The Times of Tuesday gives the details of Dr. Nansen's
projected Polar Expedition. He means to start next year, and to make direct for the mouth of the Lena, in Siberia, either by the Kara Sea route or by Behring Straits. He believes that a current sets from the Siberian coast across the Pole to Greenland, as various objects have been discovered on the Greenland coast which could only have got there from Siberia, or the sea north of it. Dr. Nansen expects to be away three or four years, but his ship will be provisioned for six. His V-shaped vessel will be about 250 tons, will accommo- date twelve men, and will be so strongly built as to be imper- vious to ice-nipping. Alcohol will only be taken in the medicine- chest or as fuel. He will take apparatus for providing electric light,—a • great boon in the terrific gloom of the Arctic winter. When Dr. Nansen returns from the North Pole, he will attempt to get as near as possible to the South. We should not be surprised if the expedition at last solved the many fascinating mysteries that surround the Pole. It undoubtedly will start under good auspices.
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