This expedition, and others which had preceded it, gave little encouragement to Americans to continue Arctic exploration, although the results achieved had been important. Kane lost the _Advance_; his party had to undergo great privations, and had ultimately to retreat in boats. The _Polaris_ was lost, and many of the members of the expedition had to suffer greatly. De Long lost the _Jeannette_, and a large number of his party met a terrible fate; and now Greely’s expedition was the climax of them all. [Illustration: MAP OF FRANZ JOSEF LAND] CHAPTER X THE NORWEGIAN POLAR EXPEDITION (1893−96) In many respects this expedition is unique. It was planned by Dr. Nansen after careful consideration of many scientific facts connected with the Polar Sea, and although his theories and conclusions were opposed by many of the leading authorities of the day, the expedition was carried out almost to the letter. The _Jeannette_ expedition had a very important bearing on that of Dr. Nansen. In 1884, Professor Mohn published a paper in which it was stated that various articles which must have come from the wreck of the _Jeannette_ had been found on the south-west coast of Greenland. He believed that they must have drifted on a floe right across the Polar Sea. These articles included a list of provisions signed by De Long, the commander of the _Jeannette_; an MS. list of the _Jeannette’s_ boats; and a pair of oilskin breeches marked “Louis Noros,” the name of one of the _Jeannette’s_ crew who was saved. It occurred to Dr. Nansen that a ship might be allowed to be frozen in the ice and to drift as the articles from the _Jeannette_ must have done. This idea was propounded in an address before the Christiania Geographical Society on 18th February 1890. In this address Dr. Nansen brought forward various evidences in support of the theory that a current flows across or near the North Pole from Bering Sea on the one side to the Atlantic Ocean on the other. A “throwing-stick” used by the Alaskan Eskimo in hurling their bird-darts had been found among the drift-timber on the west coast of Greenland. It was also known that the driftwood that is carried down by the polar current along the east coast of Greenland and up the west coast consists largely of wood from the coast of Siberia. After discussing the various possible routes by which this drift might take place, Dr. Nansen came to the conclusion that a current flows at some point between the Pole and Franz-Josef Land from the Siberian Arctic Sea to the east coast of Greenland. Nansen’s plan was to build a ship as strong as possible, so as to enable it to withstand the pressure of the ice. The sides were to slope sufficiently to prevent the ice, when it presses together, from getting firm hold of the hull, as was the case with the _Jeannette_ and other vessels. Nansen’s idea was that the ice, instead of nipping the ship, must raise it out of the water.