376 NANSEN'S MEMORABLE VOYAGE IN THE "FRAM" 



of the struggle. Mass meets mass in a test of strength, and, failing 

 to climb over one another, crush together, closer and higher, until 

 there is a diminution of the pressure from below and they surge 

 back, shattering themselves in the commotion and yet binding them- 

 selves into a single unit strong enough to resist the next onslaught 

 of the tidal energy. 



This is the kind of conflict that was going on around and 

 beneath the "Fram," the sturdy vessel braving every nip by slipping 

 upwards from the pressure; the crew, confident in her capabilities, 

 living in merry good-humor in her cabin. What the confusion of 

 the ice was like may be gathered from the opinion of those who saw 

 it when the return of the sun enabled them to do so, and also relieved 

 the pressure. "Imagine a stormy sea, all broken waves and flying 

 billows, suddenly frozen solid into ice, and you have some idea, on a 

 small scale, of the piled-up hummocks on the pack." 



During their second winter in the ice Nansen determined on a 

 bold experiment. Believing that the "Fram" would soon reach the 

 highest latitude to which the current was likely to carry her, the 

 drift then tending westward through the sea north of Franz Josef 

 Land and towards Spitzbergen, he conceived the plan of leaving the 

 ship under the efficient care of Captain Sverdrup and taking to the 

 ice himself in a sledge journey farther north. He proposed to take 

 but one companion, with provisions sufficient for a dash northward 

 and a return to land at the Franz Josef islands, as it was hopeless 

 to expect to reach the "Fram" again. For companion he selected 

 Lieutenant Hjalmar Johansen, of the Norwegian navy, who had 

 joined the expedition as stoker and had subsequently become 

 Nansen's meteorological assistant. 



A start was made on February 26, 1895, with six sledges and 

 provisions for men and dogs for several months. But they found 

 themselves too heavily equipped and were obliged to return to the 

 "Fram" again, to reduce the weight of their convoy. The next 

 start was made on March I4th, this time with three sledges, two 



