MARCH ij TO JUNE 22, iSgj 623 



and if he lost he often knew how to shroud both his forecast 

 and the result in oracular mystery and darkness so that both 

 parties appeared to be right. At times, as already hinted, he 

 was unluck}-, and then he was mercilessly chaffed ; but at other 

 times he would have a run of astounding luck, and then his 

 courage would rise to such an extent that he was ready to 

 prophesy and bet about anything. 



Among his great misfortunes was a bet made with the mate 

 on May 4th that we should have land in sight by the end of 

 October. And on May 24th he made a bet with Nordahl that 

 by Monday night (the 27th) we should be at 80° east longitude. 

 Needless to say we all wished that his incredible predictions 

 might come true; but alas! the miracle did not happen, for it 

 was not until June 27th that the Fraiii passed the 80th degree 

 of longitude. 



During the latter part of May the sun and the spring weather 

 commenced to disperse the layer of snow around the vessel to 

 such an extent as to make quite a little pond of snow-Avater on 

 the ice forward. As at that part especially, but also all along 

 the side of the vessel, the snow was full of soot, refuse, and the 

 clearings from the kennels, it was greatly to be feared that an 

 injurious, or, at any rate, obnoxious smell might arise, and if, 

 besides this, as was the case last year, a pond should form round 

 the vessel, the water in it would be too impure to be used in 

 flushing the deck. I therefore set all hands to work to cart 

 awa}' the snow from the starboard side — a job which took about 

 two days. 



The setting in of spring now kept us busy with various things 

 for some time, both on board and on the ice. One of the first 

 things to be done was to bring our depot safely on board, as 

 lanes and rifts were now forming more frequently in the ice, 

 and some of the goods in the depot would not bear exposure to 

 damp. 



The action of the sun's rays on the awning or tent soon be- 

 came so strong that the snow underneath the boats and on the 

 davits began to melt. All snow and ice had therefore to be re- 

 moved or scraped away not only under the awning but also under 



