A Norwegian Holiday (Part 7)
The Fram Museum and the Polar Ship, the ‘Fram’
After waiting for a while in the queue, we entered the Fram museum. The sight which greeted us as we walked inside was the bow of the legendary ship looming over us.
The polar ship, Fram, stood majestically in the centre of a huge atrium in the museum, its tall masts soaring right up to the tapered ceiling of the triangular, pyramid-shaped building. All around this huge central atrium, where the Fram stood, were three levels of galleries housing various exhibits, including pictures, original videos, artefacts and memorabilia and interactive audiovisual material dealing with the legendary Norwegian polar explorers, Nansen, Amundsen, Sverdrup et al. and their polar adventures. The museum also had a section dealing with the famous British polar explorer, Captain Robert Scott, and his ill-fated South Pole expedition that ended in tragedy.
I was transported to another realm as I immersed myself in reading about Nansen, Amundsen and other famous polar explorers and the fascinating stories about their incredible, perilous expeditions to the untamed, unexplored and unforgiving world in the distant, icy frontiers of our planet, the Arctic and the Antarctic. On display were so many fascinating pieces of memorabilia connected with their extraordinary voyages. I was filled with extreme awe and boundless admiration thinking about the marvellous spirit of adventure and enquiry, unfettered thinking, superhuman courage, brilliant intellect, tenacity of purpose, stubborn perseverance, astonishing stamina and exceptional endurance of these truly heroic men which enabled them to conceive, plan, undertake and accomplish such incredible feats battling insurmountable odds and the infinite might of Nature.
As I have already described in brief the lives and voyages of these pioneers of polar exploration in the previous chapter, I shall restrict myself to sharing pictures of some of the interesting exhibits in this fascinating museum with a couple of brief notes and, then, give a short overview of the polar ship Fram herself.
The Sled Dogs
One of the clever strategies employed by Amundsen during his South Pole expedition was the use of dogs for pulling sledges and combining it with skis for men, a knowledge he gained from the Inuit. The preferred dog breeds were from Siberia and Greenland. In contrast, Scott brought along ponies which could not traverse the snow and ice of the Antarctic, despite special snow shoes being used for the ponies to prevent them from sinking into the snow.
As hoped for, the dogs reproduced and increased in number during the long sea voyage to the South Pole. However, as the harness used for them went between the hind legs of the dogs, many of the male dogs had to be castrated in order to prevent causing festering wounds. This upset the breeding plan and the increase in the number of dogs during the long stay in Antarctica fell short of expectations.
The dogs not only helped in transport using sledges but also provided the much-needed companionship and affection for the men during their prolonged voyage and separation from their families.
Captain Robert Scott
The museum has a section which deals with the tragic Antarctic expedition of Captain Scott. The items displayed include a famous picture of him sitting and writing inside his wintering hut in Antarctica. This was a picture that I recollected having seen previously, decades ago, as a school kid and it kindled childhood memories in me. Also on display was a copy of his poignant last diary entry before he perished in the icy Antarctic wilderness. His famous, illegibly scrawled, last diary entry reads thus:
“We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.” — R. Scott
“Last entry. For God’s sake, look after our people”.
On board the Fram
After having gone round the galleries, we stepped aboard the Fram on to its hallowed deck, on which once strode titans like Nansen and Amundsen. It was a thrilling and unforgettable feeling!
After going round the deck, I went down into the cabins, lounges, storage areas and the engine room in the decks below.
All members of the crew had individual cabins and there was a common dining area, a kitchen and a lounge for card games and even a piano. There was a carpentry workshop as well as a tailoring section to ensure that the sledges, skis and the sails were ship-shape.
In addition to the sled dogs, the Fram carried several pigs and sheep in order to provide for fresh meat for the crew. It even had a pig-sty!
The engine room featured a diesel engine, the first time in the world that such an engine had been used in any seafaring vessel. The Fram also had a windmill to generate electricity to meet the ship’s requirements.
I climbed back to the top deck of the Fram after spending about 45 minutes aboard this fabled ship. It was almost 3.30 p.m. by then and exhaustion was beginning to creep in. After purchasing a book about the Fram Museum, we came out. It was still drizzling at that time. We walked across the road to the adjacent Kon-Tiki Museum which housed another vessel - a very unusual one - and told the story of another incredible voyage.
(To be continued in Part 8)
