To the right and to the left of the entrance the crews of the _Virgo_ and the _Erline Jarl_ are formed up in line; at the back the passengers are grouped round the explorers. Several speeches are made by the captain of the _Erline Jarl_ and some of the tourists; thereupon a young lady, who is travelling with her _fiancé_ and a relative, attaches to Andrée’s arm a blue ribbon, and then hands him for the journey a bottle of the best wine, a cake, and a rose-tree with four roses, one for each explorer. Captain Bade, of the _Erline Jarl_, then addressed Andrée as follows:— “If you reach the mysterious point for which you are bound, deposit there the fourth of the roses, as a token of peace with the old world.” “My dear friend,” Andrée replied, in accents full of emotion, “you who have come so far to see me set out for the conquest of the unknown, my dear friends, I thank you! [Illustration: THE _VIRGO_ DECKED FOR THE 14TH OF JULY FÊTE.] “Mademoiselle, you have adorned me with a ribbon on the eve of my departure; this ribbon shall be my talisman. I have been called a great man, but it will be difficult for me to earn this title if the north winds still continue to blow for some weeks as they do now. Our greatness will fly with them—far, far away! What can we do to remedy this? If we cannot make a start, we shall, at least, be able to say that we have done all that is humanly possible, and you will be able to bear witness thereto. “You are about to return to the south, and if you meet the winds we are so urgently in need of, send them on to us here, and we shall welcome them as messengers from our good friends on board the _Erline Jarl_. “My friends of the _Virgo_, a fourfold cheer for our friends who will send us a South Wind!” During this touching speech the _Erline Jarl_ fires off a salvo of twenty-one guns in honour of the Andrée Expedition, the report of which shook the valleys to the echo. Thereupon, the speeches being over, we leave the isle in order to spend the rest of the night on board the _Erline Jarl_, which is dressed, as is also the _Virgo_, with a multitude of flags, as on great gala days, and I never feel weary of contemplating the noble colours of the French flag proudly floating at the head of the splendid vessel,—a delicate compliment to me on the part of the captain, which moves me more than I can tell.