Page:In the high heavens.djvu/65

 accomplishes in the course of many centuries extend over a wide sweep of the heavens; this naturally suggests the question, Does the Pole in the earth move about in the body of the earth in any similar manner, and if so, what is the nature and extent of its variation? Here is the point about which those researches have been made which it is my object to discuss. Let us first see clearly the issue that is raised. At the time of the building of the Pyramids the Pole in the heavens was in quite a different place from its present position; the present Pole Star had not at that time the slightest title to be so called; in fact, the point around which the heavens revolved lay in a wholly different constellation. It was certainly not far from the star Alpha Draconis about 3000, and we could indicate its position quite definitely if we had any exact knowledge as to the date of the erection of the Pyramids. It is, however, plain that the difference was so patent between the celestial Pole at the time of the Pyramids and the celestial Pole of later centuries, that it could not be overlooked in attentive observation of the heavens. As the North Pole in the sky was, therefore, so different in the time of the Pharaohs from the North Pole in the time of Victoria, it is proper to ask whether there was a like difference, or any difference at all, between the terrestrial Pole at the time of the building of the Pyramids and that terrestrial Pole, in quest of which Nansen has just set off. If Pharaoh had despatched a successful expedition to the North Pole and driven a post in there to mark it, and if Nansen were now successful, would he find that the North Pole in the earth which he was to mark occupied the same position or a different position from that which had been discovered thousands of years previously?