44 FARTHEST NORTH 



will be more likely to drift her towards the west than 

 towards the east. \\ ith an ice-encumbered sea north of 

 her, and more open water or newly made ice to the south- 

 ward, the chances are small for a northerly drift, at all 

 events, at first, and afterw^ards I know of no natural forces 

 that will carry the vessel in any reasonable time much 

 farther from the Siberian coast than the Jcannctte was 

 carried, and during the whole of this time, unless pro- 

 tected by newly discovered lands, she will be to all intents 

 and purposes immovably sealed up in the pack, and 

 exposed to its well-known dangers. There is no doubt 

 that there is an ocean connection across the area pro- 

 posed to be explored." 



In one point, however, Nares was able to declare him- 

 self in agreement with me. It was the idea " that the 

 principal aim of all such voyages is to explore the un- 

 known polar regions, not to reach exactly that mathe- 

 matical point in which the axis of our globe has its 

 northern termination." * 



Sir Allen Young says, among other things: "Dr. 

 Nansen assumes the blank space around the axis of the 

 earth to be a pool of water or ice ; I think the great 

 danger to contend with will be the land in nearly every 

 direction near the Pole. Most previous navigators seem 



* After our return home, Admiral Nares, in the most chivalrous fashion, 

 sent me a letter of congratulation, in which he said that the Fram's re- 

 markable voyage over the Polar Sea proved that my theory was correct 

 and his scepticism unfounded. 



