THE RETURN OF DR NANSEN 
The National Geographic Magazine rejoices in the safe return 
and in the extensive geographic explorations of Dr F. Nansen, 
Captain O. N. Svendrup, and their companions in the Fram. 
Nansen entered the jiack in September, 1893, in 78° 50' north, 
134° east, to the northwest of the New Siberian islands. This 
drift was in the same general direction as that of De Long in the 
Jeannette. The Fram liarel y escaped destruction by the action of 
the ice, but it reached by IMarch, 1895, 83° 59' north, 102° west. 
At this point Dr Nansen, with one companion, reached, April 7, 
1895, by dogs and sledge over the frozen sea. 8G° 14' north and 
about 95° east, a point 2° 51' farther north than was made by 
Lockwood and Brainard,of the Greel}' expedition. Nansen for 
some unexplained reason did not return to the Frnm, which was 
left in command of Caiitain Svendrup, but started for Spitzbergen 
via Franz Josef land. He reached, August 6, 1895, in 81° 38' 
north, 63° east, outlying ice-capped islands of the Franz Josef 
archijielago, and wintered in the vicinity. Subsisting on bear and 
walrus meat, he almost miraculously met the Jackson-Harms- 
worth party wintering on Franz Josef land and was brought 
safely by them to Vardo. Nansen’s experiences were astound- 
ing in character, and his safe return results from a combination of 
courage, endurance, and self-helpfulness, supplemented by good 
fortune, unequaled in the annals of Arctic exploration. 
Svendrup’s return with the Fram happily ends the fears that 
were entertained for the safety of the vessel on Nansen’s return. 
It would seem, in the absence of definite information, that the 
Fram drifted to the northward of Franz Josef land and Spitz- 
bergen and came into open water to the northwest of the latter 
land. No land was discovered to the north of the eighty-second 
parallel, and the archipelago discovered by the Greely expedi- 
tion remains the most northerly land known. The very deep 
water, 2,185 fathoms, found by Svendrup indicates an extension 
to the north and east of the great deep existent between Spitz- 
bergen and Greenland, and renders it improbable that any ex- 
tensive land lies to the north of Franz Josef land or Spitzbergen. 
Thus by boldness and energy, rivaling those qualities of their 
Scandinavian ancestors, have Nansen and Svendruj) rolled back 
for admiring mankind, to an extent unequaled in this age, the 
Ultima Thule of the North. 
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