62 THE WOMBAT. 



being invented by Mr. Strindberg and Dr. Eckholm. At the time 

 of the year when the start was made (July) photographs could be 

 easily and well taken. Two members of the expedition will be 

 occupied in making observations, while the third sleeps. 



The expedition consists of three men, and if success is possible, 

 they are the men to achieve it. 



An dree has experimented with balloons for many years, and 

 he may be said to be a master in the art ; he has had some hair- 

 breadth escapes, though he has been generally successful. He was 

 one of the party which accompanied the Norwegian seronaut, Cetti, 

 on his expedition ; he was once stranded on an uninhabited island 

 in the Baltic, and compelled to spend the night there. His plans 

 for this expedition have been laid with most exact attention to the 

 minutest details, and no precautions have been neglected. His 

 main hope is that the balloon will be carried up to the pole, 

 and thence towards north-east Siberia or Alaska ; the most 

 dangerous possibility is that of being drifted to North Greenland, 

 but it is Andree's opinion that the wind blows almost constantly 

 from those regions to the pole. There is also the prospect of 

 finding at the pole a sort of equilibrium of the forces of the wind 

 coming from all directions. In that event Andree and his 

 companions will descend to the surface, and abandoning the 

 balloon, make their way towards Franz Joseph Land in the same 

 manner as Nansen did, and there avail themselves of the stores left 

 at " Elmwood," by Jackson. For this purpose they have provided 

 themselves with two sledges capable of transporting half a ton of 

 baggage, and complete outfits of Norwegian skates and snow shoes, 

 the skis used by Nansen. Even the possibility of descending in 

 the open sea does not daunt these valiant explorers. They have 

 all the materials for an adjustable canoe, covered with varnished 

 silk, and this will, they believe, be quite seaworthy even in 

 rough weather. They hope to remain in the balloon for three 

 weeks at the very least. Andree himself believes that they will 

 not be able to return to Europe before 1898. There are two 

 occurrences, either of which might be immediately fatal — a cyclone 

 or a waterspout — but these latitudes are remarkably free from 

 disturbances of the sort. 



Andree went to London to present his scheme to the 

 geographers of all countries assembled at the sixth International 

 Congress, 1895, virtually unknown to them, or at least considered 

 a visionary, and his project chimerical, but before the tall Swede 

 had finished his carefully written paper, the majority of his listeners 

 had to admit the feasibility of his plan, and their sympathy was all 

 his, captured by Andree's interesting personality, his force and 

 determination, his courage and enthusiasm They saw before them 

 a typical, fair-haired Swede, keen-eyed, tall beyond the average, 

 broad shouldered and muscular, with an alertness in his movements 

 that proved him the man of daring, the one for emergencies. He 

 did not look like a dreamer or a visionary, and as he developed his- 



