Lockwood and Brainard reached the latitude of
83 deg. 24'. The observations of Greely and Ray added not a little
knowledge concerning the meteorology and tides of the arctic regions.
The sledge journey of Lockwood and Brainard practically established the
fact that Greenland is an island.

Of all attempts to reach the pole, the most daring was that adopted by
S. A. Andree, a Swedish explorer. Andree had been to the polar regions
before, and being something of an aeronaut, believed that he could reach
or pass over the pole in a balloon. In carrying out his plan he had
constructed a monster balloon capable of floating in the air thirty
days, due allowance being made for the daily escape of gas by permeation
through the envelope. This balloon, with necessary accessories, was
shipped to Danes Island, one of the Spitzbergen group. Everything being
ready July 11, 1897, Andree set forth on his perilous trip accompanied
by two companions. The balloon carried a load of about five tons,
including food, clothing, ballast, scientific instruments, and men.

On being let loose the balloon arose six hundred feet, and then
descended to the surface of the sea owing to the entanglement of the
guide ropes and ballast lines. Three heavy guide ropes nine hundred feet
long were used, to which were attached eight ballast lines two hundred
and fifty feet long. The ropes were cut and ballast was thrown out, when
the balloon again rose and the wind bore it away over a mountainous
island one thousand five hundred feet high. In an hour it had passed
below the northeastern horizon. Three message buoys were dropped on the
day of Andree's departure, reporting fine weather, all well, and
altitude eight hundred and twenty feet; from that time on no traces of
the daring unfortunates have ever been found.

Fridtjof Nansen, who had spent some time in the exploration of
Greenland, had also reached the conclusion that a polar current sweeps
across the Arctic Ocean from Bering Sea to the north coast of Greenland.
He therefore set out with a picked crew in a small steamship, the
_Fram_,1893, entering the Arctic at Bering Strait. After the _Fram_ had
been caught in the ice-pack, Nansen and his companion, Johansen, started
toward the north pole with dog sledges. They reached latitude 86 deg. 14';
finding that the ice was drifting southward, they made for Franz Josef
Land, where they spent the winter, and then started for Spitzbergen. On
their way they were fo