304 THE VOYAGE OF THE " FRAM 



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As soon as we were out of Ross Sea and had entered 

 the South Pacific Ocean, the old circus started again — 

 in other words, the Fram began her everlasting rolling 

 from one side to the other. When this was at its worst, 

 and cups and plates were dancing the fandango in the 

 galley, its occupant's only wish was, " Oh, to be in 

 Buenos Aires !" For that matter, it is not a very easy 

 job to be cook in such circumstances, but ours was 

 always in a good humour, singing and whistling all day 

 long. How well the Fram understands the art of 

 rolling is shown by the following little episode. 



One afternoon a couple of us were sitting drinking 

 coffee on a tool-box that stood outside the galley. As 

 ill-luck would have it, during one of the lurches the 

 lashing came loose, and the box shot along the deck. 

 Suddenly it was checked by an obstacle, and one of 

 those who were sitting on it flew into the air, through 

 the galley door, and dashed past the cook with a 

 splendid tiger's leap, until he landed face downwards at 

 the other end of the galley, still clinging like grim death 

 to his cup, as though he wanted something to hold on 

 to. The face he presented after this successful feat of 

 aviation was extremely comical, and those who saw it 

 had a hearty fit of laughter. 



As has already been said, we went very well for a 

 time after reaching the Pacific, a fair wind for fourteen 

 days together, and I began to hope that we were once 

 more in what are called the " westerlies." However, 



