30 Chapter I. 



" My plan is, briefly, as follows : I propose to have a 

 ship built, as small and as strong as possible ; just big 

 enough to contain supplies of coals and provisions for 

 twelve men for five years. A ship of about 1 70 tons 

 (gross) will probably suffice. Its engine should be 

 powerful enough to give a speed of 6 knots ; but in 

 addition it must also be fully rigged for sailing. 



" The main point in this vessel is that it be built on 

 such principles as to enable it to withstand the pressure 

 of the ice. The sides must slope sufficiently to prevent 

 the ice, when it presses together, from getting firm hold 

 of the hull, as was the case with the Jeannette and other 

 vessels. Instead of nipping the ship, the ice must raise 

 it up out of the water. No very new departure in 

 construction is likely to be needed, for the Jeannette, 

 notwithstanding her preposterous build, was able to hold 

 out against the ice pressure for about two years. That 

 a vessel can easily be built on such lines as to fulfil these 

 requirements no one will question, who has seen a ship 

 nipped by the ice. For the same reason, too, the ship 

 ought to be a small one ; for besides being thus easier to 

 manoeuvre in the ice, it will be more readily lifted by the 

 pressure of the ice, not to mention that it will be easier 

 to give it the requisite strength. It must, of course, be 

 built of picked materials. A ship of the form and size 

 here indicated will not be a good or comfortable sea-boat, 

 but that is of minor importance in waters filled with ice 

 such as we are here speaking of. It is true that it would 



