A TEMPORARY IMPROVEMENT 335 



sorry to reproduce. Woe to him who then came and 

 said it was fine weather. 



It was lucky for us that the Fram sails so much more 

 easily now than in 1910, otherwise we should have taken 

 six months to reach the Barrier. When we had wind, 

 we used it to the utmost; but we did not do this with- 

 out the loss of one or two things; the new jib-sheet 

 broke a couple of times, and one night we carried away 

 the outer bobstay of the jib-boom. The foresail and 

 topsail were neither made fast nor reefed during the 

 whole trip. 



The last time the jib-sheet broke there was a strong 

 breeze from the south-west with a heavy sea; all sail 

 was set with the exception of the spanker, as the ship 

 would not steer with that. There was an extra pre- 

 venter on the double jib-sheet, but in spite of that the 

 sheets broke and the jib was split with a fearful crack. 

 Within a minute the mainsail and gaff -topsail were 

 hauled down, so that the ship might fall off, and the 

 jib hauled down. This was instantly unbent and a ncAv 

 one bent. The man at the helm, of course, got the 

 blame for this, and the first thing he said to me was: 

 " I couldn't help it, she was twisting on the top of 

 a wave." We were then making ten knots, and more 

 than that we shall not do. 



The Fram rolled well that day. A little earlier in the 

 afternoon, at two o'clock, when the watch had gone 

 below to dinner and were just eating the sweet, which 



