CHAPTER VIII 



A DAY AT FRAMHEIM 



IN order to understand our daily life better, we will 

 now make a tour of Framheim. It is June 23, early in 

 the morning. Perfect stillness lies over the Barrier- 

 such stillness as no one who has not been in these 

 regions has any idea of. We come up the old sledge 

 road from the place where the Fram used to lie. You 

 will stop several times on the way and ask whether this 

 can be real; anything so inconceivably beautiful has 

 never yet been seen. There lies the northern edge of 

 the Fram Barrier, with Mounts Nelson and Ronniken 

 nearest; behind them, ridge after ridge, peak after 

 peak, the venerable pressure masses rise, one higher 

 than another. The light is so wonderful; what causes 

 this strange glow? It is clear as daylight, and yet the 

 shortest day of the year is at hand. There are no 

 shadows, so it cannot be the moon. No; it is one 

 of the few really intense appearances of the aurora 

 australis that receives us now. It looks as though 

 Nature wished to honour our guests, and to show 

 herself in her best attire. And it is a gorgeous dress 



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