Farthest North (Volume 2); Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram 1893-96 and of a Fifteen Months' Sleigh Journey (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1897. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Blessing. Nordahl. Mogstad. Hcnriksen. Pcttcrscn" Johanscn. Bentzcn. Scolt'Hansen. Sverdrup. Jacobsen. Nansen. Juell. Amundsen. THE MEMBEE, OF THE ERPEDITION, AFTEE THEIR RETURN TO CHRI, TIANIA. (From a photograph.) CONCLUSION. By FRIDTJOF NANSEN. What, then, are the results of the Norwegian Polar Expedition? This is a question which the reader might fairly expect to find answered here; but the scientific observations brought back are so varied and voluminous that it will be some time yet before they can be dealt with by specialists and before any general estimate of their significance can be formed. It will, therefore, be necessary to publish these results in separate scientific publications; and if I now attempted to give an idea of them, it would necessarily be imperfect, and might easily prove misleading. I shall, therefore, confine myself to pointing out a few of their more important features. In the first place, we have demonstrated that the sea in the immediate neighbourhood of the Pole, and in which, in my opinion, the Pole itself in all probability lies, is a deep basin, not a shallow one containing many expanses of land and islands, as people were formerly inclined to assume. It is certainly a continuation of the deep channel which extends from the Atlantic Ocean northwards between Spitzbergen and Greenland. The extent of this deep sea is a question which it is not at present easy to answer; but we at least know that it extends a long way north of Franz Josef Land, and eastwards right to the New Siberian Islands. I believe that it extends still further east, as, I think, may be inferred from the fact that, the more the Jeannette Expedition drifted north, the greater depth of sea did they find. For various reasons, I am led to believe that in a northerly...