Peik's ' *
big pot for a card-table. One could almost think it was
an August evening at home ; only the toddy is wanting,
but the pipes and cigars we have.

"Sunday, August 12th. We had a shooting compe-
tition in the forenoon.

" A glorious evenino:. I took a stroll over the ice

* The name given to the cookincj-stove.

5i8 FARTHEST NORTH

among the lanes and hummocks. It was so wonderfully
calm and still. Not a sound to be heard but the drip,
drip of water from a block of ice, and the dull sound of
a snow-slip from some hummock in the distance. The
sun is low down in the north, and overhead is the pale
blue dome of heaven, with gold - edged clouds. The
profound peace of the Arctic solitudes. My thoughts
fly free and far. If one could only give utterance to all
that stirs one's soul on such an evening as this ! What
an incomprehensible power one's surroundings have over
one !

" Why is it that at times I complain of the loneliness.'*
With Nature around one, with one's books and studies,
one can never be quite alone.

"Thursday, August i6th. Yesterday evening, as I
was lying in my berth reading, and all except the watch
had turned in, I heard the report of a gun on deck
over my head. Thinking it was a bear, I hurriedly
put on my sea -boots and sprang on deck. There I
saw Johansen bareheaded, rifie in hand. ' Was it you
that fired the shot ?' ' Yes. I shot at the big hummock
yonder — I thought something was stirring there, and
I wanted to see what it was, but it seems to have been
nothing.' I went to the railings and looked out. ' I
fancied it was a bear that was after our meat — but it was
nothing.' As we stood there one of the dogs came jog-
ging along from the big hummock. 'There, you see
what you have shot at,' I said, laughing. ' I'm bothered

\ 1

El__ ■ ^■^'

^^^^P^''

'"LlJI

A SUMMER EVENING. JULY 1 4, 1 894

l.Fro»i II photograph)

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 5^1

if it wasn't a dog !' he replied. ' Ice-bear ' it was, true
enough, for so we called this dog. It had seemed so large
in the fog, scratching at the meat hummock. ' Did you
aim at the dog and miss? That was a lucky chance!'
' No ! I simply fired at random in that direction, for I
wanted to see what it was.' I went below and turned
in again. At breakfast to-day he had, of course, to run
the gantlet of some sarcastic questions about his 'harm-
less thunderbolt,' but he parried them adroitly enough.

"Tuesday, August 21st. North latitude, 81° 4.2'.
Strange how little alteration there is : we drift a little to
the north; then a little to the south, and keep almost to
the same spot. But I believe, as I have believed all
along, since before we even set out, that we should be
away three years, or rather three winters and four sum-
mers, neither more nor less, and that in about two years'
time from this present autumn we shall reach home.*
The approaching winter will drift us farther, however
slowly, and it begins already to announce itself, for there
were four degrees of cold last night.

" Sunday, August 26th. It seems almost as if winter
had come ; the cold has kept on an average between
24.8° Fahr. (-4" C.) and 21.2' Fahr. (—6° C.) since
Thursday. There are only slight variations in the tem-
perature up here, so we may expect it to fall regularly
from this time forth, though it is rather early for winter

* It was two years later to a day that the Fratn put in at Skjervo,
on the coast of Norway.

522 FARTHEST NORTH

to set in. All the pools and lanes are covered with
ice, thick enough to bear a man even without snow-
shoes.

" I went out on my snow-shoes both morning and
afternoon. The surface was beautiful ever3'where. Some
of the lanes had opened out or been compressed a little,
so that the new ice was thin and bent unpleasantly under
the snow-shoes ; but it bore me, though two of the dogs
fell through. A good deal of snow had fallen, so there
was fine, soft new snow to travel over. If it keeps on
as it is now, there will be excellent snow-shoeing in the
winter ; for it is fresh water that now freezes on the sur-
face, so that there is no salt that the wind can carry
from the new ice to spoil the snow all around, as was
the case last winter. Such snow with salt in it makes
as heavy a surface as sand.

" Monday, August 27th. Just as Blessing was going
below after his watch to-night, and was standing by the
rail looking out, he saw a white form that lay rolling in
the snow a little way off to the southeast. Afterwards
it remained for a while lying quite still. Johansen, who
was to relieve Blessing, now joined him, and they both
stood watching the animal intently. Presently it got up,
so there was no longer any doubt as to what it was. Each
got hold of a rifle and crept stealthily towards the fore-
castle, where they waited quietly while the bear cautiously
approached the ship, making long tacks against the wind.
A fresh breeze was blowing, and the windmill going

THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1894 5^3

round at full speed ; but this did not alarm him at all ;
very likely it was this very thing he wanted to examine.
At last he reached the lane in front, when they both fired
and he fell down dead on the spot. It was nice to get
fresh meat again. This was the first bear we had shot
this year, and of course we had roast bear for dinner to-
day. Regular winter with snow-storms.

"Wednesday, August 29th. A fresh wind; it rattles
and pipes in the rigging aloft. An enlivening change and
no mistake ! The snow drifts as if it were midwinter.
Fine August weather ! But we are bearing north again,
and we have need to ! Yesterday our latitude was 80°
53.5'. This evening I was standing in the hold at work
on my new bamboo kayak, which will be the very acme
of lightness. Pettersen happened to come down, and gave
me a hand with some lashings that I was busy with. We
chatted a little about things in general ; and he was of
opinion ' that we had a good crib of it on board the Fram,
because here we had everything we wanted, and she was
a devil of a ship — and any other ship would have been
crushed flat long ago.' But for all that he would not be
afraid, he said, to leave her, when he saw all the contriv-
ances, such as these new kayaks, we had been getting
ready. He was sure no former expedition had ever had
such contrivances, or been so equipped against all possi-
ble emergencies as we. But, after all, he would prefer to
return home on the Frainy Then we talked about what
we should do when we did get home.

5^4

FARTHEST NORTH

" ' Oh, for your part, no doubt you'll be off to the
South Pole,' he said.

" ' And you ?' I replied. ' Will you tuck up your sleeves
and beo^in af-ain at the old work V

'" Oh, very likely ! but on my word I ought to have a
week's holiday first. After such a trip I should want it,
before buckling to at the sledge-hammer again.'"

CHAPTER VIII
SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE

So summer was over, and our second autumn and
winter were beginning. But we were now more inured
to the trials of patience attendant on this h'fe, and time
passed quickly. Besides, I myself was now taken up
with new plans and preparations. Allusion has several
times been made to the fact that we had, during the
course of the summer, got everything into readiness for
the possibility of having to make our way home across
the ice. Six double kayaks had been built, the hand-
sledges were in good order, and careful calculation had
been made of the amount of food, clothing, fuel, etc.,
that it would be necessary to carry. But I had also
quietly begun to make preparations for my own medi-
tated expedition north. In Augustas already mentioned,
I had begun to work at a single kayak, the framework
made of bamboo. I had said nothing about my plan
yet, except a few words to Sverdrup ; it was impossible
to tell how far north the drift would take us, and so many
things might happen before spring.

In the meantime life on board went on as usual.

526 FARTHEST NORTH

There were the regular observations and all sorts of
occupations, and I myself was not so absorbed in my
plans that I did not find time for other things too.
Thus I see from my diary that in the end of August
and in September I must have been very proud of a
new invention that I made for the galley. All last
year we had cooked on a particular kind of copper
range, heated by petroleum lamps. It was quite satis-
factory, except that it burned several quarts of petroleum
a day. I could not help fearing sometimes that our
lighting supply might run short, if the expedition lasted
longer than was expected, and always wondered if it
would not be possible to construct an apparatus that
would burn coal-oil — " black-oil," as we call it on board
— of which we had 20 tons, originally intended for the
engine. And I succeeded in making such an apparatus.
On August 30th I write: " Have tried my newly invented
coal-oil apparatus for heating the range, and it is beyond
expectation successful. It is splendid that we shall be
able to burn coal-oil in the galley. Now there is no fear
of our having to cry ourselves blind for lack of light
by-and-by. This adds more than 4000 gallons to our
stock of oil ; and we can keep all our fine petroleum
now for lighting purposes, and have lamps for many a
year, even if we are a little extravagant. The 20 tons of
coal-oil ought to keep the range going for 4 years, I
think.

"The contrivance is as simple as possible. From a

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE S^7

reservoir of oil a pipe leads clown and into the fireplace ;
the oil drips down from the end of this pipe into an iron
bowl, and is here sucked up by a sheet of asbestos, or
by coal ashes. The flow of oil from the pipe is regulated
by a fine valve cock. To insure a good draught, I bring
a ventilating pipe from outside right by the range door.
Air is pressed through this by a large wind-sail on deck,
and blows straight on to the iron bowl, where the oil
burns briskly with a clear, white flame. Whoever lights
the fire in the morning has only to go on deck and see
that the wind-sail is set to the wind, to open the venti-
lator, to turn the cock so that the oil runs properly, and
then set it burning with a scrap of paper. It looks after
itself, and the water is boiling in twenty minutes or half
an hour. One could not have anything much easier than
this, it seems to me. But of course in our, as in other
communities, it is difficult to introduce reforms ; every-
thing new is looked upon with suspicion."

Somewhat later I write of the same apparatus: "We
are now using the galley again, with the coal-oil fire;
the moving down took place the day before yesterday,*
and the fire was used yesterday. It works capitally; a
three-foot wind is enough to give a splendid draught.
The day before yesterday, when I was sitting with some
of the others in the saloon in the afternoon, I heard a dull

* During the summer we had made a kitchen of the chart-room on
deck, because of the good daylight there ; and, besides, the galley proper
was to be cleaned and painted.

5^8 FARTHEST NORTH

report out in the galley, and said at once that it sounded
like an explosion. Presently Pettersen* stuck a head in
at the door as black as a sweep's, great lumps of soot
all over it, and said that the stove had exploded right
into his face ; he was only going to look if it was burn-
ing rightly, and the whole fiendish thing flew out at him.
A stream of words not unmingled with oaths flowed
like peas out of a sack, while the rest of us yelled with
laughter. In the galley it was easy to see that something
had happened ; the walls were covered with soot in lumps
and stripes pointing towards the fireplace. The explana-
tion of the accident was simple enough. The draught
had been insufficient, and a quantity of gas had formed
which had not been able to burn until air was let in by
Pettersen opening the door.

" This is a good beginning. I told Pettersen in the
evening that I would do the cooking myself next day,
when the real trial was to be made. But he would not
hear of such a thing; he said ' I was not to think that he
minded a trifle like that; I might trust to its being all
right' — and it was all right. From that day I heard
nothing but praise of the new apparatus, and it was used
until the Fram was out in the open sea again.

"Thursday, September 6th. 8i^ 13.7' north latitude.
Have I been married five years to-day .'* Last year this
was a day of victory — when the ice -fetters burst at

* Pettersen had been advanced from smith to cook, and he and Juell
took turns of a fortnight each in the galley.

PETERSSEN AFTER THE EXPLOSION

[From a photograph)

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 531

Taimur Island — but there is no thouo^ht of victory now:
we are not so far north as I had expected ; the north-
west wind has come again, and we are drifting south.
And yet the future does not seem to me so long and
so dark as it sometimes has done. Next September
6th . . . can it be possible that then every fetter will
have burst, and we shall be sitting together talking of
this time in the far north and of all the lonsfinof, as of
somethins: that once was and that will never be aeain.f*
The long, long night is past; the morning is just break-
ing, and a glorious new day lies before us. And what
is there against this happening next year.? Why should
not this winter carry the Fram west to some place
north of Franz Josef Land } . . . and then my time
has come, and off I go with dogs and sledges — to the
north. My heart beats with joy at the very thought
of it. The winter shall be spent in making every
preparation for that expedition, and it will pass quickly.

" I have already spent much time on these prepara-
tions. I think of everything that must be taken, and
how it is to be arranged, and the more I look at the
thing from all points of view, the more firmly convinced
do I become that the attempt will be successful, if only
the Fram can get north in reasonable time, not too late
in the spring. If she could just reach 84° or 85°, then
I should be off in the end of February or the first days
of March, as soon as the daylight comes, after the long
winter night, and the whole would go like a dance.

532 FARTHEST XORTH

Only four or five months, and the time for action will
have come again. What joy ! When I look out over
the ice now it is as if my muscles quivered with long-
ing to be striding off over it in real earnest — fatigue
and privation will then be a delight. It may seem
foolish that I should be determined to go off on this
expedition, when, perhaps, I might do more important
work quietly here on board. But the daily observations
will be carried on exactly the same.

" I have celebrated the day by arranging my work-
room for the winter. I have put in a petroleum stove,
and expect that this will make it warm enough even in
the coldest weather, with the snowballs that I intend
to build round the outside of it, and a good roof-cov-
ering of snow. At least, double the amount of work
will be done if this cabin can be used in winter, and I
can sit up here instead of in the midst of the racket
below. I have such comfortable times of it now, in
peace and quietness, letting my thoughts take their way
unchecked.

"Sunday, September 9th. 81° 4' north latitude. The
midnight sun disappeared some days ago, and already
the sun sets in the northwest; it is gone by 10 o'clock
in the evening, and there is once more a glow over the
eternal white. Winter is coming fast.

" Another peaceful Sunday, with rest from work, and
a little reading. Out snow-shoeing to-day I crossed
several frozen -over lanes, and very slight packing has

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 533

begun here and there. I was stopped at last by a broad
open lane lying pretty nearly north and south ; at places
it was 400 to 500 yards across, and I saw no end to it
either north or south. The surface was good ; one got
along quickly, with no exertion at all when it was in the
direction of the wind.

" This is undeniably a monotonous life. Sometimes it
feels to me like a long dark night, my life's ' Ragnarok,'*
dividing it into two. . . . ' The sun is darkened, the
summers with it, all weather is weighty with woe'; snow
covers the earth, the wind whistles over the endless
plains, and for three years this winter lasts, till comes the
time for the great battle, and 'men tramp Hel's way.'
There is a hard struggle between life and death; but
after that comes the reign of peace. The earth rises
from the sea again, and decks itself anew with verdure.
' Torrents roar, eagles hover over them, watching for fish
among the rocks,' and then ' Valhalla,' fairer than the
sun, and long length of happy days.

" Pettersen, who is cook this week, came in here this
evening, as usual, to get the bill of fare for next day.
When his business was done, he stood for a minute, and
then said that he had had such a strange dream last
night; he had wanted to be taken as cook with a new
expedition, but Dr. Nansen wouldn't have him.
"' And why not T

* " Twilight of the gods."

534 FAKTHES2' NORTH

"'Well, this was how it was: I dreamed that Dr.
Nansen was jjoins: off across the ice to the Pole with four
men, and I asked to be taken, but you said that you
didn't need a cook on this expedition, and I thought that
was queer enough, for you would surely want food on
this trip as well. It seemed to me that you had ordered
the ship to meet you at some other place ; anyhow, you
were not coming back here, but to some other land. It's
strange that one can lie and rake up such a lot of non-
sense in one's sleep.'

" ' That was perhaps not such very great nonsense,
Pettersen; it is quite possible that we might have to
make such an expedition ; but if we did, we should
certainly not come back to the Framl

" ' Well, if that happened, I would ask to go, sure
enough ; for it's just what I should like. I'm no great
snow-shoer, but I w'ould manage to keep up somehow.'

" ' That's all very well ; but there's a great deal of
weary hard work on a journey like that ; you needn't
think it's all pleasure.'

" ' No, no one would expect that ; but it w'ould be all
right if I might only go.'

" ' But there might be worse than hardships, Pettersen.
It would more than likely mean risking your life.'

" ' I don't care for that either. A man has got to die
sometime.'

'" Yes, but you don't want to shorten your life.'

'" Oh, I would take mv chance of that. You can lose

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 535

your life at home, too, though, perhaps, not quite so
easily as here. But if a man was always to be thinking
about that he would never do anything.'

" ' That's true. Anyhow, he would not need to come
on an expedition like this. But remember that a journey
northward over the ice would be no child's play.'

" ' No, I know that well enough, but if it was with you
I shouldn't be afraid. It would never do if we had to
manage alone. We'd be sure to go wrong; but it's
quite a different thing, you see, when there is one to
lead that you know has been through it all before.'

" It is extraordinary the blind faith such men have
in their leader ! I believe they would set off without
a moment's reflection if they were asked to join in an
expedition to the Pole now, with black winter at the
door. It is grand as long as the faith lasts, but God be
merciful to him on the day that it fails !

"Saturday, September 15th. This evening we have
seen the moon again for the first time — beautiful full
moon — and a few stars -were also visible in the night
sky, which is still quite light.

" Notices were posted up to-day in several places.
They ran as follows :

"'As fire here on board might be followed by the
most terrible consequences, too great precaution cannot
be taken. For this reason every man is requested to
observe the following rules most conscientiotisly :

53^ FARTHEST NORTH

1. No one is to carry matches.

2. The only places where matches may be kept are —

(i) The galley, where the cook for the time being
is responsible for them.

(2) The four single cabins, where the inmate of

each is responsible for his box.

(3) The work-cabin, when work is going on.

(4) On the mast in the saloon, from which neither

box nor single matches must be taken away
under any circumstances.

3. Matches must not be struck anywhere except in the

places above named.

4. The one exception to the above rules is made when

the forge has to be lighted.

5. All the ship's holds are to be inspected every

evening at 8 o'clock by the fire-inspector, who will
give in his report to the undersigned. After that
time no one may, without special permission, take
a light into the holds or into the engine-room.

6. Smoking is only allowed in the living-rooms and

on deck. Lighted pipes or cigars must on no
account be seen elsewhere.

Fridtjof Nansen.
/^r<2;;2, September 15th, 1894.'

" Some of these regulations may seem to infringe on
the principle of equality which I have been so anxious to

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 537

maintain ; but these seem to me the best arrangements I
can make to insure the good of all — and that must come
before everything else,

" Friday, September 21st. We have had tremendously
strong wind from the northwest and north for some days,
with a velocity at times of 39 and 42 feet. During this
time we must have drifted a good way south. ' The Rad-
ical Right ' had got hold of the helm, said Amundsen ;
but their time in power was short ; for it fell calm yester-
day, and now we are going north again, and it looks as
if the ' Left ' were to have a spell at the helm, to repair
the wrongs done by the ' Right.'

" Kennels for the dogs have been built this week — a
row of splendid ice-houses along the port side of the
ship ; four dogs in each house ; good warm winter quar-
ters. In the meantime our eight little pups are thrivino-
on board ; they have a grand world to wander round
— the whole fore -deck, with an awning over it. You
can hear their little barks and yelps as they rush about
among shavings, hand-sledges, the steam-winch, mill-axle,
and other odds and ends. They play a little and they
fight a little, and forward under the forecastle they have
their bed among the shavings — a very cozy corner, where
' Kvik ' lies stretched out like a lioness in all her majesty.
There they tumble over each other in a heap round her,
sleep, yawn, eat, and pull each other's tails. It is a pict-
ure of home and peace here near the Pole which one
could watch by the hour.

538 FARTHEST NORTH

" Life goes its regular, even, uneventful way, quiet as
the ice itself; and yet it is wonderful how quickly the
time passes. The equinox has come, the nights are be-
ginning to turn dark, and at noon the sun is only 9 de-
grees above the horizon. I pass the day busily here in
the work cabin, and often feel as if I were sitting in my
study at home, with all the comforts of civilization round
me. If it were not for the separation, one could be as
well off here as there. Sometimes I forget where I am.
Not infrequently in the evening, when I have been sitting
absorbed in work, I have jumped up to listen when the
dogs barked, thinking to myself, who can be coming.''
Then I remember that I am not at home, but drifting out
in the middle of the frozen Polar Sea, at the commence-
ment of the second long Arctic night.

"The temperature has been down to 1.4^ Fahr. be-
low zero (— ly"" C.) to-day; winter is coming on fast.
There is little drift just now, and yet we are in good
spirits. It was the same last autumn equinox ; but how
many disappointments we have had since then ! How
terrible it was in the later autumn when every calcu-
lation seemed to fail, as we drifted farther and farther
south ! Not one bright spot on our horizon I But such
a time will never come again. There may still be great
relapses ; there may be slow progress for a time ; but
there is no doubt as to the future; we see it dawning
bright in the west, beyond the Arctic night.

" Sunday, September 23d. It was a year yesterday

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 539

since we made fast for the first time to the great hum-
mock in the ice. Hansen improved the occasion by
making a chart of our drift for the year. It does not
look so very bad, though the distance is not great ; the
direction is ahiiost exactly what I had expected. But
more of this to-morrow ; it is so late that I cannot write
about it now. The nights are turning darker and darker;
winter is settling down upon us.

"Tuesday, September 25th. I have been looking
more carefully at the calculation of our last years drift.
If we reckon from the place where we were shut in
on the 2 2d of September last year to our position on
the 2 2d of September this year, the distance we have
drifted is 189 miles, equal to 3^ 9' latitude. Reckoning
from the same place, but to the farthest north point
we reached in summer (July i6th), makes the drift
225 miles, or 3° 46'. But if we reckon from our most
southern point in the autumn of last year (November
7th) to our most northern point this summer, then the
drift is 305 miles, or 5^ 5'. We got fully 4^ north, from
77^ 43' to 81° 53'. To give the course of the drift is
a difiicult task in these latitudes, as there is a per-
ceptible deviation of the compass with every degree of
longitude as one passes east or west; the change, of
course, given in degrees will be almost exactly the same
as the number of des^rees of lonsfitude that have been
passed. Our average course will be about N. 36' \\\
The direction of our drift is consequently a much more

540 FARTHEST NORTH

northerly one than the Jeaiinettes was, and this is just
what we expected ; ours cuts hers at an angle of 59°.
The line of this year's drift continued will cut the north-
east island of Spitzbergen, and take us as far north as
84" 7', in 75' east longitude, somewhere N.N.E. of Franz
Josef Land. The distance by this course to the North-
east Island is 827 miles. Should we continue to pro-
gress only at the rate of 189 miles a year it would take
us 4.4 years to do this distance. But assuming our
progress to be at the rate of 305 miles a year, we shall
do it in 2.7 years. That we should drift at least as
quickly as this seems probable, because we can hardly
now be driven back as we were in October last year,
when we had the open water to the south and the great
mass of ice to the north of us.

" The past summer seems to me to have proved that
while the ice is very unwilling to go back south, it is
most ready to go northwest as soon as there is ever so
little easterly, not to mention southerly, wind. I therefore
believe, as I always have believed, that the drift will
become faster as we get farther northwest, and the
probability is that the Fraui will reach Norway in two
years, the expedition having lasted its full three years,
as I somehow had a feeling that it would. As our
drift is 59' more northerly than the Jeannettes, and as
Franz Josef Land must force the ice north (taking for
granted that all that comes from this great basin goes
round to the north of Franz Josef Land), it is probable

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 54 1

that our course will become more northerly the farther
on we go, until we are past Franz Josef Land, and that
we shall consequently reach a higher latitude than our
drift so far would indicate. I hope 85° at least. Every-
thing has come right so far; the direction of our drift is
exactly parallel with the course which I conjectured to
have been taken by the floe with the Jeaimette relics, and
which I pricked out on the chart prepared for my London
Address.* This course touched about '^']^ north lati-
tude. I have no right to expect a more northerly drift
than parallel to this, and have no right to be anything
but happy if I get as far. Our aim, as I have so often
tried to make clear, is not so much to reach the point in
which the earth's axis terminates, as to traverse and ex-
plore the unknown Polar Sea; and yet I should like to
get to the Pole, too, and hope that it will be possible to
do so, if only we can reach 84° or 85° by March. And
why should we not }

"Thursday, September 27th. Have determined that,
beginning from to-morrow, every man is to go out snow-
shoeing two hours daily, from 11 to i, so long as the
daylight lasts. It is necessary. If anything happened
that obliged us to make our way home over the ice, I am
afraid some of the company would be a terrible hinderance
to us, unpractised as they are now. Several of them are

* See Geographical Journal, London, 1893. See also the map in
Naturen, 1890. and the Norwegian Geographical Society's Year Book, I.,
1890.

542

FARTHEST NORTH

first-rate snovv-shoers, but five or six of them would soon
be feeling the pleasures of learning; if they had to go
out on a long course, and without snow-shoes, it would
be all over with us.

" After this we used to go out regularly in a body.
Besides being good exercise, it was also a great pleasure;

SNOW-SHOE PRACTICE (SEPTEMBER 28, 1 894)

[By H. Egidius, from a Photograph)

every one seemed to thrive on it, and they all became
accustomed to the use of the shoes on this ground, even
though they often got them broken in the unevennesses
of the pressure-ridges ; we just patched and riveted them
to Of ether to break them ao^ain.

Mondav, October ist. We tried

hand-sledge to-

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 543

day with a load of 250 pounds. It went along easily, and
yet was hard to draw, because the snow-shoes were apt to
slip to the side on the sort of surface we had. I almost
believe that Indian snow-shoes would be better on this
ground, where there are so many knobs and smooth
hillocks to draw the sledges over. When Amundsen first
began to pull the sledge he thought it was nothing at
all ; but when he had o^one on for a time he fell into a
fit of deep and evidently sad thought, and went silently
home. When he got on board he confided to the others
that if a man had to draw a load like that he might just
as well lie down at once — it would come to the same
thing in the end. That is how practice is apt to go. In
the afternoon I yoked three dogs to the same little
sledge with the 250-pound load, and they drew it along
as if it were nothing at all.

" Tuesday October 2d. Beautiful weather, but coldish;
49° Fahr. of frost ( — 27° C.) during the night, which is a
good deal for October, surely. It will be a cold winter
if it goes on at the same rate. But what do we care
whether there are 90° of frost or 120°.'^ A good snow-
shoeing excursion to-day. They are all becoming most
expert now; but darkness will be on us presently, and
then there will be no more of it. It is a pity ; this exer-
cise is so good for us — we must think of something to
take its place.

" I have a feeling now as if this were to be my last
winter on board. Will it really come to my going off

544 FARTHEST NORTH

north in spring ? llie experiment in drawing a loaded
hand-sledge over this ice was certainly anything but
promising ; and if the dogs should not hold out, or

RETURN FROM A SNOW-SHOE RUN (SEPTEMBER 28, 1 894)

{From a Photografh)

should be of less use than we expect; and if we should
come to worse ice instead of better — well, we should
only have ourselves to trust to. But if we can just get
so far on with the F^'-am that the distance left to be
covered is at all a reasonable one, I believe that it is my
duty to make the venture, and I cannot imagine any

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 545

difficulty that will not be overcome when our choice lies
between death — and onward and home !

"Thursday, October 4th. The ice is rather impassable
in places, but there are particular lanes or tracts ; taking
it altogether, it is in good condition for sledging and
snow-shoeing, though the surface is rather soft, so that
the dogs sink in a little. This is probably chiefly owing
to there having been no strong winds of late, so that the
snow has not been well packed together.

"Life goes on in the regular routine; there is always
some little piece of work turning up to be done. Yester-
day the breaking in of the young dogs began.* It was
just the three — 'Barbara,' ' Freia,' and ' Susine.' ' Gula-
brand ' is such a miserable, thin wretch that he is escap-
ing for the present. They were unmanageable at first,
and rushed about in all directions ; but in a little while
they drew like old dogs, and were altogether better than
we expected. ' Kvik,' of course, set them a noble ex-
ample. It fell to Mogstad's lot to begin the training, as
it was his week for looking after the dogs. This duty is
taken in turns now, each man has his week of attendins:
to them both mornino^ and afternoon.

" It seems to me that a very satisfactory state of feeling
prevails on board at present, when we are just entering
on our second Arctic night, which we hope is to be a
longer, and probably also a colder, one than any people

* These were the puppies born on December 13, 1893; only four of
them were now ahve.
35

546 FARTHEST NORTH

before us have experienced. There is appreciably less
light every day; soon there will be none; but the good
spirits do not wane with the light. It seems to me
that we are more uniformly cheerful than we have ever

^j^'m^zMfiffM'..

BLOCK OF ICE (SEPTEMBER 28, 1 894)

{From a Photograph)

been. What the reason of this is I cannot tell ; perhaps
just custom. But certainly, too, we are well off — in
clover, as the saying is. We are drifting gently, but it
is to be hoped surely, on through the dark unknown

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 547

Nivlheim, where terrified fancy has pictured all possible
horrors. Yet we are living a life of luxury and plenty,
surrounded by all the comforts of civilization. I think
we shall be better off this winter than last.

" The firing apparatus in the galley is working splen-
didly, and the cook himself is now of opinion that it is an
invention which approaches perfection. So we shall burn
nothing but coal-oil there now; it warms the place well,
and a good deal of the heat comes up here into the work-
room, where I sometimes sit and perspire until I have to
take off one garment after another, although the window
is open, and there are 30 odd degrees of cold outside. I
have calculated that the petroleum which this enables us
to keep for lighting purposes only will last at least 10
years, though we burn it freely 300 days in the year. At
present we are not using petroleum lamps at the rate
assumed in my calculation, because we frequently have
electric light; and then even here summer comes once a
year, or, at any rate, something which we must call sum-
mer. Even allowing for accidents, such as the possibility
of a tank springing a leak and the oil running out, there
is still no reason whatever for being sparing of light, and
every man can have as much as he wants. What this
means can best be appreciated by one who for a whole
year has felt the stings of conscience every time he went
to work or read alone in his cabin, and burned a lamp
that was not absolutely necessary, because he could have
used the ireneral one in the saloon.

548 FARTHEST NORTH

" As yet the coals are not being touched, except for
the stove in the saloon, where they are to be allowed
to burn as much as they like this winter. The quantity
thus consumed will be a trifle in comparison with our
store of about lOO tons, for which we cannot well have

THE WANING DAY (OCTOBER, 1 894)

{From a Photograph)

any other use until the Fram once more forces her way
out of the ice on the other side. Another thing that is
of no little help in keeping us warm and comfortable is

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 549

the awning that is now stretched over the ship.* The
only part I have left open is the stern, abaft the bridge,
so as to be able to see round over the ice from there.

" Personally, I must say that things are going well
with me ; much better than I could have expected.
Time is a good teacher; that devouring longing does
not gnaw so hard as it did. Is it apathy beginning.?
Shall I feel nothing at all by the time ten years have
passed ? Oh ! sometimes it comes on with all its old
strength, as if it would tear me in pieces ! But this is
a splendid school of patience. Much good it does to sit
wondering whether they are alive or dead at home ; it
only almost drives one mad.

"All the same, I never grow quite reconciled to this
life. It is really neither life nor death, but a state be-
tween the two. It means never being at rest about any-
thing or in any place — ^a constant waiting for what is
coming; a waiting in which, perhaps, the best years of
one's manhood will pass. It is like what a young boy
sometimes feels when he goes on his first voyage. The
life on board is hateful to him ; he suffers cruelly from all
the torments of sea -sickness; and being shut in within
the narrow walls of the ship is worse than prison ; but
it is something that has to be gone through. Beyond it

* We had no covering over the ship the first winter, as we thought it
would make it so dark, and make it difficult to find one's way about on
deck. But when we put in on the second winter we found that it was
an improvement.

550 FARTHEST NORTH

all lies the south, the land of his youthful dreams, tempt-
ing with its sunny smile. In time he arises, half dead.
Does he find his south ? How often it is but a barren
desert he is cast ashore on !

" Sunday, October 7th. It has cleared up this even-
ins, and there is a starry sky and aurora borealis. It is
a little change from the constant cloudy weather, with
frequent snow -showers, which we have had these last
days.

" Thoughts come and thoughts go. I cannot forget,
and I cannot sleep. Everything is still ; all are asleep.
I only hear the quiet step of the watch on deck ; the
wind rustling in the rigging and the canvas, and the
clock gently hacking the time in pieces there on the wall.
If I go on deck there is black night, stars sparkling
high overhead, and faint aurora flickering across the
gloomy vault, and out in the darkness I can see the
glimmer of the great monotonous plain of the ice : it is all
so inexpressibly forlorn, so far, far removed from the
noise and unrest of men and all their striving. What
is life thus isolated ? A strange, aimless process ; and
man a machine which eats, sleeps, awakes ; eats and
sleeps again, dreams dreams, but never lives. Or is
life really nothing else.'' And is it just one more phase
of the eternal martyrdom, a new mistake of the erring
human soul, this banishing of one's self to the hopeless
wilderness, only to long there for what one has left be-
hind? Am I a coward? Am I afraid of death? Oh,

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 55 1

no ! but in these nights such longing can come over
one for all beauty, for that which is contained in a sin-
gle word, and the soul flees from this interminable and
rieid world of ice. When one thinks how short life
is, and that one came away from it all of one's own
free will, and remembers, too, that another is suffering
the pain of constant anxiety — ' true, true till death.' ' O
mankind, thy ways are passing strange ! We are but as
flakes of foam, helplessly driven over the tossing sea.'

" Wednesday, October loth. Exactly 'i^'}, years old,
then. There is nothing to be said to that, except that
life is moving on, and will never turn back. They
have all been touchingly nice to me to-day, and we have
held fete. They surprised me in the morning by hav-
ing the saloon ornamented with flags. They had hung
the ' Union ' above Sverdrup's place.* We accused
Amundsen of having done this, but he would not con-
fess to it. Above my door and on over Hansen's they
had the pennant with Frani in big letters. It looked most
festive when I came into the saloon, and they all stood
up and wished me ' Many happy returns.' When I went
on deck the flag was waving from the mizzenmast-head.

" We took a snow-shoeing excursion south in the
morning. It was windy, bitter weather; I have not felt
so cold for long. The thermometer is down to 24° Fahr.
below zezo (—31° C.) this evening; this is certainly

* An allusion, no doubt, to his political opinions {Trans).

552 FARTHEST NORTH

the coldest birthday I have had yet. A sumptuous
dinner: i. Fish - pudding. 2. Sausages and tongue,
with potatoes, haricot beans, and pease. 3. Preserved
strawberries, with rice and cream ; Crown extract of
malt. Then, to every one's surprise, our doctor began
to take out of the pocket of the overcoat he always
wears remarkable-looking little glasses — medicine-glass-
es, measuring -glasses, test- glasses — one for each man,
and lastly a whole bottle of Lysholmer liqueur — real na-
tive Lysholmer — which awakened general enthusiasm.
Two drams of that per man was not so bad, besides
a quarter of a bottle of extract of malt. Coffee after
dinner, with a surprise in the shape of apple - cake,
baked by our excellent cook, Pettersen, formerly smith
and engineer. Then I had to produce my cigars,
which were also much enjoyed ; and of course we
kept holiday all the afternoon. At supper there was
another surprise — a large birthday cake from the same
baker, with the inscription ' T. L. M. D.' (Til lykke
med dagen, the Norwegian equivalent for ' Wishing a
happy birthday'), ' 10.10.94.' In the evening came pine-
apples, figs, and sweets. Many a worse birthday might
be spent in lower latitudes than 81°. The evening is
passing with all kinds of merriment ; every one is in
good spirits; the saloon resounds with laughter — how
many a merry meeting it has been the scene of!

" But when one has said good - night and sits here
alone, sadness comes ; and if one goes on deck there are

SECOXD AUTUMN IN THE ICE

553

the stars high overhead in the clear sky. In the south
is a smouldering aurora arch, which from time to time
sends up streamers ; a constant, restless flickering.

" We have been talking a little about this expedition,
Sverdrup and I. When we were out on the ice in the

A SNOW-SHOE EXCURSION (OCTOBER, 1 894)

(From a rhotograpli)

afternoon he suddenly said, ' Yes, next October you will,
perhaps, not be on board the Fram' To which I had to
answer that, unless the winter turned out badly, I prob-
ably should not. But still I cannot believe in this rightly
myself.

554 FARTHEST NORTH

" Every night I am at home in my dreams, but when
the morning breaks I must again, like Helge, gallop
back on the pale horse by the way of the reddening-
dawn, not to the joys of Valhalla, but to the realm of
eternal ice.

"'For thee alone Sigrun,
Of the Saeva Mountain,
Must Helge swim
In the dew of sorrow.'

"Friday, October 12th. A regular storm has been
blowing from the E.S.E. since yesterday evening. Last
night the mill went to bits ; the teeth broke off one of
the toothed wheels, which has been considerably worn
by a year's use. The velocity of the wind was over 40
feet this morning, and it is long since I have heard it
blow as it is doing this evening. We must be making
good progress north just now. Perhaps October is not
to be such a bad month as I expected from our experi-
ences of last year. Was out snow-shoeing before din-
ner. The snow was whistling about my ears. I had
not much trouble in getting back ; the wind saw to that.
A tremendous snow squall is blowing just now. The
moon stands low in the southern sky, sending a dull
elow throuQ-h the drivinor masses. One has to hold on
to one's cap. This is a real dismal polar night, such as
one imagines it to one's self sitting at home far away in
the south. But it makes me cheerful to come on deck,
for I feel that we are moving onward.

" Saturday, October 1 3th. Same wind to - day ;

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 557

velocity up to 39 feet and higher, but Hansen has taken
an observation this evening in spite of it. He is, as al-
ways, a fine, indefatigable fellow. We are going north-
west (81° 32' 8'' north latitude, 118° 28' east longitude).

" Sunday, October 14th. Still the same storm going
on. I am reading of the continual sufferings which
the earlier Arctic explorers had to contend with for
every degree, even for every minute, of their northward
course. It gives me almost a feeling of contempt for
us, lying here on sofas, warm and comfortable, passing
the time reading and writing and smoking and dream-
ing, while the storm is tugging and tearing at the rigging
above us and the whole sea is one mass of driving
snow, through which we are carried degree by degree
northward to the goal our predecessors struggled tow-
ards, spending their strength in vain. And yet . . .

"'Now sinks the sun, now comes the night.'

" Monday, October 15th. Went snow -shoeing east-
ward this morning, still against the same wind and the
same snowfall. You have to pay careful attention to
your course these days, as the ship is not visible any
great distance, and if you did not find your way back,
well — But the tracks remain pretty distinct, as
the .s.iow - crust is blown bare in most places, and the
drifting snow does not fasten upon it. We are moving
northward, and meanwhile the Arctic night is making
its slow and majestic entrance. The sun was low to-day;

558 FARTHEST NORTH

I did not see it because of banks of cloud in the south ;
but it still sent its light up over the pale sky. There the
full moon is now reigning, bathing the great ice plain and
the drifting snow in its bright light. How a night such
as this raises one's thoughts ! It does not matter if one
has seen the like a thousand times before ; it makes the
same solemn impression when it comes again ; one can-
not free one's mind from its power. It is like entering a
still, holy temple, where the spirit of nature hovers through
the place on glittering silver beams, and the soul must
fall down and adore — adore the infinity of the universe.

"Wednesday, October 17th. We are employed in
taking deep-water temperatures. It is a doubtful
pleasure at this time of year. Sometimes the water-
lifter orets coated with ice, so that it will not close
down below in the water, and has, therefore, to hang for
ever so long each time ; and sometimes it freezes tight
during the observation after it is brought up, so that the
water will not run out of it into the sample bottles, not
to mention all the bother there is getting the apparatus
ready to lower. We are lucky if we do not require to
take the whole thing into the galley every time to thaw
it. It is slow work ; the temperatures have sometimes
to be read by lantern light. The water samples are not
so reliable, because they freeze in the lifter. But the
thing can be done, and we must just go on doing it.
The same easterly wind is blowing, and we are drifting
onward. Our latitude this evening is about 81" 47' N.

'•^ z:

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 5^1

" Thursday, October i8th. I continue taking the tem-
peratures of the water, rather a cool amusement with the
thermometer down to —29° C. (20.2° Fahr. below zero)
and a wind blowing. Your fingers are apt to get a little
stiff and numb when you have to manipulate the wet or
ice -covered metal screws with bare hands and have to
read off the thermometer with a magnifying - glass in
order to insure accuracy to the hundredth part of a de-
gree, and then to bottle the samples of water, which you
have to keep close against your breast, to prevent the
water from freezing. It is a nice business !

" There was a lovely aurora boreal is at 8 o'clock this
evening. It wound itself like a fiery serpent in a double
coil across the sky. The tail was about 10° above the
horizon in the north. Thence it turned off with many
windings in an easterly direction, then round again, and
westward in the form of an arch from 30° to 40° above
the horizon, sinking down again to the west and rolling
itself up into a ball, from which several branches spread
out over the sky. The arches were in active motion,
while pencils of streamers shot out swiftly from the west
towards the east, and the whole serpent kept incessantly
undulating into fresh curves. Gradually it mounted up
over the sky nearly to the zenith, while at the same time
the uppermost bend or arch separated into several fainter
undulations, the ball in the northeast glowed intensely,
and brilliant streamers shot upwards to the zenith from
several places in the arches, especially from the ball and

562 FARTHEST NORTH

from the bend farthest away in the northeast. The illu-
mination was now at its highest, the color being princi-
pally a strong yellow, though at some spots it verged tow-
ards a yellowish red, while at other places it was a greenish
white. When the upper wave reached the zenith the
phenomenon lost something of its brilliancy, dispersing
little by little, leaving merely a faint indication of an
aurora in the southern sky. On coming up again on
deck later in the evening, I found nearly the whole of
the aurora collected in the southern half of the sky. A
low arch, 5"" in height, could be seen far down in the
south over the dark segment of the horizon. Between
this and the zenith were four other vague, wavy arches,
the topmost of which passed right across it; here and
there vivid streamers shot flaming upward, especially
from the undermost arch in the south. No arch was to
be seen in the northern part of the sky, only streamers
every here and there. To-night, as usual, there are
traces of aurora to be seen over the whole sky ; light
mists or streamers are often plainly visible, and the sk}''
seems to be constantly covered with a luminous veil,* in
which every here and there are dark holes.

* This luminous veil, which was always spread over the sky, was less
distinct on the firmament immediately overhead, but became more and
more conspicuous near the horizon, though it never actually reached
down to it ; indeed, in the north and south it generally terminated in a
low, faintly outlined arch over a kind of dark segment. The luminosity
of this veil was so strong that through it I could never with any certainty
distinguish the Milky Way.

SECOXD AUTUMN IN THE ICE

563

ON THE AFTER-DECK OF THE " FRAM " (OCTOBER, 1 894)

{Fro7ii a Photograph)

" There is scarcely any night, or rather I may safely
say there is no night, on which no trace of aurora can be
discerned as soon as the sky becomes clear, or even when
there is simply a rift in the clouds large enough for it
to be seen ; and as a rule we have strong light phe-
nomena dancing in ceaseless unrest over the firmament.

564 FARTHEST NORTH

They mainly appear, however, in the southern part of
the sky.

" Friday, October 19th. A fresh breeze from E.S.E.
Drifting northward at a good pace. Soon we shall prob-
ably have passed the long-looked-for 82°, and that will not
be far from 82 27', when the Fram will be the vessel that
will have penetrated farthest to the north on this globe.
But the barometer is falling; the wind probably will not
remain in that quarter long, but will shift round to the
west. I only hope for this once the barometer may prove
a false prophet. I have become rather sanguine ; things
have been going pretty well for so long ; and October, a
month which last year's experience had made me dread,
has been a month of marked advance, if only it doesn't
end badly.

" The wind to-day, however, was to cost a life. The
mill, which had been repaired after the mishap to the
cog-wheel the other day, was set going again. In the
afternoon a couple of the puppies began fighting over a
bone, when one of them fell underneath one of the cog-
wheels on the axle of the mill, and was dragged in be-
tween it and the deck. Its poor little body nearly made
the whole thing come to a standstill ; and, unfortunately,
no one was on the spot to stop it in time. I heard the
noise, and rushed on deck; the puppy had just been
drav/n out nearly dead ; the whole of its stomach was
torn open. It gave a faint whine, and was at once put
out of its misery. Poor little frolicsome creature! Only a

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 565

little while ago you were gambolling around, enjoying an
innocent romp with your brothers and sisters; then came
tlie thigh-bone of a bear trundling along the deck from
the galley ; you and the others made a headlong rush for
it, and now there you lie, cruelly lacerated and dead as a
herrino[. Fate is inexorable !

"Sunday, October 31st. North latitude 82° 0.2'; east
longitude 114° 9'. It is late in the evening, and my
head is bewildered, as if I had been indulging in a reg-
ular debauch, but it was a debauch of a very innocent
nature.

" A grand banquet to-day to celebrate the eighty-
second degree of latitude. The observation gave 82°
0.2 ■ last night, and we have now certainly drifted a little
farther north. Honey-cakes (gingerbread) were baked
for the occasion first-class honey -cakes, too, you may
take my word for it ; and then, after a refreshing snow-
shoe run, came a festal banquet. Notices were stuck up
in the saloon requesting the guests to be punctual at
dinner-time, for the cook had exerted himself to the
utmost of his power. The following deeply felt lines by
an anonymous poet also appeared on a placard :

"'When dinner is punctually served at the time.
No fear that the milk soup will surely be prime ;
But the viands are spoiled if you come to it late,
The fish-pudding will lie on your chest a dead weight;
What's preserved in tin cases, there can be no doubt,
If you wait long enough will force its way out.
Even meat of the ox, of the sheep, or of swine,
Very different in this from the juice of the vine !

SECOXD AUTUMN IN THE ICE 567

such a pitch that Pettersen and I had to get up and
have a dance, a waltz and a polka or two ; and we really-
executed some very tasteful pas cie deux on the limited
floor of the saloon. Then Amundsen also was swept
into the mazes of the dance, while the others played
cards. Meanwhile refreshments were served in the form
of preserved peaches, dried bananas, figs, honey - cakes,
etc., etc. In short, we made a jovial evening of it, and
why should we not ? We are progressing merrily tow-
ards our goal, we are already half-way between the New
Siberian Islands and Franz Josef Land, and there is not
a soul on board who doubts that we shall accomplish
what we came out to do ; so long live merriment !

" But the endless stillness of the polar night holds its
sway aloft; the moon, half full, shines over the ice, and
the stars sparkle brilliantly overhead ; there are no rest-
less northern lights, and the south wind sighs mourn-
fully through the rigging. A deep, peaceful stillness pre-
vails everywhere. It is the infinite loveliness of death —
Nirvana.

"Monday, October 2 2d. It is beginning to be cold
now; the thermometer was —34.6° C. (30.2° Fahr. below
zero) last night, and this evening it is —36° C. (32.8 Fahr.
below zero).

"A lovely aurora this evening (11.30). A brilliant
corona encircled the zenith with a wreath of streamers
in several layers, one outside the other; then larger and
smaller sheaves of streamers spread over the sky,

568 FARTHEST NORTH

especially low down towards S.W. and E.S.E. All of
them, however, tended upward towards the corona,
which shone like a halo. I stood watching it a long
while. Every now and then I could discern a dark patch
in its middle, at the point where all the rays converged.
It lay a little south of the Pole-star, and approached
Cassiopeia in the position it then occupied. But the
halo kept smouldering and shifting just as if a gale in
the upper strata of the atmosphere were playing the
bellows to it. Presently fresh streamers shot out of the
darkness outside the inner halo, followed by other bright
shafts of light in a still wider circle, and meanwhile the
dark space in the middle was clearly visible ; at other
times it was entirely covered with masses of light. Then
it appeared as if the storm abated, and the whole turned
pale, and glowed wath a faint whitish hue for a little
while, only to shoot wildly up once more and to begin
the same dance over again. Then the entire mass of
light around the corona began to rock to and fro in large
waves over the zenith and the dark central point, where-
upon the gale seemed to increase and whirl the stream-
ers into an inextricable tangle, till they merged into a
luminous vapor, that enveloped the corona and drowned
it in a delus^e of lioht, so that neither it, nor the stream-
ers, nor the dark centre could be seen — nothing, in fact,
but a chaos of shining mist. Again it became paler,
and I went below. At midnight there was hardly any-
thing: of the aurora to be seen.

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 569

" Friday, October 26th. Yesterday evening we were
in 82° 3' north latitude. To-day the Fram is two years
old. The sky has been overcast during the last two
days, and it has been so dark at midday that I thought
we should soon have to stop our snow-shoe expeditions.
But this morning brought us clear still weather, and I
went out on a delightful trip to the westward, where
there had been a good deal of fresh packing, but noth-
ing of any importance. In honor of the occasion we had
a particularly good dinner, with fried halibut, turtle, pork
chops, with haricot beans and green pease, plum-pudding
(real burning plum-pudding for the first time) with cus-
tard sauce, and wound up with strawberries. As usual,
the beverages consisted of wine (that is to say, lime-juice,
with water and sugar) and Crown malt extract. I fear
there was a general overtaxing of the digestive appara-
tus. After dinner, coffee and honey-cakes, with which
Nordahl stood cigarettes. General holiday.

" This evening it has begun to blow from the north,
but probably this does not mean much ; I must hope so,
at all events, and trust that we shall soon get a south
wind again. But it is not the mild zephyr we yearn for,
not the breath of the blushing dawn. No, a cold, biting
south wind, roaring with all the force of the Polar Sea,
so that the Fj^ani, the two-year-old Fram, may be buried
in the snow-storm, and all around her be but a reeking
frost — it is this we are waiting for, this that will drift us
onward to our goal. To-day, then, Fram, thou art two

570 FARTHEST NORTH

years old. I said at the dinner-table that if a year ago
we were unanimous in believing that the Fram was a
good ship, we had much better grounds for that belief
to-day, for safely and surely she is carrying us onward,
even if the speed be not excessive, and so we drank the
Frmtts good health and good progress. I did not say too
much. Had I said all that was in my heart, my words
would not have been so measured ; for, to say the truth,
we all of us dearly love the ship, as much as it is possible
to love any impersonal thing. And why should we not
love her.f* No mother can give her young more warmth
and safety under her wings than she affords to us. She
is indeed like a home to us. We all rejoice to return to
her from out on the icy plains, and when I have been far
away and have seen her masts rising over the everlasting
mantle of snow, how often has my heart glowed with
warmth towards her! To the builder of this home
grateful thoughts often travel during the still nights.
He, I feel certain, sits yonder at home often thinking
of us ; but he knows not where his thought can seek
the Fram in the great white tract around the Pole.
But he knows his child ; and though all else lose faith
in her, he will believe that she will hold out. Yes, Colin
Archer, could you see us now, you would know that your
faith in her is not misplaced.

" I am sitting alone in my berth, and my thoughts
glide back over the two years that have passed. What
demon is it that weaves the threads of our lives, that

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 5;i

makes us deceive ourselves, and ever sends us. forth on
paths we have not ourselves laid out — paths on which we
have no desire to walk ? Was it a mere feeling of duty
that impelled me ? Oh no ! I was simply a child yearn-
ing for a great adventure out in the unknown, who had
dreamed of it so long that at last I believed it really
awaited me. And it has, indeed, fallen to my lot, the
great adventure of the ice, deep and pure as infinity ; the
silent, starlit polar night ; nature itself in its profundity ;
the mystery of life ; the ceaseless circling of the universe ;
the feast of death — without suffering, without regret —
eternal in itself. Here in the great night thou standest
in all thy naked pettiness, face to face with nature ; and
thou sittest devoutly at the feet of eternity, intently lis-
tening ; and thou knowest God the all-ruling, the centre
of the universe. All the riddles of life seem to orrow
clear to thee, and thou laughest at thyself that thou
couldst be consumed by brooding, it is all so little, so
unutterably little. ... ' Whoso sees Jehovah dies.'

" Sunday, November 4th. At noon I had gone out
on a snow-shoe expedition, and had taken some of the
dogs with me. Presently I noticed that those that had
been left behind at the ship began to bark. Those with
me pricked up their ears, and several of them started off
back, with ' Ulenka ' at their head. Most of them soon
stopped, listening and looking behind them to see if I
were following. I wondered for a little while whether
it could be a bear, and then continued on my way ; but

S7- FARTHEST NORTH

at length I could stand it no longer, and set off home-
ward, with the dogs dashing wildly on in front. On ap-
proaching the ship I saw some of the men setting off
with guns ; they were Sverdrup, Johansen, Mogstad, and
Henriksen. They had got a good start of me in the
direction in which the dogs were barking before I, too,
got hold of a gun and set off after them. All at once I
saw through the darkness the fiash of a volley from those
in front, followed by another shot ; then several more,
until at last it sounded like regular platoon firing. What
the deuce could it be ? They were standing on the
same spot, and kept firing incessantly. Why on earth
did they not advance nearer } I hurried on, thinking it
was high time I came up with my snow-shoes to follow
the game, which must evidently be in full flight. Mean-
while they advanced a little, and then there was another
flash to be seen through the darkness, and so they went
on two or three times. One of the number at last
dashed forward over the ice and fired straight down in
front of him, while another knelt down and fired towards
the east. Were they trying their guns.'' But surely it
was a strange time for doing so, and there were so many
shots. Meanwhile the dogs tore around over the ice,
and gathered in clumps, barking furiously. At length I
overtook them, and saw three bears scattered over the
ice, a she -bear and tw^o cubs, while the dogs lay over
them, worrying them like mad and tearing away at paws,
throat, and tail. ' Ulenka' especially was beside herself.

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 573

She had gripped one of the cubs b}- the throat, and wor-
ried it Hke a mad thing, so that it was difficult to get her
away. The bears had gone very leisurely away from the
dogs, which dared not come to sufficiently close quarters
to use their teeth till the old she-bear had been wounded
and had fallen down. The bears, indeed, had acted in a
very suspicious manner. It seemed just as if the she-
bear had some deep design, some evil intent, in her mind,
if she could only have lured the dogs near enough to
her. Suddenly she halted, let the cubs go on in front,
sniffed a little, and then came back to meet the dogs,
who at the same time, as if at a word of command, all
turned tail and set off towards the west. It was then
that the first shot was fired, and the old bear tottered and
fell headlong, when immediately some of the dogs set to
and tackled her. One of the cubs then got its quietus,
while the other one was fired at and made off over the
ice with three dogs after it. They soon overtook it and
pulled it down, so that when Mogstad came up he was
obliged first of all to get the dogs off before he could
venture to shoot. It was a glorious slaughter, and by no
means unwelcome, for we had that very day eaten the
last remains of our last bear in the shape of meat-
cakes for dinner. The two cubs made lovely Christ-
mas pork.

" In all probability these were the same bears whose
tracks we had seen before. Sverdrup and I had followed
on the tracks of three such animals on the last dav of

574 FARTHEST NORTH

October, and had lost them to N.N.W, of the ship. Ap-
parently they had come from, that quarter now.

" When they wanted to shoot, Peter s gun, as usual,
would not go off; it had again been drenched with vas-
eline, and he kept calling out: 'Shoot! shoot! Mine
won't go off.' Afterwards, on examining the gun 1 had
taken with me to the fray, I found there were no car-
tridges in it. A nice account I should have given of my-
self had I come on the bears alone with that weapon !

" Monday, November 5th. As I was sitting at work
last night I heard a dog on the deck howling fearfully. I
sprang up, and found it was one of the puppies that had
touched an iron bolt with its tongue and was frozen fast
to it. There the poor beast was, straining to get free,
with its tongue stretched out so far that it looked like a
thin rope proceeding out of its throat; and it was howl-
ing piteously. Bentzen, whose watch it was, had come
up, but scarcely knew what to do. He took hold of
it. however, by the neck, and held it close to the bolt,
so that its tongue was less extended. After having
warmed the bolt somewhat with his hand, he managed
to get the tongue free. The poor little puppy seemed
overjoyed at its release, and, to show its gratitude, licked
Benzen's hand with its bloody tongue, and seemed as if
it could not be Qrrateful enousfh to its deliverer. It is to
be hoped that it will be some time before this puppy, at
any rate, gets fast again in this way ; but such things
happen every now and then.

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 575

"Sunday, November nth. I am pursuing my studies
as usual day after day ; and they lure me, too, deeper and
deeper into the insoluble mystery that lies behind all
these inquiries. Nay ! why keep revolving in this fruit-
less circuit of thought ? Better go out into the winter
night. The moon is up, great and yellow and placid ;
the stars are twinkling overhead through the drifting
snow-dust. . . . Why not rock yourself into a winter
night's dream filled with memories of summer .f*

" Ugh, no ! The wind is howling too shrilly over the
barren ice-plains; there are ^iZ degrees of cold, and
summer, with its flowers, is far, far away. I would give a
year of my life to hold them in my embrace ; they loom
so far off in the distance, as if I should never come back
to them.

" But the northern lights, with their eternally shifting
loveliness, flame over the heavens each day and each
night. Look at them ; drink oblivion and drink hope
from them : they are even as the aspiring soul of man.
Restless as it, they will wreathe the whole vault of
heaven with their glittering, fleeting light, surpassing
all else in their wild loveliness, fairer than even the
blush of dawn ; but, whirling idly through empty space,
they bear no message of a coming day. The sailor
steers his course by a star. Could you but concentrate
yourselves, you too, O northern lights, might lend your
aid to guide the wildered wanderer ! But dance on, and
let me enjoy you; stretch a bridge across the gulf

5/6 FARTHEST NORTH

between the present and the time to come, and let me
dream far, far ahead into the future.

" O thou mysterious radiance ! what art thou, and
whence comest thou? Yet why ask? Is it not enough
to admire thy beauty and pause there? Can we at best
get beyond the outward show of things ? What would
it profit even if we could say that it is an electric dis-
charge or currents of electricity through the upper re-
gions of the air, and were able to describe in minutest
detail how it all came to be? It would be mere words.
We know no more what an electric current really is than
what the aurora borealis is. Happy is the child. . . .
We, with all our views and theories, are not in the last
analysis a hair's-breadth nearer the truth than it.

"Tuesday, November 13th. Thermometer — 38° C.
( — 36.4^' Fahr.). The ice is packing in several quarters
during the day, and the roar is pretty loud, now that the
ice has become colder. It can be heard from afar — a
strange roar, which would sound uncanny to any one
who did not know what it was.

" A delightful snow-shoe run in the light of the full
moon. Is life a vale of tears ? Is it such a deplorable
fate to dash off like the wind, with all the dogs skipping
around one, over the boundless expanse of ice, through a
night like this, in the fresh, crackling frost, while the
snow-shoes glide over the smooth surface, so that you
scarcely know you are touching the earth, and the stars
hang high in the blue vault above ? This is more.

3 -i

ft ■' ^

8s "^ "

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 577

indeed, than one has any right to expect of Hfe ; it is a
fairy tale from another world, from a life to come.

" And then to return home to one's cozy study-cabin,
kindle the stove, light the lamp, fill a pipe, stretch one's
self on the sofa, and send dreams out into the world with
the curling clouds of smoke — is that a dire infliction ?
Thus I catch myself sitting staring at the fire for hours
together, dreaming myself away — a useful way of em-
ploying the time. But at least it makes it slip unnoticed
by, until the dreams are swept away in an ice -blast of
reality, and I sit here in the midst of desolation, and
nervously set to work again.

" Wednesday, November 14th. How marvellous are
these snow-shoe runs through this silent nature ! The
ice-fields stretch all around, bathed in the silver moon-
light ; here and there dark cold shadows project from the
hummocks, whose sides faintly reflect the twilight. Far,
far out a dark line marks the horizon, formed by the
packed-up ice, over it a shimmer of silvery vapor, and
above all the boundless deep-blue, starry sky, where the
full moon sails through the ether. But in the south is
a faint glimmer of day low down of a dark, glowing red
hue, and higher up a clear yellow and pale-green arch,
that loses itself in the blue above. The whole melts into
a pure harmony, one and indescribable. At times one
longs to be able to translate such scenes into music.
What mighty chords one would require to interpret
them !

578 FARTHEST NORTH

" Silent, oh, so silent ! You can hear the vibrations of
your own nerves. I seem as if I were gliding over and
over these plains into infinite space. Is this not an im-
age of what is to come? Eternity and peace are here.
Nirvana must be cold and bright as such an eternal star-
nisfht. What are all our research and understanding in
the midst of this infinity ?

" Friday, November i6th. In the forenoon I went
out with Sverdrup on snow-shoes in the moonlight, and
we talked seriously of the prospects of our drift and of
the proposed expedition northward over the ice in the
spring. In the evening we went into the matter
more thoroughly in his cabin. I stated my views, in
which he entirely coincided. I have of late been
meditating a great deal on what is the proper course
to pursue, supposing the drift does not take us so far
north by the month of March as I had anticipated. But
the more I think of it, the more firmly am I persuaded
that it is the thing to do. For if it be right to set out
at 85°, it must be no less right to set out at 82° or 83°.
In either case we should penetrate into m^ore northerly
regions than we should otherwise reach, and this be-
comes all the more desirable if the Fram herself does not
get so far north as we had hoped. If we cannot actually
reach the Pole, why, we must turn back before reaching
it. The main consideration, as I must constantly repeat,
is not to reach that exact mathematical point, but to ex-
plore the unknown parts of the Polar Sea, whether these

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 579

be near to or more remote from the Pole. I said this be-
fore setting out, and I must keep it continually in mind.
Certainly there are many important observations to be
made on board during the further drift of the ship, many
which I would dearly like to carry on myself ; but all the
more important of these will be made equally well here,
even though two of our number leave the ship ; and there
can scarcely be any doubt that the observations we shall
make farther north will not many times outweigh in value
those I could have made during the remainder of the
time on board. So far, then, it is absolutely desirable that
we set out.

" Then comes the question : What is the best time to
start } That the spring — March, at the latest — is the only
season for such a venture there can be no doubt at all.
But shall it be next spring? Suppose, at the worst, we
have not advanced farther than to 83° north latitude and
110° east longitude; then something might be said for
waiting till the spring of 1896; but I cannot but think
that we should thus in all probability let slip the pro-
pitious moment. The drifting could not be so wear-
ingly slow but that after another year had elapsed we
should be far beyond the point from which the sledge
expedition ought to set out. If I measure the distance
we have drifted from November of last year with the
compasses, and mark off the same distance ahead, by
next November we should be north of Franz Josef Land,
and a little beyond it. It is conceivable, of course, that

58o FARTHEST NORTH

we were no farther advanced in February, 1896, either;
but it is more likely, from all I can make out, that the
drift will increase rather than diminish as we work west-
ward, and, consequently, in February, 1896, we should
have got too far; while, even if one could imagine a
better starting-point than that which the Fram will pos-
sibly offer us by March i, 1895, ^^ will, at all events, be
a possible one. It must, consequently, be the safest plan
7iot to wait for another spring.

" Such, then, are the prospects before us of pushing
through. The distance from this proposed starting-point
to Cape Fligely, which is the nearest known land, I set
down at about 370 miles,* consequently not much more
than the distance we covered in Greenland ; and that
would be easy work enough over this ice, even if it did
become somewhat bad towards land. If once a coast is
reached, any reasonable being can surely manage to sub-
sist by hunting, whether large or small game, whether
bears or sandhoppers. Thus we can always make for
Cape Fligely or Petermann's Land, which lies north of it,
if our situation becomes untenable. The distance will,
of course, be increased the farther we advance north-
ward, but at no point whatever between here and the
Pole is it greater than we can and will manage, with
the help of our dogs. 'A line of retreat' is therefore

* There must be an error here, as the distance to Cape Fligely from
the point proposed, 83"" north latitude and 110° east longitude, is quite 460
miles. I had probably taken the longitude as 100' instead of no".

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE ■ 581

secured, though there are those doubtless who hold that
a barren coast, where you must first scrape your food
together before you can eat it, is a poor retreat for hun-
gry men ; but that is really an advantage, for such a
retreat would not be too alluring. A wretched inven-
tion, forsooth, for people who wish to push on is a
'line of retreat ' — an everlasting inducement to look be-
hind, when they should have enough to do in looking
ahead.

" But now for the expedition itself. It will consist of 28
dogs, two men, and 2100 pounds of provisions and equip-
ments. The distance to the Pole from "^-^ is 483 miles.
Is it too much to calculate that we may be able to accom-
plish that distance in 50 days ? I do not of course know
what the staying powers of the dogs may be ; but that,
with two men to help, they should be able to do 9 A miles
a day with 75 pounds each for the first few days, sounds
sufficiently reasonable, even if they are not very good
ones. This, then, can scarcely be called a wild calcula-
tion, always, of course, supposing the ice to be as it
is here, and there is no reason why it should not be.
Indeed, it steadily improves the farther north we get;
and it also improves with the approach of spring.
In 50 days, then, we should reach the Pole (in 65 days
we went 345 miles over the inland ice of Greenland at an
elevation of more than 8000 feet, without dogs and with
defective provisions, and could certainly have gone con-
siderably farther). In 50 days we shall have consumed a

582 FARTHEST NORTH

pound of pemmican a day for each dog* — that is, 1400
pounds altogether; and 2 pounds of provisions for each
man daily is 200 pounds. As some fuel also will have
been consumed during this time, the freight on the
sledges will have diminished to less than 500 pounds;
but a burden like this is nothing for 28 dogs to draw, so
that they ought to go ahead like a gale of wind during the
latter part of the time, and thus do it in less than the 50
days. However, let us suppose that it takes this time. If
all has gone well, we shall now direct our course for the
Seven Islands, north of Spitzbergen. That is 9°, or 620
miles. But if we are not in first-rate condition it will be
safer to make for Cape Fligely or the land to the north
of it. Let us suppose we decide on this route. We set
out from the Fram on March ist (if circumstances are
favorable, we should start sooner), and therefore arrive
at the Pole April 30th. We shall have 500 pounds of
our provisions left, enough for another 50 days ; but we
can spare none for the dogs. We must, therefore, begin
killing some of them, either for food for the others or for
ourselves, giving our provisions to them. Even if m}'-
figures are somewhat too low, I may assume that by the
time twenty-three dogs have been killed we shall have
travelled 41 days, and still have five dogs left. How far
south shall we have advanced in this time '^. The weight
of baggage was, to begin with, less than 500 pounds —

* During the actual expedition the dogs had to be content with a much
smaller daily ration, on an average scarcely more than 9 or 10 ounces.

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 583

that is to say, less than 18 pounds for each dog to draw.
After 41 days this will at least have been reduced to 280
pounds (by the consumption of provisions and fuel and by
dispensing with sundry articles of our equipment, such
as sleeping-bags, tent, etc., etc., which will have become
superfluous). There remain, then, 56 pounds for each of
the five dogs, if we draw nothing ourselves ; and should it
be desirable, our equipment might be still further dimin-
ished. With a burden of from 18 to 56 pounds apiece (the
latter would only be towards the end), the dogs would on
an average be able to do 13^ miles a day, even if the snow-
surface should become somewhat more difficult. That
is to say, we shall have gone 565 miles to the south, or
we shall be 18^ miles past Cape Fligely, on June ist, with
five dogs and nine days' provisions left. But it is prob-
able, in the first place, that we shall long before this have
reached land ; and, secondly, so early as the first half of
April the Austrians found open water by Cape Fligely
and abundance of birds. Consequently, in May and June
we should have no difficulty as regards food, not to men-
tion that it would be strange indeed if we had not before
that time met with a bear or a seal or some stray birds.
" That we should now be pretty safe I consider as
certain, and we can choose whichever route we please :
cither along the northwest coast of Franz Josef Land,
by Gillis Land towards Northeast Island and Spitz-
bergen (and, should circumstances prove favorable, this
would decidedly be my choice), or we can go south

584 FARTHEST NORTH

through Austria Sound towards the south coast of Franz
Josef Land, and thence to Novaya Zemlya or Spitzbergen,
the latter by preference. We may, of course, find Enghsh-
men on Franz Josef Land, but that we must not reckon on.

" Such, then, is my calculation. Have I made it
recklessly ? No, I think not. The only thing would
be if during the latter part of the journey, in May, we
should find the surface like what we had here last spring,
at the end of May, and should be considerably delayed
by it. But this would only be towards the very end of
our time, and at worst it could not be entirely impassable.
Besides, it would be strange if we could not manage to
average 1 1^ miles a day during the whole of the journey,
with an average load for each dog of from 30 to 40
pounds — it would not be more. However, if our cal-
culations should prove faulty, we can always, as afore-
said, turn back at any moment.

" What tinforeseen obstacles may confront us ?

" I. The ice may be more impracticable than was

supposed.
" 2. We may meet with land.
" 3. The dogs may fail us, may sicken, or freeze to

death.
" 4. We ourselves may suffer from scurvy.

" I and 2. That the ice may be more impracticable
farther north is certainly possible, but hardly probable.
I can see no reason why it should be, unless we have

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 5^5

unknown lands to the north. But should this be so —
very well, we must take what chance we find. The ice
can scarcely be altogether impassable. Even Markham
was able to advance with his scurvy-smitten people. And
the coasts of this land may possibly be advantageous for
an advance ; it simply depends on their direction and
extent. It is difficult to say anything beforehand, except
that I think the depth of water we have here and the
drift of the ice render it improbable that we can have
land of any extent at all close at hand. In any case,
there must, somewhere or other, be a passage for the ice,
and at the worst we can follow that passage.

" 3. There is always a possibility that the dogs may
fail us, but, as may be seen, I have not laid out any scheme
of excessive work for them. And even if one or two of
them should prove failures, that could not be the case
with all. With the food they have hitherto had they
have got through the winter and the cold without mis-
hap, and the food they will get on the journey will be
better. In my calculations, moreover, I have taken no
account of what we shall draw ourselves. And, even
supposing all the dogs to fail us, we could manage to
get along by ourselves pretty well.

" 4. The worst event would undeniably be that we
ourselves should be attacked by scurvy ; and, notwith-
standing our excellent health, such a contingency is quite
conceivable when it is borne in mind how in the English
North Pole Expedition all the men, with the exception

586 FARTHEST NORTH

of the officers, suffered from scurvy when the spring
and the sledge journeys began, although as long as they
were on board ship they had not the remotest suspicion
that anything of the kind was lying in wait for them.
As far, however, as we are concerned, I consider this
contingency very remote. In the first place, the Eng-
lish expedition was remarkably unfortunate, and hardly
any others can show a similar experience, although
they may have undertaken sledge journeys of equal
lengths — for example, M'Clintock's. During the retreat
of the Jeannette party, so far as is known, no one was
attacked with scurvy; Peary and Astrup did not suffer
from scurvy either. Moreover, our supply of provisions
has been more carefully selected, and offers greater
variety than has been the case in former expeditions, not
one of which has enjoyed such perfect health as ours.
I scarcely think, therefore, that we should take with us
from the Fram any germs of scurvy; and as regards
the provisions for the sledge journey itself, I have taken
care that they shall consist of good all-round, nutritious
articles of food, so that I can scarcely believe that they
would be the means of developing an attack of this dis-
ease. Of course, one must run some risk ; but in my
opinion all possible precautions have been taken, and,
when that is done, it is one's duty to go ahead.

" There is yet another question that must be taken
into consideration. Have I the right to deprive the
ship and those who remain behind of the resources such

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE 58/

an expedition entails ? The fact that there will be two
men less is of little importance, for the Fram can be
handled quite as well with eleven men. A more im-
portant point is that we shall have to take wath us all
the dogs except the seven puppies ; but they are amply
supplied with sledge provisions and first-class sledge
equipments on board, and it is inconceivable that in
case anything happened to the Fram they should be
unable to reach Franz Josef Land or Spitzbergen. It
is scarcely likely that in case they had to abandon her
it would be farther north than 85°; probably not even
so far north. But suppose they were obliged to aban-
don her at 85°, it would probably be about north of
Franz Josef Land, when they would be 207 miles
from Cape Fligely ; or if farther to the east it would be
some 276 miles from the Seven Islands, and it is hard
to believe that they could not manage a distance like
that with our equipments. Now, as before, I am of
opinion that the Fram will in all probability drift right
across the polar basin and out on the other side with-
out being stopped, and without being destroyed ; but
even if any accident should occur, I do not see why the
crew should not be able to make their way home in safety,
provided due measures of precaution are observed. Con-
sequently, I think there is no reason why a sledge expedi-
tion should not leave the Fram, and I feel that as it prom-
ises such good results it ought certainly to be attempted.'*

END OF VOL. I

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES

COLLEGE LIBRARY

This book is due on the last date stamped below.

Mar256 3

.^^'^

c^v

\y^

y^>^

S^^

^p1'

•H'28'67,

^ ^ ^ COL IB-

'^K'D coc. m.
Ml 3 1967

REC'D COL LtB-

Book BUp-25m-9,'60CB2«36s4)4280

College
Library

G
700

1393

N15iE

v.l

University of California

SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388

Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed.

UCLA-College Library

15iEv.1

} 476 5

JC SOUTHERN REG10N(5L LIBRARY FACILIT

A 001 313 090 1

PEELIHINABY SKETCH MAP

FEMZ jmwF Mm

Compiled at Cape Flora, July 1806, and based upor
Payer's, Leigh Smith's, and Jackton'i Maps, together
with my own obsenrations.-fffrffj'o/ f/ansvi>

The Placea ivi
Indicated in the Darktr Brown colour. Thit
aouth part of Austria Sountt, exfilortd bg Paye'
motion was not supplka.

Nanaen'e " Farthest Nortb." Harper & Brotlicrs, New York

UCLA-College Library

'^ '"" 'm N15iE V.1

^33 476 5

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACIL

A 001 313 090

UCLA-College Library

G 700 1893 N15iE v.1

IlllllllllJllllllllllllil JlilllllllllllMlll!
L 005 733 476 5

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

A 001 313 090 1

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Farthest north; being a record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Fram" 1893-96, and of a fifteen month's sleigh journey by Dr. Nansen and Lieut. Johannsen"

See other formats