FAREWELL TO XORWAY 141 



drinking of brandy, for which the Samoyede has an 

 insatiable craving. When the trader has succeeded in 

 making a poor wretch quite tipsy, he fleeces him, and 

 buys all he wants at some ridiculous price — the result of 

 the transaction generally being that the Samoyede is in 

 debt to his ' benefactor/ All the traders that come to 

 the colony bring brandy, and one great drinking-bout 

 goes on all the summer. You can tell where much busi- 

 ness is done by the number of brandy casks in the trad- 

 er's booth. There is no police inspection, and it would 

 be difficult to organize anything of the kind. As soon 

 as there is snow enough for the sledges, the merchants' 

 reindeer caravans start from the colony on their home- 

 ward journey, loaded with empty brandy casks and with 

 the proceeds of this one-sided bartering. 



" On July 30th [this ought to be 29th] Trontheim saw 

 from the shore, first, smoke, and soon after a steamer. 

 There could be no doubt of its being the Frani. He 

 went out in a little Samoyede boat to meet her, and 

 called out in Russian that he wanted to be taken on 

 board. From the steamer they called back, asking who 

 he was, and when they heard his name he was hauled 

 up. On deck he met Nansen himself, in a greasy work- 

 ing-jacket. He is still quite a young man, of middle 

 height. ..." Here follows a flattering description of the 

 leader of the expedition, and the state of matters on 

 board. '' It is evident," he then goes on, " that we have 

 here one family, united and inspired by one idea, for the 



