After November 1st a more peaceful period set in; the pressures almost entirely ceased, the cold increased, the wind remained easterly, and we drifted at a steady rate northward and westward for the rest of the year.
During the autumn the drift had put our patience to a severe test. Owing to the prevailing westerly winds it bore steadily eastward, and day after day we looked in vain for a change. The only thing that kept our spirits up was the knowledge that, if we were going backward, it was slowly, sometimes very slowly, indeed. Even several days of westerly wind did not take us so far to the east but that a day or two of favorable wind would enable us to make up what we had lost, with something to boot.
September 22d was the second anniversary of our being frozen in, and the event was celebrated with a little festivity in the evening. We had reason to be satisfied with the second year’s drift, since we had advanced nearly double as far as during the first year, and, if this continued, there could scarcely be any doubt that we should get clear of the ice in the autumn of 1896.
As will be seen from the following table, September 22d also brought us a marked change for the better. On that day the winter drift set in for good, and lasted without intermission through the remainder of the year, so that between that day and the second week in January we drifted from 82° 5′ to 41° 41′ east longitude.
| Date | Latitude | Longitude | Direction of Wind |
| ° ′ | ° ′ | ||
| September 6th, 1895 | 84 43 | 79 52 | S.W. |
| September 11th, 1895 | 84 59 | 78 15 | E. |
| September 22d, 1895 | 85 2 | 82 5 | Calm. |
| October 9th, 1895 | 85 4 | 79 30 | E. |
| October 19th, 1895 | 85 45 | 78 21 | E. to N. |
| October 25th, 1895 | 85 46 | 73 25 | N.E. |
| October 30th, 1895 | 85 46 | 70 50 | N.N.W. |
| November 8th, 1895 | 85 41 | 65 2 | E. |
| November 15th, 1895 | 85 55.5 | 66 31 | E.N.E. |
| November 25th, 1895 | 85 47.5 | 62 56 | N.E. to N. |
| December 1st, 1895 | 85 28 | 58 45 | E. |
| December 7th, 1895 | 85 26 | 54 40 | N.E. |
| December 14th, 1895 | 85 24 | 50 2 | Calm. |
| December 21st, 1895 | 85 15 | 47 56 | N.E. |
| December 28th, 1895 | 85 24 | 48 22 | N.W. |
| January 9th, 1896 | 84 57 | 41 41 | N. |
On October 11th we hauled up the log-line and cut a new hole for it in the ice right astern. Hitherto the log had had only 100 metres (54 fathoms) of line; now we gave it 300 metres (162 fathoms).
After the middle of September the cold steadily increased, as the following observations will show:
| Date | MinimumTemperature | |
| Centigrade | Fahrenheit | |
| ° | ° | |
| September 18th | -12.5 | +9.6 |
| September 26th | -24.0 | -11.2 |
| October 19th | -30.0 | -22.0 |
| November 5th | -32.2 | -25.8 |
| November 9th | -38.3 | -36.8 |
| November 22d | -43.6 | -46.4 |
| December 31st | -44.6 | -48.2 |
The weather was, as a rule, fine during the last three months of 1895, with clear air and light breezes; only now and then (for example, on October 29th, and November 11th, 26th, and 27th) the wind freshened to half a gale, with a velocity of as much as 48 feet per second.
In the beginning of September we found that the Fram was drawing more and more water, so that we had a stiff job every day to pump and bale her empty. But from the 23d onward the leakage steadily declined, and about the second week of October the engine-room was quite water-tight. It still leaked a little, however, in the main hold; but soon the leak ceased here also, the water having frozen in the ship’s side. For the rest, we employed our time in all sorts of work about the ship, cutting up and removing ice in the hold, cleaning, putting things in order, etc.