Iceberg in the Edge of the Pack-ice, About 120 Feet High.
Penguin Tracks.
April 9.—It is the birthday of King Leopold, of the Belgians, to-day. The commandant has made it a holiday and ordered a special menu with a liberal supply of wine to the officers and crew. All are expected to celebrate the day in good form. We enjoy these days of rest, recreation, and change from the usual formula of regular work, and we conscientiously point out, far in advance, the legal holidays of all lands and the birthdays of each of the men of the Belgica. It is a slow week when we have not succeeded in having at least one day set aside as a period of special feeding, followed by a flow of champagne. “All honor to the King” is the voice of the Belgica to-day. His picture is in a prominent place in the dining-room, and his name is on every tongue. If His Majesty could hear the flattering toasts, the words of loyalty and praise, the genuine feeling of good fellowship which now rings over the new world about us, he would feel that we were, one and all, glad citizens of that little land which deserves the credit of opening the gates of antarctic darkness and mystery. He would and should know that, though we are from many lands, we are now proud subjects of King Leopold.
That we might better mark the king’s birthday and remember it as a period of great rejoicing, and to arouse our sleeping regard for women we have instituted a “beauty contest.” Lecointe, Racovitza, and Amundsen, I think, were responsible for the invention. At any rate, anything suggestive of kind, tender, feminine recollections, or of love and poetry, is first championed by one of these gentlemen. It was so in the “beauty contest.” For several days they had been electioneering and pointing out the special merits of the women of their choice. The pick has been made from the illustrations of a Paris journal, illustrating women famous for graces of form and manner, and public notoriety. Nearly five hundred pictures were selected, representing all kinds of poses and dress and undress, and anatomical parts of women noted as types of beauty. The result of this concourse is shown in the following official record of the great event:—
ANTARCTIC NIGHT
ANNOUNCEMENT BY
THE MINISTER OF ARTS, FEMININE BEAUTY, AND
PUBLIC WORKS
GRAND CONCOURSE OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
ORGANISED IN THE COLD ANTARCTIC, HELD
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF