NANSEN'S MEMORABLE VOYAGE IN THE "PRAM" 389 



they came upon him. They at once took charge of him and his 

 belongings, and a few hours later he and Nansen, well washed, well 

 clad, and well fed, were smoking cigars in comfortable chairs in 

 the dining-room of the hospitable Jackson's quarters, the heroes of 

 the occasion. 



Three weeks later they were sailing south to Norway in the 

 "Windward," and arrived at Vardo on August 13, 1896. A week 

 later the "Fram" entered the same port, with all her crew in good 

 health, and with nearly three years' supplies still on board. 



The record of her voyage, after the departure of Nansen and 

 Johansen on March 14, 1895, was very satisfactory. She drifted 

 steadily in the ice towards the northwest until she touched as high 

 as 85 degrees 57 minutes north. At the end of February, 1896, 

 she became stationary, and remained so until the middle of July, 

 when the crew forced a passage through the ice into open water, 

 and from thence the "Fram" sailed to Norway. The first news the 

 crew received on arrival at Vardo was that Nansen and Johansen 

 had reached there just a week before. They had had some mis- 

 givings as to the safety of their two adventurous comrades, and the 

 news of their return cleared away the only sign of uneasiness from 

 the otherwise happy minds of the men who formed one of the most 

 successful expeditions that has ever set out in search of the 

 North Pole. 



