"When the ship's path is stopped by fathom-thick ice, And winter's white covering is spread, When we're quite given up to the power of the stream, Oh! 'tis then that so often of home we must dream. "We wish them all joy at this sweet Christmas-tide, Health and happiness for the next year, Ourselves patience to wait; 'twill bring us to the Pole, And home the next spring, never fear!" There were many more poems, among others one giving some account of the principal events of the last weeks, in this style: "Bears are seen, and dogs are born, Cakes are baked, both small and large; Henriksen, he does not fall, Spite of bear's most violent charge; Mogstad with his rifle clicks, Jacobsen with long lance sticks," and so on. There was a long ditty on the subject of the "Dog Rape on board the Fram:" "Up and down on a night so cold, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, Walk harpooner and kennelman bold, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom; Our kennelman swings, I need hardly tell, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, The long, long lash you know so well, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom; Our harpooner, he is a man of light, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, A burning lantern he grasps tight, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, They as they walk the time beguile, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, With tales of bears and all their wile, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom. "Now suddenly a bear they see, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, Before whom all the dogs do flee, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom; Kennelman, like a deer, runs fast, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom, Harpooner slow comes in the last, Kvirre virre vip, bom, bom," and so on. Among the announcements are-- "Instruction in Fencing. "In consequence of the indefinite postponement of our departure, a limited number of pupils can be received for instruction in both fencing and boxing. "Majakoft, "Teacher of Boxing, "Next door to the Doctor's." Again-- "On account of want of storage room, a quantity of old clothes are at present for sale, by private arrangement, at No. 2 Pump Lane. [44] Repeated requests to remove them having been of no effect, I am obliged to dispose of them in this way. The clothes are quite fresh, having been in salt for a long time." After the reading of the newspaper came instrumental music and singing, and it was far on in the night before we sought our berths.