202 ON THE BARRIER 



last of the dogs about twenty puppies. There was 

 rejoicing on board when the last of them left the deck, 

 and, indeed, one could not be surprised. With the 

 thermometer about - 5 F., as it had been lately, it was 

 impossible to keep the deck clean, as everything froze at 

 once. After they had all been brought on to the ice, 

 the crew went to work with salt and water, and in 

 a short time we recognized the Fram again. The 

 puppies were put into boxes and driven up. We had 

 put up a sixteen-man tent to receive them. From the 

 very first moment they declined to stay in it, and there 

 was nothing to be done but to let them out. All these 

 puppies passed a great part of the winter in the open air. 

 So long as the seals' carcasses were lying on the slope, 

 they stayed there; afterwards they found another place. 

 But the tent, despised by the youngsters, came in useful 

 after all. Any bitch that was going to have a litter was 

 put in there, and the tent went by the name of ' the 

 maternity hospital." Then one tent after another was 

 put up, and Framheim looked quite an important place. 

 Eight of the sixteen-man tents were set up for our eight 

 teams, two for dried fish, one for fresh meat, one for 

 cases of provisions, and one for coal and wood fourteen 

 altogether. They were arranged according to a plan 

 drawn up beforehand, and when they were all up they 

 had quite the appearance of a camp. 



At this time our dog-harness underwent important 

 alterations, as one of the members of the expedition had 



