60 THE WOMBAT. 



for the expedition in the " Frara." The projects, however, had 

 nothing further in common than the desire to reach the pole, their 

 modes of transit being totally different It may be remembered 

 that Nansen counted on making use of the sea current which existed 

 in the neighbourhood of New Siberia, and expected to be blocked in 

 the ice brought up by this current, hoping to drift along with it. 

 While Nansen was demanding the sea to conduct him to the pole, 

 Andree was addressing himself to another element ; he counted on 

 the aerial currents rendering him the same good services which 

 Nansen anticipated from the currents of the sea. 



The "Orner" which Andree proposed to make use of was a 

 balloon of about 4,500 cubic metres. The idea was not his alone ; 

 two eminent French savants, MM. Hermite and Besancon, held 

 the same opinion, and M. Godard was loud in his praise of the venture. 



Andree was the first, however, to make a practicil trial of 

 what had hitherto been only a theoretical conception. He had been 

 a sailor for over twenty years, and had made every use of his time 

 in observing and studying the direction of the winds and other 

 meteorological phenomena. He noticed particularly that during 

 summer there exist, all round the pole, winds blowing from west 

 to east. 



When first he mentioned his proposed voyage at the Sixth 

 International Geographical Congress held in London in 1895 there 

 was a universal outcry of derision. But later consideration showed 

 the plan in another light. 



It is true that there are always currents blowing from South 

 to North, but to what distance do they go ] For indree to arrive at 

 the pole in a direct line in his balloon, the distance would be about 

 1,100 kilometres, or 683 miles. He calculated that with a wind 

 velocity of twenty-five kilometres per hour, the desired aim could 

 be attained in 48 hours Andree was not himself in possession of 

 funds necessary to carry out this wonderful expedition. 



Aided by Baron Nordenskiold, he estimated the cost at £7,500. 

 M. Alfred Noble, the Swedish savant and inventor of dynamite, 

 offered Andree £3,480, nearly half the sum required. The King 

 of Sweden promised £1,720, and the rest was a gift from Baron 

 Oscar Dickson, of Gothenberg. A Swedish patriot from Buenos 

 Ayres, Colonel Seelstroem, sent £200 to cover unforeseen expenses. 



Difficulties There was the inevitable waste of gas and the 

 risk of the balloon being torn open and collapsing. Thanks, how- 

 ever, to its admirable construction, this difficulty was overcome. 

 M. Lachambre, of Paris, who went to Spitzbergen to build the balloon, 

 ably seconded all Andree's care in the construction of his air-ship. 

 The upper part of the balloon, nearly two thirds of the whole surface, 



