Chapter XXV: Conclusion: By Dr. 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 neighborhood 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 northward 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 eastward right to the New Siberian Islands. I believe that it extends still farther 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 direction also this deep sea is of considerable extent. In the first place, nothing was observed, either during the drift of the Fram or during our sledge expedition to the north, that would point to the proximity of any considerable expanse of land; the ice seemed to drift unimpeded, particularly in a northerly direction. The way in which the drift set straight to the north as soon as there was a southerly wind was most striking. It was with the greatest difficulty that the wind could head the drift back towards the southeast. Had there been any considerable expanse of land within reasonable distance to the north of us, it would have blocked the free movement of the ice in that direction. Besides, the large quantity of drift-ice, which drifts southward with great rapidity along the east coast of Greenland all the way down to Cape Farewell and beyond it, seems to point in the same direction. Such extensive ice-fields must have a still larger breadth of sea to come from than that through which we drifted. Had the Fram continued her drift instead of breaking loose to the north of Spitzbergen, she would certainly have come down along the coast of Greenland; but probably she would not have got close in to that coast, but would have had a certain quantity of ice between her and it; and that ice must come from a sea lying north of our route. On the other hand, it is quite probable that land may exist to a considerable extent on the other side of the Pole between the Pole and the North American archipelago. It appears to me only reasonable to assume that this multitude of islands must extend farther towards the north.

As a result of our expedition, I think we can now form a fairly clear idea of the way in which the drift-ice is continually moving from one side of the polar basin north of Bering Strait and the coast of Siberia, and across the regions around the Pole, and out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Where geographers at one time were disposed to locate a solid, immovable, and massive ice-mantle, covering the northern extremity of our globe, we now find a continually breaking and shifting expanse of drift-ice. The evidence which even before our expedition had induced me to believe most strongly in this theory is supplied by the Siberian drift-wood that is continually being carried to Greenland, as well as the mud found on the ice, as it could scarcely be of other than Siberian origin. We found several indications of this kind during our expedition, even when we were as far north as 86°, furnishing valuable indications as to the movement of the ice.

The force which sets this ice in motion is certainly for the most part supplied by the winds; and as in the sea north of Siberia the prevailing winds are southeasterly or easterly, whereas north of Spitzbergen they are northeasterly, they must carry the ice in the direction in which we found the drift. From the numerous observations I made I established the existence of a slow current in the water under the ice, travelling in the same direction. But it will be some time before the results of these investigations can be calculated and checked.

The hydrographic observations made during the expedition furnished some surprising data. Thus, for instance, it was customary to look upon the polar basin as being filled with cold water, the temperature of which stood somewhere about -1.5° C. Consequently our observations showing that under the cold surface there was warmer water, sometimes at a temperature as high as +1° C., were surprising. Again, this water was more briny than the water of the polar basin has been assumed to be. This warmer and more strongly saline water must clearly originate from the warmer current of the Atlantic Ocean (the Gulf Stream), flowing in a north and northeasterly direction off Novaya Zemlya and along the west coast of Spitzbergen, and then diving under the colder, but lighter and less briny, water of the Polar Sea, and filling up the depths of the polar basin. As I have stated in the course of my narrative, this more briny water was, as a rule, warmest at a depth of from 200 to 250 fathoms, beyond which it would decrease in temperature, though not uniformly, as the depth increased. Near the bottom the temperature rose again, though only slightly. These hydrographic observations appear to modify to a not inconsiderable extent the theories hitherto entertained as to the direction of the currents in the northern seas; but it is a difficult matter to deal with, as there is a great mass of material, and its further treatment will demand both time and patience. It must therefore be left to subsequent scientific publications.

Still less do I contemplate attempting to enter here into a discussion on the numerous magnetic, astronomical, and meteorological observations taken. At the end of this work I merely give a table showing the mean temperatures for each month during the drift of the Fram and during our sledging expedition.

On the whole, it may probably be said that, although the expedition has left many problems for the future to solve in connection with the polar area, it has, nevertheless, gone far to lift the veil of mystery which has hitherto shrouded those regions, and we have been put in a position to form a tolerably clear and reasonable idea of a portion of our globe that formerly lay in darkness, which only the imagination could penetrate. And should we in the near future get a bird's-eye view of the regions around the Pole as seen from a balloon, all the most material features will be familiar to us.

But there still remains a great deal to be investigated, and this can only be done by years of observation, to which end a new drift, like that of the Fram, would be invaluable. Guided by our experience, explorers will be in a position to equip themselves still better; but a more convenient method for the scientific investigation of unknown regions cannot easily be imagined. On board a vessel of this kind explorers may settle themselves quite as comfortably as in a fixed scientific station. They can carry their laboratories with them, and the most delicate experiments of all kinds can be carried out. I hope that such an expedition may be undertaken ere long, and if it goes through Bering Strait and thence northward, or perhaps slightly to the northeast, I shall be very much surprised if observations are not taken which will prove of far greater scope and importance than those made by us. But it will require patience: the drift will be more protracted than ours, and the explorers must be well equipped.

There is also another lesson which I think our expedition has taught--namely, that a good deal can be achieved with small resources. Even if explorers have to live in Eskimo fashion and content themselves with the barest necessaries, they may, provided they are suitably equipped, make good headway and cover considerable distances in regions which have hitherto been regarded as almost inaccessible.

Mean Temperatures (Fahr.) for every Month
during the Drift of the "Fram"

Months 1893 1894 1895 1896
° ° ° °

January -- -32.3 -28.1 -35.3
February -- -32.1 -34.2 -30.5
March -- -35.1 -30.6 - 1.7
April -- - 6.1 -19.7 - 0.6
May -- +13.8 +10.2 +12.6
June -- +29.3 +28.0 +28.9
July -- +32.4 +32.5 +31.8
August -- +30.2 +27.3 +34.1
September +29.1 +17.1 +14.9 --
October - 1.1 - 8.5 - 6.2 --
November -11.6 -23.4 -23.6 --
December -20.6 -30.8 -27.2 --

Continuous Periods of Temperature under -40°

Years Dates
January February March November December

1894 11 to 12 3 to 7 5 to 15 14 to 15 8 to 10
14 to 15 11 to 19 17 to 19 -- 17 to 18
27 to 29 23 to 24 25 to 26 -- 30 to 1 [93]

1895 14 to 18 9 to 10 19 to 23 20 to 23 7 to 8
23 to 26 13 to 16 26 to 28 -- --
-- 18 to 22 -- -- --

1896 29 [94] to 18 4 to 9 4 to 5 -- --
-- 11 to 20 -- -- --

The Mean Temperature of the Twenty-four Hours for these
Periods

Years January February March November December
° ° ° ° °

1894 -36.8 -48.5 -47.9 -- -40.7
-39.1 -43.4 -45.8 -42.3 -37.3
-40.5 -38.6 -40.2 -- -42.7

1895 -41.1 -41.4 -39.8 -- --
-46.3 -43.1 -37.7 -41.1 -39.5
-- -42.2 -- -- --

1896 -45.8 -41.1 -35.7 -- --
-- -43.2 -- -- --

NOTES

[1] He did not return, after all.

[2] We had used for this purpose our pure grape-spirit.

[3] The word svalkelem, which has throughout been translated "gangway," means rather a sort of port-hole. As the svalkelem, however, was the means of exit from and entrance to the ship, "gangway" seemed the most convenient expression for it.

[4] The crossbars on the sledge that connect the perpendicular supports of the runners with each other.

[5] The sledge runners were connected in front by a bow, consisting of three or four pieces of rattan cane lashed together; it is to this bow the hauling-lines are fastened.

[6] This odometer had been made on board, shortly before starting, out of the works of an old anemometer. The odometer was fastened behind the last sledge, and indicated fairly correctly the distance covered by us.

[7] They were 12 feet long, 1 foot 9 1/2 inches broad, and rode about 5 inches above the snow.

[8] Compare my description of "finsko," in The First Crossing of Greenland, pp. 47 and 48.

[9] I had also had prepared a large quantity of pemmican, consisting of equal parts of meat-powder and vegetable fat (from the cocoanut). This pemmican, however, proved to be rather an unfortunate invention; even the dogs would not eat it after they had tasted it once or twice. Perhaps this is accounted for by the fact that vegetable fat is heavily digested, and contains acids which irritate the mucous membranes of the stomach and throat.

[10] It was not advisable, for many reasons, to cross the lanes in the kayaks, now that the temperature was so low. Even if the water in them had not nearly always been covered with a more or less thick layer of ice, the kayaks would have become much heavier from the immediate freezing of the water which would have entered, as they proved to be not absolutely impervious; and this ice we had then no means of dislodging.

[11] Used by the Lapps to their dog.--Trans.

[12] Whereas eating snow may increase the above-mentioned feeling of thirst, and have disagreeable consequences in other ways, sucking a piece of ice, which will soon quench it, may safely be resorted to, particularly if it be held in the hand a little while before putting it in the mouth. Many travellers have, no doubt, had the same experience.

[13] We always kept a supply of our various provisions in small bags inside the kayaks, so that we could get out whatever we wanted for our daily consumption without undoing the big sacks, which were sewed up or securely fastened in other ways.

[14] When I left the ship I had purposed to travel northward for 50 days, for which time we had taken provender for the dogs.

[15] This was the latitude I got by a rough estimation, but on further calculation it proved to be 86° 13.6' N.; the longitude was about 95° E.

[16] I felt convinced we could not have reached such a westerly longitude, but assumed this for the sake of certainty, as I would rather come down on the east side of Franz Josef Land than on the west side. Should we reach the latitude of Petermann's Land or Prince Rudolf Land without seeing them, I should in the former case be certain that we had them on our west, and could then look for them in that direction, whereas, in the event of our not finding land and being uncertain whether we were too far east or too far west, we should not then know in what direction we ought to look for it.

[17] We saw no real ice-mountains at any period of our journey before we got under land; everything was sea-ice. The same was the case during the drift of the Fram.

[18] In point of fact it was nearly three months (till July 24) before this marvel happened.

[19] As on the previous day, the ice on the north side of the lane was moving westward, in comparison with that on the south side. The same thing was the case, or could be seen to have been so, with the lanes we met with later in the day. We naturally conceived this to mean that there was a strong westerly drift in the ice northward, while that southward was retained by land.

[20] The lanes form most frequently in windy weather, as the ice is then set in motion.

[21] In point of fact, we were then about 6° farther east than we thought. I had on April 14th, it will be remembered (compare my notes for that day), surmised that the longitude I then set down (86° E.) was more westerly than that we were actually in.

[22] For melting water in the cooker it is better to use ice than snow, particularly if the latter be not old and granular. Newly fallen snow gives little water, and requires considerably more heat to warm it. That part of salt-water ice which is above the surface of the sea, and, in particular, prominent pieces which have been exposed to the rays of the sun during a summer and are thus freed from the greater part of their salt, furnish excellent drinking-water. Some expeditions have harbored the superstition that drinking-water from ice in which there was the least salt was injurious. This is a mistake which cost, for instance, the members of the Jeannette expedition much unnecessary trouble, as they thought it imperative to distil the water before they could drink it without incurring the risk of scurvy.

[23] As will be understood by our later discoveries, my surmises were not quite correct. We really were at that time north or northeast of Wilczek's Land, which seems to be only a little island. Meanwhile there must have been extensive open water the previous autumn where this ice was formed. But when it is shown later how much open water we saw on the northwest coast of Franz Josef Land even in winter, this can easily be imagined.

[24] Whereas Finn shoes are made of reindeer-skin with the hair on, "komager" are made of under-tanned hide without hair, generally from the ox or bearded seal (Phoca barbata), with tops of reindeer-skin. They are strong and water-proof. (See description of equipment.)

[25] It was undoubtedly from seals, which often utter a sound like a protracted "ho!"

[26] It was from about 82° 52' N. south to 82° 19' N. that we travelled over young ice of this description; that is to say, there must have been open water over a distance of fully 32 English geographical miles (33' of latitude). We also found ice of this kind farther south for a long distance, and the open sea must have been considerably greater.

[27] It was the first diary I used on the sledge journey.

[28] Until this day we had eaten what we required without weighing out rations. It proved that, after all, we did not eat more than what I had originally allowed per day--i.e., 1 kilo. of dried food. We now reduced these day's rations considerably.

[29] It was probably pressure of the floes against each other which caused this movement. We noticed the same motion several times later.

[30] We found water on the ice here suitable for cooking for the first time. It was, however, somewhat salt, so that the "fiskegratin" was too well seasoned.

[31] As it proved later, we were, in reality, about 6° farther east than we thought.

[32] I called my watch thus after Johannsen, the watchmaker in London who supplied it.

[33] In reality we were somewhat near the point I here assume (we were in 67° E., approximately). The reason why we did not see the land here mentioned was because it does not exist, as was proved later.

[34] A proper hauling harness is an important item, and in the long run is much less trying than the ordinary hauling strap or rope crosswise over the chest and one shoulder. The form of harness I use consists of two straps, which are passed over both shoulders, like the straps of a knap-sack, and are fastened crosswise over the back to a leather belt, where the hauling-rope from the sledge is also attached. It is thus in one's power during the work of hauling to distribute the strain equally between both shoulders and the belt (i.e., the thighs and abdomen). The hauling "centre of gravity" is in this manner lower in the body, just above the legs, which do the work, and the hauling-rope does not, as is usually the case, press only on the upper part of the body.

[35] Certain straps which are fixed on the kayak, just in front of the occupant, and through which the paddle is passed when shooting, etc. The blade thus lying laterally on the water very much increases the steadiness of the occupants.

[36] Compare, however, what I say on this subject later--i.e., July 24th.

[37] This was taken in case it might be wanted for soldering the cooking apparatus or the German-silver plates under the sledge-runners.

[38] We eventually decided to retain this, however.

[39] The vessel we expected to catch in Spitzbergen.

[40] This supposition is extremely doubtful.

[41] It proved later that this must be Crown Prince Rudolf Land.

[42] In reality we were probably farther from it than before.

[43] We saw more and more of these remarkable birds the farther we went.

[44] As a rule, we crossed the lanes in this manner; we placed the sledges, with the kayaks on, side by side, lashed them together, stiffened them by running the snow-shoes across under the straps, which also steadied them, and then launched them as they were, with the sledges lashed underneath. When across, we had only to haul them up on the other side.

[45] The first island I called "Eva's Island," the second "Liv's Island," and the little one we were then on "Adelaide's Island." The fourth island south of us had, perhaps, already been seen by Payer, and named by him "Freeden Island." The whole group of islands I named "Hvidtenland" (White Land).

[46] Icebergs of considerable size have been described as having been seen off Franz Josef Land, but I can only say with reference to this that during the whole of our voyage through this archipelago we saw nothing of the kind. The one mentioned here was the biggest of all those we came across, and they were, compared with the Greenland icebergs, quite insignificant masses of glacier-ice.

[47] I have called it granite in my diary, but it was in reality a very coarse-grained basalt. The specimens I took have unfortunately been lost.

[48] "Houen's Island."

[49] "Torup's Island."

[50] This color is owing to a beautiful minute red alga, which grows on the snow (generally Spaerella nivalis). There were also some yellowish-green patches in this snow, which must certainly be attributed to another species of alga.

[51] It proved later to be Crown Prince Rudolf's Land.

[52] Off Brögger's Foreland.

[53] Clements Markham's Foreland.

[54] Helland's Foreland.

[55] On Helland's Foreland.

[56] I took specimens of the different rock formations, lichens, etc., that we came across; but in the course of the winter the collection was stolen by the foxes, and I thus brought little home from the tracts north of our winter hut.

[57] As this promontory is probably the land Jackson saw farthest north in the spring of 1895, it has no name upon my map. It is otherwise with the islands outside, which he did not notice. They are only indicated approximately (as Geelmuyden Island and Alexander's Island), as I am not certain of either their number or their exact situation.

[58] These three islands, whose bearings we were subsequently enabled to take, and which we could see from our winter hut, are probably the land which Jackson saw and took to be "King Oscar Land." In consequence of his having seen them from only one point (his Cape Fisher), due south, in 81°, he has placed them 40' too far north, in 82°), having overestimated their distance. (See his map in the Geographical Journal, Vol. VII., No. 6, December, 1896, London.)

[59] Called Steinen on the map.

[60] I now thought I could safely conclude that we were on the west coast of Franz Josef Land, and were at this moment a little north of Leigh Smith's most northwesterly point, Cape Lofley, which should lie a little south of 81° north latitude, while our observation that day made us about 81° 19' north latitude.

[61] Ice which is frozen fast to the bottom, and is therefore often left lying like an icy base along the shore even after the sea is free from ice. On account of the warm water which comes from the land, an open channel is often formed between this ice-base and the shore.

[62] It was a registering thermometer, which was also used as a sling-thermometer.

[63] It often blew very fresh there under the mountain. Another time, one of my snow-shoes, which was stuck into the snowdrift beside the hut, was broken short off by the wind. It was a strong piece of maple.

[64] Christmas-eve and New-year's-eve were the only occasions on which we allowed ourselves to take any of the provisions which we were keeping for our journey southward.

[65] These rumblings in the glacier are due to rifts which are formed in the mass of ice when the cold causes it to contract. New rifts seemed to be formed only when the temperature sank lower than it had previously been in the course of that winter; at least, it was only then that we heard the rumblings.

[66] It proved afterwards that the distance was about 56 miles.

[67] We had now, as the spring advanced, a good opportunity of seeing how the little auk in great flocks and the black guillemots in smaller numbers, invariably set forth from land at certain times of the day towards the open sea, and then at other times returned in unbroken lines up the ice-bound fjords to their nest-rocks again.

[68] This was a slip of the pen; it ought to be 102° east longitude.

[69] Jackson's "Cape M'Clintock."

[70] Jackson, who saw it in the spring of 1895, called it Mary Elizabeth Island.

[71] Jackson's "Cape Fisher."

[72] This was on the south side of Jackson's "Cape Richthofen," the most northerly point which Jackson had reached earlier the same spring.

[73] It proved afterwards to be "Hooker Island."

[74] It proved to be "Northbrook Island."

[75] The sound between Northbrook Island and Bruce Island on the one side and Peter Head, on Alexandra Land, on the other side.

[76] Cape Barents.

[77] The ice-foot is the part of a floe which often projects into the water under the surface. It is formed through the thawing of the upper part of the ice in the summer-time by the warmer surface layer of the sea.

[78] He had reached Cape Richthofen, about 35 miles to the south of us.

[79] We had not any nautical almanac for 1896, and had hitherto used the almanac for the previous year.

[80] New Lands within the Arctic Circle. By J. Payer, Vol. II., p. 129.

[81] Where they are generally called diabases.

[82] Leigh Smith had already brought back from Spitzbergen a fossil cone, which Carruthers classified as a Pinus; but he regarded it as belonging to the upper part of the cretaceous system.

[83] I did not dream that Sverdrup a year after would be in command of this steamer.

[84] Jackson had brought with him several Russian horses, which he had used along with dogs on his sledge expeditions. Only one of these horses was alive at the time of our arrival.

[85] Vide pp. 91-98, Vol. II.

[86] Little "Barnet," who weighed only 38 pounds, and was one of the smallest of the dogs, was a regular fighter, and, as a rule, the aggressor.

[87] On April 18th, when the doctor and I were out looking for a suitable piece of ice for determining the specific gravity of the ice, we observed a remarkable drop of water hanging under a projecting corner of a large block of ice, reared up high by pressure. There it hung, in the shade, quivering in the fresh breeze, although the thermometer registered about -23° of frost. "That must be very salt," I said, and tasted it--"Phew!" It was salt in very truth--rank salt, like the strongest brine.

[88] These are well-known localities in Christiania, Engebret's being a restaurant.

[89] A small keelless boat.

[90] A round wicker snow-shoe like a basket-lid.

[91] This claret was made for the occasion, and consisted of the juice of dried red whortleberries and bilberries, with the addition of a little spirits. I was highly complimented on this beverage, and served it again on other occasions.

[92] Twenty-eight days' work of forcing this more or less closely packed ice had brought us a distance of 180 miles.

[93] January

[94] December

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