THE NANSEN POLAR EXPEDITION* 
Special Report of the Hon. Ernest A. Man, 
United States Consul at Bergen 
On the 17th clay of June, 1896, as some of the men of the 
English Jackson and Harmsworth expedition, in Franz Josef 
land, were looking out over the ice they discovered a weird figure 
advancing towards them, with long straggling hair and beard and 
garments covered with grease and blood stains, who proved to 
be none other than Dr Fridhjof Nansen, who fifteen months 
previous had left his ship, the Frani, at 83° 59' north latitude 
and 102° 27' east longitude in order to push on with sleds, boats, 
and dogs towards the Pole. In a shelter some distance off was 
Dr Nansen’s companion. Lieutenant Johansen. 
A few weeks later the Fram arrived safely at Skjervo, Norway, 
some da}^s after Nansen’s return home. While Nansen did not 
reach the hoped-for goal, the results of the expedition promise 
to be of value to the scientific world and of inestimable assist- 
ance to future efforts in the same direction. 
The Fram, with a company of thirteen men, left Vardo, Nor- 
way, the 21st of July, 1893, and proceeded eastward through the 
Kara sea, rounded cape Chelyuskin, and on the 15th of September 
was off the mouth of the Olenek river. There they expected to 
go in to obtain additional dogs, but, finding that owing to the 
shoals and rocks and lateness of the season they would probably 
get locked in the ice and thus be delayed a year, they at once 
took a northerly course into the open Arctic ocean until Sep- 
tember 22, when at 78° 50' north latitude and 133° 37' east 
longitude they made the vessel fast to an ice-field. From this 
point they began drifting with the ice in a northerly and north- 
westerly direction, according to the ])lan laid out by Nansen, 
and by which he hoped to drift near or over the Pole, as was 
supposed to have l)een the ))rocess by which the effects of the 
Jeannette ex[)edition reached the eastern coast of (Treenland. 
As had been anticipated, the drift was most rai)id in tlie winter 
and s[>ring. During the summer months they were hindered 
• This report, transmitteil from Bergen Soptemtier I, Ims Seen courteously placed at 
the dispoxal of the National Geographic Society by the lion. W. W. Rockhill, Acting 
Secretary of State. 
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