THE TRAM'S' SEAWORTHINESS 139 



the blacksmith; and, indeed, there was opportunity 

 enough for his use of the hammer and anvil. If Ronne 

 had plenty of sewing, Nodtvedt had no less forging- 

 sledge-fittings, knives, pickaxes, bars and bolts, patent 

 hooks by the hundred for dogs, chains, and so on to 

 infinity. The clang and sparks of the anvil were going 

 all day long till we were well into the Indian Ocean. 

 And in the westerly belt the blacksmith's lot was not 

 an enviable one; it is not always easy to hit the nail 

 on the head when one's feet rest on so unstable a 

 foundation as the Fram's deck, nor is it altogether 

 pleasant when the forge is filled with water several 

 times a day. 



While we were fitting out for the voyage, the cry 

 was constantly raised in certain quarters at home that 

 the old Frains hull was in a shocking state. It was 

 said to be in bad repair, to leak like a sieve in fact, to 

 be altogether rotten. It throws a curious light on 

 these reports when we look at the voyages that the 

 Fram has accomplished in the last two years. For 

 twenty months out of twenty-four she has kept going 

 in open sea, and that, too, in waters which make very 

 serious demands on a vessel's strength. She is just as 

 good as when she sailed, and could easily do it all over 

 again without any repairs. We who were on board all 

 knew perfectly well before we sailed how groundless 

 and foolish these cries about her ' rottenness " were ; 

 we knew, too, that there is scarcely a wooden ship afloat 



