THE "FRAM" 357 



kind of a craft the From was after her two commissions. He 

 therefore came down to Horten with Colin Archer on June 1, 1908, 

 and made a thorough examination of the vessel. He then, in the 

 spring of 1909, requested the Naval Dockyard at Horten to repair 

 the ship and carry out the alterations he considered necessary for 

 his enterprise. 



Before giving an accoimt of the repairs and alterations to the 

 vessel in 1909-1910, we shall briefly recapitulate, with the author's 

 permission, a part of the description of the Fram in Fridtjof 

 Nansen's work, especially as regards the constructive peculiarities 

 of the vessel. 



The problem which it was sought to solve in the construction of 

 the Fram was that of providing a ship which could survive the 

 crushing embrace of the Arctic drift-ice. To fit her for this was 

 the object before which all other considerations had to give way. 



But apart from the question of mere strength of construction, 

 there were problems of design and model which, it was thought, 

 would play an important part in the attainment of the chief object. 

 It is sometimes prudent in an encounter to avoid the full force of a 

 blow instead of resisting it, even if it could be met without damage; 

 and there was reason to think that by a judicious choice of model 

 something might be done to break the force of the ice-pressure, and 

 thus lessen its danger. Examples of this had been seen in small 

 Norwegian vessels that had been caught in the ice near Spitzbergen 

 and Novaya Zemlya. It often happens that they are lifted right 

 out of the water by the pressure of the ice without sustaining 

 serious damage; and these vessels are not particularly strong, but 

 have, like most small sailing-ships, a considerable dead rising and 

 sloping sides. The ice encounters these sloping sides and presses in 

 under the bilge on both sides, until the ice-edges meet under the 

 keel, and the ship is raised up into the bed that is formed by the 

 ice itself. 



In order to turn this principle to account, it was decided to 

 depart entirely from the usual flat-bottomed frame-section, and to 



