420 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



SCIENTIFIC EESULTS OF THE NORWEGIAN POLAR 

 EXPEDITION, 1893-1896.* 



By General A. W. GREELY, U. S. Army. 



FEW Arctic expeditions have done so much to increase the world's 

 knowledge as to the physical condition of large areas of the 

 north polar zone as has that of the Fram, initiated and commanded 

 by Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. 



The expedition was unique in many respects. The Fram was a 

 departure from the accepted models of Arctic ships; the route followed 

 was one unindorsed by any Arctic authority. The ship was destined 

 to drift unprecedented distances, beset by the enormous ice-pack of 

 the Arctic ocean. The commander himself was not only to attain the 

 highest north, but was to make a most hazardous journey, which was 

 to have a successful and unexpected issue partly through the aid of 

 another polar expedition whose location and existence were unknown to 

 the expeditionary forces of the Fram. Electricity made the Arctic ship 

 a glow of light, a phonograph brought well-known voices to cheer their 

 hours of leisure. Indeed, every device that was deemed of value was 

 utilized. 



The extent of the Arctic ocean traversed by the Fram is indicated 

 by the simple fact that she passed over 120 degrees of longitude above 

 the eightieth parallel of north latitude, a distance of one-third around 

 the world on that parallel. 



Nansen and Johansen, in an attempt to reach the Pole, left the 

 Fram March 14, 1895, in about 84° N., 100 E., but after an uneventful 

 journey with dogs, they were obliged to turn back on April 7, 1895, in 

 latitude 86° 14' N. They aimed to reach Spitzbergen and after months 

 of weary effort and varying fortunes, these two hardy men landed on 

 the east coast of the Franz Josef archipelago. Coming winter forbade 

 further progress, so they constructed a hut and subsisted on land and 

 sea game that was fortunately abundant. In the spring of 1896, turn- 

 ing southward, they attempted to reach by the kyak the east coast of 

 Spitzbergen, hoping to be picked up by Norwegian whalers who fre- 

 quent those waters. Fortunately for them, they met in April, 1896, 

 Jackson, the commander of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, near 

 Cape Flora. 



Meanwhile the Fram, continuing its westerly drift, in which it 



*The Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893-1896. Scientific Results edited by Fridtjof 

 Nansen. Vol. I. Longmans, Green & Co. N. Y., 1900. 1-16, 3 pi. 1-147, 3 pi 1-26, 2 pi. 1-53 pi. 

 1-137, 36 pi 



