NA TURE 



[June i6, 1904 



A'£1F LAND^ 



ON June 24, 1898, a vessel, insignificant in size and 

 somewhat quaint in appearance, unlike ships 

 g-enerally engaged in ordinary mercantile avocations, 

 might have been seen threading her way, under her 

 own steam, through the numerous merchant ships that 

 were at anchor in the harbour of Christiania. She 

 was a vessel of no common type ; her peculiarities of 

 construction and rig were noticeable, even to the in- 

 experienced eye of a landsman, and judging from the 

 enthusiastic cheers with which she was greeted on all 

 sides, she was evidently bound on a voyage of no 

 common interest. The ships in harbour were all 

 decorated with gay bunting ; flags flew from their 

 mastheads, and cheer after cheer resounded from their 

 crowded decks and rigging as she steamed slowly past. 

 The quays and wharves along the shore were also 

 thronged with a vast concourse of people, bedecked in 



designed and constructed for Dr. Hansen in 1892, and 

 had carried that bold explorer northwards on his 



memorable and adventurous voyage towards the North 

 Pole. His second in command, and navigating officer, 

 on that occasion was Otto Sverdrup, an officer of 

 the Norwegian mercantile marine, who had been 

 specially selected for the appointment in conse- 

 quence of the experience he had gained in ice navi- 

 gation while serving as a mate on board a Greenland 

 whaler. 



It was the same Otto Sverdrup who was in command 

 of the little Frain as she steamed out of Christiania 

 Harbour on the occasion to which we refer, but in this 

 instance he was not only commander of the ship, but 

 was also the leader of the expedition. He had already 

 won his laurels as an Arctic explorer, and had proved 

 himself a careful, as well as a skilful, navigator in 

 ice-encumbered seas. His selection for the command 

 iif the Fram was more than justified, as a perusal 



-Seventeenth of May, 1B99. From " New Land," by Otto Sverdrup. 



their smartest and gayest holiday attire, all equally 

 enthusiastic in their demonstrations of farewell, while 

 the fjord itself was alive with innumerable boats of 

 all descriptions, including many small steamers, all 

 intent upon one object, namely, to do honour to the 

 little vessel that was so quietly proceeding to sea, and 

 to wave her a last good-bye. 



What was the cause of all this enthusiasm and 

 excitement? and why was this little craft the centre 

 of so much attention and attraction? 



A glance at the name on her stern revealed the fact 

 that she was the Fram, and that she was bound on an 

 important voyage of geographical exploration and 

 scientific research in high northern latitudes. 



She was the same little Fram that was specially 



1 " New Land. Four Years in the Arctic Regit 

 Translated from the Norwegian by Ethel Harriet 1 

 Longmans, Green and Co., 1904 ) Price 36s. net. 



NO. 1807, VOL. 70] 



of his account of the voyage, which has recently been 

 published under the title of " New Land," will 

 abundantly testify. The book, originally produced in 

 Norway, has been well and ably translated into 

 English by Ethel Hearn. The narrative of the cruise 

 is presented to us in the shape of two handsomely 

 bound volumes, profusely illustrated from sketches and 

 photographs taken by members of the expedition. It 

 is perhaps unfortunate that a great many of the illus- 

 trations in the text are not inserted on the pages to 

 which they refer, but this does not detract from their 

 excellence. The story as related is the plain un- 

 varnished tale of a sailor; the incidents are graphically 

 described, and a vein of humour pervades the whole 

 narrative. 



The Introduction informs the reader very curtly as 

 to the origin of the expedition, and how it was that 

 Otto Sverdrup was selected as leader. He writes : — 



