THE JAPANESE VISITORS 185 



its contents, which, however, only consisted of a sleeping- 

 bag and a Primus. The Japanese had opened the 

 conversation with enthusiastic phrases about " nice day " 

 and " plenty ice " ; when our man had expressed his 

 absolute agreement on these indisputable facts, he tried 

 to get information on matters of more special interest. 

 The two strangers told him that for the moment they 

 were the only inhabitants of the tent out on the edge of 

 the Barrier. Two of their companions had gone on 

 a tour into the Barrier to make meteorological observa- 

 tions, and were to be away about a week. The Kainan 

 Maru had gone on another cruise in the direction 

 of King Edward Land. As far as they knew, it 

 was intended that the ship should be back before 

 February 10, and that all the members of the expedition 

 should then go on board and sail to the north. Prestrud 

 had invited his two new acquaintances to visit us at 

 Framheim, the sooner the better; they delayed their 

 coming too long, however, for us to be able to wait for 

 them. If they have since been at Framheim, they will 

 at any rate be able to bear witness that we did our best 

 to make things comfortable for any successors. 



When the fog lifted, we found ourselves surrounded 

 by open sea, practically free from ice, on all sides. A 

 blue-black sea, with a heavy, dark sky above it, is not 

 usually reckoned among the sights that delight the eye. 

 To our organs of vision it was a real relief to come into 

 surroundings where dark colours predominated. For 



VOL. II. 38 



