68 PLAN AND PREPARATIONS 



honour to the firm which sent it; every time I have 

 sent a letter or written in my diary, I have had a grate- 

 ful thought for the givers. 



From one of the largest houses in Christiania we had 

 a complete set of kitchen utensils and breakfast and 

 dinner services, all of the best kind. The cups, plates, 

 knives, forks, spoons, jugs, glasses, etc., were all marked 

 with the ship's name. 



We carried an extraordinarily copious library; presents 

 of books were showered upon us in great quantities. I 

 suppose the Fram's library at the present moment 

 contains at least 3,000 volumes. 



For our entertainment we also had a good many 

 different games. One of these became our favourite 

 pastime in leisure evenings down in the South. Packs 

 of cards we had by the dozen, and many of them have 

 already been well used. A gramophone with a large 

 supply of records was, I think, our best friend. Of 

 musical instruments we had a piano, a violin, a flute, 

 mandolins, not forgetting a mouth - organ and an 

 accordion. All the publishers had been kind enough to 

 send us music, so that we could cultivate this art as 

 much as we wished. 



Christmas presents streamed in from all sides; I 

 suppose we had about five hundred on board. Christmas- 

 trees and decorations for them, with many other things 

 to amuse us at Christmas, were sent with us by friends 

 and acquaintances. People have indeed been kind to 



