CHAPTER X 



THE NORWEGIAN POLAR EXPEDITION (1893-96) 



In many respects this expedition is unique. It was planned 

 by Dr. Nansen after careful consideration of many 

 scientific facts connected with the Polar Sea, and although 

 his theories and conclusions were opposed by many of the 

 leading authorities of the day, the expedition was carried 

 out almost to the letter. 



The Jeannette expedition had a very important bearing 

 on that of Dr. Nansen. In 1884, Professor Mohn published 

 a paper in which it was stated that various articles which 

 must have come from the wreck of the Jeannette had been 

 found on the south-west coast of Greenland. He believed 

 that they must have drifted on a floe right across the 

 Polar Sea. These articles included a list of provisions 

 signed by De Long, the commander of the Jeannette ; 

 an MS. list of the Jeannette 's boats ; and a pair of oilskin 

 breeches marked " Louis Noros, 11 the name of one of the 

 Jecmnette's crew who was saved. 



It occurred to Dr. Nansen that a ship might be allowed 

 to be frozen in the ice and to drift as the articles 

 from the Jeannette must have done. This idea was pro- 

 pounded in an address before the Christiania Geographical 

 Society on 18th February 1890. 



In this address Dr. Nansen brought forward various 

 evidences in support of the theory that a current flows 

 across or near the North Pole from Bering Sea on the 



