The herald., 1896-04-18

destroyed by the convulsicns Of the pack.
and only Melville with his boats crew,
and two men from De Longs boat, ever
returned.
| Nansen further contended that certain
drift material, picked up on the south
west coast of Greenland, came from the
Jeannette by drifting over the pole.
down the Spitzbergen current between
that island and Greenland, and passing
around Cape Farewell into Bafiins bay
These relics We're never identified, and
! their genuineness was distrusted by Mel
vile, the man most competent to judge,
who made an unavailing effort to secure
their identification. Nansen further
declined to believe that such relics could
come there by the well-knOwn southerly
drift from the Arctic ocean to Batfins
Bay. or through the various channels of
the Parry archipelago. Calculating the
drift of these relics at two nautical miles
Il day. Nausen believed that by putting
his vessel into the sea to the northward
Of the Siberian islands. in the place
where the Jeanette sank. he too would
drift over the pole and enter the north
Atlantic between Iceland and Green
| land. He was provided with staunch
whale boats. with which he would be
able to save his party in case of the loss
Of the Fran
| Abandoning the idea of entering the
ice at Bering strait. he sailed from Nor
way, June IA 1893. with twenty-five
men. provisoned for five years, and en-
tered the Kara sea through the straits
south of Nova Iembla. He intended to
vi tbo Nol,pal nauipcl,la and 70 tho
| ice either at the most northerly point of
Asia. or from the Siberian islands. The
last letter from him was dated at Char
labova, Yugor strait, August 2. 1893, just
/ as he entered Kara sea. He did not visit
Yalmal peninsula. nor the New Siberian
| Islands, where supplies have been cached
for his use by Baron Won Toll. The
Fran was last seen in the north of the
Kara sea, at the end of August, 1888
since which time no authentic or def
mite information has been received as
!to Nansen's movements.
The question arises. what have been the
experiences of the "Fram'? One can
speak either from known experiences in
this quarter. or on differences drawn
from the physical conditions of the ST.
beran sea- AS is well known, this ocean
is very shallow, and. as Melville has
pointed out, its physical conditions are
such as to prevent the presence of
mighty permanent ocean currents. which
otherwise might be expected to eventu-
| ally carry the Fran into the Atlantic or
Pacific Ocean, by one Of the debouching
straits.
In this quarter we have the expert
l nf to in, hn n
| ocean. OF the Dimjphna in Kara sea.
and of the Tegetthoff in Nova Zembla
sea: all indicate that the drift of the ice
| foes depend almost entirely upon the
wind. which consequently makes the ex-
periences of one year no criterion for an
other.
| On ono side of the Arctic ocean exist
| the bold. abrupt coast of Nova Zembla.
Franz Josef Land Spitzbergen and
Greenland. washed by deep seas. while
on the other are the low, shelving shores
Of Siberia and Alaska laved by shallow
waters. Again. the paleocrystic foe
bergs Of Smith Sound and Banks Land,
indicate very clearly the existence of an
| ice-clad land of very considerable extent
near the North Pole. Essential condi-
| tions for the formation of tioebergs are
extended land areas, moderate elevations
| with sloping shores extending far into
| the ocean.
| There is such polar ice-cap shedding
its tioebergs into the Arctic ocan. and
its locality must be nearer to Siberia
than to the mountainous regions above
mentioned.
! Doubtless Nansen succeeded in fore
ing the FRAN into the ce-pack Of the
Arctic ocean to the north of Kara sea,
where she is subject to the prevailing
| drift. If she got far north she must
naturally skirt the edge of the polar
| ice-can where the ceaseless action of cur
rents. tides. and uncertain shifting winds
keeps grinding pack in conynlsve mo-