Introduction. 15 



February, 1890, after my return from my Greenland 

 Expedition, I at last propounded the idea in an address 

 before the Christiania Geographical Society. As this 

 address plays an important part in the history of the 

 expedition, I shall reproduce its principal features, as 

 printed in the March number of Naturen, 1891. 



After giving- a brief sketch of the different polar 

 expeditions of former years, I go on to say "The 

 results of these numerous attempts, as I have pointed 

 out, seem somewhat discouraging. They appear 

 to show plainly enough that it is impossible to sail to the 

 Pole by any route whatever ; for everywhere the ice has 

 proved an impenetrable barrier, and has stayed the 

 progress of invaders on the threshold of the unknown 

 regions. 



" To drag boats over the uneven clrift-ice, which 

 moreover is constantly moving under the influence of 

 the current and wind, is an equally great difficulty. 

 The ice lays such obstacles in the way that any one who 

 has ever attempted to traverse it will not hesitate to 

 declare it well-nigh impossible to advance in this 

 manner with the equipment and provisions requisite 

 for such an undertaking'." 



Had we been able to advance over land, I said, that 

 would have been the most certain route ; in that case 

 the Pole could have been reached " in one summer by 

 Norwegian snow-shoe runners." But there is every 

 reason to doubt the existence of any such land. Green- 



