The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-09-22


 HANSEN EXHIBITION STORIES.
 As is only natural, all the people of Tromso take the liveliest interest in the Nansen expedition, more especially as three men of the ships compliment, viz, Pilot Jakobsen and two sailors, belong to this port So any of the Franm's men who happens to be about is always surrounded by knot of eag- CT listeners, towhom he has to recount his adventures, often Illustrating his meaning by a rough sketch with a piece of chalk or a pencil. The men are all good natured fellows, and seem will ling enough to talk, and many is the excited discussion as to whether the Tram should have entered the ice north or south of the New Siberian Islands, and so forth. Here are some of the yarns which have delighted the Tromso people:
 In the perpetual darkness of winter, in the desolate polar regions, we could hardly see our hands before our faces. One night, when the whole ships com pany were snug below, we suddenly heard the dogs barking most furiously. It was Ship Carpenter Mogstad's watch so he went nu on deck to see if any thing unusual was going on, but as he could see nothing, he went down below again, concluding that the dogs were just barking, as is their wont. How ever, the noise was repeated at inter- vals, so he went up on deck again, and, taking a lantern, saw that several of the animals had disappeared, and that some others were overheard on the ice. Mogstad called out for Henrikson, and they both let themselves down on the ice from the deck of the ship, which at the time was high above the ice sur face, They walked off a little distance from the ship, to see if they could find any tracks.
 As they were searching about, with no more formidable weapon than a small lantern between them, all at once polar bear sprang up before them Then there was race between the three. Mogstad, a bit more light footed than his ate, reached the Tram first, but fel down twice on to the ice as he was climbing up her side. At the second fal he could not help muttering
 
 my friend' But despair steadied his nerves, and he managed to hoist him. self safely up behind the ships bull warks. He had hardly got on board however, when he heard his comrade cal out, and saw that the bear had got hold of him, and had bitten him. But Henriksen, who is a big, powerful, res olute fellow, dealt his assailant such a blow on the head with the lighted lan- tern he was carrying, that the brute half stunned and hadf scared, let go of it's prey, and Henriksen seized the op- portunity to skip up the Frams side The bear revenged itself by seiZing one of the dogs. On closer investigation being made, 1t was found that the bear had paid two visits to the ship during the night, creeping in through an open port-hole, and had carried off a dog each time.
 One day when Nansen and Johansen had to pass along a somewhat narrow path they were suddenly attacked by a bear. Johansen, who Is a man of nc ordinary strength caught hold of his enemy's throat with grip of iron, and held him at arms length til Nanser was able to get his rifle and lay the bear low. North of S4 degrees no ami nal life was found to exist, and this would seem to cast some discredit or the hitherto prevalent theory that if 8 sufficiently high latitude could be at. tained, one would come to dry lan6 and open water, because birds are tc be seen flying towards the extreme north. This northerly flight of the birds is now believed to be attributed to their having lost their way or being blown out of their course. One day a | S2 degrees latitude a seal was perceived l from on board the Tram, with fioun | der in its mouth. On the approach O the vessel, the seal went up away ovel | the ice. A founder was also observed 1 at about eleven miles from Bear Isl and. The depth of water in the ex i treme north also seems to indicat, ! that there can be no Hand near. Sound | ings taken at S4 degrees latitude gavt depth of from 1,3A to 1,530 fathom. I 2,400 to 2,S00 metres) and farther nortl the lead reached even greater depths i as much as 2,1S6 fathoms (4,O0O metres) l it is sald.-London Standeard.
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