36o NEAREST THE POLE 



strong currents, the direction of which is opposed to 

 the course of the whalers. 



It has been said by one writer that the American 

 whalers use their steam to keep out of the ice, while 

 the Scotch use theirs to get into and through it. 



Comparing existing ships of the Scotch, Norwegian, 

 and United States whaling fleets, it is found that the 

 following average proportions of beam to length exist: 



Scotch, 1:5-75 



Norwegian, • i:4-7 



American, 1:4- 5 



It is seen at once that the Norwegians and Americans 

 have not departed from the old-fashioned sailing ship 

 model. (The average ratio in our modem Bath-built 

 schooners is 1:4.78.) 



The Scotchmen have a finer model, and since this 

 model is a practical evolution by shrewd seamen and 

 builders from an experience of over one hundred and 

 twenty-five years, in a business where large financial 

 returns were the lot of the best ship; and the seas where 

 that experience was secured and for which that evo- 

 lution was designed, are the seas to be navigated by 

 the proposed ship, it seemed clear that the Scotch 

 model was the one on which to base our studies. 



The problem of size did not present itself in the 

 present instance in quite the form that it did to Nansen, 

 and the English and German Antarctic Expeditions. 

 In these instances the size of the party and the length 

 of time it was to be absent being determined upon, and 

 the coal consumption of the engines fixed, it was easy 

 to calculate the cargo to be carried which, plus the 



