236 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



the 20th August, while still here, he received a telegram from 

 Sverdrup announcing the arrival of the Fram in Norway. 

 This rilled the cup of rejoicing to overflowing. Next day 

 the Fram was joined in Tromso harbour, and again they 

 were all together, well satisfied with their success. 



We may now return to the voyage of the Fram after 

 the departure of Nansen and Johansen on their sledging 

 expedition. It then lay in 84° 4' N. latitude, and 102° E. 

 longitude. 



Sverdrup, after carting away a great pressure-ridge from 

 the port side of the vessel, made various preparations for 

 a sledge-journey southward, in the event of the Fram 

 being wrecked. Sledges, kayaks, snow-shoes, and many 

 other articles had to be made, and this work kept all busy 

 for a considerable time. Sverdrup considers Canadian 

 snow-shoes superior to Norwegian ones, when it is a 

 question of hauling heavily loaded sledges over rough ice. 



During the summer of 1895 the drift was very slow ; 

 the latitude on 22nd June was 84° 32', and on 6th Septem- 

 ber, 84° 43'. The longitude on these dates was 80° 58' 

 and 79° 52' respectively. During the next three months 

 the drift towards the west was much greater : on the 30th 

 October the longitude was 70° 50', on the 1st December it 

 was 58° 45', and on the 9th January 1896 it was 41° 41'. 

 The meridian of 60° passing near Cape Fligely, in Franz- 

 Josef Land, was passed towards the end of November. On 

 the 15th November the latitude was 85° 55 '5', and on 

 the 9th January 1896 it was down to 84° 57'. 



In these high latitudes the change from sunlight during 

 the whole twenty-four hours to darkness during the same 

 period is very sudden. On 12th September the sun was 

 above the horizon at midnight ; on 8th October it dis- 

 appeared at noon — a change from constant light to 

 constant darkness in twenty-six days. 



