On July 30th a sumptuous dinner is given us on board the Erline Jarl, and on the 31st the tourists come in a body to the foot of the shed.
To the right and to the left of the entrance the crews of the Virgo and the Erline Jarl are formed up in line; at the back the passengers are grouped round the explorers. Several speeches are made by the captain of the Erline Jarl and some of the tourists; thereupon a young lady, who is travelling with her fiancé and a relative, attaches to Andrée’s arm a blue ribbon, and then hands him for the journey a bottle of the best wine, a cake, and a rose-tree with four roses, one for each explorer.
Captain Bade, of the Erline Jarl, then addressed Andrée as follows:—
“If you reach the mysterious point for which you are bound, deposit there the fourth of the roses, as a token of peace with the old world.”
“My dear friend,” Andrée replied, in accents full of emotion, “you who have come so far to see me set out for the conquest of the unknown, my dear friends, I thank you!
THE VIRGO DECKED FOR THE 14TH OF JULY FÊTE.
“Mademoiselle, you have adorned me with a ribbon on the eve of my departure; this ribbon shall be my talisman. I have been called a great man, but it will be difficult for me to earn this title if the north winds still continue to blow for some weeks as they do now. Our greatness will fly with them—far, far away! What can we do to remedy this? If we cannot make a start, we shall, at least, be able to say that we have done all that is humanly possible, and you will be able to bear witness thereto.