and that it is very probable that they passed the actual Pole at a
distance of a few hundred metres, perhaps even less.

I am, etc.,

(Signed) Anton Alexander.

Christiania,

September 22, 1912.




CHAPTER V

Oceanography

Remarks of the Oceanographical Investigation carried out by the "Fram"
in the North Atlantic in 1910 and in the South Atlantic in 1911. By
Professor Bjorn Helland-Hansen and Professor Fridtjof Nansen

In the earliest ages of the human race the sea formed an absolute
barrier. Men looked out upon its immense surface, now calm and
bright, now lashed by storms, and always mysteriously attractive;
but they could not grapple with it. Then they learned to make boats;
at first small, simple craft, which could only be used when the sea
was calm. But by degrees the boats were made larger and more perfect,
so that they could venture farther out and weather a storm if it
came. In antiquity the peoples of Europe accomplished the navigation