624 APPENDIX 



the boats, on the deck-house, in the passage on the starboard 

 side, in the holds, and wherever else it was necessary. In the 

 after-hold there was much more ice now than last winter, proba- 

 bly owing to the fact that we had kept the saloon much warmer 

 this winter than before. 



In the saloon, the library, and the cabins we had a thorough 

 " spring cleaning." This was very badly needed, as the ceilings, 

 walls, and all the furniture and fittings, in the course of the longr 

 polar night, had got covered with a thick, grimy-looking coating 

 composed of soot, grease, smoke, dust, and other ingredients, 



I myself took in hand the painting of the saloon and of my 

 own cabin, which little by little had assumed the same dusky 

 ground-tint as their surroundings, and on the whole looked rather 

 enigmatic. By dint of much labor, and the application of a liberal 

 supply of soap and water, I succeeded in restoring them to some- 

 thing like their pristine beauty. 



We finished our general clean-up on Whitsun-eve, June ist, 

 and thus spent a really comfortable Whitsuntide, with butter- 

 porridge for supper and a few extra delicacies afterwards. 



After Whitsuntide we again took in hand various things re- 

 quired in view of the season, and of the possibility that the Fram 

 might get afloat in the course of the summer. On the great 

 hummock were many things I thought might be left there for 

 the present — for instance, the greater part of our dogs' food. 

 The cases containing this were piled up to four different heights 

 so as to form a sloping roof off which the water could easily run, 

 and I had the whole covered over with tarpaulin. The long- 

 boat on the port side, which I proposed to leave on the ice till 

 the winter, was deposited in a safe place about 50 yards from 

 the ship, and provided with sails, rigging, oars, and a full equip- 

 ment, ready for any emergency. 



The scraping away of the ice in the holds and on the half-deck 

 was finished on June I2th. We tried to cut the steam-pipe aft 

 (the pipe for rinse-water) out of the ice, but had to abandon the 

 attempt. One end of this pipe had been resting ever since last 

 year on the ice, and it was now so deeply frozen in that we 

 could not release it. We cut a hole all round it 4 feet deep, 



