THE COMMANDANT'S HERMIT LIFE. i55 



' During the following period the weather entirely changed its 

 character, and whereas before there had been a great deal of wind, 

 there were now heavy falls of snow. From May 14 to May 22 

 it snowed hard and uninterruptedly ; and this was very much worse 

 than wind, for the weather being so mild (as a rule, 14 to 23 

 Fahr., or - 5 to - 10 Cent.) the snow on the roof melted during 

 the daytime, and several times began to come through on to me. 

 By the help of some poles, I managed to raise the roof from 

 the inside sufficiently to prevent it dripping, at any rate, on to 

 my sleeping-bag. 



' The Seventeenth of May came during this period, and I had 

 long wondered how to keep it, for although I am not a Norwegian, 

 I quite thought that something extra ought to be done. I had 

 only one flag, however, Captain Baumann at different times having 

 borrowed the other two ; but in the afternoon I took it down (it 

 had, of course, been flying since the morning), and walked in 

 solemn procession up to the outlook. " Basilisken " also took part 

 in the procession, but was manifestly oppressed by the situation. 

 The train stopped at the top of the hill, whence the commandant 

 of Bjorneborg addressed the crowd.* I regret to say that when 

 the procession returned to the castle, some of the dregs of the 

 populace (" Basilisken ") took this opportunity of attacking the 

 depot of the expedition. The police were obliged to step in, and 

 the excitement was not quieted until after assiduous and energetic 

 use of the constables' clubs, and an arrest, had been made. This 

 occurrence made no difference in the good feeling during the 

 festal dinner which ensued, and at which certain enlivening 

 beverages were not wanting. 



'Another disagreeable consequence of this mild weather was 

 that the bear-meat began to grow rather high, so that I had to 

 begin on the provisions which had been set apart for my personal 

 use. Of game I got nothing whatever, not even a hare or a 

 ptarmigan ; nor did I see a single gull or other sea-bird, and not 

 so much as a seal on the ice. 



' On May 29 I saw from the end of " Langelinie," as I was 



* During this ' Basilisken ' fell asleep, and was whipped for his unseemly 

 behaviour. 



