A careful study of all the known phenomena of the Arctic Basin, and the records of all the exploring, whaling, and sealing voyages in these waters which were accessible, impressed two facts upon him--one, that the currents of the Polar Basin were more regular and more powerful agents than had been previously supposed; the other, that the failure of the great expeditions to the north was in most cases due to the great number of men carried, and the labor involved in keeping open a line of retreat. The moral of this is simple enough: to sail as far as possible with the currents, to take as few men as possible, and these in thorough training for Arctic work, and to make no provision for retreat. For the valor and heroic efforts of the earlier Arctic explorers there can never be anything but praise; those men fought against the most terrific odds, and stood their ground without flinching, and their opinion on all matters connected with Arctic travel carries the utmost weight. Nansen breaks away from all tradition; he goes right against every cherished principle of all the older Arctic men. He will secure no line of retreat, he will carry only eleven men with him, every one of whom is inured to hardship and expert in ice-travel. He is bound by no orders, but has perfect freedom to alter his plans should circumstances seem to demand it. His plan is to drift with the currents, and the evidence for the currents moving in the direction he wishes to go is as follows: The great drift of polar water southward along the east coasts of Labrador and of Greenland has been known from the beginning of Atlantic navigation, and the icebergs and floes carried along are serious obstacles to the shipping of the North Atlantic. It is estimated that between Greenland and Spitzbergen about eighty or ninety cubic miles of water pour southward every day. The current, like that down Smith Sound, flows from the north, but the water cannot originate there. There is a very slight northward extension of the Gulf Stream drift along the west coasts of Spitzbergen and Greenland, but the main drift of North Atlantic water from the southward sets round the North Cape of Norway, keeping the sea free from ice all the year round. It is felt in the Kara Sea, and as a north-easterly stream along the coast of Novaya Zemlya. It is difficult to estimate the volume of this drift, but from certain observations made by the Norwegian Government it seems to be about sixty cubic miles per day. There is a current running on the whole northward from the Pacific through Bering Strait with a volume of perhaps fifteen cubic miles a day, and in addition there is the volume of perhaps two cubic miles daily poured out during summer by the great American and Siberian rivers. This water is fresh and warm, and accumulating near shore in autumn it gives rise to the ice-free border which let the "Vega" slip round the north of Asia. Even where the sea is covered with floating