294 FARTHEST NORTH 



ening-up at the dinner-table to-day ; the light acted on 

 our spirits like a draught of good wine. And how fes- 

 tive the saloon looks ! We felt it quite a great occasion 

 — drank Oscar Dickson's health, and voted him the best 

 of o-Qod fellows. 



"Wonderful moonshine this evening, light as day; 

 and along with it aurora borealis, yellow and strange in 

 the white moonlioht ; a lar^e rinfj round the moon — all 

 this over the great stretch of white, shining ice, here and 

 there in our neighborhood piled up high by the pressure. 

 And in the midst of this silent silvery ice - world the 

 windmill sweeps round its dark wings against the deep- 

 blue sky and the aurora. A strange contrast : civiliza- 

 tion making a sudden incursion into this frozen ghostly 

 world. 



"To-morrow is the Frauis birthday. How many 

 memories it recalls of the launch-day a year ago! 



"Thursday, October 26th. 54 fathoms (90 m. ) of 

 water when the soundings were taken this morninsf. 

 We are moving quickly north — due north — says Peter. 

 It does look as if things were going better. Great cel- 

 ebration of the day, beginning with target -shooting. 

 Then we had a splendid dinner of four courses, which 

 put our digestive apparatus to a severe test. The 

 Frauis health was drunk amidst great and stormy ap- 

 plause. The proposer's words were echoed by all hearts 

 when he said that she was such an excellent ship for 

 our purpose that we could not imagine a better (great 



