Excerpt from The Fram Expedition: Nansen in the Frozen World

Among the subjects that are Old yet ever new, that of Arctic Exploration holds a prominent place. It interested the hardy Northmen a thousand years ago, and it has a-still stronger fasci nation for the people of the present day. It' is natural that this should be the case. The human mind is so constituted that it is, always seeking to learn about things that lie beyond the immedi: ate range Of its knowledge. Among intelligent and progressive people there is always a desire to investigate and explore the unknown. This is followed by efforts to secure the knowledge for which a wish has been formed. In the case of Arctic Explo ration, the desire to know whether there were islands or conti nents beyond the narrow range Of their Vision led the pioneers in this great work to sail upon unknown seas. Probably a love of adventure also urged them on, but this could hardly have been the leading motive in their dangerous voyages. At an early period in the history of such enterprises the commercial spirit became a factor, and in later days the love of scientific investiga tion was added to the other elements in the combination of forces which led men to brave the dangers and endure the hardships inseparable from the work of Arctic Exploration.

The latest of the great Arctic explorers to reach his home is Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, a young Norwegian scientist, who went much farther north than man had ever been, farther even than the companion who accompanied him to latitude 86° In Europe and America he is the hero cf the day. His accurate knowledge, wonderful foresight, marvellous skill, splendid execu tive ability, magnificent courage, and unconquerabl'e determina tion carried him to a success far greater than any of his prede cessors were able to secure. It is fitting that the record of his brilliant achievements should be given to the public in a handsome and a permanent form. With this end in view the present book has been prepared. It also seemed desirable that it should con tain a biography of Dr. Nansen and an account of his work, much of which was valuable, previous to the great exploit which broughthim world-wide fame. Thus the people could be brought to know the man as well as to learn Of his deeds. In order to add still further to its interest and make it not only an entertaining but also a permanently valuable book, it was decided to add other features. The great journey across the inland ice Of Greenland by Lieutenant Peary, of the United States Navy, and Eivind Astrup, is fully described, and a sketch is given Of the Second Peary Expedition. The concluding portion of the book is a connected sketch of the principal expeditions to the North from their earliest date down to the time of the ones just described. Thus the entire historical period Of Arctic Exploration to the return Of Nansen and the Franz in 1896 has been covered.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.