f she does not
speedily obey the wishes of the German government, a taste of the
war-ship's big guns will soon bring her to her senses.
* * * * *
Nansen, the Arctic explorer, is in this country, and it will interest
you to know that he fully believes that Andree is all right, and will
return safely in due course of time.
Of all men Fridjiof Nansen is best able to form an opinion as to the
likelihood of Professor Andree ever returning to us, for he himself has
penetrated farther north than any other Arctic explorer, and has learned
so much about the Polar Sea that he is able to form a good opinion as to
the possibilities of Andree's success.
Nansen returned from his famous voyage before THE GREAT ROUND WORLD came
into existence, and so you might perhaps like to have us tell you about
him.
He is a young Norwegian, only thirty-six years old; very young to have
made such a great record.
At the age of nineteen he entered the University of Christiania and
devoted himself to the study of zooelogy, or the science of animals and
animal life, from man to the lowest form of life.
When he was twenty he made a voyage into the Northern seas for the
purpose of studying animal life in high latitudes.
When he returned he was made Curator of the Natural History Museum in
Bergen, Norway. A curator is a person in whose charge the valuable
collections in a museum are placed. He is the caretaker or custodian of
all the priceless treasures the museum contains.
Six years later Nansen made a trip across Greenland on snow-shoes.
There had long been a theory that in the interior of Greenland there
were fertile spots capable of cultivation.
Nansen proved that Greenland is covered with a huge ice-sheet, and is,
in fact, one vast glacier which rises slightly toward the interior, the
surface of the ice-cap being only occasionally interrupted by mountains
which protrude from the ice.
Nansen believed that an Arctic explorer should be able to live the same
life as the natives of the land he was exploring, and during his winter
in Greenland he lived much with the Eskimos, sleeping in their rude huts
of stone and dirt, and joining in their hunts on land and sea.
He learned many useful lessons of these people. One was how to make and
manage a kayak, or Eskimo boat, which he declares to be the handiest,
lightest, and absolutely best small boat constructed.
It was the knowledge that he gained duri
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