144 FARTHEST NORTH 



taken over and brought on board,* Trontheim applied 

 to Nansen for a certificate of the exact and scrupulous 

 way in which he had fulfilled his contract. Nansen's 

 answer was : ' No ; a certificate is not enough. Your 

 duty has been done with absolute conscientiousness, 

 and you have thereby rendered a great service to the 

 expedition. I am commissioned to j^resent you with a 

 CTold medal from our kino- in recoQ-nition of the ^reat 



o o o o 



help you have given us.' With these words Nansen 

 handed to Trontheim a very large gold medal with a 

 crown on it. On the obverse is the following inscrip- 

 tion : 'Oscar II., King of Norway and Sweden. For 

 the Welfare of the Brother-Nations.' And on the re- 

 verse : ' Reward for valuable service, A. I. Trontheim.' 

 Along with this Nansen also Q-ave Trontheim a written 

 testimonial as to the admirable manner in which he had 

 carried out his commission, mentioning that for this he 

 had been rewarded with a medal. 



" Nansen determined to weigh anchor during the 

 night of this same day,t and set sail on his long voyage 

 without waiting for the coal sloop Uj^ania, which he 

 thought must have been delayed by the ice. In the 

 evening Trontheim took leave of the whole party, with 

 hearty wishes for the success of the expedition. Along 

 with him Herr Ole Christofersen, correspondent of one 



* It will be observed that there is some slip of memory here — it was 

 the evening before. 



t It was, in fact, the day after. 



