her so as to
appear like one originally continuous mass of ice. Thus the Fram had
got a good bed under her.

Juell and Peter had often disputed together during the winter as to the
thickness of ice the Fram had under her. Peter, who had seen a good
deal of the ice before, maintained that it must at least be 20 feet
thick, while Juell would not believe it, and betted 20 kroner that it
was not as thick as that. On April 19th this dispute again broke out,
and I say of it in my diary: "Juell has undertaken to make a bore, but
unfortunately our borer reaches no farther than 16 feet down. Peter,
however, has undertaken to cut away the 4 feet that are lacking. There
has been a lot of talk about this wager during the whole winter,
but they could never agree about it. Peter says that Juell should
begin to bore, while Juell maintains that Peter ought to cut the
4 feet first. This evening it ended in Juell incautiously offering
10 kroner to any one who would bore. Bentzen took him at his word,
and immediately set to work at it with Amundsen; he thought one did
not always have the chance of earning 10 kroner so easily. Amundsen
offered him a kroner an hour, or else payment per foot; and time
payment was finally agreed to. They worked till late on into the night,
and when they had got down 12 feet the borer slipped a little way, and
water rose in the hole, but this did not come to much, and presently
the borer struck on ice again. They went on for some time, but now
the borer would reach no farther, and Peter had to be called up to
cut his four feet. He and Amundsen worked away at cutting till they
were dripping with perspiration. Amundsen, as usual, was very eager,
and vowed he would not give in till he had got through it, even if it
were 30 feet thick. Meanwhile Bentzen had turned in, but a message was
sent to him to say that the hole was cut, and that boring could now
begin again. When it was only an inch or an inch and a half short of
20 feet the borer slipped through, and the water spurted up and filled
the hole. They now sank a lead-line down it, and at 30 feet it again
brought up against ice. Now they were obliged to give it up. A fine
lump of ice we are lying on! Not taking into account a large, loose
ice-floe that is lying packed up on the ice, it is 16 inches above
the water; and adding to this the 2 feet which the Fram is raised up
above the ice, there is no small distance between her and the water."

The temperature on