the edge of the pack in 77° 40′ N., and launched the boats. | Eventually they were picked up by a Russian schooner and arrived at Vardö on the 3rd of September 1874. One of the most interesting problems connected with the physical geography of the polar regions is the actual condition of the vast elevated interior of Greenland, which is Whymper. one enormous glacier. In 1867 Mr Edward Whymper planned an expedition to solve the question, and went to Greenland, accompanied by Dr Robert Brown; but their progress was stopped, after going a short distance over the ice, by the breaking down of the dog-sledges. The expedition brought home geological and natural history collections of value. Dr H. Rink, for many years royal inspector of South Greenland and the most distinguished authority on all Greenlandic questions, also visited the inland ice. An important inland journey was undertaken by Norden. Professor A. E. Nordenskiöld in 1870, accompanied skiöld in by Dr Berggren, professor of botany at Lund. The difficulty of traversing the inland ice of Greenland is caused by the vast ice-cap being in constant motion, advancing slowly towards the sea. This movement gives rise to huge crevasses which bar the traveller's way. The chasms occur chiefly where the movement of the ice is most rapid, near the ice streams which reach the sea and discharge icebergs. Nordenskiöld therefore chose for a starting-point the northern arm of a deep inlet called Auleitsivikfjord, which is 60 m. south of the discharging glacier at Jakobshavn and 240 north of that at Godthaab. He commenced his inland journey on the 19th of July. The party consisted of himself, Dr Berggren, and two Greenlanders; and they advanced 30 m. over the glaciers to a height of 2200 ft. above the sea. Greenland. was The gallant enterprises of other countries rekindled the zeal of Great Britain for Arctic discovery; and in 1874 the prime British minister announced that an expedition would be Expedition despatched in the following year. Two powerful of 1875. steamers, the "Alert" and 66 Discovery," were selected for the service, and Captain George S. Nares was recalled from the "Challenger" expedition to act as leader. Commander Albert H. Markham, who had made a cruise up Baffin Bay and Barrow Strait in a whaler during the previous year, Lieut. Pelham Aldrich, an accomplished surveyor, and Captain Henry Wemyss Feilden, R.A., as naturalist, were also in the "Alert." The "Discovery was commanded by Captain Henry F. Stephenson, with Lieut. Lewis A. Beaumont as first lieutenant. The expedition left Portsmouth on the 29th of May 1875, and entered Smith Sound in the last days of July. After much difficulty with drifting ice Lady Franklin Bay was reached in 81° 44′ N., where the "Discovery established in winter quarters. The " Alert " pressed onwards, and reached the edge of the heavy ice named by Nares the palaeocrystic sea, the ice-floes being from 80 to 100 ft. in thickness. Leaving Robeson Channel, the vessel made progress between the land and the grounded floe pieces, and passed the winter off the open coast and facing the great polar pack, in 82° 27' N. Autumn travelling parties were despatched in September and October to lay out dépôts; and during the winter a complete scheme was matured for the examination of as much of the unknown area as possible, by the combined efforts of sledging parties from the two ships, in the ensuing spring. The parties started on the 3rd of April 1876. Captain Markham with Lieut. Parr advanced, in the face of great difficulties, over the polar pack to the latitude of 83° 20' N. Lieut. Aldrich explored the coast-line to the westward, facing the frozen polar ocean, for a distance of 220 m. Lieut. Beaumont made discoveries of great interest along the northern coast of Greenland. The parties were attacked by scurvy, which increased the difficulty and hardships of the work a hundredfold. The expedition returned to England in October 1876. The "Alert " reached a higher latitude and wintered farther north than any ship had ever done before. The results of the expedition were the discovery of 300 m. of new coast line, the examination of part of the frozen polar ocean, a series of meteorological, magnetic and tidal observations at two points farther north than any such observations had ever been taken before, and large geological and natural history collections. In the same year 1875 Sir Allen Young undertook a voyage in his steam yacht the "Pandora " to attempt to force his way down Peel Sound to the magnetic pole, and if possible Voyages to make the north-west passage by rounding the of the eastern shore of King William Island. The "Pandora" "Pandora.” entered Peel Sound on the 29th of August 1875, and proceeded down it much farther than any vessel had gone since it was passed by Franklin's two ships in 1846. Sir Allen reached a latitude of 72° 14′ N., and sighted Cape Bird, at the northern side of the western entrance of Bellot Strait. But here ice barred his progress, and he was obliged to retrace his track, returning to England on the 16th of October 1875. In the following year Sir Allen Young made another voyage in the "Pandora " to the entrance of Smith Sound. Dutch Ex Lieut. Koolemans Beynen, a young Dutch officer, who had shared Young's two polar voyages, on his return successfully endeavoured to interest his countrymen in polar discovery. It was wisely determined that the first peditions. expeditions of Holland should be summer reconnaissances on a small scale. A sailing schooner of 79 tons was built at Amsterdam, and named the "Willem Barents." In her first cruise she was commanded by Lieut. A. de Bruyne, with Koolemans Beynen as second, and she sailed from Holland on the 6th of May 1878. Her instructions were to examine the ice in the Barents and Spitsbergen seas, take deep-sea soundings, and make natural history collections. She was also to erect memorials to early Dutch polar worthies at certain designated points. These instructions were ably and zealously carried out. Beynen died in the following year, but the work he initiated was carried on, the "Willem Barents" continuing to make annual polar cruises for many years.. In 1879 Sir Henry Gore-Booth and Captain A. H. Markham, R.N., in the Norwegian schooner "Isbjörn " sailed along the west coast of Novaya Zemlya to its most northern Gore-Booth point, passed through the Matochkin Shar to the east and Markcoast, and examined the ice in the direction of Franz ham. Josef Land as far as 78° 24′ N., bringing home collections in various branches of natural history, and making useful observations on the drift and nature of the ice in the Barents and Kara Seas. Leigh Smith. In 1880 Mr B. Leigh Smith, who had previously made three voyages to Spitsbergen, reached Franz Josef Land in the polar steam yacht "Eira." It was observed that, while the Greenland icebergs are generally angular and peaked, those of Franz Josef Land are flat on the top, like the Antarctic bergs. The "Eira" sailed along the south side of Franz Josef Land to the westward and discovered 110 m. of coast-line of a new island named Alexandra Land, until the coast trended north-west. A landing was effected at several points, and valuable collec tions were made in natural history. In the following year the same explorer left Peterhead on the 14th of July; Franz Josef Land was sighted on the 23rd of July, and the Fira" reached a point farther west than had been possible in her previous voyage. But in August the ship was caught in the ice, was nipped, and sank. A hut was built on shore in which Mr Leigh Smith and his crew passed the winter of 1881-1882, their health being well maintained, thanks to the exertions of Dr W. H. Neale. On the 21st of June 1882 they started in four boats to reach some vessels on the Novaya Zemlya coast. It was a most laborious and perilous voyage. They were first seen and welcomed by the "Willem Barents" on the 2nd of August, and soon afterwards were taken on board the "Hope,” a whaler which had come out to search for them under the command of Sir Allen Young. Professor A. E. Nordenskiöld, when he projected the achievement of the north-east passage, was a veteran polar explorer, for he had been in six previous expeditions to Greenland and Spitsbergen. In 1875 he turned his attention to the possibility of navigating the seas along the northern coast of Siberia. Captain Joseph Wiggins of Sunderland was a pioneer of this route, and his voyages in 1874, 1875 and 1876 led the way for a trade between the ports of Europe and the mouth of the Yenisei River. In June 1875 Professor Nordenskiöld sailed from Nordenskiöld and Tromsö in the Norwegian vessel, the "Proven," the N.E. reached the Yenisei by way of the Kara Sea, and disPassage. covered an excellent harbour on the eastern side of its mouth, which was named Port Dickson, in honour of Baron Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, the munificent supporter of the Swedish expeditions. It having been suggested that the success of this voyage was due to the unusual state of the ice in 1875, Nordenskiöld undertook a voyage in the following year in the "Ymer," which was equally successful. By a minute study of the history of former attempts, and a careful consideration of all the circumstances, Professor Nordenskiöld convinced himself that the achievement of the north-east passage was feasible. The king of Sweden, Baron Oscar Dickson, and M. Sibiriakoff, a wealthy Siberian proprietor, supplied the funds, and the steamer "Vega was purchased. Nordenskiöld was leader of the expedition, Lieut. Palander was appointed commander of the ship, and there was an efficient staff of officers and naturalists, including Lieut. Hovgaard of the Danish and Lieut. Bove of the Italian navy. A small steamer called the "Lena was to keep company with the " Vega " as far as the mouth of the Lena, and they sailed from Gothenburg on the 4th of July 1878. On the morning of the 10th of August they left Port Dickson, and on the 19th they reached the most northern point of Siberia, Cape Chelyuskin, in 77° 41′ N. On leaving the extreme northern point of Asia a south-easterly course was steered, the sea being free from ice and very shallow. This absence of ice is to some extent due to the mass of warm water discharged by the great Siberian rivers during the summer. On the 27th of August the mouth of the river Lena was passed, and the "Vega" parted company with the little "Lena," continuing her course eastward. Professor Nordenskiöld very nearly made the north-east passage in one season; but towards the end of September the "Vega" was frozen in off the shore of a low plain in 67° 7′ N. and 173° 20′ W. near the settlements of the Chukchis. During the voyage very large and important natural history collections were made, and the interesting aboriginal tribe among whom the winter was passed was studied with great care. The interior was also explored for some distance. On the 18th of July 1879, after having been imprisoned by the ice for 294 days, the "Vega " again proceeded on her voyage and passed Bering Strait on the 20th. Sir Hugh Willoughby made his disastrous attempt in 1553. After a lapse of 326 years of intermittent effort, the north-east passage had at length been accomplished without the loss of a single life and without damage to the vessel. The "Vega " arrived at Yokohama on the 2nd of September 1879. In 1879 an enterprise was undertaken in the United States, with the object of throwing further light on the sad history of the retreat of the officers and men of Sir John Franklin's Schwatka. expedition, by examining the west coast of King William Island in the summer, when the snow is off the ground. The party consisted of Lieut. Schwatka of the United States army and three others. Wintering near the entrance of Chesterfield Inlet in Hudson Bay, they set out overland for the estuary of the Great Fish river, assisted by Eskimo and dogs, on the 1st of April 1879. They took only one month's provisions, their main reliance being upon the game afforded by the region to be traversed. The party obtained, during the journeys out and home, no less than 522 reindeer. After collecting various stories from the Eskimo at Montreal Island and at an inlet west of Cape Richardson, Schwatka crossed over to Cape Herschel on King William Land in June. He examined the western shore of the island with the greatest care for relics of Sir John Franklin's parties, as far as Cape Felix, the northern extremity. The return journey was commenced in November by ascending the Great Fish river for some distance and then marching over the intervening region to Hudson Bay. The cold of the winter months in that country is intense, the thermometer falling as low as - 70° F., so that the return journey was most De Long. Mr Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the New York Herald, having resolved to despatch an expedition of discovery at his own expense by way of Bering Strait, the " Pandora was purchased from Sir Allen Young, and rechristened the "Jeannette." Lieut. de Long of the United States navy was appointed to command, and it was made a national undertaking by special act of Congress, the vessel being placed under martial law and officered from the navy. The "Jeannette " sailed from San Francisco on the 8th of July 1879, and was last seen steaming towards Wrangell Land on the 3rd of September. This land had been seen by Captain Kellett, in H.M.S. "Herald " on the 17th of August 1879, but no one had landed on it, and it was shown on the charts by a long dotted line. The " Jeannette was provisioned for three years, but as no tidings had been received of her by 1881, two steamers were sent up Bering Strait in search. One of these, the "Rodgers," under Lieut. Berry, anchored in a good harbour on the south coast of Wrangell Land, in 70° 57′ N., on the 26th of August 1881. The land was explored by the officers of the "Rodgers" and found to be an island about 70 m. long by 28, with a ridge of hills traversing it east and west, the 71st parallel running along its southern shore. Lieut. Berry then proceeded to examine the ice to the northward, and attained a higher latitude by 21 m. than had ever been reached before on the Bering Strait meridian-namely, 73° 44' N. No news was obtained of the "Jeannette," but soon afterwards melancholy tidings arrived from Siberia. After having been beset in heavy pack ice for twenty-two months, the "Jeannette " was crushed and sunk on the 13th of June 1881, in 77° 15′ N. lat., and 155° E. long. The officers and men dragged their boats over the ice to an island which was named Bennett Island, where they landed on the 29th of July. They reached one of the New Siberia Islands on the 10th of September, and on the 12th they set out for the mouth of the Lena. But in the same evening the three boats were separated in a gale of wind. A boat's crew with Mr Melville, the engineer, reached the Lena delta and searching for the other parties found the ship's books on the 14th of November, and resuming the search at the earliest possible moment in spring, Melville discovered the dead bodies of De Long and two of his crew on the 23rd of March 1882. They had perished from exhaustion and want of food. Three survivors of De Long's party had succeeded in making their way to a Siberian village; but the third boat's crew was lost. The 'Rodgers was burnt in its winter quarters, and one of the officers, W. H. Gilder (1838-1900), made a hazardous journey homewards through north-east Siberia. Helland. The Norwegian geologist Professor Amund Helland made an expedition to Greenland in 1875 and discovered the marvellously rapid movements of the Greenland glaciers. The Danes have been very active in prosecuting discoveries and scientific investigations in Greenland, since the journey of Nordenskiöld in 1870. Lieut. Jensen made a Danes in gallant attempt to penetrate the inland ice in 1878, Greenland. collecting important observations, and Dr Steenstrup, with Lieut. Hammar, closely investigated the formation of ice masses at Omenak and Jacobshavn. In 1883 an expedition under Lieuts. Holm and Garde began to explore the east coast of Greenland. In the summer of 1879 Captain Mourier, of the Danish man-of-war " Ingolf," sighted the coast from the 6th to the 10th of July, and was enabled to observe and delineate it from 68° 10' N. to 65° 55′ N., this being the gap left between the discoveries of Scoresby in 1822 and those of Graah in 1829. Nansen sighted part of the same coast in 1882. Lieut. Hovgaard of the Danish navy, who accompanied Nordenskiöld in his discovery of the north-east passage, planned an expedition to ascertain if land existed to the north of Cape Chelyuskin. He fitted out a small steamer called the | lemmings and ptarmigan. The party returned to Fort Conger "Dymphna" and sailed from Copenhagen in July 1882, but was unfortunately beset and obliged to winter in the Kara Sea. In 1883 Baron A. E. Nordenskiöld undertook another journey over the inland ice of Greenland. Starting from Auleitsivikfjord on the 4th of July, his party penetrated 84 m. eastward, and to an altitude of 5000 ft. The Laplanders who were of the party were sent farther on snow-shoes, travelling over a desert of snow to a height of 7000 ft. Useful results in physical geography and biology were obtained. On the 18th of September 1875 Lieut. Weyprecht, one of the discoverers of Franz Josef Land, read a paper before a large meeting of German naturalists at Graz on the scientific Circumpolar Stations. results to be obtained from polar research and the best means of securing them. He urged the importance of establishing a number of stations within or near the Arctic Circle, and also a ring of stations as near as possible to the Antarctic Circle, in order to record complete series of synchronous meteorological and magnetic observations. Lieut. Weyprecht did not live to see his suggestions carried into execution, but they bore fruit in due time. The various nations of Europe were represented at an international polar conference held at Hamburg in 1879 under the presidency of Dr Georg Neumayer, and at another at Berne in 1880; and it was decided that each nation should establish one or more stations where synchronous observations should be taken for a year from August 1882. This fine project was matured and successfully carried into execution. The stations arranged for in the North Polar region were at the following localities: Norwegians: Bossekop, Alten Fjord, Norway (M. Aksel S. Steen). Finns: Sodankyla, Finland (Professor S. Lemström). Americans:{ Point Barrow, North America (Lieut. P. H. Ray,U.S.A.). Lady Franklin Bay, 81° 44′N. (Lieut.A.W.Greely,U.S.A). British: Great Slave Lake, Dominion of Canada (Lieut. H. P. Dawson). Germans: Cumberland Bay, west side of Davis Strait (Dr W. Giese). Danes: Godthaab, Greenland (Dr A. Paulsen). Austrians: Jan Mayen, North Atlantic, 71°N. (Lieut. Wohlgemuth). The whole scheme was successfully accomplished with the exception of the part assigned to the Dutch at Port Dickson. They started in the "Varna " but were beset in the Kara Sea and obliged to winter there. The "Varna was lost, and the crew took refuge on board Lieut. Hovgaard's vessel, which was also forced to winter in the pack during 1882-1883. The scientific observations were kept up on both vessels during the time they were drifting with the ice. The American stations commenced work in 1882 and one of these furnished a rare example of heroic devotion to duty in face of difficulties due to the fault of those who should Greely. have brought relief at the appointed time. Lieut. A. W. Greely's party consisted of two other lieutenants, twenty sergeants and privates of the United States army, and Dr Pavy, an enthusiastic explorer who had been educated in France and had passed the previous winter among the Eskimo of Greenland. On the 11th of August 1881 the steamer "Proteus conveyed Lieut. Greely and his party to Lady Franklin Bay during an exceptionally favourable season; a house was built at the "Discovery's" winter quarters, and they were left with two years' provisions. The regular series of observations was at once commenced, and two winters were passed without accident. Travelling parties were also sent out in the summer, dogs having been obtained at Disco. Lieut. Lockwood with twelve men and eleven sledges made a journey along the north coast of Greenland and reached Lockwood Island in 83° 24′ N. and 42° 45′ W., the highest latitude reached up to that time. From this island at a height of 2600 ft. on a clear day an unbroken expanse of ice was seen stretching to the northward, the view extending far beyond the 84th parallel. A promontory of the north coast of Greenland seen to the north-east in 83° 35' N. was named Cape Washington. Vegetation was found at the extreme position and animal life was represented by foxes, hares, sea. on the 1st of June 1882 after an absence of 59 days. Greely made two journeys westward into the interior of Grinnell Land following up the northern branch of Chandler Fjord to a great sheet of frozen fresh water, Hazen Lake, with an area of about 500 sq. m. Beyond this, 175 m. from Fort Conger, he climbed Mt Arthur, 4500 ft., the highest summit of Grinnell Land, and saw distant mountains beyond a fjord to the southwest. In the spring of 1883 Lockwood made still more extensive journeys, crossing Grinnell Land to Greely Fjord, which entered the western The central depression of Grinnell Land abounded in musk oxen and was free from ice, though the higher land to north and south lay under permanent ice-caps. Important as these geographical discoveries were, the main object of the expedition was the series of scientific observations at the headquarters, and these were carried out during the whole period with the most scrupulous exactness. As neither the relief ship which was to have been despatched in 1882, nor that in 1883, sent the expected relief to the station at Fort Conger, Lieut. Greely started from Lady Franklin Bay with his men in a steam launch and three boats on the 9th of August, expecting to find a vessel in Smith Sound. The boats were beset and had to be abandoned, the party reaching the shore across the ice with great difficulty, carrying their supplies of food, now rapidly diminishing. On the 21st of October 1883 they were obliged to encamp at Cape Sabine, on the western shore of Smith Sound, and build a hut for wintering. A few dépôts were found, which had been left by Sir George Nares and Lieut. Beebe, but all supplies were exhausted before the spring. Then came a time of indescribable misery and acute suffering. The party proved insubordinate and the sternest measures were required to maintain military discipline. When the sun returned in 1884 the poor fellows began to die of actual starvation; but it was not until the 22nd of June 1884 that the relieving steamers "Thetis" and "Bear reached Cape Sabine. Lieut. Greely and six suffering companions were found just alive, but with all their scientific records, their instruments in order and the great collections of specimens intact. The failure of the relief expeditions to overcome difficulties which were child's play to what Greely and his companions had come through only enhances the splendid courage and determination of the heroic survivors. Danish expeditions under Lieut. G. Holm explored the east coast of Greenland from Cape Farewell northwards in Eskimo boats between 1883 and 1885, and at Angmagssalik they encountered a tribe of Eskimo who had never seen white men before. Lieut. Ryder and Lieut. T. V. Garde continued the exploration of East Greenland, and Ryder explored the great Scoresby Fjord. Captain Holm established a missionary and meteorological station at Angmagssalik Fjord in 1894, from which the Danish government take charge of the Eskimo of that region. In 1892-1893 an expedition sent out by the Berlin Geographical Society under Dr Erich von Drygalski studied the ice formations on the west of Greeniand. In July 1886 Lieut. Robert E. Peary, civil engineer, U.S. Navy, accompanied by the Dane Christian Maigaard, made a journey on the inland ice of Greenland eastward from Disco Bay in about 69° 30′ N. They reached a height of Peary and 7500 ft., when according to Peary's observations Nansea in they were 100 m. from the coast, and then re- Greenland. turned. Dr Fridtjof Nansen with Otto Sverdrup and five other companions, after overcoming great difficulties in penetrating the ice-floes, succeeded in landing on the east coast of Greenland in August 1888 in 64° 23' N. and reached a height of 8920 ft. on the inland ice, which was crossed on ski to the west coast. The interior was found to be a nearly flat plateau of snow resembling a frozen ccean, and at the high altitude of more than 8000 ft. the cold was intense. The crossing occupied more than two weeks, and the party not having dogs had themselves to haul all their gear on sledges. As they approached the western edge of the ice their progress was checked by dangerous crevasses; but on the 26th of September they succeeded in reaching the west coast at the head of the Ameralik Fjord in 64° 12′ N., having traversed 26c m. of glacier. Nansen discovered that in that latitude the inland ice of Greenland has the form of a huge shield rising rather rapidly but regularly from the east coast to nearly 9000 ft., flat and even in the middle and falling again" Fram," and the party included eleven others, the whole ship's regularly toward the western side, completely enveloping the land. An important principle acted on for the first time in Arctic travel on this journey was that of starting from the less accessible side and pushing straight through with no possibility of turning back, and thus with no necessity for forming a base or traversing the same route twice over. Peary spent the winter of 1891-1892 at Inglefield Gulf on the north-west coast of Greenland, Mrs Peary, Dr F. A. Cook, Eivind Astrup and a coloured servant Matthew Henson being in his party, and a large number of the Etah Eskimo in the vicinity. In April 1892 he set out for a journey across the inland ice to the north-eastward in the hope of reaching the east coast and also the northern extremity of the land. After getting well up on the ice-covered plateau a supporting party returned to winter quarters, while Peary and Astrup, with two companions and sixteen dogs, entered on the serious part of their work. The highest part of the inland ice was found to be about 5700 ft., and as usual after the first part of the descent, towards the northeast in this case, the surface was broken by numerous dangerous crevasses, progress amongst which was very slow. Great hardships were experienced from cold, insufficiency of food and | the wearing out of sledges and clothes, but on the 4th of July, having left the ice and got on bare land in 81° 37′ N., where musk oxen and other game were found and flowers were growing, Peary was rewarded by a glimpse of the sea to the north-eastward, and named it from the date Independence Bay. He also traced a channel to the north beyond which lay a new land largely free from snow, no doubt the southern part of the island along the north of which Markham and Lockwood had travelled to their farthest north. The return journey to Inglefield Gulf was a wonderful feat of endurance, which was completed on the 4th of August; the total distance marched on the whole journey out and home was 1300 m. Peary returned to northern Greenland in 1893, having spent the whole time between the two expeditions in writing and lecturing in order to raise funds, for he travelled at his own charges. He landed on the shore of Inglefield Gulf on the 3rd of August and wintered there with a party of thirteen, including Mrs Peary, and there their daughter was born. Astrup was taken ill after starting on the great journey in March 1894, which was to have extended the explorations of the previous year, and had to return; others were severely frost-bitten, disease broke out amongst the dogs, and a month after the start Peary was only 130 m. from his base and had to return. Peary with two of his party, Hugh J. Lee and Matthew Henson, remained at Inglefield Gulf for another winter, and on the 1st of April 1895, with deer and walrus meat in place of pemmican, the supply of which had been lost, set out for Independence Bay. They reached the ice-free land when their food was exhausted and fortunately fell in with a herd of musk oxen, the meat from which made it possible to get back to Inglefield Gulf, though without adding anything material to the results of 1892. The experience of ice-travel and of Eskimo nature gained in the four years' almost continuous residence in northern Greenland were however destined to bear rich fruit. Dr Nansen, after making an exhaustive study of the winds and currents of the Arctic Sea, and influenced largely by the Nansen; occurrence of driftwood on the shores past which the Drift of the ice-laden waters flowed southward between Green"Fram." land and Spitsbergen, satisfied himself that there was a general drift across the polar basin and perhaps across the Pole. He planned an expedition to take advantage of this drift on the principle which guided his crossing of Greenland, that of entering at the least accessible point and not turning back, thus having no line of retreat and making a relief expedition impossible. He planned a ship, the "Fram," which was immensely strong, to resist crushing, and of such a section that if nipped in the ice the opposing ice-masses would pass under her and lift her on to the surface. The plan of the expedition was based on scientific reasoning, but the methods were totally at variance with those of previous explorers. Otto Sverdrup, who had been one of Nansen's party in crossing Greenland, was captain of the company of thirteen living together on terms of social equality. Nansen paid the greatest possible attention to the provisions, and all the arrangements for the health and happiness of those on board were carefully thought out. The clothing of the expedition was as original in design as the ship; instead of having furs, thick woollen underclothing was adopted, with a light wind-proof material for the outer dress. The "Fram" left Christiania in the summer of 1893 and made her way through the Kara Sea and along the north coast of Asia until on the 20th of September she was run into the ice in 77° 30′ N., off the New Siberia Islands, and the great drift commenced. As anticipated, she rose to the pressure of the ice and was borne on an even keel high above the water for the whole duration of the drift. The movement of the ice was irregular, and on the 7th of November the "Fram" was back at her starting-point, but on the whole the movement was north-westward until the 15th of November 1895, when the highest latitude of the ship was attained, 85° 55′ N. in 66° 31' E., the meridian of the east of Novaya Zemlya; then it was westward and finally southward until the ice was broken by blasting round the ship in June in 83° N. lat.; and after being afloat, though unable to make much progress until the middle of July, the "Fram" broke out of the ice off the north coast of Spitsbergen on the 13th of August 1896. No ship before or since has reached so high a latitude. In all her drift the "Fram" came in sight of no new land, but the soundings made through the ice proved that the Arctic Sea was of great depth, increasing towards the Pole, the greatest depth exceeding 2000 fathoms. The great mass of water filling the polar basin was comparatively warm, indicating free circulation with the Atlantic. It was established that the ice formed off the coast of Asia drifted across the polar basin in a period of from three to five years, and the hypothesis on the truth of which Nansen risked his success was abundantly verified by facts. The ship's company all returned in perfect health. After the second winter on the " Fram" at a time when the northward movement of the drift seemed to be checked, Nansen, accompanied by Lieut. Hjalmar Johansen, left the ship in order to explore the regions towards the Pole by travelling on ski with dog sledges carrying kayaks. It was obviously hopeless to attempt to find the drifting ship on their return, and Nansen intended to make for Spitsbergen in the hope of meeting one of the tourist steamers there. A more daring plan was never formed, and it was justified by success. Leaving the ship on the 14th of March 1895 in 84° N. 102° E., they made a fairly rapid march northward, reaching a latitude of 86° 5′ N. on the 8th of April, the nearest approach to the Pole so far achieved. Turning south-westwards they travelled with much difficulty, sometimes on the ice, sometimes in kayaks in the open lanes of water, incurring great danger from the attacks of bears and walrus, but at length reaching a group of new islands east of Franz Josef Land. They travelled westward through this archipelago until the 28th of August, when they built a small stone hut roofed with their light silk tent, in which they passed the winter on a land since called Frederick Jackson Island. There they lived like Eskimo on bear and walrus meat cooked over a blubber lamp. The journey southward was resumed in the spring of 1896, and on the 15th of June they met Mr F. G. Jackson, in whose relief ship, the "Windward," they returned to Norway. Nansen and Johansen reached Vardö on the 13th of August 1896 full of anxiety for the fate of their old comrades, when by a coincidence unparalleled in the history of exploration, the "Fram was on that very day breaking out of the ice off Spitsbergen and the original party of thirteen was reunited at Tromsö the following week and returned together to Christiania. On this remarkable expedition no life was lost and the ship came back undamaged under the skilled guidance of Sverdrup with a great harvest of scientific results. Mr Frederick George Jackson planned an exploring expedition to attain a high latitude by the Franz Josef Land route and was supported financially by Mr A. C. Harmsworth (Lord NorthJackson- cliffe). He was accompanied by Lieut. Albert Harmsworth Armitage, R.N.R., as second in command and six Expedition. scientific men, including Dr Reginald Koettlitz; Dr W. S. Bruce also was one of the number in the second year. The Jackson-Harmsworth expedition sailed in 1894, and was landed at Cape Flora, where log houses were built. In the spring of 1895 Jackson made a journey northward to 81° 19' N., the highest latitude reached, and added considerably to our knowledge of the archipelago by discovering a channel between groups of islands west of the Austria Sound of Payer. He made numerous other journeys by land and in boats, and surveyed a considerable portion of the islands on which he landed, the most interesting being that of 1897, to the western portion of the group. The geological collections were of some value and the specimens secured indicated that Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen were parts of an extensive land existing in Tertiary times. The expedition returned in 1897. In 1897 and subsequent years a party led by Sir Martin Conway explored the interior of Spitsbergen. Dr A. G. Nathorst, the Swedish geologist, explored the eastern coast and off-lying islands, and made important observations on North-East Land, circumnavigating the Spitsbergen archipelago in 1898. In 1899 Nathorst visited the north-east coast of Greenland in search of Andrée's balloon expedition, and here he mapped Franz Josef Fjord and discovered the great King Oscar Fjord in waters that had never been navigated before. Duke of the Abruzzi. In subsequent years valuable surveys and scientific observations were made by the Prince of Monaco in his yacht "Princesse Alice," by Dr W. S. Bruce, notably on Prince Charles Foreland, and by others. Franz Josef Land was visited by the American explorer W. Wellman in 1898 and 1900, and his companion E. Baldwin in the former year made the discovery of several islands in the east of the archipelago. A wealthy American, W. Zeigler, also sent out expeditions to Franz Josef Land in 1901 and between 1903 and 1905, in the course of which A. Fiala reached the high latitude of 82° 4′ N. in the “ America," but the ship was afterwards lost in Teplitz Bay. These expeditions added little to our knowledge of polar geography, but some useful meteorological, magnetic and tidal observations were made. The Italian expedition under the command of H.R.H. Prince Luigi, duke of the Abruzzi, was the most successful of all those which have attempted to reach high latitudes by way of Franz Josef Land. Embarking in the summer of 1899 on the "Stella Polare" (formerly the Norwegian whaler "Jason " which had landed Nansen on the east coast of Greenland in 1888) the expedition put into Teplitz Bay in Rudolf Land, where they wintered and there the ship was seriously damaged by the ice. In the spring of 1900 a determined effort was made to reach the North Pole by sledging over the sea-ice. The duke of the Abruzzi having been disabled by frost-bite, the leadership of the northern party devolved upon Captain Umberto Cagni of the Italian navy, who started on the 11th of March 1900 with ten men (Alpine guides and Italian sailors) and nearly a hundred dogs. His plan was to sledge northward over the sea-ice, sending back two parties as the diminishing stores allowed the advance party to take on the whole of the supplies destined to support them on their way to the Pole and back. Before losing sight of Rudolf Island three men forming the first party started to return, but they never reached winter quarters and all must have perished. The second party went back from latitude 83° 10' N., and reached their base in safety. Cagni pushed on with three companions, determined if he could not reach the Pole at least to outdistance his predecessor Nansen, and on the 25th of April 1900 he succeeded in reaching 86° 34′ N. in 65° 20′ E. Diminishing food supplies made it necessary to turn at this point, and although he had reached it in 45 days it took Cagni 60 days to return. The advance of summer loosened the ice-floes, and the westward component of the drift of the pack became a more and more serious danger, threatening to carry the party past Franz Josef Land without sighting it. Fortunately Cape Mill, a headland of characteristic outline, was sighted just in time, and with this as a guide the party succeeded in reaching Teplitz Bay, having eaten the last of their dogs and been reduced to great extremities. At the farthest north no land was visible, the rough sea-ice extending to the horizon on every side. Andrée. As early as 1895 a scheme for an exploring expedition in a balloon was put forward seriously, and in 1897 the Swedish aeronaut S. A. Andrée carried it out. He had brought a balloon to Danes Island, in the north of Spitsbergen, the previous year, but the weather was unpropitious and the ascent had to be postponed. On the 11th of July 1897 he started in a new and larger balloon with about five tons of supplies and two companions. It was hoped that the balloon could be steered to some extent by the use of heavy guide ropes dragging over the ice, and Andrée had already made successful flights in this way. Rising at 2.30 p.m. the balloon was out of sight of Danes Island in an hour. At 10 p.m. Andrée threw out a buoy containing a message which was recovered, and this stated that the balloon was in 82° N. 25° E., moving towards the north-east at an altitude of 800 ft. above a rugged ice-field. This was the last news received, and although scarcely a year has passed without some rumour of the balloon having been found in Siberia or North America, nothing further has ever been ascertained. Makaroff. In 1899 Admiral Makaroff of the Russian navy arranged for the trial trip of the great ice-breaker "Yermak," which he designed, to take the form of an expedition into the sea-ice off Spitsbergen. Though no high latitude was attained on this occasion he formed the opinion that a vessel of sufficient size and power could force a passage even to the Pole. The Russian-Japanese War put an end to the polar projects of this gifted man of science. Captain Otto Sverdrup, who had been Nansen's companion on his two polar expeditions, planned an Arctic voyage for the circumnavigation of Greenland, and the "Fram Sverdrup. was altered and refitted to suit her for the work. Starting in 1899, he was obliged to abandon the attempt to get northward through Smith Sound, and making his way westward into Jones Sound he spent three years in exploring and mapping the portion of the Arctic archipelago which lay to the north of the field of labour of the Franklin search expeditions. Ellesmere and Grinnell Lands were shown to be part of one large land mass called King Oscar Land, which is separated by a narrow channel, Eureka Sound, from an extensive island named Axel Heiberg Land. Two of his party (Isachsen and Hassel) discovered and explored two islands west of Heiberg Land, and Dr Schei made most valuable observations on the geology of the whole of the district examined. Sverdrup's journeys cleared up a great deal of uncertainty regarding the geography of the least known portion of the Arctic archipelago, and leave little more to be done' in that quarter. He brought the "Fram" safely back to Norway in 1903. Many American whalers working in the sea reached through Bering Strait believe that land of considerable extent lies farther west than the Arctic archipelago, north of the mouth of the Mackenzie River, but neither the English traveller A. H. Harrison in 1905, nor the Dane Einar Mikkelsen in 1907, was able to find any trace of it, though the latter sledged over the sea ice as far as 72° N., where in 150° W. he got a sounding of 339 fathoms with no bottom. This depth makes it somewhat improbable that land exists in that quarter. Baron Tell. Russian surveyors and explorers continued to map portions of the Siberian coast, and in 1886 Dr Bunge and Baron Toll visited the New Siberia Islands and made known the remarkable remains of mammoths which exist there in great numbers. In 1893 Baron Toll made an important geological expedition to the islands, discovering many well-preserved remains of mammoths and other extinct mammals and finding evidence that in the mammoth period trees grew at least as far as 74° N. Indefatigable in the pursuit of his studies, Toll set out once more in 1901 on board the |