The experts still differ as to the probability that Nansen
is returning after having reached the North Pole. They all, however, allow that it is possible, and all hold that the news sent forward was believed by Kusbnareff, who is the Baring of the Siberian region, and who is known to be absent on a trading speculation in the Siberian islands. Probably the most authentic account of the receipt of the news, whether true or false, is quoted by P. Krapotkin from the Russian Telegraphic Agency in a letter to the Times :—" Irkutsk, January 31 (February 12).—The contractor for Naneen, Kushnareff, through the Kolymsk ispravnik (chief of police) Kandakoff, by mail from Yakutsk to Kirensk, and thence by telegraph, informs the Eastern Review that Nansen has reached the Pole, has discovered land, and returns." The description of Kandakoff, adds Prince Krapotkin, is inaccurate. He is not a police officer, but a Councillor in the Provincial Government of Yakutsk, and a member of the Yakutsk expedition. Detailed news, if the report is true, should reach Western Europe in the early days of June.
