292 THE VOYAGE OF THE " FRAJM " 



or we might even lose them. At night no one was 

 ever allowed to stay on the ice. 



Before we reached the ice, we had counted on having 

 50 per cent, of idle days — that is, from previous descrip- 

 tions we had reckoned on having such bad weather half 

 the time that the Fram would be obliged to leave her 

 moorings. In this respect we were far luckier than we 

 expected, and only had to put out twice. The first 

 time was on the night of January 25, when we had 

 a stiff breeze from the north with some sea, so that 

 the vessel was bumping rather hard against the ice. 

 Drifting floes came down upon us, and so as not to be 

 caught by any iceberg that might suddenly come sailing 

 in from the point of the Barrier we called IMan's Head, 

 we took our moorings on board and went. When the 

 shore party next morning came down as usual at a 

 swinging pace, they saw to their astonishment that the 

 Fram was gone. In the course of the day the weather 

 became fine, and we tried to go back about noon; but 

 the bay was so full of drift-ice that we could not come 

 in to the fast ice-foot. About nine in the evening we 

 saw from the crow's nest that the ice was loosening; 

 we made the attempt, and by midnight we were again 

 moored. 



But the day was not wasted by the shore party, for on 

 the day before Kristensen, L, Hansen and I had been 

 out on ski and had shot forty seals, which were taken up 

 to the station while we were away. 



