The Seventeenth of May brought the finest weather that could be imagined. A clear, bright sky, dazzling sunshine, 10° to 12° of cold, and an almost perfect calm. The sun, which at this time of the year never sets throughout the twenty-four hours, was already high in the heavens, when at 8 A.M. we were awakened by the firing of a gun, and by joyous strains of the organ. We jumped into our clothes more speedily than usual, swallowed our breakfast, and with the liveliest expectation prepared for what was in store; for the "Festival Committee" had been very busy the previous day. Punctually at 11 o'clock the various corporations assembled under their flags and insignia, and were assigned their position in the grand procession. I marched at the head with the Norwegian flag. Next came Scott-Hansen with the Fram's pennant, and then followed Mogstad with the banner of the Meteorological Department, richly bedecked with "cyclonic centres" and "prospects of fair weather." He was seated on a box covered with bearskin placed on a sledge drawn by seven dogs, the banner waving behind him on a pole rigged as a mast. Amundsen was No. 4, bearing a demonstration banner in favor of "the Pure Flag," and he was followed by his esquire, Nordahl, on snow-shoes with a spear in his hand and a rifle slung on his back. The flag showed on the red ground a picture of an old Norwegian warrior breaking his spear over his knee, with the inscription "Onward! Onward! [Fram! Fram!], ye Norseman! Your own flag in your own land. What we do we do for Norway." Fifth in the procession came the mate, with the Norwegian arms on a red background, and sixth was Pettersen with the flag of the Mechanical Department. Last came the "Band," represented by Bentzen with an accordion. The procession was followed by the public dressed in their best--viz., the doctor, Juell, and Henriksen in picturesque confusion. To the waving of banners and strains of music the procession wended its way past the corner of the University (viz., the Fram), down "Karl Johan's Street" and "Church Street" (a road laid out by Scott-Hansen for the occasion across the rift in front and the pressure-ridge), past Engebret's (the depot on the ice), and then wheeled round to the "Fortification Parade" [88] (viz., the top of the great hummock), where it stopped and faced round with flags erect. There I called for cheers in honor of the festive occasion, in response to which there rose a ninefold hurrah from the densely packed multitude. At exactly 12 o'clock the official salute of the Seventeenth May was fired from our big bow guns. Then came a splendid banquet; the doctor had contributed a bottle of aqua vitæ, and every man had a bottle of genuine Crown Malt Extract, from the "Royal Brewery" in Copenhagen.