68 Chapter II. 



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-power 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 

 exoedition as this. 



A 



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 Frani 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 

 used to sail with square-rigged ships, and Math 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 

 unquestionably 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 



