362 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS IN 1890. 



and around Cape Farewell, or it was carried north- 

 ward by a current through regions yet unknown and 

 then tnrough Smith Sound "and Baffin Bay, or it 

 came from those unknown regions with the Arctic 

 current that passes east of Greenland, and thence 

 took its way around Cape Farewell. 



A glance at the map will show that the first of 

 these three ways is by far the longest. Furthermore, 

 although the .sea between the New Siberian islands 

 and Greenland is well known, there is no knowledge 

 of a current running from east to west. The cold 

 currents run from north to south or from northeast to 

 southwest, and the warm currents in the opposite di- 

 rections ; but if the ice floe had taken the second 

 route named, it must have been carried to the shore 

 lying opposite Greenland, since it is washed by the cold 

 stream passing southward, while Greenland receives 

 the warm stream passing northward. Therefore it 

 must be supposed that the floe was carried southward 

 by the cola current east of Greenland, and, falling in 

 with the warm current near Cape Farewell, drifted 

 with it to the western coast. 



Though the existence of a current from the region 

 of the New Siberian islands is not yet proved, it must 

 be admitted as highly probable. The great slopes in 

 the eastern part of northern Europe, in north Asia, 

 and in western North America, send vast masses of- 

 water into the Arctic Ocean, while nothing even ap- 

 proximating^ an equal quantity enters it from the 

 opposite side of the northern hemisphere, for that 

 brought by the Gulf Stream or its equivalent is car- 

 ried southward by the various Arctic currents. In 

 order, therefore, to maintain the equilibrium of the 

 quantity of water in the Polar Sea, those inflowing 

 waters must pass away either to the west, the east, or 

 the north. Since there is no considerable off-flow to 

 be noticed toward either west or east, it is probable 

 that the currents in the sea follow the direction of the 

 inflowing rivers and tend northward. 



Now, while we arrive theoretically at the probabil- 

 ity of an ocean current passing northward from the 

 vicinity of the New Siberian islands and turning to 

 the south forming the polar stream on the eastern 

 coast of Greenland, the course of the ice floe shows 

 that this current is not under the ice throughout its 

 whole extent, but is, at least in part, open ; otherwise 

 the floe, perhaps the remnant of a greater ice field, 

 would not have been able to pass. A glance at the 

 globe will show the probability that this very current 

 passes directly over the pole or very near to it. 



On this theory is founded Nansen's plan to reach 

 the pole. For this purpose he needs a snip of pecul- 

 iar construction. It must be strong and firm to with- 

 stand the attack of the masses of ice and the powerful 

 pressure. It must have oblique sides and such a bot- 

 tom that if it is wedged in the ice it will be lifted and 

 not crushed. He has little to fear from icebergs when 

 he has once reached the current, since he will oe sail- 

 ing in the same direction with them. On the other 

 hand, the ice pack will have serious dangers, and 

 against such dangers the peculiar construction of the 

 ship will help to guard ; but even in case it should 

 be crushed, Dr. Nansen believes that the expedition 

 would not necessarily be lost. He thinks it will be 

 possible to save boats, provisions, clothing, and other 

 necessaries on an ice field, where his company ma.y 

 winter and pass on with it till open and navigable 

 water is reached. That life on an ice field is not so 

 bad when plenty of food and clothing, and especially 

 warm sleeping sacks, are provided, has been proved 

 by Nansen's own experience in Greenland and the 

 experience of travelers before him. 



The ship must be well furnished with things need- 

 ful for a polar voyage, but need not be very large nor 

 carry a very large crew, though the crew should be 

 well acquainted with polar navigation. The ship 

 should be taken through Behring strait and past 

 Wrangel Island to the New Siberian islands. Then 

 the course can be directed northward, the ship may 

 be fastened in by the ice, and, making use of the cur- 



rent, be carried to its destination, the pole, and on- 

 ward till it reaches open waters. 



Nansen's idea that the plan can be carried out in 

 two years is perhaps the weakest point in the entire 

 scheme. Though the ice floe reached Julianehaab in 

 three years, and though it might be inferred that a 

 ship guided by men could make the voyage in a 

 shorter time, still it should be considered that unusu- 

 ally favorable conditions of the ice and the currents 

 may have contributed to the movement of the floe, 

 while the expedition may meet with conditions equal- 

 ly unfavorable. It must also be remembered that 

 when the ship is once fastened in the ice and has 

 started forward with the current there is no longer a 

 possibility of return, therefore provisions should be 

 taken sufficient for four or five years' supply. 



Another and a novel plan for reaching the pole 

 is that proposed by two French scientists, M. 

 Besancon, an aeronaut, and M. Gustave Hermit, 

 an astronomer, who propose to pass over the 

 north pole in a balloon, starting from Spits- 

 bergen. According to the newspaper accounts, 

 this air-ship will be 99 feet in diameter, and 

 500,000 cubic feet in volume. It will consist of 

 an inner and an outer balloon, designed to pre- 

 serve the pure hydrogen gas with which the bags 

 will be filled. A row of 16 small balloons will 

 encircle the large one and carry a reserve of gas. 

 It is expected that, with favorable winds, the 

 voyage can be made in four or five days. 



For the third time in recent years, a steamer 

 has succeeded in breaking through the masses of 

 ice on the eastern coast of Greenland this time 

 the " Hecla," Capt. R. Knudsen,which penetrated 

 as far north as Shannon Island. There, seems, 

 therefore, to be nothing in the way of an early 

 exploration of this little known coast ; and Lieut. 

 C. Ryder, who took part in the exploration of the 

 western coast, proposes to lead a company of 

 nine men in a two years' exploration of the 

 eastern coast from 66'N. to 73. The expense is 

 estimated at from 250,000 to 290,000 crowns. 

 Sixty-six degrees is the farthest point reached by 

 Capt. Holm, and 73 the terminating point of 

 the survey of the second German polar expedi- 

 tion, 1869- ? 70. 



Baron Oscar Dickson, of Gothenburg, has not 

 only supplied means for the further exploration 

 of Iceland by Thoroddsen, and assisted the colony 

 of Victoria to send out Nordenskiold to antarctic 

 regions, but he became in part responsible for the 

 cost of an expedition to Spitzbergen under three 

 young scientists, Boteman, Klinckowstrom, and 

 G. Nordenskiold, a son of the well-known ex- 

 plorer. They returned, Sept. 20, with good 

 scientific results, having made studies of the geo- 

 logic and zoologic conditions and added to the 

 knowledge of the hydrography secured by former 

 expeditions. The ice prevented a visit to the 

 Seven Islands ; and the later work of the ex- 

 plorers was an examination of the glaciers in the 

 neighborhood of Recherche Bay and Bel Sound. 

 Capt. G. B. Leavitt, of the ship " Spy," of the 

 Pacific Steam Whaling Company, who has spent 

 five years in Alaska, having winter quarters at 

 Point Barrow, has been in constant intercourse 

 with the natives, and from them has gathered 

 information which points to the existence of a 

 habitable land beyond the limits of exploration by 

 white people. This land is not on any of the 

 maps, but its existence is stoutly insisted upon 

 by the inhabitants of Alaska and neighboring 



