312 THE VOYAGE OF THE " FRAM " 



water-line, it is perfectly comfortable. The cook, who 

 resides below, therefore reckons ' ugly weather ' accord- 

 ing to the motion of the vessel, and not according to 

 storms, fog, or rain. On deck we do not mind much 

 how it blows, so long as it is only clear, and the \^ind is 

 not against us. How little one hears below deck may 

 be understood from the fact that yesterday morning, 

 while it was blowing a hurricane, the cook went about 

 as usual, whistling his two verses of ' The Whistling 

 Bowery Boy.' While he was in the middle of the first, 

 I came by and told him that it was blowing a hurricane 

 if he cared to see what it looked like. ' Oh, yes,' he 

 said, ' I could guess it was blowing, for the galley fire 

 has never drawn so well; the bits of coal are flying up 

 the chimney ' ; and then he whistled through the second 

 verse. All the same, he could not resist going up to 

 see. It was not long before he came down again, with 

 a ' ]My word, it is blowing, and waves up to the sky !' 

 No; it was warmer and more cosy below among his 

 pots and pans. 



" For dinner, which was eaten as usual amid cheerful 

 conversation, we had green-pea soup, roast sirloin, with 

 a glass of aquavit, and caramel pudding; so it may be 

 seen that the cook was not behindhand in oj^ening tins, 

 even in a hurricane. After dinner we enjoyed our usual 

 Sunday cigar, while tlie canary, which has become Kris- 

 tensen's pet, and hangs in his cabin, sang at the top of 

 its voice." 



