NANSEN'S EXPEDITION (1896) 237 



As early as the beginning of February 1896 numerous 

 lanes of water were found both to the north and to the 

 south. By this time they had drifted to the 25th degree 

 of longitude, while the latitude kept steady at about 

 84° 50'. On the 15th February the longitude was 23° 28', 

 but by the 29th February they had gone back to 27°. 

 After this date the drift to the west was very slow, but 

 it was more rapid towards the south. On 16th May the 

 latitude was 83° 45', and the longitude 12° 50'. 



For some months no animals had been seen, and the 

 appearance of two bears on 28th February caused some 

 excitement. When about 150 yards from the ship, they 

 stood for a time, but as it was still very dark, Sverdrup 

 waited in the expectation that they would come nearer. 

 Instead of coming nearer, they went off. Pettersen was 

 asked whether he had something to fry which would 

 smell strongly, so as to entice the bears back. After the 

 bears had been long out of sight, Pettersen produced a pan 

 of fried butter and onions. Before long, the bears were 

 seen coming back, and both were shot by Sverdrup. It 

 was sixteen months since they last shot a bear, and 

 during that time they had very little fresh meat. 



Soundings were taken several times during the winter, 

 but the bottom was not reached with a line over 9000 feet 

 in length. 



An interesting experiment was made on the 13th April. 

 Scott-Hansen and Sverdrup took an observation with the 

 theodolite, and Nordahl an observation with the sextant, 

 on the natural horizon. According to the theodolite, the 

 latitude was 84° 11*5', and by the sextant 84° 13'. It had 

 previously been ascertained that there was a difference 

 of about two minutes between the artificial and natural 

 horizons. 



As spring advanced, the openings in the ice became 

 larger, and preparations were made for forcing the Fram 



