286 THE VOYAGE OF THE " FRAM 



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weighed nearly half a ton. A few penguins were also 

 shot, mostly Adelie penguins; these are extraordinarily 

 amusing, and as inquisitive as an animal can be. When 

 any of them saw us, they at once came nearer to get 

 a better view of the unbidden guests. If they became 

 too impertinent, we did not hesitate to take them, for 

 their flesh, especially the liver, was excellent. The 

 albatrosses, which had followed us through the whole 

 of the west wind belt, had now departed, and in their 

 place came the beautiful snowy petrels and Antarctic 

 petrels. 



We had more or less fog all through the pack-ice. 

 Only on the night of the 5th did we have sun and fine 

 weather, when we saw the midnight sun for the first 

 time. A more beautiful morning it would be difficult 

 to imagine: radiantly clear, with thick ice everywhere, 

 as far as the eye could see; the lanes of water between 

 the floes gleamed in the sun, and the ice-crystals glit- 

 tered like thousands of diamonds. It was a pure de- 

 light to go on deck and drink in the fresh air; one felt 

 altogether a new man. I believe everyone on board 

 found this passage through the pack the most interesting 

 part of the whole voyage, and, of course, it all had the 

 charm of novelty. Those who had not been in the ice 

 before, myself among them, and who were hunting for 

 the first time, ran about after seals and penguins, and 

 amused themselves like children. 



At 10 p.m. on the 6th we were already out of the 



