Life and explorations of Fridtjof Nansen

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DR. AND FKU NANSEN ON SKI.

'

LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS

OF

FRIDTJOF NANSEN

BY ARTHUR BAIN

NEW EDITION REVISED AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED

numerous 3ffuB<r«fione cmb

LONDON
WALTER SCOTT, LTD., PATERNOSTER SQUARE

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DEDICATED,

WITHOUT PERMISSION,
TO MY TWO-YEAR-OLD SON,

FRANKLIN NANSEN BAIN.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTION ....... IX

I. — PRETERITA ....... 1

II. — SCIENCE, SPORT, AND EXPLORATION. . . 2O

III.— PERSONALIA ....... 44

IV. — GREENLAND AND ITS INHABITANTS . . 71
V. — THE FIRST CROSSING OF GREENLAND . .104

VI. FRU NANSEN 123

viz. — NANSEN'S HOME 135

viii. — THE "FRAM" 146

IX. — ARCTIC EQUIPMENT . . ... 154

X. — WHERE AN EXPEDITION IS NEEDED . . .182

XI. — ARCTIC SPORT . . l86

vi Contents.

CHAP. PACK

XII. HOW CAN THE POLAR REGION BE CROSSED? . 196

XIII. — ARCTIC CURRENTS. 221

xiv. — XANSEN'S ARCTIC SHIP ... . 232

XV. — CRITICISMS OX NANSEN*S PLAN . . .250

XVI. — "WE ARE THIRTEEN ALL TOLD" . . . 269

XVII. — THE DEPARTURE . .... 291

xvin. — THREE YEARS' SILENCE 311

XIX. — THE TREASURE ISLANDS OF THE ARCTICS . 333

XX. — MEETING OF XANSEN AND JACKSON . . 352

XXI. — ARCTIC EXPLORATION PREVIOUS TO NANSEX . 359
XXII. — ARCTIC EXPLORATION PREVIOUS TO NANSEN

(continued} . . . . . -378

XXIII. A TALK WITH DR. NANSEN . . . -392

XXIV. — CONCLUSION 437

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

DR. AND FRU NANSEN ON SKI . , Frontispiece

BERGEN MUSEUM . . . . 41

FRIDTJOF NANSEN . . -59

SLEDGE DOGS ... .98

FRU NANSEN ... . • I25

DR. NANSEN'S STUDY AT LYSAKER . . . 139

THE LAUNCHING OF THE " FRAM " . . - 1 47

J. RUSSELL-JEAFFRESON, F.R.G.S. . . . - 183

SOME OF NANSEN'S COMPANIONS . . . 233

THE LUCKY THIRTEEN 268

ONE OF NANSEN'S LAST LETTERS . . . 307

GROUP OF SAMOYEDES . . . . -326

NANSEN ON HIS ARRIVAL AT ELM WOOD . . -355

• 39 *
. 421

INTRODUCTION.

THE only cure for the Arctic fever is the
discovery of the North Pole. If any one
imagines that man is going to abandon this
idea, should a few more lives be sacrificed in
the pursuit of it, he is greatly mistaken. A
goal at once so definite and so encompassed
with mystery is sure to command human effort
until it shall be reached, and never was man-
kind nearer to this consummation than at the
present time. The operations of Arctic heroes,
beginning with Sebastian Cabot and ending
with Fridtjof Nansen, have gradually broken
down the barriers that have stood for ages
between restless man and his ambition. For
many years Great Britain has stood foremost
in the history of Arctic exploration, but Norway
has lately proved a formidable rival in the
person of Fridtjof Nansen, whose crossing of
the great Greenland plateau in 1888 drew atten-

x Introduction.

tion for the first time to the fertility of resource
possessed by this strong-nerved Scandinavian.
There are many thousands of people with
whom it is an article of belief that if the veil is
to be lifted which hides that mysterious region
known as the North Pole, the withdrawing
hand will be that of Fridtjof Nansen.

It is difficult to conceive how healthy and
vigorous men, with that deep love of home
which is a marked characteristic of the in-
habitants of Northern Europe, should willingly
subject themselves to the rigours of an Arctic
climate, or crave for the life of an explorer,
punctuated as it is with privation and suffering
from beginning to end, from the mere desire
to lay bare that which Nature has seen fit to
hide.

Only the Arctic explorer himself is able to
explain the source of the attraction that lures
men to the icy north. However greatly
opinions may differ as to the feasibility of the
plans of the majority of the explorers ; as to
the practical results which may accrue to navi-
gation or commerce ; or as to the benefits to
be derived by science from their observations
in these regions, it will not be denied that the
men who, in face of a terribly rigorous climate
and of fearful bodilv risks, sail northward with

Introduction. xi

a fixed determination to wrest from Nature
her most closely-guarded secret, are worthy
of admiration.

In this intensely prosaic age, he who would
emulate the ancient deeds of "derring do " ;
who seeks to soar in cloudland ; to explore
the dim mysteries of the deep ; to lift the veil
which hides unknown mysterious regions ; or
to climb to heights untrodden by the foot of
man, is regarded by the majority of people
with something approaching an amused con-
tempt.

The scoffer is apt to forget that much of the
progress that the world has made is due to the
services of the pioneers, who, often without
adequate equipment, always in face of great
and grave danger, have prepared the way for
the irresistible advance of others.

In this record I intend to place before my
readers not only the life and history of a brave
man who has early in life eclipsed the per-
formances of many of his predecessors, but to
present it in such a manner as to allow the
ordinary reader to draw a parallel between the
doings of Fridtjof Nansen and those of the men
who have gone before him in the path which
he has himself chosen.

In comparison with the journeys of Dr.

xii Introduction.

Nansen and his companions all other Arctic
ventures of recent years fall into the shade.
No explorer of the Arctic regions since Franklin,
no traveller indeed save Columbus, has gained
so great a hold upon the imagination of his
contemporaries. As in his journey across
Greenland, so in his attempt to find the North
Pole, he modestly but fearlessly confronted
danger with the full knowledge that to fail was
most probably to die. Without the blare of
the trumpet or the intoxicating roar of the
cannon ; without the stimulus of the dire need
of his native land ; without the irresistible lure
of some overwhelming love ; without the prick
of necessity, he left civilisation, country, friends,
and home, and placed himself in the embrace
of that ice-world which has been the burial-
place of so many noble-minded men. Like
Columbus, Dr. Nansen set off to face tre-
mendous odds armed with but three frail
weapons — a little knowledge, a theory, and a
determination to succeed.

Like Columbus, again, Dr, Nansen was able
to convince many persons of the soundness of
his scientific deductions and of the practicability
of his plans.

There were hundreds, nay thousands, of
adventurous men who asked to be allowed to

Introduction. ' xiii

share the perils and glories of his Arctic
voyage. There were, indeed, several ladies
who, fired by the example of Mrs. Peary, and
sustained by the thought of Nansen's resource-
fulness in time of danger, expressed a desire to
accompany him.

There is much in Nansen to inspire respect
and confidence. His character and bearing are
unmistakably those of the man who achieves
greatness. Without fear on the one hand or
vanity on the other, he spoke of his purpose with
simple candour, exaggerating nothing, making
light of nothing, not greatly concerned as to
what the world might think of his project,
except to let men see that he had excellent
reasons for the birth and growth of the faith
that was in him. Amid the many discourage-
ments he met with none stung him so much
as the implied censure of the people who said
that the risk was needless ; that neither time,
money, nor life ought to be expended on his
quest ; that its only reward could be, if success-
ful, a trivial gain of knowledge ; and that the
only result of failure would be the death of the
explorer and his companions. To these he
once made a famous answer — an answer that
deserves to ring throughout the ages in
the ears of the doubters and faint-hearted : —

xiv Introduction.

" Man wants to know ; and when man no
longer wants to know, he will no longer
be man." Nansen, as much as any man
who ever lived, was aware that to the
inquisitiveness that gave birth to the pioneer
and strength to his mission, much of the
comfort that encloses nineteenth century life
is directly due.

When man ceases to interest himself in
Nature, when her forces are mapped out like
the positions of the various army corps in the
plan of a great battle, then the deterioration of
the race will commence. The spirit of adven-
ture is the salvation of humanity.

The question, "What is the good of all this
restless striving after the unattainable ?" is asked
only by the older among us. The plutocrat,
the men of iron, of cloth, and of trade generally,
need to be told sometimes that there is a world
above and beyond even commerce — that man
was made not only to toil in the mine and to
cultivate the earth, but to cherish and satisfy
ambitions, the pursuit as well as the attain-
ment of which enriches and rewards the mind.
Nansen typifies, in fact, this force of senti-
ment.

Fortunately for Englishmen, the history of
the British Isles is full of instances of the force

Introduction. xv

of sentiment — that healthy national sentiment
which should be one of the first considerations
of the rulers of a nation. There are few pages
in British history that fire the blood and teach
the lessons of endurance and courage more
forcibly than those devoted to the records of
Arctic exploration. It is because they inspire
and are inspired by that sentiment which has
no equivalent in money, because it is beyond
price ; it cannot be bought; it cannot be lent or
sold; yet, though we are "a nation of shop-
keepers," it has done us sterling service in
many a well-fought field.

This country need not be jealous, therefore,
of the sprig of laurel on the brow of Fridtjof
Nansen, for she has done well in Arctic research
already.

The unprecedented public interest which
Nansen's record has aroused in this land
proves that to-day as much as ever the heart
of the British public warms to great deeds.
And hardly the less so, be it remembered to
our credit as a nation, when the doer of them
is a foreigner, and the laurels he wins are for
another brow than Britannia's.

The prophets of physical truth, as the army
of explorers may aptly be termed, are not,
perhaps, the very noblest of the race, but they

xvi Introduction.

are among the noblest, and deserving of all
honours. The profound and disinterested pur-
suit of aims that are purely ideal cleanses the
atmosphere, and places the Arctic voyager, who
is never a mere adventurer, far beyond all that
is mean, sordid, or self-seeking. Dr. Nansen's
genius is free from the taint of sordidness.
Men like him add to the zest and interest
of life. Without their presence amongst us
from time to time we should have to look far
afield in the search for originality; the scientific
horizon would be narrowed, and much of the
awe, wonder, and pleasure of imaginative life
would cease to exist.

There is a phrase, common enough in current
criticism, from the use of which, in my case, I
think that such people as shall have occasion
to express an opinion about my book may con-
scientiously refrain. I allude to that phrase by
which an author is made to "contribute to the
gaiety," or — if the pen will have it so — "the
sadness of nations."

In the scanty leisure of a bookseller's life
there is no time for such fine ambition towards
success or grandiose failure as this phrase
implies ; and my ambition was directed towards
the more certain end of imparting some trust-
worthy information about a great man and a

Introduction. xvli

great scheme of discovery to a few persons
desirous of receiving it.

The fact that I have for long been an eager
student of the works of Arctic explorers, and
have devoted much of my spare time to lec-
turing on this subject, is a general explanation
of the motive which led me to write this book ;
for, in the beginning, one writes neither for
"nations" nor families, but for one's self.

It is more to the point, perhaps, to remark
that in 1893 I had the pleasure of correspond-
ing with Dr. Nansen, and subsequently made
the acquaintance of his wife at their home in
Lysaker, Norway.

In 1894 I visited Iceland and the sea beyond
it, and traced the wanderings of Nansen in that
island, where the explorer landed preparatory
to the " first crossing of Greenland."

In 1895 I made a journey of 2000 miles
through Northern Russia, visiting Archangel,
Mezen, and " the land of the Samoyedes."
For ten days I enjoyed the kind and gratuitous
hospitality of this semi-nomadic tribe, who per-
mitted me to dwell in their tents.

In 1896 I had an aerial flight of 9000 feet
to test, in an amateur way, the practicability of
M. Andree's plans for reaching the North Pole
by balloon. I descended to earth with added

xviii Introduction.

experiences, with a brain filled with new and
marvellous impressions, and a memory charged
with strange wonders ; but felt that the love
of science has much to account for, and that
M. Andree's chances of success were but one
in a hundred.

On September Qth, 1896, I was one of the
foremost of the vast assembly at the picturesque
capital of Norway which welcomed Dr. Nansen
and his companions after their three years'
absence in the Polar Sea, and was fortunate,
five days later, in securing an interview with
Dr. Nansen, and obtaining from him not
merely an account of his voyage, but also his
opinions regarding the results of his scientific
discoveries.

In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge the
kindness of Fru Nansen and Alexander Nansen,
to whom I am indebted for much of the in-
formation contained in my earlier chapters ; of
Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., for their
prompt permission to make extracts from The
First Crossing of Greenland, the Life of
Nansen, etc. ; of Mrs. Alec B. Tweedie ; of
the proprietors of The Illustrated London
News; of the editor of The Strand Maga-
zine; of the editor of Chambers s Journal; of
Clements R. Markham, Esq., F.R.S., President

Introduction. xix

of the Royal Geographical Society; of Dr.
John Murray ; and numerous others who so
readily granted me leave to enlarge on my
own information by quoting from their publi-
cations and writings.

The large excerpts from Dr. Nansen's ad-
dress, due to the courtesy of the editors of the
Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society,
are rendered desirable by the numerous canards
which have been afloat regarding his plan in
the Polar Expedition.

J. ARTHUR BAIN.

MILLHOUSES, SHEFFIELD,
December 1897.

LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS

OF

FRIDTJOF NANSEN.

CHAPTER I.

PRETERITA.

" The longer I live the more I am certain that the
great difference between men, between the feeble and the
powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy —
invincible determination — a purpose once fixed, and then
death or victory." — FOWELL BUXTON.

THE earliest ancestor of whom Nansen has
trustworthy records was one Ewart, of the same
surname, a merchant of Flensburgin, Schleswig-
Holstein, who died in 1613. Ewart Nansen's
son, Hans, went with his uncle on a merchant
ship to Russia ; afterwards became Russian
interpreter at the Court of the King of Den-
mark ; and, later on, a special Danish envoy to
the Czar. Subsequently, as chairman of the
Icelandic Trading Society, he made many
voyages to Iceland and Russia, and wrote,

2 Life of Nansen.

in Danish, a Compendium Cosmographicum
Danicum which had many editions (1633-46)
— a compilation much affected by seamen until
comparatively recent times. The Nansens of
to-day are traced from these ancestors, one of
the first of whom thus showed a bent for
travelling and for writing on his travels. In-
deed, the family has been distinguished for its
soldiers, sailors, lawyers, and administrators,
who have done good service for their native
land. From his mother Nansen inherits a
strong mind in a healthy body. As a young
lady his mother was noted as a snow-shoe
runner, and that at a time when ladies were
not encouraged in outdoor sport. " Her will-
power and love of activity, her intrepidity, her
practical and resolute nature have descended to
her son." His gift of thoroughness he owes
to his father — a refined gentleman of the old
school, and a distinguished advocate, who has
been followed in this direction by his younger
son, Alexander, now in practice in the Nor-
wegian capital.

Fridtjof Nansen was born at Froen, two
miles and a half from Christiania, on October
loth, 1861.

The author visited Froen and the surround-
ing neighbourhood in 1893 and 1896, and it is

Preterita. 3

not too much to say that a district better suited
to develop the muscle of a young athlete could
not be found. Here was farm life, a country
side with great forests close at hand, and, be-
yond that, Nordmarken, "an unbroken stretch
of Norwegian woodland, many square miles in
extent, a lonely world of narrow valleys, abrupt
heights, secluded glassy lakes, and foaming

rivers." 1

Fridtjof began his career as a skilober at
the tender age of four. He himself tells the
story of his first snow-shoes, and his first great
leap :- — "I am not speaking of the very first
pair of all ; they were precious poor ones,
cut down from cast-off snow-shoes which had
belonged to my brothers and sisters. They
were not even of the same length. But Mr.
Fabritius, the printer, took pity upon me ;
4 I'll give you a pair of snow-shoes,' he said.
Then spring came and then summer, and with
the best will in the world one couldn't go
snow-shoeing. But Fabritius's promise sang in
my ears, and no sooner had the autumn come
and the fields begun to whiten with hoar-frost
of a morning, than I placed myself right in his
way where I knew he would come driving by.

" ' I say ! What about those snow-shoes ? '

1 Life of Nansen, p. 37. (Longmans, Green & Co.)

4 Life of Nans en.

"'You shall have them right enough,' he
said, and laughed. But I returned to the
charge day after day : ' What about those
snow-shoes ? '

"Then came winter. I can still see my
sister standing in the middle of the room with
a long, long parcel which she said was for me.
I thought she said, too, it was from Paris. But
that was a mistake, for it was the snow-shoes
from Fabritius— a pair of red-lacquered ash
snow-shoes with black stripes. And there was
a long staff, too, with shining blue-lacquerecl
shaft and knob. I used these snow-shoes for
ten years. It was on them I made my first
big jump on Huseby Hill, where at that time
the great snow-shoe races were held. We
boys were not allowed to go there. We might
range all the other hills round about, but the
Huseby Hill was forbidden. But we could
see it at Froen, and it lured us day by day till
we couldn't resist it any longer. At first I
started from the middle of the hill, like most
of the other boys, and all went well. But
presently I saw there were one or two who-
started from the top ; so of course I had to
try it. Off I set, came at frantic speed to the
jump, sailed for what seemed a long time in
space, and ran my snow-shoes deep into a.

Preterita. 5

snow-drift. We didn't have our shoes fastened
on in those days, so they remained sticking
in the drift, while I, head first, described a fine
arc in the air. I had such way on, too, that
when I came down again I bored into the
snow up to my waist. There was a moment's
hush on the hill. The boys thought I had
broken my neck. But as soon as they saw
there was life in me, and that I was beginning
to scramble out, a shout of mocking laughter
went up ; an endless roar of derision over the
entire hill from top to bottom.

"After that, I took part in the Huseby
Hill races and won a prize. But I didn't take
it home ; for I was put to shame on that
occasion as well. It was the first time I had
seen the Telemarken peasants snow-shoeing,
and I recognised at a glance that I wasn't to
be mentioned in the same breath with them.
They used no staff; they simply went ahead
and made the leap without trusting to anything
but the strength of their muscles and the firm,
lithe carriage of their bodies. 1 saw that this
was the only proper way. Until I had
mastered it I wouldn't have any prize." 1

In view of the circumstance that to his skill
with the long Norwegian snow shoes, or ski, is

1 Life of Nansen. (Longmans, Green & Co.)

6 Life of Nan sen.

traceable much of the success that attended his
crossing of Greenland, and his safe return with
his companion, Johansen, from the far North, it
is interesting to note that he made rapid pro-
gress in outdoor pastimes, and that he soon
became famous as one of the most accomplished
skaters, skilobers, and sportsmen in Norway.
The fact that he and his brother, Alexander,
used their ski in the winter in the daily journey
to and from their school at Christiania no doubt
furthered their joint reputation for skill in out-
door exercises, for it must be mentioned that
Alexander Nansen, like his brother, is a keen
sportsman and an accomplished skilober and
elk-hunter. Many a storm was braved by the
brothers in order that they might not miss their
studies. During the interval, therefore, between
Fridtjof's fourth and his eighteenth year, while
he was attending school at Christiania, he was
steadily cultivating his capacity for physical
endurance. His upbringing was of the homely,
Spartan kind that prevails in Norway, dis-
tinguished only by extra hardihood and by an
utter carelessness as to the comforts of life.
Long fishing excursions, in which he forgot
about food, or hazardous ascents of snow moun-
tains, were his principal relaxations from the
monotonv of home and school-life.

Preterita. 7

In the first two sporting meetings at which
Nansen competed he won several cups, medals,
and championship races. Thus unconsciously
he prepared himself for the dangers and the
strain upon his physical powers that were to
come in later years.

His brother Alexander writes to me : — "He
spent his leisure hours as boys usually spend
them. He was fond of boyish games and out-
door life, but also clever at school."

Nansen himself writes in The First Crossing
of Greenland : — " I have myself been accus-
tomed to the use of ski since I was four years
old. ... I know of no form of sport which so
evenly develops the muscles; which renders
the body so strong and elastic ; which teaches
so well the qualities of dexterity and resource;
which in an equal degree calls for decision and
resolution, and which gives the same vigour
and exhilaration to mind and body alike. . . .
Nor can there be many lands so well fitted as
ours for the practice of skilobning and its full
development as a sport. From our childhood
onwards we are accustomed to use our ski, and
in many a mountain valley, boys, and girls too,
for that matter, are by their very surroundings
forced to take to their ski almost as soon as
they can walk. The whole long winter through,

8 Life of Nansen.

from early autumn to late spring, the snow lies
soft and deep outside the cottage door. In
such valleys there are few roads or ways, and
all, men and women alike, whom business or
pleasure takes abroad must travel on their ski.
Children no more than three or four years old
may often be seen striving with the first diffi-
culties, and from this age onwards the peasant
boys in many parts keep themselves in con-
stant practice. Their homes lie as a rule on
the steep slope of the valley side, and hills of
all grades are ready at hand. To school they
must go on their ski, and on their ski they all
spend the few minutes of rest between the
hours of work, their teacher often joining them
and leading the string."

The hills about Froen witnessed Nansen's
first ski runs ; on the frozen ponds in Vestre
Aker he found his first inland ice ; and it was
to the heights of Tryvand and Nordmarken
that he went to prepare himself for the work
of Arctic exploration.

Probably his youthful Arctic expeditions were
planned among these mountain solitudes when
racing down the steep slopes or bracing his
muscles and nerves against a stiff piece of hill-
climbing. In after years, when amongst similar
surroundings, he writes : — " My childhood rose

Preterite. g

before me once again. How full of delight
were the glassy rivers and ponds ! Our skates
once on our feet, it was not easy to come
home to lessons and exercises. Then every-
thing was forgotten — school-dust, bad marks;
everything that lay heavy on our consciences
was for a brief and happy moment laid
aside."

At a ski run which took place in February
1882 he distinguished himself by carrying off a
cup which was offered by his father as a prize
to the best skilober around Christiania. This
trophy, the Ladies' Cup, is the subject of an
annual competition at Christiania, which attracts
thither the fleetest skilobers that Norway pos-
sesses, the hills and forest paths where the
races take place being overcrowded with those
anxious to witness the keen contests.

So popular a pastime is skilobning becoming
— increasing in favour year by year — that the
hillsides, the woods, the fields, and the forest
paths around Christiania, Bergen, and other
Norwegian towns are literally thronged on a
fine Saturday and Sunday with skilobers of
"all sorts and conditions" — men, women, and
children, from the ages of three to threescore
and ten.

It has been said that as a skater Nansen

io Life of Nansen.

also took high rank. When he was only
sixteen years old he took the first prize in the
great annual skating match near Christiania,
and a few years later was second in a most
important skating competition, the " King
Skater," King Ajel Paulsen, carrying off the
principal honours after a supreme effort.

Very early in his boyhood Fridtjof showed
a high spirit of courage, a fondness for the
invigorating sports of his own country, a love
of outdoor recreations and trials of physical
strength, and he gloried in the excitement and
dangers of the chase.

As a schoolboy he was industrious, and
passed out of the intermediate school at the
age of sixteen with distinction. In his teens
much of his spare time was taken up with
sport, and he used to pass weeks at a time
alone in the forests. He himself writes of
those days : — " I disliked having an outfit
for my excursions. I managed with a crust
of bread, and broiled my fish on the embers.
I loved to live like Robinson Crusoe up there
in the solitudes." 1 " There was one thing that
used to annoy his snow-shoeing cronies in
those days, and that was his total carelessness
as to creature comforts. If he happened to

1 Life of Nansen. (Longmans, Green & Co.)

Preterita. 1 1

look from the tower on Tryvand's Height
away over to Stubdal, twenty miles off, a whim
would all of a sudden seize him, and nothing
would serve but he must set off without taking
a crumb of food with him. On one occasion
he descended upon a farm in Stubdal so
ravenously hungry that the people did not
forget his visit for many a day.

"Another time he and a party of friends set
off on a long snow-shoe expedition, each with
his provision wallet on his back — each one,
that is to say, except Fridtjof Nansen. But
when they got to the first resting-place he
unbuttoned his jacket and took out of his
breast-pocket — concealed deep within the lining
— several pancakes, which were as hot after
the snow-shoeing as if they had just come off
the pan. He held them up smoking, * Have
a pancake, any of you fellows ? ' None of
them were dainty, but the pancakes seemed
even less so, and they declined with thanks.
' Well,,' he said, ' the more fools you, for let
me tell you there's jam in them ! '" 1 Fit
preparation this for life in the Arctics. It
was on these long winter journeys that he
learned to love nature with a depth of love
seldom shown by boys. He early recognised

1 Life of Nansen. (Longmans, Green & Co.)

12 Life of Nans en.

that there were "no gains without pains," and,
alike in sport and study, he put his whole soul
into his task. He was a muscular as well as
a handsome young fellow — tall, well-formed,
and manly, which made him a hero among
the lads who shared his sports. There was
no recreation in which he did not take part
with keenest ardour, and did not soon become
an adept. He was a born leader of boys,
as of men, and a rival he could not brook.
Rivalry for the leadership was apt to make
him brusque and irritable.

On many an early summer morn he was wont
to follow the Frogner river, which wound its
way past the front door at Froen, with angler's
hook and line. In this stream he bathed sum-
mer and winter, frequently breaking the ice in
winter to procure his dip.

He never tired of boating and sailing, nor
of boarding the sealing or whaling vessels as
they lay in Christiania Harbour. The rough,
weather-beaten sailors took a strong fancy to
the stalwart, inquisitive, lad, who listened with
open mouth and dilated pupils to their doings
in the land of the seal, the walrus, and the
whale, and to the surmises about the unknown
regions beyond.

That the boy makes the man is perhaps more

Preterita. 13

evident in Nansen's up-growing than in most
cases. He was ever a studious youth ; per-
haps over- much given, in his schoolmaster's
eyes, to finding out the why and wherefore of
things. From early childhood his thoughts
were more to him than his meals ; and when
he was absorbed in anything he was oblivious
to his surroundings. His brothers and sisters
were frequently provoked at his everlasting
"What's that?" "But how can that be?"
He would forget his appointments, and when
they went in search of him would find him in
the usual "brown study." "There's the duffer
at it again," they would angrily exclaim.
"You'll never come to any good, you're such
a dawdler."

" In the upper school," write his biographers,
" it is possible that sport and a thousand and
one private preoccupations absorbed too much
of his time. In any case, we find a heartfelt
sigh going up from the half-yearly report of
his masters, Aars and Voss, in 1879: — 'He is
unstable, and in several subjects his progress
is not nearly so satisfactory as might have
been expected.' It is true that their ex-
pectations were probably rather high in the
case of a boy who astonished his teacher of
mathematics by giving a geometrical solution

14 Life of Nansen.

of a problem in arithmetic."1 Nansen was,
however, conscious of powers which only
required development to secure unbounded
success ; but he was too wise to muse over
useless ambition, and turning to the work that
lay nearest his hand he did it with all his
might, contented to bide his time. Thus early
in life he took to natural science and original
research, and showed that he was com-
pounded of intense curiosity, utter indifference
to personal comfort, all engrossing ambition,
and a resolution as hard as adamant. This is
the veritable stuff out of which great explorers
and discoverers are made, and Fridtjof was
soon to take a step which was to prove that
he was of the same redoubtable kindred, and
which was to be a turning-point in his life,
showing that his time had not been misspent
in field or study.

Nansen was a reckless climber — at times
utterly regardless of life and limb — and his
escapes from death can only be accounted for
by his fine physique, and that immortality which
attends men whose work is not yet done. The
story of how he crossed Vosseskavlen by night,
in the dead of winter, has been told by himself.
His daring made the peasants, on whom he

1 Life of Nansen. (Longmans, Green £ Co.)

Preterita. 1 5

unexpectedly called for something to eat, stand
aghast with fright when they heard of his in-
tention. Not even the best skilober in the
district would dare the same feat. Nansen's
tale of this escapade makes wild reading, and
yet the doer of the deed writes to his father
complaining that the newspapers of the day
called him " foolhardy and tired of life." He
himself finds true enjoyment in being called
upon to bear hunger and to combat with the
elements, and merely remarks that unless one
battles against difficulties one cannot thoroughly
enjoy true peace and comfort. As ski formed
so important a feature in the Arctic work of
Dr. Nansen, a description of these articles and
their uses may prove of interest.

In The First Crossing of Greenland Nansen
says : — " Ski are long narrow strips of wood,
those used in Norway being from three to four
inches in breadth, eight feet, more or less, in
length, one inch in thickness at the centre
under the foot, and bevelling off to about a
quarter of an inch at either end. In front they
are curved upwards and pointed, and they are
sometimes a little turned up at the back end
too. The sides are more or less parallel,
though the best forms have their greatest
width in front, just where the upward curve

1 6 Life of Nansen.

begins, but otherwise they are quite straight
and flat, and the under surface is made as
smooth as possible. The attachment consists
of a loop for the toe, made of leather or some
other substance, and fixed at about the centre
of the ski, and a band which passes from this
round behind the heel of the shoe. The prin-
ciple of this fastening is to make the ski and
foot as rigid as possible for steering purposes,
while the heel is allowed to rise freely from the
ski at all sides."

The ski are driven forward, they are not
lifted. With the snow in good condition, the
rate of progress is surprising, and without great
effort a speed of from eight to nine miles an
hour may be kept up on ski for a considerable
time — seventy or eighty miles a day being no
unusual achievement.

The Norwegians have instituted a so-called
national "hop" or leaping competition, which,
although it partakes of the nature of an acro-
batic performance, is the perfection of skilob-
ning. Dexterity, nerve, and courage are needed
to descend a steep slope at a speed of two
and a half miles to a minute. At a recent
national competition a leap was made from a
platform of snow in the middle of a hill of 75
feet, with a fall of 30 feet, the competitor

Preterita. \ 7

keeping his legs to the finish — a feat which
was the occasion of unbounded applause, and
well it might be.

Mrs. Alec B. Tweedie, in her most charm-
ing book, A Winter s Jaunt in Norway, tells
of a competition near Christiania : — " Out of
all those hundred competitors for the jump, 19
metres was the average, or over 60 feet. It
sounds incredible, but it is nevertheless a fact.
The longest jump of all was 26^ metres, that
is to say, nearly 88 feet, and this was done by
Ustvedt ; but he did not regain his footing.
Ingemann Sverre, who jumped 22 metres, and
landed on his feet to continue his course, won
the King's Cup and the Ladies' Purse."

So much for the Norwegian ski, which, in
the opinion of many people, are destined ere
long to supersede the Indian snow-shoes.

In our illustrations uphill and downhill is
seen the manner in which locomotion on ski
is governed. The gentleman depicted in the
photographs is H. M. Gepp, the translator of
The First Crossing of Greenland, whose sad
death we mention later. It is interesting to
know that these pictures were prepared by
Mr. Gepp to illustrate a large work on snow-
shoes, and it is our loss that the work was so
abruptly terminated. Mrs. Gepp, the mother

I 8 Life of Nans en.

of this brilliant scholar, in writing me on this
subject, says: — "The two prints may have
been those from which the illustrations in the
'Greenland' book were engraved, and 'going
uphill' certainly appears to be so. In the
other, ' coming downhill,' the dress is not the
same, so that possibly he was photographed
for that by some artist in Christiania. They
are two of a series of twelve taken to illustrate
the sport of snow-shoeing, to which my son was
exceedingly devoted, and in which he was a
great adept."

Preterita.

CHAPTER II.

SCIENCE, SPORT, AND EXPLORATION.

IN 1880 Nansen matriculated with credit,
proving that distractions had not seriously
interfered with his studies. He got a first-
class in all natural science subjects, mathematics,
arid history; and when, in December i88it
he went up for his second examination he was
classed as laudabilis prcz cetcris.

It was shortly after this that he finally
decided to take up zoology as a special study.
In 1880 he had entered the University of
Christiania, the only institution of the kind in
Norway, where he had manifested a strong
scientific bent. He was specially fond of
zoology, and ,soon became known at the
University as an enthusiastic zoologist.

In 1882, at the age of twenty-one, and on
the advice of Professor Collett, he went as a
passenger to the polar seas in a Norwegian
sealing steamer named the Viking, for the

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 2 L

purpose of increasing his zoological knowledge,
and likewise to train himself for zoological
research.

The vessel was ice-bound for twenty-four
days off the mysterious and fascinating east
coast of Greenland, in latitude 66° 50' N. In
The First Crossing of Greenland the young
explorer states : — " Many times a day from the
maintop were my glasses turned westward, and
it is not to be wondered at that a young man's
fancy was drawn irresistibly to the charms and
mysteries of this unknown world."

This cruise occupied nearly six months, and
served a double purpose. It enabled Nansen
to add considerably to his knowledge of zoology,
and he received his first lessons in ice naviga-
tion. His party were frozen in off the east
Greenland coast at the end of June. He
complains that this was the more deplorable
as it was the best time for seal catching. The
young explorer consoled himself for the dis-
appointment by bear shooting and by scientific
research. Everything he captures — animals,
birds, and insects — he conscientiously examines.
He carries out the instructions given him by
his professors with great faithfulness, and
proves by the work done that he was an
ardent zoologist.

22 Life of Nan sen.

On his return he contributed articles to both
scientific and sporting journals. In the former
he showed that he was the fortunate possessor
of keen receptive and perceptive faculties, his
chapters on the habits of the seal and polar
bear being especially worthy of remark. In
the latter he gave a number of demonstrations
in rifle firing. During his enforced stay on
the Greenland coast, he shot more than five
hundred seals and fourteen polar bears, many
of whose skins now adorn his study at Lysaker.
His descriptions have both animation and in-
sight, and call up with clearness the scenes of
his exploits. He owes much to the fact that
he could use both pen and gun with equal
facility at an early age.

The following entry is from his diary of the
voyage, dated June 28th, and gives a glowing
account of the perils and delights of his first
bear hunt in high latitudes : — "As I lay peace-
fully this morning dreaming of bears which I
never got hold of, I was awakened by a whisper
in my ear, 'You had better turn out, for we
have got a bear right under the ship's side.'
Hardly had I heard the word 'bear' before
I sprang up, rubbed my eyes, gazed with
astonishment at the second mate, who con-
tinued whispering, as if the bear were outside

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 23

the cabin door, ' You must look sharp ; ' and
look sharp I did, for I was up and on deck
in a moment with rifle and cartridges. Quite
right ; there was the bear within range, quietly
and reflectively walking backwards and forwards,
and stopping now and then to sniff the air
and scrutinise the ship, which was evidently
a novelty. There is no hurry, I thought ; I
can very well wait and enjoy the sight of this
splendid, proud animal till the captain comes.
But why does he not come ? Yes, there he is
at last ; and I was just burning to speak to
him when I heard a report. As if stung by
a serpent I rushed up, in order that I, too,
might at least send a shot after the bear on his
journey. But no. Undisturbed by such trifles,
he still walked quietly about, although the bullet
had struck the snow close beside him. The
shot was from one of the seal-shooters, who
could no longer restrain himself. It was there-
fore best to make our way on to the ice without
further delay. Once down I crept along and
was soon within range, but the bear had mean-
while caught sight of me, and had gone up on
to a hummock or crag of ice to reconnoitre.
It was a pretty sight. I aimed just behind
the shoulder — one does not shoot in the 'head
for fear of spoiling the skull and skin — pulled

24 Life of Nansen.

the trigger of my rifle, and — it missed fire. It
was fatal, and, to make everything complete,
the cartridge stuck fast, so that I nearly tore
all my nails off in getting it out. At last,
however, it slipped out, and I was ready to
begin again. Luckily the bear, instead of
running away as I had expected, approached
and showed me his broad breast. I aimed
straight into the whirl of white fur, and this
time there was a report. Bruin did not like
his reception ; he growled, bit the ground,
fell over, but jumped up again directly, and
started off. I put another cartridge into my
rifle, and sent a bullet into his hind-quarters,
which were now the only visible parts of him.
A new growl, and a still more hasty retreat. I
followed him from floe to floe, but at last they
became too far apart for him to jump, and he
had to take to the water. In this way I gained
on him, and put a bullet between the shoulder-
blades, just as he was climbing up the other
side of a large piece of ice. He was done for
now, and fell back into the water, looking at me
furiously out of his small, fiery, black eyes, but
could do no more. Another bullet, and his
sufferings were at an end.

"The fog meanwhile had become so thick
that I could not see the vessel, but on board

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 25

they had heard the shots, and concluded
the bear had fallen a victim. Some of the
men soon came up, and we dragged him
on board. It was my first polar bear, and
with no little pride did I receive the con-
gratulations of the Captain and the others.
I was astonished that the first shot had not
made short work of him; it proved, however,
on closer examination, that the bullet (express
bullet .450) had hit him right enough, but
had burst in the layer of fat, and only a
portion of it had entered the breast. The
same thing had happened with the other
two; they had caused large external wounds,
but had not penetrated far. I thought next
time I went bear shooting I would take good
care to use something stronger."1

On July 4th he writes : — "We were not
allowed to sleep long before a new bear was
discovered in the distance, and we had to
turn out. This time I again took my express
rifle to make quite sure if solid bullets were
really preferable to hollow ones, and Kristian,
generally called the Balloon, a quick, plucky
fellow, was allowed to come with us."

The ice is very hummocky, and it is hard
work searching for bears. At last one is

1 Longmans 's Alagazine, July 1894.

26 Life of Nansen.

sighted at a distance of fifteen hundred feet.
Mr. Bruin, however, suddenly disappears, to the
amazement of the party. Nansen continues : —
"We scanned the ice, but, although it was
tolerably even, could see nothing. That the
bear was in our immediate proximity we felt
certain, but whereabouts was a riddle indeed.
Meantime we lay down, with our rifles cocked,
in order to be ready; he might be on us before
we knew where we were. Then, at a distance
of fifty yards or so, in the nearest open pool,
we saw a faint ripple on the water, and a
dark spot appeared in sight, which slowly
made its way towards us. Spite of the unusual
cunning with which this was done, we at once
saw that this was the bear's nose, and were
now witness of a sight which was much too
interesting for us to wish to put an end to it
before it was necessary. How long it lasted
I cannot say, but, at any rate, over twenty
minutes. The nose gradually worked its way
towards us, until it was lost to sight under the
edge of the floe lying nearest to us. A little
while afterwards the forehead, as far as the
eyes, came slowly and cautiously into sight
over the edge as if to reconnoitre. Here he
remained immovable for a good while, and
I could plainly see how the small black eyes

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 27

peered in all directions, and now and then sent
a lightning glance at us.

" The impression apparently was not a
favourable one, for the forehead disappeared
and the nose began to sail along the surface
of the water again as quietly as before. Here
he moved backwards and forwards for some
time, while now and again the eyes appeared
in sight. At last he vanished behind a hum-
mock, and was away for some time. We began
to look about, as he might have dived, when
all at once the forehead and eyes became visible
over the edge of the hummock, behind which
he had disappeared. He must now have got
up on the ice ; after carefully considering us for
a moment, he vanished again. This was re-
peated several times at long intervals; he had
obviously plenty of time and meant to consider
the matter well, but so had we, and found the
situation far too amusing to wish to curtail it.
We agreed to wait as long as possible, although
the Captain complained of the ice-compress
round his stomach, and the Balloon that he
had no more tobacco from which to cut him-
self a consolatory quid.

"At last the bear seemed to have come to
a conclusion. He had been away longer than
usual, but now came shuffling along as large

28 Life of Nan sen.

as life. First he gave an appalling yawn, and
in so doing swung his tongue nearly up to his
eyes, 'Oh, good morning, good morning!'
exclaimed the Balloon, quite loud, and we
could not help laughing, although we bade
him hold his tongue. With his rolling gait
the bear now began tacking towards us, pre-
tending the while to be unconscious of our
existence. Every time he had to go about
he gave another yawn and an amorous glance
in our direction, but continued his journey from
floe to floe, carefully trying the edges of the
ice before trusting- himself. In truth, he took

o

matters with exasperating calmness. If a floe
sank under him he stepped on to the next with
perfect indifference and in the same lazy time
as before. When tacking for the last time
before reaching us, a piece of ice obstructed
his path, so large that a man could hardly
have turned it over, and there was plenty of
room to go round, but the bear only gave it
a casual slap with one of his forepaws and
sent it splashing into the water. He did it
with an air as haughty as an emperor's, and
exhibited a strength that was almost uncanny.
1 he Balloon exclaimed involuntarily, ' Oh, the
scoundrel ! '

Meanwhile the bear has headed straight for

Science ', Sport, and Exploration. 29

them, and it is not more than ten paces away,
so that it is high time to fire. It is Nansen's
turn, and just as the bear's hind-legs are at
an angle preparatory to a last spring up to
the party, he puts a bullet right into the centre
of his breast. Mr. Bruin growls, bites at the
wound, reels over, but jumps up again and
begins to run away. The battle is not over
yet, for there is still plenty of life in the bear.
Our hunter continues : —

"The Captain then sends a ball into his
hind-quarters to stop him a little. My cart-
ridge stuck fast, and only after considerable
trouble did I get it loose and another one in.
We are both ready again, and the bear is now
in the water. As he climbs up the next ridge
his back comes conveniently into sight ; we
both fire simultaneously, and the bullets enter
between the shoulder-blades. He falls back
into the water, but manages to get on to the
floe again, where he is stopped by a bullet
from the Captain. He falls back into the
water, and after a few gasps everything is
over."

Nansen gave his experiences of this voyage
in a contribution to a Norwegian sporting
paper. It appeared and was well received in
1883, he being then twenty -one years old.

3O Life of Nans en.

In these bear hunts Nansen was afforded
many opportunities of testing his great powers
of endurance. The severe muscular training of
his youth now served him in good stead. He
became a renowned hunter of bears — running,
splashing, and swimming through ice-pools in
chase of his noble quarry, and taking little harm
where other men would have ruined their health.
To his good health Nansen added a sound
belief in Jaeger clothing, and remarks: — "I
never felt cold with Jaeger wear."

On this journey he sighted Jan Mayen and
Spitzbergen, and spent some time in Iceland,
where he afterwards landed previous to his
crossing of Greenland.

One of his finest trophies at Lysaker is a
skin of one of the largest bears shot by the
party. This lies under his writing-table, and
Nansen jocularly remarked concerning it : — " I
can truly say that I sit with my foot on the
neck of my enemy ! "

The bladder-nose seal is the largest and
strongest seal to be found in Arctic waters.
Such is its immense power that it can readily
jump out of the sea, describe a curve in the air,
and plump down on the edge of a floe that
stands six or seven feet above the surface.
This extraordinary leap I myself frequently

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 31

witnessed in the east Greenland seas. Nansen,
on his first voyage, was attacked by a fierce-
looking male bladder-nose that leapt over the
gunwale of his attacking boat. " He struck at

ifM

DR. NANSEN READY TO START SLEDGING.

me, ' says Nansen, " with his teeth, missed me,
but caught the woodwork, on which he left
deep marks."

There has been a very considerable decrease
in the numbers of these hunted creatures,

32 Life of Nansen.

owing to the terrible butchery that has taken
place for years past.

Nansen tells us that seal shooting is excel-
lent practice, and tends to make one a cool
and steady rifle-shot, "for the thing is to hit
the seal only in the head, or, at worst, in the
neck. . . . To hit him elsewhere is worse than
missing him clean, as if shot in the body he
takes to the water at once."

It was on this voyage that Nansen gazed,
for the first time, with " reverence " on the
famous polar ship Vega, which carried Nor-
denskiold and his brave companions through
the north-east passage, and was then engaged
in sealing.

Although from the point of view of excite-
ment and scientific research this, his first Arctic
cruise, was a success, so far as the sealing was
concerned it was a failure, for by the time the
ice gave way the sealing season was over, and
they had nothing better to do but set their
course homeward. Nansen ends the account
of the journey thus: — " Lightly the Viking sped
over the waves as fast as wind and steam could
carry her, and great was the joy on board when
the weather-beaten peaks of dear old Norway
appeared in sight, rising from the sea."

What the Arctic regions are like, as also

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 33

something of Nansen's power of vividly de-
scribing them, may be gathered from the
following extract : — " To give those who have
not seen this world of ice an idea of what it
looks like is not easy, as it is so different from
anything else. It is a strange thing with this
region that when you are there you think it
sometimes monotonous perhaps; but when you
are away from it you long to get back again to
its white, vast solitude.

" When you approach the ice-fields of the
polar sea you hear them afar off by the noise
of the breakers against the floes ; it sounds like
the 'strange roar of a distant earthquake or
thunder-storm. Over the horizon to the north
you will also see a strange light ; this is the
white reflection which the ice throws on the
sky above. When you sail on you will after a
while begin to meet the white floes riding on
the dark water. It is along the margin of this
ice that the sealer hunts for the seal ; between
these tremendous floes he forces his way with
his strong ship to his prey. But many a hard
struggle he has to fight here when the elements
are in tumult. Nothing more foaming wild
than a tempest in the winter-night in the north
can easily be imagined. When the storm
whistles over sea and ice, lashes snow and

3

34 Life of Nansen.

foam in your face, and seizes you so that you
cannot stand on deck ; when the waves rise
into huge water-mountains, between which the
ship disappears, and is all in foam ; when sea
and ice meet, and the waves rise like towers
and break in over the floes like greenish-yellow
waterfalls, and the huge floes are thrown
against each other and crushed into dust, while
the water foams and ice-blocks are thrown high
against the dark sky — then it may happen that
you will feel the wild horror of the polar sea.
No stars, no northern lights, no light of any
kind over this furious uproar. Heavy storm-
charged clouds fly across the sky ; all around
you is blackness and darkness, noise and
tumult. It is the wild demons of nature in
fight. It thunders and roars, it hisses and
whistles in every direction — it is the Ragnarok
which is coming ; the world is shaking to its
foundations.

" But in the middle of this wild fight of the
sea and the demons, between these tower-like
waves, a small, frail work of man is riding, a
ship with living men on board. Woe to them
if they now make a single mistake ; woe to
them if they come too near one of these floes
or put the ship's bow between them at the
moment they strike together; in the next

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 35

instant they will be crushed and disappear!
But through the noise words of command can
be heard ; punctually they are obeyed ; the
sealer steers quietly his way out into the sea.
He is accustomed to such a turmoil, and he
knows that the world will still last a while.

" But there is not only storm in the polar
sea ; indeed, it can be just as mild and peaceful
there as a day in spring at home, with bright
sunshine and glittering snow. When you
come some distance into the ice it is so as a
rule, and that which most often comes before
my memory when I think of the polar regions
is not the storms, not the hardships, but this
strange peace, so far from the vortex of the
world, when from the bright blue sky the sun
is pouring its flood of light over the white,
snow-covered ice, outward and outward to the
horizon. It glitters in the snow and sparkles
in the deep blue water ; it gleams and glitters
everywhere around, while cold blue tints are
reflected from the sides of the floes, and border
them with all tints of blue and green, clear
as the clearest crystal, far down into the cold,
transparent water. And in the sunshine the
seals are lying in thousands and thousands on
the floes, enjoying life. Some of them sleep,
others are busy with their toilette, and prune

36 Life of Nan sen.

and scratch themselves ; others again are
playing, whilst some are in the water and
dive up and down, and the sun is shining
on their wet heads. The whole is a picture
of the most perfect, charming peace, and the
memory never wearies of recalling it to view.

" But when you penetrate farther into ice,
and farther northward, the open water gradually
disappears, and the sea is totally covered by
immense drifting ice-floes ; the whole world
becomes one field of white, snow-covered ice ;
only now and then between the floes a narrow
strip of dark water can be seen. Soon all
life also disappears ; no seals any longer, such
as those keep near 'open water ; neither any
birds ; the only animal which you may perhaps
meet is a single lonely polar bear, but soon he
also disappears, and there is nothing left except
yourself and the endless ice in constant drift
across the sea towards the south, towards
warmth and sun, where it is soon destroyed.
So extends the polar sea northward and north-
ward to the Pole.

'4 In the summer the sun is shining all day
and night, and circulates round and round in
the sky, and never disappears until the autumn
comes ; but then begins the long, dark winter
nicrht, which at the Pole itself lasts six months.

Science, Sport ', and Exploration. 37

Then the stars are constantly shining over the
desolate snow-fields. When the moon comes
it circulates round the sky and shines day and
night until it disappears again. But sometimes
the northern lights begin their play, this great
mystery of the north; then there comes life;
it scintillates and burns ; sparkling lights and
rays are running to and fro over the whole
sky, until they disappear again, leaving the
scene quiet and desolate as before.

"In this dead, frozen world it is that the
polar explorer has to live. There he roams
with sledge and dogs in summer, and from
thence he sends longing thoughts in the dark
winter night southward to the dear ones at
home, over whom the same stars are twinkling
in their cold peace."1

When ice-bound off east Greenland on this
journey of 1882, he brooded over plans for
reaching and exploring the mysterious coast
which so many had sought in vain, and he
even asked the captain's permission to be
allowed to take a boat and attempt to cross
the intervening floes. This, however, the
captain could not permit, as he was out for
sealing, not exploring. The idea of penetrat-
ing inland also crossed his mind about this

1 Tkt Strand Magazine ) December 1893.

3$ Life of Nansen.

time; but it was not until the autumn of 1883
that he conceived the idea of crossing from
shore to shore. In The First Crossing of
Greenland he tells us: — "One autumn evening
in the following year, that is to say, 1883 —
I remember it still, as if it were only yesterday
— I was sitting and listening indifferently as
the clay's paper was being read. Suddenly my
attention was roused by a telegram which told
us that Nordenskiold had come back safe from
his expedition to the interior of Greenland;
that he had found no oasis, but only endless
snow fields, on which his Lapps were said to
have covered on their ski an extraordinarily
long distance in an astonishing short time.
The idea flashed upon me at once of an ex-
pedition crossing Greenland on ski from coast
to coast. Here was the plan in the same form
in which it was afterwards laid before the public
and eventually carried out."

In the autumn of 1882 Nansen was appointed
curator of Bergen Museum, and soon enhanced
his reputation by the publication of many scien-
tific pamphlets.

During this curatorship he made numerous
journeys up the Hardanger and Sogne Fjords,
which lie on either side of Bergen. Around
these, the two most celebrated fjords of Nor-

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 39

way, the grandest scenery which that country
possesses is to be seen. The voyager up or
down these magnificent fjords will see hills
towering skywards, and adamantine cliffs de-
scending sheer down into the clear blue sea.
Indeed, "for the lover of scenery, the yachts-
man, the sportsman, the student of archaeology,
geology, natural history, and botany, or for
the tourist, probably no portion of northern
Europe contains more of general interest
than the fjords and the fjelds of the Har-
danger."1

In the winter of 1886 Nansen crossed the
mountains from Christiania to Bergen, fre-
quently passing the night in a snow-drift.
When nearing his destination he fell down
some precipitous crags, and bruised himself
severely. In the following year an earnest
request reached him from the inhabitants of
a village near Bergen to "come and hunt
some bears which are carrying off our cattle."

In his various excursions carried on for
science and sport Nansen became very familiar
with the vast stretches of woodland, of rocky
mountains, of lakes, of rivers, of glaciers, and
of snow-fields that go to make up his dear
Norway. In winter he could be seen on ski

1 In the Northman's Land. (Sampson Low, Marston & Co.)

46 Life of Nans en.

or skates, and in summer he spent all spare
hours in boating and shooting excursions.

A friend of his tells me that Nansen spent
three summers in a little country place on the
coast near' Bergen, examining the animals on
the bottom of the sea there.

The first time he went he carried a small
bag with him, which, he explained, " carries
my bed-clothes."

'•' But you can have bed-clothes from us,"
exclaimed the landlord.

Nansen, however, begged to be excused,
stating that they were not suitable for his
purpose. " I only use a hard mattress, a roll
as pillow, and a woollen blanket."

His attire meanwhile consisted of four articles
— a pair of stockings, a woollen shirt, breeches,
and a short grey woollen jacket ; and, out of
doors, a little grey woollen cap, which has been
named after him, "the Nansen cap."

My informant continues : — " He was very
fond of dancing, and nearly every evening,
after supper, he went into the kitchen to the
landlady to solicit permission to dance, which
was seldom refused him. The carpets were
first rolled under the sofa, and then the ball
began, the ladies being the landlord's two
daughters, who played the piano alternately."

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 41

In 1885 Nansen won the Bergen Museum
gold- medal for a paper entitled ''Contributions
to a Knowledge of the Anatomy and Histology
of the Myzostomida" (Bergen, 1885).

A memoir on the same subject was con-
tributed in 1887 to the Jena Zeitschrift filr
Naturwissenschaft, Band XXI.

It was in 1887 that Nansen obtained his
degree as Doctor of Philosophy for his treatise
on " The Structure and Combination of the
Histological Elements of the Central Nervous
System."

Nansen relates an amusing story regarding
this degree, which he received just before he
left Norway on his first great mission — the
crossing of Greenland. After his arrival at
Godthaab the first words he heard were " 'Are
you Englishmen ? '

"'No,' was the reply; 'we are Nor-
wegians.'

"'May I ask your name?' inquired the
interrogator.

"'My name is Nansen, and we have just
come from the interior.'

"'Oh!' was the response; 'allow me to
congratulate you on taking your doctor's
degree.'"1

1 The First Crossing of Greenland. (Longmans, Green & Co.)

42 Life of Nansen.

Nansen says: — ''This came like a thunder-
bolt from the sky, and it was all I could do to
keep myself from laughing outright. To put
it very mildly, it struck me as comical that
I should cross Greenland to receive congratu-
lations upon my doctor's degree, which I
happened to have taken just before I left
home."

The biological work of Nansen is little known
outside the circle of specialists, and yet before
he set out on his attempt to cross Greenland
he had done good scientific work. When settled
down at Bergen he began the histological study
of some lower orders, which constitutes his
claim to scientific recognition. He commenced
his research here with an attempt to trace the
secondary variations in the myzostoma, a group
of parasitic worms, by a close microscopic
examination of their structure and organs.
From this he took up the nervous system
of the invertebrates and subvertebrates on a
broader scale, and, in the course of his inquiries,
visited in the spring of 1886 the renowned
marine laboratory at Naples. Nansen fre-
quently stated that he was quite prepared to
put up with the simplest of living to enable
him to get funds to prosecute his scientific
studies. In 1885, as we have seen, he had

Science, Sport, and Exploration. 43

been awarded the Joachim Friele gold medal
for his work on the myzostoma ; but he had
actually taken the medal in copper, and applied
the value of the gold to the furtherance of his
travels and his task at the Naples laboratory.
This visit added greatly to his scientific know-
ledge, and his country was benefited by his
travels, for so much was he impressed with its
importance of this, the first institution of the
kind, that on his return home one of his earliest
tasks was to moot the establishment of similar
stations along the Norwegian coast, a work that
was carried out several years later.

Nansen next worked out and demonstrated
the law of the bifurcation of sensitive nerve-
roots, an important contribution to histological
science, which gave him a prominent place
among biologists.

Great, however, as was his devotion to
science, Nansen was alive to other and more
tender attractions, and when his time came
could go out to conquer in that sphere also.
Early in 1889, on a ski expedition among the
hills around Christiania, he met Miss Eva Sars,
the young lady who afterwards became his
wife, was engaged to her in August, and they
were married in September of the same year.

CHAPTER III.

PERSONALIA.

DR. NANSEN, as might be expected from his
nationality, his scholastic training, and his
early travels, is an exceptionally accomplished
linguist, speaking several languages fluently.
English he both speaks and writes. During
twenty-nine lectures he delivered in the pro-
vincial towns of Great Britain in the spring
of 1892 he seldom referred to his notes. " I
have the MSS. beside me," he remarked,
" because delivering the same lecture so often
I am apt to forget if I have touched on all
points. This would be the same if I lectured
in Norwegian. I really do not find it much
more difficult to lecture in English than in
my own tongue." Indeed, he has a positive
affection for English life, which is fostered by
his love of English literature. In his library
are the works of Shakespeare, Tennyson,
Huxley, J. S. Mill, Herbert Spencer, and

Personalia. 45

Darwin ; but his English literary sympathies
are by no means restricted to these representa-
tives of imagination and science, for he will
tell you that he is a great admirer of the
novels of George Eliot and George Meredith.
He will end, perhaps, by saying that " If I
were not a Norwegian, I would be an English-
man rather than belong to any other nation."

On his visit to England in 1892 he gave
an address to the Royal Geographical Society
on " How can the North Pole Region be
Crossed ? " which will long be remembered.
The veterans of Arctic exploration had
gathered together on this occasion to hear
what the youthful explorer intended doing.
Among them were McClintock, Nares, Ingle-
field, Allen Young, Wiggins, and numerous
others — renowned travellers in both hot and
cold climates. All were eager to hear the
plans of the Viking who would shortly set out
by a new route to find the Pole. The hall
was densely crowded, and the enthusiasm in-
spired by his personality and achievements
was communicated to the entire audience, who
expressed it, after the delivery of the address,
by unbounded applause. Curiously enough,
while admiring the courage of the enthusiast,
not one of the prominent experts commended

46 Life of Nans en.

his plan. Nares, Richards, and Hooker viewed
it with marked disfavour, but Nansen fully met
their objections, at the same time duly acknow-
ledging the criticism.

Mrs. Alec B. Tweedie, in her charming book,
A Winter s Jaunt in Norway, says : — " Pluck-
ing up courage, after a most pleasant chat, the
very day that he (Dr. Nansen) arrived in
London (November 1892), and while we were
drinking coffee after luncheon, I ventured to
ask him if he would spare us an evening while
he was in England.

" ' I am only to be here a week,' he replied,
'and one night is engaged for the Geographical
Society's lecture. One day I am going to see
a yacht at Portsmouth, and one day to Alder-
shot about my balloon ; and I am going to buy
and order a perfect cargo of goods, so, you
see, I have not much time ; yet I will certainly
come one evening, but you must promise that
you and your husband will be alone.'

" ' But that is just what I don't want to
promise ; I want to ask some friends to meet
you.'

11 ' You know I dislike society.'

"'Yes, I believe you do; but it would give
a number of people pleasure to meet you,
without any great trouble to yourself.'

Personalia. 47

" ' But they can go to the Geographical.'

" ' Unfortunately they cannot, for the applica-
tions exceed the seats by hundreds.'

" After a little persuasion he arranged to give
us an evening three days later.

" ' Now, you must promise not to disappoint
me, for, as the notice is so short, I shall put on
the cards that the party is to meet you.'

" 'Once I say I will do a thing, I never fail.
I am going to Aldershot on Tuesday ; but, if
I am alive, I will promise to be here at nine
o'clock.'

" So the affair was settled.

" On Monday was the Geographical lecture,
which proved most interesting. So were the
slides shown, and it was ultimately arranged
through the courtesy of Mr. Keltic, who lent
the lantern, and of Dr. Nansen, who arranged
which of his slides could be used, that we
should have the pictures repeated the following
night. This was done, and so much interested
were our friends, that on the slides being
shown a second time, Dr. Nansen addressed
them for about an hour in English, without
notes of any kind, and never pausing for a
word. . . . ' I love home life. Your family
life in England is very pleasant, and I always
notice it centres round the fire-place. Every

48 Life of Nan sen.

member of a family draws his chair towards
the hearth. The crackling coals call for con-
fidences, and draw people together. The
fire-place is delightful socially, but it would
not be practicable in Norway. It bakes one
side while it freezes the other, besides which
we like our rooms warmer than you, and
kept at a more equal temperature. Still, I
like your fire, for it looks delightful, and has
a marvellous power of developing friendliness
in a household. I have made some good
friends round your English hearths.''

Dr. Nansen's visits to England have been
many, but his stay has always been short.

He is, of course, a zealous student and col-
lector of works on Arctic exploration, boasting,
in fact, that he has read all that has been pub-
lished in the way of first-hand information on
this subject.

He is also an artist and photographer of no
mean order, and his collection of photographs
taken in Greenland was the subject of universal
admiration during the lecturing tour that fol-
lowed his Greenland journeyings. So great
was his love for art that at one time it was pro-
posed by his friends that he should adopt it as
a profession, and, although the suggestion was
overruled, he has taken advantage of oppor-

Personalia. 49

tunities that presented themselves to encourage
his undoubted talent in this direction, for he
has plied his pencil and camera to good pur-
pose during his three years' sojourn (1893-96)
among the solemn beauties of the north.

After this it will not sound surprising to say
that "a man so various" is also a keen poli-
tician. To this side of his nature he has many
opponents, the fact that his views are demo-
cratic by no means diminishing their number ;
but, whether in or out of opposition, he is a
man ,to command respect.

Nansen makes friends wherever he goes.
He left many sad hearts among the Eskimo
at Godthaab when he departed homeward.

In The First Crossing of Greenland he
relates: — "The day before we started one of
my best friends among the Eskimo, in whose
house I had often been, said to me, ' Now you
are going back into the great world from which
you came to us ; you will find much that is new
there, and perhaps you will soon forget us.
But we shall never forget you.' '

Balto, the irrepressible Lapp, who accom-
panied Nansen in the crossing of the inland ice,
writes of his first meeting with the doctor : — " It
was a most glorious and wonderful thing to see

this new master of ours, Nansen. He was a

4

50 Life of Nansen.

stranger, but his face shone in our eyes like
those of the parents whom we had left at home,
so lovely did his face seem to me, as well as
the welcome with which he greeted us."

It was perhaps the same feeling that he
inspired among ourselves, though our expres-
sion of it was naturally less naive.

Two young ladies of the author's acquaint-
ance spent some time in Norway in the summer
of 1886, and they assure him that the best
part of their holiday was comradeship for a
few days with Dr. Nansen. They write : —

" It was somewhere on the Ilardanger that
first we caught sight of his big muscular figure
amongst a little crowd of villagers coming on
to the steamer. He was dressed in a rough
brown Jaeger suit, which hinted at very little
' between him and God,' as Edward Carpenter
has it. A long piece of thick cloth with a hole
for the neck suggested a top-coat — being off
duty it was twisted in a rope round him. A
picturesque slouch hat on the top of his fair
closely-cropped head completed the outrig.

"We made friends over our sketches, for
with native simplicity and frankness he had
demanded a look through my book as soon as
he had caught sight of its contents, which
consisted mainly of caricatures of people we

Personalia. 5 1

had met, such as the buxom landlady of the
Bergen Hotel, over which he laughed loudly.
His own sketch-book was full of beautiful
water-colour drawings done on an Italian tour,
from which he was just returning. A few
months later he sent us a Christmas card, a little
painting of the fjord where we met, which is
treasured up as a priceless remembrance of the
now great explorer.

" From Eide we carried his few belongings
on our carioles to Voss, while he trudged the
twenty miles in the same time, walking along-
side for a chat when his path crossed ours.

"A fair was going on in the village, and
after some wild strawberries and cream on the
balcony, we had a merry time, going hatless
round the booths with Dr. Nansen, the little
crowds of people parting and following us to
watch what the big man would do. We com-
peted at quoits, and I am bound to say that
the Arctic explorer was no nearer winning a
prize than the two English girls who were
with him.

"There were no other visitors in the inn,
and we sat up late, playing and singing English
songs, and watching the light fade on the
distant snow and lake. Our diary cover is
filled with a bold design in mountains and

52 Life of Nansen.

waterfalls, done by the Doctor in copious ink-
blots and thumb-nail as a bribe for 'just one
more song.'

" ' He was a wonderful man,' said mine host;
1 from his boyhood up the people for miles round
had sent in haste for him as soon as a bear
came down on the village, and he was known
to have crossed snow-mountains and glaciers
never before trodden, and to have slept safely
in the snow with his little dog clasped in his
arms; while as a skilober his equal was not
known in Norway.'

"As we journeyed to Bergen next day on
that marvellous little line of railway, I made
a hasty profile sketch of him while he was
busy drawing my friend. He pronounced it
an excellent likeness and wanted to carry it
off, but I have never regretted that my
obstinacy preserved me the memento of the
daring pioneer as he was ten years ago."

The story goes that late in the year 1892
Nansen was a guest at one of the famous
Saturday night dinners of the Savage Club in
London, and amid the acclamations of the
members and guests, he wrote his name and
date upon the wall:—

"FRIDTJOF NANSEN,
NOVEMBER 19711, 1892."

Personalia. 5 3

The members of the club have framed the
inscription to preserve it, and it was hoped
that on his return to England he would again
be the guest of this club and add the date
of his discovery of the North Pole.

This visit actually took place on February
/th, 1897, and a description of what took
place on the occasion is not without interest.
Naturally the desire on the part of the members
of the club to be present on so noteworthy an
occasion was general ; so general, indeed, that
only about half the number of applicants could
be accommodated, and even this taxed the
resources of the club to the utmost.

All stood as the chairman, Mr. J. Scott
Keltic, entered, followed by Dr. Nansen and
other guests, who included Lieutenant Scott-
Hansen, Sir George Baden-Powell, and Dr.
John Murray.

Dinner over, the usage of the club of no
speech-making was for the occasion broken
through. Introduction, in the ordinary sense,
was of course not needed, and Mr. Keltic was
happily and commendably brief. A reference
to the visit of four years ago and to the " hand-
writing on the wall " was not to be omitted,
while volleys of cheers greeted the reminder
that the prediction then made that Nansen

54 Life of Nans en.

would come safely out of the perilous enterprise
had been fully and happily realised. Needless
to say, the toast to the health of the two ex-
plorers was greeted with a tempest of cheering,
which burst out anew as the leader rose to
reply. Then it was that the heated but happy
diners, whose numbers had been considerably
augmented since dinner was done, and who
now covered the whole floor space, had their
first good look at the principal guest of the
evening. In appearance Nansen was not
greatly changed since the occasion of his first
visit to the club. There was little trace of
the hardships and privations he and Johansen
underwent during the fifteen months that
elapsed after they left the Fram and plunged
into unknown seas, and their falling in with
Jackson. The natural lines of the face are
perhaps a little harder ; the figure, if anything,
is more spare ; the eyes, too, seemed deeper
and more sunken; while the brow is certainly
more beetling and set, until the face lights up
with smile or laughter. But its main char-
acteristic is strength of an amiable sort ; and
as one looked at it and the wiry if loosely-
knit frame, one could not but feel that here
were the qualities of which the world's heroes
and pioneers are made — qualities that, in the

Personalia. 5 5

familiar phrase, enable a man to go anywhere
and do anything.

And then came Nansen's reply to the toast
of his health. The occasion, the atmosphere,
the surroundings no doubt prompted him to
make this as light as possible, and to leave the
recital of the more solid fruits of the expedition
to the meeting of the Royal Geographical
Society. The chairman, in his introduction,
remarked, that whether they looked upon
Nansen's expedition as an adventure or as
an attempt to get as near the North Pole as
possible, or in light of the gain it had been to
science, they would agree that it was almost
without precedent. To find anything at all
analogous to it they had to go back to the
voyage of Columbus in 1492. They were
doubly honoured that evening, because they
had among them one of Dr. Nansen's most
loyal and competent comrades, Lieutenant
Scott-Hansen. In that connection he would
like to say that he noticed that the brave
fellows on the Fram were sometimes alluded
to as the crew. Dr. Nansen did not care to
see that term applied to them. They were all
comrades, living in a sort of republic, with
Nansen as their guide, philosopher, and head.
Some of these comrades were asked when they

5 6 Life of Nans en.

got back to Christiania which officer they liked
best, " Oh," they said, " Captain Sverdrup."
11 What about Nansen ? " " Oh, Nansen ? " was
the reply, " we don't look on him as an
officer at all ; he is a demi-god."

Dr. Nansen, on rising to respond, said : —
" Brother Savages, — I must say I feel greatly
honoured by the reception you have given me,
though I think that I really deserve it, because,
as a Savage, I think I have beaten you all. I
feel quite certain that if you had met me last
summer in the month of June you would admit
that a better specimen of a savage you had
never seen in your life. I do not say so much
about Lieutenant Scott- Hansen, because he
has not entitled himself so much to the title
of a savage, for he had a comfortable, civilised
life on board the Fravi. As for myself, I must
confess that it was the first time that I had
lived fifteen months without soap — and I think
that is sufficient to make me a fitting member
or guest of this club. I must confess that
worse things happened than that. We have
eaten raw meat, ice -bears, walruses, walrus
blubber, and so on. But the worst of all, per-
haps, was the way in which we had to clean
ourselves. We had no soap, as I have told
you, and I can assure you it is rather a nasty

Personalia. 57

thing, after having been obliged to skin wal-
ruses in the water, and getting your clothes
soaked through with fat and oil, to feel those
clothes sticking to you in the most uncomfort-
able way. We did our best to keep ourselves
clean, and tried all sorts of different ways. We
tried the Esquimaux way, but that was no
good, What we had to do was to use the
knife and scrape ourselves. That was all right
so far, for the knife will scrape the skin clean
in the long run if you use it well. But it was
worse with our clothes, and the only thing we
could do with them was to boil them in our
cooking-pot. The fat, however, would remain
in the clothes, so after we had boiled them for
a sufficient time to make them softer we took
them out, and holding one end in the mouth,
scraped them. We got out much fuel in that
way, and this we burned in the lamp. Yes, it
is quite true. We had fuel for our lamp for
a whole day after having cleaned our shirts.
When we met Jackson, after having spent the
whole winter in our hut, which was not as big
as this room — it was 10 feet long and 6 feet
broad, and we had to be in our sleeping-bag
the whole time — what happened ? One day I
heard some dogs, — you may have read about
it in the papers, — and I met a man in the floe,

58 Life of Nansen.

and the first way in which I felt the approach
of civilisation was the scent of soap. I tell
you all this just to show you I have one in-
cident more to tell you. Mr, Fisher, one of
the members of the Jackson expedition, told
me afterwards that he was very disappointed
when he met me. We thought we had seen
Jackson on the ice watching us with a tele-
scope, and they thought it must be Nansen,
but Jackson did not recognise me at once. I
had a somewhat different appearance to what
he had seen of me before. Fisher said, ' I
read in some paper that you were a fair man,
and I met a dark man on the ice, and I was
very disappointed because I thought it was
not you.' I tell you this to prove to you that
you have a worthy guest here to-night. Well,
I can assure you that the cordial reception you
have given my lieutenant and I goes to my
heart, and I can assure you that I have been
only too proud to learn, after my return, that
you have kept the poor name I wrote on that
wall when I paid you a visit in 1892." Then
turning to the wall behind him, where stood
his signature, long since covered by a sheet
of glass for its better preservation, he took a
pencil, and immediately above the signature he
again wrote the now familiar autograph, with

FRIDTJOF NANSEN.

Personalia. 59

the date, February 1897, and drew a rough
map of the North Polar regions, marking upon
it the highest point he reached — 86° 14' N. —
and the date at which he arrived there, April
8th, 1895.

In explaining his fascination it would be idle
to ignore the physical grandeur of the man.

A gentleman who met Nansen in 1 888 says : —
" I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Nansen
when he was stopping in London as the guest
of Professor Fowler, Director of the Museum
of Natural History at South Kensington. This
was not long after his return from his walking
tour in Greenland. The impression he makes
on one is that of youth, health, strength, vigour,
and enthusiasm. A student, and devoted to
science ; in physique, he is best described as
a good-natured, flaxen-haired, blue-eyed giant.
The tight-fitting suit of rough grey cloth he
wore set off his noble figure to advantage."

Seven years later the same writer remarks : —
"There could not in these modern days be a
man of more pronounced Viking type than
Dr. Nansen. His very name, Fridtjof, con-
jures up memories of the days when the
Vikings were the terror of Europe. Who does
not know Fridtjof s Saga, the great poem that
has so often been translated into English ?"

60 Life of Nans en.

Nansen is a man of striking personality and
appearance. He is thirty- six years of age, but
he looks older than his years, doubtless owing
to the hardships he endured in crossing the ice
plateau of Greenland. He is over six feet in
height, and by constant physical training he
has made his muscular frame one of the finest
and most equably developed that any man of
science ever possessed ; for it must not be
forgotten that in this athlete, whom few men
could challenge with success in his favourite
sports, the habit of scientific research is
equally well developed. His contributions to
zoology and histology have earned him a name,
independently of his Arctic explorations.

Nansen wears his fair hair falling straight
back from his high forehead. He has the
deep blue Norwegian eye. His firm mouth
is surmounted by a small, fair moustache. He
is so tall and straight and well-made, that
people turn round to look at him in the street.
Quickness and determination characterise the
man. The name that he gave to his ship,
Fraru (Forward), is his own motto. He
made up his mind not to look backward and
count upon escape. He did the same when
he crossed Greenland in 1888-89. He broke
off all means of retreat. The men who knew

Personalia.

61

WITHIN A DOZEN FEET OF A SHEER PRECIPICE."

62 Life of Nan sen.

Greenland best said it was impossible. He
dared it and did it.

In the matters of ability and physical power,
Dr. Nansen is a prince of explorers. A few
anecdotes relating to his promptitude of action
in cases of urgency may be aptly introduced
here to show his courage and his fertility of
resource either in the matter of upholding
right or of averting danger.

One who is intimately acquainted with the
Nansens says : — " I call to mind a little incident
when the doctor's presence of mind saved a
young Englishman who was then a novice on
ski. We were, at the time, travelling over
some all but unknown country in the Yotten-
heim or Norwegian Alps, and knowing that a
village was near and that night was coming on,
one of the party proposed a short cut, which
necessitated a long glissade down a snow slope.
Off we went, the doctor first and the Englishman
following, Alexander Nansen bringing up the
rear. When three parts of the way down, to
the astonishment of the followers, the doctor
was seen suddenly to wheel, and stopping on his
ski within their own length (a feat which few
who had not been accustomed to this mode
of travelling from their youth upwards could
accomplish), he thrust out his ski staff and

Personalia. 63

tripped up his companion, who was at that
instant rushing past him down the slope at
express speed. The motive of this seemingly
extraordinary action was soon manifest ; we
were within a dozen feet of a sheer precipice
some thousands of feet in depth, down which,
but for the doctor's ready resource, we should
surely have been dashed."

During the explorer's first visit to London
the following incident happened on his first day
in the great city. There was a Drawing-room
at Buckingham Palace, and, attracted by the
gathering crowd, and hearing that the Princess
of Wales was then about to arrive, Nansen
pushed himself into the front of the spectators
just at the instant of the Royal arrival. Sud-
denly he felt a vigorous tug at his watch-chain.
Quick as lightning the young Norwegian seized
the pickpocket's wrist and held it in an iron
grip, while with his disengaged hand he took
off his hat and joined his neighbours in a cheer.
When the Royal carriage had passed he called
a policeman and gave the thief in charge. One
amusing point was that during the whole affair
he never even dropped the umbrella which he
had under the arm of the hand by which he
was holding the prisoner. It is stated that the
watch-thief, whose wrist was nearly crushed,

64 Life of Nansen.

said that he would rather go to gaol for a
month than let that gentleman get hold of him

" HELD IT IN AN IRON GRIP."

again; and yet the doctor said he "only held
him tightly."

Personalia. 65

One cannot help quoting Captain Brown's
reply to the question of what he thought of
u Nansen and his work?" "I think, sir,"
replied the intrepid sailor, " Nansen is the
finest chap I ever met, and that he has done
as daring a feat as man can conceive. More

o

than this, I do not believe it will ever be done
again, much less beaten." " Think of it," he
continued, — and here the Captain looked serious
— " he and his comrade started on that journey
of unknown length with scarcely anything but
their clothes. Nansen knew they had but one
chance in a thousand in their favour." " No,
sir," he concluded, (< I don't think Nansen will
yet again attempt the North Pole. But within
a year or two he means to try the South Pole,
and may he have luck. He's the finest fellow
in the whole world."

Our account of \.\\e personelli of Nansen may
fitly conclude with the subjoined phrenological
report. It was written by Miss L. N. Fowler,
upon whom Nansen called for a cephalographic
examination during his last visit to London.

" DR. NANSEN.

" This gentleman possesses a powerful or-
ganisation, and one well adapted to health and

long life. There are no weak spots that disease

5

66 Life of Nans en.

can attack. His fibres are strongly knit to-
gether, and there is remarkable solidity in his
desires, joined to great quality in the whole of
his organisation, as well as harmony between
body and mind. His head is high or meso-
cephalic, and broad or brachiocephalic. This
development of head, together with the well-set
face, indicate strength, determination, courage,
and superior power to combat obstacles. He
has no superfluous adipose tissue, hence he has
energy of brain and muscle of body rather
strong in consequence. His head is high, not-
withstanding that the hair stands straight up
from the head. He possesses unusual per-
severance, and should be able to inspire the
same spirit into others. There is no vacillation
in his mind when he has once determined on a
certain course of action. Taking into account
the height of his head, he has also particular
power in the parietal eminence, which gives
him prudence as well as foresightedness. He
will be bold and fearless, yet will measure his
line before he drops it into the sea, to see if he
is equal to his task. He will not attempt what
he has not well considered on all sides, and,
even if he places his ambition too high, he will
nevertheless make more out of the amount of
success he achieves than ninety-nine men out

Personalia. 67

of a hundred. His head is exceedingly high
from the root of the nose to the top of the
forehead, which gives him great intuitive insight
into men and things. His mind penetrates
below the surface, and he is able to come to
correct conclusions about important matters.
He should be able to know how to choose his
men in whatever calling he was engaged. His
mind is particularly receptive of inspiration.
He receives light on many subjects which he
cannot account for in an ordinary way. He is
particularly open to conviction on any new sub-
ject, and is not afraid of entertaining advanced
thoughts and of trying new inventions. His
executive brain is well developed, which gives
him force, energy, spirit, and considerable
power to work things out in a masterly way.
He never looks back when he has once under-
taken a project, and will win better results with
poorer material to work with than many who
have everything they want. If he were a
general and all his troops deserted him at the
last moment, he would not give up, but would
somehow rally others around him in time to go
into battle and win the day with all the odds
against him.

" Few men possess more concentration of
power, more nervous energy, more clearness

68 Life of Nansen.

of judgment, firm conviction, and faith in his
principles than he. He ought to be able to
write more quickly than he can talk about what
he is going to do. He is not a blustering kind
of man, but one who believes in action rather
than pretence. He should know how to ap-
preciate grandeur in scenery, and will never
be afraid of large schemes of work. He is not
a mere imitator of other men, but will prove
to be rather original and individual in his
style and system of doing things. He will
be entertaining as a writer, and will know
exactly how to present his subjects in an
interesting way. He has a good memory of
special events, and can recall history or relate
experiences with great vividness. He is a man
of order, method, and system. He prefers to
mark out his programme before he begins
with a single line of work. He has the mind
that can organise and set other minds to work.
He is very critical, as well as apt in his com-
parisons. He knows how to get on with
people of various nationalities, and can suit
himself when travelling to various circum-
stances, manners, and customs. He knows
how to adapt himself to a unique position, and
is able to grasp the situation with versatility
and precision. He has a kindly disposed mind

Personalia. 69

with all his force of character. He possesses
also a tenderness and sympathy with humanity.
His hope stimulates him to act with the feeling
that he is going to succeed in any enterprise
he undertakes. He possesses considerable
buoyancy and elasticity of mind, which he is
able to impart to others. He is something
like a second Columbus. All things con-
sidered, he is not a man who would quickly
settle down into a back seat and take life in
an ordinary way; but he must be up and stir-
ring, for he is both enterprising and energetic,
and likes to be where there is action required,
a tough job to overcome, great precision, and
determination of mind and tact, as well as
diplomacy in working the machinery of life."1

His wonderful industry, his great enthusiasm,
his natural and acquired gifts raised him at
an early age to a foremost position among men
of science in Norway. No labour in field or
study could tire out his unconquerable energy.
His manhood, like his youth, has displayed
the most signal powers of physical and mental
endurance, and shows him fully possessed of
all those qualities which go to make up the
ideal explorer.

To whatever subject he gave his attention,

1 The Phrenological Magazine, March 1893.

70 Life of Nansen.

no matter what might be its difficulties, he was
able by his rare capacity, by his genius, and
by his dogged power of will, to make himself
absolute master of it. He remains now as in
his earlier days, the same inquiring, reasoning,
deliberate, determined spirit — rich in imagina-
tion, bold in performance, unfettered in thought,
open to all influences, but completely and
absolutely master of himself.

CHAPTER IV.

GREENLAND AND ITS INHABITANTS.

IT may not be out of place here to give a brief
description of Greenland and its inhabitants.
One often wonders why it is called Greenland,
and we are told in this connection that an
Icelander, Erik the Red, is said to have dis-
covered it and called it Greenland, because, as
he told his companions, "much people will go
thither if the land has a fair name." The
contour of Greenland is that of an irregular
lozenge, over 1400 miles long and some 900
miles wide. Greenland might fittingly be
termed the glacial continent, as fully three-
fourths of its known area are covered by an
eternal ice-cap, named by geographers "the
inland ice."

It has long possessed a fascination for scien-
tists as a still extant illustration of the con-
ditions of Northern Europe during the Great
Ice Age. A thorough knowledge of this vast

72 Life of Nans en.

island is of extreme importance to the geologist,
the biologist, the meteorologist, and the geo-
grapher, and in consequence many explorers
have made earnest attempts to penetrate into
its unknown regions, crossing the ice until they
reached heights of 7000 feet. It was eventually
crossed in 1888, from east to west, by Dr.
Nansen, who found the " divide" to attain a
height of 9000 feet above the level of the sea.
This daring feat led to other expeditions,
among which Lieutenant Peary's journeys
stand pre-eminent. His enterprise in Northern
Greenland was of the greatest importance. It
was designed to solve the question of the in-
sularity of Greenland, and it was a great achieve-
ment to reach Independence Bay and all but put
the finishing stroke to the long tale of heroism
which relates the charting out of the outline of
that vast ice-covered country. It is still Peary's
ambition to connect Cape Bismarck, the highest
point on the east coast reached by the German
Expedition of 1870, with the farthest north
reached by Lockwood of the Greely Expedi-
tion, and this he hopes to accomplish in spite
of all difficulties. We shall then be familiar
with the whole outline of this remarkable land,
A narrow border country, having a good
vegetable growth and an animal life identical

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 73

on the cast and west sides, extends nearly all
round Greenland. There is a very perfect,
but very diminutive, forest growth of birch
and willow. Poppies, buttercups, lovely pinks,
and other brightly-coloured flowers bloom in
favoured localities. Berries, especially crow-
berries and whortle - berries, are numerous.
Butterflies, moths, and mosquitoes are very
abundant. Greenland is one of the countries
which is most visited by mosquitoes, and the
face of any one who, without a veil, ventures
into marshy ground, overgrown with bushes,
becomes in a few hours unrecognisable. They
give a warm reception to strangers. I have
partaken of their hospitality, but unfortunately
could not repay them. We can gather, then,
that although Greenland is essentially a land
of snow and ice, it has its green and genial
parts which seem to remind us of that far
distant past, when scientists tell us Greenland
enjoyed a tropical climate. The summer tem-
perature in Greenland is about the same as a
mild winter here. The winters are extremely
cold, often reaching 105° below freezing point
— i.e., 73° below zero.

Mrs. Peary, describing her visit in June of
1891 to the Island of Disko, Greenland, says: —
"The day was exceptionally fine, and never

74 Life of N arisen.

had I seen so many different wild flowers in
bloom at once. I could not put my foot
down without crushing two or three different
varieties. Never had I stepped on moss so
beautiful and soft; all shades of green and red,
some beds of it covered so thickly with tiny
pink flowers that you could not put the head
of a pin down between them. Sometimes our
path was across snow-drifts, sometimes we were
ankle deep in flowers and moss. Mountain
streams came tumbling down in every little
gully." Sights like these may be seen in
many parts of Greenland in summer, but in
winter all takes on its dreaded coat of snow
and ice.

Eskimo is the name given to the inhabitants
of Greenland and Icy America. It suits them,
signifying "eaters of raw meat." The tracks
of Eskimo have been met with wherever our
Arctic explorers have penetrated, being thinly
scattered over a large district. It is said that
the Eskimo more than any one else belongs
to the coast and the sea. Nansen beautifully
puts it: — " He dwells by the sea, upon it he
seeks his subsistence, it gives him all the
necessaries of his life, over it he makes all his
journeys, whether in his skin canoes in the
summer, or in his dog sledge in winter."

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 75

Though occasionally they find food by pursu-
ing the chase on land, they mainly get their
subsistence from hunting the seal, walrus, and
whale at sea, from the skin, blubber, and flesh
of which creatures they procure clothes, fuel,
light, and food. To sally forth alone in their
little canoe and encounter a " white" whale or
a walrus is a task demanding the utmost nerve
and courage, and many of these daring hunters
do it. A successful whale hunter is decorated
with the Eskimo blue ribbon — a blue line
across his face on the bridge of his nose, and
he is also allowed to take unto himself two
wives. In summer they wander about looking
for good hunting grounds, but in winter they
are stationary, being surrounded by constant
darkness. Their dwellings vary according to
their surroundings. On the coast the walls
consist of stone or turf; in the interior the
houses are formed out of snow and ice. The
number of inhabitants at an Eskimo station
varies, but is most frequently under fifty. The
dress of the Eskimo is almost the same for
woman as man. Inside the huts the Eskimo
wears less than the proverbial yard of cloth ;
the temperature inside reaches a great height,
owing to improper ventilation and crowded
inmates, — three or four families often living

76 Life of Naiisen.

together, — and they can consequently dispense
with clothing, strange as the fact may sound
in our ears. The young ladies are very fond
of gay colours, and their dark hair is a matter
of competition. They gather it in tufts on the
very top of the head, the central tuft rising an
inch or two above the outer circlet. The size
of this tuft is a matter of pride, and in tying
it up gay colours are much in vogue. Clean-
liness is conspicuous by its absence! They
have but one use for water — drinking pur-
poses.

The position of woman there is similar to
that here, except for one or two advanced
powers given to the husband. If successful,
as I said, in a single combat with a whale, he is
allowed to take a second wife. The husbands
may also exchange wives for a year or two if
so inclined, but they do not exercise this power
very often, being lovable in their natures if
properly matched. A wife can leave her
husband after twelve months' trial if dissatis-
fied, and there is no child.

An Eskimo's eating power is enormous. He
imposes no restraint on his appetite, and eats
like a wolf as long as the supply holds out,
never taking thought for the morrow. There
are no tables in the Greenland huts nor Shef-

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 77

field cutlery. The dish is placed in the
middle of the floor, and the people sit on
the benches around, and dip into it with the
forks provided by Nature. Mrs. Peary has
brought prominently before the public her
four years' experience and travel amongst
the Eskimo in Greenland, and been able
to glean and impart to us many interesting
and instructive facts about these pioneers
of the far north. She states that the desire
to visit the Arctic regions had been present
in her mind ever since childhood, and that
it was not with her eyes shut that she
married an Arctic explorer. Her honeymoon
trip, in 1891, was to Greenland, and in setting
off she wrote : — " I am not a bit afraid of any
hardships I may have to endure, the only
subject that worries me is that of fresh food.
I am blessed with a most unromantic appetite,
and I am a bit afraid that Greenland will not
be able to furnish all that I shall need. Still,
I am told that whale oil is highly nutritious,
when one gets used to the taste ; so, after all,
I imagine that I shall get along without much
trouble. What am I going to wear? Oh, just
clothes ! I mean by that that I don't propose
to wear any of those furry garments which the
geographies have taught us the Eskimo always

78 Life of Nansen.

appear in. I am not going to sleep in a bag,
nor live in a snow-hut, if I can help it" (but
she did). " I have furnished myself with
plenty of warm blankets and thick dresses,
and in appearance, at least, I do not propose
to differ very much from my friends at home."
Lieutenant Peary proudly said : — "She has been
where no white woman has ever been before,
and where many a man has hesitated to go."

It is instructive to know that within eighty
miles of where Greely's men one by one
starved to death, within sixty miles of where
Kane and his men endured such sufferings,
this tenderly nurtured woman lived for four
years in safety and comfort.

The Peary party hired the Eskimo to come
and sew for them, but were obliged to dismiss
them from the house to their own tents on
account of their odour. Of the affection shown
by the Eskimo for one another Mrs. Peary
gives an instance. One of the married women
was sitting with Mrs. Peary helping in the
sewing, and her husband, Annowkah, came
into the room frequently. He went to his wife
and rubbed his face against hers, and then they
sniffed at each other; this takes the place of
kissing. Mrs. Peary says: — "I think they could
smell each other without doing this; but they

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 79

are probably so accustomed to the (to me)
terrible odour that they fail to notice it." Mr.
Peary decided to have a walrus hunt for the
purpose of obtaining ivory, and as they were
seen in every direction in the bay, a party set
off in the whale-boat and soon harpooned a
large one. Off the boat went, skimming over
the water, towed by the infuriated harpooned
walrus. This lasted for half-an-hour, during
which time the crew kept up a constant volley
at the walrus that besieged them on every
side to revenge their wounded companion.
There were over one hundred around the
boat at one time, and it seemed as if it would
be impossible to keep them from swamping it,
but by steady firing they managed to hold
them at oar's length. Mrs. Peary sat during
this dreadful conflict in the stern of the boat,
calmly re-loading the empty fire-arms while the
herd of infuriated walrus about her thrust their
savage heads, with gleaming tusks and blood-
shot eyes, close to where she sat, so that she
could have touched them with her hand in
their efforts to get their tusks over the gunwale
and capsize the boat. The tusks of this animal
are in high repute for the manufacture of
chessmen, umbrella handles, and false teeth.
Its blubber is used for oil, and its skin for

8o Life of Nansen.

harness and sole leather. The seal is a much
more valuable prey. The skins of these
animals are valuable, some highly so. Their
oil is much esteemed, being of a better quality
than that of the walrus, and their flesh supplies
the Eskimo with one of their principal articles
of subsistence. Next to the seal and walrus,
the bear supplies the staple diet of the Eskimo,
and, except the Arctic fox, furnishes the most
important element of their wardrobe.

Mrs. Peary, on her return, ascended the
lecture-platform, and the choicest feature of
her entertainment was her picture of her baby-
girl, the farthest north-born white child in the
world, and the only one in America with a
Greenland Eskimo for a nurse.

The country up to 73° belongs to Denmark;
north of that is no man's land, probably be-
cause its resources have not made it worth
an official claim and protection. The Scan-
dinavians— Icelanders under Erik the Red —
visited Greenland in the eleventh century and
formed two settlements, which were for long
supposed to be on the east and west coasts
respectively, though it is now held that both
were on the latter shore. After discovering
America and fighting with the Eskimo, who
by-and-by made their appearance, the colonies

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 81

died away. They had paid their Peter's pence
in walrus hides and ivory, but the last Bishop
does not seem to have reached his see, and
until the heroic Egede went to Greenland, early
in last century, the very name of the old settle-
ments was legendary. Since then the Eskimo
have never been left to themselves. When
Egede came to it he estimated the population
at thirty thousand. The latest enumeration
makes them about ten thousand all told,
leaving out of account the East coast and
Smith Sound people, who will not add to the
census more than a few hundreds. The black
death, small-pox, and influenza, which several
times since 1867 have been epidemic, have
been the causes of this diminution. The
Danish Government are, however, not to
blame for it. For, in order to prevent the
introduction of spirits and the visit of
undesirable traders, the commerce of Green-
land in blubber, narwhal and walrus ivory,
down, sealskins, and the like, is a strict
monopoly of the Government, and is con-
ducted through a department known as the
Royal Greenland Board of Trade, presided
over by a president who resides in Copen-
hagen.

The country itself is divided into two

6

82 Life of Nansen.

Inspectorates, and over every "colony" or
district there is a governor. A doctor is
also provided for every few districts, though,
as the patient generally either dies or gets
well before he can be reached by kayak or
" umiak" — the women's boat — in summer, or
by dog sledge in winter, the medical officer
is more a salve to the official conscience than
of any actual use. The Government of Green-
land is a monopoly. But it is not quite a
despotism. An attempt at Home Rule has
been introduced by the formation of Local
Councils, the members of which are elective,
and have the power of spending some of the
surplus profits of "the trade" on purposes
of public utility or charity. A good deal is,
we understand, disposed of in the shape of
loans. A widow, for example, borrows five
rigsdaler (they still stick to the old monetary
system) in order that she may pay some
hunter to teach her boy seal-hunting and
white whale spearing, arts which constitute
the one occupation of the people; or a youth,
blushing through the grime of a winter, is going
to get married, and desires to get into the
Council's debt for a kayak; or a hut-holder
wishes for a rifle to replace the one he lost at
the breaking up of the ice-foot last June.

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 83

Another visitor to Greenland-— Mr, Jillson,
of New York — gives us some interesting infor-
mation about the queer homes and customs of
these primitive people. It was on the morning
of August 7th, 1896, when he came on deck
and found the vessel lying off the west coast
of Greenland. " A more cheerless scene I
never beheld," he tells us; "it was truly 'The
Land of Desolation.' The rocks formed a
perpendicular wall along the shore, rising
straight from the water from 200 to 2000 feet.
Not a tree or shrub or living thing was seen,
only the cold, bleak rock, covered in places
with layers of ice." They signalled for a pilot
again and again, and at length " something like
a floating log was seen in the distance, then
another and still another. As they approached
they seemed like huge birds, with wings ex-
tended, moving on the surface of the water,
then like men immersed to the waist walking
with arms extended ; finally they developed
into those wonderful boats used by the Eskimo
and called 'kayaks/ These kayaks are built
on the principle of our canoes; they are the
most singular contrivances ever made for navi-
gating the waters of a rough sea, the frame
being made of the bones of the whale and the
walrus, and covered top, bottom, and sides

84 Life of Nans en.

with the skin of the seal. A hole in the top
admits the lower half of the body, and, fitting
close around it, prevents even a drop of water
from entering the kayak, while his hands are
free to use his paddle and weapon. The
daring and skill of these kayakers is remark-
able, they frequently going where no white
man dare venture."

NANSEN IN HIS KAYAK.

Mr. Jillson continues: — " The sea was high,
but the kayakers moved over the water as
gracefully as swans. They came quickly to
the side of our vessel, wriggled themselves out
of their kayaks, and climbed aboard. They
were funny little fellows, clothed in fur, their
long black hair flying in the wind and their
faces shining with oil and dirt. Going to the
pilot-house, they directed our vessel along the

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 85

shore till at length the rocks opened and we
passed through a narrow passage and anchored
in the harbour of Sukkertoppen.

"This little settlement is named from a
mountain in the vicinity, which is shaped like
a sugar-loaf and covered with snow. The
harbour was not more than a thousand feet in
any direction, but is quite deep and surrounded
by perpendicular rocks hundreds of feet in
height. From our vessel the view was quite
picturesque. The stern of our vessel almost
touched a rock which rose straight from the
water fifteen hundred feet. In front was a
rock covered with natives in their peculiar
costume, while on the top was a staff, from
which floated the Danish flag. On our left,
at the base of a rock two thousand feet high,
was the village, consisting of eleven Govern-
ment houses and about two dozen igloos of
the natives.

" As soon as we landed I proceeded to pay
my respects to the Governor and his family.
This functionary lives in a two-storey frame
house, the outside of which is covered with a
coat of black tar. In the yard, in which there
was not a blade of grass, were croquet arches
in position and mallets scattered around. The
house is very plain, and the winding stairs to

86 Life of Nansen.

the second storey, though devoid of beauty, are
substantial. The second storey contains four
rooms of moderate size — viz., a sleeping-room,
a dining-room, a reception-room, and a smoking-
room and library, the three latter connected by
large double - doors. The rooms were well
furnished with carpets, tables, sofas, chairs, a
piano, cases of books, pictures, and knick-
knacks of various kinds."

He found the official family to consist of the
Governor, his wife, and a young boy and girl,
and the Lieutenant-Governor, his wife, and her
sister. They found all the family refined and
most intelligent, speaking several languages
fluently, and keenly alive to the social and
literary advantages of their native city, in spite
of the fact that they were spending the better
part of their lives in this inhospitable land.
The other Danish houses in this colony are
used for preparing seal-oil for transportation,
for cleaning the bones of the whale and walrus,
for drying fish, blacksmith shops, carpenter
shops, storehouses, etc. Our informant con-
tinues : —

" Leaving the Governor's residence, I
wandered around the Eskimo village, which
consists of a score of igloos, some standing on
the shore of a little bav behind the hills, others

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 87

on small islands, on the banks of a stream, or
on the sides and tops of the rocks. They are
built of stone, covered with dirt and sod, and
sometimes roofed with boards brought from
Denmark, or with the ribs of the walrus and
whale. They are quite low. The floors are
of dirt, and about one-half of the interior :is
raised a foot or two for sleeping purposes.

"Their beds consist of skins laid on this
raised floor, with other skins for covers. They
are very dirty in their habits. Around their
huts ,are bird feathers, the heads, tails, and
entrails of fish, and in fact filth of all kinds,
sometimes a foot or more in depth. Their
food is seldom more than half-cooked, and
frequently eaten raw. They dress in skins
with the fur side out, though in the winter
they wear two suits, the inner one with the
fur next the body.

"Some of the men wore cloth trousers,
doubtless obtained from civilised visitors, and
tunics with hoods lined with the skins of birds.
The dress of the women was peculiar, though
quite pretty and convenient. They wore a
sort of tunic which came to the waist, to which
was fastened a hood, which was used for
carrying the baby, a cotalee or trousers made
of seal-skin, with the hair out, and beautifully

88 Life of Nansen.

ornamented with coloured skins of the reindeer,
Arctic fox, and other animals. The cotalee
came nearly to the knees, where they were
met by stockings beautifully ornamented with
various coloured skins.

" The boots were like moccasins, with tops
reaching nearly to the knee, and were often
trimmed with the coloured sinews of animals.
Some of them wore beautiful necklaces of
coloured beads, ofttimes as wide as a cape.
But the most singular custom prevails in dress-
ing the hair. It is always combed straight up
from the forehead, ears, and neck, and made
into a knot four or five inches high, on the
top of the head. This topknot is wound with
ribbons. If the woman is married the colour
of the ribbon is blue; if single, red; if a widow,
black; and if of doubtful reputation, green. It
was a surprise to find these women dressed
in the latest fashion, with psyche knots, golf
capes, and the more advanced bicycle costume.

" I have described the city residences, but
the country homes are not so grand. Though
nearly all the natives live in communities near
the shore, occasionally we found an igloo some
miles up a fjord. Perhaps I cannot do better
than describe an adventure in a country igloo.
We were camped near the head of Igkamint

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 89

fjord, about twenty-five miles from the coast.
One cold and wet Sunday we heard songs of
praise, apparently coming from an igloo in the
vicinity, and decided to enter. On our hands
and knees we crawled through a long and
narrow underground passage into the reception-
room, where we were welcomed and given a
stone for a seat. Nowhere could a person
stand erect, and the water dripping from the
stones and dirt which formed the roof and
sides gathered in puddles on the earthen floor.
Not an article of furniture was to be seen,
except the stones on which we sat and a lamp
made of a piece of soapstone slightly hollowed,
containing fragments of seal blubber and a bit
of lighted moss.

" An old woman who sat near the lamp was
kept busy in pressing the blubber and arrang-
ing the moss. Eskimo are not remarkable
for cleanliness ; they never wash, and never
use a fine-tooth comb, We thought of this
while five white men and a dozen natives were
crowded together in this wet, unventilated
underground habitation. The preacher was a
native catechist, and evidently preached and
prayed well. Two hymns were sung, the
benediction pronounced, and we crawled back
to the blessed light of day. In this little

9O Life of Nans en.

settlement were two other igloos, equally as
wretched and forlorn. No wonder that so
many of these poor creatures die of pulmonary
diseases, brought on by exposure, innutritious
food, and unventilated habitations.

"In contrast with this 'cottage meeting'
was a service I attended in Sukkertoppen,
The church is quite large, built of stone and
wood, and has a steeple and bell. The interior
walls are tinted, and the large chancel con-
tained a table covered with a white cloth
embroidered with red and gold. On the table
was a crucifix and two eucharistic candles.
Just within the communion rail was a pulpit
and a large reed organ. The minister was a
native who had spent some time in the schools
of Copenhagen. The organist was also an
Eskimo.

"The worship was Lutheran in form. First
came some opening sentences from the Bible,
followed by the Lord's Prayer; then a chant;
then a lesson from the Scriptures, and then
all arose and sang a sort of Gloria. Then
came a twenty minutes' sermon, followed by
a hymn, a short prayer, and the benediction.
The singing, I thought, was remarkably good.
They use the grand old German choral, and
sang slowly and in perfect harmony.

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 91

"All remained standing till the Governor
and his family and the minister had passed
out. The church was furnished with two rows
of plain seats with a back rail. The men sat
on one side of the church and the women on
the other. All were apparently devout, and
seemed to appreciate the service. It was a
strange sight, and I could not help thinking
of my Pittsburg friends, who were at that
moment worshipping the same God with such
different surroundings."

The Southern Greenlanders are all perfectly
civilised, and, if the Lutheran faith sits lightly
upon them, they are, nominally at least, Chris-
tians. There are, moreover, few of them who
cannot read and write, and many of them are
really intelligent men and women.

An account of Peary's journeys throws much
light upon Northern Greenland. By his famous
journey in 1892 of 1300 miles over the inland
ice he had won a high place in the roll of
Arctic explorers, and greatly enlarged our
knowledge of that mysterious region. Indeed,
it may be unhesitatingly affirmed that he then
solved the problem of centuries, by determining
the insularity of Greenland. Not only so, but
the spirit in which he did the work, the high
courage, the skill, and sagacity he showed in

92 Life of Nans en.

carrying his plans into effect, the fortitude and
perseverance under difficulties which he dis-
played, at once established his reputation as
an explorer of the first rank. When then he
prepared himself in the summer of 1893 for
the continuation and completion of his work,
and returned to the scene of his former labours,
important results were naturally anticipated,
especially in scientific circles. He had prac-
tically studied out in minutest detail the
various equipments required to ensure success
in Arctic travelling. He had with him a small
party of resolute and devoted followers. His
stock of provisions was ample and carefully
selected. He started from his headquarters
in Bowdoin Bay, Inglefield Gulf, early in the
spring of 1894, with high hopes of completing
his work in a single season. In 1892 he had
determined that the northern extension of the
Greenland ice-cap terminated about 82° N.
latitude. He found that the northern edge of
the ice-cap stood 4000 feet above the sea level
at its termination, and that then it sloped
sharply for over two miles before its foot
touched the land, on the shores of Indepen-
dence Bay. Down this steep icy slope he
scrambled with much difficulty, till he reached
terra-firma. The land which now lay between

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 93

him and Independence Bay was covered with
boulders of all sizes and sharp angular stones,
which damaged the foot-gear and cut the feet
of the dogs. He found in it hills and sheltered
valleys, in which grass was growing abundantly
and musk-oxen feeding, some of which he shot.
He had during his march been able to trace
the northern border of the mainland from
Lincoln Sea to Independence Bay. He could
see the high mountains which border the
northern side of the channel connecting this
bay with Lincoln Sea ; and at intervals he
obtained glimpses of the channel itself, thus
removing all doubt as to the northern termina-
tion of Greenland. He clearly made out that
from the 78th parallel the east and west coasts
of Greenland rapidly converged, the termination
being as described.

But another important discovery was made.
Peary ascended a huge trap cliff on the north-
eastern coast, which he named " Navy Cliff,"
3800 feet high. It was his Arctic Pisgah.
Standing on its summit and gazing northward,
he could trace the shores of Independence Bay
and the unbroken ice between, stretching away
till lost in the gleaming horizon of the vast
Arctic Ocean. Far to the north-east, however,
at the distance of sixty miles, he distinctly saw

94 Life of Nansen.

land amid the glittering sea of ice, and also to
the west and north-west. These were detached
masses, having no ice-caps, and suggested
strongly the idea of a group of islands stretch-
ing Poleward to an unknown extent, perhaps
covering much of the distance, and possibly
furnishing a basis for a nearer approach to the
Pole than had yet been made. Here was an
Arctic Land of Promise, which Peary longed
to enter, but was only destined to look upon
from the top of his icy Nebo.

His great object then in preparing for his
expedition in the spring of 1894 was to explore
these detached land masses, the most southern
of which were visible from Navy Cliff, and to
determine the character and extent of this
supposed Northern Archipelago. He had,
besides, the laudable ambition of "breaking
the record," and reaching a higher parallel
than Lockwood's — 83° 24'. His hope was to
lead a small sledging party of two or three Pole-
ward over this frozen sea, and to go as far as
possible in one season, so as to permit of a
return. He also had it in view to send another
party to survey and map the unknown coast
stretching south-east to Cape Bismarck.

Animated with these high hopes, Peary
started early in the spring of 1894, but he

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 95

was doomed to sad and bitter disappointment.
The season proved to be one of the most
unfavourable on record for ice-cap travelling.
His party were caught in a succession of furious
snow-storms on the very summit of the ice-cap,
at an elevation of 7000 feet above the sea,
after covering only a third of the distance.
The cold was intense. Numbers of the dogs
were frozen to death. Some of the hardiest
members of the party were disabled (the
plucky Astrup among the number), and after
a gallant struggle the brave leader had to
accept defeat and return to headquarters. No
second attempt that year was possible.

But Peary was not the man to give up the
prize, for which he had struggled so long,
without another effort. He declined to return
in the Falcon when she arrived to rescue him ;
and with only two companions — Lee and
Henson — who alone of his party volunteered to
share his fortunes, he remained behind to make
a final effort in the spring of the following year.
It seemed a forlorn hope, and even perilous
to life, to attempt with reduced means and
forces that which with every desirable equip-
ment he had already failed to accomplish. To
Peary, however, the word ''impossible" was
unknown; and no dangers could appal him,

96 Life of Nans en.

But it was by no means a foolhardy under-
taking. Compared with Nansen's voyage in
the Fram it was prudence itself. He had an
ample stock of provisions, most of which was
already cached on the ice-cap last season, and
thus ready for use on the line of march.
The winter house was available with some
rearrangements and repairs. Should he be
favoured with such .a season as that of 1892,
when with a single companion he accomplished
his great journey of 1300 miles, he might
with his two assistants and the aid of the
friendly Eskimo do great things in 1895.

Once more, however, the elements were
arrayed against him ; and in the unequal
contest he had to succumb. The main cause
of his failure was the loss of nearly all his
most valuable stock of provisions suited for
Arctic travel which had been cached on the
ice-cap in 1894. On sending his two assistants
and an Eskimo to dig out these caches and
rebuild them for the winter, they returned
with the appalling news that they were unable
to find them; that a heavy fall of snow had
buried them many feet deep, and effaced every
mark left to distinguish their sites. This was
indeed disastrous intelligence. Peary made a
second desperate attempt to find his precious

Greenland arid its Inhabitants. 97

stores, but in vain. A snow-storm imprisoned
him and Henson in his tent for six days, after
which a two days' search proved fruitless.
The snow had buried the whole region from
three to nine feet deep. No wonder that
Peary wrote in his narrative: — "I felt like a
man shipwrecked and cast away on a desert
shore with only the clothes on his back. I
must begin at the very bottom, with the
previous season's work blotted out entirely.
Nearly all my biscuits and milk, all the com-
pressed pea-soup, and every ounce of two
fundamental items of an Arctic sledge's equip-
ment, rations of pemmican and alcohol, in all a
ton and a half, were gone. The chances were
ten to one against accomplishing anything, so
handicapped."

Most men would have abandoned the idea
of a Northern journey of twelve or thirteen
hundred miles in such circumstances, but
Peary at once set to work resolutely to pro-
vide substitutes for his lost food-stores. These,
however, were poor enough at the best, and
quite insufficient for such a march over the
ice-cap as lay before them. Reindeer meat
for themselves and walrus flesh for the dogs
had to take the place of the nutritious, heat-
producing pemmican, one pound of which was

98 Life of Nans en,

equal to four of the venison. In addition the
frozen deer meat was heavy and bulky; and
thus from the outset the dogs were over-
burdened, and were insufficiently fed on walrus.
He had nothing to take the place of the
invaluable pea-soup, except about a hundred
pounds of tinned biscuit and two cases of milk.
Kerosene oil was a poor substitute for alcohol.
Never before did an Arctic explorer face such
formidable difficulties with such an insufficient
equipment. To crown all, Lee, at the start,
was in poor condition, and one of his toes
was injured by the frost, and continued very
painful throughout the journey.

The start northward was made on the ist
of April. Four Eskimos formed a supporting
party, to go as far as the site of their big
pemmican cache, 124 miles distant, which
they had still a faint hope of finding-, but
they were doomed again to disappointment.
In all they had sixty-three clogs on starting,
and when the Eskimos returned, at the end
of the 124 miles, Peary, Lee, and Hensen
continued the march with three sledges and
forty-one dogs.

Now began one of the most wonderful sledge
journeys in all the records of Arctic adventures.
At the end of the second week, after a hard

Greenland and its Inlmbitants. 99

struggle, they found themselves only 200 miles
from their starting-point, and 7000 feet above
the sea. They had encountered the fierce
winds at this elevation which rush from the
interior down the great fjords. The dogs had
suffered terribly and become demoralised, and
very difficult to drive into the white wilderness
where there was no trail. The sledges were
often buried in overwhelming snow-drifis, from
which they were extricated with much difficulty.
During the fourth week the temperature ranged
from 10° to 25° below zero at noon, and 25° to
43° below zero at midnight. This terrible cold,
at an elevation of 8000 feet above the sea,
told heavily on men and dogs, and the strength
of both was being reduced fully one-half. The
men, on any extra exertion in pulling the
sledges, experienced great difficulty in breath-
ing, and blood gushed from the nostrils. The
dogs, insufficiently fed on walrus, had begun
to give out one after the other, and the frozen
deer- flesh, of which the party had not even full
rations, ill supplied the place of pemmican.

Still the brave little band pressed onwards,
against increasing odds. No thought of giving
up or turning back was ever entertained.
Owing to the loss of the dogs, it became
necessary to abandon one sledge and concen-

IOO Life of Nansen.

trate the dogs into two teams. With their
entrance on the five hundredth mile a series
of misfortunes overtook them. The runner
of the largest sledge went to pieces, and a
day was spent in attempts to repair it, with
the result that it broke down again after twelve
miles and had to be converted into a three-
runner. Another march, and the last piece of
walrus was given to the dogs, of which soon
only eleven were alive. The men had to take
to the drag- ropes themselves, the surviving
dogs being scarcely able to walk.

Now, at last, the goal was near. Sixteen
miles only separated them from the land at
Independence Bay. But the dogs could go
no further, and Lee was left in the tent in
charge of them, with orders to feed the
strongest on the weakest, while Peary and
Henson, with a couple of rifles, pushed on
towards the land in the hope of finding musk-
oxen. If they failed, there seemed no way
of escape from death. Could any situation be
conceived more awful than that of Lee, for
days alone in a tent with starving dogs, the
grim, icy wilderness around, and the terrible
uncertainty at his heart whether his own com-
rades might ever return ? How heavily the
dreary days must have dragged on ! Mean-

Greenland and its Inhabitants. 101

time the two adventurous hunters pushed on
towards the land, storm - beaten, foot - sore,
bruised, and lame ; stumbling over crevasses,
boulders, and sharp rocks, hardly able to drag
their weary limbs along. When worn out
they slept on the rocks, without shelter. Still
not a trace of musk-oxen. They had no meat
for three days, and at last were driven to the
walrus meat intended for the dogs. When
almost on the point of starvation they shot a
hare and devoured it eagerly. At last they
struck the trail of the musk-oxen, found the
herd, and killed a bull, five cows, and four
calves, and were saved from a fearful death.

Not yet would they turn back. They must
reach the shores of Independence Bay. Once
more the advance was resumed. Lee and the
dogs were found, and all pushed forward for
four days over boulder-strewn gorges, up and
down steep slopes, lifting, pushing, at times
almost carrying the sledges and their load. At
the close of the fourth day they reached the
precipitous shore, utterly worn out. Human
endurance could go no farther. Sledges could
no longer be used, and an advance further to
the ice of the Bay must be over crevasse-riven
glaciers. No more musk-oxen could be found.
The farthest advance was to 81° 37'.

IO2 Life of Nansen.

At last the explorers decided on a retreat
while yet there was a chance of escape. Only
nine dogs remained alive, and for them they
had sixteen rations of musk meat. The sledge
had broken down entirely, and the load had
to be carried on the men's backs, or rolled up
in musk-oxen skins and dragged by the clogs
over thirty-four miles of the roughest surface.
It took them six days to reach the cache where
they had a small reserve of walrus for the dogs
on the homeward march, and seventeen rations
of deer meat for themselves, much of which
had to be given to the dogs.

A small sledge was made out of two ski
which had been reserved for the purpose, and
the homeward march of 600 miles began.
Their sufferings were terrible. Twenty - five
days afterwards three broken-down, worn-out
men staggered to the door of Anniversary
Lodge, their feet and legs swollen and their
bodies emaciated. When twenty -one miles
from the Lodge they had eaten their last
morsel of food, and it took them forty hours
to cover the distance. Only one poor dog
limped feebly behind them. For ten days
they lay in an utterly prostrate condition, but
ultimately all recovered. They arrived on
June 25th, and on August 3rd messengers

Greenland and its Inliabitants. 103

from the Kite reached the Lodge over the
ice, and they realised that they were saved.

Peary's task will be continued in the near
future, and it is his intention to make an
attack upon the Pole from Independence Bay.

CHAPTER V.

THE FIRST CROSSING OF GREENLAND.

" Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his £ras/>, or,
Whats a heaven for •?"

NANSEN was born to explore, and the Arctic
regions were intended for the field of his
wanderings and perilous adventures ; such are
the conclusions to which all the circumstances
of the case plainly point. On his mother's side
he inherited sturdy and adventurous qualities
that are entitled to be taken into earnest
consideration. From her, more than from
his father, Nansen got his intrepid spirit, his
love of adventure, his practical mind.

Although the family were in a comfortable
way of life, the early training of the boy was
extremely simple, if not severe. He and his
brother waited at the table by turns; they were
allowed only sixpence each as pocket-money
for a month, and the rod was not spared.
The lesson of privation was deeply learned

Ike First Crossing of Greenland. 105

by Nansen. " To require little," he wrote, "is
better capital than to earn much. The need
to earn much fetters and enslaves a man, while
the ability to do with little makes him free.
He who needs little will more easily strive
towards the goal he has in view, and will in
general lead a fuller, richer life than he who
has many wants."

I have mentioned before that Nansen's love
of adventure and scorn of privation developed
together and very early. While in his teens
he would pass weeks at a time alone in the
forest, without taking any special equipment
with him. With a crust of bread and the fish
he caught he sustained life. Hunting hares
became a favourite pursuit with him and his
brother. Long journeys were necessary, and
it was not uncommon for them to go for some
days without food and with little rest.

From hunting hares in the forests of Norway
Nansen proceeded to hunt seals in the Arctic
Ocean ; from long journeys over his native
heath on snow-shoes he proceeded to cross the
inland ice of Greenland from sea to sea, and
the transition was in strict accord with natural
development.

It is now nine years since Nansen made his
journey across Greenland, and the world was

io6 Life of Nans en.

then filled with news of his exploit, which
proved him to be. something more than a
restless Norwegian, fond of adventure, and a
sailor ambitious to make a name. Nansen was
seen to be a man of science, a graduate from
an institution of learning, a specialist in more
than one branch of natural history, and a man
who knew how to write. But the great fact
noio revealed is that the crossing of Greenland
was a preparation for the mightier feat since
accomplished farther north — a completion, so
to speak, of his apprenticeship. Nansen held
his appointment at the Bergen Museum until
1888, when, after six years' deliberation, he
started on his memorable journey over the
Greenland ice plateau, and traced on the map
of that country a dotted line which will never
be erased. His great feat of crossing the
island from east to west deservedly established
his reputation as an explorer and scientist of
the first rank. Nansen was fully alive to the
dangerous nature of his expedition. He knew
that the European press had denounced his
scheme as that of a madman's — "a mere paper
scheme"; that they prophesied for him and all
who accompanied the expedition a horrible and
lingering death from starvation among the ice-
floes, or on the snow-covered wastes of the

The First Crossing of Greenland. 107

inland ice ; yet, in the face of all opposition
he went, accompanied by chosen men. Much
ridicule was centred on his effort. One Nor-
wegian comic paper published the following :—
" Notice. — In the month of June next Curator
Nansen will give a snow-shoe display, with
long jumps, on the ice of Greenland. Reserved
seats in the crevasses. Return ticket unneces-
sary."

Dr. Nansen, in making his preparations,
took all possible thought for the safety and
comfort not only of himself but of the men
whom it was necessary to take with him. First
of all, he consulted Nordenskiold as to the
equipment of the expedition. At the outset
that gentleman was inclined to treat the whole
thing as a foolhardy whim. Then, finding that
the young man was thoroughly in earnest and
was made of the sternest stuff, Nordenskiold
could not but enter into Nansen's enthusiasm,
and he gave him all the advice and information
that he could.

His time was fully occupied before his
departure, and probably the first half of the
year 1888 was the busiest six months Nansen
ever faced.1 At the beginning of December
1887 he is back in Bergen. At the end of

1 Life of Nansen. (Longmans, Green & Co.)

io8 Life of Nansen.

January 1888 he goes on snow-shoes from
Eidfjord, in Hardanger, by way of Numedal,
to Kongsberg, and thence to Christiania. In
March he is in Bergen again, lecturing on
nature and life in Greenland. One day, or
rather night, we find him camping on the top
of Blaamanden, near Bergen, to test his
sleeping-bag, and a week later he is on the
rostrum in Christiania giving his first trial
lecture for his doctor's degree, " On the
Structure of the Sexual Organs in the Myxine."
On April 28th he defends his doctorial thesis,
"The Nerve Elements: their Structure and
Connection in the Central Nervous System;"
and on May 2nd he sets off for Copenhagen,
on his way to Greenland.

All previous attempts to cross Greenland
had been made from the inhabited west coast
and had failed. The logical course, Dr. Nansen
argued, was to " burn your boats " and start
from the east coast, then every step would be
towards the known inhabited western side.
His proposal was a risky one, and we do not
marvel at its being severely criticised. How-
ever, a wealthy merchant of Copenhagen came
to the rescue and provided the necessary
amount for expenses, and Nansen left Bergen
to make final preparations for the expedition.

The First Crossing of Greenland.

109

About forty men offered their services,
and of these he selected five, including two
Laplanders. With a boat specially built for
landing, sledges, sleeping-bags, scientific in-
struments, tinned foods — in fact, a unique

DR. NANSEN IN FURS.

equipment to which Nansen gave the most
anxious thought — the start was made on the
2nd May 1888, by way of Leith to Iceland,
where they joined the sealing-shipy#50/z, which
took them to the ice-belt about ten miles from
Sermilik Fjord, for Nansen could not afford

no Life of Nans en.

to charter a vessel specially to land him on
the east coast. On the i;th of July they left
the Jason in their own and one of the ship's
boats, and had hoped to land easily. It must
have been a pathetic scene — this farewell to
the vessel which to the explorers represented
civilisation, possibly life itself. But Nansen
declares that at this moment he had "a sense
of elasticity, as when one is going to a dance
and expecting to meet the choice of one's
heart;" but, as he naively adds, "a dance indeed
we had, but not on the floor of roses which
we could have wished, and our heart's choice
certainly kept us a long time waiting." At
first rapid progress towards land was made,
but soon the conditions changed and hope of
landing grew dim. The ice began to give
them great concern, and Nansen had frequently
to mount a hummock to look out for the best
route. From the top of one of these look-
outs he waved a last farewell to the Jason,
which she answered by dipping her pennant.
All at once the boats got ca.ught in a current,
and they were carried south with irresistible
force, their boats barely escaping disaster.
The first night became dark and stormy, and
the ice floes very troublesome to avoid owing
to the wild way in -which they were hurled

The First Crossing of Greenland. \ 1 1

about. "We drift suddenly into a teeming
mill-race," writes Dr. Nansen in describing this
first night among the ice, " which is driving
the floes pell-mell, jamming them together and
piling them one upon another, Both our boats
are in danger of destruction. Sverdrup drags
his on to a floe and is safe enough. We take
ours on towards an open pool, though every
moment in danger of getting it crushed. The
only course is to keep a sharp look-out and
clear all the dangerous points by keeping our
boat always over the so-called ' foot ' or
projecting base of the floe, or in a recess or
inlet in its side when a nip is threatened.
This is not easy in these irresistible currents,
but by our united efforts we succeed and reach
a large open pool to the lee of the iceberg,
and are for the time secure. Now comes
Sverdrup's turn ; I signal to him to follow us,
and he succeeds, keeping his boat in calmer
waters than we had." One of the boats in the
course of the night got a deep cut in her side.
There was nothing- to be done but to unload

* o

the boat, haul her on to a floe, and repair the
hole as best they could. This mishap and
the delay it caused was far more serious than
was suspected at the time. When it happened
the coast was quite close, and they could have

1 1 2 Life of Nansen.

landed in a few hours. But whilst the boat
was being mended they drifted into another
current, which carried them first towards the
open sea and then into a broader belt of ice.

Nansen found out that to break through the
drift ice in two small boats was no easy matter,
the coast being protected from intrusion by
large masses of ice drifting with the current.
They continued to be drifted south for twelve
days, for a distance of over 250 miles, when
the heart's desire of every man was to go
westward. They almost reached the southern
extremity of Greenland (Cape Farewell) before
they found an opportunity to penetrate the ice-
belt and move northward to the point whence
they wished to start for the interior.

The life on the floes was highly dangerous
and exciting. Again and again would a floe
break up and compel the men to enter their
boats and find another floe on which to pitch
their tents. At night one of the party outside
the tent had to keep watch for the safety of
the whole. More than once was the warning
given as some huge crag of ice came sailing
towards them, threatening to submerge the floe.
At last they got through the belt of ice and
escaped from the current, and the return journey
along the coast, still in rough water, was accom-

The F:rst Crossing of Greenland. 113

plished. On August loth they reached Umi-
viksford, and, the place being favourable,
Nansen determined to land and begin the
crossing of the island, although it was not so
far north as his projected starting-point. This
decision overjoyed the little band, especially
the two Lapps, in spite of the dangers and
hardships the crossing must have in store for
them. In the boats they were in constant
peril from the ice and the storms of the sea.
In three weeks they had cooked food but
twice, when they had landed on an island,
spending the night on one of these occasions
at an Eskimo encampment. Their staple diet
had been raw horse-flesh, tinned beef, biscuits,
preserved milk, and water.

It was almost too late in the summer for
favourable conditions of weather in the cross-
ing, but nothing remained for Nansen but to
plod ahead. 'Twas Death, or the West Coast
of Greenland ! Their only safety now lay in
reaching Godthaab, hundreds of miles distant,
across the unknown and dreaded inland ice.
They left their boats in a rock cleft, prepared
their loads, selected the most favourable place
for ascent to the heights above, and set off
with a firm resolve to conquer and not to die.
Use of the ski was made, also of sails rigged

l

1 14 Life of Nan sen.

to sledges, and such service did the ski become
that Nansen believed that the party must have
failed, and perhaps died miserably, had they
been without that means of locomotion, which
for nineteen consecutive days carried them
westward 240 miles. They passed through
regions where the warmest sun of midsummer
had melted only snow enough to make a thin
crust on the surface. One of their camps was
pitched at an elevation of nearly 9000 feet.
Day after day they marched across the track-
less ice without any visible change.

Frequently the blazing sun caused the snow
to become soft during the day, and travelling
was bad. Night, with its bitter cold, was
selected, but the hardships endured were then
even worse. But they toiled on in spite of
the intense cold and frequent snow-storms and
the great peril from yawning and hidden
crevasses. The gallant little party were con-
stantly battling with perils and obstacles of
one kind and another; in climbing the ridges
of ice, struggling through drifts of snow, and
manoeuvring across the dangerous crevasses,
where a false step at any moment might plunge
them into eternity. Their method of progres-
sion necessarily varied with their surroundings;
at one time they flew along on their ski

The First Crossing of Greenland. 1 1 5

harnessed to the sledges; at another they could
hoist sails and so ride comfortably; but for a
considerable part of the way the sledges had
to be hauled by sheer physical exertion on the
part of the men attached to each, the sledge-
ropes frequently burning their shoulders. On
the restricted diet which Nansen, not knowing
how long they might have to remain in this
"land of desolation," thought it prudent to
enforce, this work tried their strength and
spirit to the utmost. The night temperature
on the greatest heights was terribly trying,
and fell to the unexpected depth of 45° to 55°
below zero (F.). The cold was so intense
that even the woollen socks upon their feet
were frozen solid. They were storm -bound
for days together, and frequently the tempests
racked their tents to pieces. When in camp
they spent the greater part of the time in
sleep. They filled their waking moments by
reading, story-telling, and filling gaps in their
diaries. For three whole days, August I7th
to 2Oth, they were confined to the tent by a
violent storm and uninterrupted rain. They
only left their sleeping-bags for the purpose
of getting food or for some absolute necessity.

On September igth "land ahead" was
descried, — that is to say, patches of ground

u6 Life of Nan sen.

free from ice, — and four days later it was
reached. The worst was then over ! Once
the snow - line was passed general rejoicing
took place. Nansen could not describe the
joy of having turf and stones beneath their
feet, of feeling the elastic heather on which
they trod, and smelling the fragrance of grass
and moss. Their first dinner off the ice was
of berries, on which they literally gorged them-
selves. At first they ate the berries standing,
then ate them sitting, and then lying prone on
the ground. Nansen says they " prolonged the
debauch to incredible lengths." When unable
to use their hands from torpor, they gathered
the berries with their lips. Falling asleep at
last from engorgement, they awoke only to
resume their repast, until sleep again overtook
them. Not one of the party suffered any ill
effects from this excessive indulgence.

The descent from that point to Ameralikfjord
on the west coast, which was reached on the
27th, was a pleasure trip in comparison with
what the explorers had previously encountered.
The camp was pitched on the bank of the fjord
in the midst of heather and scrub, and all hands
turned to the making of a small boat with such
rough materials as willow twigs, theodolite
stand, bamboo, and canvas sail. Nansen

The First Crossing of Greenland. 1 1 7

remarks: — "She was no boat for a prize
competition ; indeed in shape she was more
like a tortoise shell than anything else, but
when we tried her in a pool close by we
found she carried us both well, and altogether
we were hugely pleased with her. . . . Nor
was water-tightness one of our boat's virtues,
for we had to take to baling with one of the
soup bowls every ten minutes."

In this quaint "half-boat," as the Eskimo
happily termed it, Nansen and Sverdrup pro-
ceeded down the fjord and out to sea to the
settlement of Godthaab, and the others re-
mained in camp. The weather was somewhat
rough, but their haven was reached in safety
on October 3rd. As soon as possible a boat
was despatched to bring the four men who had
been left behind, and all received a hearty
welcome from the inhabitants.

At first the natives reported the party as
possessors of supernatural attributes, and it was
hinted that they had crossed the "inland ice"
by the aid of means "not strictly orthodox."
Nansen and Sverdrup received appropriate
names from them at once ; the Doctor was
honoured with two appellations, "Angisor-
suak," or " the very big one," and " Umiformiut
Nalagak," which means "the leader of the men

n8 Life of Nans en.

with the great beards ; " while Sverdrup was
called "Akortok," meaning "he who steers a
ship." The two Lapps were great favourites
with the Eskimo ; and, in fact, the whole party
were welcomed at any house, and were made
much of during their winter's residence there.

It was the middle of April before a ship
came to fetch the explorers home. But
Nansen made use of his time of waiting
by taking lessons in kayak paddling, by
tabulating the scientific results of the crossing,
and by getting together the material for his
deeply interesting book on the Eskimo. In
the spring of 1889, as if they had not had
enough of Greenland's icy mountains, he and
Sverdrup made two or three excursions on
their ski in order to extend their knowledge
of the interior of the island. On April I5th,
1889, the whole party embarked on the Danish
vessel Hvidbiornen, and on May 2ist arrived
at Copenhagen. They arrived at the capital
of Norway on May 3Oth, after their arduous
expedition, in the best of health — a high
tribute indeed to Nansen's intelligent judg-
ment and skill.

Nansen and his five companions — Sverdrup,
Dietrichson, Trana, Balto, and Ravna; the
first three being Norwegian and the other

The First Crossing of Greenland. 1 1 9

two " River-Lapps," all famed skilobers — were
thus the first to cross inland ice ; and Nansen's
book, The First Crossing of Greenland, trans-
lated into many languages, made his name
famous throughout the world. In it, when we
at last get to his own work, we have a graphic
description of his perilous journey over the
drifting ice-floes off the east coast in his
attempt to reach land, and details of the
daring and heroic crossing to the west coast,
over boundless snow-fields, till the party
finally reached Godthaab. Whilst wintering
at Godthaab opportunity was given them to
send two letters home, one from Nansen to
Herr Gamel, of Copenhagen, the other from
Sverdrup to his father. Nansen says : —
'' These two letters brought to Europe the
first news of our having reached the west
coast of Greenland, and contained all that
was known of our journey for six months.
In one respect they hold, perhaps, a somewhat
unusual position, for their postage came to no
less than ^17." It was the ship Fox, of
McClintock fame, that brought the letters to
Europe.

As a writer, Nansen's treatment of his sub-
ject is fascinating, as The First Crossing of
Greenland, and his later important anthropo-

I2O Life of Nans en.

logical book, The Eskimo, which has been
translated into English by Mr. William Archer,
sufficiently show. The latter publication is the
outcome of his winter's residence at Godthaab,
for he spent much of his time in wandering
amongst the natives, dwelling in their huts,
taking part in their dangerous hunting ex-
cursions on land and sea, and becoming a
proficient kayaker and sledge - driver. At
considerable inconvenience and sacrifice of his
sensibilities — for the stench which arises from
the filthy surroundings of the Eskimo is, to
a refined European, appalling — Nansen lived
their life in his endeavour to obtain an accurate
knowledge of their habits.

The Greenlanders are an extremely interest-
ing people, and in this book Dr. Nansen not
only gives an account of his own wanderings
and observations, but a general account of the
life, manners, morals, and numerous super-
stitions which have survived the introduction
of Christianity. His journey produced a
treasure-house of scientific fact and thrilling
adventure, and revealed to the world this
unparalleled and heroic feat, besides showing
the possibilities to come in the event of this
brave servant of science continuing his scheme
of exploration. On their triumphant return

The First Crossing of Greenland. 121

they became the heroes of the day. Every
town in Europe united in paying tribute to
Dr. Nansen and his brave comrades for the
indomitable pluck and perseverance shown
throughout their hazardous and dangerous
journey.

Nansen subsequently visited France, Ger-
many, and Great Britain, where he lectured
to intensely interested audiences on his adven-
tures in crossing the vast icy continent. He
is well known to the British public, and his
striking figure was often seen in the streets
and drawing-rooms of London in the summer
of 1889. He visited England again in 1892,
and made many friends wherever he went.
He became a member of a host of geographical
and scientific societies, and received many gold
medals and other distinctions. In the Pro-
ceedings of the Royal Geographical Society
(1891, p. 294) we learn that the Victoria
medal of that Society was conferred upon
him in 1891, in the following terms: — "The
Patrons of the Victoria medal, to Dr. Fridtjof
Nansen, for having been the first to cross the
inland ice of Greenland, a perilous and daring
achievement, entailing a journey of more than
three months, thirty-seven days of which were
passed at great elevations and in the climate

122 Life oj N arisen.

of an Arctic winter, obliging him to lead a
forlorn hope with the knowledge that there
could be no retreat, and that failure must
involve the destruction of himself and his com-
panions, and calling forth the highest qualities
of an explorer ; for having taken a series of
astronomical and meteorological observations,
under circumstances of extreme difficulty and
privation, during a march which required ex-
ceptional powers of strength and endurance
and mental faculties of high order, as well as
the qualities of a scientific geographer for its
successful accomplishment ; and for his dis-
covery of the physical character of the interior
of Greenland, as well as for other valuable
and scientific results of his expedition." This
aptly expresses Nansen's reasons for his cross-
ing of Greenland. Needless to remark, the
attempt was not made for commercial purposes.
Nansen, on his return, was appointed Curator
at Christiania University, which appointment
he held until he set off on his Polar voyage.

FRU NANSEN,
UNCll'AL CONCERT SINGER IN NORWAY.

CHAPTER VI.

FRU NANSEN.

I HAVE before me a note in which Fru
Nansen writes: — "Excuse me thinking that
the English public, whose sympathetic interest
in Dr. Nansen I feel very deeply, cannot be
expected to extend this interest to myself and
family, who, to them, necessarily are quite
unknown and private persons."

To this I can only reply that public interest
once awakened with regard to an individual,
radiates from that centre till it embraces all
those who have helped to form or modify the
character under discussion.

Under no circumstances, therefore, could one
regard the wife of a great man as, historically
speaking, a nonentity; but the principal concert
singer in Norway has a special claim on the
biographer on her own account.

Eva Sars Nansen is a member of one of the
best families in Norway. She is the youngest

124 Life of Nans en.

daughter of the late Professor M. Sars, a Nor-
wegian naturalist of great eminence, and was
born in Christiania in 1858. It would, indeed,
be a matter of difficulty to find a more
interesting and distinguished family in the
Scandinavian peninsula than that of the Sars.
Fru Nansen's father was the talented author
of Fauna Littoralis Noru.>egice. He devoted
much attention to natural history, and was
the discoverer of a crinoid in the North Sea
belonging to a species that was supposed to
be extinct.

Fru Nansen's mother, the best story-teller
in Norway, is a sister of the Norwegian poet,
Welhaven, a contemporary of Vergeland. The
Sars' salon is a centre of the intellectual world
of the Norwegian capital, whether artistic,
scientific, or political, reminding one of the
Parisian centres of talent and wit in the days
of Louis Quatorze. The family consists of
four, two brothers and two sisters. Ernest,
the eldest, has won distinction in literature.
He is classed among Norway's most celebrated
historians, and he and the famous Bjornstjerne
Bjornson are the chief Radical leaders in Nor-
way. Ossian, the younger son, has trodden in
his father's footsteps, is looked upon as an
authority in matters relating to natural history,

Fru Nansen. 125

and is the present professor o( zoology at the
University of Christiania. Fru Nansen's sister,
like herself, is endowed with great musical
taste, and is the wife of the well-known singer
and teacher of singing, Herr Lammers.

The musical training of Fru Nansen was the
work of Herr Lammers and his wife. For five
years she was an apt pupil, and when she went
to Berlin to continue her studies her artistic
education was already far advanced. For a
whole winter she studied in the German capital
with Madame Artot, and gave special attention
to the title-parts in the operas of Mignon and
Carmen. Yet she never became an operatic
singer, as she was shy of making an appearance
on the stage in that capacity. On her return
to Christiania she commenced to teach singing,
and this useful employment still occupies part
of her time.

Her musical talent is great. She frequently
appears at concerts, and her assistance, highly
appreciated and frequently solicited as it is, is
given readily, and with a winning grace that
enhances the charm of the favour. Her first
public appearance out of Norway was in
Stockholm in November 1895, and from that
day her success as a public singer was
assured. She felt she must make a career

1 26 Life of Nansen.

for herself during the doctor's absence — that
she must place herself on an equal footing
with him — and she has already succeeded in
her desire.

Eva Sars Nansen is certainly the foremost
romance singer of Norway. Her song partakes
of her character; it is natural, true, strong in
its depths and earnestness of feeling, and free
from any trace of false sentimentality. The
music lovers of Christiania, Bergen, Trondjem,
and other Norwegian towns hail her appearance
on the platform with lively satisfaction. The
tours which she has taken through Sweden
and Denmark (1895 and 1896) have been
attended by conspicuous success, and it is
hoped that she will visit Great Britain shortly.
She gave a series of concerts in Stockholm,
Copenhagen, Christiania, Bergen, and other
towns in the winter of 1895-96, and they were
a splendid triumph. Her charming manner, and
the courage evinced at her lonely lot, won the
hearts of all, who felt for the woman whose hus-
band was risking his life in the cause of science.

In manner Fru Nansen is more French than
Scandinavian, but at heart she is a thorough
Norwegian. She sings by choice the songs of
her native country, and their composers, Jansen
and Grieg, are among her warmest friends.

Fru Nans en. 127

Like most Norwegian ladies, Mrs. Nansen
works hard. When not touring she employs
her leisure in music. Before marriage, Dr.
Nansen and his fiancte agreed that the modes
of life of neither should be materially changed;
that he should not abandon his scheme of ex-
ploration, and that she should continue her
teaching,

In one respect they have leanings in common.
Mrs. Nansen is not only a distinguished singer,
but she is perhaps the most skilful lady skilober
in Norway. She has accompanied her husband
in many of his winter runs in the mountains
and valleys of their beloved Norway, and in
many of his winter and summer sports.

In A Winter s Jaimt in Norway, Mrs. Alec
B. Tweedie writes: — "What a strange contrast
the Nansens are! He is a great, big, tall, fair
Norwegian, with all the strength of the Viking
race in his manly bearing and earnest face.
His very name, Fridtjof, means a Viking, or
more properly speaking, a ' thief of peace.'
He is very proud of his name, and it is a very
uncommon one even in Norway. She is a
jolly, bright little woman, with dark hair, and
all the merriment and warm colouring of a
more southern people, although she, too, is
pure Norwegian. She is able to accompany

128 Life of Nansen.

Nansen on all his sports. She is very fond
of sailing, of which they do a great deal in
the summer, for the fjord of Christiania almost
surrounds the house, which is built on a pro-
montory. In winter they ski together, for
Nansen thinks no sport or anything else per-
fect unless accompanied by his wife. He is
very fond of joking and chaffing her too, and
when speaking about a visit we contemplated
up Nora Fjeld on ski, a mountain about five
thousand feet above the sea, and lying between
Christiania and Bergen, he said, * My wife
knows Nora Fjeld well, because there it was
that I saw her dead-beat for the first and only
time. Nothing tires her as a rule ; so when
I want to make her very angry I tell this
story.

" ' It was New Year's Day, a couple of years
ago (1891), that we decided to cross Nora
Fjeld from Hallingdal, and enjoy a little
holiday on ski. At three o'clock in the after-
noon the sun set, and we were not even at
the top. However, my wife would not turn
back; so on we went. It was very dark and
very steep, and at last the snow was frozen
so hard the ski would not bite at all. Then
I had to take mine off and cut steps in the
snow up the mountain side with the end of

Fru Nans en. 129

the ski. For nearly two hours I did this
before we reached the top. It became abso-
lutely dark, and a bitter wind blew, and it was
ten o'clock before we reached the first inhabited
hut down the mountain side. Here an old
woman gave us milk and bade us welcome;
but my wife would not stay the night, declar-
ing she was not tired and quite able to go
on for another hour to the saeter where we
originally intended to remain. So on we skied
again. It was so hopelessly dark that every
now and then the point of our ski would strike
a tree and upset us, and we had continually
to call out to make sure of the other's where-
abouts.

" 'At last, almost on the stroke of midnight,
we reached the little saeter, and, entering the
door, I went to find some one and make some
arrangements for sleeping, but when I returned
I found my wife had forestalled me. She was
already sound asleep, bolt upright in a chair.
Asleep ? Yes ; and she slept for hours — we
couldn't wake her — so we just left her alone.
That was the only time I saw her completely
done up."

It is not surprising to find that Mrs. Nansen
should have sought to accompany her husband
in his great polar expedition. The perils of

130 Life of Nansen.

the Arctic regions had no terrors for her, and
up to the time of the launching of the Frcun,
Dr. Nansen's polar vessel, it was actually the
intention of the explorer to allow his wife to
form one of the party. At the last moment,
however, he was petitioned by Captain Sver-
drup not to do so. The other members of
the crew, although having every belief in Fru
Eva's ability to withstand the voyage, joined
Sverdrup in his petition, and accordingly Dr.
Nansen deemed it prudent to leave: his wife
behind. He was guided in his decision by the
possibilities of a nip in the ice, followed by a
long sledge journey, and by the consideration
that a woman, however courageous, could not
but retard the progress of the whole party.
Eventually Fru Nansen, too, became recon-
ciled, and recognised that "home" was woman's
first concern.

When asked by a visitor in 1895 if she had
no desire to accompany her husband, she
replied promptly: — "No, indeed; that would
be outside the sphere of woman. It would
not have been the proper thing for me to do."
On being reminded that Mrs. Peary accom-
panied her husband on an Arctic trip, she
said: — "Yes; and so much the worse for the
expedition. It must have been a great burden

Fru Nansen. 131

to carry her along, although Mrs. Peary
certainly showed much courage."

She further stated that, so far from using
her influence to dissuade her husband from his
bold plans, she urged and encouraged him to
the task.

" It was," she continued, "his life work, and
without an attempt at it he could never have
been happy. Since he was so unfortunate as
to have such a desire, it was my duty to assist
him in satisfying it."

Then came a touch of true womanly feeling.

The interrogator inquired : — " Do you call it
a misfortune that he had such a desire ? " And
the answer came straight from the heart of Fru
Nansen : — " I cannot say I call it fortunate
to have him up near the North Pole while
I am sitting here."

The position of Fru Nansen during the
doctor's absence was not an enviable one.
Month after month, year after year passed
without certain information. Rumour after
rumour came to hand. One felt keenly for
her during March 1896, when every mail from
the northern frontier of Russia might have
brought accurate tidings of good or evil. But
she worked hard for herself and her husband,
her correspondence alone being a labour of

132 Life of Nanscn.

great magnitude. She has a staunch heart ;
and this, coupled with an inherent hatred
of idleness, will stand her in good stead when
the time again arrives for her spirit to be put
to the test.

She has the courage that does not fly at an
idle rumour, and which enables her to reason
even against hope. That, at least, we glean
from the jottings of an irrepressible interviewer,
whose article in the Lokalanzeiger is quoted in
the Daily News. He says : —

41 1 asked Madame Nansen what impression
the news received had made on her — the
rumour of Nansen's successful return in March
1896 — whether she was overcome with astonish-
ment, hope, or joy. * No, not at all,' was the
answer, 'for I did not believe it. I regarded it
as a canard, and it left me perfectly composed
and cool.' 'Do you not believe in your
husband's success, then ? ' ' Oh, I am per-
fectly convinced that he will reach his goal
and come back, but that it would take place
so quickly, so easily, and so smoothly, this I
did not believe.' ' It would be most interest-
ing to hear your precise opinion,' I said. ' I
am stormed with telegrams and letters, but, to
tell the truth, I understand nothing about
these difficult questions. I leave it to the

Fru Nansen.

133

geographers and men of science, and I don't
like speaking about it. Only this much I can
tell you. I believe in my husband's return,
but not now. It is too soon. Besides, the
statements are so vague. There is nothing

MY COMFORT AND MY JOY.

positive and decided in them. They are all
unauthentic reports. How could I place any
hopes in them?' Mrs. Nansen said this in
the most decided tone, and in her beautiful
eyes there sparkled such confidence that I can

1 34 Life of Nans en.

quite understand this woman waiting for years
without losing hope and faith. I speak of the
admiration which the whole civilised world
shows for her husband. ' Yes, I know that
great sympathy is felt for him,' she answers,
'and this makes me strong. It is my comfort,
my greatest joy.' We are sitting at the
window, from which one has a magnificent
view of the lake, the fir woods, and the high
mountains which appear in the distance in a
blue haze. I speak of the exquisite scenery.
'It is now rather monotonous,' she answers in
a sad voice, looking across the ice-bound fjord ;
' but in summer, when the lake is open, you
should see it then ! ' At this moment a lovely
little girl, of some five or six summers, enters
the room — Nansen's only daughter, Liv (life)
— and looks at me rather suspiciously for keep-
ing her dinner waiting. Her mother draws
her to her, and strokes her golden curls.
' This is also my comfort and my joy during
the long absence of my husband,' said Madame
Nansen, her eyes beaming with love and
pride."

CHAPTER VII.

NANSEN'S HOME.
INTERVIEW WITH FRU NANSEN, 1893.

BEING busily engaged in lecturing on Arctic
exploration, and having had previous corre-
spondence with Dr. Nansen, I had written,
as he was about to sail, asking for special
polar views, and Mrs. Nansen courteously
replied on his behalf: — " He must have for-
gotten this among all the things he had to take
care of. ... I can therefore not send you the
desired views, but am sending you a portrait of
him, the latest. . . . When you and Mrs. Bain
come to Christiania in August, I shall be very
pleased to see you here."

We set off for Norway in July 1893, and had
a pleasant voyage on the s.s. Montebello from
Hull to Christiania, the picturesquely situated
capital of Norway.

While resting there we visited the far-famed
Viking ship. This interesting relic was dis-
covered at Gokstad, in the neighbourhood of

136 Life of Nans en.

Sandefjord, by the antiquarian, Mr. Nicolaysen,
in the summer of 1880, and is now on view in
the gardens of the University. It is known
with certainty that this ship dates back to the
time of the Vikings, between the end of the
eighth and the middle of the eleventh centuries.

From the capital we announced our arrival
to Fru Nansen. Here is a characteristic ex-
tract from her reply: — "I shall be very glad
to see you at Lysaker. ... I regret very
much that I speak so horribly bad English,
but shall do all that I can so that you can
understand me."

Lysaker, where the Nansens have made their
home, is a suburb of Christiania, and is the
fourth station from the capital. It is situated
on Christiania Fjord. Here Dr. and Mrs.
Nansen have been visited by many Arctic
enthusiasts from all parts of Europe. The
courtesy of Mrs. Nansen is proverbial. My
own experience of it gre\v out of our kindred
interests.

Our way to the house lay through beautiful
meadows and an odorous pine wood. The day
was perfect. As we lingered on the way, and
wandered from the path in wood and meadow,
we wondered at the doctor's leaving such a
scene as this to court unknown dangers. After

Nanseris Home.

137

practising our amateur Norsk on the way-
farers, Godthaab Villa was pointed out to us.
Our view gives but a faint idea of the love-
liness of its situation. We were enraptured with
the beauty and the grandeur of the surround-
ings. The house is situated at the foot of a
hill, uniquely set in the midst of a wood, and

NANSEN'S HOME AT LYSAKER.

the promontory upon which it stands juts
boldly out into the fjord. The selection of
the site was made by the doctor, who had
a picturesque log-hut built, and named it
Godthaab Villa, to express his gratitude for
finding a haven of rest on the west coast after
his perilous journey across Greenland. It was

138 Life of Nausen.

constructed after the old Norwegian style of
brown pine wood in trunks, and both the house
and furniture are carved in characteristic old
dragons and serpents' heads.

Fru Nansen received us most graciously, her
smiling face immediately dispelling any feeling
of strangeness. She wore a dark serge skirt
and a cross-over blouse with full sleeves, in
quite an English style. Apologising again
for her bad English (quite unnecessarily, as
we subsequently discovered), she led the way
to the drawing-room, a most original and
artistic apartment, filled with exquisite art
beauties and curiosities from all parts of the
globe. The whole house, indeed, is full of
trophies and relics from Nansen's Greenland
and other expeditions. From the window of
this room we had a magnificent view down the
fjord and right out to the sea. It was a splendid
day, and our hostess remarked that she had
seldom seen the view to better advantage.

Crossing the drawing-room and passing along
an alcove, we were ushered into Dr. Nansen's
room. His study is a charming spot, and
at once affords an index to his tastes. It is
furnished in thorough old Norwegian style
down to the very chairs and hangings. The
arms of the carved wooden chairs are formed

Nanseris Home. 139

by the old Norse serpent twist. It would be
difficult in all Norway to find a more typically
Norwegian room. His beloved books were still
on the shelves — sacred to his own use. There
are relics from barbarous and semi-barbarous
countries on walls and floor.

The study was in such perfect order as to
give the visitor an impression that Fru Nansen
expected her husband's return at any moment.
With the exception that the doctor had taken
a typewriter which formerly had a place in the
room with him, the study remained in the same
condition as when last used by him — the books
to hand, his table and chair all ready for use.
One is struck by the great height and size of
the room. Its quaint wooden walls, consisting
of trees, not planks, gives it quite a backwoods
appearance.

One's interest centres in the polar bear
skins, victims of Nansen's gun when in the
east Greenland seas, and in the grand piano
standing in the middle of the apartment, on
which Fru Nansen played to her husband in
the few hours that he devoted to recreation.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is the
enormous table, which is in harmony with
the proportions of the study. This article,
which was made to the order of the explorer,

140

Life of Nans en.

resembles a huge bench, except that its legs
and sides are curiously ornamented. The
doctor when at home requires it all for his

"THE O.NLY KEAL PORTRAIT OF HIM."

papers. He is very systematic — a very
desirable trait in the character of the leader
of an Arctic expedition — and confusion is
altogether absent from his study.

Nansens Home. 141

In one corner of the room is a quaint three-
cornered fire-place, quite in keeping with the
walls and furniture. As is the custom in
Norway, the Nansens use wood as fuel,
coal being accounted a luxury. Several oil-
paintings from the brushes of Dr. and Mrs.
Nansen adorn the walls, and the original draw-
ings and engravings used in The First Crossing
of Greenland have a prominent place.

We showed our hostess a photograph of her
husband which we had purchased in Christiania,
and she remarked that it was an indifferent
one, and that the only real portrait of him was
that which she had sent me.

In the alcove adjoining the drawing-room
we saw a fine life-size crayon portrait of Dr.
Nansen, just completed, by a leading Nor-
wegian artist.

We soon learned that it did not depress Fru
Nansen in the slightest degree to talk of her
absent husband. She pointed out to us the
place where she had last seen him, and showed
us two instantaneous photographs taken at the
time of his departure, the first depicting Dr.
Nansen gazing through a pair of glasses at his
wife from the bridge of the Fram as the vessel
steamed slowly down the fjord on its way to
the sea, the second showing him in the act of

142 Life of Nansen.

waving his hat to her in a last farewell These,
as may be imagined, were so precious to her
that she would not on any account allow them
to leave her possession.

Fru Nansen already looked forward to his re-
turn. Meanwhile, her lovely baby-girl, Liv, was
a great comfort to her in her lonely moments.

Dr. Nansen for his part had a souvenir of a
most enjoyable kind, in the shape of phono-
grams of several songs sung by his wife, and
the childish prattle of his fair -haired child.
These sounds, the offerings of science to a
scientific mind, would be a solace to him in his
dreary exile, reminding him of the loved ones
whom he had left.

"How long," we asked, " do you think your
husband will be away ? "

"Captain Sverdrup says two and a quarter
years if good fortune attends him. They are
provisioned for six. . . . You should have seen
the ship's deck," she resumed; "it was covered
with provisions."

"It will be seen from the photograph," Fru
Nansen resumed, "how well they are stocked
with provisions. If the crew can only stick to
the ship as she drifts with the ice or current
they need have no fear of starvation for five or
six years to come."

Nan sens Home. 143

We asked, ''Where will the doctor write you
from ? "

Fru Nansen replied, " From the New
Siberian Islands, if he touches there. I am
not sure, however, that they will obtain and
forward his letter."

Then she resumed: — " Not for a moment do
I doubt his return. Why, if I had not indeed
the greatest confidence in his success I should
never have been foolish enough to let him go.
The Fram may be crushed, but they have
special boats in case of that disaster. If they
too are lost, then they have their lighter boats
and strong portable silk tents and sleeping-
bags to place on the ice, in which to live as
they drift on or travel over the ice on their ski,
for (as in the crossing of Greenland) these will
form a special feature of locomotion should the
ship be deserted."

We then dwelt upon his triumphant return,
and she seemed pleased indeed when we com-
pared it to the return of Stanley after the
finding of Emm Pasha. We spoke of the
kindly interest that the people of Great Britain
were taking in the expedition, and of the rush
there would be for copies of his promised book.

On hinting that even explorers sold their
sheets to the highest bidder, she replied,

144 Life of Nans en,

"Naturally;" and continued, " My husband
was quite exhausted when he came home after
crossing Greenland, and also after his lecturing
tour in England. I will take him away to our
mountains when he returns from the Pole."

Then after a pause she proceeded: — " I love
your England. I was there for a few weeks
on my wedding tour, and I should like to go
again to learn the language perfectly."

We informed her of Mrs. Stanley's artistic
talent, and she was greatly pleased by a descrip-
tion of that lady's work. Such interest did she
manifest, that on reaching England we sent to
her Mrs. Stanley's book, London Street Arabs,
which contains a collection of pictures from
original drawings by the author, and in reply,
Fru Nansen expressed her delight on receiving
that " most charming book."

For a time Fru Nansen took up painting,
and studied under the well-known artists,
Bergslien and Eilif Peterssen. "But," she
remarked, " I did not continue my lessons,
for I felt I would never make a great
painter."

Perhaps the most animated portion of our
conversation was on the subject of languages.
We remarked that Norsk was readily learned,
and Fru Nansen rejoined: — " I find German the

Nanserfs Home. 145

easiest to learn, and English next, but French !
— oh ! it is so very difficult to me."

Fru Nansen is a fit companion, mentally and
physically, for the Viking who had gone to seek
lame in the chill north.

^fr~ti. >^2Ji-*^L^t

We left Godthaab Villa, its hostess and child,
with regret, and thought of the long, dreary,
anxious days of suspense before Mrs. Nansen,
and of the inexpressible, intoxicating joy of
the moment when the news should reach her
of her husband's safe return.

10

CHAPTER VIII.

THE "FRAM."

A CHAT WITH MR. COLIN ARCHER,
AUGUST 1893.

As soon as the Storthing in 1890 agreed to
aid Nansen, he made arrangements for the
construction of a suitable vessel. After several
models had been submitted to him by Mr.
Colin Archer, of Laurvik, he finally decided
as to the build, the work was proceeded with
at once, and at the expiration of over two years
the vessel was ready for sea.

The Frain (anglict, forward) is the strongest
vessel of her size that has ever been built for
Arctic exploration. She was launched at
Laurvik, a seaport of Norway at the head
of a small fjord on the east side of Christiania
Fjord, ninety-eight miles by rail S.S.W. of
the capital, on October 26th, 1892, and was
christened by the doctor's wife, amid great
acclamation from the friends and sightseers
who had gathered from afar to see this strange

The "Fram" 147

ship begin her career. Those who were
present at the launch say it was a moment
of deep emotion when, amid the booming of
guns and the cheers of the assembled people,
the curious vessel plunged into the waters of
Rcekevik Bay and rose again slowly but
proudly to ride them in its freedom.

We had occasion to see Mr. Colin Archer,
the builder of the Fram, a few days after
visiting Fru Nansen. He told us that the
doctor was very much pleased with his stout
ship, and showed us the model, which we
examined minutely. It resembled the Fram
as we saw her on the stocks.

" Why has she not been raised equally all
round?" we inquired.

"I wish it had been so," he replied, <4as the
room is needed. She is just large enough to
carry provisions for thirteen or fourteen men
for six years, besides the necessary fuel and
equipage. Her length over all is 128 feet; her
width is remarkable, being a third of her
length. We intended keeping her to the
lower level, but found more head room would
be required in the cabin, and so raised the
after part, which gives the ship a somewhat
ungainly look. Not the least interesting part
of the vessel is her masts," he continued ;

148 Life of Nansen.

" the doctor planned these himself. They
are unusually thick and strong."

The foreman of the shipbuilding-yard — of
course we had to see where this curious vessel
was built — told us that the doctor intended
pulling the ship, or even hanging her up
between two heights of ice by the masts, if a
nip was likely.

Our view, taken as she lay in the Piperviken,
Christiania, gives the reader an idea of the
thickness of the three masts.

It was said in the yard that her masts might
make the ship top-heavy, and be a source of
danger to her.

14 Will the doctor accomplish his task?" was
our next inquiry.

"Yes," replied Mr. Archer; " but he will
never bring the ship through."

" Then you think you will never see her
again ?"

"Well, I hope we shall. I should be very
sorry not to do so; and yet 1 cannot see how
he can bring his heavy ship over the ice, or
drift her either. I am afraid," he resumed
thoughtfully, "he will have to desert her in
high latitudes, and come through with the
boats and sledges which have been specially
prepared for such an emergency. Yes, he will

The " Fram"

149

come out between East Greenland and Spitz-
bergen."

This opinion seems to be strangely coincident
with that expressed by Dr. John Murray to

THE "FRAM" IN THE PIPERVIKEN.

Mr. Herbert Ward, who met as the hour
approached for the expedition's departure from
Christiania. " In some small matters I differ
from Dr. Nansen," said Dr. Murray, "but in
the main theme of his scheme I consider he

150 Life of Nan sen.

holds a practical view. Where I differ some-
what from him is in the bulk and weight of his
ship. I should prefer two vessels of half the
Fram s capacity. The principal difficulty Dr.
Nansen will have to encounter, in my opinion,
is the perching of his ship upon the ice. I am
afraid he will have to cut himself a harbour in
the ice, and he will thus be exposed to the
danger of being crushed. The Fram is a
much bigger vessel than I expected to find.
The ice in the Arctic differs considerably from
the ice in the Antarctic. In the Arctic the ice
is never more than six feet above sea-level,
except, of course, where it becomes shelved
and piled. I entertain no doubt of the exist-
ence of the current upon which Dr. Nansen
bases his theory."

" Then there is every possibility of his
accomplishing what he has set himself to do?"
we asked Mr. Archer.

"Yes; he is the proper man for it. He is
the most energetic man I ever met."]

Two men deserve great praise in the con-
struction of the Fram — the designer, Mr. Colin
Archer, and the shipbuilder, Mr. Anders Olsen.
Hardly any other man in Norway could better
guarantee a solid and careful finish of the polar

1 Extract from The Illustrated London News.

The " Fram" 151

vessel according to the approved model than
Mr. Colin Archer. As a designer of ships he
has done much. A Norwegian paper, speaking
of his life's work, says: — "His is a name of
known and dear sound to pilots and yachts-
men all round the country. His life's aim has
especially been to improve the pilot - boats
during the last twenty-five years. For what
he has done in this direction we owe him
great thanks, in spite of inherited Norwegian
antipathy to anything new."

In pleasure - yachts Mr. Archer has made
many improvements. He is the designer and
builder of most of the best vessels used for
pleasure, the Venus and the Storgut being two
of his best built yachts. For his designs he
received the silver medal at the Industrial
Exhibition in Christiania in 1883, and in 1886
he was decorated with the Olafs Cross. But
in undertaking and carrying out the construc-
tion of the Fram he has delivered a work
which stands alone for more than one reason.

Mr. Archer is of Scotch descent. His youth
was passed in Laurvik, to which place his
father removed in 1827. When young he went
to England, and, later, to Australia, where he
lived some time. For the last twenty -eight
years Laurvik has again been his home.

152 Life of Nans en.

From Dr. Nansen's letters written on his
outward voyage in July 1893, before he finally
left civilised parts, we glean that his ship
answered all his expectations; yet, in the face
of his writings, many wild and extravagant
reports appeared in our English papers saying
the Fram had proved useless, and could make
no headway amongst the ice; that she " worked
heavily and awkwardly." In one letter Dr.
Nansen states: — "She is a splendid ship for
ice navigation, and as easy to handle and steer
between the floes as a boat; it is a pleasure
to see her work, and she has given me many
a glad moment." In an article to the Verdens
Gang, August 1893, he said: — "The Fram is
excellent for ice navigation; she is worked with
ease and precision, and she entered the masses
of ice and forced her way on in an astonishing
manner. I spent many a joyful moment in
watching her wind and slip through the ice-
blocks, splitting them up and separating the
pieces. She is very powerful, and one never
hears a crack or a sound while she labours in
the ice."

Viewed as we can now view them, in the
light of the achieved success of the Fram and
her commander, the prognostications of failure
given in this chapter only show more clearly

The "Fram" 153

how far the genius of Nansen outran not alone
the builder of the Fram} but the greatest Arctic
experts of the day, who one and all predicted
that the vessel would never resist the ice
pressure of the Arctic regions.

CHAPTER IX.

ARCTIC EQUIPMENT.
BY J. RUSSELL- JEAFFRESON, F.R.G.S., ETC.

OF course, in a great measure the entire safety
and success of an Arctic expedition depend on
its equipment, and one cannot be too careful in
attending to the most minute details of this
important branch. Before starting it should
be the duty of the leader of the expedition to
see everything himself and to test its efficiency,
as once in "the land of ice" it is too late to
find out defects, as there are no shops to which
to apply to remedy the mistake ; and on these
weak points the lives of many may hang. On
this point, before starting, gain all the wrinkles
and tips you can from such men as whalers and
walrus hunters, men who spend the best part
of their lives in the ice and battling with its
hidden dangers. If this latter advice had been
carried out I am sure the old Arctic death-roll
would not have been so full; but now, when
the last few expeditions have been private ones

Arctic Equipment. 155

more or less, the above element has been more
consulted, and the above class of men worked
with as companions and auxiliaries, success
has been greater and the loss of life far
less ; and it stands to reason that the em-
ployment of these men used to the work is
far better than ordinary sailors, brave though
they have always showed themselves, in work
which was quite new and they were quite
inexperienced with. Now, as to outfit. I
will begin with the ship, and dismiss that
in a few words, as it needs no more. A
steam whaler is the only class of boat fit
to enter and battle with the polar ice.
These boats (a class now quite dying out)
are built with massive cross timbers to with-
stand pressure, and with double and triple
skins of wood with the steel-plated bow,
made to stand the shock of running the boat
full speed against the ice to help it to crash
through weak places in the floes on its passage
to and from the fishing-grounds.

I regard the Hope, of Peterhead, the boat
built under the eye and at the expense of
the late Captain John Gray, of that port, the
most famous whaling skipper of the last half-
century, as an ideal boat for Arctic work. She
was 400 tons, 250 hp, and a full-rigged ship

156 Life of Nans en.

(though I favour a barque myself, as it can be
worked more easily in the narrow leads),1 and,
in my opinion, the best boat ever turned out
for this trade. I have seen her crash through
ice no other boat dare ever have attempted,
ripping it up like paper, and smashing through
the grinding pack like some gigantic sea beast,
or as I once heard an old whaler say, " There
goes yon Hope like a seal in bay ice," which
meant she was crashing through the ice like a
seal would swim through the thin cat ice on a
water hole. These are the sort of boats for an
expedition, and the proof has been shown in the
way Peary's boat, the Kite, has negotiated the
Melville Bay ice year after year, and the little
Windward (Jackson's boat), under the skilful
guidance of Jack Crowther and Captain Brown,
both well-known Peterhead and Dundee ice
masters, reached Franz Josef Land, and
returned safe in 1895, and made the record
return in six days in 1896.

Of that outward and homeward journey too
little has been heard. It was Captain Brown's
intention to go as Leigh Smith did, by 46° or
50° E. longitude. They found the ice packed,
however, and went nearly a hundred miles

1 This is also advocated by Admiral Albert Hastings Markham in
his Whaling Cruise in Baffin's Bay.

Arctic Equipment. 157

further north, between 55° and 58°, yet could
not get an entrance anywhere. But a fine
wind came up from the north-east, and, getting
clear of the ice, they ran south-west for 160
miles, trying to get north on the original
longitude. Some days the ship did not go
her own length ahead, on others she made a
mile or two, and at one period she did not
budge an inch for three days. On the 22nd
of July they entered slack ice and then went
straight ahead, except for one more stoppage.
Franz Josef Land was sighted at 1 1 P.M. of the
25th, and six hours later they hooked on to a
fast floe off Elmwood — six weeks after leaving
London. Mr. Jackson stepped on board an
hour after, and Captain Brown says : — "His first
words were ' I have got Nansen.' . . . Shortly
afterwards Nansen himself came down to the
Windward. 'Now, boys,' I shouted, 'call all
hands; every mother's son on the fo'c'sle head,'
and we cheered till we could cheer no longer."

Nansen and Johansen went on board — bound
for home ! — on the morning of Friday, the 7th
of August, and in six more days the Windward
arrived at Vardo in Norway — a journey the
vessel had previously taken as many weeks to
accomplish. But let Captain Brown tell his
story in his own words. The question, " How

158 Life of Nan sen.

do you account for your remarkable voyage ? "
was put to him. He replied, " There's no
denying we had fair winds, but a notion of
mine about Nansen's ship had also something
to do with it. I had been up in the crow's
nest for forty hours, during which time I only
came down once. On that occasion I was in
the cabin, having a sandwich and a cup of
coffee, when Nansen came in and said, 'Are
you not going to bed?' I replied, 'As long
as the Windward keeps going I won't be
hungry or sleepy if I stay up for days. I am
one of the few who believe the Fram is going
to get out this year.' ' I think the same,
captain,' answered Nansen. As I turned to
go aloft again I added, ' Think of your wife,
Nansen. What would become of her if the
Fram got home without you ? And by the
powers, if steam and canvas can do it, this
ship shall get home first.' For two days the
Windward flew before the wind at 200 miles
a day. The force of the gales caused the
mainmast to twist and bend like a willow,
and some of the men used to expect the masts
to come down at any moment. Nansen said
that he had never seen a ship go like it in
the ice. In places we had to cut our way
through, and some thought the ship would

Arctic Equipment. . 159

sink ; but I knew that it would take a lot of
ice to smash, through a stem fourteen feet thick.
That was how we got to Vardo on the i3th
of August, six days after leaving Mr. Jackson
in Franz Josef Land, and two months and
three days after leaving London."

After the big ship has been decided on, the
next thing is the small boats. For the main
part whale boats are very useful, as they will
stand a lot of knocking about and are first-
class sea -boats, but their weight is against
them, as Payer and the crew of the Eirci
found to their cost in their retreat from Franz
Josef Land. This last year a new feature in
boats was introduced by Walter Wellman, the
American explorer (who was so unlucky as to
lose his boat, the Rangnalvjarl, to the north-
west of Spitzbergen in the first few months) ; and
afterwards by Frederick Jackson, the English-
man— viz., aluminium boats, so light that a boat
capable of carrying six men and a few hundred-
weight of luggage only weighed 150 Ib. Well-
man's boats were in one piece; Jackson had
his made in three sections on Berthon's prin-
ciple, and, to save room in packing on a sledge,
with canvas collapsible gunnels by the latter
maker. At a pinch it would hold eighteen
men. Me had also one made on the same plan

160 Life of Nans en.

of thin sheet copper, which was a little heavier,
the end sections of which, like the aluminium
boat, could be joined and formed into a dinghy
in case of damage to the centre section. At
my recommendation Jackson took some common
Norwegian pine double-ended boats, built on
the Faroese type, which are very light, grand
sea- boats of immense carrying capacity, and
have an advantage over copper, canvas, or alu-
minium— that, if torn, they are easily mended.
I also recommend the new Oxford collapsible
boat, which folds flat, contrary to the middle
closing plan of the usual collapsible boats, and
makes it easier for packing. For sledge trans-
port all boats of india-rubber are to be avoided,
as in extreme cold they become hard, perish,
and are useless.

The Berthon, James and Sayce, and Douglas
boats have all their advantages and disad-
vantages. I have not space to deal with them
here, but I have tried and experimented with
them all. For myself, except for sledge trans-
port for crossing leads in a big floe one may
be sledging over, I prefer a wooden boat to
any of these patent varieties.

Having, I think, exhausted the subject of
boats, let us consider houses and tents as the
next item in our equipment. As to houses, I

Arctic Equipment.

161

pin my faith on the Russian log-house, taken
out in sections, as proved by the most glowing
accounts of it by my friend, Mr. F G. Jackson,
in his last winter's experience in Franz Josef
Land, when he described it, with its baize
lining, as warm and snug as the " inside of a
gun-case." Some collapsible huts of boards

THE "JEAFFRESON" ARCTIC TENT.
(Designed by J. Russell-Jeaffreson, F.R.G.S.)

and canvas are made, but, unless as an inner
skin for a snow igloo, made by piling snow
round and over them, instead of building it of
bricks like the Eskimo, they are useless; but
the former, if properly water-tight, prevent the
nuisance of a drip if you by chance are able
to over- heat the interior. Collapsible, light

1 62 Life of Nansen.

camp furniture is now so common I will not
go into the subject.

As to tents, I know there is a great differ-
ence of opinion. Jackson, in his Siberian
expedition, tried a raw silk tent, weighing
5 lb., but it was a failure, he told me. He
now uses tents made for him by the Berthon
Collapsible Boat Company, to fold up like a
Chinese lantern. They are made of oil-silk.
I myself believe in a tent and floor all in one,
of two sizes or thicknesses of green Willesden
waterproof canvas. I have two — one for
summer wear, of plain canvas, and one for
winter, of canvas quilted inside with wool, and
covered outside by blue serge, which makes it
warm and cosy, and also allows one to develop
photos in it in daylight, as it has no door, but
a round hole to enter it, closed by a canvas
shutter, light, rain, and wind-proof, running on
a double row of brass rings of my own inven-
tion. The poles are used by day as ice axe
alpenstocks, and it has a series of flaps for
kneeling on to cook or take off clothes, and
on which snow may be piled for warmth or
to secure it in a gale of wind. It only weighs
20 lb. in its sling case for carrying. It can
also be put up or struck by one man in about
three minutes.

Arctic Equipment. 163

This tent could be made any size for a large
party. Being in one piece, and not dividable,
is a great feature. Dr. Nansen's tent was

NANSEN SKI SLEDGE.

dividable into pieces — he frequently used the
various parts as sails for his sledges — but
the high winds got between the lacings and
often brought the tent down.

After tents come sledges; and here again in
the last few years the greatest strides have been
made. I must say the honour is Dr. Nansen's,
for his ski sledges are now the only ones any
one would think of using, though this summer
(1896), in Spitzbergen, Baron De Geer had
some small ones for hand-pulling, made double

NANSEN SKI SLEDGE (LOADED).

with ski runners on one side and thin iron shod
skate runners on the other, so that, according
to the state of the ground, they could be turned
on either side, and the reverse packed. The old

164 Life of Nansen.

heavy thin runnered sledges of Franklin, Ross,
Parry, and even the later ones of Payer and
Nares are no better. The Greely Expedition
of 1881-84, under Soley and Schley, began to
realise these forms were too heavy, and began
a feeble improvement. The Indian toboggans,
taken from the Hudson Bay Company pattern,
were better, except in soft snow, when the
friction is awful, but for hard, firm snow,
such as spring and late autumn, they are
lovely. Sir John Franklin had some on his
first trip, and Dr. Rae, Greely, and Peary
have since used them a little, while Squatka
swore by them. Dr. Nansen took his runners
from the ski, the national snow-shoe of the
Norwegian peasant and pattern. Peary, with
Astrupp's (a Norwegian) guidance, made his
own sledges, with which he made his famous
sledging trip to Independence Bay, Greenland,
which will always stand out prominent as a
grand deed in Arctic literature.

Jackson copied Nansen, and had all his
sledges made on this plan.

The average sledge is 9 ft. 6 in. to 10 ft.
long, 1 8 in. wide, and 6 in. high, made of
ten year old ash, with cane ends and white
whale skin bindings. Being all of wood,
without a single nail in their construction,

Arctic Equipment. 165

they give, and take in the banging about
they have to stand over rough ice. Jackson
had the frame, which supported the luggage,
of some of his covered with aluminium netting,
but it sagged so on the piling up of a load
that he had to give up lightness and use
galvanised wire instead. His were made
double-ended, so that if one end were broken
the sledge might be turned round and not
rendered useless ; this is a great advantage.
In Jackson's big pony sledges of this type
he substituted an ash rail for cane, as it is
stronger. He also took crossbars for uniting
two sledges, and a big square sail for use
on flat patches of snow and ice if the wind
was favourable.

It is well known that Dr. Nansen had some
of his sledge runners shod with thin steel plates,
which even had, so to speak, a centre board to
make them more guidable on hard places on
the inland ice, but they proved a failure, and
before he left for his voyage in the Fram he
tried numerous experiments in Christiania with
steel and aluminium. So on my return I told
Jackson this, and consequently he did not, as
he once intended, go on with his idea of
shoeing his runners with metal. The runners
were, instead, soaked in a mixture of Swedish

1.66 Life of Nans en.

tar spirit, bark extract, and seal oil, boiled
together in Norway, which not only preserves
the wood from rotting, but hardens it without
taking away any of its elasticity. After looking
at one of these modern sledges it is hard to
imagine the old heavy oak ones our forefathers
used, or the ones of frozen sealskin or bone the
little Eskimos disport themselves in. This
year (1896) Sir M. Conway proved beyond
doubt that for frozen ground and marsh these
Nansen ski sledges are useless ; but Mr.
Trevor-Battye, of Kolguef fame, told me
Samoyede sledges would be just the thing
for this work, which in some ways resemble
the Tundra of Siberian sledging.

Next to the sledge, for the luggage of the
expedition, comes the equivalent for the bodies
of the men. Here again that energetic Nor-
wegian, Dr. Nansen, has not only introduced,
but beyond a doubt proved the great value of
his introduction by his great practical lesson,
the crossing of Greenland on ski. Skilobers,
like skaters, are very fastidious, and at a ski
establishment in Christiania which I visited
in company with Dr. Nansen's brother, when
hunting for the best patterns for the Jackson-
Harmsworth expedition, I saw over twenty
different patterns, shapes, and sizes; some

Arctic Equipment.

167

smooth, some with one, two, three, or even
four grooves in the bottom. Those selected
were with two, which were considered the
best and easiest for men to start with who
have had little experience in skilobning. The
average size and those used in the crossing
of Greenland were 7 ft. 6^ in. long in front
at the curve, 3! in. broad, and 3^ in. under
foot.

Style of Telemarken Ski (with two grooves in the botcom), and
Finmarken Ski (plain or one groove).

Extra long flat Ski, as used by Dr. Nansen for smooth ice.

May be had grooved or smooth or sealskin covered (Ustiak pattern)

to prevent slipping in dragging.

Nansen had some a little shorter and wider,
shod with thin steel plates for passage of wet
coarse snow, with spaces to insert strips of elk
or reindeer hide, the hair of which would slip
one way but prevent backward slipping in
uphill sledge hauling. This, I suppose, he
took from the Ustiak Siberian natives, who

1 68 Life of Nansen.

use ski of this pattern for the snow when it
is half melted in the late spring and beginning
of summer.

Indian snow-shoes are a very useful thing,
and Peary used them in preference to ski at
one time, and I prefer them. They are too
well known to need much description. Truger,
which act as their equivalent in Norway, are
made of willow withes plaited in a circle with
a sort of coarse network to form the floor.
They are also used for the ponies in Norway,
under the name of " hestetruger," which are
sometimes of solid wood, with two ridges
bolted on to them and seamed to the hoof
by a binding of raw hide string from chain
to chain. The size is from about 12 in. to
1 8 in. across, the truger being nearly circular.
With these a clever pony will get across a
very bad country. Jackson took about a
dozen pairs to Franz Josef Land which I
procured for him in Telemarken in Norway.

The great advantage of truger over ski or
snow-shoes is their portability and weight,
which is one-tenth of ski.

The next item is the sleeping-bag, a very
important thing, as in it the tired traveller must
rest his half-frozen and aching limbs at night
and refresh himself for fresh struggles on the

Arctic Equipment.

169

EXPLORER WITH SNOW-SHOES ON.

i/o Life of Nans en.

morrow. The old duffle and sheep-skin bags
of the sixties are now quite eclipsed by the
more modern reindeer skin, which Peary,
Nansen, and Jackson have demonstrated to
be the most perfect, as they combine the
greatest warmth with lightness. The only
disadvantage to reindeer skin is that if it gets
wet the fur comes off, so an extra thin gabar-
dine or some light waterproof cover is a great
advantage. A bag for each man is now
accepted as better than a big one for two or
three. The latter is a little warmer but not
so comfortable, and in case of illness a serious
disadvantage. I have one of polar bear skin
for winter use, but I have not tried it yet.

The best skin is either rein calf, or that
taken in the winter, when the hair is more
adherent. A thin, light cork mattress to have
under the bag and an india-rubber air-cushion
are luxuries, and add greatly to the comfort if
they can be taken. Clothes are of course a
great consideration in Arctic travel. For
winter use Jackson and all who have visited
the eastern Arctic agree that the Samoyede
clothes, which consist of a "milatzer," a long
coat down to the knees which is slipped over
the head, and an over-garment like it of rein-
deer skin, with a hood and gloves attached,

A re fie Equipment. 171

called a "sorvaack," are the best. Jackson
found a separate hood better for turning one's
head in, and he found a thick Jaeger Arctic
cap, to fold up and down, quite enough to
defy any cold. With this is worn, over the
thickest Jaeger blanket, underclothes, long
thigh stockings made of the hard, close hair
of the reindeer taken from the legs, and soled
with the even harder forehead skin, called
"pimmies"; and those made by the Samoyede
are tastefully ornamented by insertions of
brightly - dyed red and yellow skin. Under
these are worn fur stockings of cat or squirrel
fur, called "loupthu"; and for the depth of
winter a short over-foot shoe, called "toboc,"
may be worn. Jackson told me that in this
dress he could sleep out without a tent in
the snow in the depth of a Siberian winter;
and Peary says that in his reindeer clothes,
which weighed only 10 Ib. — no heavier than a
winter business suit — he sat out and ate his
meals in comfort on the inland ice of Green-
land at an elevation of several thousand feet.

For summer wear in the Arctic I think a
thick woollen material may be worn, with high
leather thigh-boots for the wet, soft snow, and
a woollen cap if the wind is cold. Swedish-
tanned, thin leather jackets may be worn.

172 Life of Nans en.

Jackson, on seeing one I brought from Norway,
adopted them for part of his summer dress in
Franz Josef Land.

For winter wear Nansen and Jackson took
some big over-boots of elk-skin, which promised
to afford warmth by the great thickness of the
skin and hair in the most severe cold. The
Norwegian finskoo, made also of reindeer skin,
with their curious lappish turned-up toes, and
worn over fur socks, with a binding of lapp
grass over the foot for warmth, and so that
the foot may not be bruised by sharp pieces of
ice or stones, are one of the most comfortable
and durable foot-gears there are. Dr. Nansen
had an old pair given him by one of his Lapps
on starting across Greenland, and he wore
them all the time and all through the following
winter in Greenland, and then, he says, there
was still some wear left in them. This speaks
volumes for their manufacture. For wear with
truger, snow-shoes, or ski, they are much to be
preferred to North American Indian moccasins.
The latter can only be worn if thick felt covers
are used, as they are too thin. I may add that
both Wellman (the inventor) and Jackson took
boots of sealskin for their sledge-dogs to pre-
vent lameness from the freezing of sharp ice
cuts, which renders them useless as draught

A re fie Equipment.

/ 6

ARCTIC CLOTHING— "READY FOR THE WINTER."

174 Life of Nans en.

animals, as Peary and Astrupp found out to
their cost once or twice on their journeys in
Greenland.

As to hand cover, there are many different
sorts of gloves, but those made of wolf-skin,
lined with young reindeer fur, and with a
leather palm which has stitches in four tiny
ridges, cross and across, so as to give a grip,
are invaluable when using an axe or hauling
a rope. These are my own invention, and
every time I use them I like them better.
Like all Arctic gloves, they have only one
division — viz., for the thumb. The Samoyede
pattern of having the gloves attached to the
sleeve of the coat, with a false hole protected
by a flap of skin, so that the bare hand can be
protruded, is very good ; and if one wears thin
silk or old white evening gloves soaked in oil
one can use one's hands unencumbered for
shooting, drawing, or an observation for a
quarter of an hour or so without danger of
frost-bite in the worst cold.

Skates have always been useless, except as a
winter amusement, as nowhere is the ice smooth
enough to make use of them.

For hauling sledges up steep inclines of ice
Wellman invented an ice spike, which, if
moderated and not made as clumsily as his,

Arctic Equipment. 175

is very useful in some places. I saw them in
1896, in Norway, also on board a sloop which
had been hunting up north.

Lengths of alpine rope should always be
used to rope the party together in crossing
unknown glaciers. It has always been a
marvel how none of the Nansen expedition
lost their lives in the crossing up and down
to the inland ice. As it was, there were a
great many marvellous escapes, which were
related to me by one of the party.

Before I leave clothes, let me add that
sealskin and Eskimo clothes, with bird-skin
and dog-skin underclothes, are very good ;
so are the lapp pesks, if the cold is not too
severe.

Now, as to food. During the last few years
great improvements have been made in this
matter. Let me only say that variety, with
fresh meat and vegetables and proper exercise,
and not to be shut up too long in a damp ship,
is the only way to avoid scurvy. You do not
see the Eskimos and Samoyedes, who sleep
out in the air, die of it ; but this question has
been so recently threshed out it is unnecessary
to go into it ; and of late years no deaths to
speak of have occurred from this once awful
malady. Wonderful light, condensed foods and

1/6

Life of Nansen.

vegetables have been prepared by the Bovril,
Maggi, and other companies, for use when
sledging ; and we should profit by Nansen's
and Jackson's experience and take plenty of
butter and treacle, as grease and sweets (which

Sverclrup.

Dielrichson.

Nansen,

COOKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES IN THE FIRST CROSSING OF
GREENLAND.

mean carbon) are the things one most craves
for in the cold.

As to cooking-stoves for a sledge journey,
where weight has to be considered, I think
Jackson has solved the problem, and his 3 Ib.

Arctic Equipment. 1/7

aluminium cooking-stove, with lamp, plates,
cups, spoons, etc., for two people, is a marvel,
burning as it does only a few ounces of alcohol,
and cooking as it will in the worst wind storm.
It is, I think, what the Arctic traveller has been
waiting for for years.

The stove Nansen used in his crossing of
Greenland seems, from his own account, to
have been far from perfect.

The only other stove I ever fancied was one
(made by an old German chemist) Jackson
had, which burned the spirit vapour, and had a
round cylinder one could carry in one's pocket,
which held a day's cooking supply. It was a
most ingenious device, and if it answered as
well in the open as it did in a room, it was
indeed a treasure.

As to ice axes and alpenstocks, I always
advocate a combination of my own invention —
viz., a 6 ft. 3 in. ash shaft, shod like an alpen-
stock, while at the top is fixed an ordinary
lady's ice axe head of the Swiss pattern. This
serves as ice axe, alpenstock, and tent pole at
night. The top screws off at the axe head,
and I can screw in a big spear head, which will
finish a bear, walrus, or seal. This head, and
a loose harpoon head, I carry in a leather case

at my belt. This combination saves a lot of

12

Arctic Equipment. 179

weight. All these articles — furs, sledges, ski,
clothes, sleeping-bags, tents, boats, and other
outfit — can be purchased complete in London,
which is a great advantage to sportsmen and
explorers.

Next I will deal with the armoury for an
expedition. I will assume that the ship's boats
have their whaling guns, which are useful for a
walrus or a narwhal, and will therefore deal
more particularly with the private guns of the
explorers. The only thing which will penetrate
the skull of the walrus is, I think, the Man-
licher .303 solid hardened nickel bullet, the
penetration of which is simply awful. But for
sledging, and where every ounce has to be
considered, the 28-bore Paradox is an ideal
gun; though a 12-bore Paradox is better if
weight has not to be considered, as it is heavy
enough to kill anything, and as a shot-gun is
better for ducks and geese. The advantages
of taking a. 450 Express is that its cartridges
are to be procured from any sealer or whaler
if one runs short, as ninety-nine out of every
hundred rifles met with up north are single
.450 Henry Expresses, the makers of which
turn out a grand 4- bore harpoon shell-gun for
white whale, walrus, or narwhal. It fires a
hollow steel shell holding 20 drs, of fulminating

1 80 Life of Nans en.

powder, which would blow up a small ship if
fired at it, to say nothing of any living creature
since the mammoth or plesiosaurus days.1

Snow spectacles of glass, with leather covered
frames to prevent frost-bite from the metal rims
in extreme cold, are not to be forgotten, though
the old Eskimo way of painting a black rim
round the eyes with grease and lamp-black is
not to be despised; and in Greenland, when
seal-shooting, I used a stick of " nigger" grease

CANADIAN TOBOGGAN (HUDSON BAY COMPANY PATTERN).

paint for this purpose, as I hated glasses, and
I never had snow-blindness, and found it to
answer admirably.

As to scientific instruments, I leave those to
the discretion of the observer of each party,
who must suit his taste.

Without going into the thousand and one
little things, such as lime-juice, nodules,
arsenical soap, collecting - boxes, bird - traps,
skinning knives and steels, medicine chests,

1 With one of these I killed nine small grind whales in one clay in
the Faroe Islands in 1894.

Arctic Equipment. I Si

carpenters' tools, dubbing, shooting boots, and
the smaller things which make up the comfort
of an expedition, and which, I am sorry to
say, are so often left behind, I will finish my
equipment with one word of advice : — See
everything packed yourself and you will know
where it is, and don't be afraid of revising
your lists too often before starting.

CHAPTER X.

WHERE AN EXPEDITION IS NEEDED.
BY J. RUSSELL- JEAFFRESON, F.R.G.S., ETC.

I THINK one of the least known and yet best
parts of the Arctic, where, scientifically, an ex-
pedition would be fully justified, would be the
extreme north-east of Greenland, uniting the
Danish exploration on the south with that of
Peary, the American, in the north ; and, in
comparison with most expeditions, it might be
done very cheaply.

The east coast of Greenland, near Shannon
Island, is generally accessible to the whalers
in the beginning or middle of August, and I
should suggest the hiring of a couple of these
craft, after the spring sealing is over, to come
from Denmark Straits and call for all the stores
at Akorari, on the north of Iceland, where they
could be easily shipped by the Danish mail-
boat from Scotland. Here the two whalers
might call and pick up the expedition and
stores, amongst which should be a light port-

J. KUSSELL-JEAFFRESON, F.R.G.S., ETC.

From a photo by Mr. Graham, of Leamington.

Where an Expedition is Needed. 183

able petroleum launch, or, better, a light
Norwegian whale-boat fitted with a petroleum
engine, which could easily be packed on a
sledge ; also some ponies, which have been
proved to be so valuable in Arctic sledging
by the report on them last winter from Mr.
Jackson in Franz Josef Land ; and the great
advantage here is, we know, from the abund-
ance of musk-ox. On Shannon Island there
would be some mosses and grass to help to
keep them, and in Independence Bay and the
surrounding valleys Peary found abundance of
vegetable and animal life. This, too, would
be of the greatest help in wintering, when
fresh meat means health and absence of scurvy.
I should suggest, after the ships had dis-
charged, a large cache of provisions, etc., being
made at Shannon Island. The party should
push on that summer to Independence Bay
and winter there, which seems, from Peary's
account, a most suitable place ; and then, in
the succeeding spring, push to the north with
the ponies as far as they would go, and kill
and eat them as they became useless or the
food diminished. If the islands Peary and
poor Astrupp saw to the north prove fairly
travelable, I think a very high latitude might
be reached. While half the party are doing

184 Life of Nan sen.

this the other half should proceed back to the
base and bring up enough stores to winter
again at Independence Bay, or make enough
caches to take back the northern party to the
base, when they should be fetched by a whaler
in the following spring, or reach the more
southern latitude by steaming down the land
water. If available in spring, the launch would
drag, say, half-a-dozen whale-boats of provisions
and the party.

With reasonable luck such an expedition
should be able to bring back most valuable
results, for who can read those descriptions of
Peary's about that little, short dip of his
beyond the ice, into this land of plenty, of
game, flowers, butterflies, etc., without the
greatest desire to see it more fully explored ?
Will not some rich man come forward — there
are hundreds in England and America who
could give ,£10,000 \\ithout feeling it; or
they might make provision in their will — and
open this closed page in the book of nature
to the scientific world ? It could be done for
less, no doubt. But if attempted it should be
done well, and this sum is the maximum
required. Is it not worth it ? And it is
the most promising channel, in my mind, of
reaching the much coveted Pole ; but, apart

Where an Expedition is Needed. 185

from this, such an expedition would be of
incalculable value in bringing to light new
geographical and scientific discoveries of all
kinds.

Often from the deck of a Peterhead whaler
have I looked towards that mysterious shore in
the distance which I could see for weeks from
the crow's-nest, and longed for the day when I
could find some one who would find me the
sinews of war to wrest its secrets from old
mother nature, who guards them so well with
her icy bonds,

CHAPTER XI.

ARCTIC SPORT.
BY J. RUSSELL-JEAFFRESON, F.R.G.S., ETC.

As most of the accessible hunting-fields of the
world are now getting played out, yearly more
sportsmen turn their faces towards the Arctic,
where good hunting may yet be obtained.
Even here it is not what it was twenty years
back, when men like Lamont and Leigh Smith
made names as explorers and hunters which
will never be forgotten ; and now Mr. Arnold
Pike's name is well known as one of the most
enthusiastic Arctic sportsmen. Herr Eccroll,
of Norway, in his boat, the Win. Barentz,
has also had grand sport for the last two
years.

The variety of big game to be met in the
Arctic is musk-ox, polar bear, walrus, reindeer,
and seals ; and of the small mammals, Arctic
foxes and hares.

Within the Arctic circle are the great breed-
ing places of nearly all the wild fowl of the

Arctic Sport. 187

world, comprising swans, geese, ducks, the
waders, etc. I will deal with them now in
order.

The musk-ox is, of course, the most rare of
all Arctic game, and its haunts the most
inaccessible. Shannon Island, off the east
Greenland coast, and the valleys round Inde-
pendence Bay, are the only places on this side
the Arctic hemisphere it is procurable; but in
the barren lands of North America and the
Archipelago northward of that country it is
fairly abundant still, its grand head forming the
most prized trophy of the Arctic sportsman.

Next comes the polar bear, which is more
or less distributed over the whole Arctic region,
and appears to be most abundant in Franz
Josef Land and that group, for in a single
winter Mr. F. G. Jackson killed over sixty,
and Herr Eccroll is credited with over thirty
in north-east Spitzbergen the same year. It
is getting scarce off the west coast of Spitz-
bergen (only one half-grown one was shot in
1896, though there were three or four expedi-
tions out there), as it is so harried by the
walrus sloops, but it is still to be found there
in winter ; while on the east coast of Storr
Fjord, and the islands in it, and to the north-
ward, it is still abundant. The only place I

1 88 Life of Nansen,

know where it is quite killed out is in western
and Danish Greenland, where, except one
which may come down in the spring on the
ice-floes from the north, it is quite extinct.

The walrus, too, is now becoming rare, and
it is not possible to kill them in hundreds as
did the first old Russian and Dutch hunters
who visited Spitzbergen, Novaya Zemlya, and
Bear Island early last century. But the east
coast of Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Novaya
Zemlya still yield good bags to the plucky
crews of those enterprising little sloops which
are to be met with right up to the 80° parallel,
pursuing their dangerous calling in their forty
to sixty ton *'yacts," as they are called. It
was in one of these little fifty-ton boats from
Tromso I saw most of my best hunting in
Arctic waters.

The reindeer is to be met with in southern
Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Novaya Zemlya in
all the fertile valleys that are open in summer ;
and the west coast of Spitzbergen yields grand
stalking-fields, every valley being full of them;
it abounds also in the valleys near Karbenkula,
in Novaya Zemlya. Its tameness and utter
disregard for man, however, causes the sport to
be of a not very exciting character.

The seal is too self-evident all over the Arctic

19° Life of Nansen.

to choose any special locality for it, and of course
the enormous herds of thousands of bladder-
nose which occupy the fleet of Norwegian and
Peterhead boats yearly is only to be met with
in certain seasons in Denmark Straits, off the
east Greenland coast, and around Jan Mayen
Island. Of course there are several sorts of
seals — the bladder-nose, the most common ; the
rarer harp seal ; the great seal ; and the little
grey " floe rat," as the whalers call it, are the
most generally met with.

As to the wild fowl, Spitzbergen and Novaya
Zemlya teem with them, and Kolguef Islands,
we learn from Mr. Trevor- Battye's account, is
the headquarters of the wild goose ; while the
whole of the Arctic margin of Siberia and the
islands off its coast during the short summer are
alive with wild fowl, as is the Great Tundra, so
ably described by the late Mr. Seebohm, and
by Mr. F. G. Jackson in his travels through it
in 1891. As to the battery for Arctic sport, if
only one gun can be carried, I prefer a 12-bore
Paradox, as its shooting is equally good for fur
or feather ; but this subject I have spoken of
before.

As to how to get to these fields I have men-
tioned, and the cost. Unless the hunter is pre-
pared, like Lamont, Leigh Smith, and others,

Arctic Sport. 191

to build themselves a special yacht for the work
— a most expensive way, though the most
comfortable — the only thing to do is to hire a
craft at the nearest available port to where you
want to get. For Spitzbergen, a "yact" or
sloop of about forty tons may be hired, with a
complete crew, boats, hunting gear, etc., for
about ^500 for the season. This covers all
expense, private food and cartridge bill, etc., and
passage out and home to any port in Norway
wherever you wish to land. If one wants to go
to east Greenland or towards north-east, or to
Franz Josef Land, a small steam sealer may
be hired for about ^800 from Tonsberg, in
Norway. But east Greenland may be reached
more cheaply by going as a passenger in one of
the Peterhead or Dundee whalers. This, how-
ever, I cannot recommend, as one is apt to get
but chance sport, for you are at the mercy of
the captain, who as a rule cares little for his
passenger's longing, and will not put himself
about in the least to procure him sport, but
attends strictly to his own fishing; and a rather
miserable six months is the result of this
venture nowadays. A few years ago, when
such men as the brothers Gray were alive,
it was far different, for they were a different
stamp of men to those now in command. They

I92 Life of Nauscn.

took more after Dr. Scoresby and the old
school, who could attend to science and sport as
well as business. To get to western Greenland
a passage can be got in the Danish boats
from Copenhagen for about ^30 return, which
annually run between the latter port and the
Eskimo Colonies on the west Greenland coast.
Here, if a native rowing boat and crew are
taken, and proper tents and equipment, good
sport may be obtained up or down the coasts
from the Settlements very cheaply. For
Novaya Zemlya or Kolguef, to hire a steam-
tug at Archangel, in the White Sea, to land
one and fetch one later on, is best ; this is
a good trip if accompanied by a couple of
Samoyede hunters.

If the Northern Island was tried I am sure
some big bags might be got, for the north
Greenland coast is nearly virgin ground.

If the musk-ox is the sportsman's quarry, a
passage must be taken to some of the northern
forts of the Hudson Bay Company's territories
in Arctic America, and these can be reached in
the spring in one of the two boats, the Eric, an
old Peterhead whaler, under the command of
Captain Alec Gray, or the Lady Head, a full-
rigged sailing-ship belonging to the Hudson
Bay Company, who will generally grant a

Arctic Sport. 193

passage for a moderate fee (I think ^30) out
and back. If a short summer seal-shooting
excursion is desired, go by the Danish mail-
boat to Iceland to the port of Akorari, in the
north, from Leith for £S ; then hire a small
sailing-boat, and go up to the edge of the
Denmark Straits ice and round towards Jan
Mayen Island, where you are very likely to get
a bear. You will, if you start from Iceland at
the end of March or early in April, get a lot of
seal, for round here the big herd of bladder-
nose abound. A boat and crew of six will
cost you £12 a week to hire

Yacht owners should not, on any account,
take their dainty iron or steel yachts into the
ice, for the cold makes the thin plates so brittle
that but one tap with a bit of small ice is
required and all is over with the vessel. Years
ago whalers tried iron and steel for ice
work and found both useless. The ordinary
wooden yachts, also, are too thinly built to
risk amongst ice, which only a properly con-
structed boat ought to face. I am sure, sooner
or later, we shall hear of some frightful disaster
to the big iron tourist ships which, luckily for
them, for the last few years have visited
Spitzbergen and got back safely. Knowing-
as I do the dangers of the ice, nothing in

13

194 Life of Nansen.

the world would induce me to go a trip in
one of these. Some day one will be caught
by the ice drifting in behind her when she
has got up farther north than usual, and then
if she gets back with a smashed propeller and
nothing worse she will be lucky, as they are
not like steam whalers, which have but two
blades in their propeller. The blades of the
latter vessel are set perpendicularly when
sailing through the ice, so as not to knock
off a blade, whilst a tourist boat, with her
light three-bladed ones, would be almost certain
to do so.

And now, in conclusion, to those who possess
health and youth and do not mind roughing it,
I can recommend the Arctic regions as the
grandest field for sport and adventure. No
nations are more interesting than the Arctic
aborigines ; none more hospitable or kind-
hearted ; fighting, cursing, theft, and murder
are almost unknown in these regions. And
the scenery ! — those only who have stood, as
I have, and seen the sun lighting up the ice-
capped peaks of Greenland, Jan Mayen, and
Spitzbergen, can tell of the beauties of this
land of ice, when day by day, hour by hour,
the changes of light and colour, shape and
form among the ice are too varied and lovely

•A.

Arctic Sport. 195

to be described ; and the moon and aurora-lit
autumn landscapes in their cold, grey stillness
baffle pen and brush in description, The
sport is made doubly grand by its surroundings,
and no climate is more healthy in moderation
than the land of the frigid zone.

CHAPTER XII.

HOW CAN THE NORTH POLAR REGION BE
CROSSED ?

THIS was the question that Dr. Nansen dis-
cussed before an over-crowded meeting of the
members of the English Royal Geographical
Society, in London, on the evening of Nov-
ember i4th, 1892.

I had read so many conflicting accounts of
Dr. Nansen's plan for finding the North Pole
that I appealed to the doctor, and in his reply
he stated, under date May 23rd, 1893: — "The
fullest account of my plan you will find in
No. i Geographical Journal, published by the
Geographical Society, London." In his speech
he first dealt with the scientific value of Arctic
and Antarctic exploration, and, after touching
on past expeditions to the Arctics, he asked :—
" Why have all previous attempts failed ? "

4 * The reason is simple enough," he replied;
44 the expeditions were everywhere, at a greater
or less distance from the Pole, stopped by drift-

How to Cross the North Polar Region. 197

ing floe-ice which formed immense impenetrable
masses, and in most cases was carried down
against the ships by currents from the north.
It was impossible to penetrate the ice, and to
walk over it was almost equally impossible,
since it is moved by constant currents from the
north; there was no choice left but to return.
If we could only discover a land stretching to
the Pole the chances would be favourable
enough. The difficulties of reaching it would
not then be much greater than those of cross-
ing Greenland. But we know of no country
which is likely to have such an extension to the
north. Greenland seems to end not very far
north of the latitude already reached, and Franz
Josef Land is probably only a group of islands.
" Many people think that the North Pole
can be reached by balloons or balloon ships,
and that it will be so reached one day. I do
not deny the possibility of this ; on the con-
trary, I regard it as very probable. But the
only way at present would be to entrust oneself
wholly to the wind, and this is an uncertain
way so long as we have no knowledge of the
wind-currents of these regions. To go in a
submarine boat under the ice would be rather
risky so long as submarine navigation is as
little developed as it is at present.

198 Life of Nansen.

" But is there no other way to reach the
North Pole?

" I believe that if we take careful notice of
the forces which Nature herself places at our
disposal, and endeavour to work with them,
and not against them, we shall find, if not the
shortest, at all events the most certain route.
We have already seen that most polar expedi-
tions have been stopped by irresistible currents
from the unknown north carrying immense
masses of thick floe-ice. From this fact we
seem entitled to draw a very simple conclu-
sion— namely, that if currents run from these
regions, currents must also somewhere run
into them, and that if expeditions have been
carried by the ice southward from the unknown
regions, others may be floated northward into
these regions if they can only strike the
currents on the right side. Thus, then, we
have the way already indicated; the problem
is to find the right place.

"If we consider the experience of whalers
and sealers who have sailed for a long series
of years in the Arctic seas on both sides of
the Pole, one singular circumstance must strike
us at once — namely, that ships caught in the
ice on this side of the Pole, near the Greenland
Sea, are carried southward, and that the crews

Hcnv to Cross the North Polar Region. 199

run, as a rule, no great risk. Not so on the
other side of the Pole, north of Behring Strait;
ships caught in the ice there drift northward
and often disappear, some with few and others
with many men on board; most of them prob-
ably are destroyed in high, unknown latitudes.
These facts must lead the thoughtful observer
to the conclusion that there are differences in
the sea-currents which may be utilised in favour
of a polar expedition. Let us, therefore, ex-
amine the question more closely.

" The most important polar current is, without
doubt, that which runs southward along the east
coast of Greenland. This has a considerable
speed, and carries an immense quantity of water
out from the polar basin. It fills the whole
opening between Greenland and Spitzbergen,
with the exception of a narrow belt along the
coast of the latter, and it runs over the deepest
known bottom in the Arctic regions ; there are
ascertained depths of 2600 fathoms. The depth
of the actual current itself cannot, however,
be so much. I do not think that we are
entitled to assume that there is any current
of importance deeper than 300 fathoms ; and
in order to be within the mark, let us say
only 200 fathoms. It might be expected
that under; this polar current another current

2OO Life of Nansen.

was running northward. From what we know
of the water, we seem, however, to be fully
entitled to say such cannot be the case. On
the contrary, water at a much greater depth
probably comes from the unknown north. The
breadth of the polar current on the surface is
250 nautical miles, and at the depth mentioned
it seems to be about 170 nautical miles. To
calculate the average speed of the current is
very difficult ; it probably runs more rapidly at
the surface than in its deeper parts, and, on
the other hand, the speed is nowhere constant
during the whole year. Sometimes, especially
in the summer months, it is very rapid, but at
other times it seems to have a much slower
course. Taking everything into consideration,
I do not think we are entitled to estimate the
average speed of the whole current for the
year at more than two nautical miles a day.
By this calculation we arrive at the conclusion
that the polar current between Greenland
and Spitzbergen carries southward between 80
and 1 20 cubic miles of water every twenty-
four hours.

"Whence is all this water derived? It
cannot originate at the Pole itself; the place
of the water that flows out from the polar
basin must be supplied by water running in.

How to Cross the North Polar Region. 201

It is also evident that the influence of a
current so considerable as this cannot be
limited to a small area ; it must affect the
polar basin like an immense pump, sucking
the water even from the shores of Siberia and
Behring Strait. This is the more certain as
the polar basin is found to be unusually shallow
wherever it has been sounded. There are only
a few currents known which run into the polar
basin. A small branch of the Gulf Stream is
known to run northward along the west coast
of Spitzbergen. This current is, however, too
insignificant to be of much value in this con-
nection ; to some extent it certainly also rounds
the north coast of Spitzbergen, and returns
southward again towards its eastern coast.
The main body of the Norwegian Gulf Stream
passes eastward to the north of Norway, and
enters the polar basin north of Novaya Zemlya.
This current is considerable ; our knowledge of
it is, however, not sufficient to enable us to
form any certain idea about the quantity of
water which it carries along ; but according
to the calculation of Professor H. Mohn, in
his important memoir on the Northern Ocean,
and according to information from the sealers,
I think we may assume that it carries at least
60 to 70 cubic miles of water every twenty-

2O2 Life of Nan sen.

four hours into the polar basin. A third
current running into the polar sea is that
which runs northward through Behring Strait.
This cannot be of great importance, as the
Strait is so narrow and shallow; but from
the latest descriptions of the current we are
perhaps entitled to assume that at least 10
or 14 cubic miles of water are here running
northward daily.1

"The currents certainly furnish the most
important supplies of water to the polar
current along the east coast of Greenland.
Another addition comes from the American,
and especially from the Siberian rivers that
run into the polar sea. The drainage area
of all these rivers is very considerable, em-
bracing nearly the whole of Northern Asia,
or Siberia, besides the principal part of
Alaska and British North America. The
rain and snow of this region are not, however,

1 Professor H. Mohn, the foremost scientist in Norway, in an
interesting letter to the author, under date 7th November 1896,
writes: — "It was I who first proposed the theory about the current
from the New Siberian Islands to Greenland and Spitzbergen, and
calculated its rate. . . . My paper was read in Christiania on 28th
November 1884. Dr. Nansen has told me that he saw a note of it in a
newspaper, and till then he had not thought of the Jeannette relics.
Of course I am very glad to see my theory verified through Nansen's
expedition. The fullest proofs for the theory were given by Nansen
later, as you know."

How to Cross the North Polar Region. 203

very considerable ; and the whole quantity of
moisture falling over Siberia I have calculated
to be no more than about 626 cubic miles in
one year, if the Russian meteorological data on
Siberia are correct. On account of evaporation
we cannot assume that more than a certain part
of this water reaches the polar sea ; perhaps
not more than one cubic mile daily during
the year. This is not much compared with
the size of the ocean currents; but this addition
is of special importance, as it consists of fresh
and comparatively warm water, which prin-
cipally runs out into the basin during the
summer, and which for a very long time
keeps at the surface of the sea on account
of its lightness, and thus produces surface
currents running northwards from the Siberian
coast. This is also the reason why there is
so much open water along this coast every
summer. To this stream of fresh water the
evaporation from the melting of ice in the
polar sea contributes very little. The moisture
of the air over the area draining into the polar
sea must consequently originate mainly in the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This constant
addition of fresh water must evidently be the
principal reason why the water of the polar
current between Greenland and Spitzbergen

2O4 Life of Nansen,

contains somewhat less salt, even at con-
siderable depths, than the water of the North
Atlantic seas.

"We thus see that the polar basin is daily
receiving a large inflow of water. As little
evaporation takes place from its ice-covered
surface, there must necessarily be a correspond-
ing outflow, and the most natural outlet is the
broad and deep opening between Spitzbergen
and Greenland. According to what has already
been said, the water running out here seems
very nearly to correspond in quantity to the
inflow mentioned.

''Currents also run southward through Smith
Sound, Jones Sound, and Lancaster Sound, in
the Arctic Archipelago of North America; but
as these sounds are very narrow and shallow,
the body of water which their currents carry
off is of little importance in this respect. The
current running southward between Spitzbergen
and Franz Josef Land is also insignificant when
compared to the east Greenland current. By
considering the contributions of water already
referred to which this last current probably
receives, it may be possible to form some idea
of the approximate course of this current
through the unknown regions. The waters of
the North American rivers form, very likely,

How to Cross the NortJi Polar Region. 205

a portion of the currents through the Arctic
Archipelago of North America; a small part
of the current through Behring Strait, perhaps,
runs also in this direction. We have left then,
for the formation of the east Greenland polar
current, the Novaya Zemlya current, the
Siberian rivers, a part of the current through
Behring Strait, and the moisture falling over
the polar basin.

" It seems quite natural that these sources
should converge, and to some extent unite to
form the Greenland current. We must expect,
therefore, to find the main body of the current
which is formed in this way lying somewhere
to the north of the middle of that extended
area from which it receives its converging
sources, and this place must consequently be
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the New
Siberian Islands. Here we also have the
mouth of the Lena River, which carries a
considerable body of comparatively warm
water northward into the polar sea. From
this region the current must naturally run in
a northerly direction by the shortest route to
the outlet between Spitzbergen and Greenland,
and this must be to the north of Franz Josef
Land, and near to or across the North Pole.
But the direction of the current may perhaps,

206 Life of N arisen,

to some extent, be disturbed by the winds.
Unfortunately we do not know much of these
in the Arctic regions; from the little we know
it would appear, however, that the winds should
be favourable for such a current, and that their
average direction during the year is very nearly
the same as that which we have assumed for the
latter. This we can also conclude from the obser-
vations made during the drift of \htjeannette.

" I have tried to convince you that from
what we know about the ocean currents and
the winds along the 'threshold of the unknown
regions,' we are entitled, in fact are obliged, to
assume that these regions are traversed by an
ocean current. But is there no direct evidence
of the existence of such a current ? I think
there is."1

Dr. Nansen here laid down the following
facts as supporting his theory :—

(i) The course taken by the American vessel
Jeannette, which was caught in the ice to the
east of Herald Island (north of Behring Strait)
on September 6th, 1879, and drifted to the north-
west until she was crushed on June I3th, 1881,
north of the New Siberian Islands, where she
sank.

1 Extracted by gracious permission of the Royal Geographical
Society.

How to Cross the North Polar Region. 207

(2) The finding on an ice-floe near Juliane-
haab, on the south-west coast of Greenland,
just three years after the Jeannette had sunk,
of a number of objects belonging to her or
her crew.

(3) The finding of a " throwing- stick " or
<( harpoon - thrower " of a peculiar shape (a
handle used by the Eskimo for throwing darts)
on the west coast of Greenland, near Godthaab,
which must have drifted from the west coast
of Alaska, the only place where throwing sticks
of ,a similar kind occur; also the amount of
Siberian driftwood which every year reaches
the coasts of Greenland.

(4) The thickness of the ice carried south-
ward along the east coast of Greenland.

(5) The samples of mud and dust taken
from ice-floes between Iceland and Greenland,
on being microscopically examined, lead to the
conclusion that they are partly mud carried into
the sea by the great Siberian rivers. The
diatom flora of some samples showed the
presence of species only to be found at Cape
Wankarema, near Behring Strait.

(6) By examination of a great many speci-
mens of pumice found on the shores of
Norway, Spitzbergen, and Greenland, Back-
strom, a Swedish geologist, comes to the

208 Life of Nansen.

conclusion that they consist of the group of
minerals called Andesites, and must have been
carried southward by the polar current, having
most probably originated from unknown vol-
canoes in the polar regions, or from the great
Andesitic volcanic regions near the Behring
Sea.

" From all these facts,'' continued Dr. Nansen,
"we seem fully entitled to draw the conclusion
that a current is constantly running across the
polar region to the north of Franz Josef Land
from the sea north of Siberia and Behring
Strait, and into the sea between Spitzbergen
and Greenland, and as we have seen, the floe-
ice is constantly travelling with this current in
a fixed route between these seas. Since such is
the case, the most natural way of crossing the
unknown region must be to take a ticket with
this ice and enter the current on the side where
it runs northward — that is, somewhere near the
New Siberian Islands — and let it carry one
straight across those latitudes which it has
prevented so many from reaching.

"There are two methods of trying to attain
the result I long for. First, to build a strong
ship so constructed that it can withstand the
pressure of the ice, and, living in this ship, to
float across with the ice ; or, second, to take

Hoiv to Cross the North Polar Region. 209

only boats along, encamp on an ice-floe, and
live there while floating across. My plan is
based on the use of both these methods. . . .

"Our first goal will be the New Siberian
Islands or the mouth of the Lena River. I
have been uncertain whether I will go through
the Kara Sea, or will prefer the route from
the side of Behring Strait ; but think now
that I shall take the former. When we have
reached the sea north of the Lena Delta we
shall have to wait for the right moment to go
northward along the western coasts of the New
Siberian Islands, and try to reach the farthest
possible point north in open water. This will
probably be in August or the first days of
September 1893. The current caused by the
warm water from the Lena River will certainly
be a great help to us, as it seems to be of
great influence during the summer, producing
an extensive open sea, in which one of the
boats from the Jeannette was even wrecked.
To be able to navigate the ship properly
through the ice I thought of using captive
balloons. By help of these we could easily in
clear weather get a splendid view over the
surroundings, and see where there is ice and
in what direction there is open water ; we

could then in a moment see what direction

14

2io Life of Nan sen.

to take as clearly as if we had it traced on a
chart, and should lose no time by trying in a
wrong direction. The great difficulty is that
there is very much fog in this region just on
account of the warm Lena water ; but a good
clear day with balloon work would then be the
more valuable, and would make up for a great
many others with fog. A still greater difficulty
is, however, that the balloon equipment,
especially the steel cylinders with the com-
pressed hydrogen, are so heavy that I fear it
would be too difficult to carry them in our
small ship, and as they are also very expensive,
I fear I shall have to give them up.

"When we can get no farther we shall have
nothing left but to run into the ice at the most
favourable spot, and from there trust entirely
to the current running across the polar region.
The ice will perhaps soon begin to press, but it
will only lift our strong ship. While drifting
we shall have plenty of time and excellent
opportunity to make scientific observations.
Probably we shall in this way, in the course
of some years, be carried near the Pole, or
across it, and into the sea between Spitzbergen
and Greenland, where we shall get into open
water again, and be able to return home.

" There is, however, a possibility that the

Hoiv to Cross the North Polar Region. 211

ship, in spite of all precautions, may be crushed
in the ice ; but if this happens the expedition
will have another resource. It will now be
time to use the ice as quarters instead of the
ship, and we shall have to remove all our
provisions, coal, boats, etc., to an ice-floe, and
camp there. Besides the light, ordinary boats,
I have built two big boats for this purpose,
20 ft. long, 9 ft. broad, with flat bottom and
so deep that we can sit and lie comfortably
inside them. They have a deck, and are so
big that the whole crew can live even in one
of them. These boats will be placed side by
side on the ice, will be covered with thick
warm tents and snow, and will give us two
good warm saloons. Thus we can continue
our journey. There is certainly no reason why
one should not be able to live comfortably
enough in this way if one is only prepared
for it. The only difference will be that we
have now got two small ships standing on
the ice instead of the big one lying between
the floes. When we emerge into open water
on this side the Pole there will not be any
great difficulty in returning home in our
boats ; such a thing has been done many
times before.

"It is my conviction that the only difficulty

2 1 2 Life of Nansen.

will be to get duly into the current north of
Siberia ; when this is fortunately done, we
must be carried somewhere northward. There
is no case in which a ship has been nipped in
the pack-ice without being carried in some
direction. Whether we will succeed or not,
I feel convinced that this is the way in which
the unknown regions will some day be crossed.
To travel in this manner is certainly no new
fashion ; it has been tried many times before.
I need only remind you of Sir Leopold
McClintock's drift with the Fox during eight
months in the winter of 1857-58, when he
drifted 1200 miles from the northern part of
Baffin's Bay down towards Labrador. Several
years later (1872) a party from the Polaris
expedition drifted on an ice-floe even a longer
distance very nearly along the same route.
Along the east coast of Greenland many such
ice-drifts have occurred. I may remind you
of the whole fleet of whalers — about twenty-
eight in number — which in June, 1777, were
nipped between latitude 74° and 75° N., and
which drifted in the ice southward along the
whole east Greenland coast. The last ship
was crushed in October in latitude 61° 30' N.,
after having drifted a distance of 1250 miles
in one hundred and seven days. Some of the

Hoiv to Cross the North Polar Region. 213

men continued the drift on the ice, rounded
Cape Farewell, and reached at last the Danish
Settlements on the west coast, the whole drift
being about 1600 miles or more. In the winter
of 1869 and 1870 the Hansa crew drifted on
an ice-floe, as you will remember, along the
same coast, very nearly the same route and
the same distance as the whalers in 1777, until
they, after nine months, arrived safely at a
settlement west of Cape Farewell. During
our attempt to land on the east coast of Green-
land, in 1888, we also, as will be known, had
some little experience in this drifting, and in
1882 I also tried a little of it with a Norwegian
sealer.

" In the sea between Novaya Zemlya and
Franz Josef Land the Austro- Hungarian ex-
pedition in the Tegetthojf drifted for a period
of one year and a half; but as I have already
mentioned, a striking difference between this
drift and those above mentioned is that it had
no southern direction ; it went north-east, north,
and north-westward. In this respect the drift of
\htjeannette during two years from a point to the
north of Behring Strait is also most remarkable,
as it went in a north-westerly direction.

" It will thus be seen that drifting in the ice
is no new mode of travelling in the Arctic

214 Life of Nans en,

regions, neither is it new to make discoveries
in this way. During the drift of the Tegetthoff
the most important Arctic discovery of recent
times was made — viz., Franz Josef Land, and
during the drift of the Jcannette several islands
were discovered. The only new feature in my
plan will be that I wish to be drifted, while
these previous expeditions drifted against their
will.

"There is a possibility that we may be
stopped by unknown lands near the Pole, or
that we may strike an eddy or a side current,
but we hardly run any great risk in any of
these cases. If, in the former case, we should
fail to get our ship afloat again, we should have
to leave her and strike out for the nearest
current to drift on again, or return homeward
travelling over the ice. When we take care
only to travel with the current and not against
it there will certainly be no special difficulty
in doing this; and if the distance should be too
great, we should leave all boats, taking only
light sledges, with necessary provisions, etc.,
besides canvas for boat-making, walk on until
we reached Spitzbergen or any other land
where there is open water. Here we would
make boats of canvas, or, if possible, of the
skins of seals or walruses, like that we made

Hoiv to Cross the North Polar Region. 215

when we reached the west coast of Greenland.
If we are caught by a side current this must
at last bring us somewhere; it cannot for ever
run in a ring round the Pole ; and wherever
we come near the coasts of the polar sea, we
shall have no difficulty in returning home. It
may be possible that the current will not carry
us exactly across the Pole, but the principal
thing is to explore the unknown polar regions,
not to reach exactly that mathematical point
in which the axis of our globe has its northern
termination.

''The only experience which can give us
some idea as to the time the current will require
to drift the expedition across is the drift of the
relics from the Jeannette. If we assume that
they required one year for the drift southward
along the east coast of Greenland from latitude
80° N., only two years remain for the rest of
the journey, and this requires a speed of no
more than two nautical miles daily. This does
not seem too high a rate when we remember
that the Jeannette drifted at the same speed the
last half year of her drifting. It cannot, there-
fore, be considered improbable that we should
reach open water on this side of the Pole
within two years after our start from the
Siberian side. One cannot, however, expect

216 Life of Nansen.

that the course will be one straight line forward
during all this time. There will certainly come
periods during which the drift is quite stopped,
or when we may even be carried backward,
and the route and time can thus be easily
lengthened ; but when we, as already men-
tioned, take provisions for five or six years
we may consider that we have an ample margin.
This may, perhaps, seem to many to be a long
time, but there is a great advantage in this
route, and that is, that when the expedition is
once well begun there will not be much help
in looking backwards ; our hope will lie on the
other side of the Pole, and such a knowledge is
a good help to get j "ram, or forward.

" There are a great many things in our equip-
ment which ought also perhaps to be men-
tioned ; but as this paper has already become
so long, I shall only mention a few of the most
important points.

"To get fresh food we will shoot as much as
possible, and for this purpose we will carry light
sealing boats, as also Eskimo kayaks. The
use of these excellent light craft I learnt to
appreciate in Greenland ; they are very good
to shoot and fish from, can easily be carried
long distances over the ice, and can be used
wherever there is a little open water.

Plow to Cross the North Polar Region. 217

" To make excursions over the ice in case we
shall meet with land — which, of course, is very
likely — we will take dogs, sledges, ski, and
snow-shoes with us, besides full equipment for
sledge travelling. I hope to spend a great deal
of time in this way by making excursions
in all directions where anything of importance
may be expected. For entertainment during
the long winter nights, as well as for all kinds
of scientific work, a good library will naturally
form a most important part of our equipment.

"-Our scientific equipment will be chosen
with the greatest care, and the best instruments
accessible will be taken. I shall not, however,
tire you with an enumeration of them ; they
will naturally, to a great extent, be much like
what other Arctic expeditions have had. I
may only mention that I have also got a
pendulum apparatus and the necessary astro-
nomical universal instrument, in the hope that
we may get some opportunity of making pen-
dulum observations on northern latitudes, which
is, of course, of the greatest interest.

" One of the greatest difficulties we will have
to overcome will perhaps be the scurvy. It
has been very bad on many previous expedi-
tions, and during the long time we expect to be
away it is not impossible that it might occur.

218 Life of Nans en.

I do not, however, consider this to be very
probable. I am examining the question very
closely, and all possible precautions are being
taken to avoid it. In our time science ought
to be able to produce an equipment as regards
provisions which will make scurvy an impossi-
bility. It is a ghastly enemy, that is true, as
we do not know its nature and origin. But it
seems as if it almost never occurs except in
connection with badly -preserved meat, and
especially salted meat, and I cannot understand
why, then, we should take such a thing with
us ; there is plenty of other things to choose
from. Alcoholic drinks will, of course, not be
taken.

"To live a healthy life in all respects is
naturally very important. Two of the principal
conditions to keep one's health are heat and
light. In order to produce the necessary heat,
we live together in a small room during the
coldest season, as is elsewhere mentioned. We
will also have good warm clothes. Woollen
ones I regard as best for indoors, but in the
open air skin or canvas suits to put outside
the woollen clothes are necessary to protect
one against the biting wind and the snow-drift.
To heat cur saloon there will certainly not be
much wanted even during- the severest cold.

How to Cross tJie North Polar Region. 219

A few paraffin lamps or a small paraffin stove
will certainly be sufficient. There will, of
course, also be care taken to get good ventila-
tion. We thus run no risk, I think, of suffering
from want of heat. With the light it is, how-
ever, worse. Almost no organism can exist
without that, and therefore various illnesses
occur during the long Arctic nights. This
it would seem difficult to avoid in regions
where the darkness lasts six months. I
believe, however, that we shall be able to
overcome this difficulty also by help of the
wonderful electric light. We shall have a
dynamo for producing electricity. Many will
perhaps ask how we shall get the necessary
power to make it work. This cannot, however,
be difficult. On one hand we have the wind.
The meteorologists are certainly of opinion that
this will not, as a rule, be very strong in the
cold over the polar sea ; but a little we must
find there also, and if the sails of our windmill
are made sufficiently big, we do not want much
to turn them. But even when there is no wind
at all we will be able to produce power. We
are thirteen men, strong, and well picked, as I
hope, and when a capstan is arranged on deck
we will be able to do work similar to that
which a horse does in its horse-mill on land.

22O Life of Nans en.

In this capstan four men take their turn at a
time ; thus we will obtain good and regular
exercise — somewhat monotonous perhaps —
and will at the same time be useful by pro-
ducing electricity, so that we can have an
electric arc-lamp burning eight hours a day.
Everybody will understand what a blessing
that must be when one is surrounded by
constant darkness. When the sun begins
to sink, to disappear behind the horizon
in the south for the last time, we begin
to walk in a ring in the darkness on the
deck of our ship, in order to produce a
new sun. In this way we will slowly move
forward. I hope that you, ladies and gentle-
men, will sometimes send us a kind thought
while we go round in our mill there far north
in the solemn silence of the long polar night."

CHAPTER XIII.

ARCTIC CURRENTS.

THUS we glean that a remarkable feature in
Nansen's plan of campaign, and one that went
far towards securing his success, was the pro-
minence given to the existence and importance
of ocean -currents or "drifts." In the early
days of Arctic exploration all that was deemed
necessary for an expedition was to lay in a
stock of provisions and warm cloth, then to
set the ship's head towards the north and
to trust to an indomitable spirit for the rest.
Perhaps this was all that was possible in view
of the then so limited range of available Arctic
marine geography. But through much suffer-
ing and failure (so called) came experience and
knowledge, and it was felt that success would
only be attained by the man who thoroughly
knew the natural conditions involved and
would act accordingly.

Lieutenant Maury's Wind and Current

222 Life of Nansen.

Chart, which afterwards expanded into his
Physical Geography of the Sea, drew atten-
tion to the enormous influence exerted by
ocean - currents and drifts, and for the first
time mapped them out with anything like
fulness and accuracy. It is to the credit of
Nansen that he first saw herein a probable
solution of the Arctic difficulty. Instead of
fighting blindly against the forces of Nature
or submitting helplessly to their adverse course,
he had but to strike in with those that were
going his way.

A glance at the most notable Arctic currents
will be of service to my readers here. All
currents, even the most permanent, such as the
Agulhas off South Africa, are exceedingly vari-
able, both in direction and velocity. " The
surface waters of the ocean," we glean from the
latest volume of charts issued by the Hydro-
graphic Department of the Admiralty, " are
undoubtedly largely under the influence of the
wind, and it may be accepted as a general
principle that the prevailing wind of a district
determines the prevailing set of the current.
The east wind in the tropical part of the North
Atlantic drives the water westward to the Gulf
of Mexico, the westerly and south-westerly
breezes farther north force the waters eastward

A re fie Currents, 223

to the shores of Europe. But in the Arctic
Seas the influence of the wind appears to be
more marked than elsewhere." There is a
singular unanimity on this point in the pub-
lished works of northern explorers. No matter
whether about Spitzbergen and Novaya Zem-
lya, or about Behring Strait and the Mackenzie,
one constantly finds references to the current
changing immediately the wind changes, even
when the breeze is of the lightest. Parry fre-
quently mentions this feature during his several
voyages in the north, and it had been forced upon
the attention of navigators long before his time.
We can well understand that ice-floes would be
acted upon by the wind, and a ship perched
on a floe would offer a surface to the breeze
much like its own sails. The problem of drift-
ing in the Arctic Ocean, therefore, resolves
itself mainly into determining the prevailing
winds of that region. During the summer
months the continent of Asia lies under an
area of low barometric pressure, which draws
the wind from the Indian Ocean, giving India
and neighbouring countries the south-west mon-
soon, while on its other side, from the Siberian
coast northward, the wind would come from an
easterly or south-easterly quarter.

Winter finds a complete reversal of the atmo-

224 Life of Nans en.

spheric conditions, an extensive anti-cyclone
over Siberia causing a wind from a westerly
quarter on the adjacent Polar Sea, and the
north-east monsoon of Southern Asia. Know-
ing how readily the water and ice submit to the
wind, it will be expected that to the northward
of Siberia the general set of the current is from
east to west in summer, and from west to east
in winter, and this is precisely what has been
found to be the case by Baron von Wrangell
and others who have explored this locality, and
this has in fact been the experience of those on
board the Frarn. We are dealing, of course,
with the general results, not with the move-
ments from day to day, which are as varied as
the wind itself. How dependent the drift is
on the circumstances of the moment is well
illustrated in the case of the Jeannette and a
whaling-ship. The former was frozen in in the
pack near Herald Island on September 6th,
1879, and went off on a north-easterly course ;
but the whaler, which was frozen in near the
same spot on October loth following, was
carried southward, and finally stranded, a year
or two later, on the Siberian coast.

On the American side of Behring Strait a
similar variation in the drift is indicated. Many
a whaling-vessel has been caught in the ice,

Arctic Currents. 225

carried away in some northerly direction — north-
west, north, or north-east — and the men have
perished without leaving any trace behind them.
Generally there is a very strong current running
north-eastward along the land from Cape Lis-
burne to Point Barrow, the most northern point
of the American Continent ; but Commander
Maguire, of Her Majesty's ship Plover^ relates
hew, during his stay at Point Barrow, in
October 1853, three natives were carried on an
ice-floe, not to the north-east, as is usual, but
to the south-west to near Cape Lisburne, being
twelve days without sustenance and still living
when rescued, but all died within a few days
after. On the other hand, the barque Young
Phoenix, abandoned in the ice off Point Barrow
at the beginning of August 1888, started off on
a due east course, and some six weeks later
was sighted half-way to the mouth of the
Mackenzie River. How much farther east
she went it is impossible to say, but early in
July 1889 she was found to have come back
again to the westward, past Point Barrow, and
was on her way down the coast along the
course of the ice-floe last referred to ; when
the current changed, the derelict went off in a
north-westerly direction, and was no more seen.
It is evident from these instances and the pre-
15

226 Life of Nans en.

ceding remarks that in any attempt to attain a
high latitude or the Pole itself by mere drifting,
there can be no certainty that Nansen's good
fortune will be repeated. A gale of wind may
spring up from a contrary direction and carry
the explorers to a local current, which would
upset all calculations and detain them in the
ice for an indefinite period.

In most years the current in Barent Sea
flows eastward and continues at a fairly brisk
rate in this direction past the northern end of
Novaya Zemlya ; but in August 1872, when
the Tegetthofi under Payer and Weyprecht,
visited the locality, she was caught in the ice
and carried away to the northward until stopped
by Franz Josef Land, more than fourteen
months after she was beset, the journey prov-
ing exceptionally slow and tedious, only making
good about 250 miles in the time, although
the drift in all directions was much more than
this.

Coming to the more frequented regions about
Greenland, there are naturally more numerous
instances of ships or their crews being borne
along prisoners in the ice. The most tragic
occurrence was that of the year 1777, when,
towards the close of June, no less than twenty-
eight whaling-ships from English and Con-

Arctic Currents. 227

tinental ports were ice-bound oft the east coast
of Greenland, in latitude about 75°. Sixteen
succeeded in extricating themselves as time
went on, but a dozen remained fixed. About
the middle of August half the number were
crushed and sank, the other six continuing to
drift southward, sometimes within sight of the
coast. By the end of September they had
made 600 miles of southing, but they were
disappearing one by one, and before the middle
of October, after travelling 1250 miles in 107
days, the last of them was crushed. As ship
after ship went down the crews took refuge
on the floes or on the other vessels, and many
were drowned. When the last one sank she
had 286 souls on board. Two or three parties
floated on the ice round Cape Farewell, and
were rescued at various points on the coast of
Greenland, in the vicinity where the alleged
Jeannette relics were discovered; but out of
nearly 350 men who manned the ships first,
about half of them perished. A similar experi-
ence awaited the German expedition of 1869,
when the Ger mania and Hansa attempted to
reach the east coast of Greenland in latitude
74°. The Hansa was caught, and the ice bore
her away southward, but in the middle of
October, six weeks from the commencement

228 Life of Nansen.

of the drift, and after reaching 71°, she was
crushed, and all hands escaped on to a floe,
on which they remained all through the winter,
and it was not until the early days of May
1870, when they had drifted down to 61°, that
they could make for the Greenland coast near
Cape Farewell, which took them a month to
reach. Nansen himself, as we have previously
shown when he attempted to gain Sermilikfjord
for the purpose of crossing Greenland from the
east to the west coast, in 1888, got entangled
in the ice in the middle of July, and, absolutely
powerless in the matter, he and his companions
were drifted down south for a distance of over
250 miles before they were freed and able to
go north again.

Beyond Greenland there are not wanting
several examples of a south-going current.
The Fox, under McClintock, was frozen up
in Melville Bay, latitude 74° N., in August
1857, was carried in a westerly direction to
the longitude of Cape York, when she went
off to the southward down Davis Straits, and
it was not until the middle of April in the
following year that she was liberated in 66°
N., 58° W. Thirty years previously the
whaler Dundee had been drifted along a similar
track. That there is a decided easterly set

Arctic Currents. 2 29

coming through Barrow Strait is well known.
Her Majesty's ship Resolute was abandoned in
the ice in 74^° N., 102° W., on May I5th,
1854, and on September i8th, 1855, she was
boarded by an American whaling captain in
67° N., 62° W., found to be in perfect con-
dition, and on taking her as a prize to New
York the United States Government performed
the very graceful act of presenting the vessel,
all sound, to Her Majesty the Queen. Her
Majesty's ships Enterprise and Investigator
were caught together on September ist, 1849,
in 74^° N., ior W., and were not set free
until the 24th, when they had been carried
out into Davis Strait in 73° N., 74° W. The
United States steamer Advance, which was
taking part in the search for Franklin, got
fixed in the ice at the southern entrance to
Wellington Channel, in 93° W., on September
I4th, 1850, but instead of going off at once to
the eastward, the direction in which it was
desired to go, as they were homeward bound,
she went northward up the Channel until far
into October, then came slowly south again until
brought within the influence of the Barrow Strait
current, and it was not until June 5th, 1851, when
she had come down Davis Strait to the Arctic
Circle, in 59° W., that she floated off.

.'-

230 Life of Nanseti.

The most dramatic episode in this region,
however, was the disaster to the Polaris when
on her return from Thank God Harbour, 8i^°
N., in 1872. The vessel had for some days
been drifting in the ice down Smith Sound, and
there being indications which prompted those
on board to prepare for the worst, led to the
transfer of provisions to the ice, but in the
midst of the work, and before any one could
realise what had happened, the floe suddenly
broke up near Littleton Island, 78^° N., on
September I5th, and, to everybody's horror,
those who were on the floe lost sight of the
Polaris, and those on the ship saw no more
of the floe. The ship fortunately was run
ashore close by, but the floe, with a number
of men, an Eskimo, his wife and infant,
bore off to the south, and after many hair-
breadth escapes, and being frequently on the
verge of starvation, the people were rescued
on the coast of Labrador in 63° N. on April
30th, 1873.

There can, therefore, be no question as to
there being a decided southerly drift to the
east and to the west of Greenland, and there
is good ground for believing that the general
tendency on the Siberian side is towards the
north ; but although Nansen has demonstrated

Arctic Currents. 231

his drift theory, it is not certain that the next
explorer who trusts himself to the same current
will be so fortunate as the pioneer of Arctic
search by means of Arctic drift.

CHAPTER XIV.

NANSEN'S PLAN, AND ins ARCTIC SHIP.

EXTRACT, with expansions, from Nansen's
lecture entitled, " How can the North Polar
Regions be Crossed ? " which appeared in the
Geographical Journal, January I893.1

The substance of this article is quoted by
kind permission of the Royal Geographical
Society. A few additions and alterations were
necessary, as further light was thrown on the
expedition after it started, although in the main
the extracts are strictly accurate.

I have borrowed copiously from Dr. Nansen's
lecture, but my excuse lies in the fact that his
information is best imparted first-hand. After
dealing at some length with his drift theory, the
doctor continued : —

" I have built a wooden ship as small and as
strong as possible ; it is just big enough to
carry provisions for thirteen men for five or

1 The Royal Geographical Society, London.

SltSfing.

§cnrit|en

Sefingmir i JlorJpof&fralnL

SUME OK KANSKN'S COMVANIUNS.

Nans ens Arctic Ship. 233

six years, besides the necessary fuel; her size
is about 600 tons displacement with light cargo.
She shall have an engine of 160 indicated
horse-power, which will give her a speed of
six knots, with a consumption of 2f tons of
coal in twenty-four hours. With sails alone
she will likely attain a speed of eight or nine
knots under favourable circumstances. She
will consequently be no fast vessel nor a good
sailer; but this is of relatively little importance
on an expedition like ours, where we shall have
to depend principally on the speed of the
current and the ice-movement, and not on that
of the ship. A ship's ability to break her way
through the pack-ice does not at all depend
on her speed, but on her steam power and her
shape; for it is naturally the thing of import-
ance to get a strong ship, and the most
important feature in her construction is that
she shall be built on such lines as will give
her the greatest power of resistance to the
pressure of the ice. Her sides must not be
perpendicular, as those of ships generally are,
but must slope from the bulwarks to the keel;
or, to use a sailor's expression, her 'dead rise'
must be made great, so that the floes shall get
no hold of her when they are pressed together,
but will glide downward along her sides and

234 Life of Nansen.

under her, thus tending to lift her out of the
water. The sides of most ships used in the
Arctic seas have been almost straight up and
down, in spite of which defect they have stood
the pressure of the ice pretty well, and many
of them have even been lifted completely out
of the water, and have for longer or shorter
times stood dry on the ice without* being
damaged. This practically happens very often
with the small sealing vessels from the north
of Norway which catch seals and walrus in the
sea round Novaya Zemlya and Spitzbergen.
. Though the Jeannette had a shape which
in this respect was very bad, and though she
was an old and not very strong ship, she
managed to withstand the ice -pressure for
nearly two years (twenty-one months). It will
consequently be understood that a very slight
alteration of shape will give us a very strong
ship, and one which can scarcely be crushed
by the floe-ice if it is properly handled. For
the same reason the vessel ought to be as
small as possible, as the lighter she is the
more easily she will be lifted by the ice, and
the less pressure there will be on her sides;
it is also easier to make a small ship strong
than a big one. A small ship has other ad-
vantacres, as it is more convenient to navigate

N arisen s Arctic Ship. 235

and to handle in the ice, and it is easier to
find good and safe places for it between the
floes.

"As great length is a weakness during the
pressure and twisting of the pack-ice, the ship
ought also to be as short as her necessary
bearing capacity will allow. The result of
this in connection with the very sloping sides
is that our .ship is disproportionately broad
compared with her length. Her breadth is
about one-third of the latter. Flat sides are
avoided as much as possible near the places
which will be most exposed to the attack of
the ice, and the hull has plump and rounded
forms. There are no sharp, projecting corners;
every edge is broken and rounded. Even the
keel does not project very much ; it is almost
covered by the planking, and only three inches
are visible outside the ice-skin, and the sharp
edges are quite rounded. On the whole the
ship will, I hope, leave no place for the ice to
catch hold of. Round and slippery like an eel,
she will escape its cold and strong grasp.

" The ship will be pointed at both ends, and
on the whole she resembles very much a Nor-
wegian pilot-boat, or, as I am told, a Scotch
buckie-boat, only that she of course is carvel-
built, and that the keel and the sharp bottom are

236 Life of Nans en.

cut off. Her bottom is near the keel, com-
paratively flat, in order that she shall have
something to rest on without being capsized in
case she should be completely lifted on to the
ice. Both stem and stern are considerably
curved in order that the ice shall get no hold
there. The stem is also much sloped, because
it will then more easily force the ice-floes under
her when she is breaking her way through
the ice.

" The screw can be raised when necessary,
and protected from damage in a well. It can
also easily be changed if it is broken, and for
that purpose we shall carry two reserve screws.
This is, as will be known, a usual arrangement
in modern sealers or whalers ; but besides this,
the rudder can also easily be unshipped and
raised through a well. This is, I think, a
fortunate and ingenious idea of the shipbuilder,
Mr. Colin Archer, and is a very simple arrange-
ment. The rudder is, moreover, placed so low
that it will be entirely submerged even when
the ship is lightly loaded. This is so arranged
in order that the ice shall not be able to strike
it, and thus break it by even a sudden pressure
or movement ; it will, instead, meet the strong
stern. The latter is the Achilles heel of the
sealers and whalers, where the ice may very

Named s Arctic Ship. 237

easily damage them by breaking the rudder.
During my last voyage with the Jason to the
east coast of Greenland we had such an accident,
showing how easily it may happen. When the
rudder, then, is not so arranged as in our ship,
it takes a long time to have it unhooked and
another put on, especially when you have no
great crew. Our stern is, as usual, furnished
with two perpendicular stern posts, one a pro-
peller post, the other a rudder post, made of
big oak timbers about 27 in. broad. On both
sides of these are bolted very big and strong
curved oak timbers, running along the sloping
stern upwards to the deck, thus forming, in a
way, a double stern. Between them are the
wells, through which the screw and rudder
can be lifted. This stern construction is very
simple, and certainly exceedingly strong.

"The stem is, of course, also made very
strong. It is composed of three big oak baulks,
one inside the other, so that the thickness of
solid oak is 50 in. Inside the stem big and
strong breasthooks of oak and iron are placed
to connect the ship's sides with each other and
with the stem. From these breasthooks stays
go to the pawl-bit in order to strengthen the
stem and divide the pressure. Outside this
wooden stem comes an iron one, and outside

238 Life of Nansen.

this again come transverse iron bars and plates,
which go some small distance backwards on
each side to protect the wood against the ice.

" Both the stem and the stern posts are, of
course, carefully attached to the keel by strong
cross and longitudinal iron clamps and wooden
knees. When I add that the stern is also pro-
tected by an iron sheeting, it will, I hope, be
understood that the two extremities of our ship
are pretty well protected.

" The keel is made of two big baulks of
American elm, 14 in. square. As is already men-
tioned, it will be almost covered by the outer
planking, so that there will only be a projection
of a few inches. Above the frame timbers are
placed two keelsons, one 17 in. and the other
12 in. in height, both bolted together to the
timbers and keel,

" The frame timbers are made of selected
Italian oak, which is very hard. Only naturally-
curved timbers are used ; such are much
stronger than those curved by the help of
the axe. These timbers were originally meant
for some man-of-war, and were thirty years ago
bought for the Norwegian navy ; they may
thus be said to be well seasoned. The thick-
ness of the frame timbers is about 10 in. to
12 in. ; they are ranged in couples, squared,

Nanseris Arctic Skip. 239

and bolted together, all joints being bound with
iron. The pairs of frames are placed almost
close together, leaving only a space of i in.
to 2 in. between each. These spaces were left
in order to give the very dry timbers a little
room in case they should swell when they
came into the water ; the spaces are, however,
filled with a mixture of pitch, tar, and sawdust,
so that if the outer plankings were shaved away
the vessel would still remain nearly water-tight.

" The ceiling consists of pitch-pine planks,
alternately 4 in. and 8 in. in thickness. It is
twice carefully caulked with oakum to make it
tight. The planking consists of three layers ;
first, a 3 in. oak layer, over which another of
4 in., and, finally, an outer planking, or ' ice-
sheathing' of greenheart, which increases in
thickness from the keel towards the water-line
from 3 in. to 6 in. Greenheart is, as you will
know, a very hard, strong, and slippery wood,
well fit to protect the hulk against the damage
of the ice, its only fault being that it is so
heavy that it sinks in water. Each layer was
carefully caulked with oakum and pitch in the
ordinary way before the next skin was placed
on to it.

"The whole thickness of the sides of the
ship is thus 28 in. to 32 in. — a solid mass of

240 Life of Nansen.

pitch-pine, oak, and greenheart, with a little
pitch in between. It will easily be understood
that a ship's side of such dimensions and
material wilt alone have a great power of re-
sistance to the pressure of the ice. But this
power is, to a very essential degree, increased
by the many beams, stays, and strengthenings
of every kind placed inside the vessel. There
are two decks, an upper and lower one, each of
4 in. red pine. The deck beams are of oak and
pitch-pine, 10 in. or n in. square. Numerous
upright stanchions and stays are placed as
supports to the beams and the sides ; they
unite the beams of the two decks to each other
and to the ship's side. The principle of arrange-
ments of the stays is that they shall be placed as
perpendicular in the ship's side as possible, in
order to strengthen these against pressure from
the outside, and to divide the latter. For this
purpose the perpendicular stays between the
beams of the two decks, and between the lower
deck beams and the keelsons, are also very
well fitted. . . . The whole is like one coherent
mass, and the ship may almost be considered as
if built of solid wood.

" The beams of the lower deck are placed
somewhat under the water-line, where the
pressure of the ice will be worst. In the

Nansen's Arctic Ship. 241

after-part, above the engine, we were obliged
to raise the deck a little, in order to give
room for engine and boilers ; but instead the
beams are here supported by two sloping
stanchions on each side in place of one, so
that also this part must be considered as
very strong. As the lower deck was raised,
we were also obliged to lift the upper one in
order to give room for cabins, These are
thus covered by a half-deck or poop, three or
four feet in height.

"The whole ship is divided into three rooms
or divisions, by two water-tight wooden bulk-
heads, so that if the vessel, in spite of all,
should happen to spring a leak, there will still
be two water-tight divisions left to keep her
floating. She is also furnished with pumps,
one of which will be a great centrifugal pump,
which may be driven by the engine and put
into communication with all the divisions, and
thus empty the vessel in a short time in case
she should leak.

11 The most important feature in the rig of a
polar vessel ought to be that it is as simple and
as strong as possible, and at the same time it
should be light, and make little resistance to
the wind when the vessel is steaming. For

these reasons we have chosen to rig her as a

16

242 Life of Nan sen.

three-masted fore and-aft schooner, the sails of
which are very easy to handle from the deck,
which also is of some importance when you
have a small crew not consisting of first-rate
sailors only. On the foremast there will also
be two loose yards for a square foresail and
topsail. The area of her sails will be about
650 sq. yds. The undermasts are rather high
and strong; the mainmast is 82 ft. in length
and the topmast is 50 ft. On the top of this
is the crow's-nest, which will thus be at a
height of about 105 ft. above the water. It
is of importance that the crow's-nest be placed
as high as possible, in order to get a wide view
over the ice.

"The quarters for officers and crew are so
arranged that the saloon is in the middle, on all
sides surrounded by the cabins, the galley, and
the bunkers ; thus, by help of these rooms, the
saloon is well protected against the cold and
moisture arising from the ship's side. One of
the greatest difficulties with the life on board
the vessels of most polar expeditions has been
that the moisture of the warm air in the small
cabins was condensed on the cold sides of
the ship, and was there frozen to ice. The
mattresses in the berths in these walls were
therefore very often transformed into as many

Nanseris Arctic Ship. 243

lumps of ice. To avoid a repetition of this has
of course been of importance to us. We have
therefore located the saloon as described in
order that we may all live there night and
day, in case it should be necessary during the
most severe cold. We shall thus follow the
same principle as the Eskimo, living many
people in a small room to make it warm ;
we shall certainly not then want much to
heat it.

" But besides this, every precaution is taken
to isolate the walls and make them warm, and
to prevent the moisture being condensed on
them. The ship's sides are, on the inner side,
covered with tarred felt , then comes a thick
layer of cork; inside this a wooden wainscot;
then a layer of felt a few inches thick ; next
comes a nearly air-tight layer of painted canvas
or linoleum ; and then another wainscot. The
air-tight canvas is there in order to prevent
the warm and moist air from inside penetrating
into the layers of felt and cork, and giving
off moisture there, thus transforming them into
ice. This principle we have followed, on the
whole, also in the roof. The walls between
the cabins and the saloon are made in a similar
way, and the roof and floor are very thick,
consisting of many layers. In the roof there

244 Life of Nansen.

is a layer of reindeer hair a couple of inches
thick, which I think must be very effective as
a heat insulator, as the reindeer hairs are so
very porous and elastic. On the floors and
walls may, of course, also be laid bear-skins
and carpets, to make them still warmer. I
hope you will get the impression that every-
thing is made to give us a snug and comfort-
able saloon and cabin, fit for a climate such
as we may expect.

" The principal dimensions of the vessel are
as follows: — Length of keel, 101 ft.; length of
water-line, 113 ft.; length over all, 128 ft.;
beam at water-line amidships, excluding the
'ice-sheathing,' 33 ft; greatest beam, exclud-
ing the ' ice-sheathing,' 36 ft. ; depth moulded,
17 ft.; the draught with light cargo is 12 ft.;
the displacement is then about 530 tons, but
when, with heavy cargo, the draught is 15^ ft.,
the displacement will be about 8co tons. Her
freeboard will then be only 3^ ft. Such will
probably be the case when we leave the last
place where we can get coal, as we will, of
course, then load her with as much as she can
carry. We will soon burn a good deal in the
engines, and she will be gradually lifted again.

11 The hull, with boilers filled, weighs about
420 tons. With a displacement of 800 tons,

Nanseris Arctic Ship. 245

she has consequently a bearing capacity for 380
tons of coal and cargo. Our equipment and
provisions will not likely weigh much more
than 60 or 70 tons ; thus 300 or 320 tons
bearing capacity will be left for coal and fuel,
and this is enough for about four months'
steaming with full steam. We shall not,
however, likely be able to make use of our
engines more than two months after we have
been loaded with coal for the last time. A
great quantity will thus be left for heating
and cooking during the winters. For heating
purposes we shall also carry petroleum, which
has the advantage of giving light besides. For
the cooking we shall carry alcohol. . . . Fraiu
will certainly be the strongest vessel ever used
in the Arctic regions. She is built with great
care, and I feel certain that she can be crushed
only in a quite extraordinary combination of
circumstances."

From the saloon you got direct to the
berths. Nansen (who occupied without a doubt
the smallest, darkest, and least comfortable),
Sverdrup, Scott-Hansen, and Dr. Blessing
had each a separate berth, while the re-
mainder had two larger berths between
them.

Dr. Nansen said, "Let us have gay colours;"

246

Life of Nans en.

and gay they certainly were. Above the sur-
face of the water the Fram was painted grey,
the gunwale was green, the poop and great tanks
for water and petroleum were painted scarlet.
Red, white, and green, like a Heligoland flag,

SALOON OF THE " FRAM.'

were the prevailing colours on deck. The
crow's-nest was white, the saloon also white,
the doors, etc., tastefully picked out with red
and green. Across the saloon, between the two
doors by which it was entered, was a wooden
couch, in shape and possibilities of comfort

N arisen' s Arctic Ship. 247

reminding one of the old-fashioned settle, and
at each end there were projecting sides carved to
represent dragons' heads, in the same style as
that used by the Vikings for the decoration
of their ships and houses ; these heads were
artistically decorated with white, red, and gold ;
but, as if to bring one back to the realms
of utility, a large and practical-looking table
stood in front of the couch. To the left was
a harmonium, which could readily be turned
into an organ and played by turning a
handle. Around the mizzenmast, which
ascended through the middle of the cabin, was
arranged a settle, and there was also a stove
heated by steam. Several paintings, Nor-
wegian landscapes and portraits, by well-
known artists, had been given to the
expedition, and were to be seen in the saloon.
An admirable portrait of Fru Nansen and
her daughter, by Werenskiold, the celebrated
Norwegian artist, also hung on the walls,
while within the cabins were to be seen scenes
of "home-life" and portraits of dear friends.

The expedition was fitted out most efficiently.
Everything was carefully thought out during
eight years previous to sailing, and over
^25 ooo was expended upon the ship and its
outfit, the vessel alone costing nearly ;£ 10,000.

248 Life of Nans en.

In all his equipment Nansen showed a fresh-
ness of thought and skill in arrangement that
argued well for success.

That Dr. Nansen spared no energy to make
everything as nearly perfect as possible has
been frequently demonstrated, and I call to
mind his remarks in The First Crossing of
Greenland regarding the testing of the adapta-
bility of his sledges. He writes: — "I made
numerous experiments and changes, and even
undertook a journey on ski over the mountains
from Bergen to Christiania before I finally
adopted the pattern we used." Such diligence
deserved to meet a due reward.

The Norwegian National Assembly granted
a considerable sum, the remainder needed
being contributed by private individuals, and
amongst those whose liberality secured the
admirable outfit were King Oscar, Mr. Fearn-
ley, and Mr. Dick.

Dr. Nansen would not start until everything
was paid.

With reference to the grant of money made
by the Government to his expedition, Dr.
Nansen remarked, previous to sailing: — " My
countrymen are poor, but they have been
most generous to me. If I had made the
expedition an international affair, I could have

Nanseris Arctic SJiip. 249

obtained much money very quickly. I even
had money offered. But I was anxious to
make the expedition a national one. I
thoroughly believe in my power to accom-
plish my object, and is it not natural that I
should wish to give my countrymen the first
thought and the honour accruing to a triumph-
ant expedition ? Our success will be due to
their generous enterprise."

CHAPTER XV.

CRITICISMS ON NANSEN'S PLAN.

THE criticisms which Nansen's plan called forth
were for the most part favourable to his drift
theory, but nearly all hostile in regard to the
capability of the Fram to resist the severe
pressure of the Arctic floes.

International jealousy, it may be truly said,
is one of the blights of modern life (vide
Turkey). In a sense, of course, the rivalry of
nations is a healthy sign ; but what can be
said of those American scientists who forgot
the canons of criticism in the jealousy of a
foreign rival in Arctic regions ? General
Greely, in ending his critique, surely forgets
Nansen's claim to a knowledge of these regions
when he states: — "In my opinion the scheme
is unwise, impracticable, and is little short of
suicidal. If an almost miraculous escape,
similar to that of the Polaris drift party,
spares these daring and determined men, it

Criticisms on Nansen's Plan. 251

will in nowise prove its wisdom or advis-
ability."

Nansen's scheme was criticised by the
leading polar commanders of Great Britain,
including McClintock, Nares, Inglefield, Young,
Richards, and Hooker. While commending
the fearlessness of the young Norwegian, all
were doubtful of the issue. It must be
admitted that the daring originality of his
project was calculated to call forth searching
criticism from Arctic experts, and great anxiety
to his friends. Nansen's expedition in the
Fram appealed most powerfully to their
imagination for the boldness of its plan and
the faith with which its leader based his
success on the truth of his theory of ocean-
currents in the polar sea.

Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock did not
conceal his fears as to the great dangers to
which Nansen proposed to expose himself, yet
could not but admire the indomitable courage
of the young explorer. He opened the dis-
cussion as soon as Nansen's lecture to the
Geographical Society was over, and com-
menced his speech as follows : — " I think I
may say this is the most adventurous pro-
gramme ever brought under the notice of the
Royal Geographical Society. We have here

252 Life of Nans en.

a true Viking, a descendant of those hardy
Norsemen who used to pay this country such
frequent and such unwelcome visits. One
cannot but admire Dr. Nansen's splendid
enthusiasm. He has adduced some very strik-
ing proofs as to the current to which he intends
to trust himself and his companions."1 Admiral
McClintock considered, however, that under
any pressure by the ice during the winter
months the probability of the vessel's sliding
up on the ice was very remote. He further
pointed out that the boats were too large,
would be difficult to handle among the polar
floes, which frequently rush against each other
without warning, so that ice which is compara-
tively safe at one time may soon become
extremely dangerous.

Sir George Nares pointed out that Nansen
disregarded every adopted axiom of successful
navigation of the polar regions, and deliberately
entrusted himself to a perilous and unknown
drift. Sir George said: — "In anything I say
Dr. Nansen may be sure that it is said in a
friendly spirit, with the greatest admiration of
his plucky proposal, and his powers of endur-
ance and readiness of resource under extreme
circumstances, as displayed in the past. I would

1 Geographical Journal, January 1893.

Criticisms on Nansetis Plan. 253

also say at once that whatever the result of the
voyage may be, we are satisfied that he will
give us on his return a good account of such
parts of the polar area as he may reach. The
adopted Arctic axioms for successfully navi-
gating an icy region are that it is absolutely
necessary to keep close to a coast-line, and that
the farther we advance from civilisation the
more desirable is it to insure a reasonably safe
line of retreat. Totally disregarding these, the
ruling principle of the voyage is that the vessel
— on which, if the voyage is any way successful,
the sole future hope of the party will depend —
is to be pushed deliberately into the pack-ice.
Thus her commander, in lieu of retaining any
power over her future movements, will be
forced to submit to be drifted helplessly about
in agreement with the natural movements of
the ice in which he is imprisoned, Supposing
the ocean-currents are as stated, the time cal-
culated as necessary to drift with the pack
across the polar area is several years, during
which time, unless new lands are met with, the
ice near the vessel will certainly never be quiet,
and the vessel herself never free from danger
of being crushed by ice-pressure. To guard
against this the vessel is said to be unusually
strong, and of a special form to enable her to

254 Life of Nans en.

rise when the ice presses against her sides.
This idea is no novelty whatever ; but when
once frozen into the polar pack the form of the
vessel goes for nothing. She is hermetically
sealed to, and forms a part of the ice-block sur-
rounding her. The form of the ship is for all
practical purposes the form of the block of ice
in which she is frozen. This is a matter of the
first importance, for there is no record of a
vessel frozen into the polar pack having been
disconnected from the ice, and so rendered
capable of rising under pressure as a separate
body detached from the ice-block, even in the
height of summer. In the event of the de-
struction of the vessel, the boats, necessarily
fully stored, not only for retreat, but for con-
tinuing the voyage, are to be available. This
is well in theory, but extremely difficult to
arrange for in practice. Preparation to abandon
the vessel is the one thing that gives us the
most anxiety. To place boats, etc., on the ice
packed ready for use involves the danger of
being separated from them by a movement of
the ice, or of losing them altogether should a
sudden opening occur. If we merely have
everything handy for heaving over the side, the
emergency may be so sudden that we have not
time to save anything. So the only feasible

Criticisms on Nanseris Plan.

255

plan is to arrange for sledges, boats, stores,
etc., to be as accessible as possible, and, in the
words of De Long, ' Stick to the ship as long
as she will stick to us, and when she is ready
to leave us try to be a little readier to leave her.'
As to the direction of the drift of the polar ice,
we all agree with Dr. Nansen as to the southerly

"TO PLACE BOATS, ETC., ON THE ICE."

movement of the water between Spitzbergen
and Greenland." 1

To part of this criticism Nansen replied : —
"Sir George Nares said he thought an Arctic
expedition should always secure a line of retreat.
I am of the opposite opinion. During my
expedition to Greenland I proved that it is

1 Geographical Journal, January 1893.

256 Life of Xansen.

quite possible to accomplish something when
you have no retreat, for we then burned our
ships behind us, and in spite of it, got across
Greenland ; and I hope to be as successful
when we break the bridge behind us this time,
if no other circumstances intervene to prevent
us from getting through."

Sir Allen Young believed there was land
in nearly every direction near the Pole, and
considered it hazardous for the Fram to drift
with the pack-ice, since it might impinge on
land and be kept for years, in which case he
fully agreed with Admiral McClintock that
Nansen's large boats would not be manage-
able in case of disaster for retreat to afar off
open water.

Admiral Sir George Richards wrote most
uncompromisingly against the project, saying
that any one with authority ought to speak
out against such a reckless undertaking when
so much was at stake.

Sir Joseph Hooker believed that no vessel
of whatever build could long resist being
nipped if run into the moving, erratic ice-pack.
He pointed out the possibility of scurvy — that
dreaded Arctic disease — and its depressing in-
fluence upon the men. While not considering
the journey impossible, he considered it im-

Criticisms on Nanseris Plan. 257

practicable, and ended his letter thus : — " I do
not consider the attainment of Dr. Nansen's
object by the means at his disposal to be
impossible ; but I do consider that the success
of such an enterprise would not justify the
exposure of valuable lives for its attainment ;
and I may conclude with expressing the hope
that Dr. Nansen may dispose of his admirable
courage, skill, and resources in the prosecution
of some less perilous attempts to solve the
mystery of the Arctic area." 1

A prophet has no honour in his own country;
neither has an explorer, if one is to judge by
the expressions of Nansen's countrymen, espe-
cially previous to his departure. The author
travelled the length and breadth of Norway
in 1893 to gather expressions of popular
opinion anent Nansen's chances of success.
Few were favourable ; nearly all regarded the
venture as that of a " madman"; all were
quite sure the Fram would not return, and few
thought to see the lucky thirteen come back to
their native land with honour and renown, and
but little the worse for their three years' hard-
ships.

General Greely severely summarised the
"impossibilities" of Nansen's success. Writing

1 Geographical Journal, January 1893.

258 Life of Nansen.

in the North American Review^ September
1893, he said :—u Nansen believes that his
vessel is so strong and is constructed on such
lines that it can scarcely be crushed by the
ice if properly handled, but that, under all
circumstances, under pressure of the polar
pack, the ship will simply be lifted out by the
ice. No non-professional man can properly
criticise Nansen's ideas as to his ice-proof
ship, the Frain, but fortunately two men of
extended Arctic experience have spoken clearly
on this point. They are Admiral Sir George
Nares, whose works on seamanship are author-
ity in Great Britain, and Chief Engineer George
W. Melville, whose abilities have contributed
so largely to the late splendid successes of our
navy, as exemplified in its magnificent ships.
Nares points out that when once frozen in the
polar pack, the form of the vessel goes for
nothing, and that there is no record of a vessel
frozen in the polar pack having been discon-
nected from the ice so as to be capable of
rising under pressure as a separate body
detached from the ice-floe, even in the height
of summer. In 1884, Melville, commenting on
criticisms from non- experts as to the shape,
strength, and material of a perfect Arctic ship,
wrote as follows: — 'Suppose a ship constructed

Criticisms on Kaiisens Plan. 259

in the shape of a parabolic spindle, its greatest
transverse diameter 30 ft., its length 200 ft.
This would give a body of fine lines, good
rising power if nipped below its greatest
diameter, and for speed and strength be an
acknowledged model. Now build this spindle
solid of buoyant material, hooping it like a
mast with iron or steel bands, so arranged with
reference to weight that the spindle will float
like ice, one -eighth part above water. Yet
even this pattern of strength would be an egg-
shell in the power of the mighty masses of ice,
never at rest, but always grinding, like the
everlasting gods, . . . even the granite hills
and islands.' Nansen has against him, as illus-
trated by the experiences of his predecessors,
the certainty that his ship is not ice-proof; the
impracticability of handling his large boats
when his ship sinks ; the possibility of the
polar pack suddenly disrupting and separating
the party and its materials ; the probability
that in three years disease or accident will
break down his party physically, and the almost
absolute certainty that the Arctic night, with
its unbroken darkness of four to five months,
and its accompanying life of monotony, in-
activity, cold, limited quarters, and restricted
diet, will impair the mental and moral energies

260 Life of Nansen.

of his men. Assuming, as is fairly probable,
that the general direction of the ice-drift is
correctly surmised by Nansen, yet it is largely
dominated by the wind. The prevailing winds
depend entirely on the relative distribution of
atmospheric pressures, and while the polar
pressures are comparatively constant, yet they
are liable to extraordinary changes from year
to year, thus introducing an element of great
uncertainty in the most important factor ot
Nansen's success, the direction of the drift."

The above is a fair extract of scientific
opinion, delivered previous to Nansen's de-
parture. Nordenskiold, Koldewey, Payer,
Holm, Hovgaard, and numerous others, known
as Arctic authorities, held opinions of a similar
nature. Dr. John Murray, Baron Von Toll,
and Captain Wiggins, as far as my knowledge
extends, appear to be the only scientists at one
with Nansen, and even they were somewhat
shaky in their faith of the Frams capabilities
to resist the ice-nips. But Nansen set out in
spite of all unfavourable criticisms, and his
success, treated of in a later chapter, speaks
volumes for the scientific insight of one of the
greatest explorers of the nineteenth century.

The ideas advanced as to what Dr. Nansen
would find in the unknown polar basin were

Criticisms on Nanseris Plan. 261

many, but few " guessed" correctly. An
important but mistaken article (viewed with
our present light), entitled "The Way to the
North Pole," printed during the doctor's
absence, is worthy of being quoted as a
specimen. Speaking of probable disaster to
the ship, and contending that there is no
waterway from the Pole to east Greenland,
the writer says : — " It need hardly be said that
if Nansen's party ever found themselves in
such a position their rescue would be absolutely
impossible. Their one and only chance would
then be that they might involuntarily be drifted
on a floe towards the mouth of Robeson
Channel, where they might find provisions
left by the Alert. If, however, the floe took
a more westerly course, it would soon form a
portion of Sir G. Nares's Palaeocrystic Sea,
where vast masses of ice are heaped up in
the shallow water approaching Grant Land ;
while if it took a course to the eastward of
Robeson Channel it would be driven upon the
northern shores of Greenland. I am aware
that this is the exact spot to which Dr.
Nansen hopes to be drifted, under the
erroneous impression that there is a water
passage down the east side of Greenland.
[The italics are mine. — J.A.B.] I hope Dr.

262 Life of Nansen.

Nansen has since altered his mind on this
point, for it is quite a possibility that he was
very fortunate in getting through to the Pole
in his first season, and that afterwards he was
able to direct the course of his ship, and
deliberately steered to the eastward of Hall
Land and the entrance of Robeson Channel,
and there found himself utterly unable either
to proceed or to return. In this case the
Jackson expedition will very likely come upon
him not very far from Lieutenant Lockwood's
farthest point, for when Mr. Jackson finds
that Peterman Island is only the eastern part
of Greenland he is sure to push on north,
and when he comes to the Arctic basin to
endeavour to follow up the coast to the point
reached from the opposite direction by Lock-
wood, and that is Dr. Nansen's chance of
safety if he is able to follow his own ideas.
I think I have the right to express a strong
opinion upon the geography of this particular
region, because in 1875, before the Alert
and Discovery started, I delivered lectures at
various places predicting what must be found a
little higher up Smith Sound than the farthest
point which had then been reached, and I have
the manuscript of those lectures now before
me. I also paid a visit to the Hydrographic

Criticisms on Nan sens Plan. 263

Department of the Admiralty, and gave my
reasons for believing that there was no con-
tinuous land running up to the Pole, as was
then supposed to be the case, and upon the
truth of which the expedition had been planned
so as to reach the Pole by sledges hugging the
land. And upon the return of the expedition
I again paid a visit to the Admiralty, and was

VIKING BOAT.

shown the charts with the land on both sides
of the Robeson Channel laid down just as I
had roughly drawn it in pencil at my first
visit. I had arrived at a correct conclusion
by a process of inductive reasoning founded
upon the known results of previous Arctic
discoveries ; and I feel now quite as certain

264 Life of Nansen.

that Dr. Nansen will find himself mis-
taken in supposing there is a water passage
from the Arctic basin down the east side of
Greenland into the Spitzbergen Sea ; but,
unfortunately, this is the key of his whole
plan."1

What Nansen thought about the risks of his
expedition and the criticisms of it we can gather
in the following extract from his own article,
written en route on board the Fram in the
Barentz Sea to The Strand Magazine under
date 26th July 1893: — " It has been said that
this expedition is very risky; indeed, I believe
this is the general opinion. I cannot agree
with it. The reasons why it is considered
risky are, however, of different kinds. Some
people say there is no such current as I have
supposed — the ice does not move at all ; others
say the ice is only carried along by occasional
winds; others, again, say there are certainly
currents, but nobody knows where they will
take you. A few people agree with me that
there must be such a current as I maintain
there is, but the ice is dangerous and may
destroy us, or we may be stopped by unknown
lands in the north. Nothing of all this con-
vinces me. If there is no current, I do not see

1 Cornhill Magazine, March 1896.

Criticisms on Nan sen's Plan. 265

why it should be risky to go; we shall be
unable to advance, and will be able to return
when we see we are mistaken. If there are
currents, however, or if the ice is only moved
by winds which have the same effect, we must
certainly, in less than five or six years, be
brought somewhere near the coasts of the polar
sea, and wherever we come we shall be able to
reach human dwellings, whether it be on the
American or the Asiatic side. The polar basin

VIKING BOAT.

Faroese pattern, as taken by F. G. Jackson on his expedition.

is really so small that in the course of five years
we must be drifted across it, whatever the
speed may be. If the ship is destroyed we
will make use of our boats, as I have already
mentioned ; and if our drift is stopped by land,
we shall either have to try and get afloat again
or have to travel over the ice and make for the
nearest land known. The polar basin is not
so great as to render this impossible when you
have an equipment specially adapted for it, and
take care to travel with the currents and not

266 Life of Nansen.

against them. But all these and many other
similar questions we shall probably be able to
answer more fully when we return, whether we
have been successful or not. We are certainly
prepared to meet with hardships of various
kinds, perhaps more than we wish for ; but it
is to explore that we go out, and there is no
exploration to be made without sufferings, as
well as no victory without a risk."1

That the doctor should minimise the dangers
was only to be expected ; that he really did so
any one qualified to express an opinion on
exploration in the Arctic regions will readily
admit. We have pointed out before that
however much he may have depreciated the
dangers, he neglected no caution towards
ensuring a complete success.

Polar exploration, it might be well to explain
here, means far more than the facing of grave
danger or mapping out of the route. The
leaders of expeditions such as those of Nansen,
Jackson, Peary, and others, require a close
acquaintance with all the various and delicate
instruments used for thorough geographical
survey work, and practical knowledge of

1 The S 'rand Magazine, December 1893. This article was written
especially for this magazine by Dr. Nansen just before he and his brave
companions disappeared into the unknown regions of eternal ice.

Criticisms on Nanseiis P!an. 267

their use. " It is required of such expeditions,"
says Mr. Herbert Ward, " to furnish, in addition
to a popular account of the voyage with its
attendant incidents, such accurate and practical
information as can be recorded by scientists.
The temperature of the soil, snow, and ice,
both on the surface and at various depths,
evaporation, terrestrial magnetism, galvanic
earth-currents, hydrographical and pendulum
observations, records of observations on atmo-
spheric electricity, the growth and structure of
the ice, the physical properties of the sea- water,
besides collections of specimens in the depart-
ments of zoology, botany, and geology — such are
the subjects of inquiry and the nature of the
information required of a polar expedition. In
addition to compiling exhaustive data, the
leader in his reports has to conform to the
accepted mode of expressing the geographical
facts that may be acquired."1

1 English Illustrated Magazine, November 1896.

268

THE LUCKY THIRTEEN."

FRIDTJOF NANSEN . . . Leader.
OTTO NEUMANN SVERDRUP . Captain.
SIGURD SCOTT-HANSEN . . Scientist.
HENRIK GRAVE BLESSING . Physician.
THEODOR CLAUDIUS JACOBSEN, Mate.
PEDER LEONARD HENDRIKSEN, Harpooner.
FREDERIK HJALMAR JOHANSEN, Fireman.
IVAR OTTO IRGENS MOGSTAD. Carpenter.

BERNHARD NORDAHL {Electrical Assistant

t and Engineer.
ANTON AMUNDSEN . . . Engineer.

LARS PETTERSEN . . . Engineer.

ADOLF JUELL .... Steward and Sailor.

BERNT BENTSEN Sailor.

CHAPTER XVI.

"WE ARE THIRTEEN ALL TOLD."

DR. NANSEN dedicates The First Crossing of
Greenland to his "five comrades, in token oi
gratitude and good-fellowship." In the intro-
duction he says : — " My chief thanks are never-
theless owing to my five comrades, to whose
combined efforts the successful result of our
undertaking is of course mainly due. Every one
who has conducted an expedition will know how
ready the world is to do the great injustice
of heaping the whole praise or blame for its
success or failure on the shoulders of the leader
alone. And this injustice is greater than usual
in the case of an expedition like ours, in which
each member serves as one of a team of draught
cattle, and the result of which cannot, therefore,
be dependent on the efforts of a single indi-
vidual. My comrades, too, I must thank for
the terms of good-fellowship on which we lived,
and for the many pleasant hours we spent to-
gether in spite of ungenial surroundings. On

270 Life of Nans en.

these hours I have often dwelt with peculiar
fondness in the course of my narrative. I have
once more called to life many a little incident
which to others indeed may seem trivial, but
which has a special value to us."

The same spirit was shown by Nansen to his
companions on board the Fram.

At the conclusion of a great public banquet,
held in honour of Nansen and his companions
in the Freemasons Hall, in Christiania, a week
before sailing, Professor Mohn in an effective
speech said : — " Fridtjof Nansen and his brave
companions will all share the one cabin on the
Fram; they will all share the same dangers and
hardships of the voyage ; and when they all
return, as I firmly believe they will, they will
all share equally the honours and reward which
their success will warrant."

Nansen himself remarked previous to sail-
ing : — " My object is a serious one. I would
serve science. I would show the world that
my countrymen are not behind any other
nationality in courage and endurance. My
comrades are fine, honest men, all of them.
They are sailors; they have. the same spirit in
this enterprise as I myself have. We all leave
wives behind us, except our physician, and
none of us will gain riches."

"We are thirteen all told." 271

Every one of his companions was a noted
skilober, and much of the success of the expedi-
tion was based upon this form of locomotion
if the Fram had to be deserted.

"We are thirteen all told," wrote Nansen.

Thirteen tried men ! Imbued with the
dauntless Viking spirit, ready and heroically
resolved to dare and to do for the honour of
their dear Norway. It would have been
difficult to find a group better suited for the
task. All had seen service, had already proved
themselves fertile in resource and indefatigable
in exertion. With a born leader of men like
Nansen, who spared no personal effort, there
was little doubt that these men would render
a faithful account of work done in their various
assigned positions.

These men had the one saloon in common,
where all meals were taken and leisure hours
spent An excellent library was on board con-
taining mental food for all sorts of readers —
scientific, literary, or otherwise. They had
cards, which, judging from their besmeared
appearance on their return, were much in
vogue, chess, draughts, and other games in
great quantity ; an organ, violin, and other
musical instruments. It was the officers' duty
to make the men comfortable and happy in the

272 Life of Nans en.

dark days. After work, concerts, theatricals,
readings, and lectures on the work of the
expedition helped to keep their thoughts off
their solitary position and from home, and
thus enabled them to pass the three dreary
dark six months' winters in comparative com-
fort and happiness. The author has before
him a programme of one of the concert nights
on board the Alert in its voyage to the Arctics
in 1875-76, the reproduction of which here may
not be uninteresting, throwing light as it does
on the similar nights of amusement and instruc-
tion on board the Frain.

PROGRAMME.

1. LECTURE "On our Food in the Arctic Regions" DR. COI.AN.

2. BALLAD ... " Men of Harlech " ... MR. CANE.

3. SONG ... ... " Irish Wedding" ... MR. LAWRENCE.

4. BALLAD ... " Norah McShane " MR. WINSTON E.

5. RECITATION " Jack's Cruise Ashore :> MR. DOIDC.E.

6. SONG " Miss Lirriper's Lodgings No. 2" MR. PEARCE.

7. BALLAD ... ... "Janet's Choice " ... MR. MASKELL.

8. READING ( " A Ijleasan.t clay with an unpleasant | L M

( termination " (Dickens) /

9. SONG ... " Pull down the Blind " MR. CHALKLEY.
10. BALLAD ... " Castles in the Air " ... MR. JOINER.

To commence at 7.30 precisely.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

As the Fram steamed away from Christ iania
shouts of farewell reached her crew on all
sides : —

" We are thirteen all told." 273

" Long live our brave Nansen ! "

" Hurrah for Nansen's comrades ! Hurrah ! "

" Come home again to us, all of you ! "

All Europe echoed that cry, and trusted that
the Fram s crew might return in health and
safety to their homes.

Nansen's companions in his arduous under-
taking were all Norwegians. The applications
from abroad to accompany the expedition were
rejected. Among the applicants were a French
lady tired of life, and a little Swedish boy
thirteen years old. But the honour was to be
Norway's only ! Some one said (may they be
forgiven) it was a pity no Swedes accompanied
them, as should the ship run short of provisions
they might have been found useful.

OTTO NEUMANN SVERDRUP.

Conspicuous even among the taller and more
commanding figures in the party is Sverdrup,
round-shouldered, red-bearded; indomitable will
written on his face ; the proved friend and com-
rade of Nansen. Of all the crew he was the
only one who took part in the first crossing of
Greenland. The two Lapps of that expedition,
Balto and Ravna, are reported to be dead.

Otto Neumann Sverdrup was the captain of

the Fram, and Dr. Nansen's right-hand man.

18

274 Life of Nans en.

He was born October 3ist, 1855, at his father's
farm, Haarstad, in Bindalen, Helgeland. Accus-
tomed to ski from early childhood in his
wanderings in the forests and over the moun-
tains around his home on all sorts of errands,
he soon became an active and accomplished
skilober. He was taught at home by a private
tutor, but a student's life was distasteful to him,
and at the age of seventeen he went to sea and
led an active and a roving life in Norwegian
and American vessels. In 1878 he obtained a
mate's certificate, and a couple of years after-
wards was wrecked in a vessel on the west
coast of Scotland, when, chiefly owing to his
bravery and presence of mind, the crew were
saved. In 1888 he joined Nansen's party on
its trans-Greenland journey, and Nansen says
of him: — "We never found him wanting in
either coolness or resource."

When Dr. Nansen finally decided on under-
taking the voyage to the Arctic regions — the
two of them had frequently discussed the
subject en route over Greenland — Sverdrup
willingly accepted the command of the vessel,
and devoted great thought and care to its
equipment.

His coolness in the face of danger was
admirably illustrated in his "night watch"

"We are thirteen all told:'

2/5

on the drifting ice-floe off the east coast of
Greenland, previous to that historic crossing.
They were rapidly drifting to the open sea.
The swell was so great that when down in

SVERDRUP.

the hollow nothing could be seen but the blue
sky. Floes crashed together, breaking and
splitting, and large pieces of ice were thrown
on to the floe, gliding dangerously near to the
boats and tent, which had to be held down

276 Life of Nansen.

to keep them from being swept into the sea.
But although death stared them in the face,
Nansen ordered all to bed to rest, and prepare
for a final emergency. Sverdrup, as the most
experienced and cool-headed among them, was
to take the first watch, and turn the others
out at the critical moment. In two hours
Kristiansen was to take his place. But faith-
ful, unselfish Sverdrup let his comrades sleep
on through the night, and in the midst of ever-
increasing dangers. The floe was swirled out
to sea, rocking up and down like a vessel in
a storm. A huge wave dashed on the floe,
splitting it and threatening to engulf the
party; Sverdrup stood ready to arouse the
sleepers, but the danger was once more
averted, and the solitary " watch" again
resumed his vigil. When things got to the
worst and death seemed imminent, the floe
was suddenly seized by a counter current, and
they were fortunately hurried in towards the
land and safety.

Another instance of his daring may also be
cited. Previous to his Greenland trip, a large
reward was offered to any one who would
take charge of a Nordenfeldt submarine boat
and sail it across the North Sea from Gothen-
burg to London. No one was found willing

" We are thirteen all told" 277

to undertake this, a voyage full of daring and
danger, and especially so if rough weather were
met with. Sverdrup at this juncture came
home, read the advertisement, and offered his
services at once. He prevailed upon a cousin
to go with him as engineer, and the two
undertook to navigate the strange craft across
the North Sea without other help. He was
on the point of setting sail when the owners
of the boat changed their mind, and ordered
it to be towed across. That Dr. Nansen
knew Sverdrup to be a capable leader is
illustrated by the fact that he left the Pram,
in the midst of many perils, in the full charge
of this man, well knowing that if anything went
wrong with the vessel or her crew his own
honour was at stake. The safe return of the
Fram, piloted yet farther north after Dr.
Nansen left her in March 1895, shows a
consistency, courage, and skill which has won
for Sverdrup, in the minds of Arctic experts,
laurels but little second to those gained by
his able and accomplished chief.

SIGURD SCOTT-HANSEN.

Next comes Lieutenant Sigurd Scott-
Hansen, leader of the meteorological, astro-
nomical, magnetic, and geodetic observation

278 Life of Nansen.

departments, in all of which subjects he has had
a special training. He was born July 24th, 1868,
at Leith, Scotland, and is a son of
the Rev. Andreas Hansen, then
chaplain to the Scandinavian Sea-
men's Church, Edinburgh. He
\ was the youngest member of the
'• expedition, yet his observations
will vie in importance with any
other work executed during this remark-
able voyage of discovery. In 1873 he
moved with his parents to Norway, his
father being appointed to the living of Etne,
Sondhordland, and subsequently, in 1880, to
the perpetual curacy of Trinity Church,
Christiania. Sigurd was educated at Gjertsen's
High School, Christiania, and the Royal Naval
College at Horten. He joined the latter
institution in October 1886, after twenty-one
months' service afloat. He was appointed
second lieutenant in the Royal Norwegian
Navy in 1889, promoted to first lieutenant
in 1892, and during his brief career has
shown a remarkable aptitude for scientific
research. He is of small build and of dark
complexion, with a pair of blue, sparkling
eyes, ever bright with intelligence and good
nature.

" We are thirteen all told" 279

HENRIK GRAVE BLESSING.

Dr. Henrik Grave Blessing was
physician and botanist to the
Fram. He is a native of Dram-
men, where he was born Sep-
\ tember 29th, 1866, his father
being at that time perpetual
curate of Stromso Church, and
subsequently vicar of Sunde, Telemarken.
Young Henrik's education was undertaken
by his father until 1879, when he joined
the High School at Stavanger. In 1885 he
proceeded to the University at Christiania,
which he entered as a medical student,
and, after passing his examinations, he was
appointed assistant in the skin diseases
department of the National Hospital in the
capital. He took the degree of M.D. in
1893. As a university student he made a
special study of botany, and subsequently of
diseases of the skin, the knowledge of which
is of special value in the Arctics, where the
dread disease of scurvy often breaks out, and
with fatal effect. From youth upwards Dr.
Blessing devoted all spare hours to skilobning,
and, though of short build, he is remarkably
strong and healthy. Apparently he rejoices

2 So Life of Nansen.

in that unencumbered state to which allusion
has been made. In bidding Mr. Herbert
Ward good-bye as the Fram left the Nor-
wegian capital Dr. Blessing said: — "This is
the greatest day of my life. The world is
all before me for the first time. I'm the only
man on the Fram without a wife or any
particular sweetheart. I am as happy as I
can be. Good-bye."

THEODOR CLAUDIUS JACOBSEN.

The mate of the Fram, Theo-
dor Claudius Jacobsen, was born
March 29th, 1855, at Tromso,
where he was educated until the
age of sixteen, when he went
to sea. Three years afterwards,
having passed the examinations of the School
of Navigation, he joined the merchant service,
and served in various ships — among others, the
English ship Haivardcn Castle, which he left
in New Zealand. There he remained for two
years, engaged as a workman, but not liking
his employment, he again took to the sea. He
first proceeded to New South Wales, thence to
San Francisco, and joined the United States
gunboat, Curwen, In 1883 he returned home,
and has since been chiefly employed in Arctic

"We are thirteen all 1old" 281

waters and sealing expeditions as master of
vessels belonging to the British Vice- Consul at
Hammerfest, Mr. George Robertson. During
the summers of 1891 and 1892 he served as
ice -master, pilot, and harpooner to H.R.H.
Prince Henri de Bourbon in the cutter Fleur-
de-Lis, and the steam-yacht of that name. On
his leaving the Prince's service the latter
gave him his own valuable gold watch in
recognition of his usefulness and trustworthi-
ness during their seal hunting and other
sporting tours in Spitzbergen and Novaya
Zemlya waters. Jacobsen proceeded on this
expedition (1893-96) as ice-master and chief
officer, and the principal duties of navigation
when among the ice-floes fell on his experi-
enced shoulders. His task was a most difficult
one, but the safe return of the Frani shows
how ably he seconded Sverdrup in piloting it
through such dangerous waters.

PEDER LEONARD HENDRIKSEN.

Peder Leonard Hendriksen, the harpooner
of the expedition, is a native of Balsfjord, near
Tromso. From early life he was engaged in
the fisheries, until at the age of nineteen he
proceeded to the Arctic regions, where he has
been constantly employed as harpooner in

282 Life of N arisen.

walrus and seal expeditions, and of late years as
master of a sealer. For fourteen summers he
was constantly engaged in hunt-
ing the seal, walrus, and whale,
and at times the polar bear. How
many of these creatures have
fallen by his hand it would be
difficult to say. He became re-
nowned as the best hunter in the
fleet, and over fifty polar bears have fallen to his
gun. He is a tall, square-built man of exceptional
physical powers, which have often been severely
tested. When off Novaya Zemlya, in 1888,
the schooner Enigheden, of Christiansund, on
which he was harpooner, became a total wreck.
The storm continuing, he was compelled to
remain on deck for several days, during which
he was literally encased in ice. He at last
managed to crawl ashore, and, report says,
" was able to thaw and dry his clothes." His
herculean strength has enabled him to endure
all hardships, and he entered on his latest
voyage with an iron constitution and strong
resolve. His harpoon and gun were the means
of procuring fresh meat for the explorers, which
did much to keep scurvy at bay. He has been
described as "a giant in stature, with immense
broad shoulders and a jolly, round face." He

" We are thirteen all told:' 283

left a wife and four children at home, and very
warm indeed was the welcome he received on
his return to Norway.

FREDERIK HJALMAR JOHANSEN.

Frederik Hjalmar Johansen was
engaged as fireman and general
utility man. As stoker, sailor,
hunter, land surveyor, etc., he
acted the part of a veritable
jack-of-all-trades. No matter the
task, Johansen performed it well and good-
humouredly, diffusing good-fellowship on board
the Fram, which was, in the dreary Arctic
winter months, accounted a blessing. He was
born May I5th, 1867, at Skien (the birthplace
of Ibsen), where his father was keeper of the
Law Courts, and where he himself was first
educated. In 1886 he matriculated, and in the
following year passed the philosophical exam-
ination at the University of Christiania. He
studied jurisprudence, and on his father's death
returned to Skien, filling the vacancy in the
Courts for a year, after which he entered the
High Sheriffs' and Police Office in the same
town. Johansen has also passed the University
College, and is a reserve lieutenant in the
Norwegian Army. He has devoted much time

284 Life of Nansen.

to athletics, and is known throughout Norway
and France as the winner of several medals for
gymnastics. In Paris, competing in a cele-
brated gymnasia, he made a clean somersault
over forty-two men and alighted on his feet as
right as possible, for which remarkable feat he
was presented with a gold medal. He also
holds gold and silver medals for skilobning and
marksmanship. He is a good-tempered, hand-
some, muscular man, whose place in Nansen's
estimation is proved by his being chosen as the
leader's sole companion on the now famous
sledging journey taken on leaving their Arctic
home to reach the " farthest north."

IVAR OTTO IRGENS MOGSTAD.

Ivar Otto Irgens Mogstad was
the carpenter, and hails from
Aure, Nordmore, where he was
born June 7th, 1856. He passed
an examination with honours in
forestry, and from 1882 until em-
barking on the Fram was head-keeper at the
Ganstad Asylum. He became quite an expert
with the rifle, and when only sixteen shot his
first bear. In 1881 he went as "huntsman" to
Spitzbergen. He is a most intelligent mechanic,
and has devoted much time to patents. When

"ire are thirteen all told" 285

but a youth he took out a patent for a time-
machine, a device for registering the days of
the year. Later, he invented a mechanical
potato -digger; but his most useful patent is the
tourist's boat, a craft so constructed of sail-cloth
that it can be folded up and carried under one's
arm.

His employers give him most excellent testi-
monials. He is quick-witted, fearless, and full
of resource, just the man for emergencies. He
is, besides, a splendid violinist, and in that
direction alone was invaluable to his companions
during their voluntary but ofttimes monotonous
exile.

BERN HARD NORDAHL.

Bernhard Nordahl was the elec-
trical assistant and fireman. He
was born in Christiania, March
4th, 1862. When fourteen years
old he joined the naval service as
ship's boy, and advanced to the
rank of constable. Then he went to America
and worked in a mechanical factory for a year.
In 1886 he got employment in the Norwegian
Electrical Bureau, where he remained for six
years. Latterly he was foreman of Hezerdahl

286 Life of Nansen.

and Co.'s electrical department. Nordahl is an
enthusiastic athlete, and is a noted gymnast and
skilober, and his face tells you that he is beam-
ing over with good health. He left a wife and
five children behind. Like Johansen, he adapted
himself to all tasks, and Nansen found in him
a man on whom he could place the utmost
reliance.

ANTON AMUNDSEN.

The chief engineer on board
the Fram was Anton Amundsen.
He was born at Horten in 1854,
where he was educated, until at
the age of fourteen he joined the
Naval Mechanical Engineering
Works as apprentice, and as such served with
Corvette Nornen and the Monitor Mjolner.
In 1872 he served as fireman and stoker in
the Navy, and in 1874 joined the Technical
School, and obtained his certificate as engineer
in the following year. Since that time he has
served in the various grades of engineer on
board numerous gun-vessels and torpedo-boats,
full as they are of intricate machinery, until
1891, when he was promoted to the situation
of chief engineer. In the winter of 1892-93

" We are thirteen all told." 287

he passed through the Naval Engineering
College, and quitted the naval service "on
leave " to take part in Nansen's Arctic ex-
pedition. He is specially adapted for the
important position he had to fill on board the
Fram, and plenty of employment, scientific and
otherwise, was found for him apart from that
in the engine-room. His wife and five children
awaited his return in fear and trembling through
the dreary three years' absence, and as hope
became dim, the telegram announcing the
Frams return and her crew's safety brought
overwhelming joy to their hearts.

LARS PETTERSEN.

The second engineer was Lars
Pettersen, whose birth took place
at Lund, Sweden, of Norwegian
parents, in May 1860. He was
educated at Lund until 1875,
when he was apprenticed to a
smith at Malmo, subsequently joining the
engineering works and locomotive factory at
Trolhcetta. After serving there and on the
Swedish State railways for some years he
came to Norway and joined the sealing-ship
Herta, of Sandefjord, proceeding with her to

288 Life of Nan sen.

the Arctic regions, north of Jan Mayen in
77° N. Since 1888 Pettersen has been
employed in the torpedo department of the
Naval Arsenal at Horten. Voyaging to the
Arctic agreed with him so well that he longed
and longed to go there again, and great was
his joy on becoming engaged as engineer to
the Fram ; and meanwhile his situation at
Horten was left open for him. He is a
married man, and left a wife and two children
at home.

ADOLF JUELL.

The victualling manager was
Adolf Juell. His position would
have been an extremely delicate
one had provisions run short en
board the Fram. Fortunately
they returned to Norway with still three years'
provisions left, which they disposed of by
auction later on — mementoes of this unparalleled
journey. A stouter type of an Easterling than
Adolf Juell it would be difficult to find. He
has beautiful blue eyes, an open countenance,
and a moustache which any military officer
would be proud of. He is well-built and of
a lively disposition — and such a talker ! With
his ready wit and good spirits, he had all the

"We are thirteen all told" 289

conditions requisite to faithfully fill his position
as purser and steward on the Fram* He
smilingly remarked previous to sailing that he
had got the hottest job on board. " When all
the pots in the galley are boiling for dinner
I believe the devil himself would singe his
nose if he poked it in here." He was born
December 26th, 1860, at the Farm, Braato,
near Kragero, and is the son of Claus Neilsen,
shipowner and shipbuilder. He was instructed
at home by a tutor, and joined the merchant
service in 1876. After gaining a mate's certifi-
cate he joined the United States merchant
service, and served for some time on the
lakes. In the autumn of 1880 he joined the
Chicago Small-pox Hospital, where he rendered
valuable service during the dreadful epidemic
of 1 880-8 1. Going to sea again, he joined
the British steamer Alvena, of the Atlas line,
as third mate. In 1885 he obtained command
of a ship at Stockholm, which he resigned,
after two years, to manage his mother's estate
and business at Kragero. He cancelled the
name Neilsen and adopted that of Juell on
obtaining his certificate as master. He left
a wife and four children, who welcomed him
back in the best of health and spirits — none

the worse for his three years' Arctic service.

19

290 Life of Nansen.

BERNT BENTSEN.

Last on the list, and the last to join the
Fram, comes a thoroughly typical Norwegian
sailor, Bernt Bentsen, a native of Tromsb, who
was to keep the Prams decks in good order
and take his spell at the "wheel." He has
had varied experiences — plenty of ups and
downs, which have made him a man of ready
resource in moments of danger. He joined
the Fram at the last moment, intending only
to go as far as Khabarova, but was there
hired as the thirteenth of the expedition. He
is a man in his best years, a strong and active
sailor, with a good knowledge of the caprices of
the northern seas, and a very amiable comrade.

From a picked crew such as this — truly a
" band of brothers " — and under such a leader,
much might be hoped ; nor is it a matter for
surprise that the results achieved have even
bettered expectation.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE DEPARTURE.
NORWAY TO NOVAYA ZEMLYA.

" Strong in will —
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

OF a deeply sanguine temperament is Norway's
celebrated traveller, Dr. Nansen, who at half-
past twelve o'clock on the 24th June 1893 set
off to find the North Pole. This task, which
has baffled the most courageous explorers, he,
at the time of starting on his difficult mission,
expected to accomplish in three years ; but at
the same time told his friends and well-wishers
not to be anxious concerning his welfare if he
did not return within twice that period.

However much opinions may differ as to the
feasibility of his plan ; as to the practical results
likely to accrue therefrom to navigation or
commerce ; or as to the benefits to be derived
by science from his observations in the polar
regions, every one must admire his absolute

292 Life of Nansen.

self-confidence, his great originality, and his
utter fearlessness of risks or hardships.
Worthy of admiration is the man who, in
the face of a terrible climate, of frowning
icebergs, of crushing, grinding, splitting,
treacherous ice-floes, sails away with so fixed
a determination to conquer. His motto, which
we may take as a paraphrase of Longfellow's
immortal ''Excelsior," was "Forward" "/
will never retreat; I will go through to the
other side" was Nansen's thrilling reply to all
who spoke to him of non-success.

Of recent proposed expeditions to the Pole,
Dr. Nansen's appeals most powerfully to the
imagination, probably owing to the boldness of
its inception and the faith with which its leader,
hitherto successful in his explorations, based his
success on the truth of his theory of the polar
ocean currents.

I have lectured on the recent Arctic expedi-
tions in over two hundred different places, and
whenever Nansen's portrait has been thrown on
the screen it has been received with unbounded
applause — an enviable recognition of his labour
and self-sacrifice in the interests of science.

Following, in the summer of 1894, his foot-
steps in Iceland, where he landed previous to
crossing Greenland, I heard golden opinions

The Departure. 293

•expressed concerning the man and his task. It
is gratifying to find so much honour paid to
men who, alike in the interests of science and
commerce, dare and do so much.

Dr. Nansen reiterates that science demands
the exploration of the frozen regions. " Geo-
graphical exploration," he says, "has now made
rapid progress, and most of the earth's surface
is already fairly well known. There are, how-
ever, two regions of our globe which have
hitherto obstinately resisted all explorers ; these
are the regions around the poles. As science
has advanced, and the world has become more
and more known, problems have arisen which
can only be solved by observations in these
regions. It is now hardly possible to study
physical geography, geology, meteorology, and
many other branches of science without being
stopped by important questions which can only
be answered in the Arctic and Antarctic regions,
and in regard to which we can at present only
offer highly uncertain hypotheses."

As Nansen left Christiania Dr. John Murray
bade him good-bye and said: — "I expect
within two years to welcome you on your return
from the Arctic ; " but he expressed some doubt
if he should again see the Fram. " I think you
are wrong," was Nansen's reply; ".I believe

294 Life of Nans en.

you will welcome me on this very deck, and,
after my return from the Arctic, I will go to the
South Pole, and then my life's work will be
finished." To another enthusiast he exclaimed:
" Ah ! they say we will never come back. They
say I am a dreamer,' and that I shall fail. Well,
we shall see. I can say nothing in answer
to them. I would only ask people to give me
time. Nothing has surprised me more than
the interest and sympathy that have been shown
to my expedition by English people." We feel
that this is the spirit which deserves and is most
likely to command success.

Dr. Nansen, on the morning of his departure,
telegraphed to The Times as follows : —

[To the Editor of" The Times"]

" SIR, — We are just about to sail. Please
grant me the opportunity of publicly express-
ing our warm appreciation for all the generous
sympathy which English people have displayed
towards our expedition.

" Yours faithfully,

" Christiania, " FRIDTJOF NANSEN.

"June 24th, 10.50 A.M."

From the King and Queen of Norway
and Sweden, Nansen received the following
telegram at the hour of sailing: —

The Departure. 295

" Pray receive, at the moment of your
departure, the Queen's and my own most
sincere wishes for luck on the voyage, which,
if the result turns out as we hope, will be
a unique feat, and in any case will show
Norwegian men's courage. Our best wishes
to all on board."

To this Nansen replied: — "All of the ex-
pedition send your Majesties their most humble
thanks as they depart for their polar voyage, de-
termined on doing their utmost for its success."

The departure is so well told by an eye-
witness that I cannot refrain from quoting his
description of what was truly a red-letter day
in the history of Norway and of the world: —
"The day was characterised by a cloudy sky,
with cold wind and drizzling rain — a sudden
but very welcome contrast to the tropical heat
and drought which have existed here for many
weeks past. At an early hour several members
of Dr. Nansen's crew, all looking remarkably
fresh and cheerful, rowed off to their ship, the
Fram> which lay at anchor in a little bay of the
fjord, alongside an old barque-rigged training-
ship, within 200 ft. of the shore. Between
seven and eight o'clock the bay became crowded
with ferry -steamers conveying passengers to
business. Each steamer in succession, in

296 Life of Nans en.

drawing near to the Fram, slowed down ; hats
and umbrellas were waved, and volleys of hearty
cheers greeted the crew, who were all steadily
at work in different parts of the ship coiling
ropes and clearing the running gear. Towards
eleven o'clock, the published hour of departure,
all was in readiness, but Dr. Nansen had not
yet arrived. The Arctic ship was now sur-
rounded by a host of small boats of every
description — kayak canoes and shoe-shaped
craft, miniature gondolas, racing skiffs, naval
gigs, yachts' dinghys, and steam launches ; all
more or less decorated with bunting and with
branches of silver birch. Upon the quay, and
by the shore, several thousand spectators had
gathered to witness the sailing of the ex-
pedition. It was evident, by their earnest
attention, that no sluggish indifference clouded
their imagination. As they gazed intently at
the bluff, broad-beamed Fram, it appeared as
though a thousand varied pictures of the
vessel's aspect in the barren ice-field a few
months hence, and of the thirteen venturesome
Northmen, toiling and enduring, passed before
their eyes. The obvious dangers and priva-
tions about to be experienced by these men, for
an unknown period, in order to test practically
what is, after all, a mere personal theory of

The Departure. 297

Dr. Nansen's, produced a deep impression
upon the spectators, who were filled with a
combined sentiment of awe and admiration.
As the time passed, and the city clocks struck
the hour of noon, and there was still no sign of
Dr. Nansen, the murmuring crowd of spectators
became silent. It wras clearly evident that their
hearts were in sympathy with the actors of an
invisible scene, wherein the bitter pangs of
parting with wife and babe formed the pathetic
theme.

"Suddenly all eyes were directed towards a
tiny petroleum launch which came speeding
towards the Fram. There were two occupants ;
in the bow stood a sailor, boat-hook in hand; in
the stern sat Dr. Nansen. A few moments
later, when the launch dashed alongside the
Fram, and Dr. Nansen, looking haggard and
half-dazed, climbed upon his vessel, there was
a dead silence among the spectators; no voice
was raised to greet or cheer him. A more
impressive tribute than this sympathetic
silence could not have been rendered. Even
a momentary contemplation of Dr. Nansen's
probable feelings at the moment of his em-
barkation must have impressed the coldest
observer. The heart-rending farewell, with
his wife's tearful voice still echoing in his

298 Life of Nansen.

ears; the almost overwhelming responsibility
of the whole expedition; of the twelve men
who place their lives • entirely in his charge ;
of his own reputation, which is, doubtless, far
dearer to him than life — all these serious and
harrowing thoughts must have been present
in Dr. Nansen's mind at that moment, and he
stood the test with characteristic calmness.

"A few minutes after Dr. Nansen's arrival
on board the anchor was weighed, and the
Fram actually started upon her voyage,
followed by several yachts and steam launches
bearing numbers of Dr. Nansen's friends, who
were anxious to accompany the expedition
upon the first few miles of the journey. As
the Fram steamed slowly down the fjord, three
gun salutes were fired from the various batteries,
all of which were promptly acknowledged by
the defiant barking of Dr. Nansen's favourite
sledge-dog. Half-an-hour's slow steaming
down the fjord brought the Fram abreast of
Dr. Nansen's home at Lysaker ; and here, for
the first time, the sun beamed through a rift in
the dark rain-clouds, and shone radiantly upon
the distant shore, revealing the figure of Mrs.
Nansen, clad in white, standing upon the rocks
by the water-side. The view, which lasted but
a moment, soon faded in the rain-mist, and Dr.

The Departure. 299

Nansen gazed in vain. Bands of musicians,
who figured prominently in the bows of the
attendant steam launches, played in somewhat
mournful strains the national airs, ' Sons of
Norway' and 'Yes, we love this country;'
while every few minutes a chorus of voices
would shout ' Long live our Nansen ! ' ' Welcome
home, Nansen ! '

" Almost immediately after passing Lysaker
the rain commenced to fall in torrents, and, in
fact, it continued to pour during the remainder
of the day. When about five-and-twenty miles
from Christiania, most of the steam launches
took leave of the Fram, amid a storm of hearty
cheers and shrill steam-whistles."1

Just before leaving the vessel the writer, Mr.
Herbert Ward, went below. He continues : —
"On the cabin table lay a little heap of tele-
grams and cable messages from various parts
of the world, wishing ' God speed' to all the
Frams crew. Among the most acceptable to
Dr. Nansen was a message from Siberia, to
the effect that Dr. Nansen need entertain no
anxiety or doubt with regard to traversing
the Kara Sea, the ice in that region being
just now in a most favourable condition.
Among the many messages was one from

1 The Illustrated London News, July 8th, 1893.

3OO Life of N arisen.

Nordenskiold, who expressed the warmest
sentiments of friendship and faith in Dr.
Nansen's scheme.

" At the gangway, when the last launch
steamed alongside, there was much affectionate
leave-taking, many eyes were dim with tears,
and there was a reluctance to depart. Dr.
Nansen shook hands with every one, he bowed
and smiled in acknowledgment of all the effusive
farewells, and his simple reply to all was
' Good-bye.'

" Within the next few minutes the Frarn
vanished in the haze."

A course was set for Laurvik, where the ship
arrived on Sunday evening, and after taking on
board the two large covered boats to be used
in case of disaster to the Fram, resumed her
voyage. The next port touched at was Bergen,
at which place the doctor had many friends.

Nansen wrote anent the departure : — " On
the 24th of June we started on our expedition
from Christiania, and sailed northward along
the beautiful Norwegian coast. Everywhere
people came from the most distant places in
order to see the strange ship and her crew.
Whenever we stopped in some little place the
deck was at once crowded with people who
wanted to see everything."

The Departure. 301

Off Melo, in longitude 13° 20' E., and
latitude 66° 48', the Fram was sighted by the
s.s. Rollo, of the Wilson line, which carried a
contingent of one hundred and sixty passengers
on a trip to the North Cape. As the Rollo
got even with the Fram rockets were fired off
and the fog-horn blown, while the passengers
from all parts of the ship again and again
cheered lustily. This had the effect of bring-
ing Dr. N arisen from below on to the deck,
and then to the bridge of his ship, where he
returned those kindly salutes by raising his
hat, and afterwards by firing two shots. He
seemed much gratified by this hearty farewell,
the last he received from English "landsmen."

Nansen found many ardent admirers at
whichever port he called. Colonel Creswick,
of Sheffield, tells me that: — " On the i2th of
July 1893, on arriving in Tromso harbour at
midnight, after a twelve hours' journey in a
summer snow-storm, the like of which the
captain of the small local 'dampbaad' on
which we had come down from the Ulfsfjord
said he had never known during his forty
years' experience ; and while looking for our
steamer, the Vesteraalen, we noticed a curiously-
shaped vessel lying at anchor on our right.
Knowing that the Fram had been expected

3O2 Life of Nansen.

when we left Tromso on the 8th, and seeing
this ship had a crow's-nest and was painted
grey, we rightly concluded that here was the
far-famed vessel. The camera was brought
into use, and a snap-shot was taken as we
rapidly passed her, but it was still snowing
heavily, and, even with the largest stop, the
photograph which resulted was naturally in-
distinct. We regretted we were unable to
stay in Tromso, as we had before been dis-
appointed in not seeing this Arctic vessel in
Bergen, she being some days later than was
expected, but the Vesteraaleri s whistle was
sounding impatiently, and we had to go on
board without landing. Once on board, there
was sufficient delay in starting for us to come
up on to the snow-covered deck in time to see
Dr. Nansen talking cheerfully with his friends
who were returning south. The explorer was
dressed in an entire suit of yellow oilskins,
and even as he stood on the top step of the
gangway he towered above his fellows. He
pulled his sou'wester over his ears, and went
down over the side into the boat which was
waiting for him. As he was being rowed from
the Vesteraalen to the Frain the impression
of his tall figure standing up in the small row-
boat, looking back to his friends, and in the

The Departure. 303

falling snow of that midsummer night, is so
vividly stamped on my memory that it seems
indeed as if I had a photograph of the scene
continually before me. Our steamer's screw
began to revolve, and amid shouts of * Fare-
well, Nansen ! ' we saw the last of the Arctic
explorer. As we left the harbour we could
dimly see the tall masts of the Fram, with
a background of the snow-covered roofs of
Tromso."

On the 2ist of July the Fram left Vardo,
their last harbour in Norway, and sailed east-
ward across the Barentz Sea. Nansen himself
wrote to The Strand Magazine: — "We are
now (as I write this) steering eastward across
the sea from Norway to Novaya Zemlya,
through fog and against the wind. Yesterday
we had a short, sunny glimpse of Goose Land
on Novaya Zemlya, and were just steering in
there when the fog came again and shut us
out from the world around us. We were
obliged to steer out to sea again and make
for Yugor Strait, the most southern strait which
separates Novaya Zemlya, or rather Waigats,
the most southern island, from the Continent.
Here we expect to meet a small vessel, which
I have sent from Norway, with fifty tons of
coal. At Khabarova, in Yugor Strait, a

304 Life of Nansen.

Russian, Trontheim, is also waiting us, with
more than thirty sledge-dogs. He had to
travel from Tiumen, in Siberia, last winter to
the Ostjaks to buy these dogs, and had then to
travel the long way from Siberia through the
north of Russia to Pechora, and from there he
travelled with the dogs to Yugor Strait in
company with the Samoyedes, who go north
in the spring. I hope we shall find the dogs
in good condition, as well as Trontheim him-
self, who will possibly accompany us on the
expedition.

" When we have got our dogs and coal, and
if the Strait and the Kara Sea are open, we
shall make our way eastward along the Asiatic
coast as quickly as possible. The first part of
the way through the Kara Sea will perhaps
be the worst, as the ice is often very bad
there. More easterly the water running out
from the rivers generally forces the ice a little
from the coast, leaving an open passage along
the shore. We shall have to pass Cape
Chelyuskin, the most northern point of the
Continent, which has only once before been
passed by any vessel — viz., the Vega, on
Nordenskiold's famous expedition. If we still
find open water we shall go on eastward along
the coast until we reach the mouth of the

The Departure. 305

Olenek River, to the east of the Lena Delta.
If we have time I shall go in there to take
twenty-six sledge-dogs which are waiting for
us. The reason why I want to get dogs there
also is that the dogs from East Siberia are
stronger and better than the West Siberian
ones; therefore Baron Toll, who is now travel-
ling in Siberia, proposed this, and has now
kindly arranged this depot for me ; it is he
also who arranged with Trontheim about these
other dogs. If we get too many dogs, it is
of course easy to pick out the best ones of the
whole lot."1

Later, Nan sen sent a telegram to 7^ he Times
from Novaya Zemlya which contained more
definite information: — "The passage from
Norway to Novaya Zemlya was good, except
for wind and fog. Goose Land in Novaya
Zemlya was sighted in the fog on July 25th,
and the vessel turned south, meeting the first
ice on the 2;th, in latitude 69° 50' N., longitude
50° E., about ten miles north of Kolguef Island.
We forced our way through, the Fram proving
a splendid ship in the ice, and arrived at Yugor
Strait, a distance of 250 miles from the point
where the ice was encountered, on July 29th.
The vessel sent out with coal has not arrived,

1 The Strand Magazine, December 1893.

20

306 Life of Nanscn.

but we have sufficient coal, and we sail into
the Kara Sea to-night. We have got thirty-
four splendid sledge -dogs from Siberia on
board. The Yugor Strait has been open since
July 3rd, and there seems to be little ice in the
southern part of the Kara Sea, a favourable
wind having carried it northward. I consider
our prospects very favourable, and we shall
make our way eastward most rapidly along the
coast. Unless the ice prove unfavourable, we
hope to reach the New Siberian Islands before
the end of August, and if this should be accom-
plished I look on our success as almost certain.
If there is time we shall call at the Olenek
River, and probably be able to send news from
there. — NANSEN."

He arrived at Khabarova, on the Kara Sea,
as we have seen, on the 2Qth of July, and
stayed there until the 3rd of August. In the
interval he employed his time in completing the
outfit and in observing the conditions of the ice.

Nansen had a struggle to get through the
Kara Sea, which had much ice in it. The
ship, according to reports received from the
Samoyedes, was twice driven back by the
enormous weight of ice in the sea, but when
last seen it was steaming full speed ahead into
the great unknown.

ONE OF THE LAST LETTERS WRITTEN BEFORE
SAILING EASTWARD AND NORTHWARD TO EVERLASTING FAME.'

*?••

The Departure. 307

On his departure from Khabarova he en-
trusted his secretary, O. Christophersen, with
many letters and telegrams to be despatched
to friends all over the world — Nansen's farewell
for three long years.

On stepping overboard, the secretary received
two special letters — one to Fru Nansen, the
other to the mother of the late H. M. Gepp,
the translator of The First Crossing of Green-
land, who was drowned while crossing a Nor-
wegian lake on ski. As one of the last letters
written before sailing eastward and northward
to everlasting fame, its appearance here may
be accounted of interest : —

"ON BOARD THE *FRAM/ IN KHABAROVA,
"YucoRSKi STRAIT,

" $rd August 1893.

"DEAR MRS. GEPP,

" I had long wished to write to you. I wanted to com-
municate with some of your dear son's nearest relatives ;
but how could I, a stranger, intrude on sacred ground
when there certainly was enough to bear after such a
loss, and in such a case I am afraid that strangers
only make things worse, even when they have a deep
feeling of true friendship for the lost one, and there-
fore I had to be silent When the sad news came it
was in the night. I got the paper and read it aloud

308 Life of Nansen.

to my wife. When I quite unexpectedly came to
this I could not understand it, and grew silent. My
wife wept bitterly for a long time, and we shall
probably never forget it. My wife loved him
so much, he was so good and dear, and we had
both looked forward to see him with us when he
came to Christiania; he had just written he was
coming.

" I had nobody to write to, nobody to ask about
him, and that made things even more sad. I only
had to give him my thoughts in silence. He was
truly a good friend ; I never had one better.

"Then came some time ago your dear letter, for
which I thank you most heartily. I would write you
at once, but I was just so busy with the preparations
for my expedition and had the difficult start before
me, so there was no moment to spare for a letter,
which wanted a little quietness. Thus I could not
write before I was on the way, and now in the last
moment, by the last opportunity, I must send you a
few words before I steer eastward into the unknown.
Now when my thoughts wander back through the life
passed, it is certainly not strange that they should
stop at the memory of him who was one of them to
whom I felt myself most attracted in life, whom I
loved so much. The loss was great for me and my
wife, and therefore I understand too well what it
must be for you. But if his life was short you must
have the satisfaction that his loss was deeply felt
wherever he had been, and his life was not spent in
vain. We are thankful to him for the years he spent
here, and I know that so it is in Upsala too. He was

77/6' Departure. 309

highly gifted, and he would have done a great deal
more if he had still lived. He had already done
much, though it may not all be visible now; his
influence had been considerable here. In Norway
he has many friends. Wherever he came he made
friends, and in many Norwegian valleys you will hear
Gepp's name mentioned with great sympathy by the
peasants. It was quite wonderful how he learnt to
understand the Norwegians; I believe he must have
been fond of Norway. I shall always keep a sacred
place for him in my memory, where I shall often like
to dwell, and my hope is once in the future, when I
have returned from my expedition, to meet you some-
where. It would be so nice to hear from your own
lips about him.

" And now, farewell for the present. My most
hearty greetings and warmest wishes.

" Yours very sincerely,

"FRIDTJOF NANSEN.

" P.S. — I am so thankful that you sent me the
photographs. I have taken them with me and will
often look at them."

The foregoing appears by permission of Mrs.
Gepp, who replied to my letter of request as
follows: — " ... It is quite true that Dr.
Nansen was much attached to my son, and
he thought very highly of him in all ways.
He was staying with the Dr. and Fru Nansen

Life of N arisen.

at Lysaker in the summer of 1892, and was on
his way to visit them again, and to take over
the translation of another book (Nansen's The
Eskimo], at the time of the terrible and fatal
accident/

LARGE BOAT.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THREE YEARS' SILENCE.

IN a letter to his brother Alexander, dated
i;th July 1893, Dr. Nansen acknowledged
freely his inability to state the time required
to effect his purpose. " I certainly do not
know how long I may be absent," he writes,
"but, candidly speaking, I do not consider that
there is any chance of our returning home in two
years, provided we do not return this coming
autumn on account of the unfavourable ice
conditions. I do not think that we, in any case,
will get home in less than three years, possibly
four years may pass, or even five, but you may
depend upon it that return we will; of this
there is not the shadow of a doubt, for no
expedition has ever been fitted out as ours.
There is, certainly, a possibility that we will not
reach the islands of New Siberia this year, but
pass the winter at some spot on the coast of
Asia, in which case an entire year will be lost,

312 Life of N arisen.

besides which it is not easy to calculate the
length of time the drift will occupy, but that in
itself will take at least two years, of that I am
certain."

The last letter sent home, as we have read,
was dated August 3rd, and Nansen's first
anxiety was to get through the ice-laden Kara
Sea and round the dreaded Cape of Chelyuskin,
the northernmost point of Asia, and which
had but once before been passed by the
celebrated Arctic voyager, Baron Nordenskiold,
on his famous journey through the north-east
passage.

Of this remarkable feat Baron Nordenskiold
writes : — " On the iQth of August we continued
to sail and steam along the coast, mostly in a
very close fog, which only at intervals dispersed
so much that the lie of the coast could be made
out. . . . The sea was bright as a mirror.
Drift ice was seen now and then, but only in
small quantity and very rotten; but in the
course of the day we steamed past an exten-
sive, unbroken ice-field, fast to the land, which
occupied a bay on the west side of the
Chelyuskin peninsula. The ice of which it
consisted appeared in the mist immensely
rough and high, although in fact it was nearly
as rotten as that of which the narrow belts of

Three Years' S Hence. 3 1 3

ice were formed which we now and then met
with out to sea.

" The fog prevented all view far across the
ice, and I already feared that the northernmost
promontory of Asia would be so surrounded
with ice that we could not land upon it. But
soon a dark, ice-free cape peeped out of the
mist in the north-east. A bay, open to the
north, here cuts into the land, and in this bay
both the vessels anchored on the igth of
August at six o'clock P.M,

"We had now reached the goal which for
centuries had been the object of unsuccessful
struggles; for the first time a vessel lay at
anchor off the northernmost cape of the old
world. No wonder, then, that the occurrence
was celebrated by a display of flags and the
firing of salutes, and, when we returned from
our excursion on land, by festivities on board,
by bumpers and toasts."1

Nansen no doubt remembered the following
words of Baron Nordenskiold on his voyage
east to the Lena : — " During our passage from
Norway to the Lena we had been much troubled
with fog, but it was only when we left the
navigable water along the coast to the east of
Cape Chelyuskin that we fell in with ice in such

1 Nordenskiold's Voyage of ike "Vega." (Macmillan & Co.)

314 Life of Nan sen.

quantity that it was an obstacle to our voyage.
If the coast had been followed the whole time;
if the weather had been clear and the navigable
water sufficiently surveyed, so that it had been
possible to keep the course of the vessel near
the land, the voyage of the Vega to the mouth
of the Lena would never have been obstructed by
ice, and I am convinced that this will happen
year after year during the close of August, at
least between the Yenisei and the Lena ; for I
believe that the place where ice obstacles will
perhaps be met with most frequently will not be
the north point of Asia, but the region east to
the entrance to the Kara Sea."

In spite of the repeated statements of
Nansen and Sverdrup that the Fram was a
splendid vessel in the ice, sensational reports
appeared in our newspapers before it had fairly
encountered its work. The following, which
appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette, is but one
of the many extravagant and inaccurate state-
ments that appeared during the absence of the
expedition. It was headed :—

THE NANSEN ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

ALARMING NEWS FROM SIBERIA.

"Speculations as to the whereabouts of the
Nansen expedition have of late become parti-

1 Nordenskiold's Voyage of the "Vega.'' (Macmillan & Co.)

Three Years' Silence. 315

cularly keen among English and foreign Arctic
voyageurs, and we now learn that a Nor-
wegian gentleman, who has just returned from
Northern Russia, brings the information that
since leaving Yugor Schar (the strait between
the Siberian continent and the Waigats
Island leading into the Kara Sea) the Fram
was sighted by Samoyedes several times in
that sea ; the last time outside the river Kara.
As, however, the distance between this river and
the Yugor Strait is a very small one, and the
time which had elapsed since Nansen's de-
parture and the time of sighting the Fram is
very considerable, it is concluded that the
vessel must have been delayed in the pack-ice.
The Samoyedes in question were unable to get
near enough to the vessel to read the name or
communicate, but their descriptions of her leave
no doubt as to her identity. They, moreover,
bring the ominous news that the ship ' worked
heavily and awkwardly ' in the ice, and that
for three whole days and nights she made no
progress at all. This sad intelligence is the
more depressing as Arctic huntsmen, Captain
Wiggins and the yacht Blaincartha, one and
all report that the ice in the Kara Sea was
most favourable to navigation last summer and
autumn. The question therefore naturally

316 Life of Nans en.

arises — Is the vessel properly constructed to
solve the difficult problem before her ? And
Russians born and bred by the side of the
' tricky ' and dangerous polar ice answer this
question with a decided ' No.' The shape of
the vessel, particularly the abnormally broad
beam and her great depth in the water, already
raised doubts in the minds of many whilst she
lay at Yugor Schar, the general opinion being
that she was too deeply loaded and cumber-
some, and that she would have great difficulties
in forcing the ice. This view would therefore
seem to have been correct, judging by the
reports of the Samoyedes, and that opinion is
shared by a well-known employe of M. Sibiria-
koff, the celebrated Siberian merchant, and who
was one of the members of the Krusenstjerne
expedition for studying the ice and the currents
along the Petschora district. The correspondent
further adds the highly alarming news that
during his many visits on board the ship at
Yugor Schar he came to the conclusion that
Nansen's temperament was greatly changed.
He seemed to have become vacillating and
even melancholy at times. He did not seem
so assured of success and so collected as
formerly. He was restless, verging on fever-
ishness. From early morning till late at night

Three Years' Silence. 317

he was here, there, and everywhere, now in
the rigging testing some rope, then in the
crow's-nest, scanning the sea with an anxious
mien, and now out reconnoitring in the petro-
leum launch, etc. His former calmness and
assurance had disappeared. But the relations
between the commander and his men were
most cordial and sympathetic. All messed
together without regard to rank. This fact is
the more pleasant to learn, as rumours have
been afloat to the effect that the relations
between the officers and the crew left much
to be desired. Should Nansen still be drifting
in the Kara Sea, the Russians are of opinion
that he will have to return, as the vessel may
be crushed in the ice. At all events, he would
not by a long way have encountered the serious
difficulties in store for him in the true polar
pack, for the waters referred to may be
navigated by ordinary vessels every summer,
as demonstrated by Captain Wiggins and the
tiny English yacht with ladies on board. On
the other hand, had Nansen been compelled
to return we should have had news of this
deplorable event ere now. The question there-
fore remains, has Nansen safely reached 4the
New Siberian Islands, or has the Fram gone
down ?"

3 i 3 Life of Nans en.

More just and interesting is the state-
ment made to a representative of Reuter's
Agency on December 29th, 1893, by Dr.
John Murray, the well-known authority on
Arctic and Antarctic exploration, in regard
to the probable position of the Fram and
her crew. He said: — ''In all probability we
shall not hear any more of Nansen for a long
time to come. The last news from him clearly
indicates that he was able to push his way
through the Kara Sea early in August. By
the time he arrived in the Nordenskiold Sea
he most probably found the dogs an intolerable
nuisance on board his small ship, and very
likely he had made up his mind that they
would be of little use to him except in the
improbable event of him finding a large stretch
of land towards the North Pole. Supposing
the expedition to be all well off Cape Chelyus-
kin, there seems no reason why it should go
south to Olenek. Nansen had no intention of
going as far east as the New Siberian Islands,
supposing an opportunity offered of penetrating
the ice to the north-east of Cape Chelyuskin,
and all reports tell of open water in this
direction during the past season. The chances
are that he is now fixed in the ice somewhere
between the longitudes 120° and 130° E., and

Three Years' Silence. 319

latitudes 78° and 80° N. If so, he is then in
the most favourable position for progress next
summer. During the winter it is not likely
that any great advance will be made, but in
the spring and summer months it is believed
that the drainage from the Siberian rivers,
and the wind pressure on the surface of the
ice-floes, combine to set the currents and ice
from opposite the mouths of the Lena across
the Pole and down into the Norwegian Sea,
between Spitzbergen and Greenland. If the
Fram is carried through the polar basin with-
out being crushed among the ice-floes she will
have an extraordinary run of good-luck. It
is possible, but not probable, for I have no
great faith in her being lifted upon the ice,
should she come in for a ' nip.' But supposing
the vessel be crushed, Nansen's expedition is
not at an end. In all probability he will be
able to save his boats, transfer his stores to
the ice-floes, and there construct comfortable
quarters. Should his supplies fall short, he
will always be able to fish up from underneath
the ice plenty of food in the form of minute
crustaceans, by means of two nets let down
through holes in the ice. Once, when frozen
in between Spitzbergen and Greenland, I
procured enormous numbers of animals in

320 Life of Nansen.

this way, which made an excellent soup. I
presented the Nansen expedition with a large
number of silk nets for this purpose. Nansen
may be five or many more years in passing
across the Arctic basin; he may fail altogether,
but I shall be disappointed if he be not heard
of to the north of Spitzbergen during the
summer after next."

In the beginning of 1895, feeling anxious
about the Nansen expedition, I wrote to this
great oceanographer on the probable where-
abouts of Dr. Nansen, and in answer that
renowned expert sent the following most in-
teresting reply, under date of 28th February
1895:—

" From all I know of the physical conditions
of the north polar basin and of Nansen's in-
tentions, I should think the probabilities are
all in favour of the view that he is at the
present time comfortably housed on board
the Framt or on ice-floes, somewhere within
100 miles of the Pole. He may possibly be
heard of during the latter part of the coming
summer ; it is more probable that nothing
will be heard of him till the summer of 1896.
Should nothing be heard of him by the close
of the year 1897 I might then, but not till
then, entertain the idea that some disaster

TJircc Years* Silence. 321

may have overtaken the expedition. — Yours
truly, (Signed) JOHN MURRAY."

Hardly a month of 1895 passed without
rumours of success or failure being bruited
about.

First, considerable excitement was caused
in March by the report that a balloon from
Nansen was sighted, travelling in a south-
easterly direction, near Langfjord, in the
north of Norway. Mr. Montefiore Brice,
hon. secretary to the Jackson-Harmsworth
expedition, writing to the Standard about this
incident, states : — " It is of great interest to us,
for while it is very unlikely to have come from
the Nansen expedition, which according to Dr.
Nansen's own theory should now be somewhere
north of the new Siberian Islands, 115° of the
North Cape, it is highly probable that it con-
veys a message from the Jackson-Harmsworth
polar expedition in Franz Josef Land, 600
miles to the north, and only 25° E. of the
North Cape. Moreover, one of the scientific
members of that expedition — Mr. J. F. Child,
the mineralogist — had invented a most in-
genious arrangement for constructing a light
balloon for the special purpose of sending
messages home, and if this balloon has come

from the Arctic regions I have little doubt that

21

322 Life of Nan sen.

it bears with it a message from Mr. Jackson
and his colleagues."

Needless to remark, this balloon was entirely
a " mystery."

Next came the rumour from the Paris Figaro,
1 5th April 1895. It appeared as follows in
most of our English newspapers : —

REPORTED DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE.

"The Paris Figaro publishes a rumour that
Dr. Nansen has succeeded in his search for the
North Pole. It is stated that he discovered
that the Pole is situated in a chain of mountains,
and that he planted the Norwegian flag there
to mark the spot. The temperature was two
degrees above zero centigrade. These state-
ments, it is added, are confirmed in a despatch
received by the Crown Prince of Norway and
Sweden."

Though on the face of it a canard, yet this
rumour caused much popular excitement and
discussion for a short period.

The first seriously considered report came
from the east of Greenland in July 1895,
and appeared in all the European press as
follows : —

" The steam sealer Hertha, of Sandefjord,
Norway, arrived home on the i7th August,

Three Years Silence. 323

from the Danish colonial port, Angmansalik,
in east Greenland, which she left three weeks
previously, and her master reports that the
director there informed him of the Eskimo
having seen a three-masted vessel, with a
short or broken foremast, drifting in the ice on
two different occasions. She was first observed
towards the close of July last (1895) by a party
of natives some thirty miles off the Sermiligak
Fjord in latitude 65° 45' N., longitude 36° 15'
W., and subsequently by other Greenlanders
off Sermilik in latitude 65° 20' N., longitude
38° W. No smoke or signs of life could be
observed. A report of this nature has naturally
caused great excitement in Norway, the general
belief being that it must be the Fram with or
without the expedition on board, but those who
doubt that possibility believed it to be the
derelict Vikingstad. of Mandal, which was
abandoned by her crew in April last, or else
some British or American vessel engaged in
sealing or whaling. It appears, however, that
the Vikingstadwas towed into Hekeyrar Fjord,
Iceland, at the end of July, by the whaling
steamer Falken, and as it would have been
impossible for her to drift against the current,
which runs southward from the Greenland coast
to a point sixty miles north of Cape North

324 Life of Nansen.

in Iceland, the ship observed by the Eskimo
could not have been the one in question. The
Norwegian Home Department consequently in-
stituted inquiries respecting the vessels known
to have been in Arctic waters during the present
year, from which it appears that none but Nor-
wegian bottoms have taken part in the seal and
whale fishery in the Greenland Sea, and they,
numbering but sixteen, are all accounted for.
All but two, the Geiser and Njord, had left the
grounds by the middle of July, and have sub-
sequently returned, the Geiser having been too
far from land to be seen by even Eskimo eyes,
while the Njord, which approached closer to the
coast, left it on the i8th July. It is possible
that further news respecting the mysterious
craft may still be obtained from Juliannehaab,
as one of the Greenland traders has yet to
arrive from that port, but in all probability
nothing more will be heard until September
next year. Presuming that the vessel is the
Fram, it may seem odd that Nansen has not
communicated with the shore, but as the
'colony' of Angmansalik has only been recently
established, he would naturally not know of its
existence, and would hardly risk the lives of a
party in making an attempt to cross the ice on
the chance of meeting with some stray Eskimo

Three Years* Silence. 325

who could neither yield him supplies nor com-
municate with any of the Danish colonies
known to him, in less time than he could with
his own vessel. The director of the Greenland
Board of Trade at Copenhagen, Mr. Stephen-
son, has made the following statement, and
expressed his own views respecting the report.
He says : — ' Only one of the Greenland trading
ships, the Lucinde, has arrived home as yet.
We therefore expect several others shortly,
but the only one that could possibly bring
news of Nansen is the schooner Ceres, which
touches at Juliannehaab. There is, however,
but little chance of her arriving with any fresh
information, as such could only be obtained
providing Nansen's ship was carried by the ice-
current from the east coast of Greenland, where
it is said she has been seen round Cape Fare-
well and up the west coast to Juliannehaab.
No ship will arrive this year from the newly-
founded little colony on the east coast, Ang-
mansalik. It is exceedingly difficult to reach
that port, and provisioning it at any time
depends entirely on chance or good fortune. It
is best to receive the report made by the
Eskimo to Captain Jorgensen with all reserve,
as they are great liars ; but, however, it is not
impossible that the natives have seen a wreck,

326 Life of Nansen.

and in such a case it is not impossible that it is
Nansen's ship/"

The Christiania correspondent to the London
Daily Graphic, commenting on the rumoui;
writes: — "It will be remembered that the
Fram was last seen by Samoyedes, apparently
in trouble with the ice in Bahydarat Bay, at
the base of the Kara Sea, about the gth August
1893. It had been Nansen's intention to leave
records at Dickson's Haven, but apparently he
did not touch at that port. It was likewise his
intention to call at Anabar Bay to fetch dogs
and leave records, if possible, at the provision
depots established by Ba-ron Toll on the islands
of New Siberia. Not only were the dogs not
fetched, but the stores on the islands of New
Siberia remained intact until last autumn, and
as no reports have been received from the
nomad tribes which frequent the shores of
North Siberia of any vessels being seen, it is
almost certain that the Fram has not passed
Cape Chelyuskin, and that Nansen, who re-
served to himself the right to alter the course
of the expedition, has steered for the eastern
shores of Franz Josef Land, possibly with the
idea of getting to windward of Jackson, and
tackling the north from a point nearer home.
If, therefore, the vessel that has been seen by

Three Years' Silence. 327

the Eskimo is the Fram, it will appear that,
being caught in the treacherous ice-currents of
the Kara Sea, she has been conveyed to the
southward of Franz Josef Land and Spitz-
bergen (or possibly between these countries),
and finally blocked in the ice of the east Green-
land Sea. It is absurd to suppose that in the
short space of two years the Fram has reached
the neighbourhood of the New Siberian Islands
and been drifted across the Pole to the position
of, the craft seen by the Greenland natives,
even were the Arctic waters open and not
blocked, as is probably the case, by innumer-
able islands; and should this vessel eventually
prove to be that of the Nansen expedition it
will be found that fate has been against her, and
results not commensurate to the expectations.
It is, however, unlikely that were this the case
the Fram would have escaped the observation
of the Spitzbergen traders, or the sealers off
Jan Mayen or in the Denmark Straits."

From this date until February I3th, 1896,
the press allowed the subject as to the where-
abouts of Nansen to rest.

Suddenly the appearance of a telegram
reporting that Nansen was sighted in the
vicinity of the New Siberian Islands, on his
return from the Pole, caused the most intense

Life of Nansen.

excitement throughout the civilised world. The
startling rumour, emanating from an obscure
Russian source, was at first received in all
good faith ; but as each successive day passed
without bringing further news or confirmation,
the truth in the report here given (Times,
February I4th, 1896) became relatively less.

DR. NANSEN AND THE NORTH POLE.

"St. Petersburg, February 1 3th.
"A telegram from Irkutsk states that a
Siberian trader named Kuchnareff, who has
acted as agent for Dr. Nansen in Siberia, has
informed the Prefect of Kolimsk (northern
Siberia) that he has received intelligence that
Dr. Nansen has reached the North Pole, that
he has found land in that region, and that he
is now on his way back.

" Later.

"The report that Dr. Nansen had reached
the North Pole was received by the Oriental
Review at Irkutsk from the trader Kuchnareff
through M. Kandakoff, a police official of
Kolimsk, who was a member of M. Sibiria-
koff's expedition. The intelligence was sent
by letter to Yakutsk and thence to Kirensk.
It was then forwarded by telegraph. A more
complete account has just been received from

Three Years Silence. 329

Irkutsk, according to which it appears that the
news originally came from Ust Yansk, at the
mouth of the Yana. — Renter.

" Christiania, February 1 3th.

"The geographical authorities here do not
consider the news received from Irkutsk that
Dr. Nansen had reached the North Pole
improbable, for the reason that if the ex-
plorer is really on his way home, Kolimsk
would probably be the first station reached.
The relatives of Dr. Fridtjof Nansen have
requested the Norwegian News Agency to
state that they attach no credence to the
Irkutsk telegram announcing Dr. Nansen's
discovery of the North Pole. — Renter.

" Lloyd's agent at Bergen telegraphed yester-
day evening as follows : — * St. Petersburg wires
Dr. Nansen reached North Pole, found land,
now returning.' '

The newspapers were flooded with editorial
opinions on the rumour. We take a high-class
sample from The Times, February i4th, 1896: —
"The telegram from St. Petersburg received by
Reuters Agency with reference to the return of
Dr. Nansen's north polar expedition may very
possibly be correct. Still, it should be remem-
bered that during the past year there have

33° Life of Nansen.

been similar rumours circulated which turned
out to be inventions. It should be noted that
the information does not come from Dr.
Nansen himself. Before he left he made
arrangements by which his first message was
to be sent to the Royal Geographical Society.
It is about two years and a half since the ex-
pedition was last heard of in the Kara Sea. It
was intended to call at the mouth of the Lena
for dogs to be provided by Nansen's agent in
Siberia, probably the M. Kuchnareff mentioned
in the telegram. We know that the Fram did
not call at the Lena. It was then intended to
proceed to the New Siberian Islands ; but it is
almost certain that the expedition did not pro-
ceed to those islands. Those who have given
special attention to the matter are of opinion
that when the Fram in the summer of 1893
quitted the Kara Sea, she found the sea to the
northwards free of ice, and instead of turning
eastwards to the Lena and the New Siberian
Islands, she pushed on to the north ; the
summer of 1893, it will be remembered, was
an exceptionally favourable one. If this was
so, it is quite possible that considerable headway
was made before the ice was met with. If, as
was intended, Nansen allowed his ship to get
locked up in the ice, she may have drifted on

Three Years' Silence. 331

until she came to land surrounding the Pole.
This land may be continuous or broken up into
islands. At any rate the party may have made
their way across the land until they reached the
Pole. The original intention was, no doubt, to
drift across the Polar area; but the great object
was to reach the Pole. If Nansen were suc-
cessful in this object, he may have considered
it unnecessary, or seen it to be practically im-
possible, to re-enter the ice and go on till he
came out at Spitzbergen or Greenland. He
may simply have made his way back either to
the New Siberian Islands or to the north coast
of Siberia. This he may have done in the
Fram, or, if the vessel had been abandoned,
in the boats and sledges with which the expedi-
tion was amply provided. If these conjectures
are correct, if Nansen did reach the New
Siberian Islands, it may have been late in
autumn, and the vessel may have got frozen
in. Kolimsk, from which the information was
sent to Irkutsk, is near the coast of Siberia,
somewhat to the south-east of the New Siberian
Islands. It is often possible to cross on the
ice from the mainland to the islands, and in
this way, if the expedition is in the islands,
Nansen's arrival may have been ascertained.
Kolimsk is a good distance from Irkutsk, and

332 Life of Nans en.

at this season the journey between the two
places would take a considerable time. It will
be remembered that it was at the mouth of the
Lena, to the west of Kolimsk, opposite the
New Siberian Islands, that the unfortunate
survivors of the Jeannette, under De Long,
landed, after they deserted the ship. If Nansen
has been successful he has accomplished his
hazardous task much more rapidly than he
expected. He was prepared to be away for
six years, and quite reckoned not to be back
within less than three years. But at present
further comment would be useless. We must
wait till we receive confirmation of Reuter's
telegram ; above all, we too must await infor-
mation from Nansen himself before we are able
to appraise the value of what he has accom-
plished. It may be mentioned that depots of
provisions were placed in the New Siberian
Islands for the use of the expedition shortly
after it left."

The first true news announcing the return
of Dr. Nansen and Lieutenant Johansen was
received in Christiania, August I3th, 1896,
and from the information that has since been
published it is abundantly evident that Nansen
must for ever be regarded as one of the greatest
of Arctic travellers.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE TREASURE ISLANDS OF THE ARCTICS.

THE New Siberian Islands have been a centre
of great interest of recent years. It is not
alone on account of the sinking of the Jeannette,
nor because of the depots left there for the
Nansen expedition in case of disaster, but
because they contain, in extraordinary abund-
ance, relics of a period in the history of the
world long since passed. There exist to-day
treasure -islands even in the Arctics. Para-
graphs appear from time to time about the
wealth of mammoth ivory on the coasts and
islands of Siberia, but many people seem to
regard such tales as more or less fabulous.
The following extract from an important article1
may not be without interest, for it tells us of
what is really known regarding New Siberia
and its mammoth tusks: —

" Here amidst icy solitudes, and surrounded

1 Chamber fs Journa^ January 5th, 1895.

334 Life of Nan sen.

by a sea covered with floating icebergs, wrapped
for months of the year in perfect darkness,
illuminated only by the red glare of the Aurora,
there has been found a mine of wealth which
constitutes these dreary islands perfect treasure-
houses in the frozen ocean. Few stretches of
the Polar Sea are more dismal and dangerous
than that portion of it which lies to the north
of Siberia. For eight months in the year it
is fast frozen, and its surface then presents
great sheets of ice, which are in many places
crossed by long icy ridges, or heaped up into
towering hummocks of ice."

In the summer, when the ice-sheets have
melted, the navigation is extremely dangerous,
and Dr. Nansen was careful to give these
islands as wide a berth as possible when
penetrating into the " heart" of his current.
The honour of discovering and of surveying
this icy sea belongs to the Russians. The
earliest voyages undertaken were made by
Russian traders for the discovery of valuable
furs ; and on land as well as on sea the fur-
hunters carried on extensive explorations, and
especially about the commencement of the
eighteenth century.

Amongst the adventurous and zealous traders
was one LiakofT, who, journeying to the dread

The Treasure Islands of ihc Arctics. 335

Sviatoi Noss (or the Holy Cape), 200 miles
east of the Lena, in the spring of 17/0, found
the ocean beyond frozen fast. As he looked
over the vast icy plain he saw a large herd of
reindeer coming from the north, and concluded
they were returning to Siberia from some un-
known land to the north. He at once started
in his dog-sledge over the ice, and after follow-
ing the reindeer's tracks for sixty-one miles, he
discovered an island, where he passed the
night. Next day he continued north in the
tracks of the reindeer and discovered another
and smaller island. The tracks could still be
traced north, but as immense hummocks of ice
render sledging impossible, Liakoff had to be
content with his present discoveries.

"Liakoff," continues our informant, "obtained
from the Russian Government permission to
call the islands by his name, and — what was
far more important — he obtained the sole right
to collect mammoths' bones and the skins of
stone-foxes in the newly-discovered islands.

" Three years afterwards he revisited the
islands, accompanied by a friend named Protp-
diakonoff, and as it was now summer, they
made the voyage in a five-oared boat. They
found the first island to be simply packed full
of the bones and tusks of mammoths, and

Life of Nans en.

Liakoff's joy at the discovery of this vast store
of fossil ivory may be imagined. Then they
voyaged to the next island, where they found
cliffs of solid ice. Leaving this, th-^y steered
boldly to the north, and after a voyage of one
hundred miles, they reached a large island
(afterwards named Kotelnoi), which was also
full of the remains of fossil elephants (mam-
moths).

" For thirty years Liakoff enjoyed the
complete monopoly of carrying away these
wonderful stores of ivory. His agents and
workmen went every year to the islands in
sledges and boats, and on the first of the
islands he had discovered they built huts and
formed a great magazine.

"In 1775 the Russian Government, hearing
of the riches of the islands, sent Chwoinoff, a
surveyor, to examine them. He found that
the first of the islands — containing the huts
of the ivory diggers — was of considerable size,
and contained such amazing quantities of the
tusks and teeth of elephants that it seemed
to be composed of these remains, cemented
together with sand and gravel ! In the middle
of the island was a lake with banks formed of
slopes of solid ice, and in the brief summer
these ice-banks split open by the action of the

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 337

sun ; and on looking down into these great
cracks, it could be seen that they were full of
the tusks of elephants and of the horns of
buffaloes !

41 On Liakoff's death, the Russian Govern-
ment, in 1805, granted the monopoly of the
trade in the ivory islands to Sirovatskoi, a
merchant who had settled at Yakutsk, who sent
his agent, Sannikoff, to explore the islands and
to try to discover new deposits of fossil ivory.
Sannikoff discovered to the east of Kotelnoi
another large island, which he called Fadeyeff-
skoi ; and in 1806, Sirovatskoi's son discovered
a third large island, still farther to the east,
which was afterwards called New Siberia
These newly-discovered islands were — like the
former — full of fossil ivory ; and it was thus
proved that there were two groups of ivory
islands: the Liakoff Islands, near the shore;
and the New Siberian Islands, which lay in the
Arctic Ocean, 200 miles north of Siberia.

" In 1809, Count Romanzoffsent M. Heden-
strom to explore the islands, fitting him out
at his own expense. Hedenstrom reached
Liakoff's first island, and was amazed at the
prodigious stores of fossil ivory it contained ;
for although the ivory-hunters had for forty

years regularly carried away each year large

22

33^ Life of Nansen.

quantities of ivory from the island, the supply
of ivory in it appeared to be not in the
least diminished ! In about half a mile Heden-
strom saw ten tusks of elephants sticking up
in the sand and gravel ; and a large sandbank
on the west coast of the island was always
covered with elephants' tusks after a gale,
leading him to hope that there was an endless
amount of ivory under the sea! Hedenstrb'm
and Sannikoff went on to Kotelnoi and New
Siberia, and they found the hills in the former
island absolutely covered with the bones,
tusks, and teeth of elephants, rhinoceroses,
and buffaloes, which must have lived there in
countless numbers, although the island is now
an icy wilderness, without the slightest vegeta-
tion. They also found that in New Siberia —
the most eastern of the islands — the quantity
of mammoth ivory was still more abundant,
and in 1809 Sannikoff brought away ten
thousand pounds of fossil ivory from New
Siberia alone !

"When we reflect that at present these
islands are mere icy wastes, with no vegetation,
and with only a few foxes and bears wandering
over them, we see at once that a complete
change of climate must have taken place since
the time when vast herds of elephants and

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 339

rhinoceroses inhabited them. This conclusion
is supported by the fact that in Kotelnoi and
New Siberia the remains of extensive forests
have been found in which the trees are
standing upright, but are perfectly dead.
In other places in the same islands great
heaps of trees, called 'The Wood-hills/ are
piled up on the desolate hill-sides. The
ivory-hunters frequently spent the winter in
the islands, and the hardships they then
endured were often most extreme. For a
long time in the depth of winter they were
wrapped in darkness, lighted only by the
red glare of the Aurora and by the brilliant
flashing of its flickering streamers. The
silence at that time was profound, for the
sea was noiseless, being fast frozen, and the
only sound was the moaning of the icy blasts
amidst the snow-covered hills. Sometimes the
snow did not melt before July, and in many
places it lay on the ground all the year;
the ground was also permanently frozen only
a foot or two below the surface, and beneath
there was often found solid and perpetual ice.

" Notwithstanding these difficulties, enormous,
quantities of ivory were still taken every year
from these wonderful islands. In 1822-23
Lieutenant Anjou surveyed the islands, but

34O Life of Nanseu.

does not seem to have noticed any remains
of mammoths. A most striking story was
related by Sannikoff, who declared that when
he was in Kotelnoi and Fadeyeffskoi in 1809
he saw from the northern shores of these
islands the distant mountains of another island
far away to the north. Efforts were made to
reach this unknown land by sledging over the
ice, but great open stretches of water rendered
progress towards the north impossible. When
Erman was at Yakutsk in 1829 he was told
that the ivory trade from the New Siberian
Islands was as lucrative and important as ever,
and that the traders journeyed to the islands
in sledges over the frozen surface of the ocean.
The tusks of the mammoth could be seen in
New Siberia sticking up out of the sand, and the
ivory-hunters were accustomed to stand on an
eminence and examine the wastes of sand and
gravel with telescopes, to see where the tusks
protruded from the ground, which showed that
the skeletons of the great elephants were
buried beneath. One ivory-hunter in 1821
brought away twenty thousand pounds of
ivory from New Siberia alone; and in 1836
sixty-eight thousand pounds of fossil ivory,
which came chiefly from the New Siberian and
Liakoff Islands, were sold at Yakutsk. Mid-

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 341

dendorf, some years later, calculated that every
year one hundred and ten thousand pounds
of fossil ivory were sold in the markets of
Yakutsk, Obdorsk, Turukhansk, and Tobolsk;
eighty thousand pounds of this amount being
sold at Yakutsk alone, the market at this
place being supplied chiefly from New Siberia,
where the quantity of fossil ivory still seemed
to be inexhaustible. Great boats full of ivory
were constantly ascending the Lena to Yakutsk,
and at length steamers carried the ivory to the
market, up the great river.

"A few years ago, most valuable scientific
researches were carried on in these wonderful
islands by Baron von Toll and Professor Bunge.
These explorers carried on their investigations
in 1886, Dr. Bunge visiting the LiakofT group,
while Von Toll explored the New Siberian
Islands. The latter explorer examined the
famous ' wood-hills ' in New Siberia, and made
a complete circuit of Kotelnoi in forty days, an
undertaking which was very difficult, owing to
the whole coast of the island being blocked
with enormous masses of ice. From the
northern point of Kotelnoi, Von Toll was
fortunate enough to obtain a view of the un-
known land which Sannikoff had seen eighty
years ago from Kotelnoi and New Siberia.

342 Life of Nansen.

This island — which is called Sannikoff Land
after its discoverer — has never yet been visited
by Europeans, and lies — according to Von
Toll's estimate — 100 miles to the north of
New Siberia. In Liakoffs Island, Dr. Bunge
found great quantities of bones of the mam-
moth, rhinoceros, musk-ox, and wild oxen, and
this accumulation of the bones of so many
animals proves how temperate the climate must
have been formerly.

" In 1889 news was received at St. Peters-
burg that the body of a mammoth had been
found in Northern Siberia, and Baron von Toll
was once more sent into this desolate region to
verify the discovery. He did not reach the
spot, however — which was near the Sviatoi
Noss — until 1893, and was then too late to
find anything but fragments of the skeleton and
portions of the skin, which were covered with
hair. From the Holy Cape, Von Toll went to
one of the Liakoff Islands called Maloi, and
found here complete fossil trees, fifteen feet in
length. Elephants' bones abounded, showing
that great trees grew at the time when mam-
moths and rhinoceroses wandered over these
islands ; and beneath were cliffs of solid ice.
These ice-cliffs are common in the New Siberian
Islands, and occur in many parts of the coast of

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 343

Siberia ; they are also found in Kotzebue Sound
in North-western Alaska, and on them rests a
layer of earth full of the bones of elephants and
musk-oxen.

"We are led to ask the question, Will San-
nikoff Land, when explored, be found to be as
full of fossil ivory as the New Siberian Islands?
The answer will depend upon the depth of
the sea to the north of New Siberia. All
round the ivory islands the sea is very shallow,
averaging only from five to fifteen fathoms in
depth; and if this shallowness should continue
as far north as Sannikoff Land, then we may
confidently expect that this hitherto untrodden
island will be found to be rich in the tusks
and teeth of elephants. But if the sea steadily
deepens to the north of New Siberia, so that
the waters rapidly become of a great depth,
there will be little chance of finding mammoths'
remains in Sannikoff Land, because it will then
be proved that the New Siberian Islands form
what was the extreme northern point of Siberia
in the days when the mammoth lived, and great
forests grew where now the Polar Ocean rolls
its icy waves.

"What a marvellous contrast to present
conditions does the imagination picture up in
Northern Siberia, when the huge hairy mam-

344 Life of Nan sen.

moth, the woolly rhinoceros, and the musk-ox
wandered over its plains, and browsed along by
the banks of its majestic rivers ! The climate
was then comparatively genial, and its rolling
uplands and wide -stretching plains were covered
with dense forests and carpeted with verdant
grass. The land stretched 200 miles farther
to the north then than it does now, and the
New Siberian Islands formed high mountains,
looking over the Northern Ocean. On this
long-vanished land vast herds of elephants,
rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and wild horses lived
peacefully and securely, for food was plentiful
and carnivorous animals were few. What great
convulsion of nature destroyed these myriads
of gigantic beasts, and piled their bones in
vast masses upon the islands of the Polar
Sea ? What cataclysm sank the verdant plains
beneath the waves, and changed Northern
Siberia into a waste and empty wilderness ?
And what catastrophe occurred on the land
and in the sea which altered the climate of
Northern Siberia from one of a genial, or at
least temperate, character to one of awful cold
and of Arctic severity ?

" We cannot fully answer these questions.
It seems probable, however, that great floods of
rushing water must have poured over these

The Treasure Islands of ike Arctics. 345

lands, and great invasions of the waters of the
ocean must have inundated them. In these
tremendous deluges the elephants, rhino-
ceroses, and buffaloes were destroyed, and
their carcasses were piled up in heaps in the
places where they had congregated to take
refuge from the rising waters. When these
deluges subsided and the waters retired, the
lands were covered with the remains of the
drowned animals, and in some as yet un-
explained manner the climate changed, and
Northern Siberia, which was formerly a
beautiful and verdant region, became an icy
wilderness and a land of Death."1

It is not too much to say that in years to
come the whole of this district will be available
to commerce, and will remain so until the
wealth of these islands is exhausted. The open-
ing of the railway across Siberia, the fact of
being able to navigate with safety the once
dreaded ice-laden Kara Sea, all point out a not
distant future when Siberia itself will prove a
most important mart. Mr. Cooke, vice-consul
at Archangel, whom the author met at Arch-
angel when journeying through Northern
Russia and Samoyede Land, said that: — "Re-
membering the primitive condition in which

1 Chamber? s Journal, January 5th, 1895.

346 Life of Nans en.

this province has long been left, and at the
same time the undeveloped capabilities of its
enormous territory, and that the town and port
of Archangel will be the chief connecting-link
binding it, by land and by sea, to the newer
world now opening out before it, it is not
difficult to foresee the main results springing
from cheaper and more rapid communications.
Rendering Archangel the means of outlet for
the Volga, Kama, Viatka, and Siberian districts,
bringing cheaper bread to the at times famished
North, supplying its great fishing interests with
cheaper and better salt, assisting in the develop-
ment of the immense Crown forests, the naphtha
and salt mines, and other mineral riches around
it, bringing its abundant fish and fur supplies in .
readier reach of more southern parts, supplying
the hitherto well-nigh inaccessible interior with
modern machinery and goods of all sorts, these
new railroads, in conjunction with the many
steam and telegraph extensions of the North
in general, all point out a not distant future
when Archangel, as the head and centre of
all, will stand out once more, if not, as of old,
as the one port of Russia, at least as the one
greatest and most convenient channel of
export and import to vast regions, which,
in their modern development, may compare

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 347

favourably with the whole of ancient com-
mercial Russia.'*

Captain Wiggins is undoubtedly entitled to
the full credit of having first opened up the
Siberian Sea route to British commerce. Even
the scientific cruise of Baron Nordenskiold in
the Vega did not deprive Captain Wiggins of
his due in that respect. The successful naviga-
tion of a large fleet of vessels through these
waters is important, as it settles certain doubts
and establishes this business direct with the
Siberian market on a surer footing. In the
summer of 1897 a fleet of eleven steamers,
including seven cargo-boats, the yacht Blen-
cathra, and three paddle-steamers, the Scotia,
the Glenmore, and the Ivan Kronstadski,
navigated these waters most successfully.

One of the most convincing signs, perhaps,
of success is the fall in the rate of insurance
of cargo from 10 to 4^- per cent., with the
prospect of a still lower figure next year. A
proof also of increasing interest in the under-
taking is the quantity of grain from Western
Siberia sent this year for the first time
hundreds of miles down the Ob to meet the
steamers from England. Altogether, about
two thousand tons of wheat, one thousand
tons of oats, and one thousand tons of other

343 Life of Nansen.

corn were offered for shipment to England
on sale. The outward cargo consisted of fifty
thousand baskets or boxes of compressed or
brick tea, preserved fruits, rice, pepper, hand
tools, steel rails, and a great quantity of general
merchandise.

The extent to which the old and expensive
transportation of tea by caravan from Peking
to Kiakhta is likely to be affected may be
estimated by the fact of so much brick tea
having this year been sent from China over
this sea route to Siberia, via England. Leaf
tea is not allowed to enter Siberia by sea free
of duty, while brick tea thus imported is
charged only with the Irkutsk duty, which is
about half the rate of the import duty levied
at Odessa and other ports of European Russia.
Commercial men at Moscow and Nijni Nov-
gorod are naturally jealous of the exemption
from duty allowed to importers of English and
other foreign goods by sea into Siberia, and
the Russian Government makes it a strict con-
dition that such goods shall be destined for use
and consumption exclusively in that country
and not in any part of European Russia. In
the spring of 1896 the subject was laid before
a special committee, and this summer it was
made necessary for shippers and buyers to

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 349

furnish the authorities with full specifications
of all shipments, in order that the Minister of
Finance might exercise the option of deter-
mining what kind of goods, or how much of
any particular kind, should be allowed to enter
duty free. There is every probability that
next year the Government will abolish these
privileges altogether, and introduce into Siberia
the general Customs tariff of the Empire. This
would certainly not be to the benefit of the new
Anglo-Siberian sea trade, but even with pay-
ment of the ordinary duties the sea route would
be cheaper than any other, and a good profit
could be made on the transaction.

A particular interest for Russians and
Arctic enthusiasts attaches to the expedition
of 1897, because it was accompanied by
Admiral Makaroff, of the Imperial Russian
Navy, for the purpose of studying his project
of pelagic ice-breaking. Nearly all Russia's
ports and waterways are frozen up in winter,
which places the country in an exceptionally
disadvantageous position, and during recent
years this has led to much attention being
given to the construction and use of powerful
ice-breakers. At present, by means of boats
of this description, the ports of the Baltic and
Vladivostok, in the Pacific, are kept open for

3 So Life of Nansen.

shipping all the year round, besides whicn an
ice-breaker ferries the train across the Volga,
and Sir William Armstrong & Company are
building other large ice-breakers for the Baikal
Lake, in Siberia, and the port of Hango, in
Finland. Admiral Makaroff now proposes to
extend the work of the ice-breaker to the
frozen ocean, in order to secure the passage of
the Kara Sea as an annual certainty and to
prolong the period of navigability beyond its
present limit. The passage could be opened
earlier in June, when the old ice is weak, and
kept open longer in September, when new ice
is forming. For this purpose, in his opinion,
a couple of boats of 10,000 indicated horse-
power respectively would be sufficient. For
the immediate present, however, Admiral
Makaroff seems inclined to apply his ideas
on this wide subject to the practical aim of
securing access to Kronstadt and St. Peters-
burg, and this will be a boon, not only to
Russians, but also to English shippers, who
have more business than those of any other
country with these two ports. But Admiral
Makaroff carries his theory to the fullest extent,
and believes that the North Pole might
be reached in twelve days in this way. One
ice-breaker of 52,000 horse-power, or two of

The Treasure Islands of the Arctics. 351

28,000 horse-power supporting each other,
would be able to break through 12 ft. of solid
Polar ice, and, in fact, on the strength of data
given by Nansen and other Arctic explorers,
he believes that even ice-packs 20 ft. high
would offer no insuperable obstacle.

CHAPTER XX.

MEETING OF NANSEN AND JACKSON,
JUNE I7TH, 1896.

THE meeting of Nansen and his comrade with
Mr. Jackson is one of the most dramatic stories
in the whole romance of history. It was a
fortunate meeting, which Dr. Nansen declares
he will ever regard with feelings of gratitude ;
but it must in fairness to him be stated that had
he not come across Mr. Jackson his original
plan of proceeding to Spitzbergen would prob-
ably have been carried out, with nothing more
than a few more hardships and a little longer
delay. The event took place on June i;th, 1896.
Our two explorers had lashed their kayaks
together, and erected a kind of tent over them.
Johansen was asleep, and Nansen was preparing
breakfast. All at once he heard the barking of
dogs, and having awoke his comrade, he went
in the direction of the sounds. Nansen appears
to have been sighted first by Mr. Armitage of
the Jackson expedition.

Meeting of Nansen and Jackson. 353

<% The day," says Mr. Fisher, the botanist of
the same party, "was dull and misty, but not very
cold, and we were whiling away the time (after
dinner) laughing and chatting and smoking our
pipes. Suddenly Mr. Armitage, our astronomer,
who had been to the observatory, put his head in
the door and shouted, 'How many of you are
here ? I see a man on the ice-floe.' We counted
round and found that all were present. We
then became somewhat excited, and wondered
who the stranger could be. Mr. Jackson at
once got up and said, 'Whoever it is, I am off.'
He then ran off. The rest of us scrambled for
telescopes and binoculars, and some climbed up
the rock in order to find out who the mysterious
new-comer was. The idea of it being Nansen
did not occur to us until after the lapse of about
twenty minutes. Mr. Armitage and I. who had
good glasses, hazarded the suggestion that the
stranger might be Nansen. By this time Jack-
son and the man he was approaching looked
like two specks in the distance. They were
gesticulating violently, and soon they came up
to one another and stood apparently talking.
Watching the stranger carefully, we came to the
conclusion that he must be the Norwegian
explorer. The latter had a gun in one hand
and a bamboo stick in the other. He was

23

354 Life of Nans en.

wearing 'ski/ and was jumping about from one
ice hummock to the other in a marvellous
manner."

Mr. Jackson tells us: — "On hearing that
some one had been seen on the ice, I at
once started off, and saw a man on the
pack-ice to the south-east of Cape Flora, and
a second person farther off. I fired several
shots to attract their attention, and after about
an hour's walk we came up to one another.
As the man was on ski, I concluded he was a
Norwegian, and imagined him to be a walrus
hunter who had come to grief somehow. On
approaching nearer, I noticed that he was as
black as a stoker from head to foot. His
clothes were covered with grease. It was
evident that he had been in very rough
circumstances for some time past. I walked
up to him, and we shook hands warmly, and
the following conversation ensued :—
"Jackson : ' I'm awfully glad to see you.'
" Nansen : ' So am I to see you.'
"Jackson : ' Have you a ship here ?'
" Nansen : ' No ; my ship is not here.'
"Jackson : ' How many are there of you ?'
"Nansen: 'I have one companion in the
distance there.'

"During this time I had been steadily

NANSEN ON HIS ARRIVAL AT ELMWOOD.

Meeting of Nansen and Jackson. 355

looking into his face, and in spite of his
long black hair and smoke-black skin thought
that he was Nansen, whom I had known
in London. So I exclaimed, 'Aren't you
Nansen?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'I am Nansen.'
' By jove,' I responded, ' I really am awfully
glad to see you.' Then we shook hands again
still more heartily. ' Thank you very much,'
said Nansen, 'very kind of you.'

"I then asked him where he left the Fram,
and he told me that after drifting for two years
he left the Frain in 84° N. lat., and managed
to reach the very high latitude of 86° 14', when
he turned back and came on here. After some
more talk we again shook hands, and I told
him how intensely pleased I was to be the
first person to congratulate him on his mag-
nificent success.

"We then turned and walked towards Elm-
wood, and meeting the rest of my colleagues,
I introduced them td Nansen, calling for three
cheers for him, which were most heartily
given."

Nansen was absolutely black from head to
foot. His light hair and moustache, now of
considerable growth, were jet black, and there
was not a speck of white about his hands
or face. He resembled a nigger; and the

356 Life of Nan sen.

" brightness of his eyes," says Mr. Fisher,
"was accentuated by the grime of his face,
which had been blackened by the blubber-
smoke. His clothes — the one suit he had
worn for fifteen months — were stiff with blood
and oil, with which his face and hands were
also covered. After talking for some minutes,
we heard that Nansen's companion was in
the neighbourhood, and while Mr. Jackson
and Dr. Nansen started off for Elmwood, Mr.
Child and I went to find Lieut. Johansen."

After travelling a short distance and round-
ing a hummock they saw Johansen, who had
the kayaks with him. Before coming up to
the Lieutenant they saw what they believed
to be a black flag flying on a pole. On
approaching nearer it was found to be a shirt
evidently hung out to dry and blackened by
many months of blubber-smoke. Johansen,
like the Doctor, was as black as a nigger, and
from the same cause. His appearance, how-
ever, was rendered more grotesque by two
white patches under his eyes. The parties
greeted one another by waving their caps and
by heartily shaking hands. The Englishmen
at once took charge of the kayaks and other
impediments, refusing to allow Johansen to
carry anything. He was presented with a pipe

Meeting of Nan sen and Jackson. 357

and tobacco, and had his first smoke since
leaving the Fram. They then set off and
followed Nansen and Jackson to Elmwood.
It was midnight, which up there is as light
as noon, when they reached headquarters, and
the two wanderers were soon made comfort-
able, after performing, as Jackson writes, "a
most extraordinary journey, which for daring
is absolutely unequalled in the annals of dis-
covery either in the Arctic or other regions."

At last, after having lived a precarious life
for fifteen months, worse than the life of a
polar bear, these two explorers found them-
selves in comfort, with leisure to recover from
their unparalleled hardships. They stayed at
Elmwood until the arrival of the s.s. Windward,
which carried them to Vardo, in Norway. The
run home was an extraordinary one, being
accomplished in six days, or about one-tenth
the time which had been occupied on the 1895
homeward passage. They landed at Vardo at
half-past four in the afternoon of August i3th
(1896). One thing, however, was needed to
perfect Nansen's success and complete his
happiness, and that was the return of the
Fram. The leader's confidence in his theory
and his ship remained unabated, and it was
soon justified, for a week later, to his great

353

Life of N arisen.

joy, a telegram arrived from Captain Sverdrup,
reading: — " Fram arrived safely, all well on
board ; leaves at once for Tromso. Welcome
home." To which Nansen replied: — " A thou-
sand times welcome to you and all. Hurrah
for the Frain / "

CHAPTER XXI.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION PREVIOUS TO NANSEN.

ARCTIC exploration has ever been enveloped in
the glamour of romance. A description of past
Arctic work will reveal this and help the reader
to appreciate more fully the noble efforts of
Dr. Nansen and his comrades.

The unknown is always mysterious, and
mystery is the most potent arouser of the
imagination. That which carried the sailors
of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
turies through fierce trials and unimaginable
perils and adventures, from discovery to dis-
covery, until every coast that their ships could
touch had been trodden by civilised man, was
the fascination that dwells in the unknown, and
that appeals with irresistible voice to the hearts
of the hardy and the daring. So it has come to
pass since those glorious days that the restless
foot of man, urged ever onward by an equally
unresting ambition, and by vague imaginings,

360 Life of Nans en.

has penetrated at last to the uttermost end of
the earth, and there is left neither land nor sea
for him to conquer, save some little here and there
of the great Dark Continent and those terrible
plains of snow and ice that guard the secret of
the Poles. Many curious, and some foolish,
ideas have been held in the minds of men as
to the sights which shall reward those who finally
conquer every difficulty and proudly stand on
that point of the globe which scientists call the
North Pole, It has been said that there you
would see the earth revolving on its axis, and
feel yourself carried round and round; that
there would be found a maelstrom more fearful
than any yet known, caused by this same
revolution, and sucking all things that ap-
proached it into its awful depths ; or that there
would be an open sea, kept by the earth's
motion always clear. These ideas we know
are mere vain imaginings. Still, the Poles
have not yet been reached, and so long as they
remain unknown, the thirst for knowledge and
adventure, which is inherent in the blood of
the Northern races, will impel them to ever-
renewed efforts until the final crown of success
is won. England has the high satisfaction of
knowing that her sons have made the most
numerous and strenuous efforts to wrest this

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 361

secret from Nature; and it now behoves her, if
she would maintain her reputation, to continue
the attacks wherever unknown regions exist.
The North Pole still awaits a determined
attack upon it; and there then still awaits the
explorer a yet more difficult task — the discovery
of the South Pole.

Modern geographical discovery dates from the
fifteenth century. The discovery of America
aroused a strong desire in Europe for voyages
in search of new lands, and as the Spanish
power was already established in the south
of America, the attention of other nations was
naturally turned to the north.

The real pioneers of Arctic work across the
Atlantic were Hudson, Davis, and Baffin, each
of whom made us acquainted with large parts
of the Arctics which now bear their names.
Hudson in a frail vessel opened out to com-
merce the large bay which now bears his name,
and made us aware of the importance of the
fisheries in the Greenland Seas. Davis, in
1585, was the first to penetrate north by the
west coast of Greenland and so rediscover it,
and may be said to have opened the Smith
Sound route to the Pole. Baffin, following in
his wake in 1616, reached the latitude of 77°
4.5'. N., which remained unequalled in that sea

302 Life of Nansen.

for two hundred and thirty-six years. Through
national and international differences Arctic
exploration received little or no attention for a
long period, and it was not until the arch-
disturber of peace, Napoleon, was finally dis-
posed of that the men of the nineteenth century
were free to resume the problem.

Again rose the desire for a straight path to
the riches of China, India, and Japan, and new
schemes were promulgated for reaching the
Pole and discovering a north-west passage.

Among the whalers of east Greenland was
one of signally observant habits — William
Scoresby. To him we owe a debt of gratitude
for much of our knowledge of the Arctic Seas
and for many valuable facts in connection there-
with. He first drew attention to the ice-blink,
a band of lucid whiteness caused by the
glare of light, reflected obliquely from the
surface of ice, against the opposite atmosphere;
he was consequently the first to discover the
presence of masses of floating ice at a distance.
He, too, it was who first informed Sir Joseph
Banks of the extraordinary phenomena of ice-
drift which took place in the winter of 1816-17
in the east Greenland seas. An enormous
quantity of ice broke loose from the frozen
mainland and drifted rapidly south, filling the

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 363

creeks and bays of Iceland. The event was
naturally regarded with great interest. If it in-
dicated a breaking up of the ice around the Pole
it would have admitted of the possibility of a
long-desired passage by the north-west route.

The intelligence was communicated to the
Admiralty, and after mature deliberation an
Arctic expedition was fitted out. Four vessels
were equipped for the service, the Isabella and
Alexander under Captain John Ross and
Lieutenant Parry, and the Dorothea and
Trent under Captain Buchan and Lieutenant
Franklin. The first two left England in the
middle of April 1818 to discover the north-
west passage via Baffin's Bay, while the
commanders of the other two vessels were
instructed to go to the North Pole by east
Greenland and Spitzbergen.

The Admiralty's instructions to Buchan and
Franklin may nowadays, with our better
knowledge of the Polar regions and its con-
ditions, provoke a smile, but it must be
remembered that it was the first Arctic expe-
dition of the century.

The commanders were informed that the sea
north of Spitzbergen was generally free of ice
up to 84° N. latitude, and that as it might be
free still further north, they might reasonably

364 Life of N arisen.

hope to reach the Pole. When they reached
that latitude they were to remain for a time
" in order to the more accurately making the
observations which it is to be expected your
interesting and unexampled situation may
furnish you with." They were then to resume
the voyage and come home by Behring Sea
or round the north-west end of Greenland and
down Baffin's Bay. Should they fail to reach
the Pole, they were to prosecute a search for
the north-west passage and return home by
the same way.

They neither discovered the Pole nor found
a north-west passage. They got no farther
north than about half a degree over the eighty
line, and there progress was barred by the ice.
Both ships were gripped, and the Dorothea
so very seriously that a return home was
inevitable. Needless to remark, the quest of
Ross and Parry was not more successful.

From 1819 to 1825 Parry made three
voyages for the discovery of a north-west
passage, and always from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. He explored Lancaster Sound and
the islands to which it gave access, including
Melville Peninsula, and also endeavoured to
pass through Hudson Bay. It seems, indeed,
that he who has once entered the Arctic

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 365

regions, however great the sufferings encoun-
tered in overcoming the terrible obstacles that
bar the way, is restless until he returns to
them, for we find Parry in 1827 in command
of His Majesty's ship Hecla, with orders to
again seek the North Pole. It was his inten-
tion to take the ship to the north of Spitz-
bergen, leave it there, and attempt to reach
the Pole by sledge or boat. His gallant
attempt is a well-known chapter in the annals
of Arctic exploration, but we may be pardoned
for recounting part of his heroic struggle, which,
though unsuccessful in its main object, was not
altogether a failure, since it laid the foundation
of a system of ice-travel by sledges which was
perfected in^after years by McClintock. Parry's
hopes of success were founded on Scoresby's
authority, who reported having seen ice-fields
so smooth that, had they not been covered
with snow, a coach might have been driven
many miles over them in a direct north line;
but when Parry reached the ice-fields to the
north of Spitzbergen he found them of a very
different character, composed of loose, rugged
masses intermixed with pools of water, which
rendered travelling over them extremely
arduous and slow. The strong flat-bottomed
boats, specially constructed for a land journey,

366 Life of Nans en,

had thus frequently to be laden and unladen
in order to be raised over the hummocks, and
repeated journeys backward and forward over
the same ground were the necessary conse-
quence. Frequently the crew had to go on
hands and knees to secure a footing. But in
spite of all obstacles they toiled manfully on,
until at length, after thirty- five days of in-
cessant drudgery, they discovered that while
they were apparently advancing towards the
Pole the ice-field on which they were travelling
was fast drifting to the south, thus rendering
further endeavour useless. They gave up all
hope of reaching the Pole and decided to
return to their ship. The scenes met with on
the ice-field, going and returning, were dreary
and desolate, almost lifeless. During the return
to the ship, which awaited them in Treurenberg
Bay, their boats encountered a severe storm on
the open sea, which obliged them to bear up
for Walden Island, where, fortunately, a depot
had been established. " Everything belonging
to us," says Parry, "was now completely
drenched by the spray and snow ; we had
been fifty-six hours without rest, and forty-
eight at work in the boats, so that, by the
time the latter were unloaded, we had barely
strength left to haul them up on the rock.

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 367

We noticed on this occasion that the men had
that wildness in their looks which usually
accompanies excessive fatigue ; and though
just as willing as ever to obey orders, they
seemed at times not to comprehend them.
However, by dint of great exertion we
managed to get the boats above the surf;
after which a hot supper, a blazing fire of
drift-wood, and a few hours' quiet rest, quite
rested us."

Parry had the honour of reaching the highest
latitude then ever attained, 82° 40' 23" N.
From his highest north there was seen a
strong ice-blink overspreading the northern
horizon, showing that the pack extended far
to the north.

If we draw a line from England across the
Pole to Behring Strait and measure it, we find
a distance of some 5000 miles, This was the
highway over which we wanted to pass so as
to bring the riches of India, China, and Japan
within nearer grasp. It was well worth striv-
ing for, and Sir John Ross soon undertook a
second voyage to discover this fascinating route.
He set out in 1829, returning in 1833 after
four years spent in terrible hardships and weary,
fruitless wanderings. During his absence all
hope was given up of his return, and he and

368 Life of Nans en.

his party received a very warm welcome home
from their countrymen.

It was on this voyage that his nephew,
Commander James Ross, the now well-known
Antarctic explorer, discovered the Magnetic
Pole (June ist, 1831), situated then on the
Boothia Peninsula. Of this important discovery
he writes: — " I believe I must leave it to others
to imagine the elation of mind with which we
find ourselves now arrived at this great object
of our ambition ; it almost seemed as if we
had accomplished everything that we had come
so far to see and to do , as if our voyage and
all its labours were at an end, and that nothing
now remained for us but to return home and
be happy for the rest of our days. The land
at this place is very low near the coast, but
it rises into ridges of fifty or sixty feet high
about a mile inland. We could have wished
that a place so important had possessed more
of mark or note. It was scarcely censurable
to regret that there was not a mountain to
indicate a spot to which so much of interest
must ever be attached ; and I could even have
pardoned any one among us who had been so
romantic or absurd as to expect that the
Magnetic Pole was an object as conspicuous
and mysterious as the fabled Mount of

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 369

Sinbad, that it even was a Mount of Iron,
or a magnet as large as Mont Blanc. . . .
It was amidst mutual congratulations that
we fixed the British flag on the spot and took
possession of the Northern Magnetic Pole
and its adjoining territory in the name of
Great Britain."

This was an interesting and valuable dis-
covery, but it was not one that possesses
permanent value, for the Magnetic Pole varies
its position, and it will not be in the place
where Commander Ross found it located until
the year A.D. 3722.

On the mainland, during the years 1819 to
1823, Franklin, Richardson, and Back were
exploring the coast of North America from the
Coppermine River. Back supplemented this
in 1833, and after a perilous land journey, on
which he visited the Great Fish River and
examined its course into the Polar Seas, he
returned to England in the autumn of 1835.
In 1837-39 Dease and Simpson, and ten years
later Rae, contributed much to our knowledge
of the coast and the opposite islands, the latter
also doing much for the geography of the
region around Repulse Bay. It was Rae
who, in command of a land expedition in

after years, brought the first information of

24

37O Life of Nan sen.

the fate of Franklin, for which he was awarded
the sum of ,£10,000 by our Government.

On May 27th, 1845, Sir John Franklin and
Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, in the ships
Erebus and Terror, set off on their eventful
and ill-fated voyage to discover the north-
west passage, accompanied by one hundred
and thirty-five picked officers and men — the
flower of the British Navy. Two years passed
and no news of their enterprise reached Eng-
land. Day followed day, month followed
month, and as still no tidings came, it was
decided to institute a relief expedition for the
missing men.

For the next ten years public interest as to
the safety of the voyagers, and public sympathy
with Lady Franklin, ran high. Ship followed
ship, men followed men, in a fruitless endeavour
to wrest the secret of their whereabouts from
the icy realms, and although it was at last
discovered that they were lost on the south
of King William Island, after they had actually
discovered the north-west passage, yet to this
day no satisfactory account has been given .of
the fate of these brave men. Each commander
sent out, though at first unsuccessful in tracing
the wanderings of Franklin and his companions,
added to our knowledge of these regions, and

Arctic Exploration previous to N arisen. 371

new islands were discovered, new coasts traced
on the chart, and new seas and straits entered
and sailed over. Captain Inglefield's voyage
was especially fruitful in results, and in the
opinion of Sir Francis Beaufort must be
reckoned one of the most remarkable on
record. " He laid down 600 miles of new
coast, corrected numerous errors of position,
outlined Smith Sound and penetrated far into
Jones Sound, and brought back much valuable
meteorological, magnetic, and other useful
scientific data."

Captain McClure succeeded on October 26th,
1850, in confirming the discovery which cost
the lives of Franklin and his companions; for
to Franklin and his companions must ever
remain the honour of being the first dis-
coverers of the north-west passage. The
point, remarks Sherard Osborn, at which the
fatal imprisonment of the Erebiis and Terror
in 1846 took place was only ninety miles from
the spot reached by Dease and Simpson in
their boats in 1838-39, when they came from
the east. Ninety miles more of open water
and Franklin and his companions would not
only have won the prize they sought, but
would have reached their homes to wear
their well-merited honours. "Like another

3/2 Life of Nansen.

Moses," continues Sherard Osborn, " Franklin
fell when his work was accomplished, with the
long object of his life in view. Franklin, the
discoverer of the north-west passage, had
his Pisgah; and so long as his countrymen
shall hold dear disinterested devotion and
gallant perseverance in a good cause, so long
shall they point to the career and fate of
this gallant sailor."

In his work on the mainland and in the
midst of Arctic floes Franklin did more than
any other one man to stimulate interest in the
frozen north and to develop the geography of
the Arctic regions, eventually, as we have read,
sacrificing his life to his unconquerable deter-
mination to discover the north-west passage.

Franklin was advanced in years before
setting out on his last quest, and some would
have put him aside from the leadership of the
expedition on that account " I believe you
are sixty years of age," said the First Lord
of the Admiralty. " No, my lord," replied
Franklin, "you have been misinformed. I am
only fifty-nine ! " Franklin was appointed.

Sailing in the Investigator through Behring
Strait, Captain McClure proceeded along the
North American coast. After passing two
winters in the Bay of God's Mercy on the

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 373

north coast of Banks Land, where their ship
was irrevocably frozen up, their position was
timely discovered by a sledge-party from the
ship Resolute, Captain Collinson, which had
entered from the west, and after spending two
more years in these regions McClure's party
proceeded home via Baffin's Bay, and thus
had the supreme satisfaction and honour of
being the first and only white folks who had
crossed from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic
to the northward of America. For this remark-
able feat the sum of ;£ 10,000 was awarded- by
the British Government to the successful party.
The north-west passage, the dream of ages,
so persistently sought, and the burial-ground
of so many hopes, was at last discovered.
The unfolding of these regions, however, even
though highly interesting and valuable from
a geographical point of view, was followed by
few commercial results. In truth, it was proved
that the route along the north-west of the
American continent can seldom be practicable
for ordinary trading vessels.

In the summer of 1857 Captain McClintock
set sail in the Fox to unveil the fate of the
Franklin expedition, and succeeded, in spite
of terrible obstacles, in tracing the wanderings
of these ill-fated men, who, it was proved, had

374 Life of Nans en.

sailed down Peel and Victoria Straits, since
named Franklin Straits. Many interesting
facts concerning the expedition were brought
to light, besides many relics, the most im-
portant of which being the now historical
record — the only known document left by the
survivors — which told of their doings up to April
25th, 1848. Here is a copy of this paper: —

" April 25th, 1848. — H.M. ships Terror and
Erebus were deserted on April 22nd, five
leagues N.N.W. of this, having been beset
since September 1846. The officers and
crews, consisting of one hundred and five
souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M.
Crozier, landed here in latitude 98° 41' W. A
paper was found by Lieutenant Irving under
the cairn supposed to have been built by Sir
James Ross in 1831, four miles to the north-
ward, where it had been deposited by the late
Commander Gore in June 1847. Sir J.ames
Ross's pillar has not, however, been found, and
the paper has been transferred to this position,
which is that on which Sir James Ross's pillar
was erected. Sir John Franklin died on June
nth, 1847, and the total loss by death in the
expedition has been, up to this date, nine
officers and fifteen men. Start to-morrow,
26th, for Back's Fish River."

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 375

The remarkable absence of all other records,
journals, or log-books surrounds their fate with
mystery, since no further effort was made after
McClintock's discovery to collect the details
of their wanderings. For this remissness the
British Admiralty will ever be to blame.

McClintock, and later Lieutenant Schwatka
(of America), were frequently told by the
natives that they had at one time many books
and papers, but that they had all been destroyed
or thrown away.

The Natchilli Eskimo, who had found a
sealed tin box, about two feet long and one
foot broad, filled with books, at a point on the
mainland near Back's River, where most of the
survivors of Franklin's expedition are supposed
to have perished, were closely questioned by
Lieutenant Schwatka. These natives confessed
to having broken open the box and destroyed
the record, and no amount of searching, even
with the promise of an enormous reward,
could bring any of these so desirable docu-
ments to light.

It was ascertained that one of the two vessels
had drifted down the Victoria Straits and was
unwittingly scuttled by the Ookjoolik Eskimo,
who found it near an island off Grand Point in
the spring of 1849. At that time one man was

3/6 Life of Nansen.

lying dead in the steerage, and during the same
year the natives saw the tracks of four white
men in the spring snows on the mainland.
Doubtless a large number of the poor fellows
travelled on until they fell down and died in
their tracks ; but may not a few have reached a
place of safety ?

Besides the discovery of the document and
relics, much valuable geographical knowledge
was the result of McClintock's voyage. As
Payer remarks: — "He succeeded in perfecting
a mode of discovery independent of the ship —
that by means of sledging — admirably adapted
for future Arctic expeditions."

In 1853-55 and 1860-61 Kane and Hayes
steamed northward in Smith Sound, and in
1871 Captain Hall succeeded in reaching 82°
1 6' N., in the same direction.

Kane first entered the northern portals of
Smith Sound and sailed over the sea which now
bears his name. Greely says: — "His search
for Franklin was fruitless, but he increased
largely our knowledge of Arctic lands. His
physical observations were more valuable and
complete than those of any preceding explorer.
He added to geography new lands, the most
northern of his day, and made known to the
world the life and customs of the Etah Eskimo."

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 377

Hayes likewise did good work, which was
unfortunately marred by exaggeration, and the
voyage of Hall was a remarkable one. The
latter started from New York in 1871 in the
ship Polaris, with the aim of reaching the Pole
by vessel or sledge. It was a most favourable ice
year, and he actually accomplished at one time
500 miles in five days, and eventually succeeded
in carrying his ship to a higher northern lati-
tude than any previous vessel had attained.
Captain Hall, never a strong man, died on
November 8th, 1871, and his death was a
serious impediment to further progress ; dissen-
sions arose amongst the officers, and there was
no alternative but to return to New York, not,
however, before scientific results of a most
important kind had been attained.

In 1857 the Swedish Government sent
various scientific expeditions to Spitzbergen.
These were continued for years, latterly under
the direction of Baron Nordenskiold, and
added considerably to our knowledge of this
easily approachable group of islands, and of
the seas and inlets around them.

CHAPTER XXII.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION PREVIOUS TO NANSEN
(continued).

THE contributions of Norwegians to Arctic
geography are numerous, and especially in the
districts of east Greenland, Spitzbergen, and
the regions around the north coast of Siberia.
The name of Captain Filing Carlsen stands
pre-eminent in connection with his discoveries
in the Spitzbergen group and Novaya Zemlya.
In the summer of 1863 he circumnavigated
the whole of Spitzbergen for the first time in
history, and by this voyage proved that this
group can be sailed round in years when the
ice is favourable. He was also the first
"sealing captain" who ventured into the
Kara Sea, this venture being followed up by
another Norwegian sealing skipper, Johannesen,
who in 1870 successfully performed the circum-
navigation of Novaya Zemlya, for which he

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 379

received a gold medal from the Swedish
Academy of Science.

In 1871 Carlsen discovered Barent's winter
quarters on the east coast of Novaya Zemlya,
and brought back the now historic relics left
by the Dutch explorer in 1596-97. Carlsen
afterwards accompanied the Austrian Polar
expedition of 1872-74 as ice-master, and
Lieutenant Payer speaks most highly of his
services to that remarkable expedition.

In the years 1875-76 Nordenskiold sailed
through the greatly dreaded ice-laden Kara Sea
to the Yenisei, and in 1878-79 he succeeded
in sailing along the north coasts of Europe
and Asia, and so accomplishing the north-east
passage, making numerous additions to existing
knowledge, especially during his year's stay
off the Tchukchi peninsula. He succeeded in
placing to the credit of Sweden this remarkable
feat, — " one of the greatest geographical feats
of the age," as Admiral Markham termed it,
— which had baffled heroic and experienced
explorers for over three hundred years.

This voyage showed that a vessel under
careful guidance could, without great difficulty,
pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the
northern coast of Siberia. The importance
of this fact has since been demonstrated by

380 Life of Nans en.

Captain Wiggins. He has proved the prac-
ticable nature of the route, and is opening up
what is sure to become a great commercial
sea-route between Europe and the mouths of
those large and important rivers, the Obi,
Yenisei, and the Lena.

In 1869-70 Koldeway wintered on the east
coast of Greenland, and after a severe struggle
eventually succeeded in reaching 77° i' N., the
most northerly yet reached by Europeans on
this picturesque but inaccessible coast. On this
journey numerous herds of reindeer and musk-
oxen were seen, and here and there butterflies,
moths, and bees sported over the flowery
herbage, the mosquito being not far behind.
Nothing could exceed the grandeur of the
scenery. Numerous glaciers and cascades
descended from the mountains, which rose
higher and higher as our explorers advanced
towards the west up one of the magnificent
fjords. The vessels Germania and Hansa,
under his command, sailed from home on June
1 5th, 1869, and unfortunately got separated.
The Germania arrived at Bremen, September
nth, 1870, but the Hansa was frozen and sank
in October 1869. The crew escaped on an
ice-floe, and after undergoing great hardships,
reached Copenhagen, September ist, 1870.

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 381

Mr. Leigh Smith sailed to latitude 81° 24',
and discovered land to the north east of Spitz-
bergen in 1871. In other voyages he dis-
covered under-currents of warm water flowing
into the Polar basin.

Our summary now brings us to the Austrian
expedition of 1872-74 in the steamer Tegetthoff,
under the joint command of Lieutenant Wey-
precht (navy) and Lieutenant Julius Payer
(army). The former was responsible for all
exploration by sea ; the latter, who on their
return penned the graphic narrative of their
marvellous discovery, being entrusted with
all sledging operations.

The primary object of this expedition was
the discovery of a north-east passage, to find
which they purposed sailing round the north
of Novaya Zemlya and thence east to Behring
Strait; but "Man proposes!" When off the
west coast of Novaya Zemlya the Tegetthoff
was beset (August 23rd) in the ice, and in
spite of all exertions to extricate her the ship
was carried out northward firmly gripped, and
at the mercy of the winds and currents. On
August 3ist in the following year, while the
ship was still in the embrace of the ice, an
unknown country was suddenly descried, to the
unspeakable joy of the ice-bound explorers.

382 Life of Nansen.

Payer wrote of this joyful and marvellous
discovery: — "About midday, as we were lean-
ing on the bulwarks of the ship and scanning
the gliding mists, through which the rays of
the sun broke ever and anon, a wall of mist,
lifting itself up suddenly, revealed to us afar
off in the north-west the outlines of bold
rocks, which in a few minutes seemed to grow
into a radiant alpine land. At first we all
stood transfixed and hardly believing what we
saw. Then carried away by the reality of our
good fortune, we burst forth into shouts of
joy — 'Land, land, land at last!' There was
not a sick man on board the Tegetthoff! The
news of the discovery spread in an instant.
Every one rushed on deck to convince him-
self with his own eyes that the expedition was
not after all a failure — there before us lay the
prize that could not be snatched from us."

He continues : — " For thousands of years
this land had lain buried from the knowledge
of man, and now its discovery had fallen into
the lap of a small band, themselves almost
lost to the world, who, far from their home,
remembered the homage due to their Sovereign,
and gave to the newly-discovered territory the
name of Kaiser Franz Josefs Land."

After exploring the new land, the highest

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 383

north reached being 82° 5', and the ship still
being hopelessly frozen in, and provisions
running short, a retreat had to be made on
April 2Oth over the ice with sledges, the
work of dragging the heavily-laden boats on
them being most severe. Terrible hardships
were undergone in the journey over the ice-
floes, but after the party had nearly given
way to despair, the open ocean at length lay
before them. No wonder Payer wrote : —
" Never were its sparkling waves beheld with
niore sincere joy than by the small band of
men who, escaping from the prison-house of
the ice after fearful struggles, now raised
their arms on high to greet its glad waters."
After a hazardous journey, Novaya Zemlya
was safely reached, and a ship was found that
carried them to Vardo, where they arrived on
September 3rd, 1874.

Further exploration of Franz Josef Land,
carried on by Mr. Leigh Smith and Mr. F.
G. Jackson, has proved that this wonderful
group of islands (for Mr. Jackson has found, as
Nansen said he would, a large group of islands
and not a continent, as many expected), though
uninhabited, has a less severe climate than
other lands farther west on the same parallel.

In 1875 the British Government fitted out

384 Life of Nan sen.

two vessels, the Alert (Captain Nares) and
the Discovery (Captain Stephenson). Every-
thing that modern science or past experience
could suggest to ensure success was at once
provided, the expense amounting to upwards
of three-quarters of a million. The Admiralty's
orders indicated that " their scope and primary
object should be to attain the highest possible
northern latitude, and, if possible, to reach the
North Pole, and from winter quarters to explore
the adjacent coast." The vessels were to pro-
ceed through Smith Sound as far north as the
ice would permit, and in the spring of 1876
efforts were to be made to reach the North
Pole by the aid of sledges.

The ships left Portsmouth on the 2Qth of
May 1875, and with rare skill Captains Nares
and Stephenson succeeded in steaming to
latitude 81° 44' N., where the Discovery was
left as a base, anchoring in a bay named after
the vessel, at the entrance of Lady Franklin
Sound. Captain Nares continued north in the
Alert, and eventually reached 82° 27', the
highest northern latitude that had ever been
attained by ships. Here the vessel was fated
to spend nearly a year on the shores of the
Polar ocean, the ice in the neighbourhood
being of enormous thickness. After communi-

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 385

cation had been opened with the Discovery,
sledging operations were commenced. One
party, under command of Commander (after-
wards Admiral) Markham, set off Poleward,
and succeeded in pushing as far north as
83° 20' 26", or 399^ miles from the Pole.
During this remarkable journey over the
oceanic sea, without the assistance of con-
tinuous land along which to travel, these men
showed of what true grit British seamen were
made.

Of the work of this costly expedition Greely
says: — "They had explored Archer's Ford, out-
lined the entire northern coast of Grinnell Land,
added nearly a hundred miles to the Greenland
coast, pushed an English vessel into the highest
known latitude and planted the Union Jack
both on land and sea nearer the Pole than ever
before. They brought back an elaborate set of
tidal, magnetic, and meteorological observations,
which are valuable contributions to the physical
sciences. They charted Greenland and Grinnell
Land with remarkable exactitude, and depicted
the circumstances of their sufferings and experi-
ences in narratives which are notable both for
their modesty and accuracy."

It remained for Greely to beat that record
north.

25

386 Life of Nansen.

The most interesting and, in connection with
our subject, important expedition was that of
De Long in the Jeannette. She was equipped
and provisioned for a three years' voyage, and
steamed from San Francisco on July 8th, 1879,
with the object of reaching the North Pole via
Behring Strait. She was last sighted on
September 3rd of the same year, and as time
elapsed without any news of her, great anxiety
was felt for the explorers.

At last a telegram came to the United States
in the autumn of iSSi announcing that the ship
had been destroyed by the ice on June I3th of
that year, in latitude 77° 15' N. and longitude
155° E. The unfortunate Jeannette was beset
in the ice on September 6th, 1879, off Herald
Island, in latitude 71° 30' N., longitude 175° W.,
and after drifting about for nearly two years
in a north-westerly direction, she finally went
down (on June I3th, 1881) to the northward of
the New Siberian Isles, in the latitude and
longitude mentioned.

The Jeannette was floating towards the Pole
by the help of the currents set up by the great
Siberian rivers, and she would have undoubtedly
arrived at or near the Pole had Nature been
kinder to her.

It is a moot question whether the much

Arctic Exploration previous to N arisen. 387

talked-of relics were floated out between east
Greenland and Spitzbergen or through Smith
Sound. When the ship was nipped, the
officers and crew effected their escape with
three boats, which had to be dragged over the
ice for some considerable distance before open
water was reached. One of the boats was
swamped in a gale and the crew drowned. The
other two, amidst grave dangers and difficulties,
piloted their way into the river Lena, whence two
of the seamen were despatched to the nearest
settlement for help, but unhappily, before
assistance could reach them, De Long and the
majority of the officers and crew had succumbed
to starvation. Engineer Melville and the few
survivors eventually reached New York.

Lieutenant Greely in 1881-84, in command
of a United States polar expedition, established
his headquarters at Lady Franklin's Bay.
This was one of the fifteen international cir-
cumpolar stations, all of which were established
mainly through the influence of Lieutenant
Weyprecht's recommendation to the German
Scientific and Medical Association at Gratz,
in September 1875, when he presented his plea
for systematic polar exploration and research.

" In the establishment and relief of these
stations," writes Greely, " some seven hundred

388 Life of Nansen.

men incurred dangers incident to all Arctic
service, but such has been the improvement
in Arctic equipment that, save in the case of
the Lady Franklin Bay expedition, no man
perished."

This party explored the interior of Grinnell
Land and the north coast of Greenland, and
a sledging party in charge of Lieutenant
Lockwood succeeded by indefatigable labour
in reaching four miles beyond Markham's
"Farthest North," and thus enabled America
to wrest from Britain the honour of "the
record."

The party depended on promised relief, which
was not forthcoming, and they retreated south to
Cape Sabine on the west side of Smith Sound,
where they decided to encamp. Here a third
Arctic winter was passed, but as no relief came
and provisions ran short, they had to subsist on
the lichens that were gathered from the rocks,
and on their sealskin clothing, etc. Starvation
killed them one by one until but seven (out
of twenty-five) worn-out, emaciated men were
left, who were at death's door when rescue at
last came (June 2ist, 1884).

Of this event Greely, in his Three Years of
Arctic Service, declares "No pen could ever
convey to the world an adequate idea of the

Arctic Exploration previous to Nans en. 389

abject misery and extreme wretchedness to
which we were reduced at Cape Sabine.
Insufficiently clothed, for months without
drinking water, destitute of warmth, our
sleeping bags frozen to the ground, our walls,
roof, and floor covered with frost and ice,
subsisting on one-fifth of an Arctic ration —
almost without clothing, light, heat, or food,
yet we were never without courage, faith,
and hope."

His men were ever loyal, patient, and self-
denying ; "the weak and helpless had naught
but kindness and consideration from the
stronger."

These three years of Arctic service will ever
remain prominent in the annals of Arctic
exploration, not alone on account of the dis-
aster to the expedition, but because of the
unparalleled work accomplished by these brave
men. Well may Greely proudly write : — " I
should be unjust to the dead (and equally so
to the living) if I did not call attention to their
arduous labours, heroic endurance, and un-
flinching determination, which advanced the
national ensign into an unparalleled latitude
both on sea and land, carried out the pro-
gramme of international scientific observations,
increased, perhaps in an unequalled degree in

39° Life of Nans en.

this century, our knowledge of the physical
characteristics and configurations of polar lands;
and which, more than all, in one of the most
remarkable and successful boat-journeys of the
age, brought safely their records, at the price
of great bodily suffering and with diminished
chances of life, through a dense polar pack to a
point whence they would eventually reach the
world. They died for that end, and should not
be forgotten."

In Greenland, Nordenskiold in 1883 suc-
ceeded in penetrating about 1 50 miles across
the inland ice from the west side at a point
to the south of Disco ; a year or two later
Peary travelled inland 100 miles from the
west; while in 1888 Dr. Nansen entirely
crossed it, as we have already seen, from east
to west, in the southern part.

Here closing our summary, we see how the
explorer of to-day is the heir of all these who
have gone before. They have laboured, and
he enters into the rich garner of their hoarded
experience, their very errors and failures form-
ing valuable object-lessons in the art of what
to avoid, no less than their successes in that
of what to emulate. Fridtjof Nansen had
pondered these lessons from his youth up.
Especially was he convinced — it will bear

Arctic Exploration previous to Nansen. 391

repeating — that the man who would win must
have Nature on his side. He must, to use
Emerson's phrase, "hitch his waggon to a
star," or, as the saying translated itself in his
case, he must entrust his vessel to some mighty
oceanic force that was going his way, and would
therefore bear it and him triumphantly along
where he wished to go. In short, he saw that
in the Arctics, as elsewhere, the future lay with
the man of science ; and this he had prepared
himself to be.

CHAPTER XXIII.

A TALK WITH DR. NANSEN, SEPTEMBER 1 896.*

ON the 9th September 1896 I was one of the
foremost of the vast assembly at the picturesque
capital of Norway which welcomed back Dr.
Nansen after his long absence in the polar
regions. The reason why I, a Britisher, living
far away from the coast, took a journey to
Christiania to mingle with the enthusiastic
crowd may be stated in a couple of sentences.
I was in Christiania in June 1893, and had a
long and pleasant chat with Dr. Nansen a
week before the expedition started. My wife
and I visited Mrs. Nansen at Lysaker a few
days after the doctor had set sail. I heard
the Norwegian people express their grave
doubts concerning the return of the Fraiu,
and stating their opinion that Nansen was
foolish to the verge of insanity ; so when the

J Rewritten and enlarged from The Strand Magazine, December
1896.

A Talk with Dr. Nansen.

393

news came of Dr. Nansen's return I hastily
packed my traps and set out for Christiania,
determined to be amongst those who welcomed
the intrepid traveller to his native land. I
arrived at the capital in time to take part in

RETURN OF THE " FRAM."
ARRIVAL AT TROMSO, AUGUST 20TH, 1896.

the brilliant reception that was accorded to
Dr. Nansen and his twelve brave companions,
and was fortunate, immediately afterwards, in
securing an interview with Dr. Nansen, and
obtaining from him not merely an account of

.394 Life of Nan sen.

his voyage, but also his opinions regarding
the probable results of his Arctic discoveries,
which can hardly fail to be of interest.

The landing of Dr. Nansen at Christiania is
now a matter of history, and very few words
will suffice concerning it. The Fram was met,
far down Christiania Fjord in the early hours
of the morning of the gth September, by a
flotilla of seventy passenger steamers and a
small squadron of the navy, which escorted the
paintless Fram up the fjord amidst the boom-
ing of the guns and the deafening hurrahs
of the usually sober Norsemen. The Fram
having been moored in the Piperviken, Dr.
Nansen and his comrades were rowed in small
boats by the boys of the training ship Christiania
to the ship bridge, where the explorers were
welcomed by the representatives of the city
amidst the deafening cheers of the vast multi-
tude. In acknowledging the address of welcome
presented by the Mayor of the capital, Dr.
Nansen made a characteristic speech, every
word of which was listened to with rapt atten-
tion:— "It is very difficult to express the feel-
ings which fill the hearts of my comrades and
myself. . . . We have done what we set out to
do. ... The plans I made myself, but it is due
to my brave comrades that these plans have

MAP SHOWING THE "fRAM's" DRIFT
AND NANSEN AND JOHANSEN's SLEDGE JOURNEY.

INDICATING THE " KRAM's " ROUTE AFTER NANSEN LEFT HER.

Bancroft

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 395

been carried out. Long live Norway ! May
it often be able to send out such men as
accompanied me."

Then came the triumphal progress to the
Royal Palace, where Dr. Nansen and his com-
panions were welcomed by the King and Crown
Prince. Here the explorer saw for the first
time since she was six months old his little
daughter Liv (life), now over three and a half
years old, who had been staying in the palace
by special invitation of the King. A grand
banquet closed the first day's proceedings, but
the festivities were prolonged over several days,
perhaps the most notable demonstration being
that on Sunday, the I3th September, which was
set aside for the Folkesfesten (the people's feast),
about which nothing has appeared in the
English papers. It was on this occasion that
the great Norwegian novelist, Bjornson, made
a thrilling speech, filled with patriotic senti-
ments and bristling with wit, which provoked
Dr. Nansen to one of the best oratorical efforts
of the celebration.

So far as I am aware this speech has not
been published in England, and though my
translation necessarily lacks much of the
fervour and brilliancy of the original, some
passages from it can hardly fail to be of

396 Life of Nan sen.

interest. Speaking of his departure from
Norway, the doctor said : — " I know we felt
a responsibility nearly too heavy to be borne.
I well remember the evening when we steamed
northwards along our beautiful coast; there lay
a couple of fishing boats out on the sea, rocking
themselves in the sunset on the bright surface
— an ideal scene of peace and comfort. The
fishermen raised themselves, bared their heads
reverently, and looked after the curious ship
which disappeared northward. It was then we
felt how near we were to the hearts of the
Norwegian people. We felt that we had taken
part of their heart with us on board, and if we
betrayed our duty, then we also betrayed the
love which the Norwegian people had given us
to be with us on our voyage. When I sent
the last message to the Storthing previous to
our departure — * That so far as our strength
reached, so far should it be used to the honour
of Norway ' — I did not tell more than the
truth; my comrades would have fought as
long as strength lasted, as long as life was
with them, for Norway's honour; and this
also I will say, that the Norwegian people
have no need to be ashamed of the men they
sent with me. A more daring set of fellows
have never stood shoulder to shoulder. I say

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 397

fearlessly that no men have ever acted with
greater faithfulness and love to their fatherland,
no men have ever more faithfully discharged
the duties which they took upon themselves
than those who went with me in the Fram
north of the polar circle."

Dr. Nansen then proceeded to speak of the
singleness of purpose by which the crew of the
Fram had been actuated, declaring that only
one wish prevailed, and that was to justify the
confidence and affection which the Norwegian
people had manifested at their departure. He
concluded : — " I am certain of this, that the
more the distance grew between us and the
people of Norway, the greater became our
love, the deeper our respect for our country,
and the stronger our feeling of patriotism to
Norway."

When Nansen sat down, and the ringing
cheers of the assembled company had been
with difficulty silenced by repeated signs from
Bjornson, the president of the meeting, his
companions were called upon one after another
to receive testimony of the appreciation of the
people for their splendid work. It would be
difficult to find a group better suited for the
special and arduous work, and equally difficult
to convey to the English mind the adequate

398 Life of Nans en.

representations of the scene amid which this
people's banquet closed.

Next morning I rung up Dr. Nansen on the
telephone at nine o'clock to arrange an imme-
diate interview. The result of the previous
night's festivities found an echo in the reply,
"Too early yet; will not have breakfast for
another hour."

Immediately on receipt of the doctor's mes-
sage I set out, and on arriving at Lysaker
station walked for the second time through
the green meadows and odorous pine woods,
thinking by the way of how deeply Dr. Nansen
must have been impressed by the call of duty
to leave such fair and pleasant scenes for the
inhospitable Arctic regions. I noted the re-
mains of the torches and other lights which
had blazed along this path as Nansen drove
home on the night of his landing. I recalled
the picture of the returned explorer standing
in the doorway with bared head, surrounded by
his wife and friends, replying to the enthusiastic
plaudits of the crowd of admiring countrymen
who had followed him from the capital to his
very door.

Some English men and women have written
and talked as if Nansen' s expedition was more
or less in the nature of a failure, but those who

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 399

have followed the matter more closely will hold
a very different opinion, and I hope that what
I have already written will have removed the
last trace of the feeling that the long and
arduous voyage was taken in vain.

By the time I arrived at Godthaab Villa I
hoped the doctor had finished his breakfast, and
boldly knocking at the door, I put the question,
"Is Dr. Nansen in?"

"Yes," replied the servant; but at this
moment the doctor appeared, and after a hearty
hand-shake, led me into his drawing-room, a
most interesting and artistically furnished apart-
ment, filled with curios gathered from all parts
of the globe. The doctor appeared in perfect
health, despite his three years' sojourn in the
icy north. He was a trifle paler than when I
last saw him in 1893. He assured me, how-
ever, that the trials and dangers he had gone
through had but strengthened his physique.
Around him, mingled with the luxuries of
civilisation, were many mementoes of the home
of the seal, the walrus, and the bear; but these,
he explained, were all relics of his Greenland
trips, the trophies of his recent Arctic journey
being still on board the Fram.

It is impossible to look into Dr, Nansen's
face without something of the feeling of hero-

400 Life of Nans en.

worship. A personal association with some
men whose record we have admired is fre-
quently followed by a sense of disappointment.
There is no such risk in coming in contact with
Dr. Nansen. One feels insensibly that he is
the type of man fitted for herculean tasks, and
his physical form in no degree contradicts the
record that he can bear fatigue and exposure,
and is one of the most accomplished skilobers
in Norway. The key of his life-work, as I
have previously stated, can be found in the
answer he once made to a hostile critic, an
answer that deserves to ring through the ages
to comfort the doubters and faint-hearted : —
"Man wants to know ; when man no longer
wants to know, he will no longer be man"

"Are you pleased with the results of your
journey?" was the first question I put.

"Oh, yes!" he replied with a smile. "The
scientific results, I believe, will be acknow-
ledged of great value. Professor Mohn and
other scientific friends who are at work tabulat-
ing my material are quite enthusiastic over the
observations made during our three years'
wanderings." Dr. Nansen then proceeded to
talk with me briefly on the main features of
the voyage of the Fram and of his walk when
he left the ship and, accompanied only by

A Talk with Dr. Nansen.

401

Lieutenant Johansen, he attempted to penetrate
farther north. There can be no doubt that in
comparison with the journeys of other Arctic
explorers Nansen's voyage places all recent

FIRST MEETING WITH THE ICE.

attempts in the shade. No explorer since
Franklin has gained so great a hold upon the
imagination of his contemporaries. No journey

in this generation has been so full of results,

26

402 Life of Nans en.

which promise to be of permanent interest to
the geographical world. Before starting out,
Dr. Nansen, admitting the impossibility of
accurately forecasting his voyage, expressed
the opinion that he could not in any case
return home in less than three years, but his
ability to return he never for a moment
doubted.

The plan of the expedition is divisible into
three parts:— (i) The journey in the Fram
from Christiania until March 1895, when
Nansen left her to go polewards ; (2) Nansen
and Johansen's wonderful attempt to reach the
Pole, and their heroic journey south to Franz
Josef Land ; and (3) the continued voyage
of the vessel in charge of Sverdrup, and the
adventures of her crew from March 1895
until reaching home in August 1896. After
leaving Vardo the Fram had a good passage
to Novaya Zemlya. She first met the ice in
latitude 60° 50' N., longitude 50° E., about
ten miles north of Kolguef Island, but forced
her way through in splendid style, and arrived
at Yugor Strait on July 29th. On the evening
of August 3rd they weighed anchor and soon
entered the dreaded Kara Sea. On August
6th they were stopped by ice, off Yalmal,
and went ashore for botanical and geological

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 403

purposes. Two Samoyedes here boarded the
Fram, and they were the last human beings
they saw until the return home.

Baron Nordenskiold writes about his first
meeting with the natives: — "The navigation
along the north coast of Asia began to get
somewhat monotonous. Even the most zealous
polar traveller may tire at last of mere ice,
shallow water, and fog ; and mere fog, shallow
water, and ice. Now, however, a pleasant
change began, by our coming at last in contact
with natives. In the whole stretch from
Yugor Schar to Cape Shelagskoi — [farther
east than the Fram went] — we had seen
neither men nor human habitations, if I except
the old uninhabited hut between Cape Chelyus-
kin and Khatanga. But on the 6th September,
when we were a little way off Cape Shelagskoi,
two boats were sighted. Every man, with the
exception of the cook (who could be induced
by no catastrophe to leave his pots and pans,
and who circumnavigated Asia and Europe
perhaps without having been once on land),
rushed on deck. The boats were of skin,
built in the same way as the 'umiaks' or
women's boats of the Eskimo. They were
fully laden with laughing and chattering
natives — men, women, and children — who

404 Life of Nans en.

indicated by cries and gesticulations that they
wished to come on board. The engine was
stopped, the boats lay to, and a large number
of skin-clad, bare-headed beings climbed up
over the gunwale in a way that clearly in-
dicated that they had seen vessels before. A
lively talk began, but we soon became aware
that the crews of the boats and the vessel knew
no language in common. It was an unfortunate
circumstance, but signs were employed as far
as possible. This did not prevent the chatter
from going on, and great gladness soon came
to prevail, especially when some presents began
to be distributed, mainly consisting of tobacco
and Dutch clay pipes. It was remarkable that
none of them could speak a single word of
Russian, while a boy could count tolerably well
up to ten in English, which shows that the
natives here come into closer contact with
American whalers than with Russian traders.
They acknowledged the name chukchi or
chauchu" 1

"Are you superstitious?" was the next
question I put to the doctor.

" No, not a bit of it; but why do you ask ?"
he said.

"Well," I replied, "there are thirteen in

1 Nordenskiold's Voyage of the "Vega." (Macmillan & Co,)

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 405

your crew all told, and people look upon that
as an ill omen, and some superstitious folk
prophesied ill of your expedition because it
consisted of thirteen. Moreover, the false
news of your expedition being homeward
bound was telegraphed from Irkutsk on a
thirteenth (i3th February 1896)."

" It certainly was a lucky number for us,"
he replied. " None of my men were ill at
any stage of the voyage, none of them gave
me a moment's anxiety ; besides, I arrived
home on the i3th August 1896, and it was
upon the thirteenth of the same month that
my ship escaped from the clutches of the
ice. So you see thirteen has no perils for

me."

" Has any photograph of the thirteen men
been published ? " I asked.

" No, not yet," he replied. "The thirteenth
man, Bentsen, joined us at the last moment,
and he is superstitious to the extent that he
manifests a strong aversion to having his
photograph taken."

I was, however, able afterwards to obtain a
photograph of the whole crew; but it is singular
to note that though Bentsen consented to be
one of the group he did his best to prevent
the photographer from securing his features.

406 Life of Nansen.

' 'The three years' hardships seem to have
told but little on you or your companions," I
said.

" No," he replied ; " they are fine, strong
men, accustomed to ice work, and all have
returned home in perfect health, some indeed
being stouter than when they left home. We
owe our thanks, however, to Dr. Blessing for
his patience, skill, and care, especially in the
winter months of darkness."

The men were glad to get home after the
third winter in these weird regions. They had
had quite enough of the darkness, the results
of which were shown in sleepless nights and
shaky legs. They were not absolutely ill, but
felt weak and languid — full of lassitude — and
Dr. Blessing became very anxious about their
mental state. When the return of the sun
took place it was like a day of resurrection,
and they never looked behind from the
moment its rays first brightened their sur-
roundings.

In response to further questions, Dr. Nansen
said he was busily occupied in writing an
account of the voyage, which would be issued
in parts in Norway. The earlier numbers
would be published before Christmas, but it
would not be completed before the spring, and

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 407

an English translation could hardly be ready
before 1897 had advanced some distance.1 The
scientific results are to be published separately,
in Norwegian and English, by the Norwegian
Government; but as they were to be thoroughly
edited by specialists, it may be two or three
years before they are all issued from the press.
I hinted to the doctor that his popular account
of the journey was awaited with great interest
in England, and would doubtless prove a
financial success, to which he replied with a
smile, "I hope so; yes, I hope so." If report
speaks true of the sums given by the different
countries for the various translations, the
doctor's most sanguine financial anticipations
must have been exceeded.

"Will you come to England to lecture?" I
asked.

"Yes; but I cannot say when," replied
Nansen. "The secretary of your Royal Geo-
graphical Society has invited me to lecture to
its members, and I have consented, but I have
not yet fixed a date."

Mrs. Nansen told me afterwards that she
would accompany her husband on his lecturing
tour in England, where she spent part of her
honeymoon.

1 Nansen's Farthest North, issued in Feb. 1897. (Constable & Co.)

408 Life of Nans en.

" I love your England, and so does my
husband," she exclaimed with some fervour.

"What will become of the Fram?" I asked
the doctor.

" She will probably be kept at Horten ; I
may require her again soon, and cannot possibly
have a better ship for Arctic or Antarctic
work."

"Will you again attempt to reach the North
Pole ? " I queried.

" I cannot possibly say yet," he replied ; " I
think so. But perhaps I shall endeavour to
discover the South Pole first, and then make
a renewed attack on the North Pole on my
return from Antarctic regions. I must, how-
ever, finish my work in connection with the
records of my recent expedition before making
definite plans for another voyage."

I have little hesitation in expressing the
opinion that the doctor will undoubtedly make
another attempt to reach the North Pole.
There is a weird attraction in these Arctic
regions; there is a splendour in the heavens,
and a magnetic mystery which hovers over
a large portion of these unexplored seas and
lands. There can be no doubt that the
powerful fascination has taken a firm hold of
the adventurous spirit of Dr. Nansen and over

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 409

those who have once entered the Arctic world.
No fear of suffering is sufficient to subdue the
desire to solve the great problem. I have
stated before that the only cure for the Arctic
fever is the discovery of the North Pole, and
it is my opinion that Dr. Nansen will either
solve the problem or perish in the attempt.

Continuing his brief narrative of the voyage,
Dr. Nansen spoke of the journey from Yugor
Strait through the Kara Sea, in the northern
portion of which they were fortunate in dis-
covering an island, on their eastern voyage,
to the mouth of the Olenek River. They
reached this point on September I5th, but
the shallowness of the water and the lateness
of the season kept them from going in. As
the winter was rapidly approaching they
decided not to call for the sledge-dogs, as
arranged, lest the ice should close in and
imprison them for the whole winter. Three
days later they were steaming along the west
of the New Siberian Islands.

" These islands have," writes Nordenskiold,
"from the time of their discovery, been
renowned among the Russian ivory collectors
for their extraordinary richness in tusks and
portions of skeletons .of the extinct northern
species of elephant known by the name of

Life of Nans en.

mammoth. . . . Along with bones of the mam-
moth there are found on the New Siberian
Islands, in not inconsiderable numbers, portions
of the skeletons of other animal forms, little
known, but naturally of great importance in
ascertaining the vertebrate fauna which lived
at the same time with the mammoth on the
plains of Siberia; and the New Siberian group
of islands is not less remarkable for the ' wood-
hills,' highly enigmatical as to their mode of
formation, which Hedenstrom found on the
south coast of the northernmost island. These
hills are 200 feet high, and consist of thick
horizontal sandstone beds alternating with
strata of fissile bituminous tree stems, heaped
on each other to the top of the hill. In the
lower part of the hill the tree stems lie
horizontally, but in the upper strata they stand
upright, though perhaps not rootfast. The
flora and fauna of the island group besides are
still completely unknown, arid the fossils, among
them ammonites with exquisite pearly lustre,
which Hedenstrom brought home from the
rock strata on Kotelnoi Island, hold out in-
ducement to further researches, which ought to
yield the geologist valuable information as to
the former climate and the former distribution
of land and sea on the surface of the globe.

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 411

The knowledge of the hydrography of this
region is besides an indispensable condition
for judging of the state of the ice in the sea
which washes the north coast of Asia. Here
lies the single available starting-point for the
exploration of the yet altogether unknown sea
farther to the north, and from hills on the two
northernmost islands Hedenstrom thought that
across the sea to the north-west and north-east
he saw obscure outlines of new land, on which
no man had yet set his foot. All these
circumstances confer on this group of islands
an uncommon scientific and geographical in-
terest, and therefore no long time can elapse
until a scientific expedition be sent to these
regions."1

On September 22nd Nansen and his com-
panions took a ticket with the ice, or, in other
words, made the Fram fast to a floe in latitude
78° 50' N., longitude 133° 37' E., and a few
days later the ice closed round and the ship
was frozen in for the winter, for failure or
success. What must Nansen's feelings have
been as he watched the ice-pack close around
his ship, bearing him perhaps to an early grave,
or, worse still, back to ignominy and the scorn
of his fellow-men ? Surely for this devotion to

1 Nordenskiold's Voyage of the "Vega." (Macmillan & Co.)

412 Life of Nansen.

science the names of Nansen and his faithful
companions will ever be set up as beacon lights
to every youth whom danger awaits or duty
calls. They saw no land after leaving the
New Siberian Islands, but drifted north and
north-west during the autumn and winter.
Towards evening on Christmas Day, 1894,
latitude 83° was reached in longitude 105° E.,
and several days later, latitude 83° 24' N., the
most northerly latitude until then reached by
any explorer. It was during this slow and tor-
tuous drift that Dr. Nansen made his greatest
discovery of the voyage — the existence of a
wide, deep sea towards the Pole, having a
relatively warm temperature in its depth, a
continuation of the Arctic sea, situated between
Greenland on the one hand, and Norway and
Spitzbergen on the other. It was previously
supposed that the north polar sea was a shallow
basin with icy-cold water from top to bottom.
Dr. Nansen' s voyage has not only upset this
theory, but has astonished the scientific world
by the remarkable discovery regarding its depth
and temperature.

The pressure upon the Fram during this
drifting was most severe, and I was allowed
by a special permit from Dr. Nansen, who had
refused scores of applications from curious

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 413

sightseers, to make a close examination of the
ship as she lay in the Piperviken, and can
testify to the fact that she looks little the
worse for the expedition, except that the paint
upon her hull is now an unknown quantity.
The way in which she successfully withstood
the ice -pressure has naturally delighted the
heart both of Dr. Nansen and her builder.
The crew felt "as safe as in a fortress," and
were sheltered within from the severity of the
Arctic winter. Twice only were they alarmed ;
once before Dr. Nansen left, and again a short
time after his departure. On the first occasion
the ice-pressure was most severe; to use Dr.
Nansen's words, "she was firmly frozen in ice
of more than 30 ft. measured thickness." This
floe was over-ridden by great ice masses, which
pressed against her port side with a force which
threatened to bury and crush her. Boats,
sledges, kayaks, and provisions were placed
upon a neighbouring floe in readiness for the
worst, but " the Fram was stronger than our
faith in her," said Dr. Nansen in his address
to the Royal Geographical Society (8th Feb-
ruary 1897), and the shout that went up from
the vast multitude testified to their appreciation
of Nansen's foresight in constructing such a
vessel. The only disagreeable experience was

414 Life of Nansen.

the crashing, creaking, and grinding of the ice
as it closed around the ship. The Fram, as
previous chapters explain, was so constructed
as to rise in resistance to the ice-pressure and
thus escape damage, and it so successfully
accomplished this work that at times the crew
came on deck to find the ship lifted from nine
to twelve feet, and her bottom could be dis-
tinctly seen resting upon the ice.

In my visits to the Fram I was fortunate
enough to meet several members of the crew,
and I had a long chat with the gallant skipper,
Sverdrup, with Jacobsen, and with Lieutenant
Johansen, fair -haired, clean-shaven, with a
brightly good-humoured face. As Johansen
recounted Dr. Nansen's and his own ice-tramp,
his comrades crowded round and listened with
interest to all he told me; one and all envied
him for being the chosen companion of Dr.
Nansen for that daring excursion. I also met
Lieutenant Scott - Hansen, the boy scientist,
and Dr. Blessing, who told me that apart from
his medical duties, which were fortunately light,
he aided Dr, Nansen and Scott-Hansen in the
scientific work, and took some part in ob-
serving the Aurora and deep sea observations.
Although quite a young man, he is a scientist
and botanist of no mean order ; a man of many

A Talk with Dr. N arisen. 415

parts. He employed some of his leisure in
occupations so diverse as stoking the furnace
and conducting an investigation into the action
of the blood. He was the only unmarried
member of the crew, and a romantic incident
connected with him is not without interest.
Dr. Blessing had been engaged to a fair Nor-
wegian maiden before he became one of Dr.
Nansen's party. After his departure the young
lady naturally became very anxious to com-
municate with her future husband, but although
love laughs at locks and bolts,
it is not easy for Cupid to
send his messages to the ice-
bound regions of the northv
and for a time even feminine
resource was unequal to the
task of despatching a letter to
Dr. Blessing somewhere near
the North Pole. One day,
however, the lady read of M. Andree's pro-
position for a balloon voyage to the Pole, and
she approached him with a request that he
would take a love missive in the hope that it
would reach the object of her choice. Gallantry
prevented M. Andree from refusing the request
of the young lady, and he took charge of the
letter in the full belief that he would meet the

416

Life of Nansen.

vessel, and be able to deliver the note to Dr.
Blessing. When finally the projected balloon
voyage had to be given up in consequence of
the failure of favourable southerly winds, M.
Andree handed the letter to the captain of a

J'Uoto, Gosta Florman.
DR. S. A. ANDREE.

whaling vessel that was going northwards on
the off-chance that it might fall in with the
expedition. Singularly enough the vessel did
encounter the Frani with Dr. Blessing on
board ; the letter was delivered, and thus some
time before reaching the Norwegian coast the

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 417

young physician saw the hand-writing of his
fiancte and read her written protestations of
love.

One afternoon on board the Fram I spent in
company with Hendriksen, the harpooner of
the expedition, a veritable giant, with broad
shoulders, and a pleasant, round, determined-
looking face, and whose exceptional physical
powers were severely tested on more than one
occasion. He had been for fourteen years en-
gaged in hunting the seal, the walrus, and the
whale ; and he became renowned as the best
hunter in the fleet, and eighty polar bears have
fallen before his keen and practised rifle. I
was also much interested in a dozen young and
handsome Eskimo dogs, all born during the
voyage, their mother standing in their midst
looking a proud and fond parent, she being the
only survivor of the thirty-six dogs taken out
for sledge-hauling.

Hendriksen led the way to the Frams
saloon, and showed me through the cabin
where the explorer slept during the voyage.
All the crew shared the saloon in common.
He displayed to my wondering gaze the rifles,
hunting knives, harpoons, and other imple-
ments, and I was somewhat amused at the
number of empty medicine bottles in the

37

41 8 Life of Nansen.

physician's berth, showing that he had not
spared physic to the crew on the least sign
of indisposition. Ascending past the galley
upstairs we entered Dr. Nansen's and Captain
Sverdrup's workrooms, furnished with an
elaborate stock of scientific and other instru-
ments, and looked into the forehold, yet filled
with provisions.

Nansen had written to The Strand Magazine
on his outward journey: — "Of provisions we
have plenty and in great variety; much more
so, I believe, than most previous expeditions
in the Arctic. Variety of food is the most
important thing in order to avoid scurvy,
which has destroyed so many well-equipped
expeditions. We have, of course, tinned meats
in all possible forms ; boiled, roast, and corned
beef, ditto mutton, rabbits, collops, Oxford
sausages, cutlets, pork, ham, bacon, etc.;
tinned fish and roe in various forms ; tinned
fruits, dried fruits, jams, marmalades, blanc-
mange, Bird's custard powder, egg powder,
and baking powder ; concentrated lime juice
from Rose & Co. ; rizine, peas, pea soups,
lentil soup, bean soup, Frame Food, Bovril,
dried vegetables, biscuits ; Cadbury's chocolate,
steam-cooked and dried meal and flour of
various kinds, dried fish, dried potatoes ; pre-

A Talk with Dr. .Nansen. 419

served milk, with sugar and without sugar ;
compressed tea, cheese, sugar, etc. ; and, above
all, butter, which is most important in the cold,
where you especially want fat. We carry six
tons of butter.

" For sledge expeditions we have, of course,
specially concentrated and light foods, prin-
cipally consisting of dried meat with fat. The
Bovril Co. has, on my suggestion, made a
special food consisting of these materials which
is highly concentrated ; they have called it
'emergency food.' For sledge expeditions
we shall also use biscuits and butter, steam-
cooked meal for porridge, milk, chocolate,
dried fish, dried fruits, dried cranberries,
sugar, a little compressed tea, and also some
biscuits, to which I have added a quantity of
a German product called Aleuronat powder,
which principally contains albumen. I have
added about 30 per cent, of this to the biscuits,
so that a certain number of them, with a suit-
able quantity of butter, will be sufficient for
one man per day; I believe a pound and a half
of biscuits, or a little more, and half a pound
of butter, will be an appropriate ration. For
drinking we shall have nothing except water,
which we shall get by melting snow. This
water we may, however, mix with lime juice

420 Life of Nans en.

+

and sugar, or with milk, or make tea, chocolate,
or soup of it, and thus we shall have pleasant
drinks. A good drink is also water mixed with
oatmeal. Spirituous drinks will not be allowed ;
tobacco will be distributed in very moderate
rations on board ship ; on sledge expeditions
no tobacco, or very little; will be allowed. . . ."
As to dress, Nansen writes: — "Out of doors in
the winter when the winds are blowing we shall
wear weather-proof suits, made of light canvas,
gabardine, or similar stuff, which protects
against the snow-drift. When it is very cold
we shall wear fur suits, made principally of
wolf and reindeer fur. To sleep in the snow
or in our tents during the sledge expeditions
we have also sleeping-bags made of the same
material, in which we can easily and with
comfort stand a temperature of one hundred
degrees below zero.

"Our tents are made of raw silk and are
exceedingly light. Lightness is, of course, of
the highest importance, when everything must
be carried on the sledges. The tent floor is,
however, of a somewhat heavier stuff, as that
has to keep out the moisture which is easily
formed when you sleep on the snow with
nothing under you except a thin canvas or
calico layer. It is also well to have the tent

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 421

floor rather strong, as it can then be used as
a sail on the sledge when you have a favour-
able wind." *

In the forehold Hendriksen showed me the
sledges, kayaks, ski, and cooking apparatus
used by Dr. Nansen and Lieutenant Johansen
on their dangerous ice-journey. The sleeping-
bag used by them on their tramp was a
particularly attractive novelty. I jumped inside
to try it, but was glad to emerge; it was too
hot .and too dirty for comfort, to say nothing
of the odour. The bag was made from the
skin of a polar bear shot by Dr. Nansen, the
fur being inside, and it must have been a warm
berth with the two men packed inside it. All
the Arctic equipment bore evidence of having
been severely tested in actual use; the sledges
especially bore traces of hard pulling, being
patched with much care in many places. Their
kayaks are about five yards long, made of skins
many times mended. In these canoes they
slept, breathing through air - holes. Beside
them lies the head of the walrus which pierced
one of the kayaks right through, also the skin
of the polar bear which nearly hugged Johansen
to death. There are, besides, the two ice-
sledges on which the kayaks and luggage were

1 The Strand Magazine, December 1893.

422 Life of Nansen.

drawn; the snow-shoes, quite black and worn
out; the bamboo sticks, the saucepan, with the
remains of the horrible soup ; and, most im-
portant of all, a little box containing the diaries.

I had some conversation with Captain
Sverdrup on the bridge of the Fram, and
he assured me that the three years he spent
on board their ''Arctic home" were com-
paratively comfortable ones. Nansen and
Johansen had, in his opinion, the worst of
it. "An expedition like ours," he said, "is
never free from excitement or grave danger,
and we had our share. Our principal duties
were to take regular scientific observations,
and this was an onerous and responsible task,
and we found plenty of physical exercise in
endeavouring to keep the ship free from ice.
That the dreaded Arctic disease, scurvy, did
not show itself is attributed to the nutritious
food we had and the readiness of all to partake
of bear and seal flesh when caught."

Any one of the crew who happened to be
about was soon surrounded by the visitors to
the ship, who proved eager listeners to him
who could be got to recount his adventures.
The men are all good-natured fellows, and
many were the excited discussions as to
whether the Fram should have entered the

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 423

ice west or east of the New Siberian Islands,
and so forth. All are anxious to accompany
Nansen on his next Arctic or Antarctic
voyage.

None on board at first would tell of his
individual adventures, but they were ever
ready to tell of those of a comrade. In the
perpetual darkness of winter they could at
times hardly see their hands before their faces.
One night, when most of the ship's company
were snug below, the dogs were suddenly
heard barking furiously. It was ship's car-
penter Mogstad's watch, so he went up on
deck to see if anything unusual was going on,
but as he could see nothing he went down
below again, concluding that the dogs were
just barking for the sake of barking, as is
their wont. However, the noise was repeated
at intervals, so he went up on deck again,
and taking a lantern saw that several of the
animals had disappeared and that some others
were overboard on the ice. Mogstad called out
for Hendriksen, and they both let themselves
down on to the ice from the deck of the
ship, which at the time was high above the
ice surface.

They walked off a little distance from the
ship, to see if they could find any tracks. As

424 Life of Nansen.

they were searching about, with no more for-
midable weapon than a small lantern between
them, all at once a polar bear sprang up before
them. Then there was a race between the
three, the two men and the bear, to the ship.
Mogstad, a bit more light-footed than his mate,
reached the Fram first, but fell down twice on
to the ice as he was climbing up her side.
At the second fall he could not help muttering
to himself, "Now the bear's got you, my
friend!" But despair steadied his nerves, and
he managed to hoist himself safely up behind
the ship's bulwarks. He had hardly got on
board, however, when he heard his comrade
call out, and saw that the bear had got hold
of him and had bitten him. But Hendriksen,
a big, powerful, resolute fellow, dealt his
assailant such a blow on the head with the
lighted lantern he was carrying that the brute,
half stunned and half scared, let go his prey,
and Hendriksen seized the opportunity to skip
up the ship's side. The bear revenged itself
by carrying off several of the dogs.

In a private letter from Lieutenant Johansen
we find a lively account of the feelings he and
his fellows experienced during their long isola-
tion. "Although far from all human kind," he
says, "shut up in the desolate polar ice, miles

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 425

and miles away from any secure port, and
sometimes so crushed by the ice that we
thought of forsaking the ship, we had still in
the Fram a refuge free from care and full of
quiet contemplation. . . . We felt untroubled
and free as rarely before in all our lives. Once
a polar bear, probably plagued with ennui, paid
us a visit. This queer, restless animal, who
wanders ceaselessly by night and day, is a
remarkable creature, and we valued its flesh
as an agreeable change from the monotonous
tinned meats."

The men, at the time of my visit to the
Fram, had entirely recovered from the effects
of their long imprisonment in the ice. In con-
versation they one and all dwelt on the feelings
of delight which they experienced in once more
meeting other human beings. They had to
devise various schemes to while away the time.
The sewing matches in the saloon were, in
particular, in constant requisition, and tailoring
was a favourite pursuit. The suits of clothing
which the members of the expedition wore
when they reached Norway had all been made
by themselves, and though not of the latest
style, they had nevertheless been fashioned in
an eminently workmanlike manner.

I left the Fram and her gallant crew behind

426 Life of Nansen.

with deep regret. As I stepped into my small
boat alongside I felt that I was leaving hallowed
ground.

Dr. Nansen is a photographer of consider-
able ability, and he was much interested in the
photographs I had taken of his birthplace at
Froen, and he kindly signed for me several
of his latest portraits. In reply to a question
as to the photographic equipment of the ex-
pedition, Dr. Nansen said: — "We had a full-
plate camera, half -plate, quarter - plate, and
many hand cameras, with a stock of plates
for each."

"Were your results satisfactory?" I asked.

"They were most satisfactory," he replied.
"We exposed over a thousand plates of one
size or another, and few turned out failures.
We took scenic photographs along our route,
besides snapshots of polar bears, walruses, seals,
and other animals and birds we met from time
to time. I hope to insert a large selection in
my book."

" In what did your scientific work consist ?"

"That requires a little consideration," said
the doctor. Then after a pause, " It consisted
of exact observations, and my expedition will
be chiefly a gain to meteorology and oceano-
graphy. We had to take magnetic and

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 427

meteorological observations on sea and land,
when we found any land. We had to observe
the temperature of the ocean at all depths and
seasons of the year, to sound, trawl, and
dredge, and to study the character and
distribution of marine organism. Yes, I hope

FROEN — DR. NANSEN'S BIRTHPLACE.
(From a photograph by the author.}

our expedition will enrich the records of
astronomy, geology, botany, zoology, and
kindred subjects. During the whole drift I
spent most of my time in taking a series of
exact observations in the above subjects, but
I was ably seconded in the work by Lieutenant

428 Life of Nans en.

Scott- Hansen and Dr. Blessing, and when I
left the Fram the former took charge of the
scientific work," The depth of the sea along
the track of the ship ranged between 2000 and
2500 fathoms.

Dr. Nansen added that his favourite subject
was biology, which he studied earnestly during
the first series of Arctic voyages, for he loved
science first and exploration second. He did
not, however, have much chance of biological
reseach during the recent voyage.

Lieutenant Johansen, who volunteered and
was chosen to accompany Nansen, told me in
regard to their ice-journey, when it was decided
that the doctor and himself should leave the
vessel to explore the north of their route and
reach the highest possible latitude, that they
tried to start three times. The first time, the
sledge broke down at a short distance ; the
second start occupied three days, after which
they had to return and complete their stock of
necessary provisions. Their final start was on
March I4th, 1895, when the Fram was at
latitude 83° 59' N., longitude 102° 27' E.

It had originally been their intention to leave
the ship at anchor ; but this was found to
be an impossibility with a depth of over 2000
fathoms. Dr. Nansen was mistaken in thinking

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 429

the Fram had reached its farthest north,
for under the skilful guidance of Sverdrup it
was carried to latitude 85° 57' N., longitude
66° E. (October i6th, 1895), or very nearly as
far north as Nansen himself. All honour to
the brave Sverdrup!

The great daring of the leader has somewhat
overshadowed the marvellous performance of
Sverdrup, but he should not be without his
meed of praise. After reaching its farthest
north, the Fram was by the middle of February
1895 drifted to 84° 20' N. and 23° E., but here
the drift stopped until May, when once more
they were carried south. On July I9th they
had reached 83° 14' N. and 14° E., and
there they got the ship free from ice for a
time by blasting with gun-cotton and powder.
The winter of 1895-96 " passed comfortably
and peacefully," great attention being paid to
the scientific work, which was in charge of
Lieutenant Scott-Hansen. When the summer
of 1896 came great efforts were made to free
the ship from the ice, It was a herculean task,
and from July i9th to August i3th they were
engaged in literally forcing their way foot by
foot, mile by mile, southwards, through one
hundred and fifty miles of high hummocky ice.
At last they were free, with the open, billowy

43° Life of Nansen.

sea and home before them, and by a remark-
able coincidence, they escaped from the clutches
of the ice on the very day Nansen and
Johansen arrived at Vardo. Great credit is
due to Captain Sverdrup for the masterly way
he handled the Fram during her three years'
voyage, bringing her home to Skjarvoe, Norway
(August 26th, 1896), " quite," as he himself
telegraphed, "in a condition to start on a new
Polar expedition at once."

Nansen and Johansen had, in starting, twenty-
eight dogs, three sledges, and two kayaks for
use in open water. Dog food was calculated
for thirty days, and their own provisions for
one hundred days. They found travelling at
first easy, and hope was bright, and on March
22nd they reached latitude 85° 10' N.; but the
farther north they reached the rougher the ice
became, and the drift at times set back their
work, while the sledge-dogs did not prove as
serviceable as they had hoped. On March
25th, after great labour, they had but reached
latitude 85° 19' N., and four days after, latitude
85° 30' N. It was fatiguing work to drag the
heavily-laden sledges across the high, hum-
mocky ice, with the floes in constant movement,
crushing and grinding against each other. But
these two brave men pressed onward against

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 431

increasing odds, on through blinding snow-
storms, and frequently face to face with death.
But the time came when human endurance
could push no farther, and on April 7th the ice
became so much worse that Nansen considered
it unwise to continue their course polewards,
and they therefore decided to go south to
Spitzbergen via Franz Josef Land, where there
was every possibility of a ship being met with.
They were then at latitude 86° 14' N., and
before finally turning south the doctor made a
long run on ski to see if there was any possi-
bility of finding smoother ice, but, as far as eye
could reach there stretched hummock beyond
hummock " like a sea of breakers."

On the return journey, in a south-westerly
direction, they travelled 430 miles in four
months, and the only land they found on the
way consisted of a few ice-capped islands, a
little to the north-east of Franz Josef Land.
On August 26th they reached land in latitude
81° 13' N., longitude 56° E., well suited for
wintering, and there they dwelt for 267 days,
living on the blubber of the polar bear, seal,
and walrus, and utterly unaware that less than
one hundred miles away to the south-south-west
there lay the headquarters of the Jackson-
Harmsworth expedition, containing men who

43 2 Life of Nans en.

would have been delighted to welcome them to
their comparatively comfortable home.

Dr. Nansen's winter hut was somewhat
different from Jackson's. It was built of turf,
covered with walrus skins. The roof was also
of walrus skins, supported on logs of driftwood.
A bear skin served for the door, and of another
bear skin they made a sleeping-bag. Although
they spent their time sleeping much and took
little exercise, they were never at all unwell.
The temperature in the hut was seldom below
freezing point, and this was a comfortable
temperature to our explorers.

Of that memorable journey much has been
written. Their escapes were almost miraculous,
and danger constantly stared them in the face.
On one occasion, while dragging their sledges
along a narrow path, the travellers were
suddenly confronted by a polar bear, but Johan-
sen, who is a man of exceptional physical
strength, caught the intruder by the throat and
held him at arm's length while Dr. Nansen
despatched him with his rifle. On another
occasion, after an excursion inland, they re-
turned to see their canoes drifting from
land with all their necessaries on board. To
reach the boats was a matter of life or death,
but without a moment's hesitation Dr. Nansen

A Talk with Dr. Nansen. 433

sprang into the ice-cold water and swam after
the drifting canoes. He was chilled to the
bone, but he succeeded in his object,
and brought the canoes safely to the spot
where his anxious comrade stood watching
the incident.

I cannot conceive a more daring act of
courage than that of Nansen's and Johansen's
in leaving the Fram with the certainty of re-
maining in the inhospitable regions for a year,
perhaps two, and of never regaining the ship.
They had no winter clothing, and provisions
only for one hundred days. Yet they departed
cheerfully, laden with an exhaustless stock of
hope and charged with loving messages to
wives and to friends if those on board the vessel
should perish in the far north. The numerous
messages which Dr. Nansen brought back to
Norway from those on board the Fram were
written on a single sheet of paper in a microscopic
hand, so as to economise weight and space. Day
after day, month after month passed and still
they toiled on. The little stock of food was
almost exhausted and the dogs were starving.
And here a touching trait of Dr. Nansen's
character shows itself. He dared not expend
a cartridge in shooting one of the poor beasts

to make food for the other dogs, and sometimes

28

434 Life of Nansen.

for his companion and himself, and as he could
not bring himself to kill his own faithful dumb
followers in cold blood, he killed Johansen's
sledge-dogs, whilst Johansen killed his. In
this manner they struggled on until the dogs
were all slaughtered. Fortunately, open water
was reached soon after, and bears, seals,
walruses, and, at times, Arctic bears were
found, which furnished food until Dr. Nansen
and his comrade met the Jackson-Harmsworth
party. On the question of their food, a point
which Dr. Nansen specially mentioned to me
may be worth notice. Most Europeans mani-
fest a strong aversion to feed upon seal or
walrus, but Dr. Nansen and Johansen had
previously proved the value of adaptation in
the matter of diet to environment, and the
doctor believes that he and his companion
largely owe their lives to the fact that they
adopted a mode of life corresponding closely
to that of the Eskimos and Samoyedes in
subsisting mainly on the blubber of the seal,
walrus, and bear.

Johansen writes of this journey: — "What
Nansen and I went through on our journey
on the drifting ice you can imagine from
my leader's first telegrams. But a man can
bear more than one believes possible. I

A Talk with Dr. Nans en. 435

remember one clay on the ice, when, with a
temperature of 40° C. below freezing-point,
I had the misfortune to fall through a hole
into the water. We were trying to cross the
hole or crack, with our sledges tied together,
and I slipped and fell. But I managed to
get on to the firm ice, but on the opposite
side to where Nansen was, and it took many
hours, and a great way round, before we
succeeded in reaching each other with all
our dogs and our three sledges. What a
delight it was at the end of that day to
creep into our primitive sleeping-sacks ! All
the day nothing warm had crossed my lips;
my clothes were hard as glass, and it was
several days before the last bit of ice was
melted out of the folds. I have indeed
gone through many a distressing hour, but
I never despaired. God be thanked that
we are again in our native harbour, safe and
sound ! "

Some think Nansen's work over-praised.
May I point out that during a period of
two hundred and eighty years previous to
Nansen's departure the efforts of a vast host
of Arctic explorers — the bravest of the brave
— succeeded only in piercing 150 miles nearer
the Pole. Dr. Nansen, in less than two years

436

Life of Nans en.

from the start, distanced all these previous
explorers efforts by 200 miles (April *jth, 1895),
covering the last 150 miles in fifty -four weeks.
Such a deed speaks for itself.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CONCLUSION.

14 HOME safe, after a fortunate expedition," ran
the first telegram announcing Dr. Nansen's
return. A very charming glimpse into the
home of Nansen, as it appeared on the day
(i3th August) when the telegram arrived tell-
ing of Nansen's safety, is given by a friend
and neighbour of Dr. and Fru Nansen : —
"Yesterday evening, about seven, my wife and
I were walking along the private path leading
to our own and the Nansens' houses, and which
belongs to them and us together. Little four-
year-old Liv Nansen met us, and chattered,
' Mamma has gone to town. Papa is coming
home.' On inquiries I learnt that Fru Nansen
had just had a telegram from her husband,
telling her of his arrival at Vardo. She started
at once for Christiania to tell her mother, and
to hear more. I jumped on my bicycle and
went after her. The Karl -Johannes Gade

43 8 Life of Nansen.

swarmed with people. The greatest enthusiasm
prevailed. All the cafes were crowded, and in
front of the newspaper offices, where the tele-
grams were shown against the walls as they
arrived, the masses were fighting for a place
whence they could read them. Groups were
parading the streets singing national songs and
shouting ' Hurrah !' I was not in time to find
Fru Nansen, but on returning to my cottage
near the fjord I noticed a procession of fishing-
boats sail close to the shore. The fishermen
bared their heads and shouted * Hurrah!' three
times three.

" Below the balcony of my studio two children
are playing. It is little Liv and my five-year-
old Hjalmar. The two are inseparable. They
are in love with each other as in the days of
old were Fridtjof and Ingebord. I can hear
their discussion. ' My papa is as strong as a
bear,' says Hjalmar. ' My papa is as strong
as' — the little girl hesitates — 'he is the
strongest man in the world,' she says with
strong conviction. Little Liv's words contain
more truth than she is aware of.

" My wife has just been telling me that she
has had a talk with Fru Nansen. She had
gone across to congratulate the hero's wife.
Fru Nansen said, ' I was sitting at home

Conclusion. 439

yesterday afternoon, and thought things very
dull. A telegram was brought to me. At
first I hardly cared to open it.' 'Why? Were
you afraid of bad news ? ' * Oh, no ; but I
have had so many telegrams, and again and
again they contained nothing. One gets in-
different.' 'Well?' 'Well, finally I opened
it, of course, and before I had realised what
it contained I recognised his style. To-morrow
I start on my journey to meet him.' 'What
a wonderful thing it is for you, after three
anxious years ! ' ' Well, to tell the truth, I
never doubted that he would return; and then
there is always so much to make life here
interesting/ Her eyes wandered to the golden
head of little Liv, who clung affectionately to
her mother,"

It is a popular fallacy that Dr. Nansen
started out solely to reach the North Pole. If
this had been so no doubt the criticisms of those
who say that the voyage was a failure would be
justified; but that view is inaccurate and unjust
to Nansen. What he went out to do was to
explore the Arctic basin, and, if possible, settle
certain problems connected with it. He said
this in so many words in his address to the
English Geographical Society in 1892. Here
is a typical sentence, and the italics are

440 Life of Nansen.

Nansen's: — "It may be possible that the current
will not carry us across the Pole, but the prin-
cipal thing is to explore the unknown polar
regions, not to reach exactly that mathematical
point in which the axis of our globe has its
northern termination." Bearing this in mind,
it is impossible to pronounce the expedition a
failure, even if there were no other discovery
than that of the deep sea in the polar regions.

Before leaving in 1893, Dr. Nansen made
three predictions regarding his venture. The
first was that 1896 would probably be the first
year in which it would be heard of. The second
was that if the Fram was deserted, the party
would come home by Franz Josef Land. The
third was that if they stuck to the ship she
would, by the aid of the drift, bring them
out between Spitzbergen and East Greenland.
This is precisely what has happened. Dr.
Nansen has vindicated his theory of the polar
drift, though he was disappointed somewhat as
to its northerly limit ; and he has discomfited
those who maintained that in trusting to what
they styled " supposed currents," he was throw-
ing away the lives of himself and his party.
All other performances pale in comparison with
this feat of the Norwegian explorer. It is not
merely that he has gone some 200 miles nearer

Conclusion. 441

the Pole than any of his predecessors, or that
he has made one of the most daring journeys on
record, but he has established the truth of his
theory of Arctic currents, and has brought back
valuable scientific information. The expedition
passed over an enormous part of the girth of
the eastern polar sea — covered almost the widest
area of the earth's surface that can be covered
in a like voyage, and it travelled at a pace
which permitted it to mark upon the chart
accurately all the districts traversed. There
was no line of retreat, no going back and cover-
ing the same ground twice, as has been the
case in nearly every previous Arctic voyage.
Nansen has made this unparalleled journey
in consequence of his simple plan of not oppos-
ing, but siding with the Arctic currents and
floes. The result is a most magnificent victory
of science, and a proof that scientific training,
no less than courage, perseverance, and physical
endurance, is necessary in an Arctic explorer.
This splendid success was owing, as Professor
Mohn stated, "to the fact that Nansen is a
man of science, who, with his mastery of all that
had been done and the penetration of his genius,
could gain an insight into the unknown ; and
that, with unsurpassed practical sense, he knew
how to make the arrangements necessary to

28*

442 Life of Nans en.

secure that his journey, from beginning to end,
should be a unique success."

The record of the three years spent on the
Fram by Nansen's comrades, and the sledging
journey by Johansen and himself, is a treasure-
house of scientific fact and thrilling adventure.
All the civilised world awaited the publication
of Dr. Nansen's book,1 and then only did it
know the full story of the heroic journeyings
of these devotees of science. That account of
their doings is one of the most valuable chapters
in the annals of Arctic exploration. It has
much to tell us of the discoveries of islands, the
depth and temperature of the polar basin, the
geological construction of Franz Josef Land
and its relation to Spitzbergen, and numerous
other kindred observations. It gives one a
nobler idea of humanity to turn over these
simple but eloquent pages, and to reflect that,
whilst the every-day world was pursuing its
small way, thirteen devoted men, the pick of a
hardy race, were struggling with the terrors of
the North, and weaving a story that will not
be forgotten whilst the spirit of adventure burns
within our race.

Now Nansen depicts the experiences and

1 Nansen's Farthest North, 2 vols., published in February 1897.
(Constable & Co.)

Conclusion.

sufferings met with in narratives which are
notable both for their accuracy and modesty.
He treats as ordinary incidents the freezing in
of the Fram; her years of solitude in the grip
of the ice; the fact that he and Johansen, on
their ski journey, were without furs for several
months in a temperature which sank at times
to the inconceivable cold of 62° below zero
(F.); and that for ten months they lived, like
the Eskimo and the Samoyede, on blubber.
As for the task of gaining land by clambering
from one small ice-floe to another for thirteen
continuous days, he merely mentions it; of the
severe winter spent at Franz Josef Land, he
remarks that it "passed well, and we were
both in perfect health." And when he was
absolutely cut off from any hope except the
desperate one of getting south, he points out
the moral advantage of having " no line of
retreat" Of such stuff indeed are heroes
made. For his immense courage and fortitude,
for his incalculable patience and scientific gifts,
Nansen deserves a place in the front rank of
Arctic explorers. When I say this I do not
forget the great services rendered to man-
kind by Hudson, Davis, Baffin, the Rosses,
Franklin, Kane, McClintock, Nordenskiold,
Nares, Markham, Greely, and the rest of the

444 Life of Nan sen.

great Arctic explorers, whose doings aroused
emulation in the mind of Fridtjof Nansen, and
who showed him the way through the pack-ice
to success and glory.

Dr. Nansen's work is admirably summarised
in the preface which Mr. William Archer con-
tributes to his own translation of the biography
of Nansen: — "What Nansen has done, in the
teeth of scepticism and discouragement harder
to face, perhaps, than the Arctic pack-ice and
the month-long night, is to lead the way into
the very heart of the polar fastnesses, and to
show how, with forethought, skill, and reso-
lution, they can be traversed as safely as
the Straits of Dover. While other explorers
have crept, as it were, towards the Pole, each
penetrating, with incredible toil, a degree or
two farther than the last, Nansen has at one
stride enormously reduced the unconquered
distance, and has demonstrated the justice of
his theory as to the right way of attacking
the problem. Nor is this the crown of his
achievement. As the Duke of Wellington
'gained a hundred fights, and never lost an
English gun,' so Nansen has now come forth
victorious from two campaigns, each including
many a hard-fought fray, and has never lost
a Norwegian life. We have only to read the

Conclusion. 445

tragic record of Arctic exploration in the past
to realise the magnitude of this exploit. It is
in no way lessened by the fact that Nansen
has profited by the hard-earned experience of
his predecessors. On the contrary, it is the
chief glory of this expedition that absolute
intrepidity went hand in hand with consummate
intelligence."

NANSEN'S VISIT TO GREAT BRITAIN.

It must be clear to every one who takes the
trouble to interest himself in this supremely
daring and accomplished explorer that he is
no ordinary man, and that the reception given
to him when he visited this country after his
return from his journey "Farthest North" —
magnificent as that reception was — was only in
proportion to his merits. The principal towns
on the Continent and in England, Scotland,
and Ireland vied with each other in according
the brave Norwegian a most cordial welcome.

Since he had last visited these shores he had
performed a feat of pluck and endurance which
appealed straight to the heart of a people which
has not only won its greatest triumphs in
naval warfare, but has contributed nobly of its
best to perilous exploration on land and sea.

446 Life of Nansen.

Intrepidity and dogged perseverance, such as
have been displayed by Nansen and his com-
rades, are just the attributes we love to honour
with the highest enthusiasm. Nansen's hearty
welcome to Britain proceeded from all classes
of society. The largest hall in London (and
this may be said of all the halls he lectured
in) was insufficient to hold the thousands who
wanted to hear from his own lips one of the
most thrilling stories of modern adventure.

The reception accorded Nansen on his first
lecture, delivered at the Albert Hall in London
on Monday, February 8th, 1897, must have
gone far to compensate him for the privations
endured in his Polar expedition. This spacious
building is associated with many gatherings of
unusual size and magnificence, and it may
certainly be said that never had it witnessed
a scene more remarkable than that which met
the eye of the explorer when, in presence of
the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York,
he acknowledged the cheers of fully thirteen
thousand people who had come to listen to
his story. At the close of the lecture the
Prince of Wales rose, and, in a few well-chosen
words, presented to Dr. Nansen a medal of
solid gold specially struck. In the centre is
a portrait of the explorer, with the inscription,

Conclusion. 447

"Presented by the Royal Geographical Society
to Dr. Fridtjof Nansen for Arctic Explora-
tions, 1893-1896." On the reverse side is a
fac-simile of the Fram. A replica of the medal
in silver was also handed by the Prince to
Lieutenant Scott-Hansen, the only member of
the expedition present on this occasion.

The Prince of Wales, in presenting Dr.
Nansen with the medal, said: — "We are, 1
think, greatly indebted to Dr. Nansen for
having given us such an instructive and highly
interesting narrative of his adventures, and, for
myself, my only regret is that the lecture could
not have been longer. But it must have been
a severe task upon him to tell in a language
not his own the story of his adventures, and
to describe so graphically so many incidents of
his life during the many months he spent on
the ice. Those descriptions have been much
enhanced by the very fine series of enlarged
photographs which have been so well shown
to us. I congratulate you, Dr. Nansen, on
returning to your native land, and on having
returned once more — I had the pleasure of
making your acquaintance on your previous
visit — among us. It is now my high privilege
to have been asked, as Vice-President, to give
you, in the name of this Society, a special gold

44-S Life of Nansen.

medal which has been struck to commemorate
this very occasion. You have, Dr. Nansen,
already in your possession the Patrons' medal
awarded you some five years ago, but this is
one specially struck for you, and one, I have
no doubt, you will prize in all the years to come."

Dr. Nansen, in reply, said: — " Your Royal
Highness, I beg to thank you most sincerely,
most deeply, most warmly, for the exceeding
honour which has been bestowed upon me and
my expedition to-day. It is so much dearer
to me coming from this nation and coming
from this Society, which has counted among
its members the most prominent, the most
distinguished, the most enterprising of ex-
plorers that the world has ever seen. It is
so much the more honour that it comes from
a foreign nation. It shows the spirit of that
nation, which has always taken the lead in
all kinds of exploration. It is not the less an
honour to receive it from the hands of your
Royal Highness."

This was his first public lecture, and he
delivered forty-five lectures thereafter through-
out Great Britain and Ireland, from Tuesday,
February Qth, up to Wednesday, March 24th,
travelling to Aberdeen in the North (February
i8th), and Belfast and Dublin in Ireland

Conclusion. 449

(March loth, nth, and i2th). He delivered
forty-six lectures v& forty-five: consecutive days,
if we except five out of the six Sundays and
Monday, March 22nd.

Academic honours were showered upon the
great Norwegian — not alone in this country,
but in France, Germany, and America.

After resting in Norway in the summer of
1897, when another home tie came to the
doctor in the guise of a little son (September
1897), he proceeded to the United States,
where a reception of a no less hearty nature
awaited him.

Nansen has long been preparing plans to
reach the South Pole, and these may be put
into practical use soon after 1899. With ski
as a means of locomotion, there is every
expectation that Dr. Nansen, once landed
on the Antarctic continent, will not fall far
short of the antipodal axis of our globe. And
this may be affirmed, that so long as Dr.
Nansen possesses health and strength, so
long will both the North and South Poles be
a possible Ultima Thule.

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