78 THE WANDERINGS OP THE NORTH POLE 



phenomena of the rising and the setting of the stars, so familiar else- 

 where, were non-existent. Each star viewed from the coign of vantage 

 offered by the North Pole would move round and round in a horizontal 

 circle, and the system of concentric circles would be directly overhead. 

 In midsummer the sun would seem to revolve around, remaining prac- 

 tically at the same elevation above the horizon for a few days, until it 

 slowly began to wend its way downwards in a spiral. In a couple of 

 months it would draw near the horizon, and as day after day passed 

 by the luminary would descend lower and lower until its edge grazed 

 the horizon all round. The'Setting-ol the sun for the long winter would 

 then be about to commence, and gradually less and less of the disk 

 would remain perceptible. Finally the sun would disappear altogether, 

 though for many days afterwards a twilight glow would travel round 

 the whole hemisphere, ever getting less and less, until at last all indi- 

 cations of the sun had vanished. The utter darkness of winter would 

 then ensue for months, mitigated only so far as celestial luminaries 

 were concerned by starlight or occasional moonlight. Doubtless, how- 

 ever, the fitful gleams of the aurora would often suf&ce to render the 

 surrounding desolation visible. Then as the spring drew near, if, 

 indeed, such a word as spring be at all applicable to an abode of utter 

 dreariness, a faint twilight would be just discernible. The region thus 

 illuminated would move round and round the horizon each twenty-four 

 hours, gradually becoming more and more conspicuous, until at last the 

 edge of the sun appeared. Then, by a spiral movement inverse to that 

 with which its descent was accomplished, the great luminary would 

 steal .above the horizon, there to continue for a period of six months 

 until the commencement of the ensuing winter. Indeed, the actual 

 duration of apparent summer would be somewhat protracted in conse- 

 quence of the effect of refraction in raising the sun visually above the 

 horizon when in reality it was still below. The result would be to 

 lengthen the summer at one end and to anticipate it at the other. 

 Such w(»uld be the astronomical conditions of the North Pole; that 

 anomalous point, from whence every other locality on the globe lies due 

 south, that mysterious point which up to the present seems never to 

 have been approached by man within. a distance less than 400 miles, 

 uidess, indeed, as is not improbably the case, the pre-glacial man who 

 lived in the last genial period found a temperate climate and enjoyable 

 conditions even at the latitude of 90°. 



For our present purpose it will be necessary to get a very clear idea 

 as to the precise point on the earth which we mean when we speak of 

 the North Pole. As our knowledge of it is almost entirely derived from 

 astronomical phenomena, it is necessary to assign the exact locality of 

 the pole by a strict definition depending on astronomical facts. Sup- 

 posing that Nansen does succeed in his expedition, as everyone hopes 

 that he will, and does penetrate within that circle of 400 miles radius 

 where the foot of civilized man has never yet trod, how is he to identify 



