Makch 1, 1897.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



59 



other side of the Polar regions. But the leader of the 

 expedition, at all events, could see that she would never 

 reach the Pole, It was at that early date that he determined 

 on the bold and daring feat of leaving the ship with a 

 companion and making a dash for the Pole. This was not 

 done without due forethought. The whole winter through 

 Nansen was hard at work reasoning it out and preparing. 

 Then, at last, he propounded his scheme to Sverdrup and 

 asked his advice, and then to Johansen, and then to all the 

 crew. And they all agreed that it was the right thing to do. 

 Dr. Nansen knew very well, from Greenland experience, that 

 Sverdrup could take the expedition home as well as himself, 

 even if the ship was lost. So his preparations were made, 

 every detail was thought out, and minute instructions were 

 left with Sverdrup, who was to assume command. 



After two false starts, Nansen and Johansen finally left the 



with a mouthful of food halfway to their lips. How a 

 diary could he written under these conditions can hardly 

 be believed, and yet it was ; and it makes very exciting 

 reading. At about 86' 14' north latitude, as all the world 

 now knows, Nansen thought it prudent to go no further, 

 but to turn and shape his course for Cape Fligely. The 

 return journey proved to be a keen struggle for existence, 

 and even Nansen himself seems to have given up hope in 

 his darkest moments. But not for long ; the slightest little 

 turn of fortune brought all his courage and resolution back. 

 At last, when all but two of their dogs were gone, and very 

 little food was left, they reached open water and food in 

 plenty, in the shape of bears, seals, walruses, and birds. 

 " Joy welled up in our hearts at this sight " (the open 

 water), '• and we could not give it expression in words. 

 Behind us lay all our troubles .... Such an event had 



w 



Debp-wateb Iempeeaiure: 

 (Copyright by ArchilaU Constable * Co., 1897.) 



L'i' wiiH THE Theemomeiee." — ]2th .July, 1894. 



Fram on March 14th, 1895, with twenty-eight dogs, three 

 sledges, and two kayaks. "I knew," says the author, "only 

 too well that a life of toil lay before us, and that it would 

 be many a long day before we should again sleep and eat 

 under a comfortable roof." A life of incessant toil it 

 certainly was, and as the simply-told tale is unfolded 

 it is hard to understand how these two men ever hved 

 to teU it. 



The ice was fearfully rough and hummocky from first to 

 last, and the sledges had to be laboriously dragged over the 

 obstacles. This, and insufficient food, knocked up the dogs, 

 and aU but two had to be killed, one after the other, to 

 provide food for the surviving ones. The cold was intense — • 

 sometimes the thermometer was as low as fifty degrees 

 below zero, Fahrenheit. When these two brave men crept 

 into the reindeer-skin sleeping bag at the end of a long 

 day's toU, it would take an hour or more to thaw their 

 clothes, which were as stiil as boards, and their boots and 

 gloves had to be carefully dried by the heat of their own 

 bodies. While eating their supper they would fall asleep 



to be celebrated in some way, and we did it by having a 

 piece of chocolate each." But all their troubles were not 

 by any means over. The dangers and hardships which 

 were endured after this may have seemed little to them in 

 comparison with what they had already been through, but 

 the reader is still at a loss to understand how the strongest 

 man could have lived through the next nine months. 



How they eventually reached land, how they built a 

 stone hut to winter in, how they made clothes, how they 

 obtained and stored up food for the winter, how they lived 

 through the winter's night, how they eventually found 

 Jackson and came home, is indeed a thrUUng tale told 

 in the most captivating style, and unlucky is the man, 

 woman, or child who does not read it. 



The last portion of the book consists of a report by 

 Captain Otto Sverdrup on the drifting of the Fram, after 

 Nansen and Johansen left her, until the time she arrived 

 in Norway. The tale is well told, and shows what a brave 

 and capable man had been left in command. 



The first work was to remove as much of the ice as 



