578 FARTHEST NORTH 



with the engine ; but the ship was in good hands. 

 From his long experience as a whaler, Captain Brown 

 knew well how to contend with greater odds than the 

 thin ice we met with here — the only ice that is found in 

 this sea. From morning till night he sat up in the crow's- 

 nest as lonor as there was a bit of ice in the water. He 

 gave himself little time for sleep; the point was, as he 

 often said to me, to bring us home before the Fram 

 arrived, for he understood well what a blow it would Qrive 

 to those near and dear to us if she got home before us. 

 Thanks to liim, we had as short and pleasant a home- 

 ward voyage as few, if any, can have had from these in- 

 hospitable regions, where we had spent three years. From 

 the moment we set foot on deck, he did everything to 

 make us comfortable and at home on board, and we spent 

 many a pleasant hour together, which will never be for- 

 gotten by either of us. But it was not only the captain 

 who treated us in this way. Every man of the excellent 

 crew showed us kindness and goodwill in every way. . I 

 cannot think of them — of the little steward, for instance, 

 when he popped his head into the cabin to ask what 

 he could get for us, or wakened me in the morning 

 with his cheery voice, or sang his songs for us — without 

 a feeling of unspeakable well-being and happiness. 

 Then, too, we were continually drawing nearer home; 

 we could count the days and hours that must pass before 

 we could reach a Norwegian port and be once more in 

 communication with the world. 



