FAREWELL TO FRAMHEIM 177 



the powers of goodness to preserve them from such 

 surroundings, does not counteract the full validity of 

 this rule. To an overwhelming majority of our fellow- 

 men Framheim will certainly appear as one of those 

 spots on our planet where they would least of all wish 

 to find themselves — a God-forsaken, out-of-the-way 

 hole that could offer nothing but the very climax of 

 desolation, discomfort, and boredom. To us nine, 

 who stood on the gangway ready to leave this place, 

 things appeared somewhat differently. That strong 

 little house, that now lay entirely hidden beneath 

 the snow behind Mount Nelson, had for a whole year 

 been our home, and a thoroughly good and comfortable 

 home it was, where after so many a hard day's work 

 we had found all the rest and quiet we wanted. Through 

 the whole Antarctic winter — and it is a winter — those 

 four walls had protected us so well that many a poor 

 wretch in milder latitudes would have envied us with 

 all his heart, if he could have seen us. In conditions 

 so hard that every form of life flies headlong from 

 them, we had lived on at Framheim undisturbed and 

 untroubled, and lived, be it said, not as animals, but 

 as civilized human beings, who had always within their 

 reach most of the good things that are found in a well- 

 ordered home. Darkness and cold reigned outside, 

 and the blizzards no doubt did their best to blot out 

 most traces of our activity, but these enemies never 

 came within the door of our excellent dwelling; there 



