1897.] NANSEN — POLAR EXPEDITION, 1893-96. ^45 



at about 2000 fathoms, and we found the same deep basin along 

 the whole route of the Fram across the polar region. 



The question then arises, Of what extent is this sea? I did not 

 find anywhere any indication that the sea grows shallow. We see 

 it stretching from the south northward into the unknown. We 

 also see it stretching eastward to the region north of the New 

 Siberian Islands and we might expect it to extend much further 

 eastward. When we look at the deep seas on the rest of the 

 globe's surface we do not find anywhere such a long, narrow exten- 

 sion of very deep seas; and, therefore, the probability is that this 

 sea is much broader than we had an opportunity of ascertaining. 

 We may therefore say that we have established the fact that a great 

 part of the polar region is an extended, deep sea, instead of the 

 shallow sea that we believed in before. I think there cannot 

 be much doubt that the whole of the polar region lying on the 

 Asiatic and European side of the pole is one extended sea. 



For this belief we have several reasons. First, as I have just 

 mentioned, the depth of the polar sea indicates some extension 

 of the sea to the north of the Fram's course. But there are other 

 evidences. It is evident that ice drifting in a sea where there is 

 land in the neighborhood will be stopped in its drift as soon as it 

 drifts in the direction of this land. Now, however, if there had 

 been land anywhere in the neighborhood of our route it is evident 

 that if the ice happened to drift in that direction it would have 

 been stopped at once. But we never saw anything of the kind. 

 The ice seemed to drift readily in almost every direction as the 

 wind commenced to blow in that direction. The only direction 

 in which the ice seemed to drift slowly and with some difficulty 

 was backward in the direction from which we had come, and there 

 we knew there was nothing but open sea. Very easily, say as soon 

 as the southerly wind began to blow, the ice drifted toward the 

 north, consequently there was no possibility of land being found 

 anywhere near us in that direction. 



There is another evidence which is even stronger^ and that is the 

 amount of floe-ice or polar ice floating southward through the 

 channel between Spitzbergen and Greenland and especially along 

 the eastern coast of Greenland. 



When you look at the route of the Fram you see the drift 

 going in this direction (indicating). She drifted to about this 

 point (indicating), and then began to work herself out of the ice 



