ANDREE' S FATAL FLIGHT IN A BALLOON 393 



a balloon is good enough to carry the explorer to the Pole and back 

 again. With such a balloon the voyage across the icy desert can 

 be accomplished/" 



Had he waited some ten years more he would have found the 

 steerable balloon to which he referred developed to a state of con-, 

 siderable perfection, but his enthusiasm was too great to permit 

 delay. 



Andree was a delegate to the Geographical Congress at London 

 in July, 1895, and presented to it his plans with much elaboration. 

 His arguments were received with considerable favor, some of the 

 delegates becoming quite enthusiastic. One of these was Markham, 

 the leader of the exploring party of the Nares expedition, who 

 supported him strongly and said that he would like to go with him 

 himself. Nordenskiold also remained a faithful supporter of the 

 project, and also Nils Ekholm, one of the ablest meteorologists of 

 Europe, who showed his faith in the scheme by agreeing to go with 

 him. On the other hand, many men of experience in Arctic'affairs 

 descried the daring project, predicting certain failure and the inevi- 

 table death of the adventurer and all who joined him in the rash 

 attempt. 



He found the necessary financial support, however, without 

 difficulty, the required sum, $36,000, being quickly raised by a 

 public subscription, the King of Sweden heading it with $8,000. 

 Meanwhile Andree continued his experiments, spending the winter 

 of 1895-96 in France and England and making many ascents with 

 French aeronauts. The balloon for his enterprise was constructed 

 at Paris under his close supervision, it costing about $10,000. It 

 was about seventy-five feet in height and had a capacity of 6,000 

 cubic meters of gas, it being intended to lift a weight of three tons, 

 consisting of the aeronaut and two companions, provisions for a 

 year or more, scientific and other apparatus, and the requisite 

 mechanism and chemical materials to manufacture a new supply of 

 gas in the polar regions, if necessary. The balloon was enclosed 



