The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-18

tsStSt shSs 80 'S.N
cluded that tho current generally set in that di-
~rection. This will help explorers said De
Long, ito reach high ATTITUDES. but, at the same
time, will make IL moro difficult for them to
come back" The truth Of these words he him
self was to learn b. bitter experience. The
Jcannotte stuck fast in the Ice on Sept. Q. 1879,
in IL So north latitude and 1872 g. east longi-
tude. southeast of wranRel Land, which proved
to DO q mail island; thence the vessel drifted
with the Ice in o west~-northwesterly direction
for two years, when It foundcred June 10, 1881,
north Of tho New Siberian Islands. In re 15'
north latitude and l54' So cast longitude.
Every whore, thep, has the ice stopped the
progress OF mankind toward tho north. In two
cases only had ice-bound vessels drifted in q
northerly direction, in the case namely Of the
TeRethor and the Jeanette. while most Of tho
others had been swept away from thoir goal
by masses Of ice drifting southwark. DR.. Nam
sen says that. upon pondering the history OF
Arctic exploration, It early occurred to him
that 1t would DO very difficult to wrost their Sc
crcts from the unknown regions OF ice by adopt
ing the routes and the methods hitherto en-
ployed. But where did the proper route liei
Some time elapsed before he was able to hit
upon an answer to this question. 1t was in the
autumn Of 1884 that the author Of these volumes
happened to see an article by Prof. Mohn In
the Norwegian Moroenblad In which 1t was
stated that sundry articles. which must have
come from the Jeanette. had been found on the
southwest coast of Greenland. He conjectured
that they must have drifted on q foe straight
across the polar SEQ. 1t Immediately occurred
to DR.. Nansen that here lay the route ready to
hand. If q foe could drift right across the I'M
known raUtop that drfff might olan ha ap1iafnd
in the service OF exploration. Some years. how
ever. elapsed before, in February, $780,, after
his return from his Greenland expedition. he
propounded the idea in an address before the
Christiania Geographical Society. In this ad-
dress, after giving a brief sketch of the differ
emit polar expeditions, DR.. Nansen acknowl-
edged that tho results of these numerous
attempts seemed somewhat discouraging. They
appeared to show plainly enough that It is i'm
possible to sail to tho Polo by any route what
ever. for everywhere tho leo has proved an i'm
penetrable barrier. To drag boats over the I'M
even drift ice, which. moreover. Is constantly
moving under the influence of the current and
the wind. 10 beset with equally great difficulties.
The ice puts such obstacles In tho way that those
who have endeavored to traverse It do not hest
tate to declare It well nigh impossible to advance
in this manner with the requisite equipment and
provisions. Had we been able, indeed. to ad-
vance over land. DR.. Manson would, of course,
consider this the most certain route; In that
case, tho Pole could have been reached
in one summer by Norwegian snowshoe
runners. In our authors opinion. how
ever. there is every reason to doubt the
existence of any such land. Greenland, in his
Judgment, does not extend further than the
most northerly known point of its west coast.
Neither did he deem It probable hat Franz Josef
Land reaches to the pole; from all we can learn,
It forms q group of islands separated from each
other by deep sounds, and it appears unlikely
that any large continuous tract of land is to bo
found there. With regard to the notion that We
shall be able one day to reach the Polo by a bal
loon, and that 1t 10 only q waste Of time to seek
to get there before that day comes, 1t Is pointed
out that this line of reasoning Is untenable.
Even IL ono could believe that, in the near
or distant future. this dream of travel.
ling to tho pole in an airship would
DO realized, such an expedition. how
ever interesting 1t might be from certain points
of view, would DO far from yielding the scien.
tifc results Of adequately organized expeditions.
Sc ientifc results Of importance in all branche
of research can be attained only by persistent
observations during a heightened sojourn In the
polar regions, while those attainable by a balloon
expedition could not but be of a transitory ma
ture. Proceeding, then, to answer the inquiry
whether there were not other and more practi-
cable routes than those which had been followed
in vain. DIR. Manson suggested that, IL attention
were paid to tho actually existent forces Of ma
ture. with tho aim of working with instead OF
against them. the safest and easiest method
of reaching the Pole would be found. Previ-
GUS expeditions having demonstrated the use
lessness of working aoafnS the current, we
should see If thore 10 not a current We can work
with. In DR.. Nansen's opinion tho Jeanette
expedition was the only one that started on the
right track. though 1t may have been unwilling
ly and unwillingly. As we have previously re-
minded the reader. tho Jeanette drifted for
two years in tho Ice from Wrangel Land to the
New Siberian Islands. Three years after she had
foundered to the north OF those islands there
were found floating in the drift Ice In the neigh
borhood of Julianehaab, on tho southwest coast
of Greenland, a number Of articles. which APP
naarod from aundry Indubitable MARIA IN nro.