82 NEW LAND. 



At twelve, noon, we had a simple breakfast of ' molje,' * with a 

 dram each, and at five o'clock the repast of the day was served, 

 after which came coffee and liqueur, with our national cakes, 

 ' terter ' and ' fattigmandsbakkelse.' Later in the evening we had 

 champagne or hot grog, according to taste. 



When the Christmas-tree was brought in, everybody was quite 

 silent for a moment and then the merriment broke loose in 

 earnest. As it stood there, with its glittering gold and silver 

 tinsel, and its red and white candles, in the midst of our darkness 

 here, it seemed to be a greeting from home and from above. It 

 seemed as if we were being told that there was still life, and that 

 the light was not really gone. We thought that we were sitting 

 amid our dear ones, could take them by the hand, could feel that 

 they really lived ; it was as if happy thoughts had been sent to 

 us and then we had to shout for joy and make a horrible noise, 

 much worse than our four-footed friends outside in the snow. 

 And what was a sob within us found expression in a terrible 

 hub-bub, especially when all the Christmas presents were undone. 

 They were chiefly children's toys for men who felt like children ! 

 Drums, trumpets, fireworks, dolls, Noah's arks, sneezing-powder, 

 scratching-powder, marzipan pigs, and things of the kind. There 

 was merriment beyond compare, and practical jokes without end. 



Then came the mental part of the festivity. Assisted by the 

 wittiest of the expedition as contributors, the doctor had started 

 a paper, the Friendly One, named after the leader in Baumann's 

 team, of which the first number was read aloud that evening. 

 Some portions of it are reproduced on the following pages, though 

 much of it must necessarily be unintelligible to the great majority 

 of my readers. The wit and sarcasm of the Friendly One resulted 

 in the publication of a rival paper, the Arctic Fox, which appeared 

 on New Year's Day, but was withdrawn the same evening for 

 want of subscribers ; and therewith ended our journalistic efforts 

 on board the ' Fram ' for that winter. 



When our Christmas gaiety had reached its height, we con- 

 cluded the festivity with a dance, which was quite the proper 



* A dish composed of broken fladbrSd (to which the Scotch bannock most 

 nearly assimilates), over which hot soup fat is poured. 



