410 NEW LAND. 



again on the 29th, as they had ascertained that there was no 

 sound through the land from any of the bays to the immediate 

 north. 



Our ' Seventeenth of May ' programme had long occupied us in 

 the evenings inside the tent, for, notwithstanding that we were on 

 a sledge-journey, we meant to celebrate it as well as our circum- 

 stances would allow. I confess that our discussions were chiefly 

 on the subject of food, and at times we racked our brains over it 

 till our heads quite ached ; but all our efforts led to no satisfactory 

 conclusion. We had brought with us many delicacies, and had 

 purposely saved the best of them, especially the butter, so as to be 

 able to be really extravagant on May 17. What harassed us so 

 much, therefore, was not want of delicacies, but the way to cook 

 them in the most appetizing manner. It was not till late in the 

 evening of the 16th that we were able to come to any decided 

 conclusion. Our programme also comprised the decking of our 

 sledges with flags ; as well as our next camp, wind and weather 

 permitting. 



But unfortunately the weather made no difference between 

 May 17 and any other day. Wind and drift had Independence 

 Days all the year round, it seemed; but in our patriotic zeal we 

 braved the elements to the best of our ability, and kept our flags 

 to decorate the tent with in the evening. It was there that the 

 festal meal was to take place, although our breakfast at Cape 

 Levvel was by no means to be despised. It consisted of biscuit 

 fried in butter and fat, to which we added ' buttered eggs.' 



The festal dinner, on the other hand, consisted of a kind of 

 ' dsenge,' specially composed in honour of the day, and which, in 

 addition to the invariable percentage of water, contained the 

 following delicacies : pounded buns with sultanas, figs, nectarines, 

 chocolate, egg-powder, and butter. The compound tasted almost 

 divine, and no housewife will regret including it as a sweet in the 

 most recherche menu. 



When we had eaten ' dsenge ' till we could eat no more, we had 

 coffee and the last remains of our brandy. Fosheim contributed 

 two cigars as a "surprise, having brought them with him for this 

 express purpose ; finally came the great commemorative event of 



