CHAPTER: 1 
The Work in the Observatory. 
The Observatory. Experience gained as regards more accurate 
astronomical observations in high arctic regions. 
The Observatory was made of wood, the single parts being put 
together before we left home. The flooring was 2.7 m square. The 
walls the height of which was 1.5 m were double, having besides 
the outer covering only a thin inner one of planed and tongued 
planks. In the southern wall there was a door. 
The roof formed a truncated four-sided pyramid. It consisted of 
nine single parts all covered with tarred felt, viz. four corner pieces, 
five trapdoors (facing north, south, east and west respectively and one 
in- the roof). The trapdoor in the roof, 0.7 by 0,7 m, was fastened 
with a couple of long iron hooks, by means of which it could be 
lifted and re-fastened from the inside. The four trapdoors facing north, 
south, east and west were 0.7 m in breath; they could be taken off and 
fastened separately, as soon as the trapdoor in the roof was removed: 
or only slightly lifted. Each of them was fastened to the upper edge 
of the wall by means of a small iron hook. The corner pieces were 
fixed by their own weight, without hooks. The whole roof could be 
removed and put up again by two men in the course of five minutes 
without using a pair of steps. 
The walls were painted white on the outside, while the roof in 
consequence of its being covered with tarred felt was black. The 
object of this was partly that the Observatory itself might be used 
as a “cairn” during the triangulation, partly to insure that the dif- 
ference of temperature inside and outside the Observatory should be 
as small as possible, when the roof was removed. 
The inner fittings consisted — apart from the granite pillar with 
instrument — of one fixed table, one wooden box, which served as 
a chair, the electrical installation, one celestial map (on the wall) 
and two pairs of rush shoes. 
The Observatory was a good one and the dimensions suitable. 
The fact that floor, walls etc. were put together at home made the 
