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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #65193 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65193)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Frozen North, by Edith Horton
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: The Frozen North
-       An Account of Arctic Exploration for Use in Schools
-
-Author: Edith Horton
-
-Release Date: April 29, 2021 [eBook #65193]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-Produced by: Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
-             at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
-             generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
-             Libraries.)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FROZEN NORTH ***
-
-
-[Illustration: MAP OF THE NORTH POLAR REGIONS]
-
-
-
-
-                                  THE
-                             FROZEN NORTH
-
-                         AN ACCOUNT OF ARCTIC
-                    EXPLORATION FOR USE IN SCHOOLS
-
-                                  BY
-                             EDITH HORTON
-
-
-                           _REVISED EDITION_
-
-
-                     D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
-                   BOSTON      NEW YORK      CHICAGO
-
-
-
-
-                        COPYRIGHT 1904 AND 1911
-                       BY D. C. HEATH & COMPANY
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE
-
-
-While abundant material has been put before children with the purpose
-of making them familiar with the history and industrial development
-of various parts of the known world, very little has been written to
-inform them of the work which is now being done in the comparatively
-unknown regions of the north, or of the history of the early
-discoveries which have led to it.
-
-The importance of the present determined search for the North Pole is
-admitted by all thoughtful people, and the subject is one which must
-increase in interest until the entire North Frigid Zone is correctly
-mapped and charted.
-
-Accounts of the pioneers in this work of discovery, of Franklin and of
-Kane, and in our own day of Nansen and Peary, are available only in
-such exhaustive works as are unsuitable reading for children, and which
-sometimes tax the patience of the adult. Hence the work done by these
-intrepid explorers upon the American continent and north of it remains
-unstudied and unknown.
-
-It is hoped that this book may give our young people sufficient
-knowledge of the subject to enable them to read farther with
-intelligence, and that it may also inspire them with interest in the
-many expeditions that are being sent out.
-
-The descriptions of the strange people who inhabit these cold
-countries, their dress, their ways of living, their customs, and their
-manners, all interest the child, and meet his natural desire to hear
-about other people than those living in the part of the world about him.
-
-No complete history has been attempted, but rather a series of
-sketches which, it is hoped, will enable the reader to appreciate the
-achievements of the brave men who have lent and are lending their best
-efforts to the task of unlocking and wresting from the Frozen North,
-the secrets so necessary for the advancement of science.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
- CHAPTER                                                          PAGE
-      I. INTRODUCTION                                                1
-     II. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 1818                                     9
-    III. FRANKLIN’S FIRST LAND JOURNEY. 1819–1821                   14
-     IV. FRANKLIN’S SECOND LAND JOURNEY. 1825–1827                  21
-      V. THE _EREBUS_ AND THE _TERROR_. 1845                        25
-     VI. ELISHA KENT KANE. 1853                                     32
-    VII. WINTER IN RENSSELAER HARBOR. 1853–1854                     36
-   VIII. THE ESKIMOS. 1854                                          40
-     IX. HUNTING IN THE ICY NORTH                                   45
-      X. HOME AGAIN. 1855                                           51
-     XI. NORDENSKJÖLD AND THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE. 1878–1879          59
-    XII. VOYAGE OF THE _JEANNETTE_. 1879–1881                       72
-   XIII. GREELY IN GRINNELL LAND. 1881–1883                         81
-    XIV. FARTHEST NORTH OF THE GREELY PARTY. 1882                   87
-     XV. LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA IN ALASKA. 1883                        94
-    XVI. NANSEN CROSSES GREENLAND. 1888                            104
-   XVII. THE VOYAGE OF THE _FRAM_. 1893–1896                       122
-  XVIII. PEARY CROSSES GREENLAND. 1891–1897                        133
-    XIX. ANDRÉE’S BALLOON EXPEDITION TO THE POLE. 1897             149
-     XX. EXPEDITIONS OF 1902                                       154
-    XXI. DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE BY ROBERT E. PEARY. 1909      158
-
-
-
-
-LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-
-  Map of the North Polar Regions
-
-  The Aurora Borealis
-
-  Sebastian Cabot
-
-  The Earth on June 21
-
-  The Earth on December 21
-
-  Daily Motion of the Heavens as seen at the North Pole
-
-  Daily Motion of the Heavens as seen at the Equator
-
-  The Midnight Sun
-
-  The Change of Seasons
-
-  Sir John Franklin
-
-  Glacier, English Bay, Spitzbergen
-
-  A Ship in the Ice Pack
-
-  Icebergs in the Polar Sea
-
-  A Post of the Hudson Bay Company
-
-  In Winter Quarters
-
-  Relics of the Franklin Expedition
-
-  Elisha Kent Kane
-
-  Fiskernaes, Greenland
-
-  An Eskimo Dog Team
-
-  Eskimos and their Dogs
-
-  Interior of an Eskimo Hut
-
-  A Walrus Hunt
-
-  A Herd of Seals
-
-  Polar Bears
-
-  Traveling over the Ice Hummocks
-
-  Dragging the Boats over the Ice Floes
-
-  Upernavik, Greenland
-
-  A Greenlander in his Kayak
-
-  Samoyed Huts in Summer
-
-  A Samoyed Family in Winter Costume
-
-  The “Vega” firing a Salute at Cape Tcheliuskin, the Most Northern
-     Point of the Old World
-
-  Tchuktche and Reindeer
-
-  Tchuktche Man and Woman
-
-  Hunting Reindeer
-
-  The “Jeannette” in the Ice Pack
-
-  Bird Cliffs
-
-  Musk Ox
-
-  An Arctic Snowstorm
-
-  Sitka, Alaska, in 1880
-
-  Crossing the Coast Range
-
-  Tanana Station, River Yukon, in Winter
-
-  The Raft on which a Journey of Thirteen Hundred and Three Miles
-      was made
-
-  A Man on Ski
-
-  Fridtjof Nansen
-
-  A Herd of Reindeer
-
-  Nansen’s Camp on the Drift Ice
-
-  A Group of Greenland Eskimos
-
-  A View in the Interior of Greenland
-
-  Sledging across Greenland
-
-  Skating off the Coast of Greenland
-
-  The Launching of the “Fram”
-
-  Boat attacked by Walrus
-
-  Nansen and Johansen leaving the “Fram”
-
-  Setting Fox Traps
-
-  Red Cliff House after the Storm
-
-  Godthaab
-
-  The “Tent” Meteorite
-
-  Andrée begins his Journey
-
-  Peary in Arctic Costume
-
-  Moonlight in the Arctic Regions
-
-  Eskimo Dogs
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: THE AURORA BOREALIS.]
-
-
-
-
-THE FROZEN NORTH
-
-
-
-
-I. INTRODUCTION
-
-
-The north polar regions lie within the Arctic circle, and at their
-center is the North Pole. The distance from the circle to the pole is
-more than fourteen hundred miles. Intense cold and the hardships of ice
-navigation have made the discovery and exploration of this region very
-slow and hazardous.
-
-It is believed that Norsemen from Norway and Sweden, after colonizing
-Iceland, made settlements on the Greenland coast and carried their seal
-hunting beyond the Arctic circle, far into the polar regions. But in
-1347 a plague broke out in Norway, and the people forgot their far-off
-colonies. For more than a hundred years after this no attempt was made
-to enter the Arctic circle.
-
-It is a singular fact that the famous voyage of Columbus in 1492,
-although made toward the south, should have influenced to some extent
-discovery in the north polar regions. After Columbus had really proved
-that the earth was round, navigators believed that by sailing westward
-far enough they might reach the rich lands of India and Cathay (China).
-
-The only route then known from Europe to India was through the
-Mediterranean Sea. At Constantinople, the cargoes of metals, woods,
-and pitch were unloaded and sent on by caravan to the East, while
-returning caravans brought silks, dyewoods, spices, perfumes, precious
-stones, ivory, and pearls, to be shipped from Constantinople.
-
-When the Turks, through whose country the merchants passed, began to
-realize how valuable the Eastern trade was, they sent bands of robbers
-to seize the caravans, making traffic by this route more difficult and
-more dangerous as time went on; so that European merchants tried to
-find some other way of reaching that part of the world.
-
-[Illustration: SEBASTIAN CABOT.]
-
-John and Sebastian Cabot, two English navigators, set out in 1497 to
-sail westward, but finding their way blocked by the American continent,
-they returned. In 1498 Sebastian Cabot made a second voyage, with
-the object of finding a passage north of America which would lead to
-the Spice Islands and rich Cathay. In this way the long hunt for the
-northwest passage was begun.
-
-The Cabots did not find the northwest passage; and though many voyages
-were made in search of it by other navigators during the fifteenth and
-sixteenth centuries, nobody met with success. The severe cold, added to
-the difficulties of a voyage through the ice of ages, prevented further
-investigation in that direction for some time.
-
-Meanwhile, the Spanish and the Portuguese had been active in seeking
-for southern routes to the East, and had discovered two,――one around
-the Cape of Good Hope and one through the Strait of Magellan. They
-guarded these waterways jealously, and would not allow the ships of
-other nations to pass. Thus they succeeded in controlling all the rich
-Eastern trade, and were growing very wealthy and powerful.
-
-The English and the Dutch, who were also anxious to obtain a share
-of the rich commerce with the East, saw the importance of finding a
-northern route to India; consequently they experimented by sailing
-northeast along the coast of Europe and Asia. The route which they
-sought was known as the northeast passage.
-
-England sent out the first expedition in 1553, but the severity of the
-weather prevented the ships from making much progress. Several other
-vain attempts were made by the English, and then the Dutch took up the
-work; but they failed, too, and for a time the search for northern
-passages to the Indies was abandoned.
-
-[Illustration: THE EARTH ON JUNE 21.]
-
-The total absence of the sun from the Arctic regions during a large
-part of each year makes the climate severe and the country desolate.
-Direct sun rays are necessary to insure warmth, and the regions within
-the Arctic circle receive at the best only slanting rays.
-
-[Illustration: THE EARTH ON DECEMBER 21.]
-
-In the temperate zones the sun is never exactly overhead. For people
-who live within the tropics it is overhead twice every year. At all
-places along the equator the sun is overhead at noon on the 21st of
-March. Each day after, it comes overhead at noon at places farther
-north, until the 21st of June, when it is overhead at the tropic
-of Cancer. After this the sun appears to turn and go south, and on
-September 22 it is again overhead at noon at the equator. The sun then
-continues to move southward each day until December 21, when it is
-overhead at the tropic of Capricorn. And so it goes back and forth the
-year round.
-
-While the sun is north of the equator, there is constant day somewhere
-within the Arctic circle; when the sun is south of the equator, there
-is constant night somewhere within the Arctic circle. The farther a
-region is from the equator, the longer are the days and nights at
-different seasons of the year. At the pole there is a night of six
-months and a day of six months. The night is sometimes lighted by the
-moon and sometimes by the aurora borealis.
-
-[Illustration: DAILY MOTION OF THE HEAVENS AS SEEN AT THE NORTH POLE.]
-
-There are but two seasons in the Arctic regions――a long, cold winter
-and a short, dry summer. It is during the summer that the explorers do
-their work. Throughout the dark winter they can do nothing. Even in the
-summer, navigators meet with many perils, for Arctic navigation is not
-an easy matter. Besides the danger that the vessel may be frozen in an
-ice pack, or crushed between icebergs, the navigator is often blinded
-by fogs and snows, and has to face unknown tides and currents.
-
-[Illustration: DAILY MOTION OF THE HEAVENS AS SEEN AT THE EQUATOR.]
-
-The vegetation within the Arctic circle is scanty. During the summer
-the bright, warm sun causes the plants to spring up and grow rapidly.
-Willows, dwarf birches, and rush grasses are plentiful in some
-localities. In southern Greenland, and in some sheltered places along
-its western coast, yellow poppies and dandelions grow. Farther north
-only mosses and lichens are to be found, and beyond the moss line there
-is no trace of vegetation.
-
-Nevertheless there are plenty of animals in this land of ice and snow.
-The polar bear, Arctic fox, blue fox, wolf, ermine, reindeer, and
-musk ox are plentiful. Seals and walruses come out of the water upon
-the ice, during the summer, to enjoy the sun, and thousands of snow
-buntings, auks, and eider ducks visit the shores of the cold seas to
-build their nests and catch food. When the summer of three months is
-over, nearly all outward signs of animal and vegetable life disappear
-and the entire landscape becomes a dreary, white expanse.
-
-The inhabitants of this cold land are called Eskimos. They find it
-hard to get a living, and their dwellings are of the rudest and most
-primitive sort. Many of the tribes move from place to place, building
-their snow huts wherever game is most plentiful, but never going far
-inland, because fish forms a large part of their food. The Eskimos do
-not mind the bitter weather. They are quite accustomed to a temperature
-of 50° below zero.
-
-Within the Arctic circle are two principal areas of great cold, one in
-North America and one in Siberia. The mildest winters are at Bering
-strait and in the Spitzbergen Sea, where there is usually open water.
-The former is affected by the warm Japan Current and the latter by the
-Gulf Stream.
-
-We have as yet learned but little about the icy North. Nearly three
-million square miles of our earth lie within the Arctic circle and are
-unknown to-day. Much more information must be gained before man can
-hope to understand the physical laws of this mysterious region.
-
-[Illustration: THE MIDNIGHT SUN.]
-
-For a century and a half after the sailing ships of the sixteenth
-century had failed to find the northern passages to the East, little
-was done in the way of Arctic exploration. The whale and cod fishers
-were the only navigators who ventured into the frozen seas. These
-fishermen carried on a profitable business in fish and oil. One of
-them, a Scotch whaler named William Scoresby, succeeded in driving his
-ship as far north as latitude 81° 12ʹ 42ʺ. He spent all the time that
-he could spare on this voyage in collecting information about this
-unknown part of the earth, and on his return to England, he told such
-wonderful stories that the English people became once more interested
-in the frozen North.
-
-Accordingly, in 1815, after England’s wars with the United States and
-France were over, the government offered a reward of £20,000 to any one
-who would make the northwest passage, and a reward of £5000 to any one
-who would reach 89° north latitude. This offer of prize money stirred
-the adventurous blood of seafaring men. In 1818 two expeditions were
-sent out, and others quickly followed.
-
-The vast area of unexplored space within the Arctic circle stimulated
-men’s imaginations almost as much as the Western world beyond the
-Atlantic had done in the days of Columbus. Many a brave sailor was
-ready to undertake the difficult work. Famous among those who did
-valuable service was Sir John Franklin.
-
-[Illustration: THE CHANGE OF SEASONS.]
-
-
-
-
-II. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN
-
-1818
-
-
-Sir John Franklin was one of the greatest explorers the world has ever
-known. We owe to him most of our knowledge of the northern coast of
-America and of the far North.
-
-[Illustration: SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.]
-
-Franklin was born in 1786 at Spilsby, a small town in Lincolnshire,
-England, about ten miles from the coast. As a boy, he one day visited
-the seaside, which so delighted him that he then and there made up his
-mind to be a sailor.
-
-Franklin’s parents wished him to become a clergyman, and in the hope of
-curing him of his new passion, they sent him on a trial voyage. This
-plan did not succeed, for the young man learned to love the sea so much
-that at last the father yielded to his son’s desire, and obtained a
-position for him in the Royal Navy. While in the navy, John Franklin
-took part in several of the hardest naval battles the English ever
-fought. He made a brilliant record as a fearless sailor and a wise and
-determined leader.
-
-After the wars were over, Franklin began the study of science. But land
-life was dull for him, and he longed for the dangers and excitement of
-the sea. When word came that he had been chosen by the government to go
-in search of the North Pole, he was unspeakably happy. Soon two strong
-vessels were ready for the voyage. The command of the _Dorothea_ was
-given to Captain Buchan, while Franklin, with the rank of lieutenant,
-was put in command of the _Trent_. Their orders were to proceed
-northward between the islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland, and if
-they found the sea free from ice, to push ahead directly for the North
-Pole. Should they succeed in finding the pole, they were, if possible,
-to return by way of Bering strait, and thus prove the existence of a
-northwest passage.
-
-[Illustration: GLACIER, ENGLISH BAY, SPITZBERGEN.]
-
-The ships sailed out of the Thames river April 25, 1818. On May 10 they
-crossed the Arctic circle, and Franklin beheld for the first time
-the grand spectacle of the midnight sun. Shortly after the ships had
-crossed the circle, a terrible gale arose. The weather was bitterly
-cold, the snow came down fast, blinding the eyes of the sailors, and
-ice covered the brigs from bow to stern. Every time the bows came up
-out of the water a fresh layer of ice was formed upon them, and the
-vessels became so heavy that the sailors were obliged to chop the ice
-away with axes. The ropes also were frozen over, and in order to keep
-them ready for instant use, the sailors had continually to beat off the
-ice with sticks. The ice pack extended on all sides as far as the eye
-could reach, and little by little it closed around the ships.
-
-[Illustration: A SHIP IN THE ICE PACK.]
-
-Notwithstanding this, they managed to enter a bay on the coast of
-Spitzbergen, where Captain Buchan decided to remain until the pack
-should break up. Neither officers nor men were idle while at anchor in
-this bay. Some surveyed the harbor and made a map of it, while others
-measured the depth of the water with instruments which they had brought
-for that purpose. The magnetic needle was closely watched, and all its
-changes noted. Many went hunting and supplied the crew with meat of the
-seal and walrus. Meantime a close watch was kept upon the ice pack.
-
-Franklin learned to like the rugged Arctic scenery. Close to the shores
-of Spitzbergen were long, snow-covered valleys and high mountains, and
-between the mountains stood immense glaciers, glistening in the bright
-sunlight which had so little power to melt their surfaces.
-
-One day Buchan and Franklin were in a small boat at the foot of a
-glacier. Suddenly they heard a noise like the report of a great cannon,
-and looking up, they saw a portion of the glacier sliding down the
-mountain side. This great mass of ice made a grinding noise as it went,
-and streams of water flowed after it. At length it plunged into the sea
-and disappeared from view. The water was greatly disturbed and covered
-with foam. In a few moments the huge piece of ice rose to the surface
-and surged up to a great height above the sea. Then Franklin and his
-companion knew how icebergs are formed. This one was a quarter of a
-mile around, and rose sixty feet above the water. It must have weighed
-millions of tons.
-
-[Illustration: ICEBERGS IN THE POLAR SEA.]
-
-Franklin was now more anxious than ever to get to the pole. He knew
-that thousands of years ago a part of America and Europe was covered
-with ice just as the Arctic regions now are, and he felt sure that if
-he remained long enough in this land he would be able to explain many
-things heretofore unknown, in regard to climate, soil, tides, and winds.
-
-Soon the ships, headed toward the north, put to sea again, but a
-furious gale arose, and they were once more caught in the ice pack.
-When the wind went down, the _Dorothea_ was so badly damaged as to
-be almost unseaworthy, and Captain Buchan decided to turn back. The
-_Trent_ also had been injured, but Franklin tried hard to induce
-Captain Buchan to allow him to go northward alone. Captain Buchan
-refused, and both vessels accordingly returned to England, where they
-arrived safely on October 12, 1818. We must not regard this expedition
-as a failure, even though the pole remained undiscovered, for Franklin
-had gained the experience which later enabled him to accomplish
-valuable geographical work in the Arctic regions.
-
-
-
-
-III. FRANKLIN’S FIRST LAND JOURNEY
-
-1819–1821
-
-
-The next year the British government again decided to send two ships
-northward. One of these ships was put in command of Lieutenant Parry
-and was ordered to Lancaster sound. From this place Parry was told
-to sail westward and seek the northwest passage. He did not find the
-northwest passage, but he succeeded in sailing inside of the Arctic
-circle farther west than any one had gone before. For this achievement
-he received a prize of £5000 from the government and on his return to
-England was highly honored.
-
-The other expedition was put in command of Sir John Franklin, who,
-together with four companions, was to proceed to Hudson bay on one
-of the ships belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. From Hudson bay,
-Franklin was to make a land journey by means of sledges and canoes
-across the northern part of North America, to the mouth of the
-Coppermine river. From this point, he was to turn and follow the coast
-of North America east. The latitude and longitude of various places
-were to be noted, maps to be drawn, and capes, bays, and rivers located
-and surveyed.
-
-At this time that part of North America which borders on the Arctic
-ocean had never been explored. Only two white men, employees of the
-Hudson Bay Company, had ever looked upon this ocean from the continent
-of North America. The first, Samuel Hearne, traveled northward with
-the Indians in 1770, and reached the mouth of a large river which was
-named the Coppermine, because the Indians said that large mines of
-copper were to be found along its banks.
-
-The second explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, in 1789 traced to its mouth
-the river which now bears his name. With the exception of these two
-river mouths, the entire northern coast of North America was unknown.
-The map which is to-day covered with names of places, was then a blank.
-
-This was the region which Franklin was to explore. Many men would dread
-such a journey, but Franklin liked it because of the very dangers
-involved. Dr. John Richardson, midshipmen Robert Hood and George Back,
-and a seaman, John Hepburn, were selected to go with Franklin on this
-trip; they were well chosen, for they were worthy companions of the
-young leader. On May 23, 1819, he and his men sailed on the _Prince of
-Wales_ for the Arctic land. The voyage was long and stormy; several
-times it seemed likely that the _Prince of Wales_ would never touch
-land again, but at the end of three months she anchored off York
-Factory, on the southern shore of Hudson bay, one of the posts built
-by the Hudson Bay Company for the purpose of trading in furs with the
-Indians.
-
-The people at York Factory received Franklin and his companions kindly
-and helped them all they could. They gave Franklin a boat for his
-journey through the lakes and rivers on his way to the sea. The same
-sort of boat is still in use in that region and is called a York boat.
-It is forty feet in length, narrow, light, and sharp at both ends.
-About ten men can manage it. When on lakes or traveling down streams
-the men use oars, but when traveling against the current of a river
-they run alongshore and drag the boat after them. This long and narrow
-boat is well suited for shooting rapids, through which it is guided
-by means of long poles. Sometimes the rapids are so swift that they
-cannot be navigated, and falls are often encountered. Then the cargoes
-are taken out of the boats and carried around the rapids or falls, and
-afterward the boats also are carried around. Such a place is called a
-portage.
-
-The officers of the Hudson Bay Company, besides giving Franklin a boat,
-sent word to other trading posts throughout the country, to look out
-for him and to help him. The party, having secured boats and stores,
-started from York Factory to continue their journey. After traveling
-seven hundred miles, they reached another post called Cumberland House,
-where Franklin expected to find guides and hunters, but every one
-refused to undertake a journey so full of peril.
-
-[Illustration: A POST OF THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY.]
-
-Franklin, though disappointed, was not discouraged. He left two men at
-Cumberland House to wait for supplies and to bring them on. Then, with
-Back and Hepburn, he started out with dog sledges for another trading
-post on Lake Athabasca. This journey was begun on January 18, 1820, in
-the middle of an Arctic winter of prolonged darkness. The suffering
-of these three explorers cannot be described. The temperature fell as
-low as 38° below zero, blizzards were common, and the party nearly
-perished. On some days the mercury froze in the thermometers, and the
-tea froze in the tin pots before it could be drunk.
-
-At Lake Athabasca Franklin was joined by the men he had left at
-Cumberland House. They had secured some provisions, and now the entire
-party proceeded down the Slave river to Great Slave lake. They reached
-Fort Providence, on the northern end of the lake, during the latter
-part of July, and in a few days the little company departed in four
-canoes, steering northward into a country which had never before been
-visited by white men.
-
-Soon Franklin met seventeen canoes filled with Indians, who had
-promised to go part of the way with him and hunt game for his party.
-They all proceeded together through a chain of lakes to Winter lake,
-where they decided to pass the winter. Here they built a house which
-they called Fort Enterprise, and from this place they made short trips
-to explore the country northward. One of the exploring parties reached
-the source of the Coppermine river.
-
-At first game was plentiful at Fort Enterprise, but as winter advanced
-the reindeer left the place, provisions became scarce, and ammunition
-was very low. Back offered to return to Lake Athabasca for supplies,
-and Franklin allowed him to go. He left the party in November, and they
-did not see him again until March. He had made a journey of eleven
-hundred miles on snowshoes, sleeping in the shelter of drifts, wrapped
-in a blanket and a deerskin, and had sometimes been forced to go
-without food for two or three days. But he had saved the party.
-
-When spring came, Franklin and his company started northward again
-with two large canoes and several sledges. They must have “made a
-record” for slow travel, for each man had to carry or drag a load of
-one hundred and eighty pounds, probably more than the weight of any one
-of them. At the Coppermine they launched their canoes, and were soon
-shooting dangerous rapids, and carrying their boats over the portages.
-Franklin did not stop to search for copper; he had other aims.
-
-On July 18, 1821, the party reached the mouth of the Coppermine and
-camped on the shore of the Arctic ocean. It was a cold place for a
-camp, but the men were so delighted to reach this point that they did
-not complain of the temperature.
-
-Franklin here paid a tribute to famous travelers, and to some of his
-old friends, by naming the capes and bays after them. This might be
-called a cold compliment, but doubtless the favored ones appreciated it.
-
-The great ocean must have seemed to these men the end of their journey,
-yet it was only the beginning. On July 21 the canoes were launched and
-one of the most daring voyages of exploration was begun that has ever
-been attempted. Canoes built for use only on lakes and rivers had now
-to battle with rough waters filled with ice. For several weeks Franklin
-kept on his perilous way eastward, discovering new islands, bays, and
-capes.
-
-As freezing weather had already set in, and the provisions showed signs
-of giving out, Franklin decided to return to Fort Enterprise and spend
-the winter there, hoping to continue his work along the coast the next
-summer.
-
-He named the place where he decided to return Point Turnagain. The
-distance from the Coppermine to Point Turnagain is five hundred and
-fifty miles, and all that length of coast was traversed and charted by
-Franklin’s company.
-
-It was decided to go back to Fort Enterprise by way of the Hood river,
-because that route was thought easier than the other; it proved to be
-more difficult. Much of the journey had to be made on foot over a stony
-country. The men were loaded down with boats, tents, and blankets, and,
-worst of all, the provisions gave out. All that the adventurers could
-find to eat was a kind of lichen, which grew like moss on the rocks.
-Often the men were wet to their waists from having to ford streams and
-tramp through swamps.
-
-After a time they became so weak and footsore that they could scarcely
-walk, and when at last they reached Fort Enterprise they found it
-deserted. The Indians who had promised Franklin to remain and stock the
-place with food for him, had abandoned the fort. This was a terrible
-blow. Those of the party who were able to walk, started out to search
-for the Indians, while the rest remained in the hut, expecting death
-every moment. While these men sat waiting, they saw a herd of reindeer
-pass close to the hut. Not a man was strong enough to stand and shoot,
-and the deer passed undisturbed. At last some Indians arrived. They
-brought plenty of venison with them, and they stayed with the white men
-and nursed them back to health.
-
-When the sick men were able to travel, the party started again for
-Hudson bay. They succeeded in reaching Moose Deer island, and there,
-under the care of the Hudson bay officials, Franklin and his followers
-grew well and strong.
-
-When they came again to York Factory, Franklin and his men had traveled
-5550 geographical miles and explored thousands of miles of country
-never before visited by civilized men. This journey is one of the
-most remarkable in history. Only men of the highest courage and the
-strongest determination could have accomplished it.
-
-When Franklin reached England his countrymen bestowed upon him honors
-of all sorts. He was promoted to the rank of captain, and made Fellow
-of the Royal Geographical Society.
-
-
-
-
-IV. FRANKLIN’S SECOND LAND JOURNEY
-
-1825–1827
-
-
-After Franklin had been at home about two years, he began to feel
-restless and to long for action. About this time the English government
-decided to send Parry, for the third time, in search of the northwest
-sea passage.
-
-Franklin advised that another land party be sent at the same time
-to the mouth of the Mackenzie. There, he thought, the party should
-divide, one branch of it to explore the coast of North America east to
-the Coppermine river, the other to go westward to Icy cape. Then the
-entire northern coast of North America would have been covered, and
-the land party might meet and assist Parry. The government decided to
-adopt Franklin’s plan, and when he begged to be allowed to command this
-expedition, granted his request, and more than this, permitted him to
-make all arrangements for the expedition. He first ordered three boats
-to be built which should be suitable for travel on both rivers and
-lakes, as well as on the Arctic ocean. They must combine light weight
-with great strength. In 1824 Franklin sent these boats, filled with
-stores and provisions, to Great Bear lake in charge of the Hudson Bay
-Company; and on February 16, 1825, he and his officers sailed.
-
-They traveled through the United States and Canada to Great Bear lake,
-where they halted for a few days for the purpose of bargaining with
-the Indians for supplies of food during the winter. Then the party
-embarked in canoes and steered for the Mackenzie river.
-
-As the Mackenzie is broad and smooth and without rapids, they quickly
-reached Fort Norman, the most northern Hudson bay post on the river.
-It was now early in August, and only a few weeks were left in which to
-build winter quarters and to lay in a stock of provisions. A place on
-Great Bear lake was chosen for their village, and Lieutenant Back was
-given charge of the work of preparation.
-
-Meanwhile Franklin pushed on to the mouth of the Mackenzie. He wished
-to examine the coast so that he might know just what was needed for
-travel along that route when spring should come. He found it was an
-easy journey in his new boat, and when he came to the sea he saw to his
-joy that it was free from ice and full of seals and whales. When he
-had made himself acquainted with the character of the coast around the
-mouth of the river, he returned to the camp on Great Bear lake.
-
-He found that during his absence his companions had named the post Fort
-Franklin in his honor, and very comfortable arrangements had been made
-for the winter. Three houses were ready, one for the officers, one for
-the seamen and Indians, and one for supplies. There were now fifty
-persons in the party: five officers, nineteen seamen, nine Canadians,
-two Eskimos, and the rest Indians, including men, women, and children.
-They were a mixed company, truly, but they passed the season pleasantly
-together. The officers worked hard collecting important facts about the
-water, ice, animals, mosses, weather, and sky. They also took charge of
-a school, which Franklin insisted upon maintaining for the Indians and
-the Eskimos. Attendance at this school was compulsory, and you may be
-sure all the pupils preferred hunting and fishing. The seamen turned
-carpenters and built boats.
-
-No one was sorry when spring came and the journey could be continued.
-On June 24, 1826, the company divided into two parties and started down
-the Mackenzie river. At the mouth of the river they separated; one
-party under command of Franklin proceeded to the west, the other party
-under Dr. Richardson, to the east. Each had provisions enough to last
-from eighty to one hundred days.
-
-Franklin and his men soon fell in with an Eskimo tribe numbering about
-three hundred. These Eskimos proved themselves such thieves that
-it seemed likely that they might presently murder Franklin and his
-companions and take all they had. Lieutenant Back ordered the men in
-his boat to point their muskets at the Eskimos; whereupon they ran away
-and left the white men in peace.
-
-The journey along the coast was made through blocks of ice, heavy fogs,
-and high winds, with a temperature often below freezing. Yet this was
-midsummer!
-
-But the party kept bravely on their way, taking observations of the
-sun, watching the magnetic needle of the compass, studying tides,
-stones, plants, and animals. Among the greatest hardships that the men
-suffered were attacks from swarms of mosquitoes; they dreaded these
-more than cold or ice packs.
-
-After three hundred and seventy-four miles of coast had been explored,
-Franklin decided that if he continued the journey, he would not have
-enough provisions. They had made half the distance between the mouth of
-the Mackenzie river and Icy cape. To the most western point visited,
-they gave the name Beechey point. On returning to Fort Franklin they
-found that the other party, led by Dr. Richardson, had also made a
-successful journey, having explored eight hundred and sixty-three miles
-of coast line between the mouth of the Mackenzie and the mouth of the
-Coppermine, and traveled nineteen hundred and eighty[1] geographical
-miles.
-
-[1] Franklin’s own book gives 1989 miles. Greely’s Hand Book gives 1709
-miles.
-
-The success of these two explorations put the company in good spirits,
-and the following winter of 1826 was passed pleasantly at Fort
-Franklin. Franklin started for home in February, and reached England
-September 26, 1827, after an absence of two years and seven months.
-
-Two months after his arrival he married Jane, daughter of John Griffin,
-Esq. This lady, Franklin’s second wife, was a very remarkable woman, of
-whom we shall hear more.
-
-All England was delighted with the results of this second land journey.
-Franklin and Richardson together had surveyed 37° of longitude along
-the Arctic shore of North America. The coast from the mouth of the
-Coppermine westward to Beechey point had been proved to be open for
-navigation, while from Beechey point to Icy cape it was undoubtedly
-open.
-
-To complete a northwest passage it was only needful to find a gap
-to the eastward, connecting this pathway for ships with the older
-discoveries on the Atlantic side. Over one thousand miles of American
-coast had been explored, maps and charts had been made, and knowledge
-in all branches of science had been increased.
-
-The honor of knighthood was conferred upon Captain Franklin, who was
-afterward to be known as Sir John Franklin. Parry’s expedition in
-search of the northwest passage had been unsuccessful.
-
-
-
-
-V. THE _EREBUS_ AND THE _TERROR_
-
-1845
-
-
-At this time, 1827, England, under the rule of George IV, was occupied
-with her own troubles. The disputes between Catholics and Protestants
-engaged the attention of the English people so that interest in
-exploration waned. After a short rest at home, Sir John Franklin was
-sent in command of her Majesty’s ship, _Rainbow_, to the Mediterranean
-sea. The Greek war of independence was closing, and Franklin
-distinguished himself by the judgment and skill he showed in following
-out the work intrusted to him.
-
-Upon his return to England, Franklin was offered the position of
-Governor of Tasmania, which he accepted, remaining there seven years.
-When he returned again to England in 1842, he found people once more
-interested in the discovery of the northwest passage. It was eighteen
-years since Franklin had returned from the icy North, but the northwest
-passage had not been found. During those years several expeditions
-had been at work in the northern part of North America and along
-the northern coast, thus broadening and increasing the geographical
-knowledge of the country first entered by Franklin. But the mystery of
-the northwest passage still stirred men’s imaginations, and the Royal
-Geographical Society decided to send out another expedition in search
-of it. The command of this expedition was offered to Sir John Franklin.
-
-Some people thought that Franklin ought not to go again to the
-northern land. These people told him that he had already done enough
-for his country, having risked his life three times, and made more
-discoveries in that region than any other man. They reminded him that
-he was now sixty years of age, and ought to be willing to remain at
-home and let a younger man undertake this hard and dangerous journey.
-
-But Franklin rejoiced at the thought of seeing the far North again.
-He declared that he was only fifty-nine years of age, and that the
-discovery of the northwest passage was the object nearest his heart.
-Two ships, called the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, were given Franklin
-for this voyage. These ships, propelled by steam screws, were the first
-vessels of the kind ever used in the Arctic seas. It was thought that
-the use of the steam screw instead of the paddle wheel would prove
-of great value to navigators in seas where ice packs and heavy gales
-were constantly to be feared. Great results, then, were expected from
-the expedition fitted out in this improved manner. Franklin himself
-took command of the _Erebus_, while Captain Crozier was given command
-of the _Terror_. Sufficient provisions were put aboard the vessels to
-provide for an absence of three years, and nothing was left undone that
-promised to insure the safety and success of the expedition, or to
-promote the health and comfort of the explorers.
-
-The ships sailed from England on May 19, 1845. The men were in good
-spirits and hopeful. They sailed north toward Lancaster sound, and on
-the 26th of July, 1845, a whaling vessel, called the _Prince of Wales_,
-sighted them in Melville bay, stuck fast in the ice. The captain of
-the whaler received a visit from some of the exploring party, and was
-invited to dine with Franklin, but a breeze sprang up suddenly, and the
-ships parted company.
-
-That was the last time the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, or any of the men
-aboard those vessels, were ever seen. They appeared to have dropped off
-the face of the earth.
-
-When the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ had been absent two years, and no news
-of them had been heard, many expeditions were sent out to hunt for
-them. Some traces of the ships were discovered, and it is believed that
-the vessels sailed northward through Lancaster sound to Beechey island,
-where they wintered (1845–1846). On this island were found the graves
-of two seamen marked with headboards showing the date of their death.
-
-[Illustration: IN WINTER QUARTERS.]
-
-It is thought that when spring came, the ships were released from the
-ice and proceeded southward toward King William’s Land. While near to
-King William’s Land the vessels were probably again caught in the pack.
-The second winter, with its long, dark night, bitter cold, and absence
-of proper food, must have been a gloomy one for these poor men.
-
-If they were still alive when spring came, how they must have hoped
-each day for the freeing of the ships! As the days passed and spring
-grew to summer, summer to autumn, yet with no prospect of release from
-the cruel pack, the situation became hopeless and intolerable.
-
-All this misery came upon them with greater force because success
-was so near. Franklin knew that a distance of but one hundred miles
-separated him from the object of his search. Almost within reach of the
-goal, here he was, locked in!
-
-Though the ice did not break up, yet during the spring (May 24, 1847)
-Franklin sent a party under the command of Lieutenant Graham Gore to
-explore King William’s Land. This party reached Cape Herschel, a point
-on the southern coast of King William’s Land, and in the distance saw
-the continent of North America.
-
-A navigable passage was known to exist along the northern coast of
-America from Boothia to Bering strait. Franklin himself and Richardson
-had discovered and surveyed the greater part of this extent of country.
-
-Franklin had succeeded in reaching King William’s Land by entering the
-Arctic from the Atlantic. Thus the discovery of the northwest passage
-was reduced to the finding of a link which should connect these two
-known waterways. This link was found by Graham Gore, when from Cape
-Herschel he saw the American coast across a narrow channel of water.
-So the credit of the discovery of the northwest passage must be given
-to Franklin. Had it not been for the fact that his ships were beset in
-the ice, Franklin would, without doubt, have sailed in 1846 from the
-Atlantic to the Pacific along the northern coast of North America.
-
-As it was, Lieutenant Gore’s discovery connected the two known
-passages and established the fact that an open waterway existed. Gore
-wrote a brief record of what his party had accomplished and left it on
-the island, where it was found years later by men who were searching
-for Franklin; but neither Franklin nor any of his heroic band lived to
-tell in person the news of the discovery.
-
-When Gore returned to the _Erebus_ he found Sir John very ill. He
-probably came in time to inform Franklin that the northwest passage had
-really been discovered. Let us hope so. Franklin passed peacefully away
-June 11, 1847. He had lived a good life and left a glorious name behind
-him.
-
-Captain Crozier of the _Terror_ now took command of the expedition.
-The prospect of a third winter in the ice made the bravest of the
-men shrink, but it was too late in the season for them to leave the
-ships. To do so would have been certain death. It is best not to try to
-picture the misery of the third winter.
-
-In the spring of 1848 there were one hundred and five men still living.
-These half-starved creatures decided to leave the ships and travel by
-sledges to the North American coast, where they hoped to meet some
-Indians who would give them food and guide them to the Hudson Bay
-settlements. Their dreadful march has been traced along the western
-coast of King William’s Land, and perhaps a few of the party reached
-the southern end of that island.
-
-A number of Eskimos saw and camped with some of them, but would not
-remain, fearing that there was not sufficient food for all. There is no
-doubt that food gave out entirely, and that the men died of starvation.
-Many years later an old Eskimo woman reported having seen a party of
-white men traveling to the south. She said, “They fell down and died
-as they walked along.” It is inspiring to think of the heroism of
-these brave men who discovered the northwest passage. Their patience,
-perseverance, and devotion to their work deserve our highest admiration.
-
-In 1847, when, after two years of waiting, no news of the _Erebus_
-or the _Terror_ came to England, great anxiety was aroused and many
-searching expeditions were sent out. Lady Franklin offered a reward
-of £2000 to any one who would bring her news of her husband or his
-companions. Her courage and her determined efforts to trace the
-lost vessels aroused the sympathy of the world. Lady Franklin spent
-her entire private means in the search, and it is largely owing
-to her efforts that we have any knowledge at all of her husband’s
-accomplishment and of his final fate.
-
-The English government also offered a large reward to any one who
-would find the lost ships or crews. In the autumn of 1850 there were
-fifteen vessels in the Arctic ocean, hunting for Franklin and his
-ships. America joined England in the search, and as a result the Arctic
-regions became far better known than ever before.
-
-Several of these expeditions discovered traces of Franklin. McClintock
-found the most important records. He erected on Beechey island a marble
-slab which was sent out by Lady Franklin in memory of her husband and
-his brave companions.
-
-[Illustration: RELICS OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION.]
-
-If you should go to London, you would find in Waterloo Place another
-monument erected to the memory of Franklin. There is still another
-at his home in Spilsby. Lady Franklin also erected a monument to her
-husband in Westminster Abbey.
-
-Although Sir John Franklin deserves the credit of the discovery of the
-northwest passage, the first man who passed through this passage from
-the Pacific to the Atlantic was Sir Robert McClure, who made the voyage
-in 1854. McClure was sent to search for Franklin, and entered the
-Arctic ocean through Bering strait. Being obliged to abandon his ship,
-he, together with his crew, crossed the ice of Barrow strait by sledge,
-where a relief party met them. This was the first and only expedition
-that ever made the northwest passage, which, for purposes of trade, is
-useless.
-
-
-
-
-VI. ELISHA KENT KANE
-
-1853
-
-
-One of the most famous efforts to find Sir John Franklin was made by an
-American, Mr. Henry Grinnell, of New York City. From his own private
-means he furnished ships and most of their equipment for two separate
-expeditions. The first Grinnell expedition, under the command of
-Lieutenant De Haven, was sent out in 1850. It reached Beechey island
-on August 27 of the same year, and assisted in the examination of
-Franklin’s winter quarters there, but returned without wintering.
-
-[Illustration: ELISHA KENT KANE.]
-
-The second Grinnell expedition went out three years later. This was
-commanded by a man who became almost as famous as Sir John Franklin
-himself, Elisha Kent Kane. Kane had been with De Haven in 1850, and
-thoroughly understood the work of Arctic exploration. He liked the
-wild, exciting life, and he had an ardent desire to find the brave men
-who had been lost, and to bring them home with him.
-
-Kane’s plan was to pass up Baffin bay as far north as it was possible
-to drive the ship. From that point he intended to proceed by boats or
-sledges toward the pole, examining the coast lines along the way for
-traces of the lost party.
-
-The strongly built bark _Advance_ was selected for this journey, and
-Kane set sail from New York with seventeen companions, in May, 1853.
-After a month the _Advance_ reached Fiskernaes, a town on the Greenland
-coast, inhabited chiefly by Eskimos. To these people a ship was a very
-unusual sight, and they swarmed upon the rocks to gaze at the strange
-newcomers. The Danish official who had charge of the colony welcomed
-Kane and his companions hospitably.
-
-[Illustration: FISKERNAES, GREENLAND.]
-
-Kane had brought all the dried and salted provisions he could carry,
-but he knew that his men would need fresh meat in order to keep well
-in this climate. Besides, they had with them about fifty dogs for the
-sledge journeys which Kane expected to make when the vessel could
-no longer push her way through the ice. But Eskimo dogs have large
-appetites and need plenty of fresh meat to keep them strong; a good
-Eskimo hunter was needed to supply such food.
-
-There was a boy about nineteen years of age in the town, named Hans
-Christian, who was known to be very skillful in the use of the kayak
-and the javelin. Kane called upon Hans to try his skill. Hans threw his
-javelin and speared a bird on the wing. Kane said, “That is the man
-for me,” and wished to engage him on the spot. But Hans said, “No, not
-until you promise to give my mother two barrels of bread and fifty-two
-pounds of pork.” Kane agreed, and then Hans went cheerfully on board
-the _Advance_, certain that his mother would not suffer during his
-absence.
-
-Kane made one more landing on the Greenland coast, at Sukkertoppen. The
-natives of this place collected reindeer skins, and had just sent four
-thousand to Denmark. Kane bought a stock of skins for clothing, also a
-large supply of sealskins for boots. The party then bade farewell to
-the governor of the colony and put out to sea.
-
-The ship sailed northward for several days. Every day the weather
-became colder and the ice thicker. One day a heavy gale arose, and the
-ship tossed about so among the icebergs and the floating cakes that
-her escape from being crushed was marvelous. Captain Kane, who was
-a very ingenious man, devised a method of avoiding this danger from
-ice crushing. His plan was to attach the vessel to an iceberg and let
-her float after it, for there is always open water around a berg. The
-plan sounded very simple, but Kane had not reckoned on the nature of
-icebergs. After eight hours of hard work the anchors were fastened, but
-before the men had time to breathe freely, a few crackling sounds were
-heard and pieces of ice the size of walnuts fell on the deck like hail.
-The sailors had just time to cast off from the berg when it fell, with
-a crash, into the water around them.
-
-Not long after this the _Advance_ became so firmly fastened in the ice
-that they could not push her in any direction. The party then left the
-brig and explored the country around, traveling forty miles, and at
-last climbing to the top of an iceberg, a height of eleven hundred feet
-above the sea. On every side, as far as the eye could reach from this
-great elevation, spread out a solid sea of ice.
-
-It was now September, and the temperature fell below freezing. It
-seemed certain that the _Advance_ could not be freed from the ice until
-the next summer, and the explorers accordingly prepared to pass the
-winter there. They succeeded in dragging the vessel and wedging it
-in between two islands. In this harbor, known as Rensselaer bay, the
-stanch little _Advance_ was frozen solidly in, never to be released.
-
-
-
-
-VII. WINTER IN RENSSELAER HARBOR
-
-1853–1854
-
-
-The Arctic winter had set in. By the middle of September the
-thermometer had fallen to 14° and the ice was thickening fast. The
-long Arctic night was upon the explorers. During that first winter in
-Rensselaer harbor, the sun was below the horizon one hundred and twenty
-days, and ninety of these days were totally dark; for the remaining
-thirty days a faint light like our twilight glimmered during a part of
-every twenty-four hours.
-
-During the time of darkness little exploring can be done. Explorers are
-obliged to stay on or near their ship and amuse themselves as best they
-may until the sun shines again.
-
-Can you fancy a night which lasts as long as ninety of our days? Think
-of not seeing the sun for more than three months! These men on the
-_Advance_ suffered from a cold such as we know nothing about, and were
-often hungry too. Many of them became ill.
-
-Dr. Kane did everything in his power to buoy up their spirits. He was
-wise enough to know that, if his men had nothing to do, they would
-become homesick and despairing; so he planned work for all. Some made
-clothing and boots of the furs and skins they had collected; others
-made sledges and rope out of hides, or patched up corners of the brig
-with moss to prevent the cold from entering.
-
-Dr. Kane himself trained the dogs for the sledge journeys. He had
-ten beautiful Newfoundland dogs which he harnessed to a low, light
-sled called the “Little Willie.” In a short time these gentle, strong,
-intelligent animals carried Kane on journeys around the ship with
-ease. He drove them two abreast, in teams of four or six, guiding them
-entirely by his voice.
-
-With the Eskimo dogs, Kane was obliged to use other means. Eskimo dogs
-are not easily managed. They are near relatives of the wolf, and share
-the wolf’s nature. They are driven in teams of ten or twelve, and must
-be guided mainly by the whip. Dr. Kane had to use a whip with a lash
-six yards long, and a handle only sixteen inches in length. It required
-a sort of “sleight of hand” movement to swing this long lash and hit
-the right dog with it. Dr. Kane found this driving very lively exercise.
-
-[Illustration: AN ESKIMO DOG TEAM.]
-
-Sometimes Kane wanted to travel with a heavier load than the dogs could
-draw. For this purpose he used a larger sledge, thirteen feet long and
-four feet wide, upon which he could carry fourteen hundred pounds of
-baggage. This sledge was called the “Faith,” and nine men were often
-harnessed to it. Each man wore a shoulder belt or, as it was called, a
-“rue-raddy.” A walrus-skin trace attached this rue-raddy to the sledge.
-
-In this way heavy loads of provisions were drawn over the ice. Kane
-stored these supplies along the route that he intended to take as soon
-as the sun should shine again. By thus sending provisions ahead and
-burying them, Kane hoped to be able to make the journey without fear of
-starving; for his whole party could never have carried enough at once
-to last during the time he expected to be gone.
-
-On long expeditions where the men were obliged to remain away from the
-ship all night, each man carried his bed with him. An Arctic bed is a
-bag made of fur, into which one crawls, covering up all save one’s nose.
-
-On one occasion some of the men delayed in returning from their trip,
-and it was feared that they were lost. After waiting twenty days for
-them to return, Kane harnessed four of his best Newfoundland dogs
-to the “Little Willie” and started out to search for his missing
-companions. He took but one man with him. The ice was full of cracks
-and very dangerous. The dogs galloped swiftly along; whenever they came
-to a fissure, over it they leaped and over flew the sledge also, simply
-by reason of its rapid movement. At length the party came to a fissure
-so wide that the dogs could not leap across it. They were going too
-fast to stop or turn aside, and dogs and sledge were thrown into the
-water. The two men, who had been running beside the sledge, quickly
-cut the harness from the dogs. The faithful animals, freed from the
-traces, sprang to the ice, and with their intelligent help the sledge
-was dragged out.
-
-Kane and his companion were wet to the skin with icy cold water, and
-the temperature was below zero. What could prevent men and dogs from
-freezing? But not a moment was wasted in thinking about what might
-happen. They all started on a run for solid ice, and they ran so fast
-that by the time a safe place was reached, they were quite warm.
-Several days later they came upon the friends they were seeking. The
-return to the ship was made more easily, although, while leaping a
-fissure, one unlucky man was thrown into the water. The rest pulled him
-out, none the worse for his cold bath.
-
-The men on the _Advance_ were delighted to see Kane and their lost
-comrades again. They rejoiced because every one was safe. They had also
-another reason for happiness, for the dreary night was passing away,
-the twilight was growing longer and brighter, and day――a day as long as
-the night――was coming. Soon after this Dr. Kane climbed to the top of a
-high hill to see the sun. It was a hard climb, but who would not have
-taken it for a first sight of the sun, after a night so long?
-
-Each day the sun came and stayed longer, and with the sun came warmer
-weather. At last the sun rose so high in the heavens that it could not
-sink below the horizon at all. Then it shone, not only all day, but
-also all night.
-
-
-
-
-VIII. THE ESKIMOS
-
-1854
-
-
-One morning in the spring, the deck watch ran into Dr. Kane’s cabin,
-crying, “People hallooing ashore!” Dr. Kane hurried to the deck, and
-through the gloom saw strange figures all around the harbor. Though
-it was April, the sun had not yet risen high in the sky, and in the
-twilight these odd figures seemed to be waving weapons.
-
-Kane soon found that these people were the native Eskimos, and that
-they were tossing their arms wildly about, as if in great excitement.
-It is no wonder that they were excited, for they had never seen a white
-man before; yet they showed no fear, and one of them came close to Kane.
-
-This Eskimo was named Metek. He stood a head taller than Dr. Kane, and
-was well built and strong, with a dark skin and black, piercing eyes.
-
-Metek wore booted trousers of white bearskin. At the toe the boot ended
-with the claw of the animal. His coat, or jumper, was of white and blue
-fox fur, and a hood of the same fur was on his head. Around his neck
-was tied a dirty, greasy strip of deerskin. At first the white men
-thought this an ornament, Metek was so careful of it. Later, Dr. Kane
-found that it was tied closely around his neck to keep out the air.
-
-When an Eskimo is fully dressed in his furs, and his deerskin is tied
-closely around the neck so that no air can enter, he is, as it were, in
-a bag of fur. The heat from his body keeps him warm. As long as he is
-incased in air-tight clothing, he is safe from the most severe weather.
-
-All of the Eskimo party were invited to come aboard the _Advance_. They
-were large, strong men, and many of them could hunt the white bear and
-the walrus single-handed.
-
-The Eskimos had with them fifty-six fine dogs, tied by deerskin traces
-to their sledges, which were made of bone and lashed together by
-leather strips. The runners were of polished ivory, from the tusks of
-the walrus, and glistened like steel. The Eskimos’ weapons were knives,
-which they carried in their boots, and lances, which were lashed on
-their sledges. They had no wood for the handles of these weapons,
-because no trees grow in this cold country. All of the handles were
-made of bone. You would have thought these natives very rude indeed,
-could you have seen how they behaved on Dr. Kane’s ship. They opened
-all the doors and rummaged around in the dark corners. They opened
-boxes, handling everything they saw, and putting all they could inside
-their jumpers and boots. In fact, they stole so much that Dr. Kane and
-his companions had to follow them continually and take the things out
-of their hands.
-
-[Illustration: ESKIMOS AND THEIR DOGS.]
-
-At last the Eskimos became tired, and when the white men spread a
-buffalo skin on the floor near the fire, they threw themselves upon it.
-For supper each man had a large piece of raw walrus meat, from which he
-ate until he was tired. Then he went to sleep with the raw meat lying
-beside him. When he awoke he would seize his meat, eat more of it, then
-drop off to sleep again. Many slept in a sitting position, with their
-heads falling forward low on their breasts.
-
-Dr. Kane made a treaty with these people. He bought all the walrus meat
-they had, giving them needles, beads, and old cask staves for it. They
-promised to bring Kane more food very soon, and also to lend him their
-dogs for his journey to the north. Then Metek said they must go, and
-it did not take them long to get ready. They harnessed the dogs to the
-sledges quickly, jumped on, cracked their long sealskin whips, and off
-they went, dashing over the ice at a speed of twenty miles an hour.
-
-Some time later Metek again visited Rensselaer Harbor. This time Dr.
-Kane decided to go with him to his hut, and bring back a load of walrus
-meat. Kane and Metek traveled eight miles by sledge, with Metek’s
-excellent team of twelve wild Eskimo dogs. They rode very swiftly over
-the ice and snow, until at last Kane saw what looked like two dark
-spots on the pure white surface. These spots were the entrances to two
-Eskimo huts.
-
-The Eskimo huts are built of large stones and are heavily sodded with
-turf or moss. They are shaped like half of an egg, and the entrance is
-a tunnel, through which the dwellers creep on their hands and knees.
-The door is a slab of slate or ice. At this time the huts were buried
-under the snow.
-
-The natives rushed out to meet the travelers. They seemed delighted to
-see Kane, but the cold soon drove them inside again. Kane and Metek
-followed, crawling through a tunnel twelve feet in length, which led
-them into the hut of one room about six by fifteen feet. It was crowded
-with persons and served for all purposes. The women were cooking large
-pieces of walrus meat over small lamps, and men and children were lying
-about half-clothed, calling to one another with uncouth sounds. Others
-lay stretched upon the floor sleeping.
-
-[Illustration: INTERIOR OF AN ESKIMO HUT.
-
-From a drawing by Dr. Kane.]
-
-The thermometer outside registered 30° below zero. Inside the hut the
-temperature stood at 90°, nor was there any place for fresh air to
-enter. Poor Dr. Kane was obliged to take off all his fur clothes like
-the rest. Being very tired, he soon fell asleep, with an Eskimo boy for
-a pillow, and a little Eskimo baby under his arm.
-
-Dr. Kane slept well. When he awoke he was offered some breakfast of
-boiled blubber. But, unluckily, he had seen the women cooking this, and
-they were so careless and dirty that he could not touch it. Instead he
-ate some pieces of frozen liver which he had brought with him. After
-breakfast he started on a walrus hunt.
-
-
-
-
-IX. HUNTING IN THE ICY NORTH
-
-
-The walrus has been called “the lion of the seas.” He is a huge
-animal, often eighteen feet in length. His head is square, and his
-cheeks and lips are covered with quills like bristles. From his face
-also extend the tusks, which on the larger animals are often thirty
-inches in length, and are prized as ivory. Altogether the walrus is a
-fierce-looking creature, with a tough hide and an ugly temper.
-
-Like the seal, the walrus has to come to the surface of the water to
-breathe. So Dr. Kane and his Eskimo friends tried to find open water,
-or, at least, a place where the ice was thin. The walrus has a habit
-of bellowing as he lies on the ice, so that hunters are guided by this
-strange and terrible sound. Every few minutes the hunters took off
-their fur hoods to listen.
-
-At last a large walrus rose through the ice, breaking it with a loud
-crash. Just as the animal rose out of the water, Dr. Kane and the
-Eskimos fell at full length, flat on the ice. As soon as the head of
-the walrus sank below the water again, the hunters jumped up and ran
-toward the hole, where they knew it would soon reappear. Every time the
-head of the animal was seen coming to the surface, the hunters would
-fall to the ice or hide themselves behind hummocks. In this way――now
-running, now hiding――they at last came near enough to the walrus to
-throw their harpoon into its body. Tied to the harpoon was a long rope
-of walrus hide, which uncoiled rapidly as an Eskimo ran away to solid
-ice with one end in his hand. When at a safe distance, he drove a spike
-of bone into the ice and fastened the end of the rope to it.
-
-[Illustration: A WALRUS HUNT.]
-
-Meanwhile, the powerful walrus had been struggling in the water,
-breaking up the ice around with a frightful noise. The Eskimos
-tightened the rope whenever they could, and again the walrus rose and
-threw his powerful body against the ice, breaking it away; now they had
-to work fast. First one, and then another, would seize the spike and
-run with it and the rope to a safe place. In this way they tired the
-animal out, and were able to give him a second wound.
-
-During this battle the walrus roared hideously, using his tusks
-fiercely. He rushed toward the men and tore away great pieces of ice
-with his tusks, but though he received many lance wounds, he never
-once showed fear or made any attempt to run away.
-
-When the great beast was dead, the Eskimos drew it up on the ice, the
-flesh was divided, and Dr. Kane packed his share upon his sledge. Then
-with his own four dogs he set out to return to the brig. He himself
-ran most of the way home, because the dogs had difficulty in drawing
-the heavy load. The crew were glad to see Kane once more, and glad,
-too, for what he had brought. During the winter fresh meat had been so
-scarce that many of the men became sick with the terrible disease which
-salt meat produces.
-
-Toward spring Dr. Kane and Hans went hunting for seals. The seal comes
-up under the ice where it is thinnest, and scratches a hole through it
-with his sharp claws. Then he hollows out the snow above and makes an
-opening just large enough to allow the air to pass through; this is his
-breathing hole. It is so small that often one cannot see it, but the
-seal makes a blowing noise in breathing, and the hunters have learned
-to listen for this sound.
-
-Kane and Hans often sat many hours on a block of ice beside a hole,
-waiting for a seal. When the seal appeared, one of them quickly thrust
-a spear into him and usually killed him. Then Hans would fasten a thong
-of walrus hide about the neck of the seal and drag him away, across the
-ice, to the ship. The meat of the seal is delicious, and great was the
-rejoicing among the men when a hunting expedition was successful.
-
-When the sun begins to shine, the Eskimos hunt in a different way.
-They know that the seals like to creep out of the water and lie on the
-ice in the sunshine. The hunters take with them a sledge with a white
-screen fastened across it, which they push along in front of them,
-the screen hiding their bodies from view. A hole in the middle of
-the screen gives them a chance to see ahead, and provides an opening
-through which they can point a rifle. When the hunter sees in the
-distance the bodies of seals lying on the edge of the ice, he pushes
-his sledge toward them. So quietly and so steadily does he move, that
-the seals do not become alarmed. They lie still, watching the strange
-object, until the hunter is near enough to shoot.
-
-[Illustration: A HERD OF SEALS.]
-
-When the summer comes it is still easier to hunt seals, for their eyes
-are blinded by the bright sun shining on the snow and ice, and the
-hunters can often walk within gunshot of them without using the screen.
-
-Kane’s party had plenty of fresh seal meat to eat in the summer time.
-From the fat of each animal they obtained about five gallons of oil,
-which they used in their lamps. The fur made warm coats and trousers,
-while the hides were used for covering the boats and for whiplashes.
-Dr. Kane learned not to waste any part of the seal’s body; even the
-bones could be used for hooks and for the handles of tools.
-
-There is another animal in the cold regions which hunters are eager to
-slay. This is the large, fierce polar bear. He has a flat head, a long
-neck, and smooth, white fur. He is always found near the sea, where he
-pursues seals both in the water and on ice, and preys upon fishes and
-birds.
-
-[Illustration: POLAR BEARS.]
-
-Kane had many a chase over the ice after the bears. When a bear track
-is seen on the ice or snow, the dogs are immediately set upon the
-trail. The hunters follow the dogs quickly and silently. When they come
-within sight of the bear, the hunter releases the dogs from their
-harness, so that they may surround the bear and cut off his retreat.
-The dogs are carefully trained not to fight the bear, but to annoy
-him. They run around him in circles and prevent him from making his
-escape. The bear, when brought to bay, rises on his haunches, seizes
-the nearest dog in his teeth and tosses him to one side. The dogs
-instinctively relax their muscles in falling, and are seldom hurt; they
-usually rise immediately and return to the conflict. In this way the
-bear is detained until the hunters arrive.
-
-Sometimes two hunters engage one animal, striking at him with their
-lances. Two men can easily kill a bear. As one man pretends to thrust
-his lance into the right side, the animal turns, and tries to protect
-himself with his fore paws. Then the other hunter gives him his death
-wound in the left side.
-
-A man must have a great deal of skill and courage to be able to kill a
-polar bear single-handed. The single hunter provokes the bear to follow
-him by running as if trying to escape. The bear comes down on all four
-feet and prepares to pursue the man. With a rapid jump to the right,
-the hunter runs back to his first position. The bear turns in the same
-way to follow, when the hunter skillfully plunges his lance into the
-left side just below the shoulder. Even then the most expert hunter
-sometimes has to leave his spear in the animal’s side and run for his
-life, though a wound given in that spot is usually fatal. The Eskimos
-hold in highest esteem the hunter who can kill a bear single-handed.
-
-The flesh of the bear is used for food, and the fur for clothing. Dr.
-Kane killed so many of these animals that he actually tired of the
-sport.
-
-
-
-
-X. HOME AGAIN
-
-1855
-
-
-Dr. Kane and his companions passed two winters in the ice regions,
-living in a place farther north than any explorers had ever lived in
-before. Few Arctic explorers at that time had passed two winter seasons
-in the ice.
-
-During the cold months the average temperature at Rensselaer harbor
-stood at -29°, during the summer months at 33°. When you consider that
-the summer was colder than the average winter in the vicinity of New
-York City, you will understand in part what were the severities of the
-climate that these men endured. The first winter, with the long, dark
-night, was dismal and gloomy, and there was a great deal of sickness
-and suffering among the men. When summer came, Kane hoped that his ship
-might be released from the ice. He waited a long time, but the ice did
-not thaw, and again winter came upon them suddenly. It was then too
-late for the men to escape to the south; so a second winter was passed
-on board the _Advance_. It was a sad time: many of the men died and
-many suffered terribly from disease and want of food.
-
-When the spring of 1855 came, Kane again hoped that the ice around the
-brig would thaw and leave her free, for he was a good commander and
-could not bear to desert his ship. At last it became certain that the
-ice would not break away, and that the _Advance_ could not be released
-that spring.
-
-Then Kane decided to leave the ship and try to reach some settlement
-on the Greenland coast. The men promised to follow him and to obey him
-in all things. They knew the danger of the journey, but they also knew
-that a third winter on the _Advance_ would probably cost them their
-lives. At this time the company had provisions enough to last them
-thirty-six days. These provisions were packed in small boats, ready to
-be dragged over the ice to open water. All the baggage and the articles
-necessary for use in cooking, eating, and sleeping, were at last ready
-to be placed on the sledges. Four of the men were so ill that they also
-had to be carried.
-
-Each man in the party wore a woolen underdress and an Eskimo suit of
-fur. The men’s boots were of their own make, fashioned of canvas and
-lined with walrus hide. Inside of these boots each man wore another
-pair, made of carpeting which had been taken from the cabin of the
-_Advance_. To save themselves from becoming snow-blind, they wore large
-goggles, made by cutting a small slit in a piece of wood. Some had
-entire masks made of gutta percha.
-
-It was May when Kane and his companions bade farewell to the brig and
-set out to cover the thirteen hundred miles of ice and water which lay
-between them and the place where they hoped to find a settlement. Yet
-they did not despair. The men who were able to work, dragged sledges
-and boats as far as the spot selected for a camp. Here they built a
-hut or erected a tent for the sick, making them as comfortable as they
-could. Then the workers went back over the same route and brought along
-the baggage, which had been left behind because they could not carry it
-all at one time. Thus they were obliged to travel back over each day’s
-march, and each following day to bring ahead the baggage that could
-not be carried the first time.
-
-[Illustration: TRAVELING OVER THE ICE HUMMOCKS.]
-
-It was slow progress, but they kept on bravely. Often they were delayed
-by heavy snowstorms. As they could not drag the sledges through the
-deep drifts, they crept into their tents and slept, waiting for the
-storm to pass away. When it became possible for them to travel again,
-they started out, plowing their way through the snow, often so tired
-that they could hardly lift their feet. Sometimes they journeyed over
-thin ice, and many a man fell through and just escaped drowning.
-
-It was near the middle of June when the party reached the shores of
-Baffin bay and began to launch the boats. The launching took a long
-time, for the surf beat high along the shore, and great masses of
-drifting ice were dashed about.
-
-A severe gale arose, and the boats were nearly crushed in the ice, but
-a day later they succeeded in putting off from the shore. The _Faith_
-led the way, with Captain Kane aboard. Then followed the _Red Eric_,
-with most of the provisions, and last of all, the _Hope_. These three
-small boats were now embarked on a sea in which the hardiest whaling
-vessel might easily founder.
-
-The party were all hopeful until provisions were exhausted; then
-the stoutest hearts failed. Even Kane despaired of ever reaching a
-settlement, but he was too brave a leader to allow his men to know
-this, and he encouraged them in every way possible. The men grew so
-weak from want of food that they were scarcely able to guide the boats.
-
-The ice had knocked holes in each of the boats, and they had to be
-constantly baled to keep them from sinking. When everything looked
-darkest, one of the party saw a large seal floating on a piece of ice
-a short distance away. The half-starved men became so excited that
-they could hardly handle the oars. Every preparation was made to steal
-quietly toward the animal, which seemed to be asleep. Stockings were
-placed over the oars to deaden the sound, and a man named Peterson, who
-was thought to be the best shot of the party, was stationed in the bow
-with the rifle.
-
-Silently the oarsmen guided the boat toward the piece of ice where
-the seal was lying. When they were almost within rifle shot, the seal
-lifted its head and saw the boat. The men were filled with despair as
-they saw the animal move toward the sea as if to plunge in. They all
-looked anxiously at Peterson, for their lives depended upon him. Poor
-Peterson was trembling with nervousness and weakness. His hands shook,
-but with a great effort he steadied himself and fired. Instantly the
-seal fell over on its side.
-
-With shouts of delight the men pushed the boat to the ice, climbed upon
-it, and seized the animal. They were half mad with joy, and ran over
-the ice, crying and laughing, and waving their knives. Soon every man
-was eating raw blubber and licking his bloody fingers with relish. It
-was a savage meal, but starved men may be pardoned for being fierce.
-
-[Illustration: DRAGGING THE BOATS OVER THE ICE FLOES.]
-
-Other seals were shot, and soon land was sighted. Kane directed the
-course of the boats southward along the coast, and a few nights later
-the men landed on the rocks for rest and sleep.
-
-One morning Peterson, in great excitement, awoke Kane and told him
-that he had just seen a native in a kayak, searching among the rocks
-along the coast for eider down. Peterson knew him, and called to him:
-“Don’t you know me? I am Carl Peterson.” “No,” the Eskimo answered;
-“Peterson’s wife says he is dead.” Then he paddled away very fast as if
-in fear.
-
-A few days later Kane and his companions were rowing along in their
-boats, when the mast of a vessel loomed in the distance before them.
-Peterson burst into sobs in his excitement, and in broken English and
-Danish exclaimed, “It’s the Upernavik oil boat!” Indeed, it was the
-vessel that goes once a year to Upernavik for a supply of blubber
-to make oil. Soon the vessel came near enough for the crews to talk
-to each other. You may be sure that Captain Kane’s party wanted to
-know what had happened during their long absence from home. The first
-question Kane asked was whether Franklin had been found.
-
-The sailors told him that some traces of Franklin had been seen,
-but that it was now supposed that he and all of his companions had
-perished. This news made Kane very sad, for no one knew better than he
-what suffering Franklin and his men must have endured.
-
-After learning all that these men could tell him, Kane journeyed on.
-After another halt for sleep, and another long pull at the oars, the
-men heard the welcome sound of barking dogs at the settlement.
-
-The people of Upernavik were very kind to Kane and his men. They fitted
-up a loft for them to sleep in and shared their stores in a liberal
-manner.
-
-[Illustration: UPERNAVIK, GREENLAND.]
-
-A Danish vessel, starting for home early in September, took Kane and
-his party on board, promising to land them at the Shetland islands. On
-the 11th the vessel reached Disco, where another steamer was sighted in
-the distance. As she drew near Kane’s men saw with joy that she carried
-the American flag. The vessel proved to be a relief ship sent out by
-the United States to search for Captain Kane. The men, under command of
-Lieutenant Hartstene, greeted Kane and his companions with cheers and
-took them aboard. The _Faith_, which had done such excellent service,
-was taken on board also, and may now be seen at the Brooklyn navy yard.
-Though Kane had been compelled to leave the _Advance_ in the ice,
-had lost his equipment, and had found no trace of Sir John Franklin,
-yet his expedition was by no means a failure. The geographical and
-scientific value of the knowledge which he gained during his stay in
-the icy North was very great.
-
-Large tracts of country, before unknown, had been discovered and
-surveyed; the coast of Greenland had been explored as far north as
-latitude 81°, and the great glacier of Humboldt, with a sea face
-forty-five miles in length, discovered. New land to the north of
-Humboldt glacier was also discovered and named Washington Land.
-
-[Illustration: A GREENLANDER IN HIS KAYAK.]
-
-A great channel to the northwest, free from ice, was supposed to lead
-into an open polar sea. The theory of an open polar sea, however, has
-not yet been proved.
-
-Grinnell Land was discovered, and a survey made of the lands bordering
-on Smith sound. Valuable facts in relation to the tides, climates,
-and plants were compiled, and a study was made of the Eskimos of Smith
-sound. Kane received gold medals from the Queen of England, the Royal
-Geographical Society of London, the American Congress, and the New York
-Legislature.
-
-But Kane’s health, never of the best, now began to fail. He went to
-England, but while there grew rapidly worse. He then sailed for Havana,
-hoping that the balmy climate would benefit him; but it was too late
-for him to recover his health, and he died at Havana, February 16,
-1857.
-
-
-
-
-XI. NORDENSKJÖLD AND THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE
-
-1878–1879
-
-
-The next man to journey into the frozen North was Adolf Erik
-Nordenskjöld.[2] He was born in Finland and educated at its university;
-but when he was about twenty-two years of age he fell under the
-suspicion of the Russian government and was compelled to leave his
-native country. Nordenskjöld then took up his residence in Sweden, and
-in 1858 began his career as an Arctic explorer by going on a journey to
-Spitzbergen. Five voyages in the Arctic regions followed, during one of
-which Nordenskjöld visited Greenland and made an inland journey over
-the ice.
-
-[2] Pronounced _Norʹ den sheld_.
-
-The interior of Greenland is believed to be one vast glacier, moving
-slowly to the sea. This movement causes the formation of deep chasms
-and clefts which are almost bottomless, and which prevent the traveler
-from making rapid progress.
-
-Notwithstanding the dangers and hardships of the journey, Nordenskjöld
-advanced thirty miles over the glacier to a height of twenty-two
-hundred feet above the level of the sea. Upon returning to the coast,
-he visited Disco Fiord, and then went home to Sweden.
-
-About the time that Nordenskjöld reached home, the Swedish government
-decided to send a sledge expedition from Spitzbergen to the North
-Pole. The nation which should first succeed in reaching the pole would
-gain the admiration of the civilized world, and Sweden hoped to win
-this glory.
-
-The government began at once to look for a leader for this expedition,
-and very naturally selected Nordenskjöld, who had already made Arctic
-voyages and had thereby gained experience which made him a valuable
-commander.
-
-The party was sent out in 1872, but did not succeed in advancing far
-toward the pole; yet the results of the journey were important, for
-the island of Spitzbergen was explored and a good deal of scientific
-information was acquired.
-
-When Professor Nordenskjöld returned from Spitzbergen, he gave his
-attention to the northern coast of Asia. Some few whalers had sailed
-round Nova Zembla and entered the Kara sea, but the idea prevailed
-that this sea was always full of ice and dangerous to navigate.
-Nordenskjöld, however, made up his mind to explore the Kara sea and
-sail along the coast of Siberia to the mouth of the Yenisei river.
-
-Supported by Mr. Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld sailed on
-the _Proven_. He first visited Nova Zembla, and then, passing through
-Jugor strait, entered the Kara sea, which was entirely free from
-ice, and reached the Yenisei river without much difficulty. During
-this journey, he and his assistants made valuable collections of the
-products of the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. They succeeded
-in increasing the number of known insects to be found in Nova Zembla
-from seven to one hundred, and in the Kara sea, which had been thought
-barren, they found five hundred species of animal life. Upon reaching
-the mouth of the Yenisei river, Nordenskjöld sent the _Proven_ home,
-while he and a few chosen companions proceeded up the river in a small
-boat.
-
-It was summer time and the tundras were covered with a scanty
-vegetation. The tundras are the plains of Russia and Siberia which lie
-between the tree limit and the Arctic ocean. Most persons think of them
-as entirely barren; in some parts the soil is fertile and would be
-suitable for cultivation, if the climate permitted. In the winter they
-are frozen, but in the summer they afford pasture to herds of reindeer.
-
-All Siberia is colder than other places in the same latitude. One of
-the best-known cold regions on the earth is in Siberia, in latitude 67°
-54ʹ N. Here the average temperature of the winter months is often as
-low as -53°, while some days the thermometer falls to -75° and -85° F.
-
-The tundras are inhabited by a tribe of Siberian Indians called
-Samoyeds. These natives travel about during the summer, hunting and
-fishing, setting up their skin tents wherever they find game plentiful.
-They usually have with them a large number of dogs, which they use for
-sledging in winter and drawing boats against the current during the
-summer. The dogs run alongshore and drag the boats after them up the
-river, very much as mules draw our canal boats. The Samoyeds are small
-of stature and very dirty. Their hair is matted and unkempt, and they
-wear clothes of skin, with sometimes a bright-colored cotton shirt over
-the skin blouse.
-
-[Illustration: SAMOYED HUTS IN SUMMER.]
-
-These people worship idols, which look like dolls made of skin, and
-which they always carry with them on their travels. Some of these
-idols, or gods, have faces of brass or copper, and some carry bows made
-of forged iron. The Samoyeds worship by making pilgrimages to certain
-spots, where they offer sacrifices and make vows; they eat the flesh of
-their victims, and besmear their idols with the blood. At these sacred
-places there are piles of bones and skulls of the reindeer, with the
-horns. Near by are also found quantities of old iron, and hundreds of
-small wooden sticks, carved to look like human faces.
-
-[Illustration: A SAMOYED FAMILY IN WINTER COSTUME.]
-
-It was to this Samoyed country that the Russian government used to
-send her criminals, and there are many exiles living there now; but
-the natives treat them very kindly and never inquire into the cause of
-their banishment.
-
-As Nordenskjöld and his companions traveled on, they saw large masses
-of driftwood lying along the shores of the river. This driftwood
-is carried by the current out into the Arctic ocean, and is often
-picked up by explorers on the North American and Greenland shores, a
-fact which seems to prove that the ocean currents carry it across the
-polar sea. At length the travelers entered the region from which this
-driftwood comes. This is the great forest belt of Siberia, the largest
-in the world, extending, with but little interruption, from the Ural
-mountains to the Sea of Okhotsk. It consists mainly of enormous pines,
-growing thickly, and untouched by the ax of the lumberman. Many trees
-are withered with age; others are fallen, and their decayed trunks are
-covered with mosses and lichens. The wilderness is so vast that a man
-might wander hundreds of miles without meeting a human being.
-
-Beyond the forest belt lie the fertile plains, which are partly
-cultivated and which supply Europe with wheat. Nordenskjöld visited
-these plains, or steppes, and then proceeded homeward overland, by way
-of St. Petersburg. The next year, 1876, Nordenskjöld made a second
-voyage from Sweden to the mouth of the Yenisei river, proving beyond a
-doubt that there is a sea route from the Atlantic to the mouth of the
-great Siberian river. For this achievement he was regarded by Russia as
-a national benefactor and publicly thanked.
-
-Nordenskjöld hoped that the rich produce of central Asia, the gold,
-silver, copper, iron, and coal, the ivory, timber, wheat, and furs,
-might now be shipped through the rivers to the Arctic ocean and thence
-to Europe. The dangers of navigation through the ice, however, are
-so great that it is doubtful whether this route can ever become an
-important one for purposes of commerce.
-
-Nordenskjöld was not yet satisfied with the work he had accomplished
-in the Arctic regions. He longed to do what Arctic explorers had been
-trying to do for three hundred years; namely, to find a northeast
-passage to the Pacific. Supported by King Oscar of Sweden and by Mr.
-Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld sailed from Tromsö in his
-ship, the _Vega_, July 21, 1878, accompanied by three other vessels.
-Two of the vessels left him at the mouth of the Yenisei and proceeded
-up that river, while the other, the _Lena_, accompanied the _Vega_
-eastward. The fog caused the sailors more trouble than the ice, but one
-day the mist rose, showing a dark ice-free cape. Then Nordenskjöld knew
-that he had succeeded in reaching the northernmost point of the Old
-World, Cape Tcheliuskin (Chelyuskin).
-
-More than a century earlier, Lieutenant Tcheliuskin, a Russian officer,
-had succeeded in reaching this most northern point of Siberia,
-traveling overland by sledge. Many explorers had tried to reach Cape
-Tcheliuskin by water, but up to this time all had failed. Nordenskjöld
-and his companions were very proud of their success. Flags were
-hoisted, salutes fired, and the officers drank toasts in honor of the
-occasion.
-
-[Illustration: THE “VEGA” FIRING A SALUTE AT CAPE TCHELIUSKIN, THE MOST
-NORTHERN POINT OF THE OLD WORLD.]
-
-A heap of stones, called a cairn, was erected on shore as a memorial,
-and soon the two vessels started again on their journey eastward. When
-the mouth of the Lena river was reached, the ship _Lena_ headed toward
-it and, after exploring the river, returned home.
-
-After parting from the _Lena_, the _Vega_ continued her voyage to the
-New Siberian islands and thence along the coast of Asia, nearly to
-Bering strait. When within a day’s journey of the strait, the _Vega_
-was beset in the ice; and, much to Nordenskjöld’s regret, he was
-obliged to pass the winter at the very entrance to the Pacific ocean.
-Had he been a few hours earlier, he might have forced his way through
-the ice and completed the northeast passage in 1878. But in that case
-we should never have known all the interesting facts which he has told
-us about the strange people who inhabit the northeastern peninsula of
-Asia.
-
-These people are a Siberian tribe, called Tchuktches.[3] There are
-two divisions of the tribe, the reindeer Tchuktches and the coast
-Tchuktches. The former own herds of reindeer, and travel about,
-pitching their tents wherever the pasture is good. They also trade in
-skins, hides, furs, and whalebones with the most northern Indian tribes
-of America and with the Russian fur dealers, often making long journeys
-for this purpose. The coast Tchuktches live along the shore, and hunt
-and fish for their living.
-
-[3] Pronounced _Chookʹ chez_.
-
-The reindeer Tchuktches were encamped near the _Vega’s_ winter
-quarters. As soon as these people saw a strange ship anchored off the
-coast, they launched a large skin boat very skillfully, and men, women,
-and children jumped in and rowed through the thin, newly formed ice to
-the vessel. They climbed aboard and seemed as pleased to see the white
-men as if they had been old friends. The deck of the _Vega_ became a
-reception room, for not a day passed without a visit from the natives.
-
-[Illustration: TCHUKTCHE AND REINDEER.]
-
-The Tchuktches are a strong, hardy race, but very lazy. Nothing but
-want of food induces them to work. Many are tall, with brown skin and
-raven-black hair, and a large nose like that of our North American
-Indians. Some have high cheek bones and slanting eyes, like the
-Mongolian race. They live in tents, which are made double to insure
-warmth during the winter. The inner tent is the sleeping room. The
-framework is of wood, and over this are spread thick reindeer skins.
-The floor is a walrus skin, and at night extra reindeer skins are
-thrown down like a carpet. The inner tent is heated by three train-oil
-lamps, which, together with the heat from the bodies of the many human
-beings who are packed in this small space, raise the temperature in the
-tent to such a degree that even in the most severe weather, the natives
-strip off all their clothing. In the winter they live, cook, and work
-in the inner tent; the outer tent, used in summer, is built around the
-inner tent. The skins of the outer tent are older and thinner than
-those of the inner one.
-
-The Tchuktche women work very hard. They take care of the children,
-cook, sew, and keep the tent in order. They receive the game and cut it
-up, in winter in the tent and in summer on the beach. They help with
-the fishing; they tan the hides and prepare thread from the sinews.
-The men provide the food, which they obtain by fishing, hunting, and
-trading. But in and around the tent they do nothing but put their
-hunting tools in order, or play with the children.
-
-[Illustration: TCHUKTCHE MAN AND WOMAN.]
-
-Tchuktche children are healthy and hearty. They often cross from one
-tent to another entirely naked, when the weather is bitterly cold. The
-children are petted and treated very kindly. The older people never
-utter an angry word to them, or punish them. For playthings they have
-dolls, bows, and windmills with sails. Tchuktche children are very
-well-behaved. A little girl fell down the ship’s stairs head first, and
-received so severe a blow that her hearing was nearly destroyed, yet
-she scarcely uttered a cry. A small boy of four years once visited the
-ship. He was so wrapped up in furs that he looked like a ball and could
-hardly move. He fell into a ditch which had been cut in the ice on the
-deck, and could not get out. The small Tchuktche did not make a sound,
-but waited patiently until some one saw him lying there and rescued
-him.
-
-When the ice became solid, the natives came on their dog sleds from
-villages far away. Sometimes they brought skins and whalebones to
-exchange for tobacco and brandy, but they obtained very little of the
-latter from the men on the _Vega_. As winter advanced, the natives’
-provisions gave out. Then they gathered around the ship at the time
-when they knew the crew were at dinner, and begged for food so hard
-that one day the cook himself came out with a large kettle full of meat
-soup. The Tchuktches seized it like starving animals and bailed it out
-with spoons, empty tin cans, and even with their hands. Nordenskjöld
-gave them all the food he could spare, but in spite of his kindness the
-plump little babies grew thin and hollow-eyed. One day the Tchuktche
-hunters killed a polar bear and several seals. Then begging ceased for
-a few days, and they rested from hunting and lived on the fat of the
-land, without any thought of the future.
-
-[Illustration: HUNTING REINDEER.]
-
-A few days later a procession of Tchuktches was again seen, coming in
-single file over the ice toward the ship, each man carrying a piece of
-ice on his shoulder. This he gave to the cook, begging for something
-to eat in return; and you may be sure that all the food that could be
-spared was given to these poor people.
-
-One morning a number of men approached the ship, dragging a dog sledge
-on which a man lay so quietly that Nordenskjöld thought he must be
-ill or dead. To his surprise, when the sledge reached the side of
-the vessel, the man climbed rapidly to the deck and saluted. He then
-informed Nordenskjöld in broken Russian that he was the great chief of
-the Tchuktches, and, as a mark of his high rank, he had been drawn over
-the ice by men instead of dogs.
-
-This man’s name was Menka. He gave Nordenskjöld two roasts of reindeer
-meat, and in return received some tobacco and a woolen shirt. Finding
-that Menka was going to a Russian town some distance away, Nordenskjöld
-asked him to carry a letter to the Russian authorities there, as he
-wanted to let King Oscar know where he was. Menka consented, and
-Nordenskjöld wrote the letter and gave it to him. Whether Menka
-misunderstood or not, no one knows; but when he reached shore he
-assembled the Tchuktches, opened the letter, and, holding it upside
-down, gravely read it in his own language to his admiring audience. His
-hearers thought him very learned indeed.
-
-The next day the great chief again visited the _Vega_, but no one
-mentioned the letter for fear of hurting his feelings. Menka doubtless
-meant no harm. The Tchuktches seem to have been very democratic in
-their sentiments; they refused to admit that Menka was their chief,
-saying that they were just as good as he was.
-
-When Christmas came, some of the whites persuaded the Tchuktches to
-bring them a load of willows from the valleys in the south. They took
-a piece of wood for the stem and, tying on the willow bushes for
-branches, called it a Christmas tree, and decorated it with flags,
-colored papers, and wax lights. A box of Christmas presents had been
-placed on board by their friends at home; this was opened and the
-presents distributed. Then the men danced a polka around the tree and
-drank the good health of all their friends.
-
-The spring came slowly, and time dragged, though the men were very busy
-collecting specimens and noting the curious changes in the atmosphere
-and vegetation. It seemed as if the ice would never break up. On July
-18, 1879, Nordenskjöld and his companions sat down to dinner as usual.
-During the meal the vessel, which had been motionless for months, moved
-slightly. It was a moment of intense excitement, and everybody rushed
-on deck. The ice was moving! It did not take long for the engineer to
-light the boiler fires, and in two hours the _Vega_ was free and on
-her way to Bering strait. There was not much time to say farewell to
-the Tchuktches, who gathered on the shore and watched the departure of
-their white friends.
-
-The _Vega_ encountered but little ice, and at 11 o’clock on the morning
-of July 20, 1879, she sailed into the middle of the strait that
-connects the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Salutes were fired and flags
-raised. The northeastern passage was accomplished. In a single voyage
-Nordenskjöld had succeeded in doing what Arctic explorers had been
-trying to achieve for three hundred years.
-
-On his way home Nordenskjöld visited Japan. He remained there two
-weeks, collecting facts which contributed a great deal to our knowledge
-of that country. When Nordenskjöld reached home, King Oscar made him a
-baron, and commander of the Order of the North Star. The remainder of
-his life was spent in scientific work. In August, 1901, this great man
-passed away, leaving behind him a lasting fame.
-
-
-
-
-XII. VOYAGE OF THE _JEANNETTE_
-
-1879–1881
-
-
-During the same month, July, 1879, that Nordenskjöld completed the
-northeast passage by sailing through Bering strait into the Pacific
-ocean, an expedition sailed from San Francisco northward through Bering
-sea on a voyage of discovery in Arctic regions.
-
-This expedition was sent out by Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the owner of
-the _New York Herald_. Mr. Bennett bought and equipped a vessel, which
-he called the _Jeannette_. By special act of Congress, the _Jeannette_
-was conducted by the United States Navy, with the rights and privileges
-of a government vessel.
-
-The command was offered to Lieutenant George W. De Long and he
-accepted, after the expedition was made national. De Long, it is said,
-believed that an expedition might reach the North Pole by following a
-branch of the Japan Current through Bering strait and into the Arctic
-ocean, a route which had never been attempted.
-
-Many explorers who had made trips to the Arctic regions observed that
-the ice always drifted toward the southeast, and entered the Atlantic
-ocean between the islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was thought
-that there must be a strong southeast current to carry this pack of
-floating ice always in the same direction. Instead of trying to sail
-northward between Spitzbergen and Greenland, where they must meet that
-great ice pack, these men said: “Let us enter the Arctic ocean through
-Bering strait and sail northward toward the pole. If the ship is caught
-in the ice pack, she will drift along with the pack into the Atlantic
-ocean. Perhaps the drift will carry the ship across the North Pole.”
-
-De Long sailed from San Francisco on the _Jeannette_, July 8, 1879.
-It was a beautiful sunny day, and many vessels were gathered in San
-Francisco bay to attend the departure. Guns were fired, flags waved,
-and cheers given with a will for the brave men who were going to risk
-their lives in the search for the North Pole.
-
-The _Jeannette_ sailed away through the Pacific ocean. She crossed
-Bering sea in a heavy gale, and passed through Bering strait in safety.
-After rounding East cape, the watch in the crow’s nest saw some rude
-huts along the beach. They were the homes of the Tchuktches, the
-Siberian race which inhabits this peninsula.
-
-The ice alongshore prevented De Long from landing, and the natives,
-seeing this, launched a large skin boat and went out to the ship. The
-Indian chief went with them, and they all boarded the _Jeannette_.
-These people could furnish very little information, because no one on
-board knew their language and they could speak no English. But De Long
-learned, by means of signs and motions, that Nordenskjöld, with the
-_Vega_, had wintered to the northwest of them, and that a few weeks
-before he had passed out through Bering strait.
-
-The Tchuktches had a delightfully original way of asking for liquor.
-They bent their elbows and uttered the word “Schnapps.” But they did
-not get anything to drink, and soon returned to the shore.
-
-The next day some men from the _Jeannette_ succeeded in landing. They
-found the Tchuktches living in tents made of skin, and very dirty.
-They ate the raw flesh of the walrus and drank the blood. Their chief
-wore a red calico gown as a mark of his high rank. It was a cool
-garment for so cold a place, but the natives do not feel the cold as
-keenly as we should.
-
-After sailing along the Siberian coast for a short distance, the
-_Jeannette_ bade farewell to land and started on her perilous journey.
-
-In the Arctic regions the ice is divided into what is known as young
-ice and the pack. Young ice is that which is forming all the time.
-It is thin at first, and vessels can usually cut their way through.
-The pack is the old ice which has been formed for many years, and is
-composed of large pieces, called floes, which are often thirty or forty
-feet thick and extend over a great surface both above and below the
-water.
-
-The floes sometimes close up and float together as a pack, squeezing
-in everything between them. Sometimes they separate, leaving channels
-of water between. The pack floats with the wind and the current, and
-there is little chance of escape from it. If a ship is caught in the
-ice pack, it must float with it until a storm or some other change of
-weather breaks up the pack. When a ship is strong enough to resist the
-pressure of the ice pack, there is some chance of escape in the spring,
-but so tremendous is the power of the ice that Arctic voyagers avoid
-the pack if possible.
-
-It seems to have been De Long’s intention deliberately to enter the
-pack and drift with it, for when, on September 6, he saw an opening
-between the Siberian and the American packs, he slipped in. At first
-the _Jeannette_ pushed her way bravely, but after a few hours she was
-unable to proceed, and soon she was frozen in solidly.
-
-[Illustration: THE “JEANNETTE” IN THE ICE PACK.]
-
-To the southwest lay Herald island, which the men attempted to explore.
-Taking a dog sledge, they traveled to within six miles of the beach,
-where they found open water, so that they were obliged to return to the
-ship without setting foot on land. They found the ship drifting with
-the ice, and in danger of being crushed between the huge masses which
-surrounded her. Thundering noises from far away could be heard as the
-blocks of ice ground and grated together. At times the ice separated
-near the ship, leaving it in clear water. Again, the pack closed up
-about the stanch little vessel, which was like an eggshell at the mercy
-of enormous blocks of floating ice.
-
-But all this time the _Jeannette_ was drifting, and at length she came
-in sight of Wrangel Land. Before De Long lost sight of this land, he
-satisfied himself that it was an island, and not a part of Greenland
-as some explorers had supposed.
-
-On November 10 the black Arctic night began, which lasted until January
-25. The bitterness of the cold during this long period of darkness is
-inconceivable. The surface water was usually at a temperature of 29°
-F., the freezing point of salt water.
-
-Notwithstanding their discomforts, the men followed a regular routine.
-At seven o’clock in the morning all on board were called and the fires
-were started in the galleys. At nine o’clock the explorers ate their
-breakfast. From eleven until one o’clock every man took his gun and
-went out on the ice to exercise. At three in the afternoon dinner
-was served, and the galley fires were put out in order to save coal.
-Between seven and eight o’clock tea was made. The crew lived on pork
-and beans, salt beef, and canned goods. Sometimes, when the hunters
-were successful, they had the meat of the seal, bear, or walrus. For
-amusements there were theatricals and a navigation class.
-
-For one year and nine months the _Jeannette_ floated in the pack, at
-the mercy of wind and tide. The coldest weather came in February, when
-the thermometer registered 58° below zero. In spite of the windings
-and turnings of their course, the general direction was toward the
-northwest. De Long trusted to the strength of his ship to withstand the
-pressure of the ice, and float across the pole out into the Atlantic
-ocean. At length, on May 17, 1881, land was sighted. It proved to be
-an island not indicated on the chart of that region. De Long therefore
-claimed it as a discovery, and named it Jeannette island. Another
-island was discovered not far away, and called Henrietta.
-
-A sledge party under Melville was sent out from the ship to explore
-this island. The ice over which they traveled consisted of large
-blocks that floated rapidly and were constantly changing their
-position. Sometimes the men were obliged to jump into the water and
-swim from one block to another. The dogs were almost useless; they
-refused to jump, and tried to run away. The men pushed them into the
-water, and then they had to swim for their lives. This seems cruel
-treatment, but Arctic exploration means severe suffering for all who
-engage in it, and the help of the dogs was absolutely necessary.
-
-Henrietta island was rocky and ice-capped, not in itself a very
-valuable possession for the United States of America; yet the Stars and
-Stripes were set up there, and a square copper case, containing copies
-of the _New York Herald_ and a record of the voyage, was placed in a
-cairn. Then the sledge party returned to the ship. The _Jeannette_ was
-in dire distress, for the ice around her, now rapidly breaking up, was
-by turns receding and closing in. Every time it closed in, it pressed
-against her sides with tremendous force, so that her timbers fairly
-creaked.
-
-But brave Captain De Long would not leave his ship until he was quite
-certain that she was going to sink, and her hold was full of water
-before he gave orders to abandon her. Then the crew had to work with
-desperate haste to transfer provisions, tents, and boats to a safe
-place on the ice. At four o’clock in the morning of June 13, the
-_Jeannette_ sank to the bottom of the Arctic ocean. The ice closed over
-the place where the little vessel had endured such terrific grinding
-for twenty-one months, and only a cabin chair and a few pieces of wood
-remained to mark the spot.
-
-Imagine the condition of the men left on the ice so many miles from
-land. But they worked with calm courage to arrange their provisions and
-all the articles which were needful for camping on the sledges, and
-four days after the _Jeannette_ had sunk, the retreat across the ice
-began.
-
-This march was one of the most difficult ever undertaken. In one day
-the travelers could cover a distance of only a mile, or at most a mile
-and a half. Thirteen times they were compelled to go over the road,
-seven times with loads, six times without, traveling a distance of
-twenty-six miles in order to cover an advance of two miles. Many of the
-party were taken ill and had to be carried by their companions.
-
-At the end of the week, De Long found that the ice over which they were
-traveling had floated northwest faster than they had traveled south;
-consequently the party was twenty-seven miles farther away from the
-Siberian coast than when they started. De Long kept this disheartening
-fact a secret from his men, lest they should despair.
-
-On and on they traveled, day after day, until at last a dim line of
-land came into view; it proved to be a new island, with rocky shores
-and steep sides. It was a difficult task to cross the channel of water
-which separated the ice pack from this bleak coast, but Captain De Long
-ordered all his men to attempt the crossing. They raised the American
-flag and took possession of the island in the name of the President of
-the United States. This land De Long called Bennett island. Thousands
-of birds were found among the rocks, and the men had a refreshing feast
-after their weeks of weary work. The sides of Bennett island were bold
-and steep, and landslides occurred several times.
-
-It was thought best to continue the journey by water. There were three
-boats, and a part of the supplies was placed in each boat. De Long
-commanded one, Lieutenant Chipps another, and Engineer Melville the
-third. When the New Siberian islands came in sight, the voyagers knew
-that they were nearing the mouth of the Lena river. This large stream
-flows across Siberia into the Arctic ocean. Its banks are usually
-occupied by tribes of Indians, who remain there during the summer
-season to fish and hunt. It was encouraging to know that land was so
-near, and the weary travelers kept bravely on, working with all their
-strength to steer through the masses of ice. It seemed as if two new
-perils sprang up for every danger escaped. In a heavy gale Lieutenant
-Chipps’s boat went down, and De Long and Melville lost sight of each
-other. Melville at length succeeded in guiding his boat to the mouth of
-the Lena river.
-
-The country appeared to be deserted, and it seemed probable that they
-had escaped from drowning, only to perish from cold and starvation. But
-after they had traveled some distance up the river, and were just about
-to give up in despair, they met some natives.
-
-Melville ordered the natives to spread the report of the two missing
-boats wherever they went. Two of them were sent with dog teams as a
-searching party to the different towns on the delta. After thirteen
-days they returned with tidings of the missing crews. They had met two
-men of Captain De Long’s party, Noros and Nindemann, who had succeeded
-in making their way to a deserted fishing station; but they were in
-a pitiable condition. Although a severe storm was raging, Melville
-started immediately for this place with his dog team, carrying food
-with him.
-
-He found Noros and Nindemann in a small hut, nearly dead from cold and
-hunger. After making them comfortable, and learning from them where
-they had left De Long, Melville pushed on. Storms delayed him in his
-search, so that when he reached the part of the river where De Long’s
-party was last seen, he abandoned all hope of finding any of them
-alive, for they had been without provisions two days when Nindemann
-left them, and that part of the country was entirely destitute of food.
-
-Yet Melville continued his search, determined to find the missing men,
-alive or dead. After heroic, untiring efforts, he found the dead bodies
-of his shipmates. They had perished five months before.
-
-After attending to the burial of his brave comrades, and rewarding the
-natives who had assisted him, Melville set out for home. He arrived
-in New York, September 13, 1883, just one year from the day on which
-the three boats were separated in the gale. Due credit has been given
-Engineer Melville, both at home and abroad, for his promptness and
-energy in conducting the search for the lost crew of the _Jeannette_.
-
-The fate of the _Jeannette_ and her crew often leads people to overlook
-the results secured by her voyage. The long drift of twenty-one months
-enabled the voyagers of this expedition to acquire considerable
-knowledge of the ocean. The ship traveled over a large area, sometimes
-moving almost in a circle. The depth of the ocean, the character of
-its bed and its drift were determined. Many kinds of animal life were
-studied, and two islands were discovered.
-
-
-
-
-XIII. GREELY IN GRINNELL LAND
-
-1881–1883
-
-
-Interest in the Frozen North became so great, that a conference of
-nations was held in Hamburg, Germany, in 1879, to discuss plans by
-means of which knowledge of that part of the world might be advanced.
-Eleven countries were represented, and it was decided to send out
-expeditions and establish stations for the purpose of making scientific
-observations. Fifteen expeditions were sent out by different countries,
-and fourteen stations were established. These stations were known
-as the International Circumpolar stations, and their work was to be
-coöperative.
-
-The United States decided to establish two stations, one at Point
-Barrow, Alaska, and the other in Lady Franklin bay. The command of
-the expedition to Point Barrow was given to Lieutenant Ray. Adolphus
-Washington Greely, a lieutenant in the United States Army, was offered
-command of the other, and when the enterprise was made national in
-1881, he accepted the commission.
-
-The arrangements necessary for the journey were soon made, and Greely
-and his companions sailed on the _Proteus_ to Newfoundland. They left
-that island on July 7, 1881, and headed for the north. The _Proteus_
-sailed through Davis strait and Baffin bay, passing the wonderful “bird
-cliffs,” which rise perpendicularly for over a thousand feet out of
-the sea, and are broken only by narrow ledges. Neither Eskimo nor
-animal can reach these rocks, and here, safe from harm, the birds lay
-their eggs and hatch out their young by the tens of thousands. Greely’s
-men shot many birds and secured hundreds of eggs.
-
-[Illustration: BIRD CLIFFS.]
-
-The _Proteus_ passed through Smith sound and Kennedy channel, and
-reached Lady Franklin bay in safety. She anchored at last in Discovery
-bay, on the coast of Grinnell land, where Greely and his men went
-ashore to select a place suitable for a camp, to be named Fort Conger.
-Then the _Proteus_ steamed away, leaving a small company of men alone
-in the Arctic solitude. But they were too busy to feel lonely, and
-began to work hard in order to make a comfortable home for themselves.
-The house was built of wood covered with tarred paper, and stations for
-the instruments were erected near at hand.
-
-The cliffs around Discovery harbor rise from a hundred to a thousand
-feet in height and nearly surround the bay, which contains about
-twenty square miles of ice floe. Game was plentiful. Large flocks of
-eider ducks visited an open pool near by, and herds of musk oxen were
-to be seen in the distance, grazing quietly. The Arctic summer was
-at its height, and the slopes were covered with grasses, mosses, and
-buttercups.
-
-Under the direction of Lieutenant Greely, the men took observations,
-explored the country, and built depots. The depots were built at
-convenient distances from Fort Conger, and were stored with supplies
-of food for the use of exploring parties. At last so much had been
-accomplished that Greely thought he might safely leave the camp and try
-to reach the interior of Grinnell land.
-
-With three companions he started from Fort Conger, April 26, 1882,
-traveling over ice which was in good condition, so that the party moved
-rapidly. Greely found that two openings along the coast, which he
-had supposed to be bays, were large fiords. Here he came upon layers
-of remarkably clear fresh-water ice. It was deep blue in color and
-contrasted beautifully with the opaque white ice of the ocean floes.
-Without doubt a river or glacier emptied into the fiord. Magnificent
-mountain peaks round about rose to heights of thousands of feet above
-the sea level, and through the valleys, which were bare of snow, there
-were frequent traces of the musk ox, the fox, and the hare.
-
-[Illustration: MUSK OX.]
-
-A sharp turn brought the party to a large icebound lake about five
-hundred square miles in area, which Greely named Lake Hazen. To the
-north rose ranges of mountains, snow-covered and majestic, known as
-the Garfield range; beyond these lay the United States range, also
-snow-covered.
-
-The next day Lake Hazen was crossed and a beautiful glacier discovered.
-It was five miles wide, and rose perpendicularly one hundred and
-seventy-five feet out of the lake. Greely named it the Henrietta
-Nesmith glacier, in honor of his wife.
-
-The top of this glacier was white, like unpolished marble. Lower down,
-the ice shaded into a bluish color, growing more delicate as it reached
-the foot, where it became white, with yellow and rose-colored tinges.
-There were three deep gullies or channels in the glacier, through
-which a torrent had evidently rushed at some time; and, strange as
-it may seem, the hills and slopes next it were covered with plants,
-lichens, willows, and Arctic poppies. In the valleys there was enough
-vegetation to serve as pasture for musk oxen and other animals. The
-interior of Grinnell land was a pleasant country, and Greely felt sorry
-to leave it and return to the coast. He had discovered and explored a
-large tract of land never before visited by civilized men.
-
-In June, 1882, Greely went again to the interior of Grinnell land. This
-time he discovered a number of small lakes, connected by streams with
-Lake Hazen.
-
-He also made the ascent of a mountain forty-five hundred feet in
-height. When he had climbed within half a mile of the top he was so
-tired that he felt he must give up. To urge himself onward, he kept
-throwing his field glasses ahead of him, and crawling on his hands
-and knees to the spot where they were. At last he could advance only
-fifty steps at a time, but he persevered and reached the top, to which
-he gave the name Mount Arthur. It is in all probability the highest
-peak in Grinnell land, and from its summit Greely saw the entire
-island spread out like a map before him. North of Lake Hazen rose the
-snow-clad mountains, extending range beyond range. A like view met his
-eye as he surveyed the country to the south, while in the interior he
-was gazing upon fertile valleys dotted with lakes, which supported
-herds of musk oxen.
-
-Greely spent only twenty minutes on the top of Mount Arthur. The
-temperature was far below zero, and he was in danger of freezing. When
-he began to descend, he decided to slide down a precipice a hundred
-feet in height, in order to save a long walk around the snowdrifts.
-Luckily he landed in the soft snow. At the foot of the mountain Greely
-met his companions, and they returned all together to Fort Conger, well
-pleased with their journey.
-
-The next year Lieutenant Lockwood crossed Grinnell land, and on the
-western coast discovered a large fiord which he named Greely fiord.
-Both north and south of this region were large ice caps, which
-constantly discharged glaciers into the lakes and fiords. At Lake
-Hazen, as well as at many other places on the island, abandoned Eskimo
-huts were found, showing that the Eskimos had at one time occupied the
-island; and many relics of these people were collected, among them
-a stone lamp, a bone spear-head, and a sledge. But at this time the
-island was entirely uninhabited.
-
-
-
-
-XIV. FARTHEST NORTH OF THE GREELY PARTY
-
-1882
-
-
-While Greely was exploring Grinnell land, another party from Fort
-Conger, under Lieutenant Lockwood, had forced its way across Robeson
-channel to the Greenland coast. Lockwood’s party proceeded northward in
-the face of many severe trials. The thermometer registered 81° below
-the freezing point; add to this rough ice and severe winds, and we may
-faintly imagine the suffering endured.
-
-During a snowstorm the men were obliged to dig a hole in a snow bank
-and crawl into it for protection. But the opening soon filled up with
-drifting snow, and the air became so foul that the men were glad to
-creep out again. Sometimes the wind blew them over while they were at
-work, and once a fierce gust lifted one of the dog sledges, with its
-load of two hundred pounds, from the ground. Nevertheless, on April 27,
-1882, the party reached Cape Bryant, where they camped and proceeded to
-explore the surrounding country. The men of the supporting party, as
-had been agreed, turned back at this point and returned to Fort Conger.
-
-[Illustration: AN ARCTIC SNOWSTORM.]
-
-Then Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and an Eskimo named
-Christianson set off to the north to Cape Britannia, taking with them
-enough food to last twenty-five days. The ice was in fair condition
-for pushing rapidly forward, and they soon reached Cape Britannia, a
-towering cliff. The men climbed to the top and gazed around over the
-snow-covered mountain peaks. Then they descended and traveled on over
-land never before trodden by white men. They crossed Nordenskjöld inlet
-and Chipps inlet, and at length reached a new island, which was named
-after Lieutenant Lockwood. It lies in latitude 83° 24ʹ north, but four
-hundred and fifty miles from the pole, and was at that time, 1882, the
-northernmost point yet attained by any nation.
-
-For three hundred years England had held the honor of penetrating
-farthest north. From the time of Henry Hudson, who, in 1607, reached
-latitude 81° 30ʹ, the English sailors had succeeded in going nearer to
-the pole than the explorers of any other nation. In 1875, an English
-Arctic expedition under Captain Nares, reached latitude 83° 20ʹ
-north. Now, Lockwood and Brainard had gained for America the glory of
-penetrating the farthest north.
-
-From a height of twenty-six hundred feet these two men saw fields of
-ice extending to the north as far as the horizon. To the northeast they
-saw Cape Washington, which is twenty-eight miles above Cape Columbia,
-the most northern point of Grinnell land. Cape Washington is the
-northernmost known limit of Greenland, lying in latitude 83° 38ʹ. After
-battling so long with the fierce gales and severe weather, the two men
-were so exhausted that they could with difficulty return to the camp.
-Shortly after their return it was decided to go back to Fort Conger.
-Two of the party were snow-blind and had to be led. The three brave
-travelers were greeted with delight by the rest of the party.
-
-Their success in reaching the highest latitude yet attained was
-discussed at every meal. The time passed rapidly at Fort Conger, for
-the men were very busy, but presently they became anxious. The visiting
-ship which was expected in the summer of 1882, with supplies and
-recruits, did not arrive, and Greely prepared to pass a second winter
-at Fort Conger. When August, 1883, came and no visiting ship had yet
-made its appearance, it is no wonder that the men were disheartened.
-
-At length, weary of waiting, and certain that it meant death to remain
-a third winter at Fort Conger, Greely decided to retreat to the south,
-hoping to meet the ship. He expected, at least, to find that provisions
-had been placed in depots, for his relief. The little steam launch, the
-_Lady Greely_, towed two other small boats through the narrow channels.
-Small amounts of food were found in different caches or depots along
-the route, though not enough to bring much relief. The party was now
-on the verge of starvation. Only after a desperate struggle did they
-succeed in reaching Cape Sabine, where they erected stone huts and
-prepared to pass the winter as best they might. Some of the party tried
-to hunt, but game had disappeared and darkness was close upon them.
-Their condition was indeed pitiable; their clothing was in rags, they
-had no fuel and but forty days’ rations.
-
-But the United States had not forgotten the brave men who were risking
-their lives to make her name glorious. The _Neptune_, the _Proteus_,
-and the _Yantic_ had been sent to relieve Greely during 1882 and 1883.
-Every one of these vessels, however, failed to reach him; moreover,
-they neglected to deposit supplies where he might have found them.
-
-In the winter of 1883 and 1884, under the personal direction of
-Secretary Chandler, two vessels, the _Thetis_ and the _Bear_, were
-bought and equipped for the relief of Greely. The _Thetis_ was
-commanded by Commodore W. S. Schley, and sailed from New York on May 1,
-1884. On board the _Thetis_ was Chief Engineer Melville, who had made
-the heroic search for De Long of the ill-fated _Jeannette_. Melville
-himself had urged this relief expedition for Greely, and his energy and
-knowledge brought success.
-
-Congress offered a reward of $25,000 to any vessel not in the navy,
-which should first find the missing men, and many a whaler went north
-in the attempt to win the prize. These vessels, though unsuccessful in
-the search, did some good, for they helped to break a passage through
-the ice.
-
-The men of the _Thetis_, under Commodore Schley, did not delay a
-moment, or wait for favorable leads. When they could not advance in any
-other way, they tried to blast the ice in front and so force a passage.
-They fought the ice as they would fight a foe, never swerving from
-their one object――to reach Greely in as short a time as possible. Every
-possible effort was made, and by June 6 the _Thetis_ reached Melville
-bay. Little by little she forged ahead, and reached the neighborhood of
-Smith sound.
-
-Here all the men who could be spared were sent ashore to search for
-records, and at last one of the men came upon a cairn, which he opened.
-In it he found a bundle of Greely’s papers, photographs, and records.
-The most recent record was dated September, 1883, nine months before.
-It stated that the party had gone into camp four and a half miles west
-of Cape Sabine. Commodore Schley immediately ordered a party of men to
-take the steam cutter and find the camp. The _Thetis_ then blew her
-whistles to call the search parties back to the ship.
-
-The men of Greely’s party in the wretched tent at Camp Clay heard the
-whistles and knew that a vessel must be somewhere near, yet they were
-too weak to go in search of it, and too hopeless to believe that any
-one was near enough to find them. One man did crawl out and try to
-raise an oar with three rags on it, as a signal of distress, but the
-furious wind tore it down.
-
-The sharp eyes of the men in the steam cutter saw this man. They ran
-the boat inshore and were soon questioning him about his companions.
-He told them that they were over the hill, and that seven of them
-still lived, among them Lieutenant Greely. The ice pilot jumped out of
-the boat and ran to the camp. He was the first of the party to speak
-to Lieutenant Greely, as he had been the last to see him when the
-_Proteus_ steamed away from Discovery harbor three years before. Greely
-directed him to cut the back out of the tent with his pocket knife.
-When this was done, Greely on his hands and knees in his sleeping bag
-peered out. His hair and beard were long and matted, his face was
-covered with soot and dirt, and his eyes glittered with excitement. He
-heard with joy that help had arrived and that he and his companions
-were saved. In the midst of a terrific wind storm, the surviving men of
-Greely’s party were transferred to the _Thetis_ and made comfortable.
-
-Then came the dreadful work of collecting the bodies of the dead and
-carrying them aboard the ships, after which the _Thetis_ and the
-_Bear_ set sail from Camp Clay and headed for home. The ship reached
-Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 1, 1884, where Greely and his command
-were transferred to the navy yard, while the bodies of the dead were
-taken to Governor’s island in New York harbor.
-
-Thus ended one of the most successful and rapid relief voyages ever
-made. Had Commodore Schley been more cautious, not a man of Greely’s
-party would have been found alive. But Schley knew that this was a time
-for both courage and daring, and neither he nor any of his command
-lacked in these qualities.
-
-Greely and the other survivors of his expedition received a royal
-welcome home. The President of the United States thanked them publicly
-on behalf of the nation, the Queen of England sent messages of inquiry
-and sympathy, and the people of Portsmouth held a grand reception in
-their honor. The government sent several large war vessels to the
-harbor, and Mr. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy, and other prominent
-men came with them. The shores of the river were lined with people and
-the harbor was filled with steamers, sailboats, and smaller craft, all
-gayly decorated with flags and bunting. Everybody was eager to welcome
-the brave men who had risked their lives and suffered so much in
-seeking to penetrate still farther into the Frozen North.
-
-Those members of the expedition who lost their lives in this journey
-were not forgotten. A public funeral was held at Governor’s island, and
-every respect was paid to the memories of these men.
-
-The results of Greely’s work in the Arctic regions were many. The
-programme for international scientific work had been carried out daily.
-All magnetic and climatic changes had been noted. The effect of the
-sun’s rays, the earth and ocean currents, the atmosphere, electricity,
-ice, and tides had been observed. A study had been made, also, of the
-animal and vegetable life of the locality, and of the Eskimos.
-
-Both this Circumpolar station and the one established at Point Barrow
-were abandoned in 1883, but the value of the work accomplished through
-them was very great.
-
-
-
-
-XV. LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA IN ALASKA
-
-1883
-
-
-Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867. It was
-supposed to be a barren region of ice and snow, and many people thought
-that the price of $7,200,000 was an amount far in excess of the value
-of the land.
-
-For many years no attempt was made to form a territorial government in
-Alaska, and the country remained in charge of the military forces of
-the United States. In 1883, Lieutenant Schwatka determined to conduct
-an exploring expedition into the interior, for the purpose of gaining
-such information of the country and its wild inhabitants as would be
-of assistance to the soldiers stationed there. This expedition did
-not have the support of Congress and was kept as secret as possible.
-Lieutenant Schwatka feared that, if attention were attracted to the
-expedition, Congress would forbid its departure.
-
-All Schwatka’s plans worked well. With six companions he left Portland,
-Oregon, at midnight, May 22, and sailed northward, taking the inland
-route to Alaska. The inland route consists of a channel which lies
-between the coast of Washington and British Columbia and southeastern
-Alaska and the line of islands which lie off that coast.
-
-Sitka, then the capital of Alaska, was reached in a little more than
-a week, and two days later the ship dropped anchor in a pretty port
-called Pyramid harbor, near the mouth of the Chilkat river. The
-villages of the Chilkat Indians, consisting of from fifteen to fifty
-houses each, are built along this river. At these villages Lieutenant
-Schwatka secured the services of about sixty Indians to go with him on
-his journey.
-
-[Illustration: SITKA, ALASKA, IN 1880.]
-
-The party started over a good trail and soon reached Haines’s mission
-on Chilkoot inlet. Here more Indians were added to the number already
-employed, and the tramp began over the mountains to the head waters
-of the Yukon. At first the party traveled through a riverlike channel
-between high, steep mountains, which were covered nearly to the top
-with pine, cedar, and spruce trees. The summits were covered with snow
-and ice, which melted and formed cascades and torrents, and rushed
-down the slopes, dashing over precipices and flinging spray in all
-directions.
-
-This journey brought them to the mouth of a river called the Dayay,
-where they camped. Schwatka now explained his plan to his Indian
-guides. He told them that when he should reach the Yukon, he intended
-to build a raft and float down the great river to its mouth. The
-Indians were astonished at this bold project. They ridiculed the
-idea, saying that no raft could make such a journey. There were lakes
-to pass through, they said, and miles of raging rapids, which would
-twist and tear any raft to pieces. But Schwatka paid no attention to
-their opinions. He kept steadily on his way, and the journey continued
-pleasant and easy through the Dayay river.
-
-On June 10, the course lay over the spurs of the mountains, and travel
-became difficult. The trail was up and down hill, over huge trunks of
-fallen trees, and through boggy swamps. Each man carried one hundred
-pounds of luggage on his back, and when he sank into a bog up to his
-knees, it was far from easy to get out.
-
-The snow line reached, the ascent of the pass over the Coast range
-was begun. Behind one another, in single file, the men scrambled up
-precipices and through valleys. Sometimes they crawled along on their
-hands and knees, often using their teeth to grasp a dwarf bush. In
-many places a single misstep would have resulted in death, but they
-persevered and at length succeeded in crossing the mountains without
-accident.
-
-[Illustration: CROSSING THE COAST RANGE.]
-
-Most of the Indians left Schwatka at this place and returned to their
-homes. Those who were to accompany him down the Yukon river to the
-coast camped with the white men, late in the evening, by a small lake
-called by Schwatka, Crater lake. It is the source of the great Yukon
-river.
-
-At Lake Lindeman the raft was built, and the stores and provisions
-were placed upon it. Then began the longest raft journey ever made for
-purposes of exploration.
-
-Lieutenant Schwatka and his companions propelled the raft, by means of
-rowing and sculling, through Lake Lindeman into another lake called
-Bennett lake. On the mountains around Bennett lake were beautiful blue
-glaciers, and among them shone peaks and ridges of a reddish color.
-Schwatka concluded that the red color was due to the presence of
-iron in the soil, and he accordingly named the range the Iron-capped
-mountains.
-
-The explorers now traveled through a chain of lakes connected by
-streams of water. The last lake led them into the Yukon river, which
-flowed rapidly, so that for a while the raft made good time. On July
-1, the party came in sight of the upper end of the Grand Cañon of the
-Yukon, where the river, which had been about three hundred yards in
-width, grew narrower, until it was about thirty yards wide.
-
-The walls of the cañon are nearly a mile in length and are
-perpendicular columns of rock. The center of this cañon expands into a
-large basin full of whirlpools and eddies. The waters, white with foam,
-tear through this narrow passage of rock at the rate of six or seven
-miles an hour, with a roaring that can be heard at a great distance.
-
-At the northern end of the cañon the rushing river widens again, but
-for four miles it seethes, foams, and falls in cascades. The luggage
-was sent round by portage, and Schwatka prepared to shoot his raft
-through the rapids. Once started, the men could not control or guide
-the raft at all, but left it to work its own way. This it did very
-successfully, though many times they thought it would surely be dashed
-in pieces.
-
-After the rapids were passed, the men drew the sturdy raft ashore,
-and found that it needed but few repairs. While some of the men were
-engaged in mending the raft, the others fished. Schwatka found this the
-best fishing ground on the entire river; in a short time between four
-and five hundred fine grayling were caught with rod and fly.
-
-The raft was ready for use again by July 5, and on that day Schwatka
-and his party started once more down the Yukon, and soon passed through
-the last lake they were to encounter. After this the river became wider
-and was dotted with islands; then the site of old Fort Selkirk came
-into view.
-
-[Illustration: TANANA STATION, RIVER YUKON, IN WINTER.]
-
-Fort Selkirk was built in 1850 by the Hudson Bay Trading Company for a
-trading post with the Indians. But the Chilkats wanted the furs from
-the interior for themselves; so they gathered a war party together,
-descended the Yukon river to Fort Selkirk, burned the building, and
-carried off the goods. Now all that remains of Fort Selkirk is a group
-of three old chimneys.
-
-Schwatka camped at this spot several days. Near the river bank he came
-upon a burial ground of the Ayan Indians, who inhabit this part of the
-country. A fence of rough boards, bound together by willows, is built
-around each grave. Above the grave there stands a long, light pole
-about twenty feet high, with a piece of colored cloth hanging from the
-top. Near the grave, but outside the inclosure, stands another pole
-of about the same height. To the top of this second pole is fastened
-a rude carving of a fish, duck, goose, bear, or some other animal or
-bird.
-
-These poles are called totems. They represent the most clever
-workmanship of these Indians, and are collected and sold as curiosities.
-Some of the carvings are very old and display remarkable skill. No one
-knows exactly what these totem poles mean, as the Indians are unwilling
-to talk about them, but they are supposed to indicate in some way the
-history of the buried person or of his tribe. The Indians do not make
-totem poles any more, but they carefully preserve those which they
-already have.
-
-At Fort Selkirk the Yukon begins to cut through the northern spurs
-of the Rocky mountains. This part of the river is known as the Upper
-Ramparts, and the scenery along the banks for one hundred miles is
-wondrously beautiful. Schwatka and his party left Selkirk July 15, and
-traveled through this beautiful country. As they rounded one of the
-islands, they saw about two hundred Ayan Indians gathered on the beach
-opposite, waiting to receive them.
-
-The Ayans had heard of the approach of the curious raft with its
-white owners, and were anxious to show them some attention. Many of
-the Indians ran up and down the bank, shouting, screaming, and waving
-their arms wildly. Others in birch-bark canoes surrounded the raft, and
-escorted it to shore. When the raft came near the shore, men, women,
-and children waded out to their waists in the ice-cold water and helped
-to drag it in. Schwatka feared at first that the Indians might do the
-party some harm, and ordered his companions to keep their guns near.
-But the Indians were very friendly. They began singing and dancing,
-while their medicine-man went through the most unheard-of performances.
-
-The Ayan huts are made of spruce brush. Over the top is thrown a piece
-of dirty canvas or a moose or caribou skin, and the huts are built so
-low that a man can scarcely stand erect inside. Quantities of salmon
-hang from the roof, partly dried, but still undergoing a smoking
-process from the dense clouds of smoke that arise from the fire. The
-dogs sleep in the house, lying around on the floor. In the winter the
-Ayans cover their tents thickly with skins and then bank them about
-with snow.
-
-As the party followed the river from this Indian village, they
-found the mountains becoming higher and grander, while――by way of
-contrast――the mosquitoes grew more annoying. The whole region swarmed
-with them, and the newcomers longed for veils. They were obliged to use
-small bushes to brush away the mosquitoes.
-
-The water of the Yukon became very muddy, so that it was impossible
-to fish with a rod and fly. At the Yukon flat lands, reached by our
-travelers after three weeks of traveling through this flat region,
-the river widened and was filled with low, sandy islands. The fort is
-situated on a curve of the river which happens to be almost directly
-upon the Arctic circle, and is called the Great Arctic bend.
-
-Fort Yukon is about one thousand miles from the mouth of the river,
-which at this point is seven miles wide. The river steamer, named the
-_Yukon_, was moored at the fort, and her cannon greeted the raftsmen.
-The settlement consists of a few old houses and the old fort built by
-the Hudson Bay Company. The Fort Yukon tribe of Indians live in the
-vicinity, but the hunting and fishing are poor, and the tribe is small
-and nomadic.
-
-After the river men had traded with the Indians the steamer proceeded
-upstream, while Schwatka and his party started downstream again on the
-raft. In a little while the country began to grow hilly once more,
-greatly to the delight of the travelers, for the low region had been
-unendurably dreary. The hilly region is known as the Lower Ramparts,
-and its scenery is much like that of the Upper Ramparts.
-
-Another trading station was soon reached, where Schwatka saw the
-northernmost garden in the United States. This garden, within two days’
-journey of the polar regions, belonged to the white man who was in
-charge of the station at that point. In it were growing turnips and
-other hardy vegetables, which tasted delicious to the men, who had been
-living so long upon canned foods.
-
-The raft was laid away at this place, after its journey of thirteen
-hundred and three miles, and the party embarked on a schooner, hoping
-to make better time. But they were forced to work their way down the
-river inch by inch, for heavy winds sprang up and more than once
-threatened to wreck the schooner. The _Yukon_ at last overtook them,
-on her return to the mouth of the river, as Schwatka had expected.
-
-[Illustration: THE RAFT ON WHICH A JOURNEY OF THIRTEEN HUNDRED AND
-THREE MILES WAS MADE.]
-
-The great delta of the Yukon soon came into view. It consists of many
-islands and channels which have never been entirely explored. From the
-most northern mouth of the delta to the most southern is a distance of
-ninety miles. After the Alphoon, the northernmost mouth, was reached,
-a weary time began. The vessel slowly threaded her way through shallow
-channels of water and between mud banks, until she crept into the
-harbor of the little village of St. Michael on the coast. From this
-place Schwatka and his party embarked for San Francisco on the _Leo_,
-which had stopped at St. Michael on its way from Point Barrow.
-
-By this raft journey of Lieutenant Schwatka, the Yukon was navigated
-from its source to its mouth, a distance of two thousand and forty-four
-miles.
-
-This river is the fifth in length in the United States, and sends forth
-such a volume of water that it freshens Bering sea to a distance of ten
-miles.
-
-
-
-
-XVI. NANSEN CROSSES GREENLAND
-
-1888
-
-
-Schwatka had explored the interior of Alaska, but the interior of
-Greenland remained as great a mystery as ever. The only man who
-had attempted to cross the inland region was Nordenskjöld, who had
-penetrated only a few miles.
-
-In 1888 a young Norwegian named Fridtjof Nansen determined to cross the
-ice cap of Greenland.
-
-Nansen was an expert in the use of the ski. Ski are Norwegian
-snowshoes. They consist of long, narrow strips of wood, which are
-fastened to the shoes in about the same way in which we fasten skates.
-The ski are about eight feet in length and three or four inches in
-breadth. In front they are slightly pointed and curved up; often the
-back is pointed also. A man who is skillful in the use of ski can
-travel over the snow by means of them at a rate of eight or nine miles
-an hour. In Norway and in some other cold countries, where the snow
-lies deep a larger part of the year, ski are much used for traveling.
-
-The people of Norway love the sport of ski-löbning. During the long
-winter the boys and the girls go to and from school on ski. At recess
-they take a run on their ski, and often the teacher goes with them.
-
-[Illustration: A MAN ON SKI.]
-
-Nansen learned to use the ski when a boy, and after he was grown up he
-took great pleasure in strapping these queer shoes to his feet and
-trying to climb the high mountains.
-
-One day this question came suddenly into Nansen’s mind: Why might not
-a party of good ski-löbners cross Greenland from coast to coast? After
-thinking the matter over for a time, Nansen concluded that it could be
-done. From that moment he devoted all his time and energy to carrying
-out his idea. He decided that the best plan would be to start from the
-east coast and travel across to the west. The east coast was barren and
-uninhabited. Sometimes a few wandering Eskimo tribes found their way
-there, but no settlements had been made. On the western coast there
-were settlements.
-
-Nansen knew that if his party landed on the east coast and traveled
-west, they would travel toward safety. If this route were reversed,
-they would leave comfort and safety behind at every step, and move
-continually toward unknown dangers. The men might become discouraged,
-give up the expedition, and return to the settlements. So Nansen coolly
-made his plans to land on the east coast and cross Greenland to the
-west coast. By this arrangement the men would perceive that they must
-reach the west coast or die.
-
-[Illustration: FRIDTJOF NANSEN.]
-
-The government of Norway would not assist Nansen. His plan was
-considered that of a madman. Many people said that he was attempting to
-do an impossible thing. Others said, “Of what use is this exploit, even
-if he does succeed?” These people did not know that a large portion of
-our earth was once ice-covered, as Greenland is to-day. If we would
-know the cause of many curious phenomena that now exist in our own
-land, we must study Greenland. As Greenland is now, so, probably, was a
-large part of the earth during the ice age, thousands of years ago.
-
-Though Nansen met with discouragements on every side, he continued to
-plan for the trip. At length a wealthy Danish gentleman gave him enough
-money to equip an expedition. It was not easy for Nansen to find
-companions for this journey, but he at length succeeded in securing the
-services of three Norwegians and two Lapps. The Norwegians were Otto
-Sverdrup, a retired ship captain, Oluf Dietrichson, a lieutenant in the
-army, and Kristian Kristiansen Trana, a peasant. The Lapps were named
-Balto and Ravna. Balto was a good-looking young man, who spoke a little
-English; he was a sea Lapp and lived in a town. Ravna was a mountain
-Lapp, forty-five years of age. He was short, and had long, black hair
-hanging over his shoulders. Ravna’s home was on the mountains, where he
-lived in a skin tent and took care of herds of reindeer.
-
-[Illustration: A HERD OF REINDEER.]
-
-Nansen made sure that all these five men were skillful ski-löbners, for
-he thought that, when they reached the inland ice of Greenland, the
-journey would be rapid and easy on ski.
-
-Then Nansen arranged with the captain of a sealing vessel to carry
-him and his companions to the Arctic ocean. After collecting tents,
-clothing, food, sleeping bags, and scientific instruments, the party
-proceeded to Iceland, where the captain of the sealing vessel had
-promised to call for them. On June 3, 1888, the sealing vessel,
-the _Jason_, arrived off the coast of Iceland, and Nansen and his
-companions were taken aboard. The _Jason_ headed directly for Denmark
-strait, where seals abound, and in a short time the ship was among the
-ice floes. Every one on board was watching eagerly for seals, and at
-last a large number of the quiet creatures were seen lying like black
-dots on the floes.
-
-On board the _Jason_ there was great excitement. The men flew about,
-making sure that rifles were clean and in good order and that cartridge
-boxes were filled. Then the hunters rushed to the boats and the capture
-began. One hundred and eighty-seven seals were shot that day. The
-sealers thought this a small number, but Nansen, who had never hunted
-seals before, thought it a very good day’s sport.
-
-Sealing vessels, in their efforts to make large hauls, usually push
-steadily on through the ice, until they are in the midst of crowds of
-seals. The force of the ice against the ship is often so great as to
-throw the sailors off their feet. When the vessel is well in among the
-seals the engines are stopped, and the men are ordered to start out
-in the small boats. There are three or four oarsmen with one shooter
-in each boat. Away they go in different directions, each boat trying
-to secure the greatest number it can carry and to return first to the
-ship. The seals lie all around on the edges of the ice floes, and at
-first pay no attention to the boats. They lift their heads and see
-the boats coming from a long distance away; then, ignorant of their
-danger, they lower their heads again and lie quiet.
-
-As the boats draw nearer, the seals sometimes slide off into the water.
-The hunters are quick to see any movement on the part of the seals. As
-soon as one moves toward the water, the men in the boat begin to shout
-as loudly as they can. The seal is so astonished by the unusual noise
-that he lies still awhile to think it over.
-
-Then the hunter takes aim, and if he shoots the animal through the
-head, it drops down on the ice again and dies. The other seals near by
-are not disturbed. They seem to think that their companion has gone
-quietly to sleep again, and that there can be no danger. Often several
-seals are shot in this way before the rest become alarmed.
-
-Sometimes the shooter misses his mark and wounds the seal instead of
-killing him instantly. The wounded seal in his pain splashes around
-on the ice and in the water, and the others take fright and plunge
-into the sea. A great deal, therefore, depends upon the skill of the
-shooters, most of whom are accurate marksmen.
-
-When several seals have been shot, the men in the boat spring to the
-floes where they are lying and skin them. The skinning is done rapidly
-with long, sharp knives, and nothing is saved except the skin and the
-layer of blubber lying next it. The entire body of the seal is left on
-the ice. The Eskimos would think this practice very wasteful, for they
-make use of every part of the seal, including the bones.
-
-As sealers sometimes return from a trip to Denmark strait with five
-thousand skins aboard, it is not surprising that seals are becoming
-scarce in that locality.
-
-Nansen was glad when the haul of seals was over and the _Jason_ steamed
-away again toward Greenland. Several times the coast had been sighted,
-but the ship had never drawn near enough to make it possible to land.
-Balto was not very well pleased with his first glimpse of Greenland.
-In his account of his voyage, he said that the coast had no beauty nor
-charm to the eye, but was dismal and hideous to look upon; that the
-mountain peaks were very high and rose like church steeples into the
-clouds, which hid the summits.
-
-But Nansen thought the coast beautiful. The snow-covered peaks
-glittered in the sunlight and extended as far as the eye could reach,
-while far to the west stretched the vast white plain of inland ice.
-
-On July 17, 1888, as the _Jason_ was not more than ten or twelve miles
-from the coast of Greenland, Nansen made up his mind to leave the ship.
-All the baggage was brought on deck, farewells were said, and at seven
-o’clock in the evening Nansen and his five companions climbed down the
-ship’s ladder and embarked in two boats. The _Jason’s_ guns saluted;
-the _Jason’s_ crew cheered. But deep down in their hearts the sailors
-believed that Nansen and his men were going to certain death. No
-thought of fear, however, disturbed the brave band. With the exception
-of Balto and Ravna, they were all delighted to enter upon the perilous
-journey.
-
-At first everything went well. There were channels of water between
-the floes, wide enough for the boats to pass through. But soon the ice
-began to pack, and the boats had to be pulled up upon the floes and
-dragged across to open water. It was hard to keep the light craft from
-being crushed between the ice masses. Then the current became so strong
-that the men were obliged to draw the boats up on a floe, in order to
-escape from it.
-
-The ice which had collected around them threw the smaller floes upon
-the larger ones, making the ice uneven and difficult to traverse.
-After working all night, the men crawled into their sleeping bags, and
-were soon asleep.
-
-For several days little progress was made toward land. Then a heavy
-swell arose and the breakers dashing over the floe where the tent had
-been pitched threatened to wash it away.
-
-[Illustration: NANSEN’S CAMP ON THE DRIFT ICE.]
-
-Suddenly the floe split through the middle, and the travelers were
-obliged to remove to a larger one and camp again. The tent stood now on
-a piece of drifting ice, about ten miles from land, with every prospect
-of being carried out to sea, where small boats could not live in the
-heavy waves. The outlook was certainly gloomy.
-
-One morning Nansen missed Balto and Ravna. In searching for them he
-lifted the canvas covering of one of the boats, and saw the two Lapps
-lying in the bottom of the boat, side by side. Balto was reading to
-Ravna from his Lappish New Testament, for both had made up their minds
-that they must drown, and were preparing for death.
-
-That day the ice tilted and rolled like a raft on the angry waves, so
-that it was almost impossible to cook the soup for their dinner. The
-poor frightened Lapps did not speak a word, but the rest of the men
-knew no fear, and laughed and joked as usual.
-
-When night came, all the men, except Balto and Sverdrup, went to bed in
-the tent; Balto preferred to sleep in a boat, and Sverdrup was to keep
-watch.
-
-Slowly and calmly, brave Otto Sverdrup paced up and down the ice.
-The floe rocked like a ship at sea, and the heavy waves dashed over
-it, threatening to wash away the entire camp. Several times Sverdrup
-was obliged to hold the boat in which Balto was sleeping, to keep it
-from being swept off the ice. Once it seemed that the tent must be
-washed off also, and Sverdrup stepped up to it and unfastened one of
-the hooks. He meant to call the men, so that they might get into the
-boats, and, if possible, escape with their lives. But Sverdrup paused
-a moment. The sea seemed to grow quieter, and a current arose which
-quieted the breakers and changed the course of the drifting ice, which,
-instead of sailing out to sea, now floated in the opposite direction.
-
-When Nansen awoke in the morning, he was surprised to find the open sea
-far off, and the ice drifting calmly toward the land. All the party
-rejoiced that they had remained on the ice, which at one time seemed so
-dangerous. Their safety was due to the fearlessness and calm judgment
-of Sverdrup.
-
-The work of launching the boats and dragging them over the ice
-continued for a week longer. One morning Nansen was resting quietly in
-his tent, when Ravna, who was on watch without, pulled aside the canvas
-and peered in. He appeared so excited that Nansen asked him if he could
-see land. “Yes, yes,” replied Ravna, “land too near!”――meaning, “land
-very near.” Nansen sprang from his sleeping bag and looked out. Land
-was very near, and there was open water in front of them. The boats
-were quickly launched. After some hours of hard pulling the party found
-a harbor and landed.
-
-The voyagers rejoiced to be on land once more. They walked over the
-stones and rocks, and picked moss and a stalk or two of grass. They
-had a good dinner to celebrate the landing: biscuit, cheese, and jam
-to eat, and hot chocolate to drink. When dinner was over, they started
-north again in boats along the coast, for Nansen wished to begin his
-journey across Greenland farther to the north than the place where he
-had landed.
-
-The travelers picked their way on along the coast until a great glacier
-came in sight, which Nansen knew to be the famous Puisortok. Puisortok
-means the place where something shoots up, and the Eskimos regard the
-spot with fear. When they pass this dreadful place they will not speak,
-laugh, eat, nor smoke. They will not look toward the glacier, or even
-mention the name Puisortok. They believe that if they do any of these
-things the glacier will become angry and cause their death.
-
-Balto was one day gazing through the telescope near this place, when
-he saw two small black spots in the distance which seemed to be moving
-rapidly toward him. As they grew more distinct, he shouted to Nansen
-that two men were coming. When they came nearer, the strangers proved
-to be two young East Greenland Eskimos traveling through the ice floes
-in their kayaks.
-
-These Eskimos were short in stature and very good-looking. Their
-faces were broad and round, and their features regular. Their skin
-was chestnut-brown, and their hair long, black, and shiny. One wore a
-jacket and breeches of sealskin, with strings of beads in his hair,
-while the other wore sealskin trousers and a jacket of blue cotton.
-On their heads they wore large flat-brimmed hats, made of blue cotton
-stretched across a wooden ring. On the crown was a large red cross.
-
-[Illustration: A GROUP OF GREENLAND ESKIMOS.
-
-After photograph by Nansen.]
-
-The Eskimos showed great astonishment at the boats and other strange
-things that they saw, and when Nansen gave them some food, they seemed
-much pleased. By gestures they warned Nansen about the dangerous
-Puisortok, and then set off northward again in their kayaks.
-
-Nansen and his men passed Puisortok without any trouble, though they
-talked and laughed as usual. They looked at the dreaded glacier, and
-admired the beautiful color of the ice, which shaded from blue to a
-milky white. Yet old Puisortok showed no signs of anger. Soon the
-wayfarers came upon an Eskimo camp. High up among the rocks stood the
-skin tents, while the Eskimos themselves were gathered outside, running
-about in a highly excited manner, chattering and waving their arms. As
-the boats came nearer, the people on the land yelled and shrieked. Some
-ran to the shore, and some to high points on rocks, where they could
-get a better view of the strangers.
-
-They welcomed the newcomers with smiles of delight, and helped them
-in every possible way. Nansen and his friends were invited into the
-Eskimo tents. They remained inside as long as possible, but the filth
-soon drove them out. When Nansen and his men went to bed in their own
-tent, the Eskimos stood around in crowds, gaping curiously to see them
-undress and crawl into their sleeping bags.
-
-The Eskimos gave the white men pieces of sealskin, and in return their
-guests presented them with the empty tin cans in which their meat had
-been packed. These gifts pleased the natives very much. They contrived
-to make Nansen understand that two tribes, one traveling north and the
-other south, had met at this place, and that now they were preparing to
-separate and continue their journey. Nansen determined to accompany the
-tribe which was going north, because he thought that their knowledge of
-the coast might be of assistance to him.
-
-The accomplished Eskimos were not long in preparing for the journey.
-In a twinkling the tents were down and everything was packed. Before
-they parted, the members of the different tribes bade one another
-good-by, rubbing their noses together, instead of kissing. A few
-remained behind the others for a specially tender farewell. They drew
-up in a line like soldiers, and brought out snuff horns. One man would
-take snuff from a horn, and pass it on to the next. They spent several
-hours in this ceremony, each man taking snuff many times. Nansen
-thought they would sneeze themselves to death.
-
-Only the Eskimos who had come from the south had their horns full of
-snuff. The tribe from the north was bound for the Danish colonies on
-the southern coast, to procure this important article. The journey
-takes about two years, one year to reach the Danish colonies, and one
-year to return. When the colonies are reached, the Eskimos spend an
-hour or two in trading. After they obtain the snuff, they start on
-their homeward journey. Their form of snuff is simply tobacco, ground
-to a powder between stones. In exchange for the tobacco, the Eskimos
-give large, fine bearskins, foxskins, and sealskins. They pay high
-prices for articles which cost the white men very little money.
-
-When the farewell was over, the Eskimos parted, and Nansen tried to
-keep the north-bound travelers in sight, but he soon found that he must
-depend upon himself and break his own way through the ice. The journey
-grew harder and harder, and in camp the travelers were often tormented
-by swarms of mosquitoes. Clouds of the small insects swarmed around
-them and annoyed the men almost beyond endurance. Any amount of work in
-the ice was to be preferred to an attack by mosquitoes.
-
-The party traveled through the water among huge icebergs; they plodded
-wearily over ice hummocks; finally, they drew up their boats for the
-last time at a place where Nansen thought they could climb the steep
-ascent from the coast, and reach the inland ice.
-
-The boats were left in a cleft in the rocks, carefully blocked with
-stones to keep them steady. Then began the climb up the mountains to
-the plateau. The ascent was steep, and the men had hard work to drag up
-the sledges. Often one of the climbers would sink into a deep crevasse
-and have to be rescued by his companions.
-
-[Illustration: A VIEW IN THE INTERIOR OF GREENLAND.]
-
-The crevasses grew deeper and more dangerous as the party advanced, and
-soon a rain storm set in, which delayed the travelers three days. While
-they were lying in the tents, the men followed the wise example of the
-bears and did no work. They ate very little and only once a day, but
-slept a great deal.
-
-When they took up the journey again, they found the ice hard. But a
-heavy snowstorm began, and it was difficult to drag the sledges through
-the deep drifts. At last, when they reached a point six thousand feet
-above the level of the sea, the wind was blowing fiercely and the
-temperature stood at zero.
-
-Nansen decided to rig a sail for the sledges, hoping by this
-contrivance to make the wind serve as an aid. Old Ravna was disgusted
-with the plan, and Balto, too, thought it absurd to try to sail on the
-snow. But Nansen made the sails, and the two Lapps were soon forced to
-admit that their use made the load lighter to draw.
-
-[Illustration: SLEDGING ACROSS GREENLAND.]
-
-The snow was still very deep, and when, on August 30, it was in
-condition for the men to use the ski, they joyfully strapped them on.
-In a short time they had attained the plateau, and then for days they
-toiled over a flat, wide expanse of snow. The highest elevation which
-Nansen reached during this journey was nine thousand two hundred and
-seventy-two feet, and the lowest temperature he experienced was 49°
-below zero.
-
-The sledges were heavy, and the Lapps grumbled all the time, Ravna
-especially being very low-spirited. One day he said to Nansen: “I am an
-old Lapp, and a silly old fool, too. I don’t believe we shall ever get
-to the coast.”
-
-Nansen answered: “That is quite true, Ravna. You are a silly old fool.”
-
-Ravna’s spirits grew lighter when the party reached the highest part
-of the plateau and began to descend, for then they went along swiftly
-on their ski, or coasted down the slopes. Sometimes they encountered
-crevasses and had to pick their way carefully, and once Nansen fell
-into a deep chasm and had to scramble desperately to get out. When
-the bare rocks came in view, Ravna was so delighted that he insisted
-upon carrying a double load. He said that the mountain grasses and the
-reindeer moss reminded him of his own mountains at home.
-
-At last the travelers reached the sea and encamped in a sheltered
-valley. Nansen and Sverdrup built a rude boat and embarked for
-Godthaab, the nearest town on the coast, whence they sent back natives
-to bring their comrades to town.
-
-The Greenlanders took the two Lapps for women, because of their long
-tunics of reindeer skin. But Ravna and Balto did not resent this
-mistake; they were perfectly happy now and at ease. They told the
-natives about the wonderful things that they had seen during the
-journey over the inland ice.
-
-Nansen was sadly disappointed when he heard that he could not sail for
-home until the spring, for the ship on which he had hoped to sail had
-already gone. He sent two swift kayak travelers with letters, to try to
-overtake the ship at another town where she was to stop.
-
-[Illustration: SKATING OFF THE COAST OF GREENLAND.]
-
-Nansen and his companions spent the winter comfortably at Godthaab.
-They found plenty to keep them busy. Nansen learned to use the kayak
-skillfully; he hunted and fished, and made two trips upon the inland
-ice.
-
-In the spring, when the ship arrived which was to take them home, all
-the party felt sorry to part with the good friends they had made in
-Greenland. The farewells over, Nansen was soon homeward bound. On May
-30, 1888, the ship entered Christiania fiord. The harbor was filled
-with steamers and sailing vessels, all crowded with people, assembled
-to greet the man who had succeeded in crossing the inland ice of
-Greenland. Flags were waved, bells rung, and cheers were given with a
-will, to show the honor which Norway would pay her son, Fridtjof Nansen.
-
-When Nansen had disembarked and entered a carriage to be driven home,
-the people were so excited that they dashed forward, unharnessed the
-horses from the carriage, and seizing the pole, drew him in triumph
-through the city.
-
-The scientific and geographical results of this journey of Nansen’s
-were very great. Much valuable knowledge was gained concerning the
-character of the interior of Greenland.
-
-
-
-
-XVII. THE VOYAGE OF THE _FRAM_
-
-1893–1896
-
-
-Nansen had not been at home very long before he began making
-preparations for a second voyage to the icy North. This time he meant
-to find the North Pole if possible.
-
-Nansen believed the theory that a current in the Arctic ocean passes
-over the pole. His plan was to work his way through the ice to the
-New Siberia islands, and then allow his vessel to be frozen in the
-ice pack. He believed that the vessel would be carried with the drift
-across the pole, to the east coast of Greenland. It was a daring plan,
-but the people of Norway now believed in Nansen and were willing to
-assist him. They gave him an amount equal to $75,600 of our money, so
-that he was able to equip his expedition.
-
-First of all he had a vessel built which would resist ice pressures.
-The hull was shaped so that the pressure would raise the vessel up on
-the ice, instead of crushing her. This vessel was called the _Fram_, a
-Norwegian word which means “onward.” Nansen chose his crew, all natives
-of Norway, and made the necessary preparations for the voyage. Enough
-provisions were put on board to last five years. Sverdrup, who had been
-so brave and helpful during the trip across Greenland, was chosen to
-command the _Fram_.
-
-At last everything was ready, and the day of departure arrived. The
-_Fram_ was lying in Christiania harbor when Nansen boarded her (1893).
-While they were still sailing along the coast of Norway, a severe storm
-arose. The sea broke over the rails of the vessel, and for a while
-Nansen feared that the deck cargo would be carried overboard, and that
-the _Fram_ would meet with disaster before she reached the ice. But the
-storm cleared, the sun shone again, and the men had a last glimpse of
-their native land.
-
-[Illustration: THE LAUNCHING OF THE “FRAM.”]
-
-Then a dense fog surrounded the vessel, and she headed for the dreaded
-Kara sea. The Kara sea was filled with ice, but the _Fram_ behaved
-admirably. Nansen said that it was a pleasure to take her into
-difficult ice, because she was so strong, and that she turned and
-twisted as easily as a ball on a plate.
-
-The _Fram_ proceeded along the bleak Siberian coast. One morning a
-herd of walruses came in sight. Nansen and two companions jumped into
-a boat and went after them. One of the men threw a harpoon at the
-nearest walrus, but did not hit him. This proceeding so startled the
-other walruses that they plunged into the water, but not before Nansen
-had shot two of them. They rose again around the boat, bellowing and
-roaring, and lashing the sea into a foam. It seemed likely that the
-powerful animals would overturn the boat or pierce it with their tusks.
-But no accident happened, and Nansen secured several walruses, which
-served as food for the crew.
-
-[Illustration: BOAT ATTACKED BY WALRUS.]
-
-By September 25, 1893, they had reached the New Siberia islands, where
-the _Fram_ was unable to push her way farther, and was soon frozen in
-the pack. Now there was nothing to do but to wait. At first the time
-passed pleasantly enough. The men amused themselves by playing games,
-caring for the dogs, taking observations, and making various kinds of
-tools; but soon they had to bestir themselves, for on October 5, the
-first severe ice pressure took place.
-
-Nansen was in the cabin chatting with his companions, when they heard
-a terrific noise and felt the ship tremble from bow to stern. Every
-one rushed to the deck to see how the _Fram_ would conduct herself.
-The noise steadily increased, and the ice cracked on every side. The
-sea tossed the floes, which were from ten to fifteen feet thick, one
-upon another, until immense piles of ice were heaped around. The _Fram_
-quivered all over and then was lifted gently up. After a few moments
-the uproar had ceased, and the ship sank slowly down again into her old
-position. Nansen was delighted, because the _Fram_ had behaved during
-the nip just as he had hoped. Had she not risen and pushed the floes
-down beneath her, she would have been crushed among them.
-
-The autumn passed away pleasantly. Polar bears were numerous, and the
-men enjoyed the sport of hunting them. When Christmas (1893) came,
-the day was celebrated by a very good dinner. The men made speeches
-and gave one another Christmas gifts. They did not dream that another
-Christmas would find them still drifting, with the knowledge that
-little headway had been made.
-
-At last Nansen made up his mind to leave the ship and journey by sledge
-with one of his companions toward the North Pole. All the crew set to
-work to prepare for this dangerous trip. The dogs were exercised and
-trained, sledges and kayaks were built, and provisions weighed out and
-packed. The weather was bitterly cold, the wind blew fiercely, and ice
-pressures were increasing in number and severity.
-
-On January 3, 1895, the _Fram_ encountered the most severe pressure
-which she had to meet. The accumulated floes formed a ridge of ice
-which reached to the ship and was level with the rails. Masses of ice
-dashed over the decks, and the crashing and grinding were terrible to
-hear.
-
-Nansen feared that the ship would be crushed, and orders were given to
-put everything in a place of safety. But the stanch vessel held her
-own, and came out of the pressure safely. When the danger was over, the
-_Fram_ was found to be uninjured, but one of her sides was buried in
-the ice mound, which reached six feet above the rails.
-
-About two months later, Nansen set out upon his daring trip toward the
-pole. He took Johansen with him, and left the _Fram_, then in latitude
-84° north, in command of Otto Sverdrup. The journey northward had to
-be made over difficult ice filled with hummocks, and, worse than this,
-a southerly drift set in, which carried the whole pack south almost as
-fast as they traveled north. Many of the dogs became utterly exhausted
-and had to be killed. It made Nansen very sad to be obliged to part
-with the faithful animals who had helped him so much.
-
-[Illustration: NANSEN AND JOHANSEN LEAVING THE “FRAM.”]
-
-At night Nansen and Johansen were so tired that they often fell asleep
-while eating their supper. When they crept into their sleeping bags,
-their clothes were sometimes frozen stiff, but the heat of their bodies
-in their bags thawed them out.
-
-Notwithstanding all these hardships, Nansen and his companion succeeded
-in reaching 86° 14ʹ north latitude on April 8, 1895. This was the
-highest latitude so far reached by any explorer. The North Pole was but
-two hundred and sixty-one miles farther north. Nansen knew he could
-not reach the pole through such masses of floes and hummocks, and
-accordingly he decided to return, changing his course to the south.
-The travelers found many channels between the ice floes, which were
-difficult to cross. The dogs were now so few in number that the men had
-to do dogs’ work, and drag the sledges. The ice became soft, so that
-the ski and the sledges sank deep into it. Sometimes the men sank in up
-to their armpits.
-
-Nansen’s report of this journey has led many people to believe that
-the warm and the cold ocean currents meet at the pole, and that the
-effect of the united currents is to make the ice rotten and dangerous
-for travel. Some explorers believe that it is impossible to travel the
-last hundred miles of the journey toward the pole by sledge or boat.
-They think that the ice is too soft for sledge travel, and too compact
-for travel by boat. If this be true, a balloon or airship will have to
-be used in order to reach the pole. It is no wonder that Nansen and
-Johansen became discouraged.
-
-By June 30, 1895, the two explorers were certain that they would have
-to pass the winter in the ice. Nansen knew that he must secure some
-game, for his provisions would not last through the winter; therefore
-he and Johansen pushed on south as fast as they could, and at last
-shot a seal and a bear. Only two dogs were left, and at length they
-too had to be shot. One dog was Nansen’s favorite, and the other was
-Johansen’s. Nansen took Johansen’s dog behind a hummock, and Johansen
-did the same with Nansen’s. Then both guns were fired together and the
-faithful dogs were dead. This was the hardest thing these two men had
-to do during the journey. When they met again, they felt so sad that
-neither of them could speak.
-
-One day, while looking through the telescope, Nansen saw land in the
-distance. The two men hastened toward it, and for the first time in two
-years they felt the naked earth beneath their feet. It was summer, and
-seals, birds, and flowers were all about them. In front lay the open
-sea, and Nansen thought he might sail on, and perhaps reach home. But
-he was disappointed, for after sailing a short distance, he again found
-ice and was obliged to return.
-
-It was now certain that Nansen and Johansen would have to pass the
-winter on the island, and they began their preparations for it. They
-built a hut of stone, and stretched walrus hides over the roof and
-floor. Fortunately game was plenty, so that they shot many seals and
-walruses. The blubber of the walrus was a favorite article of diet,
-for in cold countries men long for fatty food. It was so cold that
-often Nansen and Johansen had to sleep in the same bag in order to keep
-warm. Sometimes they drew pieces of blubber out of the lamp and ate
-them. These favorite dainties they called biscuit. The walrus hides
-attracted the bears and foxes to the hut, so that often during the
-winter the men succeeded in securing fresh meat.
-
-The winter was a long and weary one. Though Christmas, 1895, found
-them rather low-spirited, they made up their minds to observe the day.
-Their celebration consisted of reversing their shirts, and treating
-themselves to bread and chocolate. They broke up their camp in the
-spring (May, 1896), and started southward by water.
-
-During this trip Nansen nearly lost his life. The men left their kayaks
-one day fastened to the edge of the ice, while they went to the top
-of a hummock to look around. Presently Johansen shouted, “The kayaks
-are adrift.” Both men rushed for the water, and Nansen, reaching it
-first, jumped in and swam for the boats. The water was terribly cold
-and the boats had drifted a long distance, but Nansen knew that the
-loss of the boats meant death to him and his companion. He swam as long
-as he could, and then lay on his back and floated, to rest. Again he
-tried to swim, but his limbs became stiff and numb so that he could
-scarcely move them. Feebly he pushed on until he succeeded in grasping
-a ski which was lying across the bow, and so drawing the kayak to him.
-It was almost more than his chilled and weary body could accomplish
-to pull himself into one of the boats and paddle back. Johansen, who
-was anxiously watching, expected every moment to see his companion
-sink down unconscious. But Nansen’s iron will and strength conquered.
-Johansen gave Nansen a warm drink, and put him to bed in his sleeping
-bag.
-
-Two days later Nansen went walrus hunting, and had another narrow
-escape. One of the walruses stuck his tusks through the side of the
-kayak and nearly upset it, but Nansen struck the walrus with the paddle
-until he loosed his hold and swam away.
-
-Shortly after this adventure, Nansen was one day standing on a hummock,
-looking round over the vast desert of snow, ice, and rock. Suddenly
-he heard a sound like the bark of a dog, and then something very like
-the report of a gun. He shouted to Johansen, who called back that he
-heard nothing. Nevertheless, Nansen resolved to go in the direction of
-the sound, and find out what it was. Off he started over the hummocks.
-After traveling some distance he came upon the footprints of an
-animal. It might have been the track of a fox or a wolf, but it looked
-strangely like the track of a dog. Then Nansen distinctly heard a dog
-barking in the distance. Very soon he heard a human voice also. Wild
-with excitement and joy, he mounted a hummock and shouted at the top of
-his lungs.
-
-An answering shout started him off at full speed in the direction from
-which it came. Amid a sea of hummocks, Nansen soon saw the figure
-of a man, followed by a dog. The two men walked toward each other,
-waving their hats. When they met they shook hands, and after they had
-exchanged a few words the stranger looked sharply at Nansen, and said,
-“Are you not Nansen?”
-
-“Yes, I am.”
-
-“By Jove! I am glad to meet you.”
-
-The two shook hands again and again. The stranger was Jackson, the
-English Arctic explorer, and his ship, the _Windward_, was expected
-every day. Jackson told Nansen that the land on which he stood was
-Franz Josef land.
-
-Jackson then sent a man to bring Johansen to his camp, and soon both he
-and Nansen were enjoying the comforts of civilized life. After fifteen
-months of blubber and bear meat, it was a welcome change to eat the
-food of white men, to sleep in beds, to read newspapers and books, and
-to have a change of clothing.
-
-It was arranged that Nansen and Johansen should sail with Jackson on
-the _Windward_ for Norway. The ship arrived July 26, and August 7,
-under a favorable wind, the whole party embarked.
-
-A pilot boarded the vessel when she reached the coast of Norway, and
-when he found that Nansen was a passenger, he was amazed. The pilot
-told Nansen that everybody thought him dead, for the _Fram_ had not
-been heard from. Nansen assured him that the _Fram_ was safe, for he
-felt sure that Sverdrup would bring the vessel home.
-
-Immediately after landing, Nansen and Johansen went to a telegraph
-office, where they sent many dispatches, so that the wonderful news of
-their return was soon received over all parts of the civilized world.
-
-Nansen had succeeded in reaching latitude 86° 14ʹ, farther north than
-any other explorer had yet attained, and had returned safely. Millions
-of people rejoiced, and Nansen’s name was upon every tongue.
-
-At Hammerfest, Nansen met his wife and Sir George Baden-Powell, who had
-been on the point of sending out an expedition in search of him. But
-Nansen’s heart was heavy in the midst of all the rejoicing, for no news
-had been heard from the _Fram_, and although he had perfect confidence
-in Otto Sverdrup, he began to fear that harm had befallen his brave
-comrades.
-
-One morning he was awakened by Sir Baden-Powell knocking at his door.
-“Come down immediately,” said Sir Baden; “a man wishes to see you.”
-Nansen hurriedly dressed and ran below.
-
-There stood the manager of the telegraph office. The manager handed
-Nansen a telegram, which he opened with trembling fingers. It read as
-follows:――
-
-    “_Fram_ arrived in good condition. All well on board. Am going
-    to Tromsö. Welcome home. O. S.”
-
-Nansen nearly fainted with excitement and relief from his terrible
-anxiety. Sir Baden shouted with joy. Johansen smiled until his face
-looked like a full moon. As soon as the good news of the _Fram’s_
-return became known, the general rejoicing in Hammerfest spread to all
-parts of the world.
-
-Nansen’s daring expedition to the North had ended successfully, and
-without the loss of a single life. Although Nansen had not reached the
-pole, he had come within two hundred and sixty-one miles of it. This
-was two hundred miles nearer than any previous explorer had penetrated.
-The theory of the southeast current was proved to be correct, for the
-_Fram_ had drifted into a high latitude, and then out into the Atlantic
-between Spitzbergen and Greenland. If the _Fram_ had entered the ice
-pack three hundred miles farther east, Nansen believes that she would
-have drifted in a course parallel to the one she actually followed.
-This course would have carried her over the pole.
-
-
-
-
-XVIII. PEARY CROSSES GREENLAND
-
-1891–1897
-
-
-While Nansen was busily exploring, Robert E. Peary, a civil engineer
-in the United States Navy, determined to make an attempt to cross the
-inland ice of Greenland. Peary was making his plans for this journey
-when the news came that Nansen had succeeded in crossing the ice cap
-from the eastern coast of Greenland to the western.
-
-Upon hearing this, Peary changed his plans and decided to try to reach
-the northern point of Greenland overland. This journey would take him
-across the inland ice by a route much farther north than that taken by
-Nansen. It would also enable Peary to discover whether Greenland was a
-continent, as many supposed, or merely an island.
-
-Funds for the trip were raised by private contribution through the
-efforts of Lieutenant Peary’s friends, and on June 6, 1891, the
-expedition sailed from Brooklyn on the steamer _Kite_. Peary had
-already made one trip to Greenland, and his friends waved their
-farewells cheerfully, feeling certain that he would succeed in his
-undertaking.
-
-After a pleasant voyage, the _Kite_ reached Upernavik, where she
-anchored. Peary hoped to secure the services of an interpreter at this
-place, but he was unable to do so. Soon the party set sail again,
-leaving behind them the northernmost town on the globe. The _Kite_
-steamed along for some time without meeting much ice, but when she
-entered Melville bay the pack closed round her, and the 4th of July
-found the little vessel snugly frozen in.
-
-Here she remained for a week, during which the average temperature was
-about 31° F. On July 11, the ice separated and the ship began to move.
-The engines were started in a hurry. After forcing a passage through a
-mass of thick ice, the ship was freed and proceeded on her journey.
-
-While the process of ramming the ice was going on, Mr. Peary met with
-an accident. A large cake of ice struck the rudder, tearing the wheel
-from the hands of the two men on duty. Peary’s leg was caught between
-the iron tiller and the house, and both bones snapped above the ankle.
-The ship’s surgeon set the broken leg, and Peary recovered rapidly. He
-was, however, unable to use his leg for many weeks.
-
-Soon the _Kite_ ran into McCormick bay, where a site for a house was
-selected. It was now about the middle of July, and the short summer was
-at its height. The sun was bright and warm, and the temperature about
-like that of an April day in the temperate zone.
-
-The ice still filled the bay, but narrow streams of water trickled
-through in all directions, cutting the ice into great pieces which
-rose and fell with the tide. Little brooks ran down the mountains and
-through the valleys by the side of great glaciers, while the snowbirds
-chirped and twittered, enjoying the brief summer time.
-
-The country around was bright with flowers. Tracks of reindeer, foxes,
-and hares were repeatedly noticed, and seals and walruses abounded, so
-that the party had no fear of suffering for want of fresh meat.
-
-[Illustration: SETTING FOX TRAPS.]
-
-The wood for the house was taken off the ship. In order to insure
-warmth, the walls were made double, with an air space of ten inches
-between the outer and inner wall. The house was then covered with
-tarred paper, and the inner walls lined with thick, red, Indian
-blankets. In addition, a wind-break of stones, turf, empty barrels, and
-boxes was built around the house. The dwelling was roofed with canvas,
-and in the winter was to be banked with snow. When the little building
-was completed, they christened it Red Cliff House, because of the
-cliffs of sandstone which rose behind it.
-
-When the stores were safely stowed away within the outer wall, the
-_Kite_ steamed away home, leaving Peary, with his wife and his
-assistants, to spend the winter within seven hundred and forty miles of
-the North Pole.
-
-Peary and his party were very comfortable and contented. They enjoyed
-the crisp air and the bright sunshine, and they liked to watch the
-beautiful blue-green colors in the ice of the glaciers.
-
-The men hunted, and secured numbers of reindeer skins and furs of all
-sorts. They fished, and explored the surrounding islands. While on
-these trips they sometimes met Eskimos, who often accompanied them to
-Red Cliff House. Some of the Eskimos came with their dog teams, and
-Peary was always glad to buy the dogs from them. By November 7 there
-were seventeen men, women, and children at the camp, and Peary built a
-large snow hut for them to live in.
-
-Soon the long night began and all hunting came to an end. Then the
-members of the party busied themselves preparing for the great journey
-over the inland ice which Peary intended to make in the spring. The
-reindeer skins were stretched and dried and prepared for clothing by
-the Eskimo women. In order to soften the skin so that it could be used
-for clothing, the women folded it once with the hair inside. Then they
-chewed it all along the edge until the fold was made pliable. Another
-fold was then made, and treated in the same manner. This process was
-continued until the entire skin had been carefully chewed. It was
-then scraped, and if necessary, the work was repeated. It took two of
-Peary’s best workers about a day to prepare a large buckskin. The teeth
-of the Eskimo women are often worn down nearly to the gums by doing
-this work.
-
-Peary himself cut the patterns of the clothes and sleeping bags, and
-the Eskimo women did the sewing. Peary’s men busied themselves in
-trying to make sledges lighter and stronger than anything they had yet
-found. They fashioned ivory and horn braces for the sledges. Some of
-the Eskimo men helped to make ivory rings for the dogs’ harness. The
-Eskimo women chewed and sewed, and everybody was busy and happy.
-
-A large number of Eskimos visited Peary during the winter, some coming
-from a distance of two hundred miles. When the white men could not
-pronounce the queer names of the Eskimos, they gave them nicknames. A
-certain trio were known as the Priest, the Smiler, and the Villain. The
-Villain was an entirely harmless Eskimo, whose chief failing was his
-huge appetite.
-
-On Christmas Day, Peary invited his Eskimo friends to dinner. After
-his own party had partaken of a remarkably good Christmas feast, a
-fine venison stew was prepared for the Eskimos. Dr. Cook, the ship’s
-surgeon, saw that the guests were clean, to outward appearance at
-least, and a jolly, happy party they were, sitting down at a civilized
-dinner table for the first time in their lives.
-
-The Eskimo men wore sealskin coats and bearskin trousers, while the
-ladies appeared in foxskin jackets and trousers. The Villain sat at the
-head of the table and served the repast. The Daisy poured tea in Mrs.
-Peary’s place, and conducted herself very gracefully.
-
-Myah, who was called the white man, insisted upon holding both his
-knife and spoon in his right hand, and then using his fingers to carry
-the food to his mouth. He was rude enough to stand up and try to
-harpoon some choice pieces of meat from the stew with his fork. The
-Villain reproved him so gravely that he stopped harpooning and turned
-his attention to his own plate. It is barely possible that the Villain
-was not shocked at the manners of Myah, the white man, but that he
-wanted the choice piece of meat himself.
-
-After the stew they had coffee, candy, and raisins, and then the
-Eskimos and the white men played games together.
-
-Gradually the long night passed away, and at length it was almost time
-for the sun to appear. Peary had ordered an igloo to be built on the
-ice cap at an elevation of about two thousand and fifty feet, so that
-he might use it when he went up to see the sun rise.
-
-When this igloo was completed, Peary, Dr. Cook, and Astrup started out
-one morning, with provisions and sleeping bags, in the hope of catching
-a first glimpse of the sun. When they reached the igloo they were very
-tired. After supper they took off their fur clothes, crawled into their
-sleeping bags, and went to sleep. When Peary awoke, the fine snow was
-drifting in his face, and the wind was blowing a terrific gale. The
-entrance was blocked with snow, and the three men were buried beneath
-the drifts.
-
-Peary rolled himself out with great difficulty, and succeeded in
-finding a shovel. Then he and Dr. Cook pulled Astrup out, and the three
-men found themselves on top of the drift under which the snow house was
-buried. They were without shelter, two thousand feet above sea level,
-while the storm was raging so fiercely that they had to shout to one
-another in order to be heard.
-
-After a while the snow turned to rain, which froze and covered
-everything with ice. Their heavy outside clothes were buried in the
-snow house, and they were clad only in their under garments. If it had
-not been for the sleeping bags, they would have frozen to death, and
-even as it was, their condition was serious. But at length the storm
-ceased and the half-frozen men succeeded in digging out their garments.
-They were obliged to dress in the open air, with the wind blowing and
-the thermometer standing at 3° above zero.
-
-As soon as they were dressed they started for home, and reached Red
-Cliff House in safety, warm with exercise. Here, they were informed,
-the storm had likewise been terrific. The rain had fallen in torrents,
-washing away the snow covering of the house and soaking through the
-canvas roof. But Red Cliff House was stanchly built and stood firm.
-
-[Illustration: RED CLIFF HOUSE AFTER THE STORM.]
-
-The long Arctic night had passed away with the storm, and the western
-sky was aflame with gorgeous colors; brilliant yellow shaded into pale
-rose and green. Misty lights of purple and green floated over the ice,
-and the storm was forgotten in the beauty of the new day.
-
-Now that the sun had made its appearance, Peary decided to start on
-his white march over the ice cap. On the last day of April three of
-the party, accompanied by five Eskimos, left Red Cliff House with two
-sledges and twelve dogs. Three days later Peary followed with one
-man and a sledge drawn by eight dogs. In a few hours he overtook his
-friends and proceeded with them as far as Humboldt glacier, where he
-asked for volunteers for the long trip. All of the men were eager to
-accompany him, but Astrup was chosen for his companion, and the rest of
-the party returned to Red Cliff House.
-
-Peary and Astrup now began their journey to the northern end of
-Greenland. They slept during the day and traveled by night, when the
-glare of the sun was less trying to their eyes. Peary himself went
-first, leading the way. He was followed by three of his best dogs,
-harnessed to a light sledge which carried two hundred pounds. These
-dogs had become so fond of Peary that they tried always to keep as near
-him as possible. They needed no driving or urging, but followed him
-into the most dangerous places. In the rear came Astrup, with ten dogs
-attached to the big sledge which carried the bulk of the luggage.
-
-Peary had thought himself on top of the ice cap at Humboldt glacier,
-but he found that he must climb still higher. As he ascended the
-weather became colder, and soon snow began to fall. Worse than all, the
-large sledge broke down, but Peary and Astrup mended it and kept on
-bravely. At last the weather grew so cold that the snow froze hard, and
-the two men were able to travel twenty miles a day.
-
-For weeks Peary and Astrup marched over the great ice, through
-snowstorms and furious wind. Whenever fine weather came and the ice
-became firm and smooth, they dashed along, forgetting the hardships
-they had endured. At length Peary saw land in the distance. Dark brown
-and red cliffs, precipices, valleys and mountains, rivers and lakes,
-lay stretched out before them. The dogs saw land also, and were as
-delighted as the men.
-
-This land looked near, but it was not easy to reach. Men and dogs
-slipped and scrambled down the ice crest, through slush and water,
-over sharp rocks, across streams, and through valleys. The sun was very
-hot, and all the travelers felt the change from the clear cold air of
-the inland ice to the heat of the coast region.
-
-The dogs especially suffered from the heat, and this discomfort,
-together with their need of fresh meat, made some of them ill. Pau, the
-leader of the team, seemed very weak, and Peary feared that he would
-die. Pau was a very brave dog, who had killed many polar bears. He
-must have had some knowledge of magic; at any rate, he was an expert
-in slipping his harness. Whenever he wished to, he could slip out and
-away on a trip of his own in search of food. When the other dogs saw
-Pau free, they tried to break their harness and follow him, often with
-success.
-
-One day Peary saw two black objects on the opposite side of a valley.
-At first he thought they were large rocks, but soon he became certain
-that they were musk-oxen. Peary patted poor Pau’s head, as if to
-tell him that he was going to try to get food for him. Pau seemed to
-understand, for his eyes brightened and he wagged his tail.
-
-Peary took his gun and started off in pursuit of the musk-oxen. At last
-he came very near them, but so much depended upon his success that he
-was seized with trembling. It required a tremendous effort to point
-the gun and pull the trigger. The enormous ox looked up curiously, and
-walked toward the man, as if to see what the trouble was. Peary then
-took aim, fired, and killed him. The other musk-ox tried to run away,
-but Peary shot him also.
-
-Astrup and the dogs were frantic with delight. Peary patted each dog on
-the head when he returned, as if to assure him of the feast he was to
-have. Soon the great, shaggy musk-oxen were skinned and prepared for
-food, and a huge hind quarter was carried to the dogs.
-
-The half-starved animals had a royal banquet, and for a while nothing
-could be heard but the crunching of bones, and now and then a deep
-growl. Pau brightened up and took his place again as leader, seizing
-the largest piece of meat without any interference from the other dogs.
-
-Lion was the beautiful leader of the Cape York team. His thick fur was
-snowy white, and his mane long and shaggy. Lion knew as much about ice
-travel as Peary himself, and he never got tangled in his traces or
-tried to eat his harness. Upon this occasion, however, Lion actually
-slipped harness. When Peary called him to have it replaced, Lion obeyed
-instantly, crouching obediently at his master’s feet.
-
-While Peary was caring for the dogs, Astrup had fashioned a fur couch
-from the hides of the musk-oxen, and had broiled some delicious musk-ox
-steaks. That night men and dogs fell asleep happy and comfortable.
-
-After climbing over another slope, the company halted on the edge of a
-high cliff, the northeastern point of Greenland. Beyond the mainland
-they could descry islands in the distance. An icebound channel marked
-the northern boundary of Greenland. The large bay spreading out before
-them Peary named Independence bay, in honor of the day of discovery,
-July 4, 1892. The cliff was called Navy cliff. A cairn was erected upon
-Navy cliff, and the stars and stripes was unfurled.
-
-Peary felt well repaid for his weary march. He had succeeded in
-reaching latitude 81° 37ʹ 5ʺ north; he had crossed the great ice cap,
-and had proved that Greenland is an island; he had looked out upon the
-Arctic ocean from a point of land never before reached by civilized
-men; and he had gained a clear idea of the northern coast of Greenland.
-
-On the return trip Peary reduced the weight of the packs by throwing
-away those articles which he did not expect to need again. On the
-evening of July 7 the two men began the climb up the slope to the
-inland ice. At one time they were eight thousand feet above the level
-of the sea. While they were upon a lofty elevation, a severe storm kept
-them prisoners in a snowdrift for sixty hours. Peary and Astrup slept
-most of the time. When the wind died away and they crept out of the
-drift, dogs and sledges had disappeared. These were soon dug out from
-the snow, and the journey was resumed.
-
-About this time Peary discovered, to his alarm, that a quantity of his
-canned provisions had spoiled, and there was danger that he might run
-short of food. The dogs, too, seemed fagged and low-spirited. They
-pulled away in a lifeless manner, with drooping tails and as if they
-were utterly discouraged by this endless journey. So many of them
-died that only five lived to reach home. When these five dogs at last
-scented land, they were filled with new life, and dashed merrily along
-down the slope toward McCormick bay.
-
-One day a number of black spots appeared on the white surface of the
-snow. These spots proved to be people from the _Kite_, which had
-arrived in the bay and was now waiting to carry Peary and his party
-back to the United States. Peary met the new arrivals joyfully, and
-soon all were assembled at Red Cliff House. Great was the rejoicing
-when Peary told of the success of his journey over the inland ice.
-
-The results of this great sledge journey of twelve hundred miles across
-Greenland were very important. Greenland was proved beyond dispute to
-be an island. Smaller islands free from ice had been discovered north
-of Greenland. A large part of the inland ice had been traversed and
-its character studied. The shores of Inglefield gulf and Whale and
-Murchison sounds had been charted. Many glaciers were discovered,
-and careful observations made of the climate and tides. Considerable
-information had been gained concerning a tribe of Eskimos called the
-Arctic Highlanders, heretofore almost unknown.
-
-In a few weeks preparations began for the return voyage. During the
-latter part of the summer, Mr. and Mrs. Peary and their companions
-bade farewell to Red Cliff House, and sailed for home on the _Kite_.
-Together with the members of the Red Cliff household who embarked on
-the _Kite_ were the five faithful dogs that had helped to carry Peary
-to Independence bay and back again. Among them were Pau and Lion.
-
-The _Kite_ stopped at Godthaab on her way southward, and again at
-St. John’s, Newfoundland. From St. John’s the vessel was detained by
-head winds, but at last the Delaware breakwater was reached. A short
-distance below Philadelphia the _Kite_ was met by a tugboat, carrying
-a party of Mr. Peary’s friends. They were soon on board the _Kite_,
-listening to the wonderful story of the discoveries and adventures of
-the Arctic travelers.
-
-[Illustration: GODTHAAB.]
-
-In 1893 Peary made another trip to North Greenland, and this time
-remained two years and one month. He made a second sledge journey of
-twelve hundred miles to Independence bay, and surveyed a large area of
-the country around Whale sound. During this trip, he also discovered
-the great Cape York meteorites.
-
-Meteorites are stones, largely composed of iron, which fall to the
-earth from the heavens. They are supposed to follow in the train of
-meteors, or shooting stars. These pieces of meteoric iron differ from
-any kind of rock found upon the earth. They are covered with a thin,
-brownish black crust, and look very different from the iron which we
-obtain from mines. All meteorites are carefully preserved, placed in
-museums, and studied.
-
-Many Eskimos had already told Peary of the wonderful iron mountain near
-Cape York, but up to this time he had been too busy to search for it.
-Now he found an Eskimo who promised to conduct him to the spot. This
-Eskimo said that he would find three great pieces of iron, the smallest
-about the size of a dog. One was near the water, and the other two were
-upon the side of the mountain.
-
-With fresh dogs Peary and the Eskimo were soon galloping over hard ice
-toward Cape York. After a long journey the Eskimo conducted Peary to
-the great brown mass.
-
-He told Peary that his people believed that the iron mass had been an
-Eskimo woman, who with her dog and her tent was hurled from the sky by
-the Evil Spirit. One of the great piles used to look like the figure of
-a woman in a sitting position, but the natives had chipped off many
-pieces of it and carried them away. They used these pieces of iron for
-making knives and for harpoon points.
-
-One tribe attempted to carry off the entire head. They lashed it to a
-sledge and started for home, when suddenly the sea rose with a loud
-noise, and the head disappeared into the water, carrying the sledge and
-dogs with it. The Eskimos barely escaped with their lives, and since
-that time not the smallest fragment of the heavenly woman had been
-disturbed.
-
-Near the great mass of iron, called “the woman,” was another, called
-“the dog.” About six miles south of these was the third and largest,
-called “the tent.”
-
-[Illustration: THE “TENT” METEORITE.]
-
-The coast where these meteorites were found is the bleakest and
-most desolate region of the Arctic land. Biting winds blow almost
-continuously, and iceberg after iceberg drifts slowly past on its
-journey southward. It is almost impossible for a vessel to reach this
-coast.
-
-Notwithstanding the difficulty and danger of the work, Peary succeeded
-in bringing all of these meteorites to New York. Those known as “the
-woman” and “the dog” reached New York in 1895, and on October 2, 1897,
-the _Hope_ deposited the one known as “the tent” at the Brooklyn navy
-yard. This weighs ninety tons and is the largest known meteorite in the
-world.
-
-Peary’s two trips across Greenland are classed among the most
-brilliant geographical feats of recent years. His efforts extended the
-exploration of the east coast of Greenland two degrees.
-
-In 1899 Peary again visited the Arctic regions. He reached Fort Conger
-in March, 1900, and the next month, with his colored servant, Matthew
-Henson, and five Eskimos, started to explore the northern coast of
-Greenland. He reached Cape Washington, where he erected a cairn,
-and then pushing on, he rounded the northern limit of the Greenland
-archipelago at latitude 83° 39ʹ north, from which point the coast
-extended southward.
-
-At this place, the most northerly known land in the world, Peary built
-a cairn and inclosed records of his trip. He then changed the direction
-of his course and turned northward, traveling over sea ice toward the
-pole. He proceeded in this direction until he reached latitude 83° 50ʹ
-north, where he found it impossible to continue the journey farther. He
-therefore returned to the Greenland coast, and made explorations which
-enabled him to complete a chart of the northern coast of that island.
-Upon the completion of this work he returned to Fort Conger, arriving
-there June 10, 1900, without accident or illness. During this trip, the
-temperature ranged from 20° above to 35° below zero.
-
-The winter of 1900 and 1901 was spent at Fort Conger, where game was
-plentiful. The men passed most of their time hunting, and succeeded in
-slaying nearly two hundred musk-oxen.
-
-In the spring of 1901 Peary made a second attempt to reach the pole,
-this time from the northern point of Grinnell land, using Fort Conger
-as a base. But he was again obliged to turn back. Still undismayed,
-Peary planned to make another dash for the pole during the spring of
-1902. This expedition was also unsuccessful, and Peary returned to the
-United States in the fall of 1902, without having discovered the North
-Pole. But he accomplished valuable geographical work, and has added
-greatly to our knowledge of Greenland and Grinnell land.
-
-Among the important results of Peary’s work are:――
-
-First: The rounding of the northern limit of the Greenland archipelago,
-the most northerly known land in the world.
-
-Second: The attainment of the highest latitude in the Western
-Hemisphere, 83° 50ʹ north.
-
-Third: The discovery of the character of the inland ice.
-
-
-
-
-XIX. ANDRÉE’S BALLOON EXPEDITION TO THE POLE
-
-1897
-
-
-One of the most hazardous attempts to reach the pole was that made by
-S. A. Andrée in his balloon. Andrée was born in Sweden in 1854, and
-was carefully educated. He became a mechanical engineer, and held an
-important position under the Swedish government.
-
-In 1876 he visited America to attend the Centennial Exposition in
-Philadelphia. While crossing the ocean he noted the regularity of the
-trade winds, which led him to believe that balloon voyages might be
-made across the Atlantic. Some years later Andrée passed a winter in
-Spitzbergen, directing experiments and observations in atmospheric
-electricity. This scientific work strengthened his belief that a
-balloon might be navigated through the air in much the same manner as a
-ship through water.
-
-From this time Andrée studied the construction of balloons with great
-care, and in 1895 he astonished the world by making known his plan to
-reach the North Pole by means of an air route. He needed the sum of
-$36,000 in order to carry out his project. This amount was generously
-provided by King Oscar and two citizens of Sweden.
-
-Then Andrée set about the work of having a balloon constructed which
-would suit his purpose. He went to Paris, and secured the services of
-the most noted balloon maker in the world. This man built a balloon
-for Andrée which was ninety-seven feet high by sixty-seven feet in
-diameter. It was made of three thicknesses of silk, and varnished over
-twice, inside and out. It was handled by means of valves. The whole
-balloon was covered with a network of hemp, ending in forty-eight
-suspension ropes, to which the wooden bearing ring was attached.
-
-The car, shaped like a cylinder and made of wicker, was covered with
-tarpaulin, and was intended for rest and sleep. The place for work and
-observation was a swinging gallery, which also served for the roof
-of the car. In this gallery the scientific instruments were kept.
-Andrée took with him thermometers, barometers, cameras, and every sort
-of needful apparatus. The car contained a sleeping bag, and stores
-of books, maps, toilet articles, arms, and ammunition. The balloon
-was built to carry three passengers. While one slept, the other two
-expected to remain on the roof, taking observations and guiding the
-balloon.
-
-The bearing ring was the main storeroom. Crosspieces of wood formed
-a floor, upon which many necessary articles were packed. Boats,
-sledges, sails, ropes, and provisions of all kinds were stored away in
-forty-eight large sacks, which were hung to the bearing ring. Andrée
-had provisions enough to last for nine months, and everything was
-packed so as to occupy as little space as possible.
-
-Three sails and three guide ropes were arranged to aid in steering the
-balloon. The long guide ropes trailed behind the balloon, serving the
-purpose of a rudder. The sails caught the wind, increased the speed,
-and permitted change of direction.
-
-In 1896, the balloon and all the supplies were taken to Dane’s island,
-near Spitzbergen, but as the desired south wind did not blow, Andrée
-returned to Sweden. In May, 1897, Andrée and his companions again went
-to Dane’s island. A balloon house was built, engines were set up for
-producing hydrogen gas, and in due time the balloon was inflated. By
-July 1 everything was ready.
-
-Andrée and his two companions now waited anxiously for a south wind,
-which they believed would blow them to the North Pole. They waited ten
-days, until, on the morning of July 11, 1897, a strong, steady wind
-from the south was blowing.
-
-Great was the excitement on Dane’s island when the men began to tear
-down the house where the balloon was imprisoned, and attach the car.
-At 2.30 P.M., July 11, 1897, Andrée and his two companions, Nils
-Strindberg and Knut Fraenkel, jumped into the car, and gave orders to
-cut the last ropes.
-
-[Illustration: ANDRÉE BEGINS HIS JOURNEY.]
-
-Slowly the immense, airy structure rose to a height of a few hundred
-feet, and sailed in a northerly direction out over Dane’s gate. Then
-it dropped suddenly, as if it had received a current of air from above,
-and almost touched the sea. Andrée threw out some sand bags, when the
-balloon rose again to a height of about three thousand feet, and sailed
-away in the same northerly direction. About an hour after the start, it
-was lost to sight in the clouds.
-
-Some days later a carrier pigeon was shot in the rigging of an Arctic
-schooner off Spitzbergen. The pigeon had a message from Andrée tied
-under its wing. The message was dated July 13, and stated that the
-balloon sailed one hundred and forty-five geographical miles to the
-northward, and then headed east. It had traveled forty-five miles
-eastward when the pigeon was sent out.
-
-From that day to this, no other message has been received from Andrée.
-Andrée believed that his balloon would float for six weeks, but the
-men who watched the start, said that it lost much gas and much ballast
-before it passed out of sight. They thought that it might have floated
-about fifteen days. Two thirds of the guide ropes, upon which Andrée
-depended for steering, were also lost at starting. At first the balloon
-traveled about twenty-five or thirty miles an hour. At this rate of
-speed, sailing northward, Andrée should have reached the pole in
-less than two days. But every ray of sunshine, every puff of colder
-or warmer wind, cause a balloon to rise or fall, and the methods of
-guiding and handling the delicate appliance are not yet thoroughly
-understood.
-
-No one knows what happened to the balloon after it rose out of sight of
-the men on Dane’s island. For several years Andrée’s friends refused to
-believe that he had perished. They thought that he might be wandering
-about in the Frozen North in the care of some of the Eskimo tribes.
-Many stories have reached us from time to time bearing upon the fate of
-Andrée, but upon investigation they have all proved to be false. The
-only authentic trace which has been found is a buoy picked up northeast
-of Spitzbergen in 1899. This buoy was taken to Sweden, and proved to be
-the one which Andrée had taken with him for the purpose of dropping it,
-with a letter, in case he crossed the pole. No letter was found, but
-an anchor was attached to the buoy. This led to the supposition that
-the buoy and anchor were thrown out to lighten the balloon and keep it
-afloat a while longer, or else that the balloon had been lost in the
-sea and the buoy and anchor had drifted away.
-
-It is now generally believed that Andrée and his two companions lost
-their lives through the descent of the balloon into the ocean.
-
-
-
-
-XX. EXPEDITIONS OF 1902
-
-
-During the spring of 1902, several expeditions were at work in the
-Northern regions, each hoping to be the first to reach the pole.
-
-One of the most important was the Ziegler-Baldwin expedition, equipped
-by Mr. William Ziegler of New York, and commanded by Mr. Evelyn Briggs
-Baldwin. This was the largest and probably the best equipped expedition
-sent out. Baldwin had two ships, four hundred Eskimo dogs, and fifteen
-Siberian ponies. His flagship, the _America_, was a stoutly built
-whaler and carried a cargo of six hundred tons. His other ship, the
-_Fridtjof_, carried the scientific instruments.
-
-Through the generosity of Mr. Ziegler, practically perfect scientific
-apparatus accompanied the expedition, and Mr. Baldwin was assisted by
-experts in geographical charting, geology, botany, and meteorology.
-Both the _America_ and the _Fridtjof_ reached Franz Josef land, but
-very little significant work was accomplished. Instead of wintering
-in the North as had been planned, Mr. Baldwin returned to Norway. Mr.
-Ziegler, however, has not faltered in his determination to find the
-pole, and he has sent out another expedition for that purpose which is
-now in the North.
-
-A Russian expedition excited widespread interest. Admiral Marakoff
-constructed an ice-breaking steamship, and 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 of wireless telegraphy was to be
-used by Captain Bernier, as a means of communication with his ship.
-
-Captain Otto Sverdrup, in command of the _Fram_, was already in the
-North in 1902. Sverdrup won his spurs, you will remember, while on the
-famous Nansen expedition. He was sent out by the Norwegian government
-to explore the northern coast of Greenland, and to connect Peary’s work
-on the east coast with that of a German expedition on the west coast.
-
-Robert Stein’s expedition had not the proper equipment to seek the
-pole, but was designed for the exploration of Ellesmere land. Stein
-returned without accomplishing much valuable work.
-
-A novel plan has been announced by Dr. Anschutz Kampfe. Dr. Kampfe
-proposes to build a submarine boat, and proceed to the pole beneath the
-ice.
-
-For more than three hundred years, men have struggled to reach the
-North Pole. They have braved bitter winds and faced starvation and
-death, in order to wrest the secrets of nature from the great white
-North.
-
-Since Sir John Franklin’s first trip to the Arctic regions, interest
-in the Frozen North has never flagged. Very grave doubts as to the
-wisdom of spending so large sums of money and of risking so many human
-lives have arisen in the minds of those who have followed the story
-of suffering and death. It is natural in this century, when men are
-counting the cost of every project, to ask wherein lies the advantage
-of exploring the polar country, since the work is in every case so
-difficult, so dangerous, and in many cases fatal. But we may feel sure
-that the work will never cease until every part of the Frozen North is
-known.
-
-Beyond the additions to our store of meteorological knowledge, and
-of botanical and geological facts, there has been a decided addition
-to the world’s wealth by Arctic exploration: not in money, but in
-character; not in conquest, but in heroism; not in material success,
-but in those experiences which make men strong and enduring. The world
-is already richer in mines and money than it is in men of courage
-and in high acts of duty and bravery. Thrilling deeds, glorious
-perseverance, and unwearied patience are the noblest fruits of Arctic
-exploration.
-
-
-
-
-XXI. THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE BY ROBERT E. PEARY
-
-1909
-
-
-The struggle to reach the North Pole was still waging. Robert E. Peary
-was not a man to give up until he had reached the goal. The Peary
-Arctic Club again gave him financial assistance, and a vessel was
-constructed that could be forced through dense ice. Theodore Roosevelt
-was then President of the United States, and Commander Peary called his
-ship the _Roosevelt_, because, as he said, the name stood for strength
-and determination.
-
-In June, 1905, he set sail, and reached the north coast of Grant Land,
-where he spent the winter, and in the spring he started northward with
-sledges and dogs. He made his way to 87° 6ʹ on April 21, 1906. This was
-less than two hundred miles from the Pole, and was the best record as
-yet.
-
-Even for the far North that season was unusually severe. Violent winds
-and snowstorms separated the explorer from his supply depots, and he
-was forced to return, killing his dogs for food on the way. He was not
-discouraged, for he felt that every failure gave him more experience,
-which would enable him to achieve success some day.
-
-The Peary Arctic Club again helped him, and Zenas Crane and many other
-public-spirited men sent donations of money. The death of Morris K.
-Jesup was a severe blow to him. Mr. Jesup had given him much support,
-both by his belief in Peary’s ability to reach the Pole, and by
-rendering financial aid to the expedition.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-    Copyright, 1910, by William H. Rau.
-
-PEARY IN ARCTIC COSTUME.]
-
-When, through the efforts of General Hubbard, president of the Peary
-Arctic Club, the needed money was at last procured, Peary completed his
-plans. He believed that in order to reach the Pole he must adopt the
-manner of life of the Eskimos. These natives of the Arctic zone know
-how to travel over the icy seas with less discomfort and danger than
-any other people.
-
-Peary again, as in his previous expeditions, decided to engage the
-hardy Eskimos from Whale Sound, with their dogs, for the mainstay
-of his party, and to take with him as few white men as possible.
-The expedition was thus mostly made up of natives accustomed to the
-difficulties and hardships of Arctic travel.
-
-Then came the question of selecting the white men who were to accompany
-him. The following were chosen: Captain Robert A. Bartlett, as master
-of the _Roosevelt_; George A. Wardwell, chief engineer; Dr. J. W.
-Goodsell, surgeon; Matthew A. Henson, Peary’s negro assistant, who had
-been with him on many Arctic voyages, an excellent dog driver, and able
-to manage a sledge nearly as well as the best Eskimo driver; Ross G.
-Marvin of Cornell, Donald B. McMillan of Worcester, Mass., and George
-Borup of Yale, as assistants.
-
-On July 6, 1908, the expedition sailed from New York on the
-_Roosevelt_, and July 17 from Sydney, Cape Breton. At the start, the
-white members of the party numbered twenty-two, and at Etah Peary found
-plenty of Eskimos willing to go with him.
-
-These Eskimos, known as the Whale Sound Eskimos, are the most northerly
-race known. They migrate along the coast from Cape York to Etah, and
-are remarkable for their strength and endurance. From among them Peary
-selected his company; here, also, he procured many fine dogs, without
-whose help and service the Pole could not have been reached.
-
-The _Roosevelt_ steamed northward from Etah, pushing her way through
-the ice pack towards Cape Sheridan, on the northern coast of Grant
-Land. During the trip the Eskimo men were put to work making sledges
-and harness, and the women began to make winter garments for the men.
-There was much sewing to be done, for the white men wore in winter just
-the same kind of clothing that the Eskimos did.
-
-McMillan, Borup, and Dr. Goodsell found amusement in watching the women
-at their sewing. Sitting on the ground or whatever is nearest, they
-take off their footgear and put out one foot. Then holding one end of
-the material between their toes, using the foot as a third hand, they
-sew the seam away from them, instead of toward them as our women do. It
-looked odd enough, but the spectators had to admit that the work was
-done well. The Eskimos sewed the furs and skins together so closely and
-skillfully that the cold could not creep through.
-
-These industrious women made stockings and mittens of fur, boots of
-skins, trousers of skins of the polar bear, jackets of deer or fox
-skin, and hoods of fur, finished around the face with thick rolls of
-foxtails.
-
-All were happy and comfortable for a while, but as they advanced the
-ice became thicker and the ship was in great danger. It took all
-Peary’s knowledge of the coast, and all Bartlett’s skill in navigation,
-to keep the _Roosevelt_ from being crushed in the ice.
-
-Every person on board, both whites and Eskimos, tied his most necessary
-belongings into a bundle and stood ready to jump over the side of the
-boat at a moment’s notice in case the ship should be destroyed. But
-skill and perseverance conquered, and the _Roosevelt_ reached Cape
-Sheridan in safety.
-
-Here on the shore of the Arctic sea the party wintered, spending their
-time in massing supplies at places farther north, where they were
-likely to be needed later. Hunting was good, musk oxen, bear, and deer
-were plentiful, and large supplies of fresh meat were obtained. The men
-of science took tidal and meteorological observations, and a happy and
-busy winter was spent.
-
-On October 12 the party said good-by to the sun; the twilight darkened
-and the long Arctic night set in. Peary did not wait for the sun to
-return, but as soon as it was light enough to travel he renewed the
-journey to the Pole.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-    From “Fighting the Polar Ice,” copyright by Anthony Fiala.
-
-MOONLIGHT IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.]
-
-On February 15, 1909, the first detachment of the sledge party under
-Captain Bartlett left Cape Sheridan for Cape Columbia, the most
-northern point of Grant Land. The other detachments followed on
-successive days, and on February 22, Peary started the last of all.
-From Cape Columbia he planned to travel directly north over the ice of
-the Polar sea for a distance of four hundred and thirteen geographical
-miles. This would take him to 90° north latitude, _i.e._, to the North
-Pole.
-
-By traveling in detachments a path once opened was kept open. The first
-detachment accomplished the difficult work of breaking a way through
-the ice, the second detachment found travel easier, and the third found
-it still easier. Thus the strength both of the men and the dogs of the
-last detachment was saved for the final march.
-
-The party was to return by the same route as the one they advanced by,
-the supporting parties keeping the trail open for the rapid return of
-the main party. They were also able to use many of the same igloos
-in returning, so that the labor of building them was avoided and the
-strength of the men economized. The plan of march resembled that of a
-relay race, with which all girls and boys are familiar.
-
-The entire sledge party on leaving the ship numbered seven whites,
-nineteen Eskimos, one hundred and forty dogs, and twenty-eight sledges.
-On March 1, 1909, Bartlett’s party left land, setting out over the sea
-ice for the north, the distance from the mainland to the Pole being
-four hundred and seventy-five statute miles.
-
-Think of starting on a journey of that length on foot with no certainty
-of even necessary food, and over a rough expanse of ice and snow.
-These brave men never faltered. As the party drew near the Pole, the
-supporting detachments were sent back one after another. The last
-detachment sent back was that under Captain Bartlett, who had given
-such valuable assistance in leading the pioneer party.
-
-Peary felt sorry to part with Captain Bob, as he familiarly called
-him, and Captain Bob was sorry in his turn to go. He had reached 87°
-47ʹ north latitude, and was nearer to the North Pole than any other
-explorer had yet been. It had been his ambition to reach 88°, but there
-was no time to spare, and though disappointed, he obeyed his commander
-cheerfully, like a good soldier. He had surpassed the Italian record by
-one degree and a quarter.
-
-Peary was now left with only five companions,――Matt Henson, his colored
-servant, and four Eskimos; he also had forty dogs and five sledges. He
-was one hundred and thirty-three nautical miles from the Pole, and he
-planned to make five marches of at least twenty-five miles each, and
-then cover the remaining distance by pushing on with a light sledge and
-a double team of dogs.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-    From “Fighting the Polar Ice,” copyright by Anthony Fiala.
-
-ESKIMO DOGS.]
-
-After a rest and some repairing of the sledges the little party started
-northward. The sun shone brightly out of a deep blue sky, and a finer
-morning for the journey could not be imagined. Except for some pressure
-ridges which were nearly fifty feet in height, the ice was hard and
-level. The ridges corresponding to hills on land were not as hard to
-pass over as were the leads of water which Peary had met with before
-during the journey.
-
-With weather in their favor the party made great progress. In one march
-of twelve hours thirty miles were covered. As they neared the Pole, the
-wind grew bitterly cold. Even the Eskimos complained of it, and said
-that their noses would freeze. This was unusual, for the nose of an
-Eskimo is supposed to be so hardy that no frosty winds could freeze it.
-But all soon forgot the cold in their joy in drawing near the Pole.
-
-On April 6, 1909, at ten A.M. the last march ended, and Peary found by
-his observations that he had arrived at 89° 57ʹ north latitude. Here
-the party camped, and Peary called the place Camp Morris K. Jesup in
-honor of the man who had done so much to further discoveries in the
-Arctic regions.
-
-From Camp Jesup, Peary traveled on about ten miles beyond the Pole,
-crossing and recrossing in several directions over a radius of ten
-miles. Strange were his feelings when he stood at the place where
-north, east, and west were eliminated, and every direction was south.
-He was also at a place where there is in the year but one night and one
-day, each six months in length. The stars circle round overhead during
-the night and the sun during the day.
-
-As far as the eye could reach was a vast, white expanse of ice. No
-living creature was to be seen, no sign of life anywhere, only a great
-silence, a great whiteness, and dazzling sunlight. Peary placed the
-American flag in the ice. The Eskimos and Henson gave three cheers, and
-all shook hands.
-
-The Eskimos did not understand what made Peary so happy, but they did
-know that he had succeeded in reaching a wonderful spot, which he had
-searched for during many years.
-
-Thirty hours were spent at the Pole taking observations and
-photographs. The maximum temperature was -12° and the minimum was
--30° Fahrenheit. Peary put records of his journey and a piece of the
-American flag in a glass bottle, and wedged it in between blocks of
-ice and left it. As the ice is constantly shifting and changing its
-position, it is hard to tell where this bottle may drift.
-
-The ice at the Pole was too thick for Peary to measure the depth of the
-ocean. But on returning he found a place, five miles from the Pole,
-where the ice was thinner. He succeeded in making a hole with a pickax
-and dropped his sounding lead. The wire ran out to a depth of fifteen
-hundred fathoms (nine thousand feet) without touching bottom. Then the
-wire broke, and it and the lead were lost. We do not know how much
-deeper the Polar ocean may be.
-
-The return journey to land was made by forced marches of about
-twenty-nine and a half miles a day. This speed was made possible by the
-lighter sledge loads, and the fact that they were retracing their steps
-over a trail kept partially open by the other detachments. But the
-Eskimos said, “The devil is asleep, or we never should have come back
-so easily!” Peary knew that they came back easily because of favorable
-weather and ice conditions, and because his plans had been wise.
-
-When the party came in sight of the _Roosevelt_ again, the joy of the
-men cannot be described. Captain Bartlett saw them and went out to meet
-them. His face was sad, and Peary felt that he was to hear some bad
-news. Bartlett then told him of the death of Marvin by drowning while
-on his return march. Peary felt keenly the loss of his brave companion
-who had accomplished so much valuable work, and who had made himself
-respected and loved.
-
-All the members of the party resumed their duties, and the first was to
-reward the faithful Eskimos who had worked and served so well. Peary
-gave them hatchets, knives, shot-guns, rifles, and tools of all kinds.
-They were much pleased and felt as rich as millionaires.
-
-As soon as the ice permitted, the _Roosevelt_ left her winter quarters
-and sailed southward, stopping at Etah and Cape York, and arriving
-at Sydney, Cape Breton, September 21, 1909, where she received an
-enthusiastic welcome.
-
-On September 1, 1909, while Peary and his party were still in the
-north, the world was startled by a telegraphic message from a Danish
-steamer, saying: “We have on board the American traveler, Dr. Cook, who
-reached the North Pole, April 21, 1908.”
-
-The next morning the _New York Herald_ published an account of the
-great discovery cabled by Cook himself. It said that he had reached the
-Pole on the date just mentioned, and that “it was a cheerless spot,
-an endless field of purple snows.” Two days later Dr. Cook landed at
-Copenhagen and was greeted with cheers, and great honors were bestowed
-upon him.
-
-Two days later another telegram was received by the Associated Press of
-New York, which read:
-
-    “Stars and stripes nailed to the North Pole.
-
-    “PEARY.”
-
-There was great excitement all over the civilized world. Messages
-continued to arrive from Peary fixing the date of his arrival at the
-Pole, April 6, 1909. Cook claimed to have reached the pole a year
-earlier, April 21, 1908. Why had he kept silent so long? Discussion
-grew, and scientists demanded proof and data from both men.
-
-The records of Dr. Cook were submitted to the University of Copenhagen,
-and their final report was made public December 21, 1910. It declared
-that the papers and documents submitted to it by Dr. Cook contained
-no observations or explanations to prove that Dr. Cook had reached the
-Pole.
-
-That Peary reached the Pole was never doubted. The National
-Geographical Society after careful examination of his records reported
-that they were unanimous in the opinion that Commander Peary reached
-the North Pole, April 6, 1909.
-
-The following resolutions were adopted:
-
-    “_Whereas_, Commander Robert E. Peary has reached the North
-    Pole, the goal sought for centuries, and
-
-    _Whereas_, this is the greatest geographical achievement that
-    this society can have opportunity to honor, therefore
-
-    _Resolved_, that a special medal be awarded to Commander Peary.”
-
-Medals and honors were bestowed upon him by many scientific societies
-at home and abroad, and he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in
-the United States Navy, and given the thanks of Congress.
-
-The Frozen North has given up its secret. Man’s persistence has
-conquered, and 90° north has been attained.
-
-Rear Admiral Peary and all the brave men, who for nearly four hundred
-years struggled to reach the North Pole, will be held in honor by their
-countrymen for all time.
-
-    NOTE.――A fathom is six feet; a statute mile 5280 feet; a
-    geographical mile 6080 feet.
-
-
-
-
- Transcriber’s Notes:
-
- ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
-
- ――The Contents listing was changed to reflect the chapter title in
-   the content where there was a difference.
-
- ――A List of Illustrations has been provided for the convenience of
-   the reader.
-
- ――Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently
-   corrected.
-
- ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
-
- ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.
-
-
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-
-<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Frozen North, by Edith Horton</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
-at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this eBook.
-</div>
-
-<table style='min-width:0; padding:0; margin-left:0; border-collapse:collapse'>
-  <tr><td>Title:</td><td>The Frozen North</td></tr>
-  <tr><td></td><td>An Account of Arctic Exploration for Use in Schools</td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edith Horton</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 29, 2021 [eBook #65193]</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</div>
-
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FROZEN NORTH ***</div>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="cover">
-  <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" title="cover" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_map01" style="width: 924px;">
-  <img src="images/i_map01.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic">MAP OF THE NORTH POLAR REGIONS</p>
-    <div class="noic x-ebookmaker-drop">
-      [<a id="i_map01large" href="images/i_map01large.jpg" rel="nofollow">
-        click here for high resolution map
-       </a>]
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<h1><small>THE</small><br />
-FROZEN NORTH</h1>
-
-<p class="noi subtitle">AN ACCOUNT OF ARCTIC
-EXPLORATION FOR USE IN SCHOOLS</p>
-
-<p class="p2 noic">BY</p>
-
-<p class="noi author">EDITH HORTON</p>
-
-<p class="p2 noic"><i>REVISED EDITION</i></p>
-
-<p class="p4 noic"><span class="adauthor">D. C. HEATH &amp; CO., PUBLISHERS</span><br />
-BOSTON      NEW YORK      CHICAGO</p>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Copyright 1904 and 1911<br />
-By D. C. Heath &amp; Company</span></p>
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii"></a>[iii]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>While abundant material has been put before children
-with the purpose of making them familiar with the history
-and industrial development of various parts of the known
-world, very little has been written to inform them of the
-work which is now being done in the comparatively unknown
-regions of the north, or of the history of the early
-discoveries which have led to it.</p>
-
-<p>The importance of the present determined search for
-the North Pole is admitted by all thoughtful people, and
-the subject is one which must increase in interest until the
-entire North Frigid Zone is correctly mapped and charted.</p>
-
-<p>Accounts of the pioneers in this work of discovery, of
-Franklin and of Kane, and in our own day of Nansen
-and Peary, are available only in such exhaustive works
-as are unsuitable reading for children, and which sometimes
-tax the patience of the adult. Hence the work done
-by these intrepid explorers upon the American continent
-and north of it remains unstudied and unknown.</p>
-
-<p>It is hoped that this book may give our young people
-sufficient knowledge of the subject to enable them to read
-farther with intelligence, and that it may also inspire
-them with interest in the many expeditions that are being
-sent out.</p>
-
-<p>The descriptions of the strange people who inhabit
-these cold countries, their dress, their ways of living,
-their customs, and their manners, all interest the child,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iv"></a>[iv]</span>
-
-and meet his natural desire to hear about other people
-than those living in the part of the world about him.</p>
-
-<p>No complete history has been attempted, but rather a
-series of sketches which, it is hoped, will enable the reader
-to appreciate the achievements of the brave men who
-have lent and are lending their best efforts to the task
-of unlocking and wresting from the Frozen North, the
-secrets so necessary for the advancement of science.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
-<col style="width: 20%;" />
-<col style="width: 70%;" />
-<col style="width: 10%;" />
-<tr>
-  <th class="pr smfontr">CHAPTER</th>
-  <th class="tdl"></th>
-  <th class="smfontr">PAGE</th>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">I.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a></td>
-  <td class="tdrb">1</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">II.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">Sir John Franklin.</span></a>   1818</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">9</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">III.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">Franklin’s First Land Journey.</span></a>   1819–1821</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">14</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">IV.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Franklin’s Second Land Journey.</span></a>   1825–1827</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">21</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">V.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">The <i>Erebus</i> and the <i>Terror</i>.</span></a>   1845</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">25</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">VI.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">Elisha Kent Kane.</span></a>   1853</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">32</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">VII.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Winter in Rensselaer Harbor.</span></a>   1853–1854</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">36</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">VIII.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">The Eskimos.</span></a>   1854</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">40</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">IX.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Hunting in the Icy North</span></a></td>
-  <td class="tdrb">45</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">X.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Home Again.</span></a>   1855</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">51</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XI.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Nordenskjöld and the Northeast Passage.</span></a>   1878–1879</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">59</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XII.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Voyage of the <i>Jeannette</i>.</span></a>   1879–1881</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">72</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XIII.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">Greely in Grinnell Land.</span></a>   1881–1883</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">81</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XIV.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">Farthest North of the Greely Party.</span></a>   1882</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">87</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XV.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">Lieutenant Schwatka in Alaska.</span></a>   1883</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">94</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XVI.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">Nansen crosses Greenland.</span></a>   1888</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">104</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XVII.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">The Voyage of the <i>Fram</i>.</span></a>   1893–1896</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">122</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XVIII.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">Peary crosses Greenland.</span></a>   1891–1897</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">133</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XIX.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">Andrée’s Balloon Expedition to the Pole.</span></a>   1897</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">149</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XX.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">Expeditions of 1902</span></a></td>
-  <td class="tdrb">154</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-  <td class="tdrt">XXI.</td>
-  <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">Discovery of the North Pole by Robert E. Peary.</span></a>   1909</td>
-  <td class="tdrb">158</td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<ul>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_map01">Map of the North Polar Regions</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_001fp">The Aurora Borealis</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_002">Sebastian Cabot</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_003a">The Earth on June 21</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_003b">The Earth on December 21</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_004">Daily Motion of the Heavens as seen at the North Pole</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_005">Daily Motion of the Heavens as seen at the Equator</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_007">The Midnight Sun</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_008">The Change of Seasons</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_009">Sir John Franklin</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_010">Glacier, English Bay, Spitzbergen</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_011">A Ship in the Ice Pack</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_013">Icebergs in the Polar Sea</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_017">A Post of the Hudson Bay Company</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_027">In Winter Quarters</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_031">Relics of the Franklin Expedition</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_032">Elisha Kent Kane</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_033">Fiskernaes, Greenland</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_037">An Eskimo Dog Team</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_041">Eskimos and their Dogs</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_043">Interior of an Eskimo Hut</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_046">A Walrus Hunt</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_048">A Herd of Seals</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_049">Polar Bears</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_053">Traveling over the Ice Hummocks</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_055">Dragging the Boats over the Ice Floes</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_056">Upernavik, Greenland</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_058">A Greenlander in his Kayak</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_061">Samoyed Huts in Summer</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_062">A Samoyed Family in Winter Costume</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_065">The “Vega” firing a Salute at Cape Tcheliuskin, the Most Northern Point of the Old World</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_066">Tchuktche and Reindeer</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_068">Tchuktche Man and Woman</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_069">Hunting Reindeer</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_075">The “Jeannette” in the Ice Pack</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_082">Bird Cliffs</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_084">Musk Ox</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_088">An Arctic Snowstorm</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_095">Sitka, Alaska, in 1880</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_097">Crossing the Coast Range</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_099">Tanana Station, River Yukon, in Winter</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_102">The Raft on which a Journey of Thirteen Hundred and Three Miles was made</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_105">A Man on Ski</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_106">Fridtjof Nansen</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_107">A Herd of Reindeer</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_111">Nansen’s Camp on the Drift Ice</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_114">A Group of Greenland Eskimos</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_117">A View in the Interior of Greenland</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_118">Sledging across Greenland</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_120">Skating off the Coast of Greenland</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_123">The Launching of the “Fram”</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_124">Boat attacked by Walrus</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_126">Nansen and Johansen leaving the “Fram”</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_135">Setting Fox Traps</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_139">Red Cliff House after the Storm</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_145">Godthaab</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_146">The “Tent” Meteorite</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_151">Andrée begins his Journey</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_159">Peary in Arctic Costume</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_163">Moonlight in the Arctic Regions</a></li>
-<li class="hang"><a href="#i_167">Eskimo Dogs</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_001fp">
-  <img src="images/i_001fp.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Aurora Borealis.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p>
-
-<p class="noi title">THE FROZEN NORTH</p>
-
-<hr class="r20" />
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">I. INTRODUCTION</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The north polar regions lie within the Arctic circle,
-and at their center is the North Pole. The distance from
-the circle to the pole is more than fourteen hundred miles.
-Intense cold and the hardships of ice navigation have made
-the discovery and exploration of this region very slow and
-hazardous.</p>
-
-<p>It is believed that Norsemen from Norway and Sweden,
-after colonizing Iceland, made settlements on the Greenland
-coast and carried their seal hunting beyond the Arctic
-circle, far into the polar regions. But in 1347 a plague
-broke out in Norway, and the people forgot their far-off
-colonies. For more than a hundred years after this no
-attempt was made to enter the Arctic circle.</p>
-
-<p>It is a singular fact that the famous voyage of Columbus
-in 1492, although made toward the south, should have
-influenced to some extent discovery in the north polar
-regions. After Columbus had really proved that the earth
-was round, navigators believed that by sailing westward
-far enough they might reach the rich lands of India and
-Cathay (China).</p>
-
-<p>The only route then known from Europe to India was
-through the Mediterranean Sea. At Constantinople, the
-cargoes of metals, woods, and pitch were unloaded and sent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span>
-on by caravan to the East, while returning caravans brought
-silks, dyewoods, spices, perfumes, precious stones, ivory,
-and pearls, to be shipped from Constantinople.</p>
-
-<p>When the Turks, through whose country the merchants
-passed, began to realize how valuable the Eastern trade
-was, they sent bands of robbers to seize the caravans,
-making traffic by this route more difficult and more dangerous
-as time went on; so that European merchants tried
-to find some other way of reaching
-that part of the world.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" id="i_002">
-  <img src="images/i_002.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Sebastian Cabot.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>John and Sebastian Cabot, two
-English navigators, set out in
-1497 to sail westward, but finding
-their way blocked by the American
-continent, they returned.
-In 1498 Sebastian Cabot made a
-second voyage, with the object
-of finding a passage north of
-America which would lead to the
-Spice Islands and rich Cathay.
-In this way the long hunt for the
-northwest passage was begun.</p>
-
-<p>The Cabots did not find the northwest passage; and
-though many voyages were made in search of it by other
-navigators during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
-nobody met with success. The severe cold, added to the
-difficulties of a voyage through the ice of ages, prevented
-further investigation in that direction for some time.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile, the Spanish and the Portuguese had been
-active in seeking for southern routes to the East, and had
-discovered two,—one around the Cape of Good Hope and
-one through the Strait of Magellan. They guarded these
-waterways jealously, and would not allow the ships of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span>
-other nations to pass. Thus they succeeded in controlling
-all the rich Eastern trade, and were growing very wealthy
-and powerful.</p>
-
-<p>The English and the Dutch, who were also anxious to
-obtain a share of the rich commerce with the East, saw the
-importance of finding
-a northern route to
-India; consequently
-they experimented by
-sailing northeast
-along the coast of
-Europe and Asia.
-The route which they
-sought was known as
-the northeast passage.</p>
-
-<p>England sent out the first expedition in 1553, but the severity
-of the weather prevented the ships from making much
-progress. Several other vain attempts were made by the
-English, and then the Dutch took up the work; but they
-failed, too, and for a time the search for northern passages
-to the Indies was abandoned.</p>
-
-<div class="figright" id="i_003a">
-  <img src="images/i_003a.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Earth on June 21.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The total absence of the
-sun from the Arctic regions
-during a large part of each
-year makes the climate
-severe and the country
-desolate. Direct sun rays
-are necessary to insure
-warmth, and the regions
-within the Arctic circle receive at the best only slanting rays.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" id="i_003b">
-  <img src="images/i_003b.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Earth on December 21.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the temperate zones the sun is never exactly overhead.
-For people who live within the tropics it is overhead<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span>
-twice every year. At all places along the equator
-the sun is overhead at noon on the 21st of March. Each
-day after, it comes overhead at noon at places farther
-north, until the 21st of June, when it is overhead at the
-tropic of Cancer. After this the sun appears to turn and
-go south, and on September 22 it is again overhead at
-noon at the equator. The sun then continues to move
-southward each day until December 21, when it is
-overhead at the tropic of Capricorn. And so it goes back
-and forth the year round.</p>
-
-<p>While the sun is north of the equator, there is constant
-day somewhere within the Arctic circle; when the sun is
-south of the equator, there is constant night somewhere
-within the Arctic circle. The farther a region is from the
-equator, the longer are the days and nights at different
-seasons of the year. At the pole there is a night of six
-months and a day of six months. The night is sometimes
-lighted by the moon and sometimes by the aurora borealis.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_004">
-  <img src="images/i_004.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Daily Motion of the Heavens as seen at the North Pole.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There are but two seasons in the Arctic regions—a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span>
-long, cold winter and a short, dry summer. It is during
-the summer that the explorers do their work. Throughout
-the dark winter they can do nothing. Even in the
-summer, navigators meet with many perils, for Arctic
-navigation is not an easy matter. Besides the danger that
-the vessel may be frozen in an ice pack, or crushed between
-icebergs, the navigator is often blinded by fogs and snows,
-and has to face unknown tides and currents.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_005">
-  <img src="images/i_005.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Daily Motion of the Heavens as seen at the Equator.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The vegetation within the Arctic circle is scanty. During
-the summer the bright, warm sun causes the plants to
-spring up and grow rapidly. Willows, dwarf birches, and
-rush grasses are plentiful in some localities. In southern
-Greenland, and in some sheltered places along its western
-coast, yellow poppies and dandelions grow. Farther north
-only mosses and lichens are to be found, and beyond the
-moss line there is no trace of vegetation.</p>
-
-<p>Nevertheless there are plenty of animals in this land of
-ice and snow. The polar bear, Arctic fox, blue fox, wolf,
-ermine, reindeer, and musk ox are plentiful. Seals and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span>
-walruses come out of the water upon the ice, during the
-summer, to enjoy the sun, and thousands of snow buntings,
-auks, and eider ducks visit the shores of the cold seas to
-build their nests and catch food. When the summer of
-three months is over, nearly all outward signs of animal
-and vegetable life disappear and the entire landscape becomes
-a dreary, white expanse.</p>
-
-<p>The inhabitants of this cold land are called Eskimos.
-They find it hard to get a living, and their dwellings
-are of the rudest and most primitive sort. Many of the
-tribes move from place to place, building their snow huts
-wherever game is most plentiful, but never going far inland,
-because fish forms a large part of their food. The Eskimos
-do not mind the bitter weather. They are quite accustomed
-to a temperature of 50° below zero.</p>
-
-<p>Within the Arctic circle are two principal areas of great
-cold, one in North America and one in Siberia. The mildest
-winters are at Bering strait and in the Spitzbergen
-Sea, where there is usually open water. The former is
-affected by the warm Japan Current and the latter by the
-Gulf Stream.</p>
-
-<p>We have as yet learned but little about the icy North.
-Nearly three million square miles of our earth lie within the
-Arctic circle and are unknown to-day. Much more information
-must be gained before man can hope to understand
-the physical laws of this mysterious region.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_007">
-  <img src="images/i_007.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Midnight Sun.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p>
-
-<p>For a century and a half after the sailing ships of the
-sixteenth century had failed to find the northern passages
-to the East, little was done in the way of Arctic exploration.
-The whale and cod fishers were the only navigators who
-ventured into the frozen seas. These fishermen carried on
-a profitable business in fish and oil. One of them, a Scotch
-whaler named William Scoresby, succeeded in driving his
-ship as far north as latitude 81° 12ʹ 42ʺ. He spent all the
-time that he could spare on this voyage in collecting information
-about this unknown part of the earth, and on
-his return to England, he told such wonderful stories that
-the English people became once more interested in the
-frozen North.</p>
-
-<p>Accordingly, in 1815, after England’s wars with the
-United States and France were over, the government
-offered a reward of £20,000 to any one who would make
-the northwest passage, and a reward of £5000 to any one
-who would reach 89° north latitude. This offer of prize
-money stirred the adventurous blood of seafaring men. In
-1818 two expeditions were sent out, and others quickly
-followed.</p>
-
-<p>The vast area of unexplored space within the Arctic
-circle stimulated men’s imaginations almost as much as
-the Western world beyond the Atlantic had done in the
-days of Columbus. Many a brave sailor was ready to
-undertake the difficult work. Famous among those who
-did valuable service was Sir John Franklin.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_008">
-  <img src="images/i_008.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Change of Seasons.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">II. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN<br />
-<small>1818</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Sir John Franklin was one of the greatest explorers
-the world has ever known. We owe to him most of our
-knowledge of the northern
-coast of America and of the
-far North.</p>
-
-<div class="figright" id="i_009">
-  <img src="images/i_009.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Sir John Franklin.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Franklin was born in 1786
-at Spilsby, a small town in
-Lincolnshire, England, about
-ten miles from the coast.
-As a boy, he one day visited
-the seaside, which so delighted
-him that he then and
-there made up his mind to
-be a sailor.</p>
-
-<p>Franklin’s parents wished
-him to become a clergyman,
-and in the hope of curing him of his new passion, they
-sent him on a trial voyage. This plan did not succeed, for
-the young man learned to love the sea so much that at
-last the father yielded to his son’s desire, and obtained
-a position for him in the Royal Navy. While in the
-navy, John Franklin took part in several of the hardest
-naval battles the English ever fought. He made a brilliant
-record as a fearless sailor and a wise and determined
-leader.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span></p>
-
-<p>After the wars were over, Franklin began the study of
-science. But land life was dull for him, and he longed for
-the dangers and excitement of the sea. When word came
-that he had been chosen by the government to go in search
-of the North Pole, he was unspeakably happy. Soon two
-strong vessels were ready for the voyage. The command
-of the <i>Dorothea</i> was given to Captain Buchan, while Franklin,
-with the rank of lieutenant, was put in command of the
-<i>Trent</i>. Their orders were to proceed northward between
-the islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland, and if they
-found the sea free from ice, to push ahead directly for the
-North Pole. Should they succeed in finding the pole, they
-were, if possible, to return by way of Bering strait, and thus
-prove the existence of a northwest passage.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_010">
-  <img src="images/i_010.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Glacier, English Bay, Spitzbergen.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The ships sailed out of the Thames river April 25, 1818.
-On May 10 they crossed the Arctic circle, and Franklin<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span>
-beheld for the first time the grand spectacle of the midnight
-sun. Shortly after the ships had crossed the circle, a terrible
-gale arose. The weather was bitterly cold, the snow came
-down fast, blinding the eyes of the sailors, and ice covered
-the brigs from bow to stern. Every time the bows came up
-out of the water a fresh layer of ice was formed upon them,
-and the vessels became so heavy that the sailors were obliged
-to chop the ice away with axes. The ropes also were frozen
-over, and in order to keep them ready for instant use, the
-sailors had continually to beat off the ice with sticks. The
-ice pack extended on all sides as far as the eye could reach,
-and little by little it closed around the ships.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_011">
-  <img src="images/i_011.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Ship in the Ice Pack.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Notwithstanding this, they managed to enter a bay on
-the coast of Spitzbergen, where Captain Buchan decided to
-remain until the pack should break up. Neither officers
-nor men were idle while at anchor in this bay. Some surveyed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span>
-the harbor and made a map of it, while others measured
-the depth of the water with instruments which they
-had brought for that purpose. The magnetic needle was
-closely watched, and all its changes noted. Many went
-hunting and supplied the crew with meat of the seal and
-walrus. Meantime a close watch was kept upon the ice
-pack.</p>
-
-<p>Franklin learned to like the rugged Arctic scenery.
-Close to the shores of Spitzbergen were long, snow-covered
-valleys and high mountains, and between the mountains
-stood immense glaciers, glistening in the bright sunlight
-which had so little power to melt their surfaces.</p>
-
-<p>One day Buchan and Franklin were in a small boat at
-the foot of a glacier. Suddenly they heard a noise like
-the report of a great cannon, and looking up, they saw a
-portion of the glacier sliding down the mountain side.
-This great mass of ice made a grinding noise as it went,
-and streams of water flowed after it. At length it plunged
-into the sea and disappeared from view. The water was
-greatly disturbed and covered with foam. In a few
-moments the huge piece of ice rose to the surface and
-surged up to a great height above the sea. Then Franklin
-and his companion knew how icebergs are formed. This
-one was a quarter of a mile around, and rose sixty feet
-above the water. It must have weighed millions of tons.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_013">
-  <img src="images/i_013.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Icebergs in the Polar Sea.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Franklin was now more anxious than ever to get to the
-pole. He knew that thousands of years ago a part of
-America and Europe was covered with ice just as the
-Arctic regions now are, and he felt sure that if he remained
-long enough in this land he would be able to explain many
-things heretofore unknown, in regard to climate, soil, tides,
-and winds.</p>
-
-<p>Soon the ships, headed toward the north, put to sea<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span>
-again, but a furious gale arose, and they were once more
-caught in the ice pack. When the wind went down, the
-<i>Dorothea</i> was so badly damaged as to be almost unseaworthy,
-and Captain Buchan decided to turn back. The
-<i>Trent</i> also had been injured, but Franklin tried hard to
-induce Captain Buchan to allow him to go northward
-alone. Captain Buchan refused, and both vessels accordingly
-returned to England, where they arrived safely on
-October 12, 1818. We must not regard this expedition
-as a failure, even though the pole remained undiscovered,
-for Franklin had gained the experience which later enabled
-him to accomplish valuable geographical work in the
-Arctic regions.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">III. FRANKLIN’S FIRST LAND JOURNEY<br />
-<small>1819–1821</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The next year the British government again decided
-to send two ships northward. One of these ships was
-put in command of Lieutenant Parry and was ordered to
-Lancaster sound. From this place Parry was told to
-sail westward and seek the northwest passage. He did
-not find the northwest passage, but he succeeded in sailing
-inside of the Arctic circle farther west than any one had
-gone before. For this achievement he received a prize of
-£5000 from the government and on his return to England
-was highly honored.</p>
-
-<p>The other expedition was put in command of Sir John
-Franklin, who, together with four companions, was to
-proceed to Hudson bay on one of the ships belonging to
-the Hudson Bay Company. From Hudson bay, Franklin
-was to make a land journey by means of sledges and
-canoes across the northern part of North America, to the
-mouth of the Coppermine river. From this point, he
-was to turn and follow the coast of North America east.
-The latitude and longitude of various places were to be
-noted, maps to be drawn, and capes, bays, and rivers
-located and surveyed.</p>
-
-<p>At this time that part of North America which borders
-on the Arctic ocean had never been explored. Only two
-white men, employees of the Hudson Bay Company, had
-ever looked upon this ocean from the continent of North<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span>
-America. The first, Samuel Hearne, traveled northward
-with the Indians in 1770, and reached the mouth of a large
-river which was named the Coppermine, because the Indians
-said that large mines of copper were to be found along its
-banks.</p>
-
-<p>The second explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, in 1789
-traced to its mouth the river which now bears his name.
-With the exception of these two river mouths, the entire
-northern coast of North America was unknown. The map
-which is to-day covered with names of places, was then a
-blank.</p>
-
-<p>This was the region which Franklin was to explore.
-Many men would dread such a journey, but Franklin liked
-it because of the very dangers involved. Dr. John
-Richardson, midshipmen Robert Hood and George Back,
-and a seaman, John Hepburn, were selected to go with
-Franklin on this trip; they were well chosen, for they were
-worthy companions of the young leader. On May 23, 1819,
-he and his men sailed on the <i>Prince of Wales</i> for the Arctic
-land. The voyage was long and stormy; several times it
-seemed likely that the <i>Prince of Wales</i> would never touch
-land again, but at the end of three months she anchored
-off York Factory, on the southern shore of Hudson bay,
-one of the posts built by the Hudson Bay Company for
-the purpose of trading in furs with the Indians.</p>
-
-<p>The people at York Factory received Franklin and his
-companions kindly and helped them all they could. They
-gave Franklin a boat for his journey through the lakes
-and rivers on his way to the sea. The same sort of boat
-is still in use in that region and is called a York boat.
-It is forty feet in length, narrow, light, and sharp at both
-ends. About ten men can manage it. When on lakes or
-traveling down streams the men use oars, but when traveling<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span>
-against the current of a river they run alongshore and
-drag the boat after them. This long and narrow boat is
-well suited for shooting rapids, through which it is guided
-by means of long poles. Sometimes the rapids are so swift
-that they cannot be navigated, and falls are often encountered.
-Then the cargoes are taken out of the boats and
-carried around the rapids or falls, and afterward the boats
-also are carried around. Such a place is called a portage.</p>
-
-<p>The officers of the Hudson Bay Company, besides giving
-Franklin a boat, sent word to other trading posts
-throughout the country, to look out for him and to help
-him. The party, having secured boats and stores, started
-from York Factory to continue their journey. After traveling
-seven hundred miles, they reached another post called
-Cumberland House, where Franklin expected to find guides
-and hunters, but every one refused to undertake a journey
-so full of peril.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_017">
-  <img src="images/i_017.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Post of the Hudson Bay Company.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Franklin, though disappointed, was not discouraged.
-He left two men at Cumberland House to wait for supplies
-and to bring them on. Then, with Back and Hepburn,
-he started out with dog sledges for another trading
-post on Lake Athabasca. This journey was begun on
-January 18, 1820, in the middle of an Arctic winter of
-prolonged darkness. The suffering of these three explorers
-cannot be described. The temperature fell as low
-as 38° below zero, blizzards were common, and the party
-nearly perished. On some days the mercury froze in the
-thermometers, and the tea froze in the tin pots before it
-could be drunk.</p>
-
-<p>At Lake Athabasca Franklin was joined by the men he
-had left at Cumberland House. They had secured some
-provisions, and now the entire party proceeded down the
-Slave river to Great Slave lake. They reached Fort<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span>
-Providence, on the northern end of the lake, during
-the latter part of July, and in a few days the little company
-departed in four canoes, steering northward into a
-country which had never before been visited by white men.</p>
-
-<p>Soon Franklin met seventeen canoes filled with Indians,
-who had promised to go part of the way with him and
-hunt game for his party. They all proceeded together
-through a chain of lakes to Winter lake, where they decided
-to pass the winter. Here they built a house which
-they called Fort Enterprise, and from this place they made
-short trips to explore the country northward. One of the
-exploring parties reached the source of the Coppermine river.</p>
-
-<p>At first game was plentiful at Fort Enterprise, but as
-winter advanced the reindeer left the place, provisions
-became scarce, and ammunition was very low. Back offered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span>
-to return to Lake Athabasca for supplies, and Franklin
-allowed him to go. He left the party in November, and
-they did not see him again until March. He had made a
-journey of eleven hundred miles on snowshoes, sleeping
-in the shelter of drifts, wrapped in a blanket and a deerskin,
-and had sometimes been forced to go without food for two
-or three days. But he had saved the party.</p>
-
-<p>When spring came, Franklin and his company started
-northward again with two large canoes and several sledges.
-They must have “made a record” for slow travel, for each
-man had to carry or drag a load of one hundred and eighty
-pounds, probably more than the weight of any one of them.
-At the Coppermine they launched their canoes, and were
-soon shooting dangerous rapids, and carrying their boats
-over the portages. Franklin did not stop to search for copper;
-he had other aims.</p>
-
-<p>On July 18, 1821, the party reached the mouth of the
-Coppermine and camped on the shore of the Arctic ocean.
-It was a cold place for a camp, but the men were so delighted
-to reach this point that they did not complain of
-the temperature.</p>
-
-<p>Franklin here paid a tribute to famous travelers, and
-to some of his old friends, by naming the capes and bays
-after them. This might be called a cold compliment, but
-doubtless the favored ones appreciated it.</p>
-
-<p>The great ocean must have seemed to these men the
-end of their journey, yet it was only the beginning. On
-July 21 the canoes were launched and one of the most
-daring voyages of exploration was begun that has ever
-been attempted. Canoes built for use only on lakes and
-rivers had now to battle with rough waters filled with ice.
-For several weeks Franklin kept on his perilous way eastward,
-discovering new islands, bays, and capes.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p>
-
-<p>As freezing weather had already set in, and the provisions
-showed signs of giving out, Franklin decided to return to
-Fort Enterprise and spend the winter there, hoping to
-continue his work along the coast the next summer.</p>
-
-<p>He named the place where he decided to return Point
-Turnagain. The distance from the Coppermine to Point
-Turnagain is five hundred and fifty miles, and all that
-length of coast was traversed and charted by Franklin’s
-company.</p>
-
-<p>It was decided to go back to Fort Enterprise by way of
-the Hood river, because that route was thought easier
-than the other; it proved to be more difficult. Much of
-the journey had to be made on foot over a stony country.
-The men were loaded down with boats, tents, and blankets,
-and, worst of all, the provisions gave out. All that the
-adventurers could find to eat was a kind of lichen, which
-grew like moss on the rocks. Often the men were wet to
-their waists from having to ford streams and tramp through
-swamps.</p>
-
-<p>After a time they became so weak and footsore that
-they could scarcely walk, and when at last they reached
-Fort Enterprise they found it deserted. The Indians who
-had promised Franklin to remain and stock the place
-with food for him, had abandoned the fort. This was a
-terrible blow. Those of the party who were able to walk,
-started out to search for the Indians, while the rest remained
-in the hut, expecting death every moment. While
-these men sat waiting, they saw a herd of reindeer pass
-close to the hut. Not a man was strong enough to stand
-and shoot, and the deer passed undisturbed. At last some
-Indians arrived. They brought plenty of venison with
-them, and they stayed with the white men and nursed
-them back to health.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span></p>
-
-<p>When the sick men were able to travel, the party started
-again for Hudson bay. They succeeded in reaching
-Moose Deer island, and there, under the care of the Hudson
-bay officials, Franklin and his followers grew well and
-strong.</p>
-
-<p>When they came again to York Factory, Franklin and his
-men had traveled 5550 geographical miles and explored
-thousands of miles of country never before visited by civilized
-men. This journey is one of the most remarkable
-in history. Only men of the highest courage and the
-strongest determination could have accomplished it.</p>
-
-<p>When Franklin reached England his countrymen bestowed
-upon him honors of all sorts. He was promoted
-to the rank of captain, and made Fellow of the Royal
-Geographical Society.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">IV. FRANKLIN’S SECOND LAND JOURNEY<br />
-<small>1825–1827</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>After Franklin had been at home about two years, he
-began to feel restless and to long for action. About this
-time the English government decided to send Parry, for
-the third time, in search of the northwest sea passage.</p>
-
-<p>Franklin advised that another land party be sent at the
-same time to the mouth of the Mackenzie. There, he
-thought, the party should divide, one branch of it to explore
-the coast of North America east to the Coppermine
-river, the other to go westward to Icy cape. Then the entire
-northern coast of North America would have been covered,
-and the land party might meet and assist Parry. The government
-decided to adopt Franklin’s plan, and when he
-begged to be allowed to command this expedition, granted
-his request, and more than this, permitted him to make
-all arrangements for the expedition. He first ordered
-three boats to be built which should be suitable for travel
-on both rivers and lakes, as well as on the Arctic ocean.
-They must combine light weight with great strength.
-In 1824 Franklin sent these boats, filled with stores and
-provisions, to Great Bear lake in charge of the Hudson
-Bay Company; and on February 16, 1825, he and his
-officers sailed.</p>
-
-<p>They traveled through the United States and Canada to
-Great Bear lake, where they halted for a few days for
-the purpose of bargaining with the Indians for supplies<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span>
-of food during the winter. Then the party embarked in
-canoes and steered for the Mackenzie river.</p>
-
-<p>As the Mackenzie is broad and smooth and without
-rapids, they quickly reached Fort Norman, the most northern
-Hudson bay post on the river. It was now early in
-August, and only a few weeks were left in which to build
-winter quarters and to lay in a stock of provisions. A
-place on Great Bear lake was chosen for their village, and
-Lieutenant Back was given charge of the work of preparation.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile Franklin pushed on to the mouth of the Mackenzie.
-He wished to examine the coast so that he might
-know just what was needed for travel along that route when
-spring should come. He found it was an easy journey in his
-new boat, and when he came to the sea he saw to his joy
-that it was free from ice and full of seals and whales.
-When he had made himself acquainted with the character
-of the coast around the mouth of the river, he returned to
-the camp on Great Bear lake.</p>
-
-<p>He found that during his absence his companions had
-named the post Fort Franklin in his honor, and very
-comfortable arrangements had been made for the winter.
-Three houses were ready, one for the officers, one for
-the seamen and Indians, and one for supplies. There
-were now fifty persons in the party: five officers, nineteen
-seamen, nine Canadians, two Eskimos, and the rest Indians,
-including men, women, and children. They were a mixed
-company, truly, but they passed the season pleasantly together.
-The officers worked hard collecting important
-facts about the water, ice, animals, mosses, weather,
-and sky. They also took charge of a school, which
-Franklin insisted upon maintaining for the Indians and
-the Eskimos. Attendance at this school was compulsory,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span>
-and you may be sure all the pupils preferred hunting and
-fishing. The seamen turned carpenters and built boats.</p>
-
-<p>No one was sorry when spring came and the journey
-could be continued. On June 24, 1826, the company
-divided into two parties and started down the Mackenzie
-river. At the mouth of the river they separated; one
-party under command of Franklin proceeded to the west,
-the other party under Dr. Richardson, to the east. Each
-had provisions enough to last from eighty to one hundred
-days.</p>
-
-<p>Franklin and his men soon fell in with an Eskimo tribe
-numbering about three hundred. These Eskimos proved
-themselves such thieves that it seemed likely that they
-might presently murder Franklin and his companions and
-take all they had. Lieutenant Back ordered the men in
-his boat to point their muskets at the Eskimos; whereupon
-they ran away and left the white men in peace.</p>
-
-<p>The journey along the coast was made through blocks
-of ice, heavy fogs, and high winds, with a temperature
-often below freezing. Yet this was midsummer!</p>
-
-<p>But the party kept bravely on their way, taking observations
-of the sun, watching the magnetic needle of the compass,
-studying tides, stones, plants, and animals. Among
-the greatest hardships that the men suffered were attacks
-from swarms of mosquitoes; they dreaded these more than
-cold or ice packs.</p>
-
-<p>After three hundred and seventy-four miles of coast had
-been explored, Franklin decided that if he continued the
-journey, he would not have enough provisions. They had
-made half the distance between the mouth of the Mackenzie
-river and Icy cape. To the most western point visited,
-they gave the name Beechey point. On returning to
-Fort Franklin they found that the other party, led by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span>
-Dr. Richardson, had also made a successful journey, having
-explored eight hundred and sixty-three miles of coast line
-between the mouth of the Mackenzie and the mouth of the
-Coppermine, and traveled nineteen hundred and eighty<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
-geographical miles.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p class="noi"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> Franklin’s own book gives 1989 miles. Greely’s Hand Book gives 1709
-miles.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<p>The success of these two explorations put the company
-in good spirits, and the following winter of 1826 was passed
-pleasantly at Fort Franklin. Franklin started for home
-in February, and reached England September 26, 1827,
-after an absence of two years and seven months.</p>
-
-<p>Two months after his arrival he married Jane, daughter
-of John Griffin, Esq. This lady, Franklin’s second wife,
-was a very remarkable woman, of whom we shall hear
-more.</p>
-
-<p>All England was delighted with the results of this
-second land journey. Franklin and Richardson together
-had surveyed 37° of longitude along the Arctic shore of
-North America. The coast from the mouth of the Coppermine
-westward to Beechey point had been proved to be
-open for navigation, while from Beechey point to Icy cape
-it was undoubtedly open.</p>
-
-<p>To complete a northwest passage it was only needful
-to find a gap to the eastward, connecting this pathway
-for ships with the older discoveries on the Atlantic side.
-Over one thousand miles of American coast had been
-explored, maps and charts had been made, and knowledge
-in all branches of science had been increased.</p>
-
-<p>The honor of knighthood was conferred upon Captain
-Franklin, who was afterward to be known as Sir John
-Franklin. Parry’s expedition in search of the northwest
-passage had been unsuccessful.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">V. THE <i>EREBUS</i> AND THE <i>TERROR</i><br />
-<small>1845</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>At this time, 1827, England, under the rule of George IV,
-was occupied with her own troubles. The disputes between
-Catholics and Protestants engaged the attention
-of the English people so that interest in exploration waned.
-After a short rest at home, Sir John Franklin was sent in
-command of her Majesty’s ship, <i>Rainbow</i>, to the Mediterranean
-sea. The Greek war of independence was closing,
-and Franklin distinguished himself by the judgment and
-skill he showed in following out the work intrusted to him.</p>
-
-<p>Upon his return to England, Franklin was offered the
-position of Governor of Tasmania, which he accepted, remaining
-there seven years. When he returned again to
-England in 1842, he found people once more interested in
-the discovery of the northwest passage. It was eighteen
-years since Franklin had returned from the icy North, but
-the northwest passage had not been found. During those
-years several expeditions had been at work in the northern
-part of North America and along the northern coast, thus
-broadening and increasing the geographical knowledge
-of the country first entered by Franklin. But the mystery
-of the northwest passage still stirred men’s imaginations,
-and the Royal Geographical Society decided to send out
-another expedition in search of it. The command of this
-expedition was offered to Sir John Franklin.</p>
-
-<p>Some people thought that Franklin ought not to go<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span>
-again to the northern land. These people told him that
-he had already done enough for his country, having risked
-his life three times, and made more discoveries in that
-region than any other man. They reminded him that he
-was now sixty years of age, and ought to be willing to
-remain at home and let a younger man undertake this
-hard and dangerous journey.</p>
-
-<p>But Franklin rejoiced at the thought of seeing the far
-North again. He declared that he was only fifty-nine years
-of age, and that the discovery of the northwest passage
-was the object nearest his heart. Two ships, called the
-<i>Erebus</i> and the <i>Terror</i>, were given Franklin for this voyage.
-These ships, propelled by steam screws, were the first
-vessels of the kind ever used in the Arctic seas. It was
-thought that the use of the steam screw instead of the
-paddle wheel would prove of great value to navigators in
-seas where ice packs and heavy gales were constantly to be
-feared. Great results, then, were expected from the expedition
-fitted out in this improved manner. Franklin himself
-took command of the <i>Erebus</i>, while Captain Crozier was
-given command of the <i>Terror</i>. Sufficient provisions were
-put aboard the vessels to provide for an absence of three
-years, and nothing was left undone that promised to insure
-the safety and success of the expedition, or to promote the
-health and comfort of the explorers.</p>
-
-<p>The ships sailed from England on May 19, 1845. The
-men were in good spirits and hopeful. They sailed north
-toward Lancaster sound, and on the 26th of July, 1845, a
-whaling vessel, called the <i>Prince of Wales</i>, sighted them in
-Melville bay, stuck fast in the ice. The captain of the
-whaler received a visit from some of the exploring party,
-and was invited to dine with Franklin, but a breeze sprang
-up suddenly, and the ships parted company.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p>
-
-<p>That was the last time the <i>Erebus</i> and the <i>Terror</i>, or
-any of the men aboard those vessels, were ever seen.
-They appeared to have dropped off the face of the earth.</p>
-
-<p>When the <i>Erebus</i> and <i>Terror</i> had been absent two years,
-and no news of them had been heard, many expeditions
-were sent out to hunt for them. Some traces of the ships
-were discovered, and it is believed that the vessels sailed
-northward through Lancaster sound to Beechey island,
-where they wintered (1845–1846). On this island were
-found the graves of two seamen marked with headboards
-showing the date of their death.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_027">
-  <img src="images/i_027.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">In Winter Quarters.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is thought that when spring came, the ships were
-released from the ice and proceeded southward toward
-King William’s Land. While near to King William’s
-Land the vessels were probably again caught in the pack.
-The second winter, with its long, dark night, bitter cold,
-and absence of proper food, must have been a gloomy one
-for these poor men.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span></p>
-
-<p>If they were still alive when spring came, how they must
-have hoped each day for the freeing of the ships! As
-the days passed and spring grew to summer, summer to
-autumn, yet with no prospect of release from the cruel
-pack, the situation became hopeless and intolerable.</p>
-
-<p>All this misery came upon them with greater force
-because success was so near. Franklin knew that a distance
-of but one hundred miles separated him from the
-object of his search. Almost within reach of the goal,
-here he was, locked in!</p>
-
-<p>Though the ice did not break up, yet during the spring
-(May 24, 1847) Franklin sent a party under the command
-of Lieutenant Graham Gore to explore King William’s
-Land. This party reached Cape Herschel, a point on the
-southern coast of King William’s Land, and in the distance
-saw the continent of North America.</p>
-
-<p>A navigable passage was known to exist along the
-northern coast of America from Boothia to Bering strait.
-Franklin himself and Richardson had discovered and surveyed
-the greater part of this extent of country.</p>
-
-<p>Franklin had succeeded in reaching King William’s
-Land by entering the Arctic from the Atlantic. Thus the
-discovery of the northwest passage was reduced to the
-finding of a link which should connect these two known
-waterways. This link was found by Graham Gore, when
-from Cape Herschel he saw the American coast across a
-narrow channel of water. So the credit of the discovery
-of the northwest passage must be given to Franklin. Had
-it not been for the fact that his ships were beset in the ice,
-Franklin would, without doubt, have sailed in 1846 from
-the Atlantic to the Pacific along the northern coast of
-North America.</p>
-
-<p>As it was, Lieutenant Gore’s discovery connected the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span>
-two known passages and established the fact that an open
-waterway existed. Gore wrote a brief record of what his
-party had accomplished and left it on the island, where
-it was found years later by men who were searching for
-Franklin; but neither Franklin nor any of his heroic band
-lived to tell in person the news of the discovery.</p>
-
-<p>When Gore returned to the <i>Erebus</i> he found Sir John
-very ill. He probably came in time to inform Franklin that
-the northwest passage had really been discovered. Let us
-hope so. Franklin passed peacefully away June 11, 1847.
-He had lived a good life and left a glorious name behind
-him.</p>
-
-<p>Captain Crozier of the <i>Terror</i> now took command of the
-expedition. The prospect of a third winter in the ice made
-the bravest of the men shrink, but it was too late in the
-season for them to leave the ships. To do so would have
-been certain death. It is best not to try to picture the
-misery of the third winter.</p>
-
-<p>In the spring of 1848 there were one hundred and five
-men still living. These half-starved creatures decided to
-leave the ships and travel by sledges to the North American
-coast, where they hoped to meet some Indians who
-would give them food and guide them to the Hudson Bay
-settlements. Their dreadful march has been traced along
-the western coast of King William’s Land, and perhaps a
-few of the party reached the southern end of that island.</p>
-
-<p>A number of Eskimos saw and camped with some of
-them, but would not remain, fearing that there was not
-sufficient food for all. There is no doubt that food gave
-out entirely, and that the men died of starvation. Many
-years later an old Eskimo woman reported having seen
-a party of white men traveling to the south. She said,
-“They fell down and died as they walked along.” It is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span>
-inspiring to think of the heroism of these brave men who
-discovered the northwest passage. Their patience, perseverance,
-and devotion to their work deserve our highest
-admiration.</p>
-
-<p>In 1847, when, after two years of waiting, no news of
-the <i>Erebus</i> or the <i>Terror</i> came to England, great anxiety
-was aroused and many searching expeditions were sent
-out. Lady Franklin offered a reward of £2000 to any
-one who would bring her news of her husband or his companions.
-Her courage and her determined efforts to trace
-the lost vessels aroused the sympathy of the world. Lady
-Franklin spent her entire private means in the search,
-and it is largely owing to her efforts that we have any
-knowledge at all of her husband’s accomplishment and of
-his final fate.</p>
-
-<p>The English government also offered a large reward to
-any one who would find the lost ships or crews. In the
-autumn of 1850 there were fifteen vessels in the Arctic
-ocean, hunting for Franklin and his ships. America joined
-England in the search, and as a result the Arctic regions
-became far better known than ever before.</p>
-
-<p>Several of these expeditions discovered traces of Franklin.
-McClintock found the most important records. He
-erected on Beechey island a marble slab which was sent
-out by Lady Franklin in memory of her husband and his
-brave companions.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_031">
-  <img src="images/i_031.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Relics of the Franklin Expedition.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>If you should go to London, you would find in Waterloo
-Place another monument erected to the memory of Franklin.
-There is still another at his home in Spilsby. Lady
-Franklin also erected a monument to her husband in
-Westminster Abbey.</p>
-
-<p>Although Sir John Franklin deserves the credit of the
-discovery of the northwest passage, the first man who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span>
-passed through this passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic
-was Sir Robert McClure, who made the voyage in
-1854. McClure was sent to search for Franklin, and
-entered the Arctic ocean through Bering strait. Being
-obliged to abandon his ship, he, together with his crew,
-crossed the ice of Barrow strait by sledge, where a relief
-party met them. This was the first and only expedition
-that ever made the northwest passage, which, for purposes
-of trade, is useless.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">VI. ELISHA KENT KANE<br />
-<small>1853</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>One of the most famous efforts to find Sir John Franklin
-was made by an American, Mr. Henry Grinnell, of New York
-City. From his own private
-means he furnished ships
-and most of their equipment
-for two separate expeditions.
-The first Grinnell expedition,
-under the command of
-Lieutenant De Haven, was
-sent out in 1850. It reached
-Beechey island on August
-27 of the same year, and
-assisted in the examination
-of Franklin’s winter quarters
-there, but returned without
-wintering.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" id="i_032">
-  <img src="images/i_032.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Elisha Kent Kane.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The second Grinnell expedition went out three years
-later. This was commanded by a man who became almost
-as famous as Sir John Franklin himself, Elisha Kent Kane.
-Kane had been with De Haven in 1850, and thoroughly
-understood the work of Arctic exploration. He liked the
-wild, exciting life, and he had an ardent desire to find the
-brave men who had been lost, and to bring them home
-with him.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span></p>
-
-<p>Kane’s plan was to pass up Baffin bay as far north as
-it was possible to drive the ship. From that point he
-intended to proceed by boats or sledges toward the pole,
-examining the coast lines along the way for traces of the
-lost party.</p>
-
-<p>The strongly built bark <i>Advance</i> was selected for this
-journey, and Kane set sail from New York with seventeen
-companions, in May, 1853. After a month the <i>Advance</i>
-reached Fiskernaes, a town on the Greenland coast, inhabited
-chiefly by Eskimos. To these people a ship was
-a very unusual sight, and they swarmed upon the rocks to
-gaze at the strange newcomers. The Danish official who
-had charge of the colony welcomed Kane and his companions
-hospitably.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_033">
-  <img src="images/i_033.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Fiskernaes, Greenland.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Kane had brought all the dried and salted provisions he
-could carry, but he knew that his men would need fresh
-meat in order to keep well in this climate. Besides, they
-had with them about fifty dogs for the sledge journeys
-which Kane expected to make when the vessel could no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span>
-longer push her way through the ice. But Eskimo dogs
-have large appetites and need plenty of fresh meat to
-keep them strong; a good Eskimo hunter was needed to
-supply such food.</p>
-
-<p>There was a boy about nineteen years of age in the
-town, named Hans Christian, who was known to be very
-skillful in the use of the kayak and the javelin. Kane
-called upon Hans to try his skill. Hans threw his javelin
-and speared a bird on the wing. Kane said, “That is the
-man for me,” and wished to engage him on the spot. But
-Hans said, “No, not until you promise to give my mother
-two barrels of bread and fifty-two pounds of pork.” Kane
-agreed, and then Hans went cheerfully on board the
-<i>Advance</i>, certain that his mother would not suffer during
-his absence.</p>
-
-<p>Kane made one more landing on the Greenland coast,
-at Sukkertoppen. The natives of this place collected
-reindeer skins, and had just sent four thousand to Denmark.
-Kane bought a stock of skins for clothing, also a
-large supply of sealskins for boots. The party then bade
-farewell to the governor of the colony and put out to sea.</p>
-
-<p>The ship sailed northward for several days. Every day
-the weather became colder and the ice thicker. One day
-a heavy gale arose, and the ship tossed about so among the
-icebergs and the floating cakes that her escape from being
-crushed was marvelous. Captain Kane, who was a very
-ingenious man, devised a method of avoiding this danger
-from ice crushing. His plan was to attach the vessel to
-an iceberg and let her float after it, for there is always
-open water around a berg. The plan sounded very simple,
-but Kane had not reckoned on the nature of icebergs.
-After eight hours of hard work the anchors were fastened,
-but before the men had time to breathe freely, a few<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span>
-crackling sounds were heard and pieces of ice the size of
-walnuts fell on the deck like hail. The sailors had just
-time to cast off from the berg when it fell, with a crash,
-into the water around them.</p>
-
-<p>Not long after this the <i>Advance</i> became so firmly fastened
-in the ice that they could not push her in any
-direction. The party then left the brig and explored the
-country around, traveling forty miles, and at last climbing
-to the top of an iceberg, a height of eleven hundred feet
-above the sea. On every side, as far as the eye could
-reach from this great elevation, spread out a solid sea
-of ice.</p>
-
-<p>It was now September, and the temperature fell below
-freezing. It seemed certain that the <i>Advance</i> could not be
-freed from the ice until the next summer, and the explorers
-accordingly prepared to pass the winter there.
-They succeeded in dragging the vessel and wedging it in
-between two islands. In this harbor, known as Rensselaer
-bay, the stanch little <i>Advance</i> was frozen solidly in, never
-to be released.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">VII. WINTER IN RENSSELAER HARBOR<br />
-<small>1853–1854</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The Arctic winter had set in. By the middle of September
-the thermometer had fallen to 14° and the ice was
-thickening fast. The long Arctic night was upon the
-explorers. During that first winter in Rensselaer harbor,
-the sun was below the horizon one hundred and twenty
-days, and ninety of these days were totally dark; for the
-remaining thirty days a faint light like our twilight glimmered
-during a part of every twenty-four hours.</p>
-
-<p>During the time of darkness little exploring can be
-done. Explorers are obliged to stay on or near their ship
-and amuse themselves as best they may until the sun
-shines again.</p>
-
-<p>Can you fancy a night which lasts as long as ninety of
-our days? Think of not seeing the sun for more than
-three months! These men on the <i>Advance</i> suffered from
-a cold such as we know nothing about, and were often
-hungry too. Many of them became ill.</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Kane did everything in his power to buoy up their
-spirits. He was wise enough to know that, if his men had
-nothing to do, they would become homesick and despairing;
-so he planned work for all. Some made clothing and boots
-of the furs and skins they had collected; others made
-sledges and rope out of hides, or patched up corners of
-the brig with moss to prevent the cold from entering.</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Kane himself trained the dogs for the sledge journeys.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span>
-He had ten beautiful Newfoundland dogs which he
-harnessed to a low, light sled called the “Little Willie.”
-In a short time these gentle, strong, intelligent animals
-carried Kane on journeys around the ship with ease. He
-drove them two abreast, in teams of four or six, guiding
-them entirely by his voice.</p>
-
-<p>With the Eskimo dogs, Kane was obliged to use other
-means. Eskimo dogs are not easily managed. They are
-near relatives of the wolf, and share the wolf’s nature.
-They are driven in teams of ten or twelve, and must be
-guided mainly by the whip. Dr. Kane had to use a whip
-with a lash six yards long, and a handle only sixteen inches
-in length. It required a sort of “sleight of hand” movement
-to swing this long lash and hit the right dog with
-it. Dr. Kane found this driving very lively exercise.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_037">
-  <img src="images/i_037.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">An Eskimo Dog Team.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Sometimes Kane wanted to travel with a heavier load
-than the dogs could draw. For this purpose he used a
-larger sledge, thirteen feet long and four feet wide, upon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span>
-which he could carry fourteen hundred pounds of baggage.
-This sledge was called the “Faith,” and nine men were
-often harnessed to it. Each man wore a shoulder belt or,
-as it was called, a “rue-raddy.” A walrus-skin trace attached
-this rue-raddy to the sledge.</p>
-
-<p>In this way heavy loads of provisions were drawn over
-the ice. Kane stored these supplies along the route that
-he intended to take as soon as the sun should shine again.
-By thus sending provisions ahead and burying them, Kane
-hoped to be able to make the journey without fear of starving;
-for his whole party could never have carried enough
-at once to last during the time he expected to be gone.</p>
-
-<p>On long expeditions where the men were obliged to remain
-away from the ship all night, each man carried his
-bed with him. An Arctic bed is a bag made of fur, into
-which one crawls, covering up all save one’s nose.</p>
-
-<p>On one occasion some of the men delayed in returning
-from their trip, and it was feared that they were lost.
-After waiting twenty days for them to return, Kane harnessed
-four of his best Newfoundland dogs to the “Little
-Willie” and started out to search for his missing companions.
-He took but one man with him. The ice was full
-of cracks and very dangerous. The dogs galloped swiftly
-along; whenever they came to a fissure, over it they leaped
-and over flew the sledge also, simply by reason of its rapid
-movement. At length the party came to a fissure so wide
-that the dogs could not leap across it. They were going
-too fast to stop or turn aside, and dogs and sledge were
-thrown into the water. The two men, who had been running
-beside the sledge, quickly cut the harness from the
-dogs. The faithful animals, freed from the traces, sprang
-to the ice, and with their intelligent help the sledge was
-dragged out.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span></p>
-
-<p>Kane and his companion were wet to the skin with icy
-cold water, and the temperature was below zero. What
-could prevent men and dogs from freezing? But not a
-moment was wasted in thinking about what might happen.
-They all started on a run for solid ice, and they ran so fast
-that by the time a safe place was reached, they were quite
-warm. Several days later they came upon the friends they
-were seeking. The return to the ship was made more
-easily, although, while leaping a fissure, one unlucky man
-was thrown into the water. The rest pulled him out, none
-the worse for his cold bath.</p>
-
-<p>The men on the <i>Advance</i> were delighted to see Kane
-and their lost comrades again. They rejoiced because
-every one was safe. They had also another reason for happiness,
-for the dreary night was passing away, the twilight
-was growing longer and brighter, and day—a day as long
-as the night—was coming. Soon after this Dr. Kane
-climbed to the top of a high hill to see the sun. It was
-a hard climb, but who would not have taken it for a first
-sight of the sun, after a night so long?</p>
-
-<p>Each day the sun came and stayed longer, and with the
-sun came warmer weather. At last the sun rose so high
-in the heavens that it could not sink below the horizon
-at all. Then it shone, not only all day, but also all night.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">VIII. THE ESKIMOS<br />
-<small>1854</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>One morning in the spring, the deck watch ran into Dr.
-Kane’s cabin, crying, “People hallooing ashore!” Dr.
-Kane hurried to the deck, and through the gloom saw
-strange figures all around the harbor. Though it was
-April, the sun had not yet risen high in the sky, and
-in the twilight these odd figures seemed to be waving
-weapons.</p>
-
-<p>Kane soon found that these people were the native
-Eskimos, and that they were tossing their arms wildly
-about, as if in great excitement. It is no wonder that they
-were excited, for they had never seen a white man before;
-yet they showed no fear, and one of them came close to
-Kane.</p>
-
-<p>This Eskimo was named Metek. He stood a head taller
-than Dr. Kane, and was well built and strong, with a dark
-skin and black, piercing eyes.</p>
-
-<p>Metek wore booted trousers of white bearskin. At the
-toe the boot ended with the claw of the animal. His coat,
-or jumper, was of white and blue fox fur, and a hood of
-the same fur was on his head. Around his neck was tied
-a dirty, greasy strip of deerskin. At first the white men
-thought this an ornament, Metek was so careful of it.
-Later, Dr. Kane found that it was tied closely around
-his neck to keep out the air.</p>
-
-<p>When an Eskimo is fully dressed in his furs, and his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span>
-deerskin is tied closely around the neck so that no air can
-enter, he is, as it were, in a bag of fur. The heat from
-his body keeps him warm. As long as he is incased in
-air-tight clothing, he is safe from the most severe weather.</p>
-
-<p>All of the Eskimo party were invited to come aboard
-the <i>Advance</i>. They were large, strong men, and many
-of them could hunt the white bear and the walrus single-handed.</p>
-
-<p>The Eskimos had with them fifty-six fine dogs, tied by
-deerskin traces to their sledges, which were made of bone
-and lashed together by leather strips. The runners were
-of polished ivory, from the tusks of the walrus, and glistened
-like steel. The Eskimos’ weapons were knives, which they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span>
-carried in their boots, and lances, which were lashed on their
-sledges. They had no wood for the handles of these weapons,
-because no trees grow in this cold country. All of the
-handles were made of bone. You would have thought
-these natives very rude indeed, could you have seen how
-they behaved on Dr. Kane’s ship. They opened all the
-doors and rummaged around in the dark corners. They
-opened boxes, handling everything they saw, and putting
-all they could inside their jumpers and boots. In fact,
-they stole so much that Dr. Kane and his companions had
-to follow them continually and take the things out of their
-hands.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_041">
-  <img src="images/i_041.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Eskimos and their Dogs.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>At last the Eskimos became tired, and when the white
-men spread a buffalo skin on the floor near the fire, they
-threw themselves upon it. For supper each man had a large
-piece of raw walrus meat, from which he ate until he was
-tired. Then he went to sleep with the raw meat lying
-beside him. When he awoke he would seize his meat,
-eat more of it, then drop off to sleep again. Many slept
-in a sitting position, with their heads falling forward low
-on their breasts.</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Kane made a treaty with these people. He bought
-all the walrus meat they had, giving them needles, beads,
-and old cask staves for it. They promised to bring Kane
-more food very soon, and also to lend him their dogs for
-his journey to the north. Then Metek said they must
-go, and it did not take them long to get ready. They
-harnessed the dogs to the sledges quickly, jumped on,
-cracked their long sealskin whips, and off they went,
-dashing over the ice at a speed of twenty miles an hour.</p>
-
-<p>Some time later Metek again visited Rensselaer Harbor.
-This time Dr. Kane decided to go with him to his hut,
-and bring back a load of walrus meat. Kane and Metek<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span>
-traveled eight miles by sledge, with Metek’s excellent team
-of twelve wild Eskimo dogs. They rode very swiftly over
-the ice and snow, until at last Kane saw what looked like
-two dark spots on the pure white surface. These spots
-were the entrances to two Eskimo huts.</p>
-
-<p>The Eskimo huts are built of large stones and are
-heavily sodded with turf or moss. They are shaped like
-half of an egg, and the entrance is a tunnel, through which
-the dwellers creep on their hands and knees. The door is
-a slab of slate or ice. At this time the huts were buried
-under the snow.</p>
-
-<p>The natives rushed out to meet the travelers. They
-seemed delighted to see Kane, but the cold soon drove
-them inside again. Kane and Metek followed, crawling<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span>
-through a tunnel twelve feet in length, which led them
-into the hut of one room about six by fifteen feet. It was
-crowded with persons and served for all purposes. The
-women were cooking large pieces of walrus meat over
-small lamps, and men and children were lying about
-half-clothed, calling to one another with uncouth sounds.
-Others lay stretched upon the floor sleeping.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_043">
-  <img src="images/i_043.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Interior of an Eskimo Hut.</span></p>
-    <p class="noic"><small>From a drawing by Dr. Kane.</small></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The thermometer outside registered 30° below zero.
-Inside the hut the temperature stood at 90°, nor was
-there any place for fresh air to enter. Poor Dr. Kane
-was obliged to take off all his fur clothes like the rest.
-Being very tired, he soon fell asleep, with an Eskimo boy
-for a pillow, and a little Eskimo baby under his arm.</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Kane slept well. When he awoke he was offered
-some breakfast of boiled blubber. But, unluckily, he had
-seen the women cooking this, and they were so careless
-and dirty that he could not touch it. Instead he ate some
-pieces of frozen liver which he had brought with him.
-After breakfast he started on a walrus hunt.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">IX. HUNTING IN THE ICY NORTH</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The walrus has been called “the lion of the seas.” He
-is a huge animal, often eighteen feet in length. His head
-is square, and his cheeks and lips are covered with quills
-like bristles. From his face also extend the tusks, which
-on the larger animals are often thirty inches in length,
-and are prized as ivory. Altogether the walrus is a fierce-looking
-creature, with a tough hide and an ugly temper.</p>
-
-<p>Like the seal, the walrus has to come to the surface of
-the water to breathe. So Dr. Kane and his Eskimo friends
-tried to find open water, or, at least, a place where the ice
-was thin. The walrus has a habit of bellowing as he lies
-on the ice, so that hunters are guided by this strange and
-terrible sound. Every few minutes the hunters took off
-their fur hoods to listen.</p>
-
-<p>At last a large walrus rose through the ice, breaking it
-with a loud crash. Just as the animal rose out of the
-water, Dr. Kane and the Eskimos fell at full length, flat
-on the ice. As soon as the head of the walrus sank below
-the water again, the hunters jumped up and ran toward
-the hole, where they knew it would soon reappear. Every
-time the head of the animal was seen coming to the surface,
-the hunters would fall to the ice or hide themselves behind
-hummocks. In this way—now running, now hiding—they
-at last came near enough to the walrus to throw their
-harpoon into its body. Tied to the harpoon was a long<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span>
-rope of walrus hide, which uncoiled rapidly as an Eskimo
-ran away to solid ice with one end in his hand. When at
-a safe distance, he drove a spike of bone into the ice and
-fastened the end of the rope to it.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_046">
-  <img src="images/i_046.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Walrus Hunt.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Meanwhile, the powerful walrus had been struggling in
-the water, breaking up the ice around with a frightful noise.
-The Eskimos tightened the rope whenever they could, and
-again the walrus rose and threw his powerful body against
-the ice, breaking it away; now they had to work fast.
-First one, and then another, would seize the spike and run
-with it and the rope to a safe place. In this way they
-tired the animal out, and were able to give him a second
-wound.</p>
-
-<p>During this battle the walrus roared hideously, using
-his tusks fiercely. He rushed toward the men and tore
-away great pieces of ice with his tusks, but though he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span>
-received many lance wounds, he never once showed fear
-or made any attempt to run away.</p>
-
-<p>When the great beast was dead, the Eskimos drew it
-up on the ice, the flesh was divided, and Dr. Kane packed
-his share upon his sledge. Then with his own four dogs
-he set out to return to the brig. He himself ran most
-of the way home, because the dogs had difficulty in drawing
-the heavy load. The crew were glad to see Kane
-once more, and glad, too, for what he had brought.
-During the winter fresh meat had been so scarce that
-many of the men became sick with the terrible disease
-which salt meat produces.</p>
-
-<p>Toward spring Dr. Kane and Hans went hunting for
-seals. The seal comes up under the ice where it is
-thinnest, and scratches a hole through it with his sharp
-claws. Then he hollows out the snow above and makes
-an opening just large enough to allow the air to pass
-through; this is his breathing hole. It is so small that
-often one cannot see it, but the seal makes a blowing noise
-in breathing, and the hunters have learned to listen for
-this sound.</p>
-
-<p>Kane and Hans often sat many hours on a block of ice
-beside a hole, waiting for a seal. When the seal appeared,
-one of them quickly thrust a spear into him and usually
-killed him. Then Hans would fasten a thong of walrus
-hide about the neck of the seal and drag him away, across
-the ice, to the ship. The meat of the seal is delicious, and
-great was the rejoicing among the men when a hunting
-expedition was successful.</p>
-
-<p>When the sun begins to shine, the Eskimos hunt in
-a different way. They know that the seals like to
-creep out of the water and lie on the ice in the sunshine.
-The hunters take with them a sledge with a white screen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span>
-fastened across it, which they push along in front of them,
-the screen hiding their bodies from view. A hole in the
-middle of the screen gives them a chance to see ahead, and
-provides an opening through which they can point a rifle.
-When the hunter sees in the distance the bodies of seals
-lying on the edge of the ice, he pushes his sledge toward
-them. So quietly and so steadily does he move, that
-the seals do not become alarmed. They lie still, watching
-the strange object, until the hunter is near enough to
-shoot.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_048">
-  <img src="images/i_048.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Herd of Seals.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>When the summer comes it is still easier to hunt seals,
-for their eyes are blinded by the bright sun shining on the
-snow and ice, and the hunters can often walk within gunshot
-of them without using the screen.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span></p>
-
-<p>Kane’s party had plenty of fresh seal meat to eat in the
-summer time. From the fat of each animal they obtained
-about five gallons of oil, which they used in their lamps.
-The fur made warm coats and trousers, while the hides were
-used for covering the boats and for whiplashes. Dr. Kane
-learned not to waste any part of the seal’s body; even the
-bones could be used for hooks and for the handles of tools.</p>
-
-<p>There is another animal in the cold regions which
-hunters are eager to slay. This is the large, fierce polar
-bear. He has a flat head, a long neck, and smooth, white
-fur. He is always found near the sea, where he pursues
-seals both in the water and on ice, and preys upon fishes
-and birds.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_049">
-  <img src="images/i_049.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Polar Bears.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Kane had many a chase over the ice after the bears.
-When a bear track is seen on the ice or snow, the dogs are
-immediately set upon the trail. The hunters follow the
-dogs quickly and silently. When they come within sight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span>
-of the bear, the hunter releases the dogs from their harness,
-so that they may surround the bear and cut off his
-retreat. The dogs are carefully trained not to fight the
-bear, but to annoy him. They run around him in circles
-and prevent him from making his escape. The bear,
-when brought to bay, rises on his haunches, seizes the
-nearest dog in his teeth and tosses him to one side. The
-dogs instinctively relax their muscles in falling, and are
-seldom hurt; they usually rise immediately and return to
-the conflict. In this way the bear is detained until the
-hunters arrive.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes two hunters engage one animal, striking at
-him with their lances. Two men can easily kill a bear.
-As one man pretends to thrust his lance into the right side,
-the animal turns, and tries to protect himself with his fore
-paws. Then the other hunter gives him his death wound
-in the left side.</p>
-
-<p>A man must have a great deal of skill and courage
-to be able to kill a polar bear single-handed. The single
-hunter provokes the bear to follow him by running as if
-trying to escape. The bear comes down on all four feet
-and prepares to pursue the man. With a rapid jump to
-the right, the hunter runs back to his first position. The
-bear turns in the same way to follow, when the hunter
-skillfully plunges his lance into the left side just below the
-shoulder. Even then the most expert hunter sometimes
-has to leave his spear in the animal’s side and run for his
-life, though a wound given in that spot is usually fatal.
-The Eskimos hold in highest esteem the hunter who can
-kill a bear single-handed.</p>
-
-<p>The flesh of the bear is used for food, and the fur for
-clothing. Dr. Kane killed so many of these animals that
-he actually tired of the sport.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">X. HOME AGAIN<br />
-<small>1855</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Dr. Kane and his companions passed two winters in
-the ice regions, living in a place farther north than any
-explorers had ever lived in before. Few Arctic explorers
-at that time had passed two winter seasons in the ice.</p>
-
-<p>During the cold months the average temperature at
-Rensselaer harbor stood at -29°, during the summer
-months at 33°. When you consider that the summer was
-colder than the average winter in the vicinity of New York
-City, you will understand in part what were the severities of
-the climate that these men endured. The first winter, with
-the long, dark night, was dismal and gloomy, and there
-was a great deal of sickness and suffering among the men.
-When summer came, Kane hoped that his ship might be
-released from the ice. He waited a long time, but the ice
-did not thaw, and again winter came upon them suddenly.
-It was then too late for the men to escape to the south;
-so a second winter was passed on board the <i>Advance</i>. It
-was a sad time: many of the men died and many suffered
-terribly from disease and want of food.</p>
-
-<p>When the spring of 1855 came, Kane again hoped that
-the ice around the brig would thaw and leave her free, for
-he was a good commander and could not bear to desert
-his ship. At last it became certain that the ice would not
-break away, and that the <i>Advance</i> could not be released
-that spring.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span></p>
-
-<p>Then Kane decided to leave the ship and try to reach
-some settlement on the Greenland coast. The men promised
-to follow him and to obey him in all things. They
-knew the danger of the journey, but they also knew that
-a third winter on the <i>Advance</i> would probably cost them
-their lives. At this time the company had provisions
-enough to last them thirty-six days. These provisions
-were packed in small boats, ready to be dragged over the
-ice to open water. All the baggage and the articles
-necessary for use in cooking, eating, and sleeping, were
-at last ready to be placed on the sledges. Four of the
-men were so ill that they also had to be carried.</p>
-
-<p>Each man in the party wore a woolen underdress and
-an Eskimo suit of fur. The men’s boots were of their
-own make, fashioned of canvas and lined with walrus hide.
-Inside of these boots each man wore another pair, made
-of carpeting which had been taken from the cabin of the
-<i>Advance</i>. To save themselves from becoming snow-blind,
-they wore large goggles, made by cutting a small slit in a
-piece of wood. Some had entire masks made of gutta
-percha.</p>
-
-<p>It was May when Kane and his companions bade farewell
-to the brig and set out to cover the thirteen hundred
-miles of ice and water which lay between them and the
-place where they hoped to find a settlement. Yet they
-did not despair. The men who were able to work, dragged
-sledges and boats as far as the spot selected for a camp.
-Here they built a hut or erected a tent for the sick, making
-them as comfortable as they could. Then the workers
-went back over the same route and brought along the
-baggage, which had been left behind because they could
-not carry it all at one time. Thus they were obliged to
-travel back over each day’s march, and each following day<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span>
-to bring ahead the baggage that could not be carried the
-first time.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_053">
-  <img src="images/i_053.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Traveling over the Ice Hummocks.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It was slow progress, but they kept on bravely. Often
-they were delayed by heavy snowstorms. As they could
-not drag the sledges through the deep drifts, they crept
-into their tents and slept, waiting for the storm to pass
-away. When it became possible for them to travel again,
-they started out, plowing their way through the snow,
-often so tired that they could hardly lift their feet. Sometimes
-they journeyed over thin ice, and many a man fell
-through and just escaped drowning.</p>
-
-<p>It was near the middle of June when the party reached
-the shores of Baffin bay and began to launch the boats.
-The launching took a long time, for the surf beat high
-along the shore, and great masses of drifting ice were
-dashed about.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span></p>
-
-<p>A severe gale arose, and the boats were nearly crushed
-in the ice, but a day later they succeeded in putting off
-from the shore. The <i>Faith</i> led the way, with Captain
-Kane aboard. Then followed the <i>Red Eric</i>, with most of
-the provisions, and last of all, the <i>Hope</i>. These three
-small boats were now embarked on a sea in which the
-hardiest whaling vessel might easily founder.</p>
-
-<p>The party were all hopeful until provisions were exhausted;
-then the stoutest hearts failed. Even Kane despaired
-of ever reaching a settlement, but he was too brave
-a leader to allow his men to know this, and he encouraged
-them in every way possible. The men grew so weak from
-want of food that they were scarcely able to guide the boats.</p>
-
-<p>The ice had knocked holes in each of the boats, and
-they had to be constantly baled to keep them from sinking.
-When everything looked darkest, one of the party
-saw a large seal floating on a piece of ice a short distance
-away. The half-starved men became so excited that they
-could hardly handle the oars. Every preparation was
-made to steal quietly toward the animal, which seemed to
-be asleep. Stockings were placed over the oars to deaden
-the sound, and a man named Peterson, who was thought
-to be the best shot of the party, was stationed in the bow
-with the rifle.</p>
-
-<p>Silently the oarsmen guided the boat toward the piece
-of ice where the seal was lying. When they were almost
-within rifle shot, the seal lifted its head and saw the boat.
-The men were filled with despair as they saw the animal
-move toward the sea as if to plunge in. They all looked
-anxiously at Peterson, for their lives depended upon him.
-Poor Peterson was trembling with nervousness and weakness.
-His hands shook, but with a great effort he steadied
-himself and fired. Instantly the seal fell over on its side.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p>
-
-<p>With shouts of delight the men pushed the boat to the
-ice, climbed upon it, and seized the animal. They were
-half mad with joy, and ran over the ice, crying and laughing,
-and waving their knives. Soon every man was eating
-raw blubber and licking his bloody fingers with relish. It
-was a savage meal, but starved men may be pardoned for
-being fierce.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_055">
-  <img src="images/i_055.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Dragging the Boats over the Ice Floes.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Other seals were shot, and soon land was sighted.
-Kane directed the course of the boats southward along the
-coast, and a few nights later the men landed on the rocks
-for rest and sleep.</p>
-
-<p>One morning Peterson, in great excitement, awoke Kane
-and told him that he had just seen a native in a kayak,
-searching among the rocks along the coast for eider down.
-Peterson knew him, and called to him: “Don’t you know
-me? I am Carl Peterson.” “No,” the Eskimo answered;
-“Peterson’s wife says he is dead.” Then he paddled away
-very fast as if in fear.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span></p>
-
-<p>A few days later Kane and his companions were rowing
-along in their boats, when the mast of a vessel loomed in
-the distance before them. Peterson burst into sobs in his
-excitement, and in broken English and Danish exclaimed,
-“It’s the Upernavik oil boat!” Indeed, it was the vessel
-that goes once a year to Upernavik for a supply of blubber
-to make oil. Soon the vessel came near enough for
-the crews to talk to each other. You may be sure that
-Captain Kane’s party wanted to know what had happened
-during their long absence from home. The first question
-Kane asked was whether Franklin had been found.</p>
-
-<p>The sailors told him that some traces of Franklin had
-been seen, but that it was now supposed that he and all of
-his companions had perished. This news made Kane very
-sad, for no one knew better than he what suffering Franklin
-and his men must have endured.</p>
-
-<p>After learning all that these men could tell him, Kane
-journeyed on. After another halt for sleep, and another<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span>
-long pull at the oars, the men heard the welcome sound of
-barking dogs at the settlement.</p>
-
-<p>The people of Upernavik were very kind to Kane and
-his men. They fitted up a loft for them to sleep in and
-shared their stores in a liberal manner.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_056">
-  <img src="images/i_056.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Upernavik, Greenland.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A Danish vessel, starting for home early in September,
-took Kane and his party on board, promising to land them
-at the Shetland islands. On the 11th the vessel reached
-Disco, where another steamer was sighted in the distance.
-As she drew near Kane’s men saw with joy that she carried
-the American flag. The vessel proved to be a relief ship
-sent out by the United States to search for Captain Kane.
-The men, under command of Lieutenant Hartstene, greeted
-Kane and his companions with cheers and took them aboard.
-The <i>Faith</i>, which had done such excellent service, was
-taken on board also, and may now be seen at the Brooklyn
-navy yard. Though Kane had been compelled to leave the
-<i>Advance</i> in the ice, had lost his equipment, and had found
-no trace of Sir John Franklin, yet his expedition was by
-no means a failure. The geographical and scientific value
-of the knowledge which he gained during his stay in the
-icy North was very great.</p>
-
-<p>Large tracts of country, before unknown, had been discovered
-and surveyed; the coast of Greenland had been
-explored as far north as latitude 81°, and the great glacier
-of Humboldt, with a sea face forty-five miles in length,
-discovered. New land to the north of Humboldt glacier
-was also discovered and named Washington Land.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_058">
-  <img src="images/i_058.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Greenlander in his Kayak.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A great channel to the northwest, free from ice, was
-supposed to lead into an open polar sea. The theory of
-an open polar sea, however, has not yet been proved.</p>
-
-<p>Grinnell Land was discovered, and a survey made of the
-lands bordering on Smith sound. Valuable facts in relation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span>
-to the tides, climates, and plants were compiled, and
-a study was made of the Eskimos of Smith sound. Kane
-received gold medals from the Queen of England, the
-Royal Geographical Society of London, the American
-Congress, and the New York Legislature.</p>
-
-<p>But Kane’s health, never of the best, now began to fail.
-He went to England, but while there grew rapidly worse.
-He then sailed for Havana, hoping that the balmy climate
-would benefit him; but it was too late for him to recover
-his health, and he died at Havana, February 16, 1857.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">XI. NORDENSKJÖLD AND THE NORTHEAST
-PASSAGE<br />
-<small>1878–1879</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The next man to journey into the frozen North was
-Adolf Erik Nordenskjöld.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> He was born in Finland and
-educated at its university; but when he was about twenty-two
-years of age he fell under the suspicion of the Russian
-government and was compelled to leave his native country.
-Nordenskjöld then took up his residence in Sweden, and in
-1858 began his career as an Arctic explorer by going on a
-journey to Spitzbergen. Five voyages in the Arctic regions
-followed, during one of which Nordenskjöld visited Greenland
-and made an inland journey over the ice.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p class="noi"><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Pronounced <i>Norʹ den sheld</i>.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<p>The interior of Greenland is believed to be one vast
-glacier, moving slowly to the sea. This movement causes
-the formation of deep chasms and clefts which are almost
-bottomless, and which prevent the traveler from making
-rapid progress.</p>
-
-<p>Notwithstanding the dangers and hardships of the journey,
-Nordenskjöld advanced thirty miles over the glacier
-to a height of twenty-two hundred feet above the level of
-the sea. Upon returning to the coast, he visited Disco
-Fiord, and then went home to Sweden.</p>
-
-<p>About the time that Nordenskjöld reached home, the
-Swedish government decided to send a sledge expedition<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span>
-from Spitzbergen to the North Pole. The nation which
-should first succeed in reaching the pole would gain the
-admiration of the civilized world, and Sweden hoped to
-win this glory.</p>
-
-<p>The government began at once to look for a leader for
-this expedition, and very naturally selected Nordenskjöld,
-who had already made Arctic voyages and had thereby
-gained experience which made him a valuable commander.</p>
-
-<p>The party was sent out in 1872, but did not succeed in
-advancing far toward the pole; yet the results of the
-journey were important, for the island of Spitzbergen was
-explored and a good deal of scientific information was acquired.</p>
-
-<p>When Professor Nordenskjöld returned from Spitzbergen,
-he gave his attention to the northern coast of Asia.
-Some few whalers had sailed round Nova Zembla and
-entered the Kara sea, but the idea prevailed that this sea
-was always full of ice and dangerous to navigate. Nordenskjöld,
-however, made up his mind to explore the Kara
-sea and sail along the coast of Siberia to the mouth of the
-Yenisei river.</p>
-
-<p>Supported by Mr. Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld
-sailed on the <i>Proven</i>. He first visited Nova
-Zembla, and then, passing through Jugor strait, entered the
-Kara sea, which was entirely free from ice, and reached
-the Yenisei river without much difficulty. During this
-journey, he and his assistants made valuable collections of
-the products of the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms.
-They succeeded in increasing the number of known
-insects to be found in Nova Zembla from seven to one
-hundred, and in the Kara sea, which had been thought barren,
-they found five hundred species of animal life. Upon
-reaching the mouth of the Yenisei river, Nordenskjöld<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span>
-sent the <i>Proven</i> home, while he and a few chosen companions
-proceeded up the river in a small boat.</p>
-
-<p>It was summer time and the tundras were covered with
-a scanty vegetation. The tundras are the plains of Russia
-and Siberia which lie between the tree limit and the Arctic
-ocean. Most persons think of them as entirely barren;
-in some parts the soil is fertile and would be suitable for
-cultivation, if the climate permitted. In the winter they
-are frozen, but in the summer they afford pasture to herds
-of reindeer.</p>
-
-<p>All Siberia is colder than other places in the same latitude.
-One of the best-known cold regions on the earth
-is in Siberia, in latitude 67° 54ʹ N. Here the average temperature
-of the winter months is often as low as -53°, while
-some days the thermometer falls to -75° and -85° F.</p>
-
-<p>The tundras are inhabited by a tribe of Siberian Indians
-called Samoyeds. These natives travel about during the
-summer, hunting and fishing, setting up their skin tents
-wherever they find game plentiful. They usually have
-with them a large number of dogs, which they use for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span>
-sledging in winter and drawing boats against the current
-during the summer. The dogs run alongshore and drag
-the boats after them up the river, very much as mules draw
-our canal boats. The Samoyeds are small of stature and
-very dirty. Their hair is matted and unkempt, and they
-wear clothes of skin, with sometimes a bright-colored cotton
-shirt over the skin blouse.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_061">
-  <img src="images/i_061.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Samoyed Huts in Summer.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>These people worship idols, which look like dolls made
-of skin, and which they always carry with them on their
-travels. Some of these idols, or gods, have faces of brass
-or copper, and some carry bows made of forged iron. The
-Samoyeds worship by making
-pilgrimages to certain
-spots, where they offer sacrifices
-and make vows; they
-eat the flesh of their victims,
-and besmear their idols with
-the blood. At these sacred
-places there are piles of
-bones and skulls of the reindeer,
-with the horns. Near
-by are also found quantities
-of old iron, and hundreds of
-small wooden sticks, carved
-to look like human faces.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" id="i_062">
-  <img src="images/i_062.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Samoyed Family in Winter Costume.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It was to this Samoyed
-country that the Russian government used to send her
-criminals, and there are many exiles living there now; but
-the natives treat them very kindly and never inquire into
-the cause of their banishment.</p>
-
-<p>As Nordenskjöld and his companions traveled on, they
-saw large masses of driftwood lying along the shores of
-the river. This driftwood is carried by the current out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span>
-into the Arctic ocean, and is often picked up by explorers
-on the North American and Greenland shores, a fact which
-seems to prove that the ocean currents carry it across the
-polar sea. At length the travelers entered the region
-from which this driftwood comes. This is the great forest
-belt of Siberia, the largest in the world, extending, with
-but little interruption, from the Ural mountains to the
-Sea of Okhotsk. It consists mainly of enormous pines,
-growing thickly, and untouched by the ax of the lumberman.
-Many trees are withered with age; others are fallen,
-and their decayed trunks are covered with mosses and
-lichens. The wilderness is so vast that a man might
-wander hundreds of miles without meeting a human being.</p>
-
-<p>Beyond the forest belt lie the fertile plains, which are
-partly cultivated and which supply Europe with wheat.
-Nordenskjöld visited these plains, or steppes, and then
-proceeded homeward overland, by way of St. Petersburg.
-The next year, 1876, Nordenskjöld made a second voyage
-from Sweden to the mouth of the Yenisei river, proving
-beyond a doubt that there is a sea route from the Atlantic
-to the mouth of the great Siberian river. For this achievement
-he was regarded by Russia as a national benefactor
-and publicly thanked.</p>
-
-<p>Nordenskjöld hoped that the rich produce of central
-Asia, the gold, silver, copper, iron, and coal, the ivory,
-timber, wheat, and furs, might now be shipped through the
-rivers to the Arctic ocean and thence to Europe. The
-dangers of navigation through the ice, however, are so
-great that it is doubtful whether this route can ever
-become an important one for purposes of commerce.</p>
-
-<p>Nordenskjöld was not yet satisfied with the work he had
-accomplished in the Arctic regions. He longed to do
-what Arctic explorers had been trying to do for three hundred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span>
-years; namely, to find a northeast passage to the
-Pacific. Supported by King Oscar of Sweden and by Mr.
-Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld sailed from
-Tromsö in his ship, the <i>Vega</i>, July 21, 1878, accompanied
-by three other vessels. Two of the vessels left him at the
-mouth of the Yenisei and proceeded up that river, while
-the other, the <i>Lena</i>, accompanied the <i>Vega</i> eastward. The
-fog caused the sailors more trouble than the ice, but one
-day the mist rose, showing a dark ice-free cape. Then
-Nordenskjöld knew that he had succeeded in reaching the
-northernmost point of the Old World, Cape Tcheliuskin
-(Chelyuskin).</p>
-
-<p>More than a century earlier, Lieutenant Tcheliuskin, a
-Russian officer, had succeeded in reaching this most northern
-point of Siberia, traveling overland by sledge. Many
-explorers had tried to reach Cape Tcheliuskin by water, but
-up to this time all had failed. Nordenskjöld and his companions
-were very proud of their success. Flags were
-hoisted, salutes fired, and the officers drank toasts in honor
-of the occasion.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_065">
-  <img src="images/i_065.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The “Vega” firing a Salute at Cape Tcheliuskin, the Most
-Northern Point of the Old World.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A heap of stones, called a cairn, was erected on shore
-as a memorial, and soon the two vessels started again on
-their journey eastward. When the mouth of the Lena
-river was reached, the ship <i>Lena</i> headed toward it and,
-after exploring the river, returned home.</p>
-
-<p>After parting from the <i>Lena</i>, the <i>Vega</i> continued her
-voyage to the New Siberian islands and thence along the
-coast of Asia, nearly to Bering strait. When within a
-day’s journey of the strait, the <i>Vega</i> was beset in the ice;
-and, much to Nordenskjöld’s regret, he was obliged to pass
-the winter at the very entrance to the Pacific ocean. Had
-he been a few hours earlier, he might have forced his
-way through the ice and completed the northeast passage<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span>
-in 1878. But in that case we should never have known all
-the interesting facts which he has told us about the strange
-people who inhabit the northeastern peninsula of Asia.</p>
-
-<p>These people are a Siberian tribe, called Tchuktches.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>
-There are two divisions of the tribe, the reindeer Tchuktches
-and the coast Tchuktches. The former own herds
-of reindeer, and travel about, pitching their tents wherever
-the pasture is good. They also trade in skins, hides, furs,
-and whalebones with the most northern Indian tribes of
-America and with the Russian fur dealers, often making
-long journeys for this purpose. The coast Tchuktches live
-along the shore, and hunt and fish for their living.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p class="noi"><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Pronounced <i>Chookʹ chez</i>.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<p>The reindeer Tchuktches were encamped near the <i>Vega’s</i>
-winter quarters. As soon as these people saw a strange
-ship anchored off the coast, they launched a large skin
-boat very skillfully, and men, women, and children jumped<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span>
-in and rowed through the thin, newly formed ice to the
-vessel. They climbed aboard and seemed as pleased to
-see the white men as if they had been old friends. The
-deck of the <i>Vega</i> became a reception room, for not a day
-passed without a visit from the natives.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_066">
-  <img src="images/i_066.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Tchuktche and Reindeer</span>.</p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Tchuktches are a strong, hardy race, but very lazy.
-Nothing but want of food induces them to work. Many
-are tall, with brown skin and raven-black hair, and a large
-nose like that of our North American Indians. Some have
-high cheek bones and slanting eyes, like the Mongolian
-race. They live in tents, which are made double to insure
-warmth during the winter. The inner tent is the sleeping
-room. The framework is of wood, and over this are spread
-thick reindeer skins. The floor is a walrus skin, and at
-night extra reindeer skins are thrown down like a carpet.
-The inner tent is heated by three train-oil lamps, which,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span>
-together with the heat from the bodies of the many human
-beings who are packed in this small space, raise the temperature
-in the tent to such a degree that even in the most
-severe weather, the natives strip off all their clothing. In
-the winter they live, cook, and work in the inner tent; the
-outer tent, used in summer, is built around the inner tent.
-The skins of the outer tent are older and thinner than
-those of the inner one.</p>
-
-<p>The Tchuktche women work very hard. They take
-care of the children, cook, sew, and keep the tent in order.
-They receive the game and cut it up, in winter in the tent
-and in summer on the beach. They help with the fishing;
-they tan the hides and prepare thread from the sinews.
-The men provide the food, which they obtain by fishing,
-hunting, and trading. But in and around the tent they do
-nothing but put their hunting tools in order, or play with
-the children.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_068">
-  <img src="images/i_068.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Tchuktche Man and Woman.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Tchuktche children are healthy and hearty. They often
-cross from one tent to another entirely naked, when the
-weather is bitterly cold. The children are petted and
-treated very kindly. The older people never utter an
-angry word to them, or punish them. For playthings they
-have dolls, bows, and windmills with sails. Tchuktche
-children are very well-behaved. A little girl fell down the
-ship’s stairs head first, and received so severe a blow that
-her hearing was nearly destroyed, yet she scarcely uttered
-a cry. A small boy of four years once visited the ship.
-He was so wrapped up in furs that he looked like a ball
-and could hardly move. He fell into a ditch which had
-been cut in the ice on the deck, and could not get out.
-The small Tchuktche did not make a sound, but waited
-patiently until some one saw him lying there and rescued
-him.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span></p>
-
-<p>When the ice became solid, the natives came on their
-dog sleds from villages far away. Sometimes they brought
-skins and whalebones to exchange for tobacco and brandy,
-but they obtained very little of the latter from the men on
-the <i>Vega</i>. As winter advanced, the natives’ provisions
-gave out. Then they gathered around the ship at the time
-when they knew the crew were at dinner, and begged for
-food so hard that one day the cook himself came out with
-a large kettle full of meat soup. The Tchuktches seized<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span>
-it like starving animals and bailed it out with spoons, empty
-tin cans, and even with their hands. Nordenskjöld gave
-them all the food he could spare, but in spite of his kindness
-the plump little babies grew thin and hollow-eyed.
-One day the Tchuktche hunters killed a polar bear and
-several seals. Then begging ceased for a few days, and
-they rested from hunting and lived on the fat of the land,
-without any thought of the future.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_069">
-  <img src="images/i_069.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Hunting Reindeer.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A few days later a procession of Tchuktches was again
-seen, coming in single file over the ice toward the ship,
-each man carrying a piece of ice on his shoulder. This
-he gave to the cook, begging for something to eat in return;
-and you may be sure that all the food that could be
-spared was given to these poor people.</p>
-
-<p>One morning a number of men approached the ship,
-dragging a dog sledge on which a man lay so quietly that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span>
-Nordenskjöld thought he must be ill or dead. To his surprise,
-when the sledge reached the side of the vessel, the
-man climbed rapidly to the deck and saluted. He then
-informed Nordenskjöld in broken Russian that he was the
-great chief of the Tchuktches, and, as a mark of his high
-rank, he had been drawn over the ice by men instead of
-dogs.</p>
-
-<p>This man’s name was Menka. He gave Nordenskjöld
-two roasts of reindeer meat, and in return received some
-tobacco and a woolen shirt. Finding that Menka was
-going to a Russian town some distance away, Nordenskjöld
-asked him to carry a letter to the Russian authorities
-there, as he wanted to let King Oscar know where he was.
-Menka consented, and Nordenskjöld wrote the letter and
-gave it to him. Whether Menka misunderstood or not,
-no one knows; but when he reached shore he assembled
-the Tchuktches, opened the letter, and, holding it upside
-down, gravely read it in his own language to his admiring
-audience. His hearers thought him very learned indeed.</p>
-
-<p>The next day the great chief again visited the <i>Vega</i>,
-but no one mentioned the letter for fear of hurting his
-feelings. Menka doubtless meant no harm. The Tchuktches
-seem to have been very democratic in their sentiments;
-they refused to admit that Menka was their chief,
-saying that they were just as good as he was.</p>
-
-<p>When Christmas came, some of the whites persuaded
-the Tchuktches to bring them a load of willows from the
-valleys in the south. They took a piece of wood for the
-stem and, tying on the willow bushes for branches, called
-it a Christmas tree, and decorated it with flags, colored
-papers, and wax lights. A box of Christmas presents had
-been placed on board by their friends at home; this was
-opened and the presents distributed. Then the men danced<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span>
-a polka around the tree and drank the good health of all
-their friends.</p>
-
-<p>The spring came slowly, and time dragged, though the
-men were very busy collecting specimens and noting the
-curious changes in the atmosphere and vegetation. It
-seemed as if the ice would never break up. On July 18,
-1879, Nordenskjöld and his companions sat down to dinner
-as usual. During the meal the vessel, which had been
-motionless for months, moved slightly. It was a moment
-of intense excitement, and everybody rushed on deck.
-The ice was moving! It did not take long for the engineer
-to light the boiler fires, and in two hours the <i>Vega</i> was
-free and on her way to Bering strait. There was not much
-time to say farewell to the Tchuktches, who gathered
-on the shore and watched the departure of their white
-friends.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>Vega</i> encountered but little ice, and at 11 o’clock
-on the morning of July 20, 1879, she sailed into the middle
-of the strait that connects the Arctic and Pacific oceans.
-Salutes were fired and flags raised. The northeastern passage
-was accomplished. In a single voyage Nordenskjöld
-had succeeded in doing what Arctic explorers had been
-trying to achieve for three hundred years.</p>
-
-<p>On his way home Nordenskjöld visited Japan. He
-remained there two weeks, collecting facts which contributed
-a great deal to our knowledge of that country.
-When Nordenskjöld reached home, King Oscar made him
-a baron, and commander of the Order of the North Star.
-The remainder of his life was spent in scientific work. In
-August, 1901, this great man passed away, leaving behind
-him a lasting fame.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">XII. VOYAGE OF THE <i>JEANNETTE</i><br />
-<small>1879–1881</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>During the same month, July, 1879, that Nordenskjöld
-completed the northeast passage by sailing through Bering
-strait into the Pacific ocean, an expedition sailed from
-San Francisco northward through Bering sea on a voyage
-of discovery in Arctic regions.</p>
-
-<p>This expedition was sent out by Mr. James Gordon Bennett,
-the owner of the <cite>New York Herald</cite>. Mr. Bennett
-bought and equipped a vessel, which he called the <i>Jeannette</i>.
-By special act of Congress, the <i>Jeannette</i> was conducted
-by the United States Navy, with the rights and
-privileges of a government vessel.</p>
-
-<p>The command was offered to Lieutenant George W. De
-Long and he accepted, after the expedition was made
-national. De Long, it is said, believed that an expedition
-might reach the North Pole by following a branch of the
-Japan Current through Bering strait and into the Arctic
-ocean, a route which had never been attempted.</p>
-
-<p>Many explorers who had made trips to the Arctic
-regions observed that the ice always drifted toward the
-southeast, and entered the Atlantic ocean between the
-islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was thought
-that there must be a strong southeast current to carry
-this pack of floating ice always in the same direction.
-Instead of trying to sail northward between Spitzbergen
-and Greenland, where they must meet that great ice pack,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span>
-these men said: “Let us enter the Arctic ocean through
-Bering strait and sail northward toward the pole. If the
-ship is caught in the ice pack, she will drift along with
-the pack into the Atlantic ocean. Perhaps the drift will
-carry the ship across the North Pole.”</p>
-
-<p>De Long sailed from San Francisco on the <i>Jeannette</i>,
-July 8, 1879. It was a beautiful sunny day, and many
-vessels were gathered in San Francisco bay to attend
-the departure. Guns were fired, flags waved, and cheers
-given with a will for the brave men who were going to
-risk their lives in the search for the North Pole.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>Jeannette</i> sailed away through the Pacific ocean.
-She crossed Bering sea in a heavy gale, and passed
-through Bering strait in safety. After rounding East
-cape, the watch in the crow’s nest saw some rude huts
-along the beach. They were the homes of the Tchuktches,
-the Siberian race which inhabits this peninsula.</p>
-
-<p>The ice alongshore prevented De Long from landing,
-and the natives, seeing this, launched a large skin boat
-and went out to the ship. The Indian chief went with
-them, and they all boarded the <i>Jeannette</i>. These people
-could furnish very little information, because no one on
-board knew their language and they could speak no English.
-But De Long learned, by means of signs and motions,
-that Nordenskjöld, with the <i>Vega</i>, had wintered to the
-northwest of them, and that a few weeks before he had
-passed out through Bering strait.</p>
-
-<p>The Tchuktches had a delightfully original way of asking
-for liquor. They bent their elbows and uttered the
-word “Schnapps.” But they did not get anything to
-drink, and soon returned to the shore.</p>
-
-<p>The next day some men from the <i>Jeannette</i> succeeded
-in landing. They found the Tchuktches living in tents<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span>
-made of skin, and very dirty. They ate the raw flesh of
-the walrus and drank the blood. Their chief wore a red
-calico gown as a mark of his high rank. It was a cool
-garment for so cold a place, but the natives do not feel
-the cold as keenly as we should.</p>
-
-<p>After sailing along the Siberian coast for a short distance,
-the <i>Jeannette</i> bade farewell to land and started on
-her perilous journey.</p>
-
-<p>In the Arctic regions the ice is divided into what is
-known as young ice and the pack. Young ice is that
-which is forming all the time. It is thin at first, and
-vessels can usually cut their way through. The pack is
-the old ice which has been formed for many years, and is
-composed of large pieces, called floes, which are often
-thirty or forty feet thick and extend over a great surface
-both above and below the water.</p>
-
-<p>The floes sometimes close up and float together as a
-pack, squeezing in everything between them. Sometimes
-they separate, leaving channels of water between. The
-pack floats with the wind and the current, and there is little
-chance of escape from it. If a ship is caught in the ice
-pack, it must float with it until a storm or some other
-change of weather breaks up the pack. When a ship
-is strong enough to resist the pressure of the ice pack,
-there is some chance of escape in the spring, but so tremendous
-is the power of the ice that Arctic voyagers
-avoid the pack if possible.</p>
-
-<p>It seems to have been De Long’s intention deliberately
-to enter the pack and drift with it, for when, on September
-6, he saw an opening between the Siberian and the
-American packs, he slipped in. At first the <i>Jeannette</i>
-pushed her way bravely, but after a few hours she was
-unable to proceed, and soon she was frozen in solidly.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_075">
-  <img src="images/i_075.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The “Jeannette” in the Ice Pack.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>To the southwest lay Herald island, which the men
-attempted to explore. Taking a dog sledge, they traveled
-to within six miles of the beach, where they found open
-water, so that they were obliged to return to the ship without
-setting foot on land. They found the ship drifting
-with the ice, and in danger of being crushed between the
-huge masses which surrounded her. Thundering noises
-from far away could be heard as the blocks of ice ground
-and grated together. At times the ice separated near the
-ship, leaving it in clear water. Again, the pack closed up
-about the stanch little vessel, which was like an eggshell
-at the mercy of enormous blocks of floating ice.</p>
-
-<p>But all this time the <i>Jeannette</i> was drifting, and at length
-she came in sight of Wrangel Land. Before De Long
-lost sight of this land, he satisfied himself that it was an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span>
-island, and not a part of Greenland as some explorers had
-supposed.</p>
-
-<p>On November 10 the black Arctic night began, which
-lasted until January 25. The bitterness of the cold during
-this long period of darkness is inconceivable. The
-surface water was usually at a temperature of 29° F., the
-freezing point of salt water.</p>
-
-<p>Notwithstanding their discomforts, the men followed a
-regular routine. At seven o’clock in the morning all on
-board were called and the fires were started in the galleys.
-At nine o’clock the explorers ate their breakfast. From
-eleven until one o’clock every man took his gun and went
-out on the ice to exercise. At three in the afternoon dinner
-was served, and the galley fires were put out in order to
-save coal. Between seven and eight o’clock tea was made.
-The crew lived on pork and beans, salt beef, and canned
-goods. Sometimes, when the hunters were successful, they
-had the meat of the seal, bear, or walrus. For amusements
-there were theatricals and a navigation class.</p>
-
-<p>For one year and nine months the <i>Jeannette</i> floated in
-the pack, at the mercy of wind and tide. The coldest
-weather came in February, when the thermometer registered
-58° below zero. In spite of the windings and turnings
-of their course, the general direction was toward the
-northwest. De Long trusted to the strength of his ship to
-withstand the pressure of the ice, and float across the pole
-out into the Atlantic ocean. At length, on May 17, 1881,
-land was sighted. It proved to be an island not indicated
-on the chart of that region. De Long therefore claimed it
-as a discovery, and named it Jeannette island. Another
-island was discovered not far away, and called Henrietta.</p>
-
-<p>A sledge party under Melville was sent out from the
-ship to explore this island. The ice over which they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span>
-traveled consisted of large blocks that floated rapidly and
-were constantly changing their position. Sometimes the
-men were obliged to jump into the water and swim from
-one block to another. The dogs were almost useless; they
-refused to jump, and tried to run away. The men pushed
-them into the water, and then they had to swim for their
-lives. This seems cruel treatment, but Arctic exploration
-means severe suffering for all who engage in it, and the
-help of the dogs was absolutely necessary.</p>
-
-<p>Henrietta island was rocky and ice-capped, not in itself
-a very valuable possession for the United States of America;
-yet the Stars and Stripes were set up there, and a square
-copper case, containing copies of the <cite>New York Herald</cite>
-and a record of the voyage, was placed in a cairn. Then
-the sledge party returned to the ship. The <i>Jeannette</i> was
-in dire distress, for the ice around her, now rapidly breaking
-up, was by turns receding and closing in. Every time
-it closed in, it pressed against her sides with tremendous
-force, so that her timbers fairly creaked.</p>
-
-<p>But brave Captain De Long would not leave his ship
-until he was quite certain that she was going to sink, and
-her hold was full of water before he gave orders to abandon
-her. Then the crew had to work with desperate haste
-to transfer provisions, tents, and boats to a safe place on
-the ice. At four o’clock in the morning of June 13, the
-<i>Jeannette</i> sank to the bottom of the Arctic ocean. The
-ice closed over the place where the little vessel had endured
-such terrific grinding for twenty-one months, and
-only a cabin chair and a few pieces of wood remained to
-mark the spot.</p>
-
-<p>Imagine the condition of the men left on the ice so many
-miles from land. But they worked with calm courage to
-arrange their provisions and all the articles which were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span>
-needful for camping on the sledges, and four days after
-the <i>Jeannette</i> had sunk, the retreat across the ice began.</p>
-
-<p>This march was one of the most difficult ever undertaken.
-In one day the travelers could cover a distance of
-only a mile, or at most a mile and a half. Thirteen times
-they were compelled to go over the road, seven times with
-loads, six times without, traveling a distance of twenty-six
-miles in order to cover an advance of two miles. Many
-of the party were taken ill and had to be carried by their
-companions.</p>
-
-<p>At the end of the week, De Long found that the ice
-over which they were traveling had floated northwest
-faster than they had traveled south; consequently the
-party was twenty-seven miles farther away from the
-Siberian coast than when they started. De Long kept
-this disheartening fact a secret from his men, lest they
-should despair.</p>
-
-<p>On and on they traveled, day after day, until at last a
-dim line of land came into view; it proved to be a new
-island, with rocky shores and steep sides. It was a difficult
-task to cross the channel of water which separated
-the ice pack from this bleak coast, but Captain De Long
-ordered all his men to attempt the crossing. They raised
-the American flag and took possession of the island in the
-name of the President of the United States. This land De
-Long called Bennett island. Thousands of birds were
-found among the rocks, and the men had a refreshing
-feast after their weeks of weary work. The sides of Bennett
-island were bold and steep, and landslides occurred
-several times.</p>
-
-<p>It was thought best to continue the journey by water.
-There were three boats, and a part of the supplies was
-placed in each boat. De Long commanded one, Lieutenant<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span>
-Chipps another, and Engineer Melville the third. When
-the New Siberian islands came in sight, the voyagers knew
-that they were nearing the mouth of the Lena river. This
-large stream flows across Siberia into the Arctic ocean.
-Its banks are usually occupied by tribes of Indians, who
-remain there during the summer season to fish and hunt.
-It was encouraging to know that land was so near, and
-the weary travelers kept bravely on, working with all their
-strength to steer through the masses of ice. It seemed as
-if two new perils sprang up for every danger escaped. In
-a heavy gale Lieutenant Chipps’s boat went down, and De
-Long and Melville lost sight of each other. Melville at
-length succeeded in guiding his boat to the mouth of the
-Lena river.</p>
-
-<p>The country appeared to be deserted, and it seemed
-probable that they had escaped from drowning, only to
-perish from cold and starvation. But after they had traveled
-some distance up the river, and were just about to
-give up in despair, they met some natives.</p>
-
-<p>Melville ordered the natives to spread the report of the
-two missing boats wherever they went. Two of them were
-sent with dog teams as a searching party to the different
-towns on the delta. After thirteen days they returned
-with tidings of the missing crews. They had met two men
-of Captain De Long’s party, Noros and Nindemann, who
-had succeeded in making their way to a deserted fishing
-station; but they were in a pitiable condition. Although
-a severe storm was raging, Melville started immediately
-for this place with his dog team, carrying food with him.</p>
-
-<p>He found Noros and Nindemann in a small hut, nearly
-dead from cold and hunger. After making them comfortable,
-and learning from them where they had left De
-Long, Melville pushed on. Storms delayed him in his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span>
-search, so that when he reached the part of the river where
-De Long’s party was last seen, he abandoned all hope of
-finding any of them alive, for they had been without provisions
-two days when Nindemann left them, and that part
-of the country was entirely destitute of food.</p>
-
-<p>Yet Melville continued his search, determined to find the
-missing men, alive or dead. After heroic, untiring efforts,
-he found the dead bodies of his shipmates. They had
-perished five months before.</p>
-
-<p>After attending to the burial of his brave comrades, and
-rewarding the natives who had assisted him, Melville set
-out for home. He arrived in New York, September 13,
-1883, just one year from the day on which the three boats
-were separated in the gale. Due credit has been given
-Engineer Melville, both at home and abroad, for his
-promptness and energy in conducting the search for the
-lost crew of the <i>Jeannette</i>.</p>
-
-<p>The fate of the <i>Jeannette</i> and her crew often leads
-people to overlook the results secured by her voyage. The
-long drift of twenty-one months enabled the voyagers of
-this expedition to acquire considerable knowledge of the
-ocean. The ship traveled over a large area, sometimes
-moving almost in a circle. The depth of the ocean, the
-character of its bed and its drift were determined. Many
-kinds of animal life were studied, and two islands were discovered.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">XIII. GREELY IN GRINNELL LAND<br />
-<small>1881–1883</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Interest in the Frozen North became so great, that a
-conference of nations was held in Hamburg, Germany, in
-1879, to discuss plans by means of which knowledge of
-that part of the world might be advanced. Eleven countries
-were represented, and it was decided to send out
-expeditions and establish stations for the purpose of making
-scientific observations. Fifteen expeditions were sent
-out by different countries, and fourteen stations were
-established. These stations were known as the International
-Circumpolar stations, and their work was to be
-coöperative.</p>
-
-<p>The United States decided to establish two stations, one
-at Point Barrow, Alaska, and the other in Lady Franklin
-bay. The command of the expedition to Point Barrow
-was given to Lieutenant Ray. Adolphus Washington
-Greely, a lieutenant in the United States Army, was
-offered command of the other, and when the enterprise
-was made national in 1881, he accepted the commission.</p>
-
-<p>The arrangements necessary for the journey were soon
-made, and Greely and his companions sailed on the
-<i>Proteus</i> to Newfoundland. They left that island on
-July 7, 1881, and headed for the north. The <i>Proteus</i>
-sailed through Davis strait and Baffin bay, passing the
-wonderful “bird cliffs,” which rise perpendicularly for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span>
-over a thousand feet out of the sea, and are broken only
-by narrow ledges. Neither Eskimo nor animal can reach
-these rocks, and here, safe from harm, the birds lay their
-eggs and hatch out their young by the tens of thousands.
-Greely’s men shot many birds and secured hundreds of
-eggs.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_082">
-  <img src="images/i_082.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Bird Cliffs.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The <i>Proteus</i> passed through Smith sound and Kennedy
-channel, and reached Lady Franklin bay in safety. She<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span>
-anchored at last in Discovery bay, on the coast of Grinnell
-land, where Greely and his men went ashore to select a
-place suitable for a camp, to be named Fort Conger. Then
-the <i>Proteus</i> steamed away, leaving a small company of
-men alone in the Arctic solitude. But they were too busy
-to feel lonely, and began to work hard in order to make a
-comfortable home for themselves. The house was built of
-wood covered with tarred paper, and stations for the instruments
-were erected near at hand.</p>
-
-<p>The cliffs around Discovery harbor rise from a hundred
-to a thousand feet in height and nearly surround the bay,
-which contains about twenty square miles of ice floe.
-Game was plentiful. Large flocks of eider ducks visited
-an open pool near by, and herds of musk oxen were to be
-seen in the distance, grazing quietly. The Arctic summer
-was at its height, and the slopes were covered with grasses,
-mosses, and buttercups.</p>
-
-<p>Under the direction of Lieutenant Greely, the men took
-observations, explored the country, and built depots. The
-depots were built at convenient distances from Fort Conger,
-and were stored with supplies of food for the use of exploring
-parties. At last so much had been accomplished that
-Greely thought he might safely leave the camp and try to
-reach the interior of Grinnell land.</p>
-
-<p>With three companions he started from Fort Conger,
-April 26, 1882, traveling over ice which was in good condition,
-so that the party moved rapidly. Greely found
-that two openings along the coast, which he had supposed
-to be bays, were large fiords. Here he came
-upon layers of remarkably clear fresh-water ice. It
-was deep blue in color and contrasted beautifully with
-the opaque white ice of the ocean floes. Without doubt a
-river or glacier emptied into the fiord. Magnificent mountain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span>
-peaks round about rose to heights of thousands of feet
-above the sea level, and through the valleys, which were
-bare of snow, there were frequent traces of the musk ox,
-the fox, and the hare.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_084">
-  <img src="images/i_084.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Musk Ox.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A sharp turn brought the party to a large icebound lake
-about five hundred square miles in area, which Greely
-named Lake Hazen. To the north rose ranges of mountains,
-snow-covered and majestic, known as the Garfield
-range; beyond these lay the United States range, also
-snow-covered.</p>
-
-<p>The next day Lake Hazen was crossed and a beautiful
-glacier discovered. It was five miles wide, and rose perpendicularly
-one hundred and seventy-five feet out of the
-lake. Greely named it the Henrietta Nesmith glacier, in
-honor of his wife.</p>
-
-<p>The top of this glacier was white, like unpolished marble.
-Lower down, the ice shaded into a bluish color,
-growing more delicate as it reached the foot, where it
-became white, with yellow and rose-colored tinges. There<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span>
-were three deep gullies or channels in the glacier, through
-which a torrent had evidently rushed at some time; and,
-strange as it may seem, the hills and slopes next it were
-covered with plants, lichens, willows, and Arctic poppies.
-In the valleys there was enough vegetation to serve as pasture
-for musk oxen and other animals. The interior of
-Grinnell land was a pleasant country, and Greely felt sorry
-to leave it and return to the coast. He had discovered
-and explored a large tract of land never before visited by
-civilized men.</p>
-
-<p>In June, 1882, Greely went again to the interior of
-Grinnell land. This time he discovered a number of
-small lakes, connected by streams with Lake Hazen.</p>
-
-<p>He also made the ascent of a mountain forty-five hundred
-feet in height. When he had climbed within half a mile of
-the top he was so tired that he felt he must give up. To
-urge himself onward, he kept throwing his field glasses
-ahead of him, and crawling on his hands and knees to the
-spot where they were. At last he could advance only fifty
-steps at a time, but he persevered and reached the top, to
-which he gave the name Mount Arthur. It is in all probability
-the highest peak in Grinnell land, and from its summit
-Greely saw the entire island spread out like a map
-before him. North of Lake Hazen rose the snow-clad
-mountains, extending range beyond range. A like view
-met his eye as he surveyed the country to the south, while
-in the interior he was gazing upon fertile valleys dotted
-with lakes, which supported herds of musk oxen.</p>
-
-<p>Greely spent only twenty minutes on the top of Mount
-Arthur. The temperature was far below zero, and he was
-in danger of freezing. When he began to descend, he
-decided to slide down a precipice a hundred feet in
-height, in order to save a long walk around the snowdrifts.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span>
-Luckily he landed in the soft snow. At the foot of
-the mountain Greely met his companions, and they returned
-all together to Fort Conger, well pleased with their
-journey.</p>
-
-<p>The next year Lieutenant Lockwood crossed Grinnell
-land, and on the western coast discovered a large fiord
-which he named Greely fiord. Both north and south of
-this region were large ice caps, which constantly discharged
-glaciers into the lakes and fiords. At Lake Hazen, as well
-as at many other places on the island, abandoned Eskimo
-huts were found, showing that the Eskimos had at one
-time occupied the island; and many relics of these people
-were collected, among them a stone lamp, a bone spear-head,
-and a sledge. But at this time the island was entirely
-uninhabited.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">XIV. FARTHEST NORTH OF THE GREELY
-PARTY<br />
-<small>1882</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>While Greely was exploring Grinnell land, another
-party from Fort Conger, under Lieutenant Lockwood, had
-forced its way across Robeson channel to the Greenland
-coast. Lockwood’s party proceeded northward in the
-face of many severe trials. The thermometer registered
-81° below the freezing point; add to this rough ice and
-severe winds, and we may faintly imagine the suffering
-endured.</p>
-
-<p>During a snowstorm the men were obliged to dig a
-hole in a snow bank and crawl into it for protection.
-But the opening soon filled up with drifting snow, and the
-air became so foul that the men were glad to creep out
-again. Sometimes the wind blew them over while they
-were at work, and once a fierce gust lifted one of the dog
-sledges, with its load of two hundred pounds, from the
-ground. Nevertheless, on April 27, 1882, the party reached
-Cape Bryant, where they camped and proceeded to explore
-the surrounding country. The men of the supporting
-party, as had been agreed, turned back at this point and
-returned to Fort Conger.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_088">
-  <img src="images/i_088.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">An Arctic Snowstorm.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Then Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and an
-Eskimo named Christianson set off to the north to Cape
-Britannia, taking with them enough food to last twenty-five<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span>
-days. The ice was in fair condition for pushing
-rapidly forward, and they soon reached Cape Britannia, a
-towering cliff. The men climbed to the top and gazed
-around over the snow-covered mountain peaks. Then they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span>
-descended and traveled on over land never before trodden
-by white men. They crossed Nordenskjöld inlet and
-Chipps inlet, and at length reached a new island, which
-was named after Lieutenant Lockwood. It lies in latitude
-83° 24ʹ north, but four hundred and fifty miles from the
-pole, and was at that time, 1882, the northernmost point
-yet attained by any nation.</p>
-
-<p>For three hundred years England had held the honor
-of penetrating farthest north. From the time of Henry
-Hudson, who, in 1607, reached latitude 81° 30ʹ, the English
-sailors had succeeded in going nearer to the pole than
-the explorers of any other nation. In 1875, an English
-Arctic expedition under Captain Nares, reached latitude
-83° 20ʹ north. Now, Lockwood and Brainard had gained
-for America the glory of penetrating the farthest north.</p>
-
-<p>From a height of twenty-six hundred feet these two men
-saw fields of ice extending to the north as far as the horizon.
-To the northeast they saw Cape Washington, which
-is twenty-eight miles above Cape Columbia, the most
-northern point of Grinnell land. Cape Washington is
-the northernmost known limit of Greenland, lying in latitude
-83° 38ʹ. After battling so long with the fierce gales
-and severe weather, the two men were so exhausted that
-they could with difficulty return to the camp. Shortly
-after their return it was decided to go back to Fort Conger.
-Two of the party were snow-blind and had to be led. The
-three brave travelers were greeted with delight by the rest
-of the party.</p>
-
-<p>Their success in reaching the highest latitude yet attained
-was discussed at every meal. The time passed
-rapidly at Fort Conger, for the men were very busy, but
-presently they became anxious. The visiting ship which
-was expected in the summer of 1882, with supplies and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span>
-recruits, did not arrive, and Greely prepared to pass a second
-winter at Fort Conger. When August, 1883, came
-and no visiting ship had yet made its appearance, it is no
-wonder that the men were disheartened.</p>
-
-<p>At length, weary of waiting, and certain that it meant
-death to remain a third winter at Fort Conger, Greely
-decided to retreat to the south, hoping to meet the ship.
-He expected, at least, to find that provisions had been
-placed in depots, for his relief. The little steam launch,
-the <i>Lady Greely</i>, towed two other small boats through
-the narrow channels. Small amounts of food were found
-in different caches or depots along the route, though not
-enough to bring much relief. The party was now on the
-verge of starvation. Only after a desperate struggle did
-they succeed in reaching Cape Sabine, where they erected
-stone huts and prepared to pass the winter as best they
-might. Some of the party tried to hunt, but game had
-disappeared and darkness was close upon them. Their
-condition was indeed pitiable; their clothing was in rags,
-they had no fuel and but forty days’ rations.</p>
-
-<p>But the United States had not forgotten the brave men
-who were risking their lives to make her name glorious.
-The <i>Neptune</i>, the <i>Proteus</i>, and the <i>Yantic</i> had been sent
-to relieve Greely during 1882 and 1883. Every one of
-these vessels, however, failed to reach him; moreover,
-they neglected to deposit supplies where he might have
-found them.</p>
-
-<p>In the winter of 1883 and 1884, under the personal
-direction of Secretary Chandler, two vessels, the <i>Thetis</i>
-and the <i>Bear</i>, were bought and equipped for the relief of
-Greely. The <i>Thetis</i> was commanded by Commodore
-W. S. Schley, and sailed from New York on May 1, 1884.
-On board the <i>Thetis</i> was Chief Engineer Melville, who had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span>
-made the heroic search for De Long of the ill-fated <i>Jeannette</i>.
-Melville himself had urged this relief expedition for
-Greely, and his energy and knowledge brought success.</p>
-
-<p>Congress offered a reward of $25,000 to any vessel
-not in the navy, which should first find the missing men,
-and many a whaler went north in the attempt to win the
-prize. These vessels, though unsuccessful in the search,
-did some good, for they helped to break a passage through
-the ice.</p>
-
-<p>The men of the <i>Thetis</i>, under Commodore Schley, did not
-delay a moment, or wait for favorable leads. When they
-could not advance in any other way, they tried to blast
-the ice in front and so force a passage. They fought
-the ice as they would fight a foe, never swerving from
-their one object—to reach Greely in as short a time as
-possible. Every possible effort was made, and by June 6
-the <i>Thetis</i> reached Melville bay. Little by little she forged
-ahead, and reached the neighborhood of Smith sound.</p>
-
-<p>Here all the men who could be spared were sent ashore
-to search for records, and at last one of the men came upon
-a cairn, which he opened. In it he found a bundle of
-Greely’s papers, photographs, and records. The most
-recent record was dated September, 1883, nine months
-before. It stated that the party had gone into camp
-four and a half miles west of Cape Sabine. Commodore
-Schley immediately ordered a party of men to take the
-steam cutter and find the camp. The <i>Thetis</i> then blew
-her whistles to call the search parties back to the ship.</p>
-
-<p>The men of Greely’s party in the wretched tent at
-Camp Clay heard the whistles and knew that a vessel
-must be somewhere near, yet they were too weak to go in
-search of it, and too hopeless to believe that any one was
-near enough to find them. One man did crawl out and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span>
-try to raise an oar with three rags on it, as a signal of
-distress, but the furious wind tore it down.</p>
-
-<p>The sharp eyes of the men in the steam cutter saw this
-man. They ran the boat inshore and were soon questioning
-him about his companions. He told them that they
-were over the hill, and that seven of them still lived,
-among them Lieutenant Greely. The ice pilot jumped out
-of the boat and ran to the camp. He was the first of the
-party to speak to Lieutenant Greely, as he had been the
-last to see him when the <i>Proteus</i> steamed away from Discovery
-harbor three years before. Greely directed him to cut
-the back out of the tent with his pocket knife. When this
-was done, Greely on his hands and knees in his sleeping
-bag peered out. His hair and beard were long and matted,
-his face was covered with soot and dirt, and his eyes
-glittered with excitement. He heard with joy that help
-had arrived and that he and his companions were saved.
-In the midst of a terrific wind storm, the surviving men
-of Greely’s party were transferred to the <i>Thetis</i> and made
-comfortable.</p>
-
-<p>Then came the dreadful work of collecting the bodies of
-the dead and carrying them aboard the ships, after which
-the <i>Thetis</i> and the <i>Bear</i> set sail from Camp Clay and headed
-for home. The ship reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
-August 1, 1884, where Greely and his command were transferred
-to the navy yard, while the bodies of the dead were
-taken to Governor’s island in New York harbor.</p>
-
-<p>Thus ended one of the most successful and rapid relief
-voyages ever made. Had Commodore Schley been more
-cautious, not a man of Greely’s party would have been
-found alive. But Schley knew that this was a time for
-both courage and daring, and neither he nor any of his
-command lacked in these qualities.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span></p>
-
-<p>Greely and the other survivors of his expedition received
-a royal welcome home. The President of the United
-States thanked them publicly on behalf of the nation, the
-Queen of England sent messages of inquiry and sympathy,
-and the people of Portsmouth held a grand reception in
-their honor. The government sent several large war vessels
-to the harbor, and Mr. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy, and
-other prominent men came with them. The shores of the
-river were lined with people and the harbor was filled with
-steamers, sailboats, and smaller craft, all gayly decorated
-with flags and bunting. Everybody was eager to welcome
-the brave men who had risked their lives and suffered
-so much in seeking to penetrate still farther into the Frozen
-North.</p>
-
-<p>Those members of the expedition who lost their lives in
-this journey were not forgotten. A public funeral was
-held at Governor’s island, and every respect was paid to
-the memories of these men.</p>
-
-<p>The results of Greely’s work in the Arctic regions were
-many. The programme for international scientific work
-had been carried out daily. All magnetic and climatic
-changes had been noted. The effect of the sun’s rays, the
-earth and ocean currents, the atmosphere, electricity, ice,
-and tides had been observed. A study had been made,
-also, of the animal and vegetable life of the locality, and
-of the Eskimos.</p>
-
-<p>Both this Circumpolar station and the one established
-at Point Barrow were abandoned in 1883, but the value of
-the work accomplished through them was very great.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">XV. LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA IN ALASKA<br />
-<small>1883</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia
-in 1867. It was supposed to be a barren region of ice and
-snow, and many people thought that the price of $7,200,000
-was an amount far in excess of the value of the land.</p>
-
-<p>For many years no attempt was made to form a territorial
-government in Alaska, and the country remained in
-charge of the military forces of the United States. In 1883,
-Lieutenant Schwatka determined to conduct an exploring
-expedition into the interior, for the purpose of gaining such
-information of the country and its wild inhabitants as would
-be of assistance to the soldiers stationed there. This expedition
-did not have the support of Congress and was kept
-as secret as possible. Lieutenant Schwatka feared that, if
-attention were attracted to the expedition, Congress would
-forbid its departure.</p>
-
-<p>All Schwatka’s plans worked well. With six companions
-he left Portland, Oregon, at midnight, May 22, and sailed
-northward, taking the inland route to Alaska. The inland
-route consists of a channel which lies between the coast of
-Washington and British Columbia and southeastern Alaska
-and the line of islands which lie off that coast.</p>
-
-<p>Sitka, then the capital of Alaska, was reached in a little
-more than a week, and two days later the ship dropped
-anchor in a pretty port called Pyramid harbor, near the
-mouth of the Chilkat river. The villages of the Chilkat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span>
-Indians, consisting of from fifteen to fifty houses each, are
-built along this river. At these villages Lieutenant Schwatka
-secured the services of about sixty Indians to go with him
-on his journey.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_095">
-  <img src="images/i_095.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Sitka, Alaska, in 1880.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The party started over a good trail and soon reached
-Haines’s mission on Chilkoot inlet. Here more Indians
-were added to the number already employed, and the
-tramp began over the mountains to the head waters of
-the Yukon. At first the party traveled through a riverlike
-channel between high, steep mountains, which were
-covered nearly to the top with pine, cedar, and spruce
-trees. The summits were covered with snow and ice,
-which melted and formed cascades and torrents, and
-rushed down the slopes, dashing over precipices and flinging
-spray in all directions.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p>
-
-<p>This journey brought them to the mouth of a river called
-the Dayay, where they camped. Schwatka now explained
-his plan to his Indian guides. He told them that when he
-should reach the Yukon, he intended to build a raft and
-float down the great river to its mouth. The Indians
-were astonished at this bold project. They ridiculed the
-idea, saying that no raft could make such a journey.
-There were lakes to pass through, they said, and miles of
-raging rapids, which would twist and tear any raft to
-pieces. But Schwatka paid no attention to their opinions.
-He kept steadily on his way, and the journey continued
-pleasant and easy through the Dayay river.</p>
-
-<p>On June 10, the course lay over the spurs of the mountains,
-and travel became difficult. The trail was up and
-down hill, over huge trunks of fallen trees, and through
-boggy swamps. Each man carried one hundred pounds
-of luggage on his back, and when he sank into a bog up
-to his knees, it was far from easy to get out.</p>
-
-<p>The snow line reached, the ascent of the pass over the
-Coast range was begun. Behind one another, in single
-file, the men scrambled up precipices and through valleys.
-Sometimes they crawled along on their hands and
-knees, often using their teeth to grasp a dwarf bush.
-In many places a single misstep would have resulted in
-death, but they persevered and at length succeeded in
-crossing the mountains without accident.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_097">
-  <img src="images/i_097.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Crossing the Coast Range.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Most of the Indians left Schwatka at this place and
-returned to their homes. Those who were to accompany
-him down the Yukon river to the coast camped with the
-white men, late in the evening, by a small lake called by
-Schwatka, Crater lake. It is the source of the great
-Yukon river.</p>
-
-<p>At Lake Lindeman the raft was built, and the stores<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span>
-and provisions were placed upon it. Then began the
-longest raft journey ever made for purposes of exploration.</p>
-
-<p>Lieutenant Schwatka and his companions propelled the
-raft, by means of rowing and sculling, through Lake Lindeman
-into another lake called Bennett lake. On the mountains
-around Bennett lake were beautiful blue glaciers,
-and among them shone peaks and ridges of a reddish
-color. Schwatka concluded that the red color was due
-to the presence of iron in the soil, and he accordingly
-named the range the Iron-capped mountains.</p>
-
-<p>The explorers now traveled through a chain of lakes
-connected by streams of water. The last lake led them
-into the Yukon river, which flowed rapidly, so that for a
-while the raft made good time. On July 1, the party
-came in sight of the upper end of the Grand Cañon of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span>
-Yukon, where the river, which had been about three hundred
-yards in width, grew narrower, until it was about
-thirty yards wide.</p>
-
-<p>The walls of the cañon are nearly a mile in length and
-are perpendicular columns of rock. The center of this
-cañon expands into a large basin full of whirlpools and
-eddies. The waters, white with foam, tear through this
-narrow passage of rock at the rate of six or seven miles
-an hour, with a roaring that can be heard at a great
-distance.</p>
-
-<p>At the northern end of the cañon the rushing river
-widens again, but for four miles it seethes, foams, and
-falls in cascades. The luggage was sent round by portage,
-and Schwatka prepared to shoot his raft through the
-rapids. Once started, the men could not control or guide
-the raft at all, but left it to work its own way. This it did
-very successfully, though many times they thought it would
-surely be dashed in pieces.</p>
-
-<p>After the rapids were passed, the men drew the sturdy
-raft ashore, and found that it needed but few repairs.
-While some of the men were engaged in mending the raft,
-the others fished. Schwatka found this the best fishing
-ground on the entire river; in a short time between
-four and five hundred fine grayling were caught with rod
-and fly.</p>
-
-<p>The raft was ready for use again by July 5, and on that
-day Schwatka and his party started once more down the
-Yukon, and soon passed through the last lake they were to
-encounter. After this the river became wider and was
-dotted with islands; then the site of old Fort Selkirk came
-into view.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_099">
-  <img src="images/i_099.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Tanana Station, River Yukon, in Winter.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fort Selkirk was built in 1850 by the Hudson Bay Trading
-Company for a trading post with the Indians. But<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span>
-the Chilkats wanted the furs from the interior for themselves;
-so they gathered a war party together, descended
-the Yukon river to Fort Selkirk, burned the building, and
-carried off the goods. Now all that remains of Fort
-Selkirk is a group of three old chimneys.</p>
-
-<p>Schwatka camped at this spot several days. Near the
-river bank he came upon a burial ground of the Ayan
-Indians, who inhabit this part of the country. A fence of
-rough boards, bound together by willows, is built around
-each grave. Above the grave there stands a long, light
-pole about twenty feet high, with a piece of colored cloth
-hanging from the top. Near the grave, but outside the
-inclosure, stands another pole of about the same height.
-To the top of this second pole is fastened a rude carving
-of a fish, duck, goose, bear, or some other animal or bird.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span></p>
-
-<p>These poles are called totems. They represent the most
-clever workmanship of these Indians, and are collected
-and sold as curiosities. Some of the carvings are very old
-and display remarkable skill. No one knows exactly what
-these totem poles mean, as the Indians are unwilling to
-talk about them, but they are supposed to indicate in some
-way the history of the buried person or of his tribe. The
-Indians do not make totem poles any more, but they carefully
-preserve those which they already have.</p>
-
-<p>At Fort Selkirk the Yukon begins to cut through the
-northern spurs of the Rocky mountains. This part of the
-river is known as the Upper Ramparts, and the scenery
-along the banks for one hundred miles is wondrously
-beautiful. Schwatka and his party left Selkirk July 15,
-and traveled through this beautiful country. As they
-rounded one of the islands, they saw about two hundred
-Ayan Indians gathered on the beach opposite, waiting to
-receive them.</p>
-
-<p>The Ayans had heard of the approach of the curious
-raft with its white owners, and were anxious to show them
-some attention. Many of the Indians ran up and down
-the bank, shouting, screaming, and waving their arms
-wildly. Others in birch-bark canoes surrounded the raft,
-and escorted it to shore. When the raft came near the
-shore, men, women, and children waded out to their waists
-in the ice-cold water and helped to drag it in. Schwatka
-feared at first that the Indians might do the party some
-harm, and ordered his companions to keep their guns near.
-But the Indians were very friendly. They began singing
-and dancing, while their medicine-man went through the
-most unheard-of performances.</p>
-
-<p>The Ayan huts are made of spruce brush. Over the
-top is thrown a piece of dirty canvas or a moose or caribou<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span>
-skin, and the huts are built so low that a man can scarcely
-stand erect inside. Quantities of salmon hang from the
-roof, partly dried, but still undergoing a smoking process
-from the dense clouds of smoke that arise from the fire.
-The dogs sleep in the house, lying around on the floor.
-In the winter the Ayans cover their tents thickly with
-skins and then bank them about with snow.</p>
-
-<p>As the party followed the river from this Indian village,
-they found the mountains becoming higher and grander,
-while—by way of contrast—the mosquitoes grew more
-annoying. The whole region swarmed with them, and the
-newcomers longed for veils. They were obliged to use
-small bushes to brush away the mosquitoes.</p>
-
-<p>The water of the Yukon became very muddy, so that it
-was impossible to fish with a rod and fly. At the Yukon
-flat lands, reached by our travelers after three weeks of
-traveling through this flat region, the river widened and
-was filled with low, sandy islands. The fort is situated on a
-curve of the river which happens to be almost directly
-upon the Arctic circle, and is called the Great Arctic bend.</p>
-
-<p>Fort Yukon is about one thousand miles from the mouth
-of the river, which at this point is seven miles wide. The
-river steamer, named the <i>Yukon</i>, was moored at the fort,
-and her cannon greeted the raftsmen. The settlement
-consists of a few old houses and the old fort built by the
-Hudson Bay Company. The Fort Yukon tribe of Indians
-live in the vicinity, but the hunting and fishing are poor,
-and the tribe is small and nomadic.</p>
-
-<p>After the river men had traded with the Indians the
-steamer proceeded upstream, while Schwatka and his
-party started downstream again on the raft. In a little
-while the country began to grow hilly once more, greatly
-to the delight of the travelers, for the low region had been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span>
-unendurably dreary. The hilly region is known as the
-Lower Ramparts, and its scenery is much like that of the
-Upper Ramparts.</p>
-
-<p>Another trading station was soon reached, where
-Schwatka saw the northernmost garden in the United
-States. This garden, within two days’ journey of the
-polar regions, belonged to the white man who was in
-charge of the station at that point. In it were growing
-turnips and other hardy vegetables, which tasted delicious
-to the men, who had been living so long upon canned
-foods.</p>
-
-<p>The raft was laid away at this place, after its journey of
-thirteen hundred and three miles, and the party embarked
-on a schooner, hoping to make better time. But they were
-forced to work their way down the river inch by inch, for
-heavy winds sprang up and more than once threatened to
-wreck the schooner. The <i>Yukon</i> at last overtook them,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span>
-on her return to the mouth of the river, as Schwatka had
-expected.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_102">
-  <img src="images/i_102.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Raft on which a Journey of Thirteen Hundred and Three
-Miles was made.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The great delta of the Yukon soon came into view. It
-consists of many islands and channels which have never
-been entirely explored. From the most northern mouth
-of the delta to the most southern is a distance of ninety
-miles. After the Alphoon, the northernmost mouth, was
-reached, a weary time began. The vessel slowly threaded
-her way through shallow channels of water and between
-mud banks, until she crept into the harbor of the little
-village of St. Michael on the coast. From this place
-Schwatka and his party embarked for San Francisco on
-the <i>Leo</i>, which had stopped at St. Michael on its way from
-Point Barrow.</p>
-
-<p>By this raft journey of Lieutenant Schwatka, the Yukon
-was navigated from its source to its mouth, a distance of
-two thousand and forty-four miles.</p>
-
-<p>This river is the fifth in length in the United States,
-and sends forth such a volume of water that it freshens
-Bering sea to a distance of ten miles.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">XVI. NANSEN CROSSES GREENLAND<br />
-<small>1888</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Schwatka had explored the interior of Alaska, but the
-interior of Greenland remained as great a mystery as ever.
-The only man who had attempted to cross the inland
-region was Nordenskjöld, who had penetrated only a few
-miles.</p>
-
-<p>In 1888 a young Norwegian named Fridtjof Nansen
-determined to cross the ice cap of Greenland.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen was an expert in the use of the ski. Ski are
-Norwegian snowshoes. They consist of long, narrow
-strips of wood, which are fastened to the shoes in about
-the same way in which we fasten skates. The ski are
-about eight feet in length and three or four inches in
-breadth. In front they are slightly pointed and curved
-up; often the back is pointed also. A man who is skillful
-in the use of ski can travel over the snow by means of
-them at a rate of eight or nine miles an hour. In Norway
-and in some other cold countries, where the snow lies deep
-a larger part of the year, ski are much used for traveling.</p>
-
-<p>The people of Norway love the sport of ski-löbning.
-During the long winter the boys and the girls go to and
-from school on ski. At recess they take a run on their ski,
-and often the teacher goes with them.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_105">
-  <img src="images/i_105.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Man on Ski.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nansen learned to use the ski when a boy, and after
-he was grown up he took great pleasure in strapping<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span>
-these queer shoes to his feet and trying to climb the high
-mountains.</p>
-
-<p>One day this question came suddenly into Nansen’s mind:
-Why might not a party of good ski-löbners cross Greenland
-from coast to coast? After thinking the matter over
-for a time, Nansen concluded that it could be done. From
-that moment he devoted all his time and energy to carrying
-out his idea. He decided that the best plan would
-be to start from the east coast and travel across to the
-west. The east coast was barren and uninhabited. Sometimes
-a few wandering Eskimo tribes found their way
-there, but no settlements had been made. On the western
-coast there were settlements.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p>
-
-<p>Nansen knew that if his party landed on the east coast
-and traveled west, they would travel toward safety. If
-this route were reversed, they would leave comfort and
-safety behind at every step, and move continually toward
-unknown dangers. The men might become discouraged,
-give up the expedition, and return to the settlements. So
-Nansen coolly made his plans
-to land on the east coast and
-cross Greenland to the west
-coast. By this arrangement
-the men would perceive that
-they must reach the west
-coast or die.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" id="i_106">
-  <img src="images/i_106.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Fridtjof Nansen.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The government of Norway
-would not assist Nansen.
-His plan was considered that
-of a madman. Many people
-said that he was attempting
-to do an impossible thing.
-Others said, “Of what use is
-this exploit, even if he does
-succeed?” These people did
-not know that a large portion
-of our earth was once
-ice-covered, as Greenland is
-to-day. If we would know the cause of many curious phenomena
-that now exist in our own land, we must study
-Greenland. As Greenland is now, so, probably, was a large
-part of the earth during the ice age, thousands of years ago.</p>
-
-<p>Though Nansen met with discouragements on every
-side, he continued to plan for the trip. At length a
-wealthy Danish gentleman gave him enough money to
-equip an expedition. It was not easy for Nansen to find<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span>
-companions for this journey, but he at length succeeded
-in securing the services of three Norwegians and two
-Lapps. The Norwegians were Otto Sverdrup, a retired
-ship captain, Oluf Dietrichson, a lieutenant in the army,
-and Kristian Kristiansen Trana, a peasant. The Lapps
-were named Balto and Ravna. Balto was a good-looking
-young man, who spoke a little English; he was a sea Lapp
-and lived in a town. Ravna was a mountain Lapp, forty-five
-years of age. He was short, and had long, black hair
-hanging over his shoulders. Ravna’s home was on the
-mountains, where he lived in a skin tent and took care of
-herds of reindeer.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_107">
-  <img src="images/i_107.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Herd of Reindeer.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nansen made sure that all these five men were skillful
-ski-löbners, for he thought that, when they reached the
-inland ice of Greenland, the journey would be rapid and
-easy on ski.</p>
-
-<p>Then Nansen arranged with the captain of a sealing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span>
-vessel to carry him and his companions to the Arctic
-ocean. After collecting tents, clothing, food, sleeping
-bags, and scientific instruments, the party proceeded to
-Iceland, where the captain of the sealing vessel had
-promised to call for them. On June 3, 1888, the sealing
-vessel, the <i>Jason</i>, arrived off the coast of Iceland, and
-Nansen and his companions were taken aboard. The
-<i>Jason</i> headed directly for Denmark strait, where seals
-abound, and in a short time the ship was among the
-ice floes. Every one on board was watching eagerly for
-seals, and at last a large number of the quiet creatures
-were seen lying like black dots on the floes.</p>
-
-<p>On board the <i>Jason</i> there was great excitement. The
-men flew about, making sure that rifles were clean and in
-good order and that cartridge boxes were filled. Then the
-hunters rushed to the boats and the capture began. One
-hundred and eighty-seven seals were shot that day. The
-sealers thought this a small number, but Nansen, who had
-never hunted seals before, thought it a very good day’s
-sport.</p>
-
-<p>Sealing vessels, in their efforts to make large hauls,
-usually push steadily on through the ice, until they are in
-the midst of crowds of seals. The force of the ice against
-the ship is often so great as to throw the sailors off their
-feet. When the vessel is well in among the seals the
-engines are stopped, and the men are ordered to start out
-in the small boats. There are three or four oarsmen with
-one shooter in each boat. Away they go in different directions,
-each boat trying to secure the greatest number it can
-carry and to return first to the ship. The seals lie all
-around on the edges of the ice floes, and at first pay no
-attention to the boats. They lift their heads and see the
-boats coming from a long distance away; then, ignorant<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span>
-of their danger, they lower their heads again and lie
-quiet.</p>
-
-<p>As the boats draw nearer, the seals sometimes slide off
-into the water. The hunters are quick to see any movement
-on the part of the seals. As soon as one moves
-toward the water, the men in the boat begin to shout as
-loudly as they can. The seal is so astonished by the unusual
-noise that he lies still awhile to think it over.</p>
-
-<p>Then the hunter takes aim, and if he shoots the animal
-through the head, it drops down on the ice again and dies.
-The other seals near by are not disturbed. They seem to
-think that their companion has gone quietly to sleep again,
-and that there can be no danger. Often several seals are
-shot in this way before the rest become alarmed.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes the shooter misses his mark and wounds the
-seal instead of killing him instantly. The wounded seal
-in his pain splashes around on the ice and in the water,
-and the others take fright and plunge into the sea. A
-great deal, therefore, depends upon the skill of the shooters,
-most of whom are accurate marksmen.</p>
-
-<p>When several seals have been shot, the men in the boat
-spring to the floes where they are lying and skin them.
-The skinning is done rapidly with long, sharp knives, and
-nothing is saved except the skin and the layer of blubber
-lying next it. The entire body of the seal is left on the ice.
-The Eskimos would think this practice very wasteful, for
-they make use of every part of the seal, including the bones.</p>
-
-<p>As sealers sometimes return from a trip to Denmark
-strait with five thousand skins aboard, it is not surprising
-that seals are becoming scarce in that locality.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen was glad when the haul of seals was over and
-the <i>Jason</i> steamed away again toward Greenland. Several
-times the coast had been sighted, but the ship had never<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span>
-drawn near enough to make it possible to land. Balto
-was not very well pleased with his first glimpse of Greenland.
-In his account of his voyage, he said that the coast
-had no beauty nor charm to the eye, but was dismal and
-hideous to look upon; that the mountain peaks were very
-high and rose like church steeples into the clouds, which
-hid the summits.</p>
-
-<p>But Nansen thought the coast beautiful. The snow-covered
-peaks glittered in the sunlight and extended as
-far as the eye could reach, while far to the west stretched
-the vast white plain of inland ice.</p>
-
-<p>On July 17, 1888, as the <i>Jason</i> was not more than ten or
-twelve miles from the coast of Greenland, Nansen made
-up his mind to leave the ship. All the baggage was
-brought on deck, farewells were said, and at seven o’clock
-in the evening Nansen and his five companions climbed
-down the ship’s ladder and embarked in two boats. The
-<i>Jason’s</i> guns saluted; the <i>Jason’s</i> crew cheered. But deep
-down in their hearts the sailors believed that Nansen and
-his men were going to certain death. No thought of fear,
-however, disturbed the brave band. With the exception of
-Balto and Ravna, they were all delighted to enter upon
-the perilous journey.</p>
-
-<p>At first everything went well. There were channels of
-water between the floes, wide enough for the boats to pass
-through. But soon the ice began to pack, and the boats
-had to be pulled up upon the floes and dragged across to
-open water. It was hard to keep the light craft from
-being crushed between the ice masses. Then the current
-became so strong that the men were obliged to draw the
-boats up on a floe, in order to escape from it.</p>
-
-<p>The ice which had collected around them threw the
-smaller floes upon the larger ones, making the ice uneven<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span>
-and difficult to traverse. After working all night, the men
-crawled into their sleeping bags, and were soon asleep.</p>
-
-<p>For several days little progress was made toward land.
-Then a heavy swell arose and the breakers dashing over
-the floe where the tent had been pitched threatened to
-wash it away.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_111">
-  <img src="images/i_111.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Nansen’s Camp on the Drift Ice.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Suddenly the floe split through the middle, and the
-travelers were obliged to remove to a larger one and camp
-again. The tent stood now on a piece of drifting ice,
-about ten miles from land, with every prospect of being
-carried out to sea, where small boats could not live in the
-heavy waves. The outlook was certainly gloomy.</p>
-
-<p>One morning Nansen missed Balto and Ravna. In
-searching for them he lifted the canvas covering of one of
-the boats, and saw the two Lapps lying in the bottom of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span>
-the boat, side by side. Balto was reading to Ravna from
-his Lappish New Testament, for both had made up their
-minds that they must drown, and were preparing for death.</p>
-
-<p>That day the ice tilted and rolled like a raft on the
-angry waves, so that it was almost impossible to cook
-the soup for their dinner. The poor frightened Lapps
-did not speak a word, but the rest of the men knew no
-fear, and laughed and joked as usual.</p>
-
-<p>When night came, all the men, except Balto and Sverdrup,
-went to bed in the tent; Balto preferred to sleep in
-a boat, and Sverdrup was to keep watch.</p>
-
-<p>Slowly and calmly, brave Otto Sverdrup paced up and
-down the ice. The floe rocked like a ship at sea, and the
-heavy waves dashed over it, threatening to wash away the
-entire camp. Several times Sverdrup was obliged to hold
-the boat in which Balto was sleeping, to keep it from
-being swept off the ice. Once it seemed that the tent
-must be washed off also, and Sverdrup stepped up to it
-and unfastened one of the hooks. He meant to call the
-men, so that they might get into the boats, and, if possible,
-escape with their lives. But Sverdrup paused a
-moment. The sea seemed to grow quieter, and a current
-arose which quieted the breakers and changed the course
-of the drifting ice, which, instead of sailing out to sea, now
-floated in the opposite direction.</p>
-
-<p>When Nansen awoke in the morning, he was surprised
-to find the open sea far off, and the ice drifting calmly
-toward the land. All the party rejoiced that they had
-remained on the ice, which at one time seemed so dangerous.
-Their safety was due to the fearlessness and
-calm judgment of Sverdrup.</p>
-
-<p>The work of launching the boats and dragging them
-over the ice continued for a week longer. One morning<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span>
-Nansen was resting quietly in his tent, when Ravna, who
-was on watch without, pulled aside the canvas and peered
-in. He appeared so excited that Nansen asked him if he
-could see land. “Yes, yes,” replied Ravna, “land too
-near!”—meaning, “land very near.” Nansen sprang
-from his sleeping bag and looked out. Land was very
-near, and there was open water in front of them. The
-boats were quickly launched. After some hours of hard
-pulling the party found a harbor and landed.</p>
-
-<p>The voyagers rejoiced to be on land once more. They
-walked over the stones and rocks, and picked moss and a
-stalk or two of grass. They had a good dinner to celebrate
-the landing: biscuit, cheese, and jam to eat, and hot
-chocolate to drink. When dinner was over, they started
-north again in boats along the coast, for Nansen wished to
-begin his journey across Greenland farther to the north
-than the place where he had landed.</p>
-
-<p>The travelers picked their way on along the coast until a
-great glacier came in sight, which Nansen knew to be the
-famous Puisortok. Puisortok means the place where something
-shoots up, and the Eskimos regard the spot with fear.
-When they pass this dreadful place they will not speak,
-laugh, eat, nor smoke. They will not look toward the glacier,
-or even mention the name Puisortok. They believe
-that if they do any of these things the glacier will become
-angry and cause their death.</p>
-
-<p>Balto was one day gazing through the telescope near
-this place, when he saw two small black spots in the distance
-which seemed to be moving rapidly toward him. As
-they grew more distinct, he shouted to Nansen that two
-men were coming. When they came nearer, the strangers
-proved to be two young East Greenland Eskimos traveling
-through the ice floes in their kayaks.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span></p>
-
-<p>These Eskimos were short in stature and very good-looking.
-Their faces were broad and round, and their features
-regular. Their skin was chestnut-brown, and their hair
-long, black, and shiny. One wore a jacket and breeches
-of sealskin, with strings of beads in his hair, while the other
-wore sealskin trousers and a jacket of blue cotton. On
-their heads they wore large flat-brimmed hats, made of
-blue cotton stretched across a wooden ring. On the crown
-was a large red cross.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_114">
-  <img src="images/i_114.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A Group of Greenland Eskimos.</span></p>
-    <p class="noic"><small>After photograph by Nansen.</small></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Eskimos showed great astonishment at the boats
-and other strange things that they saw, and when Nansen
-gave them some food, they seemed much pleased. By<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span>
-gestures they warned Nansen about the dangerous Puisortok,
-and then set off northward again in their kayaks.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen and his men passed Puisortok without any
-trouble, though they talked and laughed as usual. They
-looked at the dreaded glacier, and admired the beautiful
-color of the ice, which shaded from blue to a milky white.
-Yet old Puisortok showed no signs of anger. Soon the
-wayfarers came upon an Eskimo camp. High up among
-the rocks stood the skin tents, while the Eskimos themselves
-were gathered outside, running about in a highly excited
-manner, chattering and waving their arms. As the boats
-came nearer, the people on the land yelled and shrieked.
-Some ran to the shore, and some to high points on rocks,
-where they could get a better view of the strangers.</p>
-
-<p>They welcomed the newcomers with smiles of delight,
-and helped them in every possible way. Nansen and his
-friends were invited into the Eskimo tents. They remained
-inside as long as possible, but the filth soon drove
-them out. When Nansen and his men went to bed in
-their own tent, the Eskimos stood around in crowds, gaping
-curiously to see them undress and crawl into their
-sleeping bags.</p>
-
-<p>The Eskimos gave the white men pieces of sealskin, and
-in return their guests presented them with the empty tin
-cans in which their meat had been packed. These gifts
-pleased the natives very much. They contrived to make
-Nansen understand that two tribes, one traveling north
-and the other south, had met at this place, and that now
-they were preparing to separate and continue their journey.
-Nansen determined to accompany the tribe which was
-going north, because he thought that their knowledge of
-the coast might be of assistance to him.</p>
-
-<p>The accomplished Eskimos were not long in preparing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span>
-for the journey. In a twinkling the tents were down and
-everything was packed. Before they parted, the members
-of the different tribes bade one another good-by, rubbing
-their noses together, instead of kissing. A few
-remained behind the others for a specially tender farewell.
-They drew up in a line like soldiers, and brought out snuff
-horns. One man would take snuff from a horn, and pass
-it on to the next. They spent several hours in this ceremony,
-each man taking snuff many times. Nansen
-thought they would sneeze themselves to death.</p>
-
-<p>Only the Eskimos who had come from the south had their
-horns full of snuff. The tribe from the north was bound
-for the Danish colonies on the southern coast, to procure
-this important article. The journey takes about two years,
-one year to reach the Danish colonies, and one year to
-return. When the colonies are reached, the Eskimos
-spend an hour or two in trading. After they obtain the
-snuff, they start on their homeward journey. Their form
-of snuff is simply tobacco, ground to a powder between
-stones. In exchange for the tobacco, the Eskimos give
-large, fine bearskins, foxskins, and sealskins. They pay
-high prices for articles which cost the white men very
-little money.</p>
-
-<p>When the farewell was over, the Eskimos parted, and
-Nansen tried to keep the north-bound travelers in sight, but
-he soon found that he must depend upon himself and break
-his own way through the ice. The journey grew harder
-and harder, and in camp the travelers were often tormented
-by swarms of mosquitoes. Clouds of the small insects
-swarmed around them and annoyed the men almost beyond
-endurance. Any amount of work in the ice was to be preferred
-to an attack by mosquitoes.</p>
-
-<p>The party traveled through the water among huge icebergs;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span>
-they plodded wearily over ice hummocks; finally,
-they drew up their boats for the last time at a place where
-Nansen thought they could climb the steep ascent from
-the coast, and reach the inland ice.</p>
-
-<p>The boats were left in a cleft in the rocks, carefully
-blocked with stones to keep them steady. Then began
-the climb up the mountains to the plateau. The ascent
-was steep, and the men had hard work to drag up the
-sledges. Often one of the climbers would sink into a deep
-crevasse and have to be rescued by his companions.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_117">
-  <img src="images/i_117.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">A View in the Interior of Greenland.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The crevasses grew deeper and more dangerous as the
-party advanced, and soon a rain storm set in, which delayed
-the travelers three days. While they were lying in the tents,
-the men followed the wise example of the bears and did no
-work. They ate very little and only once a day, but slept
-a great deal.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p>
-
-<p>When they took up the journey again, they found the
-ice hard. But a heavy snowstorm began, and it was difficult
-to drag the sledges through the deep drifts. At last,
-when they reached a point six thousand feet above the
-level of the sea, the wind was blowing fiercely and the temperature
-stood at zero.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen decided to rig a sail for the sledges, hoping
-by this contrivance to make the wind serve as an aid.
-Old Ravna was disgusted with the plan, and Balto, too,
-thought it absurd to try to sail on the snow. But Nansen
-made the sails, and the two Lapps were soon forced to
-admit that their use made the load lighter to draw.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_118">
-  <img src="images/i_118.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Sledging across Greenland.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The snow was still very deep, and when, on August 30,
-it was in condition for the men to use the ski, they joyfully
-strapped them on. In a short time they had attained the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span>
-plateau, and then for days they toiled over a flat, wide
-expanse of snow. The highest elevation which Nansen
-reached during this journey was nine thousand two hundred
-and seventy-two feet, and the lowest temperature he
-experienced was 49° below zero.</p>
-
-<p>The sledges were heavy, and the Lapps grumbled all the
-time, Ravna especially being very low-spirited. One day
-he said to Nansen: “I am an old Lapp, and a silly
-old fool, too. I don’t believe we shall ever get to the
-coast.”</p>
-
-<p>Nansen answered: “That is quite true, Ravna. You are
-a silly old fool.”</p>
-
-<p>Ravna’s spirits grew lighter when the party reached the
-highest part of the plateau and began to descend, for then
-they went along swiftly on their ski, or coasted down the
-slopes. Sometimes they encountered crevasses and had to
-pick their way carefully, and once Nansen fell into a deep
-chasm and had to scramble desperately to get out. When
-the bare rocks came in view, Ravna was so delighted that
-he insisted upon carrying a double load. He said that the
-mountain grasses and the reindeer moss reminded him of
-his own mountains at home.</p>
-
-<p>At last the travelers reached the sea and encamped in
-a sheltered valley. Nansen and Sverdrup built a rude boat
-and embarked for Godthaab, the nearest town on the coast,
-whence they sent back natives to bring their comrades to
-town.</p>
-
-<p>The Greenlanders took the two Lapps for women, because
-of their long tunics of reindeer skin. But Ravna
-and Balto did not resent this mistake; they were perfectly
-happy now and at ease. They told the natives about the
-wonderful things that they had seen during the journey
-over the inland ice.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span></p>
-
-<p>Nansen was sadly disappointed when he heard that he
-could not sail for home until the spring, for the ship on
-which he had hoped to sail had already gone. He sent
-two swift kayak travelers with letters, to try to overtake the
-ship at another town where she was to stop.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_120">
-  <img src="images/i_120.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Skating off the Coast of Greenland.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nansen and his companions spent the winter comfortably
-at Godthaab. They found plenty to keep them busy.
-Nansen learned to use the kayak skillfully; he hunted
-and fished, and made two trips upon the inland ice.</p>
-
-<p>In the spring, when the ship arrived which was to take
-them home, all the party felt sorry to part with the good
-friends they had made in Greenland. The farewells over,
-Nansen was soon homeward bound. On May 30, 1888,
-the ship entered Christiania fiord. The harbor was filled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span>
-with steamers and sailing vessels, all crowded with people,
-assembled to greet the man who had succeeded in crossing
-the inland ice of Greenland. Flags were waved, bells
-rung, and cheers were given with a will, to show the honor
-which Norway would pay her son, Fridtjof Nansen.</p>
-
-<p>When Nansen had disembarked and entered a carriage
-to be driven home, the people were so excited that they
-dashed forward, unharnessed the horses from the carriage,
-and seizing the pole, drew him in triumph through the
-city.</p>
-
-<p>The scientific and geographical results of this journey of
-Nansen’s were very great. Much valuable knowledge
-was gained concerning the character of the interior of
-Greenland.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">XVII. THE VOYAGE OF THE <i>FRAM</i><br />
-<small>1893–1896</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Nansen had not been at home very long before he began
-making preparations for a second voyage to the icy North.
-This time he meant to find the North Pole if possible.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen believed the theory that a current in the Arctic
-ocean passes over the pole. His plan was to work his way
-through the ice to the New Siberia islands, and then allow
-his vessel to be frozen in the ice pack. He believed that
-the vessel would be carried with the drift across the pole,
-to the east coast of Greenland. It was a daring plan, but
-the people of Norway now believed in Nansen and were
-willing to assist him. They gave him an amount equal to
-$75,600 of our money, so that he was able to equip his
-expedition.</p>
-
-<p>First of all he had a vessel built which would resist ice
-pressures. The hull was shaped so that the pressure would
-raise the vessel up on the ice, instead of crushing her.
-This vessel was called the <i>Fram</i>, a Norwegian word which
-means “onward.” Nansen chose his crew, all natives of
-Norway, and made the necessary preparations for the
-voyage. Enough provisions were put on board to last
-five years. Sverdrup, who had been so brave and helpful
-during the trip across Greenland, was chosen to command
-the <i>Fram</i>.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p>
-
-<p>At last everything was ready, and the day of departure
-arrived. The <i>Fram</i> was lying in Christiania harbor
-when Nansen boarded her (1893). While they were
-still sailing along the coast of Norway, a severe storm
-arose. The sea broke over the rails of the vessel, and
-for a while Nansen feared that the deck cargo would be
-carried overboard, and that the <i>Fram</i> would meet with
-disaster before she reached the ice. But the storm cleared,
-the sun shone again, and the men had a last glimpse of
-their native land.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_123">
-  <img src="images/i_123.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The Launching of the “Fram.”</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Then a dense fog surrounded the vessel, and she headed
-for the dreaded Kara sea. The Kara sea was filled with
-ice, but the <i>Fram</i> behaved admirably. Nansen said that it
-was a pleasure to take her into difficult ice, because she
-was so strong, and that she turned and twisted as easily as
-a ball on a plate.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>Fram</i> proceeded along the bleak Siberian coast. One<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span>
-morning a herd of walruses came in sight. Nansen and
-two companions jumped into a boat and went after them.
-One of the men threw a harpoon at the nearest walrus, but
-did not hit him. This proceeding so startled the other walruses
-that they plunged into the water, but not before Nansen
-had shot two of them. They rose again around the
-boat, bellowing and roaring, and lashing the sea into a foam.
-It seemed likely that the powerful animals would overturn
-the boat or pierce it with their tusks. But no accident
-happened, and Nansen secured several walruses, which
-served as food for the crew.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_124">
-  <img src="images/i_124.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Boat attacked by Walrus.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>By September 25, 1893, they had reached the New Siberia
-islands, where the <i>Fram</i> was unable to push her way farther,
-and was soon frozen in the pack. Now there was nothing
-to do but to wait. At first the time passed pleasantly
-enough. The men amused themselves by playing games,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span>
-caring for the dogs, taking observations, and making
-various kinds of tools; but soon they had to bestir themselves,
-for on October 5, the first severe ice pressure took
-place.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen was in the cabin chatting with his companions,
-when they heard a terrific noise and felt the ship tremble
-from bow to stern. Every one rushed to the deck to see how
-the <i>Fram</i> would conduct herself. The noise steadily increased,
-and the ice cracked on every side. The sea tossed
-the floes, which were from ten to fifteen feet thick, one upon
-another, until immense piles of ice were heaped around.
-The <i>Fram</i> quivered all over and then was lifted gently up.
-After a few moments the uproar had ceased, and the ship
-sank slowly down again into her old position. Nansen was
-delighted, because the <i>Fram</i> had behaved during the nip
-just as he had hoped. Had she not risen and pushed the
-floes down beneath her, she would have been crushed
-among them.</p>
-
-<p>The autumn passed away pleasantly. Polar bears were
-numerous, and the men enjoyed the sport of hunting them.
-When Christmas (1893) came, the day was celebrated by
-a very good dinner. The men made speeches and gave
-one another Christmas gifts. They did not dream that
-another Christmas would find them still drifting, with the
-knowledge that little headway had been made.</p>
-
-<p>At last Nansen made up his mind to leave the ship and
-journey by sledge with one of his companions toward the
-North Pole. All the crew set to work to prepare for this
-dangerous trip. The dogs were exercised and trained,
-sledges and kayaks were built, and provisions weighed
-out and packed. The weather was bitterly cold, the wind
-blew fiercely, and ice pressures were increasing in number
-and severity.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span></p>
-
-<p>On January 3, 1895, the <i>Fram</i> encountered the most severe
-pressure which she had to meet. The accumulated
-floes formed a ridge of ice which reached to the ship and
-was level with the rails. Masses of ice dashed over the
-decks, and the crashing and grinding were terrible to hear.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen feared that the ship would be crushed, and
-orders were given to put everything in a place of safety.
-But the stanch vessel held her own, and came out of the
-pressure safely. When the danger was over, the <i>Fram</i> was
-found to be uninjured, but one of her sides was buried
-in the ice mound, which reached six feet above the rails.</p>
-
-<p>About two months later, Nansen set out upon his daring
-trip toward the pole. He took Johansen with him, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span>
-left the <i>Fram</i>, then in latitude 84° north, in command of
-Otto Sverdrup. The journey northward had to be made
-over difficult ice filled with hummocks, and, worse than
-this, a southerly drift set in, which carried the whole pack
-south almost as fast as they traveled north. Many of the
-dogs became utterly exhausted and had to be killed. It
-made Nansen very sad to be obliged to part with the
-faithful animals who had helped him so much.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_126">
-  <img src="images/i_126.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Nansen and Johansen leaving the “Fram.”</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>At night Nansen and Johansen were so tired that they
-often fell asleep while eating their supper. When they
-crept into their sleeping bags, their clothes were sometimes
-frozen stiff, but the heat of their bodies in their bags thawed
-them out.</p>
-
-<p>Notwithstanding all these hardships, Nansen and his
-companion succeeded in reaching 86° 14ʹ north latitude on
-April 8, 1895. This was the highest latitude so far reached
-by any explorer. The North Pole was but two hundred
-and sixty-one miles farther north. Nansen knew he could
-not reach the pole through such masses of floes and hummocks,
-and accordingly he decided to return, changing his
-course to the south. The travelers found many channels
-between the ice floes, which were difficult to cross. The
-dogs were now so few in number that the men had to do
-dogs’ work, and drag the sledges. The ice became soft,
-so that the ski and the sledges sank deep into it. Sometimes
-the men sank in up to their armpits.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen’s report of this journey has led many people to
-believe that the warm and the cold ocean currents meet at
-the pole, and that the effect of the united currents is
-to make the ice rotten and dangerous for travel. Some
-explorers believe that it is impossible to travel the last
-hundred miles of the journey toward the pole by sledge
-or boat. They think that the ice is too soft for sledge<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span>
-travel, and too compact for travel by boat. If this be
-true, a balloon or airship will have to be used in order
-to reach the pole. It is no wonder that Nansen and
-Johansen became discouraged.</p>
-
-<p>By June 30, 1895, the two explorers were certain that
-they would have to pass the winter in the ice. Nansen
-knew that he must secure some game, for his provisions
-would not last through the winter; therefore he and
-Johansen pushed on south as fast as they could, and at
-last shot a seal and a bear. Only two dogs were left, and
-at length they too had to be shot. One dog was Nansen’s
-favorite, and the other was Johansen’s. Nansen took
-Johansen’s dog behind a hummock, and Johansen did
-the same with Nansen’s. Then both guns were fired
-together and the faithful dogs were dead. This was the
-hardest thing these two men had to do during the journey.
-When they met again, they felt so sad that neither of them
-could speak.</p>
-
-<p>One day, while looking through the telescope, Nansen
-saw land in the distance. The two men hastened toward
-it, and for the first time in two years they felt the naked
-earth beneath their feet. It was summer, and seals, birds,
-and flowers were all about them. In front lay the open
-sea, and Nansen thought he might sail on, and perhaps
-reach home. But he was disappointed, for after sailing a
-short distance, he again found ice and was obliged to
-return.</p>
-
-<p>It was now certain that Nansen and Johansen would
-have to pass the winter on the island, and they began their
-preparations for it. They built a hut of stone, and stretched
-walrus hides over the roof and floor. Fortunately game
-was plenty, so that they shot many seals and walruses.
-The blubber of the walrus was a favorite article of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span>
-diet, for in cold countries men long for fatty food. It
-was so cold that often Nansen and Johansen had to sleep
-in the same bag in order to keep warm. Sometimes they
-drew pieces of blubber out of the lamp and ate them.
-These favorite dainties they called biscuit. The walrus
-hides attracted the bears and foxes to the hut, so that often
-during the winter the men succeeded in securing fresh
-meat.</p>
-
-<p>The winter was a long and weary one. Though Christmas,
-1895, found them rather low-spirited, they made up
-their minds to observe the day. Their celebration consisted
-of reversing their shirts, and treating themselves to bread
-and chocolate. They broke up their camp in the spring
-(May, 1896), and started southward by water.</p>
-
-<p>During this trip Nansen nearly lost his life. The men
-left their kayaks one day fastened to the edge of the ice,
-while they went to the top of a hummock to look around.
-Presently Johansen shouted, “The kayaks are adrift.”
-Both men rushed for the water, and Nansen, reaching it
-first, jumped in and swam for the boats. The water was
-terribly cold and the boats had drifted a long distance, but
-Nansen knew that the loss of the boats meant death to him
-and his companion. He swam as long as he could, and
-then lay on his back and floated, to rest. Again he tried
-to swim, but his limbs became stiff and numb so that he
-could scarcely move them. Feebly he pushed on until he
-succeeded in grasping a ski which was lying across the
-bow, and so drawing the kayak to him. It was almost
-more than his chilled and weary body could accomplish to
-pull himself into one of the boats and paddle back. Johansen,
-who was anxiously watching, expected every moment
-to see his companion sink down unconscious. But Nansen’s
-iron will and strength conquered. Johansen gave<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span>
-Nansen a warm drink, and put him to bed in his sleeping
-bag.</p>
-
-<p>Two days later Nansen went walrus hunting, and had
-another narrow escape. One of the walruses stuck his
-tusks through the side of the kayak and nearly upset it,
-but Nansen struck the walrus with the paddle until he
-loosed his hold and swam away.</p>
-
-<p>Shortly after this adventure, Nansen was one day standing
-on a hummock, looking round over the vast desert of
-snow, ice, and rock. Suddenly he heard a sound like the
-bark of a dog, and then something very like the report
-of a gun. He shouted to Johansen, who called back that
-he heard nothing. Nevertheless, Nansen resolved to go
-in the direction of the sound, and find out what it was.
-Off he started over the hummocks. After traveling some
-distance he came upon the footprints of an animal. It
-might have been the track of a fox or a wolf, but it looked
-strangely like the track of a dog. Then Nansen distinctly
-heard a dog barking in the distance. Very soon he heard
-a human voice also. Wild with excitement and joy, he
-mounted a hummock and shouted at the top of his
-lungs.</p>
-
-<p>An answering shout started him off at full speed in the
-direction from which it came. Amid a sea of hummocks,
-Nansen soon saw the figure of a man, followed by a dog.
-The two men walked toward each other, waving their hats.
-When they met they shook hands, and after they had
-exchanged a few words the stranger looked sharply at
-Nansen, and said, “Are you not Nansen?”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, I am.”</p>
-
-<p>“By Jove! I am glad to meet you.”</p>
-
-<p>The two shook hands again and again. The stranger
-was Jackson, the English Arctic explorer, and his ship, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span>
-<i>Windward</i>, was expected every day. Jackson told Nansen
-that the land on which he stood was Franz Josef land.</p>
-
-<p>Jackson then sent a man to bring Johansen to his camp,
-and soon both he and Nansen were enjoying the comforts
-of civilized life. After fifteen months of blubber and
-bear meat, it was a welcome change to eat the food of
-white men, to sleep in beds, to read newspapers and books,
-and to have a change of clothing.</p>
-
-<p>It was arranged that Nansen and Johansen should sail
-with Jackson on the <i>Windward</i> for Norway. The ship
-arrived July 26, and August 7, under a favorable wind, the
-whole party embarked.</p>
-
-<p>A pilot boarded the vessel when she reached the coast
-of Norway, and when he found that Nansen was a passenger,
-he was amazed. The pilot told Nansen that everybody
-thought him dead, for the <i>Fram</i> had not been heard
-from. Nansen assured him that the <i>Fram</i> was safe, for he
-felt sure that Sverdrup would bring the vessel home.</p>
-
-<p>Immediately after landing, Nansen and Johansen went
-to a telegraph office, where they sent many dispatches, so
-that the wonderful news of their return was soon received
-over all parts of the civilized world.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen had succeeded in reaching latitude 86° 14ʹ,
-farther north than any other explorer had yet attained,
-and had returned safely. Millions of people rejoiced, and
-Nansen’s name was upon every tongue.</p>
-
-<p>At Hammerfest, Nansen met his wife and Sir George
-Baden-Powell, who had been on the point of sending out
-an expedition in search of him. But Nansen’s heart was
-heavy in the midst of all the rejoicing, for no news had
-been heard from the <i>Fram</i>, and although he had perfect
-confidence in Otto Sverdrup, he began to fear that harm
-had befallen his brave comrades.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span></p>
-
-<p>One morning he was awakened by Sir Baden-Powell
-knocking at his door. “Come down immediately,” said
-Sir Baden; “a man wishes to see you.” Nansen hurriedly
-dressed and ran below.</p>
-
-<p>There stood the manager of the telegraph office. The
-manager handed Nansen a telegram, which he opened
-with trembling fingers. It read as follows:—</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“<i>Fram</i> arrived in good condition. All well on board.
-Am going to Tromsö. Welcome home. O. S.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nansen nearly fainted with excitement and relief from
-his terrible anxiety. Sir Baden shouted with joy. Johansen
-smiled until his face looked like a full moon. As
-soon as the good news of the <i>Fram’s</i> return became
-known, the general rejoicing in Hammerfest spread to
-all parts of the world.</p>
-
-<p>Nansen’s daring expedition to the North had ended successfully,
-and without the loss of a single life. Although
-Nansen had not reached the pole, he had come within
-two hundred and sixty-one miles of it. This was two
-hundred miles nearer than any previous explorer had
-penetrated. The theory of the southeast current was
-proved to be correct, for the <i>Fram</i> had drifted into a
-high latitude, and then out into the Atlantic between
-Spitzbergen and Greenland. If the <i>Fram</i> had entered
-the ice pack three hundred miles farther east, Nansen
-believes that she would have drifted in a course parallel
-to the one she actually followed. This course would have
-carried her over the pole.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII. PEARY CROSSES GREENLAND<br />
-<small>1891–1897</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>While Nansen was busily exploring, Robert E. Peary, a
-civil engineer in the United States Navy, determined to
-make an attempt to cross the inland ice of Greenland.
-Peary was making his plans for this journey when the
-news came that Nansen had succeeded in crossing the ice
-cap from the eastern coast of Greenland to the western.</p>
-
-<p>Upon hearing this, Peary changed his plans and decided
-to try to reach the northern point of Greenland overland.
-This journey would take him across the inland ice by a
-route much farther north than that taken by Nansen. It
-would also enable Peary to discover whether Greenland
-was a continent, as many supposed, or merely an island.</p>
-
-<p>Funds for the trip were raised by private contribution
-through the efforts of Lieutenant Peary’s friends, and on
-June 6, 1891, the expedition sailed from Brooklyn on the
-steamer <i>Kite</i>. Peary had already made one trip to Greenland,
-and his friends waved their farewells cheerfully, feeling
-certain that he would succeed in his undertaking.</p>
-
-<p>After a pleasant voyage, the <i>Kite</i> reached Upernavik,
-where she anchored. Peary hoped to secure the services
-of an interpreter at this place, but he was unable to do so.
-Soon the party set sail again, leaving behind them the
-northernmost town on the globe. The <i>Kite</i> steamed
-along for some time without meeting much ice, but when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span>
-she entered Melville bay the pack closed round her, and
-the 4th of July found the little vessel snugly frozen in.</p>
-
-<p>Here she remained for a week, during which the average
-temperature was about 31° F. On July 11, the ice
-separated and the ship began to move. The engines
-were started in a hurry. After forcing a passage through
-a mass of thick ice, the ship was freed and proceeded on
-her journey.</p>
-
-<p>While the process of ramming the ice was going on,
-Mr. Peary met with an accident. A large cake of ice
-struck the rudder, tearing the wheel from the hands of the
-two men on duty. Peary’s leg was caught between the
-iron tiller and the house, and both bones snapped above
-the ankle. The ship’s surgeon set the broken leg, and
-Peary recovered rapidly. He was, however, unable to use
-his leg for many weeks.</p>
-
-<p>Soon the <i>Kite</i> ran into McCormick bay, where a site for a
-house was selected. It was now about the middle of July,
-and the short summer was at its height. The sun was
-bright and warm, and the temperature about like that of
-an April day in the temperate zone.</p>
-
-<p>The ice still filled the bay, but narrow streams of water
-trickled through in all directions, cutting the ice into great
-pieces which rose and fell with the tide. Little brooks
-ran down the mountains and through the valleys by the
-side of great glaciers, while the snowbirds chirped and
-twittered, enjoying the brief summer time.</p>
-
-<p>The country around was bright with flowers. Tracks
-of reindeer, foxes, and hares were repeatedly noticed, and
-seals and walruses abounded, so that the party had no fear
-of suffering for want of fresh meat.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_135">
-  <img src="images/i_135.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Setting Fox Traps.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The wood for the house was taken off the ship. In
-order to insure warmth, the walls were made double, with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span>
-an air space of ten inches between the outer and inner
-wall. The house was then covered with tarred paper, and
-the inner walls lined with thick, red, Indian blankets. In
-addition, a wind-break of stones, turf, empty barrels, and
-boxes was built around the house. The dwelling was
-roofed with canvas, and in the winter was to be banked
-with snow. When the little building was completed, they
-christened it Red Cliff House, because of the cliffs of sandstone
-which rose behind it.</p>
-
-<p>When the stores were safely stowed away within the
-outer wall, the <i>Kite</i> steamed away home, leaving Peary,
-with his wife and his assistants, to spend the winter
-within seven hundred and forty miles of the North Pole.</p>
-
-<p>Peary and his party were very comfortable and contented.
-They enjoyed the crisp air and the bright sunshine,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span>
-and they liked to watch the beautiful blue-green
-colors in the ice of the glaciers.</p>
-
-<p>The men hunted, and secured numbers of reindeer skins
-and furs of all sorts. They fished, and explored the surrounding
-islands. While on these trips they sometimes
-met Eskimos, who often accompanied them to Red Cliff
-House. Some of the Eskimos came with their dog teams,
-and Peary was always glad to buy the dogs from them.
-By November 7 there were seventeen men, women, and
-children at the camp, and Peary built a large snow hut for
-them to live in.</p>
-
-<p>Soon the long night began and all hunting came to an end.
-Then the members of the party busied themselves preparing
-for the great journey over the inland ice which Peary
-intended to make in the spring. The reindeer skins were
-stretched and dried and prepared for clothing by the
-Eskimo women. In order to soften the skin so that it
-could be used for clothing, the women folded it once with
-the hair inside. Then they chewed it all along the edge
-until the fold was made pliable. Another fold was then
-made, and treated in the same manner. This process was
-continued until the entire skin had been carefully chewed.
-It was then scraped, and if necessary, the work was
-repeated. It took two of Peary’s best workers about a
-day to prepare a large buckskin. The teeth of the Eskimo
-women are often worn down nearly to the gums by doing
-this work.</p>
-
-<p>Peary himself cut the patterns of the clothes and sleeping
-bags, and the Eskimo women did the sewing. Peary’s
-men busied themselves in trying to make sledges lighter
-and stronger than anything they had yet found. They
-fashioned ivory and horn braces for the sledges. Some of
-the Eskimo men helped to make ivory rings for the dogs’<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span>
-harness. The Eskimo women chewed and sewed, and
-everybody was busy and happy.</p>
-
-<p>A large number of Eskimos visited Peary during the
-winter, some coming from a distance of two hundred miles.
-When the white men could not pronounce the queer names
-of the Eskimos, they gave them nicknames. A certain trio
-were known as the Priest, the Smiler, and the Villain.
-The Villain was an entirely harmless Eskimo, whose chief
-failing was his huge appetite.</p>
-
-<p>On Christmas Day, Peary invited his Eskimo friends to
-dinner. After his own party had partaken of a remarkably
-good Christmas feast, a fine venison stew was prepared
-for the Eskimos. Dr. Cook, the ship’s surgeon, saw
-that the guests were clean, to outward appearance at least,
-and a jolly, happy party they were, sitting down at a civilized
-dinner table for the first time in their lives.</p>
-
-<p>The Eskimo men wore sealskin coats and bearskin
-trousers, while the ladies appeared in foxskin jackets and
-trousers. The Villain sat at the head of the table and
-served the repast. The Daisy poured tea in Mrs. Peary’s
-place, and conducted herself very gracefully.</p>
-
-<p>Myah, who was called the white man, insisted upon
-holding both his knife and spoon in his right hand, and
-then using his fingers to carry the food to his mouth. He
-was rude enough to stand up and try to harpoon some
-choice pieces of meat from the stew with his fork. The
-Villain reproved him so gravely that he stopped harpooning
-and turned his attention to his own plate. It is barely
-possible that the Villain was not shocked at the manners
-of Myah, the white man, but that he wanted the choice
-piece of meat himself.</p>
-
-<p>After the stew they had coffee, candy, and raisins, and
-then the Eskimos and the white men played games together.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span></p>
-
-<p>Gradually the long night passed away, and at length it
-was almost time for the sun to appear. Peary had ordered
-an igloo to be built on the ice cap at an elevation of about
-two thousand and fifty feet, so that he might use it when
-he went up to see the sun rise.</p>
-
-<p>When this igloo was completed, Peary, Dr. Cook, and
-Astrup started out one morning, with provisions and sleeping
-bags, in the hope of catching a first glimpse of the sun.
-When they reached the igloo they were very tired. After
-supper they took off their fur clothes, crawled into their
-sleeping bags, and went to sleep. When Peary awoke, the
-fine snow was drifting in his face, and the wind was blowing
-a terrific gale. The entrance was blocked with snow,
-and the three men were buried beneath the drifts.</p>
-
-<p>Peary rolled himself out with great difficulty, and succeeded
-in finding a shovel. Then he and Dr. Cook pulled
-Astrup out, and the three men found themselves on top of
-the drift under which the snow house was buried. They
-were without shelter, two thousand feet above sea level,
-while the storm was raging so fiercely that they had to
-shout to one another in order to be heard.</p>
-
-<p>After a while the snow turned to rain, which froze and
-covered everything with ice. Their heavy outside clothes
-were buried in the snow house, and they were clad only in
-their under garments. If it had not been for the sleeping
-bags, they would have frozen to death, and even as it was,
-their condition was serious. But at length the storm ceased
-and the half-frozen men succeeded in digging out their garments.
-They were obliged to dress in the open air, with the
-wind blowing and the thermometer standing at 3° above zero.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as they were dressed they started for home, and
-reached Red Cliff House in safety, warm with exercise.
-Here, they were informed, the storm had likewise been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span>
-terrific. The rain had fallen in torrents, washing away
-the snow covering of the house and soaking through the
-canvas roof. But Red Cliff House was stanchly built and
-stood firm.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_139">
-  <img src="images/i_139.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Red Cliff House after the Storm.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The long Arctic night had passed away with the storm,
-and the western sky was aflame with gorgeous colors;
-brilliant yellow shaded into pale rose and green. Misty
-lights of purple and green floated over the ice, and the
-storm was forgotten in the beauty of the new day.</p>
-
-<p>Now that the sun had made its appearance, Peary
-decided to start on his white march over the ice cap. On
-the last day of April three of the party, accompanied by
-five Eskimos, left Red Cliff House with two sledges and
-twelve dogs. Three days later Peary followed with one
-man and a sledge drawn by eight dogs. In a few hours
-he overtook his friends and proceeded with them as far as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span>
-Humboldt glacier, where he asked for volunteers for the
-long trip. All of the men were eager to accompany him,
-but Astrup was chosen for his companion, and the rest of
-the party returned to Red Cliff House.</p>
-
-<p>Peary and Astrup now began their journey to the
-northern end of Greenland. They slept during the day
-and traveled by night, when the glare of the sun was
-less trying to their eyes. Peary himself went first, leading
-the way. He was followed by three of his best dogs,
-harnessed to a light sledge which carried two hundred
-pounds. These dogs had become so fond of Peary that
-they tried always to keep as near him as possible. They
-needed no driving or urging, but followed him into the
-most dangerous places. In the rear came Astrup, with
-ten dogs attached to the big sledge which carried the bulk
-of the luggage.</p>
-
-<p>Peary had thought himself on top of the ice cap at Humboldt
-glacier, but he found that he must climb still higher.
-As he ascended the weather became colder, and soon snow
-began to fall. Worse than all, the large sledge broke down,
-but Peary and Astrup mended it and kept on bravely. At
-last the weather grew so cold that the snow froze hard, and
-the two men were able to travel twenty miles a day.</p>
-
-<p>For weeks Peary and Astrup marched over the great
-ice, through snowstorms and furious wind. Whenever
-fine weather came and the ice became firm and smooth,
-they dashed along, forgetting the hardships they had
-endured. At length Peary saw land in the distance.
-Dark brown and red cliffs, precipices, valleys and mountains,
-rivers and lakes, lay stretched out before them. The
-dogs saw land also, and were as delighted as the men.</p>
-
-<p>This land looked near, but it was not easy to reach.
-Men and dogs slipped and scrambled down the ice crest,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span>
-through slush and water, over sharp rocks, across streams,
-and through valleys. The sun was very hot, and all the
-travelers felt the change from the clear cold air of the
-inland ice to the heat of the coast region.</p>
-
-<p>The dogs especially suffered from the heat, and this
-discomfort, together with their need of fresh meat, made
-some of them ill. Pau, the leader of the team, seemed very
-weak, and Peary feared that he would die. Pau was a very
-brave dog, who had killed many polar bears. He must have
-had some knowledge of magic; at any rate, he was an
-expert in slipping his harness. Whenever he wished to, he
-could slip out and away on a trip of his own in search
-of food. When the other dogs saw Pau free, they tried to
-break their harness and follow him, often with success.</p>
-
-<p>One day Peary saw two black objects on the opposite
-side of a valley. At first he thought they were large
-rocks, but soon he became certain that they were musk-oxen.
-Peary patted poor Pau’s head, as if to tell him that
-he was going to try to get food for him. Pau seemed to
-understand, for his eyes brightened and he wagged his tail.</p>
-
-<p>Peary took his gun and started off in pursuit of the
-musk-oxen. At last he came very near them, but so much
-depended upon his success that he was seized with trembling.
-It required a tremendous effort to point the gun
-and pull the trigger. The enormous ox looked up curiously,
-and walked toward the man, as if to see what the trouble
-was. Peary then took aim, fired, and killed him. The
-other musk-ox tried to run away, but Peary shot him also.</p>
-
-<p>Astrup and the dogs were frantic with delight. Peary
-patted each dog on the head when he returned, as if to
-assure him of the feast he was to have. Soon the great,
-shaggy musk-oxen were skinned and prepared for food,
-and a huge hind quarter was carried to the dogs.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span></p>
-
-<p>The half-starved animals had a royal banquet, and for a
-while nothing could be heard but the crunching of bones,
-and now and then a deep growl. Pau brightened up and
-took his place again as leader, seizing the largest piece of
-meat without any interference from the other dogs.</p>
-
-<p>Lion was the beautiful leader of the Cape York team.
-His thick fur was snowy white, and his mane long and
-shaggy. Lion knew as much about ice travel as Peary
-himself, and he never got tangled in his traces or tried to
-eat his harness. Upon this occasion, however, Lion actually
-slipped harness. When Peary called him to have it
-replaced, Lion obeyed instantly, crouching obediently at
-his master’s feet.</p>
-
-<p>While Peary was caring for the dogs, Astrup had fashioned
-a fur couch from the hides of the musk-oxen, and
-had broiled some delicious musk-ox steaks. That night
-men and dogs fell asleep happy and comfortable.</p>
-
-<p>After climbing over another slope, the company halted
-on the edge of a high cliff, the northeastern point of Greenland.
-Beyond the mainland they could descry islands in
-the distance. An icebound channel marked the northern
-boundary of Greenland. The large bay spreading out
-before them Peary named Independence bay, in honor
-of the day of discovery, July 4, 1892. The cliff was
-called Navy cliff. A cairn was erected upon Navy cliff,
-and the stars and stripes was unfurled.</p>
-
-<p>Peary felt well repaid for his weary march. He had
-succeeded in reaching latitude 81° 37ʹ 5ʺ north; he had
-crossed the great ice cap, and had proved that Greenland
-is an island; he had looked out upon the Arctic ocean
-from a point of land never before reached by civilized
-men; and he had gained a clear idea of the northern coast
-of Greenland.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span></p>
-
-<p>On the return trip Peary reduced the weight of the
-packs by throwing away those articles which he did not
-expect to need again. On the evening of July 7 the two
-men began the climb up the slope to the inland ice. At
-one time they were eight thousand feet above the level of
-the sea. While they were upon a lofty elevation, a severe
-storm kept them prisoners in a snowdrift for sixty hours.
-Peary and Astrup slept most of the time. When the wind
-died away and they crept out of the drift, dogs and sledges
-had disappeared. These were soon dug out from the snow,
-and the journey was resumed.</p>
-
-<p>About this time Peary discovered, to his alarm, that a
-quantity of his canned provisions had spoiled, and there
-was danger that he might run short of food. The dogs,
-too, seemed fagged and low-spirited. They pulled away
-in a lifeless manner, with drooping tails and as if they
-were utterly discouraged by this endless journey. So
-many of them died that only five lived to reach home.
-When these five dogs at last scented land, they were filled
-with new life, and dashed merrily along down the slope
-toward McCormick bay.</p>
-
-<p>One day a number of black spots appeared on the white
-surface of the snow. These spots proved to be people
-from the <i>Kite</i>, which had arrived in the bay and was now
-waiting to carry Peary and his party back to the United
-States. Peary met the new arrivals joyfully, and soon
-all were assembled at Red Cliff House. Great was the
-rejoicing when Peary told of the success of his journey
-over the inland ice.</p>
-
-<p>The results of this great sledge journey of twelve hundred
-miles across Greenland were very important. Greenland
-was proved beyond dispute to be an island. Smaller
-islands free from ice had been discovered north of Greenland.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span>
-A large part of the inland ice had been traversed
-and its character studied. The shores of Inglefield gulf
-and Whale and Murchison sounds had been charted.
-Many glaciers were discovered, and careful observations
-made of the climate and tides. Considerable information
-had been gained concerning a tribe of Eskimos called the
-Arctic Highlanders, heretofore almost unknown.</p>
-
-<p>In a few weeks preparations began for the return voyage.
-During the latter part of the summer, Mr. and Mrs.
-Peary and their companions bade farewell to Red Cliff
-House, and sailed for home on the <i>Kite</i>. Together with
-the members of the Red Cliff household who embarked on
-the <i>Kite</i> were the five faithful dogs that had helped to
-carry Peary to Independence bay and back again. Among
-them were Pau and Lion.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>Kite</i> stopped at Godthaab on her way southward,
-and again at St. John’s, Newfoundland. From St. John’s
-the vessel was detained by head winds, but at last the
-Delaware breakwater was reached. A short distance
-below Philadelphia the <i>Kite</i> was met by a tugboat, carrying
-a party of Mr. Peary’s friends. They were soon on board
-the <i>Kite</i>, listening to the wonderful story of the discoveries
-and adventures of the Arctic travelers.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_145">
-  <img src="images/i_145.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Godthaab.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In 1893 Peary made another trip to North Greenland,
-and this time remained two years and one month. He
-made a second sledge journey of twelve hundred miles to
-Independence bay, and surveyed a large area of the country
-around Whale sound. During this trip, he also discovered
-the great Cape York meteorites.</p>
-
-<p>Meteorites are stones, largely composed of iron, which
-fall to the earth from the heavens. They are supposed to
-follow in the train of meteors, or shooting stars. These
-pieces of meteoric iron differ from any kind of rock found<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span>
-upon the earth. They are covered with a thin, brownish
-black crust, and look very different from the iron which we
-obtain from mines. All meteorites are carefully preserved,
-placed in museums, and studied.</p>
-
-<p>Many Eskimos had already told Peary of the wonderful
-iron mountain near Cape York, but up to this time he had
-been too busy to search for it. Now he found an Eskimo
-who promised to conduct him to the spot. This Eskimo
-said that he would find three great pieces of iron, the
-smallest about the size of a dog. One was near the water,
-and the other two were upon the side of the mountain.</p>
-
-<p>With fresh dogs Peary and the Eskimo were soon
-galloping over hard ice toward Cape York. After a long
-journey the Eskimo conducted Peary to the great brown
-mass.</p>
-
-<p>He told Peary that his people believed that the iron
-mass had been an Eskimo woman, who with her dog and
-her tent was hurled from the sky by the Evil Spirit. One
-of the great piles used to look like the figure of a woman
-in a sitting position, but the natives had chipped off many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span>
-pieces of it and carried them away. They used these pieces
-of iron for making knives and for harpoon points.</p>
-
-<p>One tribe attempted to carry off the entire head. They
-lashed it to a sledge and started for home, when suddenly
-the sea rose with a loud noise, and the head disappeared
-into the water, carrying the sledge and dogs with it. The
-Eskimos barely escaped with their lives, and since that
-time not the smallest fragment of the heavenly woman had
-been disturbed.</p>
-
-<p>Near the great mass of iron, called “the woman,” was
-another, called “the dog.” About six miles south of these
-was the third and largest, called “the tent.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_146">
-  <img src="images/i_146.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">The “Tent” Meteorite.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The coast where these meteorites were found is the
-bleakest and most desolate region of the Arctic land.
-Biting winds blow almost continuously, and iceberg after
-iceberg drifts slowly past on its journey southward. It is
-almost impossible for a vessel to reach this coast.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span></p>
-
-<p>Notwithstanding the difficulty and danger of the work,
-Peary succeeded in bringing all of these meteorites to New
-York. Those known as “the woman” and “the dog”
-reached New York in 1895, and on October 2, 1897, the
-<i>Hope</i> deposited the one known as “the tent” at the Brooklyn
-navy yard. This weighs ninety tons and is the largest
-known meteorite in the world.</p>
-
-<p>Peary’s two trips across Greenland are classed among the
-most brilliant geographical feats of recent years. His
-efforts extended the exploration of the east coast of Greenland
-two degrees.</p>
-
-<p>In 1899 Peary again visited the Arctic regions. He
-reached Fort Conger in March, 1900, and the next month,
-with his colored servant, Matthew Henson, and five Eskimos,
-started to explore the northern coast of Greenland.
-He reached Cape Washington, where he erected a cairn,
-and then pushing on, he rounded the northern limit of
-the Greenland archipelago at latitude 83° 39ʹ north, from
-which point the coast extended southward.</p>
-
-<p>At this place, the most northerly known land in the
-world, Peary built a cairn and inclosed records of his trip.
-He then changed the direction of his course and turned
-northward, traveling over sea ice toward the pole. He
-proceeded in this direction until he reached latitude 83° 50ʹ
-north, where he found it impossible to continue the journey
-farther. He therefore returned to the Greenland coast,
-and made explorations which enabled him to complete a
-chart of the northern coast of that island. Upon the completion
-of this work he returned to Fort Conger, arriving
-there June 10, 1900, without accident or illness. During
-this trip, the temperature ranged from 20° above to 35°
-below zero.</p>
-
-<p>The winter of 1900 and 1901 was spent at Fort Conger,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span>
-where game was plentiful. The men passed most of their
-time hunting, and succeeded in slaying nearly two hundred
-musk-oxen.</p>
-
-<p>In the spring of 1901 Peary made a second attempt to
-reach the pole, this time from the northern point of Grinnell
-land, using Fort Conger as a base. But he was again
-obliged to turn back. Still undismayed, Peary planned to
-make another dash for the pole during the spring of 1902.
-This expedition was also unsuccessful, and Peary returned
-to the United States in the fall of 1902, without having
-discovered the North Pole. But he accomplished valuable
-geographical work, and has added greatly to our knowledge
-of Greenland and Grinnell land.</p>
-
-<p>Among the important results of Peary’s work are:—</p>
-
-<p>First: The rounding of the northern limit of the Greenland
-archipelago, the most northerly known land in the
-world.</p>
-
-<p>Second: The attainment of the highest latitude in the
-Western Hemisphere, 83° 50ʹ north.</p>
-
-<p>Third: The discovery of the character of the inland ice.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">XIX. ANDRÉE’S BALLOON EXPEDITION TO
-THE POLE<br />
-<small>1897</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>One of the most hazardous attempts to reach the pole
-was that made by S. A. Andrée in his balloon. Andrée
-was born in Sweden in 1854, and was carefully educated.
-He became a mechanical engineer, and held an important
-position under the Swedish government.</p>
-
-<p>In 1876 he visited America to attend the Centennial
-Exposition in Philadelphia. While crossing the ocean he
-noted the regularity of the trade winds, which led him to
-believe that balloon voyages might be made across the
-Atlantic. Some years later Andrée passed a winter in
-Spitzbergen, directing experiments and observations in
-atmospheric electricity. This scientific work strengthened
-his belief that a balloon might be navigated through the air
-in much the same manner as a ship through water.</p>
-
-<p>From this time Andrée studied the construction of balloons
-with great care, and in 1895 he astonished the world
-by making known his plan to reach the North Pole by
-means of an air route. He needed the sum of $36,000 in
-order to carry out his project. This amount was generously
-provided by King Oscar and two citizens of Sweden.</p>
-
-<p>Then Andrée set about the work of having a balloon
-constructed which would suit his purpose. He went to
-Paris, and secured the services of the most noted balloon
-maker in the world. This man built a balloon for Andrée<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span>
-which was ninety-seven feet high by sixty-seven feet in
-diameter. It was made of three thicknesses of silk, and
-varnished over twice, inside and out. It was handled by
-means of valves. The whole balloon was covered with a
-network of hemp, ending in forty-eight suspension ropes,
-to which the wooden bearing ring was attached.</p>
-
-<p>The car, shaped like a cylinder and made of wicker, was
-covered with tarpaulin, and was intended for rest and sleep.
-The place for work and observation was a swinging gallery,
-which also served for the roof of the car. In this gallery
-the scientific instruments were kept. Andrée took with
-him thermometers, barometers, cameras, and every sort of
-needful apparatus. The car contained a sleeping bag, and
-stores of books, maps, toilet articles, arms, and ammunition.
-The balloon was built to carry three passengers. While
-one slept, the other two expected to remain on the roof,
-taking observations and guiding the balloon.</p>
-
-<p>The bearing ring was the main storeroom. Crosspieces
-of wood formed a floor, upon which many necessary articles
-were packed. Boats, sledges, sails, ropes, and provisions
-of all kinds were stored away in forty-eight large
-sacks, which were hung to the bearing ring. Andrée had
-provisions enough to last for nine months, and everything
-was packed so as to occupy as little space as possible.</p>
-
-<p>Three sails and three guide ropes were arranged to
-aid in steering the balloon. The long guide ropes trailed
-behind the balloon, serving the purpose of a rudder. The
-sails caught the wind, increased the speed, and permitted
-change of direction.</p>
-
-<p>In 1896, the balloon and all the supplies were taken to
-Dane’s island, near Spitzbergen, but as the desired south
-wind did not blow, Andrée returned to Sweden. In May,
-1897, Andrée and his companions again went to Dane’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span>
-island. A balloon house was built, engines were set up
-for producing hydrogen gas, and in due time the balloon
-was inflated. By July 1 everything was ready.</p>
-
-<p>Andrée and his two companions now waited anxiously
-for a south wind, which they believed would blow them to
-the North Pole. They waited ten days, until, on the morning
-of July 11, 1897, a strong, steady wind from the south
-was blowing.</p>
-
-<p>Great was the excitement on Dane’s island when the
-men began to tear down the house where the balloon was
-imprisoned, and attach the car. At 2.30 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, July 11,
-1897, Andrée and his two companions, Nils Strindberg
-and Knut Fraenkel, jumped into the car, and gave orders
-to cut the last ropes.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_151">
-  <img src="images/i_151.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Andrée begins his Journey.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Slowly the immense, airy structure rose to a height of a
-few hundred feet, and sailed in a northerly direction out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span>
-over Dane’s gate. Then it dropped suddenly, as if it had
-received a current of air from above, and almost touched
-the sea. Andrée threw out some sand bags, when the
-balloon rose again to a height of about three thousand
-feet, and sailed away in the same northerly direction.
-About an hour after the start, it was lost to sight in the
-clouds.</p>
-
-<p>Some days later a carrier pigeon was shot in the rigging
-of an Arctic schooner off Spitzbergen. The pigeon had
-a message from Andrée tied under its wing. The message
-was dated July 13, and stated that the balloon sailed
-one hundred and forty-five geographical miles to the northward,
-and then headed east. It had traveled forty-five
-miles eastward when the pigeon was sent out.</p>
-
-<p>From that day to this, no other message has been
-received from Andrée. Andrée believed that his balloon
-would float for six weeks, but the men who watched the
-start, said that it lost much gas and much ballast before it
-passed out of sight. They thought that it might have
-floated about fifteen days. Two thirds of the guide ropes,
-upon which Andrée depended for steering, were also lost
-at starting. At first the balloon traveled about twenty-five
-or thirty miles an hour. At this rate of speed, sailing
-northward, Andrée should have reached the pole in less
-than two days. But every ray of sunshine, every puff of
-colder or warmer wind, cause a balloon to rise or fall, and
-the methods of guiding and handling the delicate appliance
-are not yet thoroughly understood.</p>
-
-<p>No one knows what happened to the balloon after it rose
-out of sight of the men on Dane’s island. For several
-years Andrée’s friends refused to believe that he had
-perished. They thought that he might be wandering
-about in the Frozen North in the care of some of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span>
-Eskimo tribes. Many stories have reached us from time
-to time bearing upon the fate of Andrée, but upon investigation
-they have all proved to be false. The only authentic
-trace which has been found is a buoy picked up
-northeast of Spitzbergen in 1899. This buoy was taken
-to Sweden, and proved to be the one which Andrée had
-taken with him for the purpose of dropping it, with a
-letter, in case he crossed the pole. No letter was found,
-but an anchor was attached to the buoy. This led to the
-supposition that the buoy and anchor were thrown out to
-lighten the balloon and keep it afloat a while longer, or
-else that the balloon had been lost in the sea and the buoy
-and anchor had drifted away.</p>
-
-<p>It is now generally believed that Andrée and his two
-companions lost their lives through the descent of the balloon
-into the ocean.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">XX. EXPEDITIONS OF 1902</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>During the spring of 1902, several expeditions were at
-work in the Northern regions, each hoping to be the first
-to reach the pole.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most important was the Ziegler-Baldwin
-expedition, equipped by Mr. William Ziegler of New
-York, and commanded by Mr. Evelyn Briggs Baldwin.
-This was the largest and probably the best equipped
-expedition sent out. Baldwin had two ships, four hundred
-Eskimo dogs, and fifteen Siberian ponies. His flagship,
-the <i>America</i>, was a stoutly built whaler and carried a
-cargo of six hundred tons. His other ship, the <i>Fridtjof</i>,
-carried the scientific instruments.</p>
-
-<p>Through the generosity of Mr. Ziegler, practically perfect
-scientific apparatus accompanied the expedition, and
-Mr. Baldwin was assisted by experts in geographical charting,
-geology, botany, and meteorology. Both the <i>America</i>
-and the <i>Fridtjof</i> reached Franz Josef land, but very little
-significant work was accomplished. Instead of wintering
-in the North as had been planned, Mr. Baldwin returned
-to Norway. Mr. Ziegler, however, has not faltered in his
-determination to find the pole, and he has sent out another
-expedition for that purpose which is now in the North.</p>
-
-<p>A Russian expedition excited widespread interest. Admiral
-Marakoff constructed an ice-breaking steamship, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span>
-with it expected to force his way through the ice to the
-pole. The steamer is called the <i>Ermack</i>, 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 <i>Ermack</i> rises upon it and
-crushes it down. The forward propeller sucks away the
-water underneath the ice, and thus reduces the resistance.</p>
-
-<p>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 <i>Ermack</i>
-proved a failure. It is said, however, that she made five
-successful trips between Nova Zembla and Franz Josef
-land.</p>
-
-<p>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 <i>Stella Polare</i>, 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.</p>
-
-<p>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.</p>
-
-<p>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 <i>Jeannette</i>. 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<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span>
-of wireless telegraphy was to be used by Captain Bernier,
-as a means of communication with his ship.</p>
-
-<p>Captain Otto Sverdrup, in command of the <i>Fram</i>, was
-already in the North in 1902. Sverdrup won his spurs,
-you will remember, while on the famous Nansen expedition.
-He was sent out by the Norwegian government to
-explore the northern coast of Greenland, and to connect
-Peary’s work on the east coast with that of a German
-expedition on the west coast.</p>
-
-<p>Robert Stein’s expedition had not the proper equipment
-to seek the pole, but was designed for the exploration of
-Ellesmere land. Stein returned without accomplishing
-much valuable work.</p>
-
-<p>A novel plan has been announced by Dr. Anschutz
-Kampfe. Dr. Kampfe proposes to build a submarine
-boat, and proceed to the pole beneath the ice.</p>
-
-<p>For more than three hundred years, men have struggled
-to reach the North Pole. They have braved bitter winds
-and faced starvation and death, in order to wrest the secrets
-of nature from the great white North.</p>
-
-<p>Since Sir John Franklin’s first trip to the Arctic regions,
-interest in the Frozen North has never flagged. Very grave
-doubts as to the wisdom of spending so large sums of
-money and of risking so many human lives have arisen
-in the minds of those who have followed the story of suffering
-and death. It is natural in this century, when men
-are counting the cost of every project, to ask wherein lies
-the advantage of exploring the polar country, since the
-work is in every case so difficult, so dangerous, and in
-many cases fatal. But we may feel sure that the work
-will never cease until every part of the Frozen North is
-known.</p>
-
-<p>Beyond the additions to our store of meteorological<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span>
-knowledge, and of botanical and geological facts, there
-has been a decided addition to the world’s wealth by Arctic
-exploration: not in money, but in character; not in
-conquest, but in heroism; not in material success, but in
-those experiences which make men strong and enduring.
-The world is already richer in mines and money than it is
-in men of courage and in high acts of duty and bravery.
-Thrilling deeds, glorious perseverance, and unwearied
-patience are the noblest fruits of Arctic exploration.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">XXI. THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE
-BY ROBERT E. PEARY<br />
-<small>1909</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The struggle to reach the North Pole was still waging.
-Robert E. Peary was not a man to give up until he had
-reached the goal. The Peary Arctic Club again gave him
-financial assistance, and a vessel was constructed that
-could be forced through dense ice. Theodore Roosevelt
-was then President of the United States, and Commander
-Peary called his ship the <i>Roosevelt</i>, because, as he said,
-the name stood for strength and determination.</p>
-
-<p>In June, 1905, he set sail, and reached the north coast
-of Grant Land, where he spent the winter, and in the
-spring he started northward with sledges and dogs. He
-made his way to 87° 6ʹ on April 21, 1906. This was less
-than two hundred miles from the Pole, and was the best
-record as yet.</p>
-
-<p>Even for the far North that season was unusually severe.
-Violent winds and snowstorms separated the explorer
-from his supply depots, and he was forced to return, killing
-his dogs for food on the way. He was not discouraged,
-for he felt that every failure gave him more
-experience, which would enable him to achieve success
-some day.</p>
-
-<p>The Peary Arctic Club again helped him, and Zenas
-Crane and many other public-spirited men sent donations
-of money. The death of Morris K. Jesup was a severe
-blow to him. Mr. Jesup had given him much support,
-both by his belief in Peary’s ability to reach the Pole, and
-by rendering financial aid to the expedition.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_159">
-  <img src="images/i_159.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <div class="right"><small>Copyright, 1910, by William H. Rau.</small></div>
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Peary in Arctic Costume.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span></p>
-
-<p>When, through the efforts of General Hubbard, president
-of the Peary Arctic Club, the needed money was at
-last procured, Peary completed his plans. He believed
-that in order to reach the Pole he must adopt the manner
-of life of the Eskimos. These natives of the Arctic zone
-know how to travel over the icy seas with less discomfort
-and danger than any other people.</p>
-
-<p>Peary again, as in his previous expeditions, decided to
-engage the hardy Eskimos from Whale Sound, with their
-dogs, for the mainstay of his party, and to take with him
-as few white men as possible. The expedition was thus
-mostly made up of natives accustomed to the difficulties
-and hardships of Arctic travel.</p>
-
-<p>Then came the question of selecting the white men who
-were to accompany him. The following were chosen:
-Captain Robert A. Bartlett, as master of the <i>Roosevelt</i>;
-George A. Wardwell, chief engineer; Dr. J. W. Goodsell,
-surgeon; Matthew A. Henson, Peary’s negro assistant,
-who had been with him on many Arctic voyages, an excellent
-dog driver, and able to manage a sledge nearly as
-well as the best Eskimo driver; Ross G. Marvin of Cornell,
-Donald B. McMillan of Worcester, Mass., and George
-Borup of Yale, as assistants.</p>
-
-<p>On July 6, 1908, the expedition sailed from New
-York on the <i>Roosevelt</i>, and July 17 from Sydney, Cape
-Breton. At the start, the white members of the party
-numbered twenty-two, and at Etah Peary found plenty of
-Eskimos willing to go with him.</p>
-
-<p>These Eskimos, known as the Whale Sound Eskimos,
-are the most northerly race known. They migrate along
-the coast from Cape York to Etah, and are remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span>
-for their strength and endurance. From among them
-Peary selected his company; here, also, he procured many
-fine dogs, without whose help and service the Pole could
-not have been reached.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>Roosevelt</i> steamed northward from Etah, pushing
-her way through the ice pack towards Cape Sheridan, on
-the northern coast of Grant Land. During the trip the
-Eskimo men were put to work making sledges and harness,
-and the women began to make winter garments for
-the men. There was much sewing to be done, for the
-white men wore in winter just the same kind of clothing
-that the Eskimos did.</p>
-
-<p>McMillan, Borup, and Dr. Goodsell found amusement
-in watching the women at their sewing. Sitting on the
-ground or whatever is nearest, they take off their footgear
-and put out one foot. Then holding one end of the material
-between their toes, using the foot as a third hand,
-they sew the seam away from them, instead of toward them
-as our women do. It looked odd enough, but the spectators
-had to admit that the work was done well. The Eskimos
-sewed the furs and skins together so closely and skillfully
-that the cold could not creep through.</p>
-
-<p>These industrious women made stockings and mittens
-of fur, boots of skins, trousers of skins of the polar bear,
-jackets of deer or fox skin, and hoods of fur, finished
-around the face with thick rolls of foxtails.</p>
-
-<p>All were happy and comfortable for a while, but as they
-advanced the ice became thicker and the ship was in great
-danger. It took all Peary’s knowledge of the coast, and
-all Bartlett’s skill in navigation, to keep the <i>Roosevelt</i> from
-being crushed in the ice.</p>
-
-<p>Every person on board, both whites and Eskimos, tied
-his most necessary belongings into a bundle and stood<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span>
-ready to jump over the side of the boat at a moment’s
-notice in case the ship should be destroyed. But skill and
-perseverance conquered, and the <i>Roosevelt</i> reached Cape
-Sheridan in safety.</p>
-
-<p>Here on the shore of the Arctic sea the party wintered,
-spending their time in massing supplies at places farther
-north, where they were likely to be needed later. Hunting
-was good, musk oxen, bear, and deer were plentiful,
-and large supplies of fresh meat were obtained. The men
-of science took tidal and meteorological observations, and a
-happy and busy winter was spent.</p>
-
-<p>On October 12 the party said good-by to the sun; the
-twilight darkened and the long Arctic night set in. Peary
-did not wait for the sun to return, but as soon as it was
-light enough to travel he renewed the journey to the Pole.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_163">
-  <img src="images/i_163.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <div class="right"><small>From “Fighting the Polar Ice,” copyright by Anthony Fiala.</small></div>
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Moonlight in the Arctic Regions.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>On February 15, 1909, the first detachment of the sledge
-party under Captain Bartlett left Cape Sheridan for Cape
-Columbia, the most northern point of Grant Land. The
-other detachments followed on successive days, and on
-February 22, Peary started the last of all. From Cape
-Columbia he planned to travel directly north over the ice
-of the Polar sea for a distance of four hundred and thirteen
-geographical miles. This would take him to 90° north latitude,
-<i>i.e.</i>, to the North Pole.</p>
-
-<p>By traveling in detachments a path once opened was
-kept open. The first detachment accomplished the difficult
-work of breaking a way through the ice, the second detachment
-found travel easier, and the third found it still
-easier. Thus the strength both of the men and the dogs
-of the last detachment was saved for the final march.</p>
-
-<p>The party was to return by the same route as the one they
-advanced by, the supporting parties keeping the trail open
-for the rapid return of the main party. They were also<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span>
-able to use many of the same igloos in returning, so that
-the labor of building them was avoided and the strength
-of the men economized. The plan of march resembled
-that of a relay race, with which all girls and boys are
-familiar.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span></p>
-
-<p>The entire sledge party on leaving the ship numbered
-seven whites, nineteen Eskimos, one hundred and forty
-dogs, and twenty-eight sledges. On March 1, 1909, Bartlett’s
-party left land, setting out over the sea ice for the
-north, the distance from the mainland to the Pole being
-four hundred and seventy-five statute miles.</p>
-
-<p>Think of starting on a journey of that length on foot
-with no certainty of even necessary food, and over a rough
-expanse of ice and snow. These brave men never faltered.
-As the party drew near the Pole, the supporting detachments
-were sent back one after another. The last detachment
-sent back was that under Captain Bartlett, who had
-given such valuable assistance in leading the pioneer party.</p>
-
-<p>Peary felt sorry to part with Captain Bob, as he familiarly
-called him, and Captain Bob was sorry in his turn
-to go. He had reached 87° 47ʹ north latitude, and was
-nearer to the North Pole than any other explorer had yet
-been. It had been his ambition to reach 88°, but there was
-no time to spare, and though disappointed, he obeyed his
-commander cheerfully, like a good soldier. He had surpassed
-the Italian record by one degree and a quarter.</p>
-
-<p>Peary was now left with only five companions,—Matt
-Henson, his colored servant, and four Eskimos; he also
-had forty dogs and five sledges. He was one hundred and
-thirty-three nautical miles from the Pole, and he planned
-to make five marches of at least twenty-five miles each, and
-then cover the remaining distance by pushing on with a
-light sledge and a double team of dogs.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" id="i_167">
-  <img src="images/i_167.jpg" alt="" title="" />
-  <div class="caption">
-    <div class="right"><small>From “Fighting the Polar Ice,” copyright by Anthony Fiala.</small></div>
-    <p class="noic"><span class="smcap">Eskimo Dogs.</span></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>After a rest and some repairing of the sledges the little
-party started northward. The sun shone brightly out of a
-deep blue sky, and a finer morning for the journey could
-not be imagined. Except for some pressure ridges which
-were nearly fifty feet in height, the ice was hard and level.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span>
-The ridges corresponding to hills on land were not as hard
-to pass over as were the leads of water which Peary had
-met with before during the journey.</p>
-
-<p>With weather in their favor the party made great progress.
-In one march of twelve hours thirty miles were
-covered. As they neared the Pole, the wind grew bitterly
-cold. Even the Eskimos complained of it, and said that
-their noses would freeze. This was unusual, for the nose
-of an Eskimo is supposed to be so hardy that no frosty
-winds could freeze it. But all soon forgot the cold in their
-joy in drawing near the Pole.</p>
-
-<p>On April 6, 1909, at ten <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> the last march ended, and
-Peary found by his observations that he had arrived at
-89° 57ʹ north latitude. Here the party camped, and Peary
-called the place Camp Morris K. Jesup in honor of the man
-who had done so much to further discoveries in the Arctic
-regions.</p>
-
-<p>From Camp Jesup, Peary traveled on about ten miles
-beyond the Pole, crossing and recrossing in several directions
-over a radius of ten miles. Strange were his feelings
-when he stood at the place where north, east, and west
-were eliminated, and every direction was south. He was
-also at a place where there is in the year but one night and
-one day, each six months in length. The stars circle round
-overhead during the night and the sun during the day.</p>
-
-<p>As far as the eye could reach was a vast, white expanse
-of ice. No living creature was to be seen, no sign of life
-anywhere, only a great silence, a great whiteness, and
-dazzling sunlight. Peary placed the American flag in the
-ice. The Eskimos and Henson gave three cheers, and all
-shook hands.</p>
-
-<p>The Eskimos did not understand what made Peary so
-happy, but they did know that he had succeeded in reaching<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span>
-a wonderful spot, which he had searched for during
-many years.</p>
-
-<p>Thirty hours were spent at the Pole taking observations
-and photographs. The maximum temperature was -12°
-and the minimum was -30° Fahrenheit. Peary put records
-of his journey and a piece of the American flag in a glass
-bottle, and wedged it in between blocks of ice and left it.
-As the ice is constantly shifting and changing its position,
-it is hard to tell where this bottle may drift.</p>
-
-<p>The ice at the Pole was too thick for Peary to measure
-the depth of the ocean. But on returning he found a
-place, five miles from the Pole, where the ice was thinner.
-He succeeded in making a hole with a pickax and dropped
-his sounding lead. The wire ran out to a depth of fifteen
-hundred fathoms (nine thousand feet) without touching
-bottom. Then the wire broke, and it and the lead were
-lost. We do not know how much deeper the Polar ocean
-may be.</p>
-
-<p>The return journey to land was made by forced marches
-of about twenty-nine and a half miles a day. This speed
-was made possible by the lighter sledge loads, and the fact
-that they were retracing their steps over a trail kept partially
-open by the other detachments. But the Eskimos
-said, “The devil is asleep, or we never should have come
-back so easily!” Peary knew that they came back easily
-because of favorable weather and ice conditions, and because
-his plans had been wise.</p>
-
-<p>When the party came in sight of the <i>Roosevelt</i> again, the
-joy of the men cannot be described. Captain Bartlett saw
-them and went out to meet them. His face was sad, and
-Peary felt that he was to hear some bad news. Bartlett
-then told him of the death of Marvin by drowning
-while on his return march. Peary felt keenly the loss<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span>
-of his brave companion who had accomplished so much
-valuable work, and who had made himself respected and
-loved.</p>
-
-<p>All the members of the party resumed their duties, and
-the first was to reward the faithful Eskimos who had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span>
-worked and served so well. Peary gave them hatchets,
-knives, shot-guns, rifles, and tools of all kinds. They were
-much pleased and felt as rich as millionaires.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as the ice permitted, the <i>Roosevelt</i> left her winter
-quarters and sailed southward, stopping at Etah and
-Cape York, and arriving at Sydney, Cape Breton, September
-21, 1909, where she received an enthusiastic welcome.</p>
-
-<p>On September 1, 1909, while Peary and his party were
-still in the north, the world was startled by a telegraphic
-message from a Danish steamer, saying: “We have on
-board the American traveler, Dr. Cook, who reached the
-North Pole, April 21, 1908.”</p>
-
-<p>The next morning the <cite>New York Herald</cite> published an
-account of the great discovery cabled by Cook himself. It
-said that he had reached the Pole on the date just mentioned,
-and that “it was a cheerless spot, an endless field
-of purple snows.” Two days later Dr. Cook landed at
-Copenhagen and was greeted with cheers, and great honors
-were bestowed upon him.</p>
-
-<p>Two days later another telegram was received by the
-Associated Press of New York, which read:</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“Stars and stripes nailed to the North Pole.</p>
-
-<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Peary.</span>”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>There was great excitement all over the civilized world.
-Messages continued to arrive from Peary fixing the date
-of his arrival at the Pole, April 6, 1909. Cook claimed to
-have reached the pole a year earlier, April 21, 1908. Why
-had he kept silent so long? Discussion grew, and scientists
-demanded proof and data from both men.</p>
-
-<p>The records of Dr. Cook were submitted to the University
-of Copenhagen, and their final report was made
-public December 21, 1910. It declared that the papers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span>
-and documents submitted to it by Dr. Cook contained no
-observations or explanations to prove that Dr. Cook had
-reached the Pole.</p>
-
-<p>That Peary reached the Pole was never doubted. The
-National Geographical Society after careful examination of
-his records reported that they were unanimous in the
-opinion that Commander Peary reached the North Pole,
-April 6, 1909.</p>
-
-<p>The following resolutions were adopted:</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“<em>Whereas</em>, Commander Robert E. Peary has reached
-the North Pole, the goal sought for centuries, and</p>
-
-<p><em>Whereas</em>, this is the greatest geographical achievement
-that this society can have opportunity to honor, therefore</p>
-
-<p><em>Resolved</em>, that a special medal be awarded to Commander
-Peary.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Medals and honors were bestowed upon him by many
-scientific societies at home and abroad, and he was promoted
-to the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States
-Navy, and given the thanks of Congress.</p>
-
-<p>The Frozen North has given up its secret. Man’s persistence
-has conquered, and 90° north has been attained.</p>
-
-<p>Rear Admiral Peary and all the brave men, who for
-nearly four hundred years struggled to reach the North
-Pole, will be held in honor by their countrymen for all
-time.</p>
-
-<p class="p2 smfont"><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—A fathom is six feet; a statute mile 5280 feet; a geographical
-mile 6080 feet.</p>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="tnote">
-<p class="noi tntitle">Transcriber’s Notes:</p>
-
-<p class="smfont">The Contents listing was changed to reflect the chapter title in
-   the content where there was a difference.</p>
-
-<p class="smfont">A List of Illustrations has been provided for the convenience of
-   the reader.</p>
-
-<p class="smfont">Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently
-   corrected.</p>
-
-<p class="smfont">Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.</p>
-
-<p class="smfont">Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.</p>
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FROZEN NORTH ***</div>
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