GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



with dried turnips and spinach, tea with the food, and coffee 

 after ; finally, real American cut-plug tobacco. 



The whole thing was like an hallucination, one of those 

 which used to mock us during our periods of starvation. But 

 as reality gradually was brought home to us through the strong 

 odours which entered our nostrils, we felt in the presence of an 

 Eastern revelation from the tale of Aladdin ! We struggled 

 for breath in face of this abundance ; here was food for an appe- 

 tite sharpened by half a year of strict economy, and by the 

 strenuous final spurt of the last thirty-four hours ! Our only 

 difficulty was to decide from which end of the table it would 

 be best to start. 



But it was clear to me that in the beginning we had to be 

 very careful about the food, as our stomachs through a long 

 period were accustomed to very sparse and quite unvaried food. 



In spite of all protestations from our hosts and hostesses, 

 in spite of a wolfish hunger which was aggravated by the lovely 

 odour of the many delicacies which for so long we had missed, 

 I tried to restrain myself and made honest attempts at eating 

 as little as possible. For how annoying if the joy of our 

 arrival were to be interrupted by a wretched and prosaic colic ! 



It was a feast according to the best of European standards. 

 Even orchestral music was not lacking ; a recently arrived, 

 brand-new gramophone was placed in the midst of the lavish 

 abundance and entertained us with a large and varied reper- 

 toire, from Wagner to the latest imported tangoes from Argen- 

 tine and Paris ! 



It was obvious that the gates of life had again been opened 

 widely, and even if we were merely by the outmost Northern 

 posts of humanity we had found an echo from the great world 

 of good and evil in which we ourselves were at home ! Involun- 

 tarily I had to close my eyes and collect myself somewhat ; I 

 felt my temples hammering and my heart throbbing, and, as the 

 orchestra after a pause commenced beautifully and softly the 

 minuet of " Don Juan," Etah disappeared from my con- 

 sciousness. . . . 

 254 



