NANSEN’S VOYAGES. 237

would some day be crossed. It might be possible that
the current would not carry them exactly across the
Pole, but it could not easily be very far off, and the
principal thing was to explore the unknown Polar
regions, not to reach exactly that mathematical point in
which the axis of our globe has its northern termination.

He sailed, on June 24, 1893, from Christiana for the
Kara Sea, after which he hoped to get his vessel packed
in the ice and thus drifted across the Polar region by a
northwest current, which he believes to exist. Advices
show that the first part of his journey was safely ac-
complished. He expected to be gone three years, and
was looked for in the autumn of 1806.

In February, 1896, the following despatch was re-
ceived from St. Petersburg :

“Dr. Fridtjof Nansen has reached the North Pole!
He has found land there and has planted the Nor-
wegian flag at the very axis of the earth! He is now
returning to Christiana in his brave ship, the fram,
which sailed from that port on June 24, 1893!”

This despatch was discredited by Arctic authorities.
Authentic information of the voyage was not received
till August 14, 1896, when Nansen and his companion
reached Franz Josef Land.

This is Dr. Nansen’s story of the voyage of the
fram, up to the time he left her:

“The Fram left Jugor Strait August 4, 1893. We
had to force our way through much ice along the
Siberian coast. We discovered an island in the Kara
Sea and a great number of islands along the coast to
Cape Chelyuskin. In several places we found evidences
of a glacial epoch, during which Northern Siberia must
have been covered by an inland ice toa great extent.