Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/171

 with it expected to force his way through the ice to the pole. The steamer is called the Ermack, and is a very powerful ship, able to stand fifteen times the strain which may safely be brought to bear upon the average steel ship. In breaking the ice, the Ermack rises upon it and crushes it down. The forward propeller sucks away the water underneath the ice, and thus reduces the resistance.

Admiral Marakoff believed that the ice near the pole was thin, and that his ship would be able to steam directly to that long-sought-for goal. But in battling against the wide and heavy ice floes of the Arctic ocean, the Ermack proved a failure. It is said, however, that she made five successful trips between Nova Zembla and Franz Josef land.

Another expedition, the progress of which was watched with interest, was that of the Duke of Abruzzi, who is cousin to the king of Italy. He started for the North Pole in the Stella Polare, in 1899. In the spring of 1900, he succeeded in arriving within 239.15 statute miles of the pole. This record surpassed Nansen's by twenty-three miles, and is, therefore, the best yet made.

It is said that Abruzzi and Nansen will join in command of an expedition which will start from Franz Josef land. Both men have done valuable work in the icy North, and important results are expected from their united efforts.

Captain Bernier, a French Canadian, planned to enter the Arctic by way of Bering strait. He expected then to travel over the route taken by the Jeannette. Bernier hoped to be carried near the pole by the ice drift. When he had reached a suitable place, he intended to leave his ship and proceed to the pole by means of dog sledges, reindeer sledges, and boats. The newly invented system