CHAPTER III

On the Way to the South

The month of May, 1910, ran its course, beautiful as only a spring month in Norway can be —­ a lovely dream of verdure and flowers.  But unfortunately we had little time to admire all the splendour that surrounded us; our watchword was “Away” —­ away from beautiful sights, as quickly as possible.

From the beginning of the month the Fram lay moored to her buoy outside the old walls of Akershus.  Fresh and trim she came from the yard at Horten; you could see the shine on her new paint a long way off.  Involuntarily one thought of holidays and yachting tours at the sight of her; but the thought was soon banished.  The first day after her arrival, the vessel’s deck assumed the most everyday appearance that could be desired:  the loading had begun.

A long procession of cases of provisions made its way unceasingly from the basement of the Historical Museum down into the roomy hold of the Fram, where Lieutenant Nilsen and the three Nordlanders were ready to receive them.  This process was not an altogether simple one; on the contrary, it was a very serious affair.  It was not enough to know that all the cases were duly on board; the problem was to know exactly where each particular case was placed, and, at the same time, to stow them all in such a way that they could easily be got at in future.  This was a difficult piece of work, and it was not rendered any more easy by the attention that had to be paid to the numerous hatches leading down into the lower hold, where the big petroleum tanks stood.  All these hatches had to be left accessible, otherwise we should have been cut off from pumping the oil into the engine-room.

However, Nilsen and his assistants accomplished their task with brilliant success.  Among the hundreds of cases there was not one that was misplaced; not one that was stowed so that it could not instantly be brought into the light of day.

While the provisioning was going on, the rest of the equipment was also being taken on board.  Each member of the expedition was busily engaged in looking after the needs of his own department in the best way possible.  Nor was this a question of trifles:  one may cudgel one’s brains endlessly in advance, but some new requirement will constantly be cropping up —­ until one puts a full stop to it by casting off and sailing.  This event was becoming imminent with the arrival of June.

The day before leaving Christiania we had the honour and pleasure of receiving a visit from the King and Queen of Norway on board the Fram.  Having been informed beforehand of their Majesties’ coming, we endeavoured as far as possible to bring some order into the chaos that reigned on board.  I do not know that we were particularly successful, but I am sure that every one of the Fram’s crew will always remember with respectful gratitude King Haakon’s cordial words of farewell.