434 NEW LAND. 



and drift increased, rather than the reverse, I went indoors, cooked 

 some food, ate it, and then read. 



' The following days passed very monotonously, though quickly. 

 I tried to spend my time as much as possible out of doors, 

 shovelled up loose snow round the wall, put the depot in order, 

 and did various things of the kind. On March 15, 16, and 17 

 there was a gale, and I kept inside the tent more than on calmer 

 days ; not because the weather could by any means be called bad, 

 but because it was pleasanter to lie in the bag and read. When I 

 did this I was obliged to use the stove, which made the hut look 

 very bright, while at the same time it was so warm that I only used 

 about a pint of petroleum in the day, although I did not at all 

 economize it. I often lay for several hours at a time, holding 

 my book with bare fingers without their feeling cold. On the 

 whole, however, it was extremely mild at this time, the temperature 

 on the first day only being as low as 20 Fahr. ( 29 Cent.) ; 

 the rest of the time it varied from -9 to +9 Fahr. (-23 to 

 12'7 Cent.). Of the sun I saw little, partly on account of the 

 constant drift, and partly because the weather was cloudy. The 

 landmarks in my life, needless to say, were my meals, of which 

 I partook of two during the day; occasionally I had a sort of 

 surreptitious lunch, but I always had a bad conscience after it. 

 My culinary accomplishments as yet were only in their infancy, 

 so that I did not make so much out of the food at my disposal 

 as I was afterwards able to do. I particularly well remember that 

 once, being the birthday of one of my companions on the " Fram," 

 and I knew they were feasting on board, I thought I too ought to 

 enjoy myself, and cooked a festal dinner, consisting of fried 

 bear's heart, and chocolate. In an incredibly short space of time 

 the first course filled the house with smoke, which was almost 

 intolerable, and when I began to eat it, proved to consist outwardly 

 of cinders and inwardly of a raw sanguinary mass, which was 

 attractive neither to behold nor to eat. The chocolate was so 

 weak that only an unusually lively imagination could discover 

 that it tasted of anything but a pot pourri of the various things 

 which had been cooked in the pot since our departure from the 

 ' Fram." Despite all, however, I think I should have considered 



