over. At last I managed to reach the edge of the ice. I shook and
trembled all over, while Johansen pulled off the wet things and packed
me into the sleeping-bag. The critical situation was saved."

And now came one of those rare historic days in the history of
exploration. It was 17th June 1896. Nansen was surveying the lonely
line of coast, when suddenly the barking of a dog fell on his ear,
and soon in front he saw the fresh tracks of some animal. "It was with
a strange mixture of feelings," he says, "that I made my way among
the numerous hummocks towards land. Suddenly I thought I heard a human
voice--the first for three years. How my heart beat and the blood rushed
to my brain as I halloed with all the strength of my lungs. Soon I
heard another shout and saw a dark form moving among the hummocks.
It was a man. We approached one another quickly. I waved my hat; he
did the same. As I drew nearer I thought I recognised Mr. Jackson,
whom I remembered once to have seen. I raised my hat; we extended a
hand to one another with a hearty 'How do you do?' Above us a roof
of mist, beneath our feet the rugged packed drift ice."

"Ar'n't you Nansen?" he said.

"Yes, I am," was the answer.

And, seizing the grimy hand of the Arctic explorer, he shook it warmly,
congratulating him on his successful trip. Jackson and his companions
had wintered at Cape Flora, the southern point of Franz Josef Land,
and they were expecting a ship, the _Windward_, to take them home.
On 26th July the _Windward_ steamed slowly in, and by 13th August she
reached Norway, and the news of Nansen's safe arrival was made known
to the whole world. A week later the little _Fram_, "strong and broad
and weather-beaten," also returned in safety. And on 9th September
1896, Nansen and his brave companions on board the _Fram_ sailed up
Christiania Fjiord in triumph.

He had reached a point farthest North, and been nearer to the North
Pole than had any explorer before.

CHAPTER LXXII

PEARY REACHES THE NORTH POLE

The 6th April 1909 is a marked day in the annals of exploration, for
on that day Peary succeeded in reaching the North Pole, which for
centuries had defied the efforts of man; on that day he attained the
goal for which the greatest nations of the world had struggled for
over four hundred years. Indeed, he had spent twenty-three years of
his own life labouring toward this end.

He was mainly inspired by reading Nordenskiold's _Exploratio