THE "FRAM" 363 



were carried out in part, but the alterations were postponed pend- 

 ing a decision as to the future employment of the vessel. 



The Fram then lay idle in the naval harbour until 1905, when 

 she was used by the marine artillery as a floating magazine. In 

 the same year a good deal of the vessel's outfit (amongst other 

 things all her sails and most of her rigging) was lost in a fire in 

 one of the naval storehouses, where these things were stored. 



In 1903 the ship's keel and stem (which are of elm and oak) 

 were sheathed with zinc, while the outer sheathing (ice-skin), 

 which is of greenheart, was kept coated with coal-tar and copper 

 composition. In 1907 the whole outer sheathing below the water- 

 line was covered with zinc; this was removed in 1910 when the 

 ship was prepared for her third commission under Roald Amundsen. 



In 1907 a thorough examination of the vessel was made, as 

 it was suspected that the timber inside the thick cork insulation 

 that surrounded the cabins had begun to decay. 



On previous expeditions the cabins, provision hold aft, and 

 workrooms forward of the fore-cabin, had been insulated with 

 several thicknesses of wooden panelling. The interstices were 

 filled with finely-divided cork, alternately with remdeer hair and 

 thick felt and linoleum. In the course of years damp had pene- 

 trated into the non-conducting material, with the result that 

 fungus and decay had spread in the surrounding woodwork. Thus 

 it was seen during the examination in 1907 that the panelling and 

 ceiling of the cabins in question were to a great extent rotten 

 or attacked by fungus. In the same way the under side of the 

 upper deck over these cabins was partly attacked by fungus, as 

 were its beams, knees, and carlings. The lower deck, on the other 

 hand, was better preserved. The filling-in timbers of spruce or fir 

 between the frame-timbers in the cabins were damaged by fungus, 

 while the frame-timbers themselves, which were of oak, were good. 

 The outer lining outside the insulated parts was also somewhat 

 damaged by fungus. 



In the coal-bunkers over the main-deck the spruce knees were 



