The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 56, December 2, 1897 | Page 4

in Haiti greatly appreciate the methods which our foreign ministers employ.
In the course of the discussions over the Haitian troubles it has been said that while we are not formal in our diplomatic work, and do not always use the polite forms which etiquette demands, our ministers have a manly, direct way of going about their business which gains the desired point every time.
Serious trouble is not anticipated with Haiti; it is really too small a place to be able to oppose a great country like Germany. If 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.
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Nansen, the Arctic explorer, is in this country, and it will interest you to know that he fully believes that Andrée 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 Andrée 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 Andrée'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 zo?logy, 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 during this Greenland winter that enabled him to get one hundred and ninety-five miles nearer the North Pole than any one else had ever done.
He also learned from his Arctic friends how to handle dog-teams.
The Eskimos use dogs for travelling as the Laplanders use reindeer. The dogs are, however, much more difficult to handle, for while they are hardy, strong, intelligent, and willing, they do not make good servants. All their training cannot entirely tame them, and they have certain ways and habits which lessen their usefulness.
They are, for instance, terrible fighters.
Every one who possesses a canine friend knows that this is a very dog-like attribute, and one of which no dog, large or small, can be entirely broken.
We all appreciate how unpleasant it is to be out walking with our favorite French bulldog, and suddenly have our be-ribboned aristocrat forget the dignity that his long pedigree should give him, and dash from our side to make tufts of hair fly from somebody else's equally be-ribboned poodle.
Such an occurrence is serious enough--but it becomes a matter of life and death when, miles from home in a frozen country, you are depending on your dogs to bring you safely back again, and your team forgets its duty and becomes a waving mass of legs and tails, from which you hear nothing but the howls of the vanquished. A dog-fight often becomes one of the most terrible catastrophes that can overtake an explorer.
With these fierce little Eskimo dogs, the result of such an encounter means generally the loss of two or three, and a walk home with the wounded survivors occupying the sled.
Under the circumstances it is very necessary to understand how to handle these useful but eccentric beasts. The Eskimos have reduced this knowledge