Introduction. 45 



known polar regions, not to reach exactly that mathe- 

 matical point in which the axis of our globe has its 

 northern termination." 



Sir Allen Young says, among other things : " Dr. 

 Nansen assumes the blank space around the axis of the 

 earth to be a pool of water or ice ; I think the great 

 danger to contend with will be the land in nearly every 

 direction near the Pole. Most previous navigators seem 

 to have continued seeing land again and again further 

 and further north. These Jeanncttc relics may have 

 drifted through narrow channels, and thus finally arrived 

 at their destination, and, I think, it would be an ex- 

 tremely dangerous thing for the ship to drift through 

 them, where she might impinge upon the land, and be 

 kept for years." 



With regard to the ship's form, Sir Allen Young says : 

 " I do not think the form of the ship is any great point, 

 for, when a ship is fairly nipped, the question is if there 

 is any swell or movement of the ice to lift the ship. If 

 there is no swell the ice must go through her, whatever 

 material she is made of." 



One or two authorities, however, expressed themselves 

 in favour of my plan. One was the Arctic traveller, Sir 



* After our return home, Admiral Nares, in the most chivalrous 

 fashion, sent me a letter of congratulation, in which he said that the 

 Fram's remarkable voyage over the Polar Sea proved that my theory 

 was correct, and his scepticism unfounded. 



