NO. 15.] COLLECTIVE DESCRIPTION. 



in the Mediterranean and off the great river-mouths of North and South 

 America. Some old stories also tell us about certain strange adventures on 

 the Mediterranean which doubtless were cases of dead-water, although owing 

 to the narrators' modes of explanation, they would rather seem to be myths. 

 Vessels propelled by oars or running before a fair wind were suddenly stopped 

 in their course by a strong, unknown force. It was commonly believed that 

 this was caused by a small fish the Remora, sucking itself fast to the ship's 

 body, and it was said that but one of these fishes was required to hold a 

 ship immovably. The belief in this power of the Remora seems to have 

 survived far into later times, and for that reason it seems probable that the 

 phenomena in question have appeared occasionally. 



From all these circumstances I conclude that dead-water may occur at 

 every place where fresh-water flows out over the sea, but that from some 

 reason or other it is comparatively seldom met with beyond Scandinavia or 

 appears in a less decided manner than in the Norwegian fjords. The causes 

 of this circumstance will be discussed below. 



B. ORIGINAL ACCOUNTS. 



Effect of dead-water on steamers and ships in tow. 



No. 1. The series of narrations may well begin with an account of those 

 famous cases of dead-water which happened to the Fram in the autumn of 

 1893 North of Siberia, and which gave rise to the investigation of the matter. 

 The following representation of these cases is extracted from the narrative to 

 be found in Dr. Nansen's book "Fartherst North", pp. 172—175 and 177 and 

 from a letter of his to Professor V. Bjerknes, which also contains extracts 

 from parts of Dr. Nansen's own journal. In arranging this material the ori- 

 ginal form of the different statements is maintained, and in its present state, 

 the whole has been revised by Prof. Nansen himself. 



"On Tuesday, August 29th 1893 the Fram got into the open water in the sound 

 between the isle of Taimur and Almqvist Islands and steamed in calm weather through 

 the sound to the north-east. At G ' in the afternoon I saw from the crow's-nest thick ice 



1 In "Fartherst North" stands five, which is incorrect. 



