566 FARTHEST NORTH 



Ratnornie, and Armour, and Thorne, and Herr Thiis, 

 Good meats have preserved, and they taste not amiss 

 So I'll just add a word, friends, of warning to you : 

 If you want a good dinner, come at one, not at two.' 



The lyric melancholy which here finds utterance must 

 have been the outcome of many bitter disappoint- 

 ments, and furnishes a valuable internal evidence as 

 to the anonymous author's profession. Meanwhile the 

 guests assembled with tolerable punctuality, the only 

 exception being your humble servant, who was obliged 

 to take some photographs in the rapidly waning day- 

 light. The menu was splendid: i. Ox -tail soup. 2. 

 Fish-pudding, with melted butter and potatoes. 3. Turtle, 

 with marrowfat pease, etc., etc. 4. Rice, with multer 

 (cloudberries) and cream ; Crown malt extract. After 

 dinner, coffee and honey -cakes. After supper, which 

 also was excellent, there was a call for music, which 

 was liberally supplied throughout the whole evening by 

 various accomplished performers on the organ, among 

 whom Bentzen specially distinguished himself, his late 

 experiences on the ice with the crank - handle * having 

 put him in first-rate training. Every now and then the 

 music dragged a bit, as though it were being hauled 

 up from an abyss some 1000 or 1500 fathoms deep; 

 then it would quicken and get more lively, as it came 

 nearer to the surface. At last the excitement rose to 



* Used in hoisting up the lead-line. 



