NANSEN 



4059 



NANTES 



FRIDTJOF NAXSKN 

 The world's most famous 

 Arctic explorer of the latter 

 part of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury. 



viceroy of Kiang-nan, the most powerful of all 

 the Chinese governors under the old empire. 

 Population, 1910, 267,000. 



NANSEN, nahn'sen, FRIDTJOF (1861- ), 

 famed as an Arctic explorer, was born near 

 rhri.-tiania, and educated at the university in 

 that city. He was interested particularly in 

 zoology, and his first exploring expedition, in 

 1882, was made 

 in search of 

 zoological speci- 

 mens. Later in 

 that year he be- 

 came curator of 

 the Natural His- 

 tory Museum at 

 Bergen. In May, 

 1888, he set out 

 on an expedition 

 across the ice field 

 of Greenland, and 

 succeeded in cross- 

 ing from the east 

 to the west side, 

 an achievement 

 which many Arc- 

 tic authorities had declared impossible. On 

 his return he published The First Crossing of 

 Greenland and Eskimo Life, this latter the re- 

 sult of his winter sojourn with the Eskimos of 

 Greenland. 



The great object toward which Nansen looked 

 forward was a Polar expedition; he Had his own 

 theory as to the correct method for such a trip. 

 Driftwood from Siberia, and the appearance of 

 relics from the Jcannette expedition, led him to 

 that a ship might be carried by the ice 

 drift north from Siberia across the Pole and 

 south to Greenland. He succeeded in interest- 

 inn the government of Norway in his theories, 

 and a vessel, the Fram ("Forward"), was fitted 

 out for him. This was specially built to with- 

 stand the pressure of the ice floes, having slop- 

 ing sides so that the ice minht lift and not 

 crush it. Later the same vessel carried Roald 

 Ann mi ! -M into both Polar regions, and to the 

 discovery of the South Pole. 



ram Nansen left Christiania June 

 24, 1893, and in September forced his way into 

 the ice pack near the New Siberia Islands. The 

 Fram drifted, suffering no damage from th* i< * . 

 until March 11. ls!:>, when Nansen and Lieu- 

 tenant Johanscn left it and set out toward the 

 Pole with sledges. The latitude which th. v 

 reached on April 7, 86 4', was 184 i 

 uurtli than any point before attained by man, 



and within 272 miles of the Pole. Returning, 

 they reached Franz Josef Land, where they were 

 obliged to winter, and then departed for Spitz- 

 bergen. In June, 1896, they encountered the 

 Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, with whom 

 they returned to Norway. Meanwhile the 

 From, after drifting to latitude 85 57', had 

 turned back, and reached Norway soon after 

 Nansen's arrival. 



The explorer was given a most enthusiastic 

 reception, had honors showered upon him by 

 various countries, and achieved a great popular 

 success in his lecture tours through Europe and 

 the United States. His Farthest North is a 

 interesting account of the expedition. Nansen 

 played a prominent part in the separation of 

 Norway from Sweden, and from 1906 to 1908 

 was minister to England from Norway. In the 

 latter year he returned to Christiania and took 

 up his work as professor of oceanography in the 

 university there. See FRANKLIN, SIR J< 

 Later and more successful voyages are described 

 under POLAR EXPLORATIONS. 



Consult Nansen's Farthcat North; Dolman's 

 Dr. Nanaen; the Man and Ilia Work. 



NANTES, nahNt, in English, nants, the sev- 

 enth largest city of France and one of the most 

 beautiful in the republic, is the capital of the 

 department of Loire-Inferieure. It lies upon 

 the right bank of the Loire, 250 miles southwest 

 of Paris. The rise of the port of Saint Nazaire, 

 nearer the mouth of the Loire, and the diffi- 

 culty in the navigation of this river have tended 

 to reduce the commercial importance of Nantes. 

 However, in 1891 a ship canal uniting these two 

 places was constructed to restore the rightful 

 prestige of the older city. There arc five miles 

 of quays on the banks of the river, and in 1914 

 over $5,000,000 was spent in improving the har- 

 bor. Shipbuilding is carried on extensively, and 

 other industries include the preparation of sar- 

 dines and the manufacture of sugar, nets, sail- 

 cloth, soap and machinery. 



Among the old buildings of interest arc the 

 cathedral, begun in 1434 and still un(im> 

 and the ducal castle where, in 1598. I! - : ^ IV 

 signed the Edict of Nantes (see below UMMC 

 freedom of religion to the Huguenot* (which 

 see). The more recent buildings of note are 

 th< Church of Saint Nicholas, the hall of jus- 

 a picture gallery containing worka of mod- 

 h masters, a museum of natural his- 

 tory, ""1 th. i:\rhange, the latter one of the 

 finest buildings in France. 



For a long time Nantes formed one of th. 

 most valuable possessions of the dukes of 1 



