^TWs5i> -'* . DR. AND FKU NANSEN ON SKI. ' LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS OF FRIDTJOF NANSEN BY ARTHUR BAIN NEW EDITION REVISED AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED numerous 3ffuB, 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, <4 as 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 I9 2 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 w r as 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 4 the 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 Fram t 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 3 2 4 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 33 2 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 article 1 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. 34 2 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 north v 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. THE WALTER SCOTT PRESS, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, NEW ENGLAND LIBRARY. 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