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1»1<. Ikll) I |()1- NAN.shiN
COPYKinKT, 1897, BY A. J. HOLMAX & CO.
PREFACE
Among the subjects that arc "old yet ever new," that of Arctic
Ivxploration holds a prominent place. It interested the hardy
Northmen a thousand years ago, and it has a still stronger fasci-
nation for the people of the present day. It is natural that this
should be the case. The human mind is so constituted that it is
always seeking to learn about things that lie beyond the immedi-
ate range of its knowledge. Among intelligent and progressive
people there is always a desire to investigate and explore the
unknown. This is followed by efforts to secure the knowledge
for which a wish has been formed. In the case of Arctic Explo-
ration, the desire to know whether there were islands or conti-
nents beyond the narrow range of their vision led the pioneers
in this great work to sail upon unknown seas. Probably a love
of adventure also urged them on, but this could hardly have been
the leading motive in their dangerous voyages. At an early
period in the history of such enterprises the commercial spirit
became a factor, and in later days the love of scientific investiga-
tion was added to the other elements in the combination of forces
which led men to brave the dangers and endure the hardships
inseparable from the work of Arctic Exploration.
The latest of the great Arctic explorers to reach his home is
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, a young Norwegian scientist, who went
much farther north than man had ever been, farther even than
the companion who accompanied him to latitude 86° 14'. In
lunope and America he is the hero of the day. His accurate
knowledge, wonderful foresight, marvellous skill, splendid execu-
tive ability, magnificent courage, and unconquerable determina-
tion carried him to a success far greater than any of his prede-
cessors were able to secure. It is fitting that the record of his
brilliant achievements should be given to the public in a handsome
and a permanent form. With this end in view the present book
has been prepared. It also seemed desirable that it should con-
tain a biography of Dr. Nansen and an account of his work, much
of which was valuable, previous to the great exploit which brought
850'^77
ii PREFACE
him world-wide fame. Thus the people could be brought to
know the man as well as to learn of his deeds. In order to add
still further to its interest and make it not only an entertaining
but also a permanently valuable book, it was decided to add other
features. The great journey across the inland ice of Greenland
by Lieutenant Peary, of the United States Navy, and Eivind
Astrup, is fully described, and a sketch is given of the Second
Peary Expedition. The concluding jiortion of the book is a
connected sketch of the principal expeditions to the North from
their earliest date down to the time of the ones just described.
Thus the entire historical period of Arctic Exploration to the
return of Xansen and the Fram in 1896 has been covered.
The materials for this work have been obtained from the best
sources, and their arrangement has received careful attention.
The biography of Dr. Nansen and a description of the planning
and executing of the great journey across Greenland were mainly
written by two eminent Norwegian scholars, Professor \V. C.
Progger and I'rofessor Nordahl Rolfsen, both intimate friends of
the great explorer. The story of the Crossing of the Inland Ice
is related by Nansen himself, while several of the following chap-
ters were prepared by his Norwegian friends. The description
of the Voyage of the Fraui, of the Great Sledge Expedition and
its wonderful success, and of the return of the explorers, is given
in Nansen's own words. Across Northern Greenland, an account
of the expedition of Lieutenant Peary, is by Eivind Astrup, an
entertaining writer and famous explorer who accompanied Peary
in the j>erilous journey to the extreme northern portion of that
desolate lanrl. In the preparation of the history of the Earlier
Arctic ICxplorations the works of the best writers upon the sub-
ject were consulted. Where discrepancies were found, as they
were in several instances, the evidence was carefully weighed and
the statements which seemed to have the strongest claim for
accuracy were accepted. Of the more than one hundred illustra-
tions, many of them full-page, which not only add to the beauty
f)f the book but greatly increase its utility, a large number are
from photographs taken upon the spot and are absolutely perfect
representations of the scenes which they ])lace before the eye.
I'"or several of these illustrations we are under obligations to Mr.
Alfred C. Harmsworth, patron of the Jackson-Harmsworth E.\-
pcdition, and some were obtained from Nansen's " Fram Over
PREFACE iii
Polhavet," published in Norway. Messrs. Houj^hton, Mififlin &
Company and The Lothrop Publishinj^ Company kindly furnished
several portraits ; the publishers of McClure's Magazine allowed
the use of a number of fine plates, and through the courtesy of
Dr. Robert N. Keely, surgeon to Peary's First P2.\pedition, and
Dr. Gwilym G. Davis, member of the Archaeological Association
of the University of Pcnn.sylvania, many extremely beautiful
sketches and photographs are given.
The investigation of the cheerless region of the North has
been attended by constant danger and has involved heavy losses
of life and property. But the work has not been done in vain.
It opened the way for the formation of colonies, for the develop-
ment of commerce, for cxttMisive and profitable whale and seal
fisheries, and has greatly enlarged the bounds of human know-
ledge. Not only has there been an enormous advance in the line
of geographical information, but much has been learned regarding
geology, meteorology, zoology, and kindred sciences. Work in
this direction has also made known to civilized nations a most
interesting race of people who not only live, but who appear to
fully enjoy life, in a region of perpetual snow and ice. Then, too,
the heroism, fortitude and fidelity of the noble men who, at the
imminent risk of their lives, have gone to this inhospitable region
and in the face of appalling dangers, and while enduring most
terrible sufferings, have struggled on in order that they might
open to the civilized w^orld the vast domain which had so long
remained unknown, have been object lessons of faith and hope to
all the world. And as long as courage is admired, devotion to
duty is respected, and self-sacrifice is revered, so long will the
deeds of the heroes who have toiled amid the awful dreariness
and desolation of the Frozen World be held in honored remem-
brance.
P'urther progress in Arctic Exploration will involve difficulty
and danger, but the end is not yet. What has been accomplished
will stimulate to renewed effort, and the knowledge that has been
gained in the past will greatly aid in the future prosecution of the
work. The genius and energy of man are pitted against the
barriers of nature, and sooner or later nature will be compelled to
reveal her secrets to his gaze. Those who are inclined to doubt
the probability of carrying further an investigation of the Arctic
region should be encouraged by the fact that many things which
iv PREFACE
were long: deemed impossible have been accomplished and that
the future may be expected to bring as great surprises as the past
has given. A curious illustration of the uncertainty of predic-
tions regarding the success of Arctic Exploration is found in the
book of an able English writer. The preface of this work was
dated March 25, 1850, a time at which interest in the fate of Sir
John Franklin was at its height. The last words of the book
express a hope that " England will be careful of again risking the
lives of her adventurous sons in further attempts to discover
what cannot be looked upon in any other light than that of a
geographical i^tiis faiinis,T\\Q Northwest Passage." Yet from
documents which were afterward found it was proved that the
I'ranklin expedition had discovered this passage not less than
three years before its non-existence was so emphatically affirmed.
During the last half century great advances along the line of
Arctic Exploration have been made and interest has waxed instead
of waned. Each new discovery seems to stimulate to still stronger
endeavor, and public interest in the subject was never as high as
it is at the present time. Projects of various kinds are being
considered and preparations for further efforts are under way.
Which of the various plans proposed will lead to success, or
whether one radically different from any that have been sug-
gested will be required, cannot be affirmed. But it is safe to say
that, sooner or later, the great Arctic problem will be solved.
The work will be carried on until the region at the North that is
iu)w unknown has been exjjlored and a flag has been unfurled
upon the precise spot which geographers designate as the Pole.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER
I. Ancestry — Childiiood 9
II. Youth -4
III. NANSKN'S (".KEICNLAXU EXPEUITIOX — i'RICl'ARATION —
Plan — Equipmknt 35
IV. Across Greknland 54
V. Drifting in the Ice 7'"^
VI. An Eskimo Encampment on the East Coast . . 86
VII. The Crossing of the Inland Ice — The First Sight
OF Land and First Drink of Water . . . -113
\III. The Descent to Ameralikfjord 136
IX. Arrival at Godthaab i45
X. With the Current ^11
XI. Nansen at Home and Abroad 188
XII. On Board tiii-: •• Fram " 218
NANSEN'S STORY AS TOLD liV HIMSELF
XIII. Introduction 249
Xl\'. The Voyagf: of the "Fram" 257
X\'. Thic Gricat Si.icdge IIxi'icdition 271
XVI. Homeward Bound 296
XVII. How the "Fram" faked — Svekdrip's Story . . 302
PEARY'S JOURNEY ACROSS NORTHERN (H^EENLAND
XVIII. Winter Quarters and I'reparatioxs . • • 323
XI. X. Across the Ice Cap 339
XX. The Second Peary Expedition 357
XXI. Natives at Smith Sound 3^J^
XXII. Hunting 37o
XXIII. The North (Greenland Dog 395
X.\l\'. Home Life, Haiuts and Character .... 406
XX\\ Intelligence, Ri:lu;i()US Ideas and Custo.ms . . 421
e.\rlii:r arctic explorations
X.WI. Pioneer VoYAr;ES 44'
XXVII. Interest renewed 45^^
X.WI 1 1. Heroic Endeavors 477
XXIX. Great Disasters 5'^
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Dr. Kridtjof Nansen Frontispiece
Hans Nansen
Haron Christian F. \'. Wedel-Jarlsberg (Nansen's Grandfather)
liaroness C. F. \'. Wedcl-Jarlsberg (Nansen's (nandmother)
Fridtjof Nansen and his Father ......
Nansen's Mother
Great Froen — The DwcHing-house ......
Nansen as a Child ........
Nansen as a Boy
In the Polar .Sea
The Members of the Greenland Expedition .....
Svcrdrup on Guard on the Ice Floe .... I-acing f>a^
Under Sail in the Moonlight — Crevasses ahead ....
Nansen and Sverdrup in the Canvas Boat
Nansen at Thirty-one
Tailpiece: Head of Walrus
The Eskimo Encampment at Cape Bille .
Eskimo Beauty, from the East Coast, in her Old Age
Eskimo Boy, from the Camp at Cape Bille
Eskimos, from the Camp at Cape Bille
" An unusually sociable woman ''....
" Then the master came out of the tent '"
Canoes among the Floes ......
First Attempts at Sailing .....
"And there I lay gazing after the ship and its sail "
Sailing on the Inland Ice
Sailing in Moonlight ....
Coasting down the Slopes . .
An Awkward Predicament
Koughish Ice
Rest and Reflection ....
Into Better Ice again
Upon the Brow of an Ice-slope .
The Boat and its Builder
Shooting Gulls from the Boat .
By Ameralikfjord ....
Bolette — Greenland Woman of Mi.\ed
Nansen in 1K93 ....
Nansen on the Ice — Summer Hress
Nansen on the Ice — Winter Dress
Race
IJST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
vu
Eva NaiiSLii Facing page
Dr. Nansen Facing page
Nansen's Home
Nansen's Study at Godthaab Facing page
The Launch of the " Fram " Facing page
Nansen and Mrs. Nansen ow Snow-slioes
The " Fram " in Bergen ....
Lieutenant Johansen
Kitchen of the '' Fram " . . . .
Saloon on the •' Fram "
Nansen's Study on the " Fram "
Colin Archer, the Builder of the " Fram "
(From " Fram Over Polhavet.")
The '• Fram "' leaving Bergen, Norway, for the Arctic Regions
(From " Fram Over Polhavet.'')
Members of the Norwegian Polar Expedition, 1893-96 Facing page
(P'rom " F'ram Over Polhavet.'')
Outline Draught of the ''Fram"' Facing page
(From " Fram Over Polhavet.")
The '' Fram" in the Ice-pack
(By courtesy of McClure's Magazine.)
Playing Cards on Board the " Fram " .... Facing page
(From " Fram Over Polhavet.' )
Crew of the '• Fram '' when Nansen and Johansen left the
Ship Facingpage
(From " Fram Over Polhavet.")
Dr. Xansen and Lieutenant Johansen leaving the " Fram "
Hunting Walrus on the East Coast of Taimyr Peninsula Facing page
(From " Fram Over Polhavet.")
Toward the South : Nansen and Johansen Homeward bound,
May I, 1896 Facingpage
(From " FVam Over Polliavet.")
Meeting of Dr. Nansen and Mr. Jackson in Franz Josef Land, June, 1896
(By permission of Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth.)
Dr. Nansen in Franz Josef Land, June 1896
(By permission of Mr. .\lfrcd C. Harmsworth.)
Captain Otto Neumann Sverdrup .... Facingpage
The "Fram'' in the Harbor of Christiania after her Return .
Nansen's Reception at Christiania, September 9, 1896 Facim^ page
Lieutenant Robert E. Peary, U. S. N.
Eivind Astrup
Our First Bear Facing page
Ice-pack in Melville Bay .
The •' Kite " at Melville Bay • Facingpage
Peary's House and Tent
Iceberg off Cape Cleveland, McCormick Bay
Separation of Ice Floes . . . . •
Pearv and his Companions
The Midnight Sun Facingpage
A Specimen of Greenland Flora
188
190
197
198
202
21 1
219
224
230
233
237
244
246
249
'"* C2
263
264
274
282
288
293
297
302
314
316
321
324
324
326
326
335
336
338
340
340
346
Vill
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIOXS
Musk Ox
The Relief I'arty meeting I'eaiy and Astrup
I'earv and Astrup hoisting Flags on Navy Cliff .
Young Eskimo Girls and Native Hut at tiodhavn
The -Falcon" among Icebergs ....
Walrus taking a Sun Bath ....
Sea-birds
Watching for Seal
Sledge from Smith Sound
Kskimo Fox-trap
Hear attacking Seal
Different Weapons and Implements
Attacking a Walrus
A Group of Seals
Shooting Seals ....
Reindeer
Catching Auks with a Net
A Favorite Dog
Dog Harness
Dogs of Northern Greenland
A Group of I'ups
Eskimo Boy ....
An Eskimo House in W'inlL-r ....
Stone Huts or Igloos — taken at .Midni<:;lit
Cape York, Sniitli Sound — Eskimo .Sleds on the Ice
Interior of Hut
Sir John Franklin
Martin Frobishcr .......
Henry Grinnell .......
Dr. E. K. Kane
Dr. Isaac I. Hayes ......
C. F. Hall . '
A. E. Nordenskjold ......
Lieutenant G. W. l)c Long. I . S. N.
Com. George W. Melville. U. S. N.
Tailpiece : Polar Bear
J'aciiig pai^t'
Facing page
Facing page
J'aciiig page
J'acing page
J'aciiig page
1 acing page
Juicing page
349
350
356
358
358
360
3^4
371
373
374
375
380
384
386
389
391
393
395
397
400
405
406
407
409
4"i
413
441
447
479
483
4S9
4';3
505
517
520
531
MAI'S
Map of Greenland J-'aciiig page 146
Map of Projected and Actual Routes of the '• I- ram ' and
Course of Sledge Expedition J'acing page 266
(By courtesy of McCliiri-"s M;ii;a/.iiK'.)
NANSEN IN TIIIL FROZEN WORLD
CHAPTER I
ANCESTRY CHILDHOOD
Hans Nansen, Fridtjof Nansen's ancestor, born No-
vember 28, 1598, in Flensburg, had as a sixteen years
old lad orone to the White Sea in his uncle's ship — in
those days quite an adventurous enterprise. They liad
practically no charts, they were scantily supplied with
instruments, and they had to keep cannon and cutlasses
in readiness. In the course of the voyage, indeed, they
had been twice overhauled and plundered by the I'-ng-
lish. Now they were fast in the ice at Kola. But the
intelligent boy, eager for knowledge, did not permit him-
self to be depressed. He employed the time in learning-
Russian, and in the summer, when tlie uncle bent his
course southward again, his nephew did not accompany
him. He preferred to stay behind and learn more. He
travelled alone " through several districts of Russia to
the town of Kuwantz." From Kuwantz he took ship in
September for Copenhagen.
His character came early to maturity, and his jiowers
could not brook inaction. He had not completed his
twenty-first year when King Christian I\'. placed him at
the head of an exi^edition to the rich fur regions about
lo X.-i.VS£jV /.V TffE FR0/.1:X WORLD
the Pctschura. But the ice was too much for him.
He
had to make up his mind to winter at Kola. Here he
received a commission from the Czar of Russia, and
undertook, by imperial order, an exploration of the coast
HANS NANSEN
Not until he reached Archangel did
ot the White Sea
he rejoin his ship.
After that he held a command for eighteen seasons in
the service of the Iceland Company. He was by nature a
keen observer and a born leader of men, full of alert prac-
ticality, and yet with a strong literary bent. And he was
eminently disposed to share with others the fruits of his
NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOJ:) ii
reading". " When I liad notliing else to do," he writes,
" I copied out extracts from the Hible, and froni x'arious
cosmographical and geographical works, to serve as an
index and coninionplace-book for future reference. . . .
And when, a little while ago, 1 read it through again, 1
thought that perhaps there might be others who would
be triad to know these thinii's, but who, on account of
other occupations and so forth, had neither time nor
opportunity to study the great works on cosmography.
For the benefit of such persons I have given to the
press this brief digest." The title ran : " Compendium
Cosmographicum ; being a short description of the en-
tire earth, etc. Treating, furthermore, of the sea and of
navigation, witli certain serviceable directions thereto
appertaining."
The " Compendium Cosmographicum " became a pop-
ular handbook, so much read by seafaring men and
others, that four editions were exhausted in the author's
lifetime. Indeed, we gather that up to a few years ago it
had not quite gone out of use. The copy now in the
possession of the Nansen family came, according to a
well-authenticated tradition, direct from a skipper who
sailed by it. Inside the old cover, the late owner of the
book has inscribed the following testimonial: —
" TJiis book is of great use to scafarmg folk. Ote
Borgersen A as, 1841."
Thus the handbook of the gallant old Arctic skipper
may be said to have done service down to the very thresh-
old of the time when his descendant was preparing to
add new " courses " to those he had so diligently laid
down — "courses" across Greenland and to the North
Pole.
12 ,\.4.VS£iV /X THE FROZEN WORLD
At the age of fortv, Hans Xanscn begins to rise in tlie
world: and soon he exchanges tlie command of a sliiji's
crew for that of the burghers of Copenhagen. He first
became town councillor, then one of the four burgo-
masters, and in 1654 he held the chief place among the
four. Shrewd, ready-witted, eloquent, accustomed to
command, and endowed with a firm will and invincible
energy, he seemed specially created to take part, and a
leading part, in the critical times which followed.
In i6sS the Swedish kins:, I^^rl Gustav, declared war
and invaded Zealand. The Estates met at the Palace,
the royal message was read, and the king addressed tliem
in person. It fell to the lot of Hans Nansen to answer
that the burghers " would stand by the king through
thick and thin," and the populace behind him shouted
their assent. Not only was the integrity of their native
land at stake, but civic freedom and independence as
well. ()n the follow in*'' dav. the loth of August i6s8,
the Privv Council was obliged to issue a proclamation
"which was as good as a patent of nobility to all the mer-
chants and handicraftsmen of Copenhagen." Karl Gustav
understood its significance. " Since the burghers have
obtained such jDrivileges," he exclaimed, "no doubt they'll
stand a tussle." /\nd during this "tussle" the leading
burgomaster of Copenhagen had no peace either by day
or night. I'larthworks had to be constructed, ditches
filled, j)rovisions laid in, soldiers (|uartered, the burghers
drilled and commanded, and public order preserved in the
midst of a concourse of people crowding into the city
from every side. "We find him now at liome, opening
his ))late chest and his money-box, ))lacing great sums at
the king's disposal, lending hiin his carriage and horses,
NANSEN'S ANCESTRY A. YD C////.J)//OOD 13
and all the lime doinL;' his best to kccj) up the sj^irits of
his own family; now in the Town Mall sitting in council
or on the bench ; now in the Chamber, now with the
king; then again at a regimental inspection, or on the
fire-watch tower, or at the outworks, with the bullets
l)icking men off on every side; now listening to the ser-
mons which were preached on the ramparts, now going
the rounds with the night patrol." And when it comes
to meeting the enemy outside the fortifications, the inde-
fatigable burgomaster is still in the van.
It is certain that there are remarkable points of simi-
larity between the old burgoniaster and his grandson's
grandson's grandson.
It would seem as though Fridtjof Nansen himself were
conscious of this hereditary strain in his character. In
one of his letters to his father, he speaks of the Nansen
pride, which in his case, when occasion demands, takes
the form of an adamantine stubbornness.
But this pride does not descend to him on tlie male
side alone ; through his mother he inherits the blood of
the Wedels.
Count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg, the famous political
leader of 18 14, afterwards Viceroy (Statholder) of Nor-
way, had a younger brother, Baron Christian Frederik
Vilhelm of Fornebo, whose daughter was the mother of
Fridtjof Nansen. Thus, if pride and spirit of adventure
may be said to lie at the root of the father's family-tree,
every branch of the mother's bears evidence of the same
qualities.
A few words more about the Nansen family. I lans
Nansen, Municipal President, Privy Councillor, and Judge
of the Supreme Court, died at Coi)enhagen, November i 2,
14
X.-iXS£X /X THE FRO/. EX WORLD
1667. A daughter of his eldest son, Michael Nansen, was
married to the celebrated Peter Griffenfeld. A younger
son, Hans Nansen, was Municipal President of Copen-
hagen at the time of his death in 171S. His grandson
was Ancher Anthony Nansen, with whom the male line
l.AKU.N (Hkl^lIAN 1-. \. U l.DEI.-JAkLMil-.Ki; (N ANSK.N "S (IRAN DI-ATHER)
removed to Norway. In 1761 lie became district magis-
trate of Outer Sogn, and there married a lady of the
name of Leierdahl, a member of tlie (ieelmuyden family.
His only son was called Hans Leierdahl Nansen, who in
NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AM) Clfl/.DHOOn 15
September, 1809, became judge in ( iuldalen, and later rep-
resentative for Stavanger district in Stortliiiiget. He was
divorced from his first wife and married again, 18 10, a
daughter of court-printer Moller of Co])enhagen. They
were Fridtjof Nansen's grandfather and grandmother.
BARONESS C. F. V. WF.DEI.-JARI.SHERG (NANSF.n's CRANnMOTIIFK)
Fridtjof's father, Baldur Fridtjof Nansen, was l^orn in
Egersund in 181 7. After tlie deatli of liis father in tlie
twenties, Baldur Nansen's motlier remo\-ed from l\gersund
to Stavanger, for the sake of her son's education. Here
i6
a'jxs/:n /x the frozen world
she lived till 1S35, when he matriculated at the University
ut Christian ia,
'• He was industrious." says an intimate friend of the
Nansen family in a
letter, "well-behaved
and exemplary in
every respect. Mis
al:)ilities were not bril-
liant, but, being strict-
Iv and plainly brought
up, and stimulated by '
the influence of his
clever mother, he
passed all his exami-
K nations with a certain
distinction, and be-
came an accomplished
jurist. He had none
of his jDarents' wit and
fancy ; but he was
noted for his thor-
oughly refined, amiabli-, and courteous manners and dis-
position."
He became Reporter to the Supreme Court; but he
was principally employed in finance and conveyancing.
He enjoyed unbounded confidence.
I^aldur Nansen 's first wife was the daughter of Major-
(ieneral Sorensen, and sister to the wife of the poet Jorgen
Moe. His second wife (I^'ridtjof's mother) was Adelaide
Johanna Isidora, mc W'edcl-jarlsberg, who also had been
marrierl before. Mrs. Adelaide Nansen is described as a
tall and stately lady, cajjable and resolute, even-tempered
hKimjoK .\ANSKN AND MIS KATHKR
NANSEN'S ANCESTR V AND CHfLDHOOD
17
and straightforward, witliout any pretension on the score
of birth and ancestry. She had a mascuhne will. It was
greatly against the wishes of her strict and aristocratic
father that she married a baker's son for her first hus-
band. However, she carried her point, and her mother
appears to have sided with her in this affair of the heart.
The parents were not at the marriage, althougli they had
given their consent.
As a young girl she had defied opinion and cultivated
that sport which her son was afterwards to render world-
famous. She was devoted to snow-shoeing, which was at
that time thought unwomanly and even improper. .As a
housewife she was one of those who know every nook
and corner of the house
from attic to cellar — ac-
tive, managing, ready
with her hands and not
afraid of tlie coarsest
work. If the servant had
blistered her fingers, the
lady of the house would
herself take hold and
wring out the wet linen.
She worked in the crar-
den, and she made her
boys' clothes. They had
no other tailor until they
were eighteen years old.
Nevertheless, she found time to acquire the knowledge
she had not stored up in early youth. Her will power
and love of activity, her intrepidity, her j^ractical and reso-
lute nature, have descended to her son.
2
XAN-SEN i MoTllKK
,S A'.^A'S/iX /X THE FROZEN WORLD
Mr. and Mrs. Nansen, after their marriage, settled
down upon a small property belonging to her at Great
Froen in West Aker. Here I^-idtjof was born on October
lo, iS6i.
In the choice of liis birthplace, his lucky star, as we
have said before, had ordered things for the best. Here
was country life, here were cows and horses, geese and
hens, hills for snow-shoeing on every side, great forests
close at hand, and, only some two miles and a half away,
an excellent school, one of the best in Christiania.
These two miles and a half were reckoned a mere
nothing in the Nansen household. First to school in the
morning, and back again, then, on summer afternoons,
down to the fortress to learn to swim — that makes a
good ten miles of a hot summer's day, to say nothing of
minor wanderings. .And there were invariably fights by
the way — systematic training, be it observed, from the
very first.
Froen farmyard was the scene of the boy's earliest
e.\j)cditions, and it was not Arctic cold, but torrid heat
that first imj)erilled his life. One day when he was three
years old, and still in frocks, he stood hammering away at
a wheelbarrow, no doubt trying to mend it, when, to the
consternation of those in the kitchen, a column of smoke
was seen to be rising from his person. " He's on fire!"
was the cry. Out rushed the housekeeper, and tore his
clothes off his back. In the course of his wanderings, he
had visited the brew-house, where some sparks from the
fire had lodged in his petticoats; and behold! he was
within an ace of being burnt to death in blissful uncon-
sciousness that anything was amiss.
The Frogner River flowed right past the front door at
NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND C/f/LDlfOOD
19
■^.-m^^^
^, .' •
>^ -^ ^5
.^•"<r
i*^'
CREAT I'KOK.N — THK DWELLlNli-HOUSE
Froen, and here Fridtjof and his younger brother would
bathe in the fresh of the evening, in the coldest pool they
could find. Indeed, the younger of the two would some-
times nearly perish with the cold, so that after coming out
of the water he had to be dragged about at a l^risk trot, m
tlic costume which preceded all fashions and modes of
dress, in order to keep life and warmth in his body.
Into this same river they fell through the ice in tlie
winter, and when their mother appeared on the scene she
found Fridtjof in the act of fishing his brother out. And
it was in the Frogner River that Fridtjof himself came
near losing liis life.
Hut it also presented a peaceful means of livelihood.
30
.y.!.ysj-:.v ix the frozen world
They selected from among the pea-sticks those made of
juniper, rolled their trousers well up, and went digging
among the decayed leaves in
the garden for bait, which
they stored in tlie turned-up
portion of their breeches.
Then they went and fished
for trout or minnows. Now
and then the hook would go
astray and stick fast in Fridt-
jofs under lip ; whereupon
Mrs. Nansen would have re-
course to father's razor, make
a resolute incision and extract
the foreign body. No fuss or
pother on cither side. Not
so mucli as a sound.
Here at Froen he first ran
his liead against tlie ice —
the rough ice in the yard.
When the little five-year-old rushed into the kitchen, there
was scarcelv a white sj^ot left on his face, for the blood
that trickled down it. lie would not shed a tear, and was
only afraid of being scolded. But from that day to this
he wear.s liis first ice-nicdal in tlie shape of a scar.
They hunted sciuirrcls with dog and bow. "Storm," the
dog, would chase the squirrels up trees, where the little
creatures found a tolerably secure asylum ; for the arrows
never hit them. T'inally, T'ridtjof, inspired by Indian tales,
hit upon a devilish device which he thought must |)rove
fatal. 1 \c anointed the arrow-head with the juice of a
poisonous mushroom, so that a wound from it meant
NANSKN AS A CHILD
NANSEN'S ANCESTRY A. YD CIIILDIWOn
CLTtain dcatli. But the arrows somehow did no more ex-
ecution, although he also tii)ped them willi melted lead
to make them carry better.
After that he took to a new \'ariety of weapon —
cannons. He stuffed them to tlie muzzle with powder,
but could not get it to ignite. Then he made a maroon,
and poked it about so much that it exploded in his face.
The cannon ultimately burst ; and it was again his
mother's task to take him aside and pick out the powder
grain by grain.
He himself tells the story of his first snow-shoes, and
his first great leap : —
" I am not speaking of the very first pair of all — they
were precious poor ones, cut
down from cast-off snow-
shoes which had belonged
to my brothers and sisters.
They w^ere not even of the
same length. But Mr. Fabri-
tius, the printer, took jMty
upon me ; ' I '11 give }'ou a
pair of snow-shoes,' he said.
Then spring came and then
summer, and with the best will
in the world one could n't
go snow-shoeing. But Fa-
britius's promise sang in my
ears, and no sooner had the
autumn come and the fields
begun to whiten with hoar-frost of a morning, than I
placed myself right in his way, where I knew he would
come driving by.
NANSKN AS A KOY
22 X.L\S/:X /\ 'J HE I-KOZE.\ WORLD
• • 1 >a\ ! What al)t)Ut those snow-shoes ? '
• • \'ou shall have them right enough,' he said, and
laughed. Hut I returned to the charge da)- after day:
' What about those snow-shoes?'
" Then came winter. I can still see my sister standing
in the middle of the room with a long, long parcel which
she said was for me. I thought she said, too, it was from
Paris. Hut that was a mistake, for it was the snow-shoes
from Fabritius — a pair of red-lacquered ash snow-shoes
with black strij^es. And there was a long staff too, with
shining blue-lacquered shaft and knob. I used these
snow-shoes for ten )'ears. It was on them I made my
fir.st big jumjj on Huseby Hill, where at that time the
great snow-^hoe races were held. We boys were not
allowed to go there. W^e might range all the other hills
round about, but the Huseby Hill was forbidden. But
we could see it from Frben, and it lured us day after day
till we could n't resist it any longer. At first I started
frnm the middle of the hill, like most of the other boys,
and all went well. Hut presently I saw there were one
or two who started from the top ; so of course I had
to try it. Off I set, came at frantic speed to the jump,
sailed for what seemed a long time in space, and ran
my snow-shoes deep into a snow-drift. W'e did n't have
our shoes fastened on in those days, so they remained
sticking in the drift, while I, head first, described a fine
arc in the air. I had such way on, too, that when I
came down again I bored into the snow u]) to my waist.
There was a moment's hush on the hill. The boys
thought I had broken my neck. But as soon as they
saw there was life in me, and that I was beginning to
scramble out, a shout of mocking laughter went up; an
NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND Cini.DHOOD 23
endless roar of derision over the entire hill from lojj to
bottom.
"After that, I took j^art in the lluseby Mill races and
won a prize. But I didn't take it home; for I was put
to shame on that occasion as well. It was the first time
I liad seen the Telemark peasants snow-shoeing, and I
recognized at a <'lance that I was n't to be mentioned
in the same breath with them. They used no staff; they
simply went ahead and made the leap without trusting to
anything but the strength of their muscles and the firm,
lithe carriage of their bodies. I saw that this was the
only proper way. Until I had mastered it, I would n't
have any prize."
He was a terrible one for fallinc: into brown studies.
Between putting on the first and the second stocking of
a morning, there was always a prolonged interval. Then
his brothers and sisters would call out, " There 's the
duffer at it again ! You '11 never come to any good,
you 're such a dawdler."
He was always bent on getting to the bottom of every-
thing. He asked so many questions, says one of his older
friends, that it made one absolutely ill. " I\Iany a time
have I given him a thundering scolding for this everlast-
ing ' Why } — Why 1 — Why ? ' " The arrival of a sewing-
machine at Froen naturally aroused the demon of curios-
ity in all his virulence. He m.ust find out what kind of
animal this was. So he took it all to pieces, and when
his mother came back from town, the machine was the
most disjointed ])uzzle imagina])le. If tradition is to be
trusted, however, he did not give in until he hatl put it all
together again.
CHAPTER II
VOI'TII
If, weary ni the soft nrace of the Christiania Valley,
one turns and gazes northward from the tower on Try-
vand Height, one is confronted, as far as eye can see,
with blue-black forests — forests and nothing but forests,
ridge behind ridge, on and on to the farthest verge of
the horizon.
This is Nordmarken, an unbroken stretch of Nor-
wegian woodland, many square miles in extent, a lonely
world of narrow valleys, abruj^t heights, secluded glassy
lakes, and foaming rivers.
Into this solitude no murmur from the busy capital
ever penetrates, not even the sound of a panting engine
or the warning whistle of a steamboat cautiously thread-
ing the intricacies of the fjord in the dense sea-fog.
At the frontier of Nordmarken the comforts of civiliza-
tion instantaneously stop short. When you have said
good-bye to the great hotels on the slopes of the Frogner
Salter, and plunged into these interminable forests, you
may wander for days without coming across anything
remotely resembling an hotel.
Yes, here all is peaceful and still — l^reathlessly still —
when summer sjDreads her light veil oxer the glassy lakes
and dark green leas, when the black-grouse drowses in
the heather, and even the thrush in the ))ine-tops hushes
his sf)n[r.
NANSEN'S YOUTH 25
Tlicrc is breathless stillness, too, of a clear autumn
evening" when the birch sees its yellow silk, and the aspen
its o:or2:cous scarlet, reflected in the black mirror of the
lake, framed in the delicate pale red of the heather.
Again there is breathless stillness — perhaps even more
complete — during the long night of winter, when the
stars glitter over the snow-laden forest and the white-
frozen surface oU the lake, and 110 sound is heard save the
soft trickle of the ice-bound river.
In the shooting and fishing season it is no longer the
Great Pan who reigns. Fishing-rods by the score hang
over the river like a bending wood, and the guns of the
city sportsmen keep up a continual popping and banging
in a spirit of noisy competition. Even the boundless
abundance of fish and game is thus on the decline.
Waterworks have interfered with the spawning, dam after
dam bars the fishes' way up stream, and the river bed lies
dry for weeks together.
It was not so twenty years ago, in Fridtjof Nansen's
boyhood. He was among the few, the pioneers, the elect.
7"hat Robinson Crusoe existence which less favored boys
must be content to live in imagination was vouchsafed to
him in its glorious reality. Of his first expedition to the
borders of that Promised Land he has himself written as
follows : —
" I showed no great intrepidity on my first voyage of
discovery, although it went no farther than to Sorkedal.
" I was somewhere about ten or eleven at the time, and
up in Sorkedal lived several boys who were friends of
mine, and who had asked my brothers and myself to come
and see them. One afternoon in June, as we were sitting-
out on the steps, it came over us all of a sudden that we
26 X.l.VS£N IN THE J'ROZEX WORLD
reallv ought to act upon this invitation. W'c had a notion
that we ought to ask our parents' leave, and an equally
clear notion that we should n't get it if we did. Father
and mother were taking a siesta; we dared not disturb
them, and if we waited till they awakened it would be too
late to go. So we took French leave and slipped off.
The first part of the way was familiar to us. We knew
where Engeland lay, and made our waytto Bogstad with-
out much hesitation. After that we were rather at sea;
but we asked our way from point to point, first to the
Sorkedal church, and after that to the farm where the
boys lived. By the time we got there it was seven o'clock
in the evening. Then we had to play with our friends
and go and see the barn, and afterwards to do a little fish-
ing. But it was n't any real fun. Our consciences were
so bad that we had no peace for so much as half an hour.
Then the time came for us to go home, and our hearts
sank so dreadfully that the way back seemed ever so much
wearier than the way out. The youngest soon became
footsore, and it was a melanchol}- procession that slowly
dracrcred itself towards Froen farm at eleven o'clock that
night. W'e saw from a long way off that people were
afoot ; no doubt they had been searching for us. We felt
anything but fearless. As we turned the corner, mother
came towards us. ' Is that you, boys.?' ' Now we're in for
it! ' we thought. ' Where have you been 1 ' mother asked.
"Well, wc had been to Sorkedal. Now for it! But
mother only said in an odd way : ' You are strange boys ! '
And she had tears in her eyes.
" I'^ancy, not the least bit of a scolding ! Fancy getting
to bed with our blistered feet, and without the least bit of
a scolding !
NANSjEN'S youth 27
" Aiul the most L'xtniordinary part of it was that a few
clays later we were allowed to go again to Sorkedal.
Could it be that father and mother had come to think
tliat they had been a little too strict with us ?
" While I was in my teens, I used to pass weeks at a
time alone in the forest. I disliked having any equii^ment
for my exjieditions. 1 managed with a crust of bread and
broiled my fish on the embers. I loved to live like Rob-
inson Crusoe up there in the wilderness."
But frequently Nansen was accompanied by his brother
and an older member of the famih', who hap])encd to be
an enthusiastic huntsman and fislierman. And in this
way, from the age of twelve upwards, the boys trained
themselves to bear those fatii^ues which are the best thiniJ^
in the world for hardening the muscles. The tramp
became longer and longer, they pushed on farther and
farther afield, as they grew older ; first to Sorkedal — then
to Langli River — then Svarten (the Black Lake) — San-
dungen — Katnosa.
The woods of Nordmarken offered plenty of long runs
for a ''ski-runner'' who preferred to go his own way. It
was here that a feelinsf for nature was fostered in him — a
sense of the beauty of winter and summer, and of shifting
atmospheric moods which do not as a rule appeal to boys.
Here his tissues were hardened to face the Polar winters,
while he stood in the crackling frost waiting for the hare,
and envying him his warm white fur. It was hereabouts
(at Fyllingen) that he was once hare-hunting with his
brother for thirteen days on end. At the last they had
nothing to live on but potato cakes, and were half starxed,
botli thev and their dog. Then came killing-day at the
farm, and the brothers consumed black-puddings till they
2S .\:/.\'.V^-\' IN THE FROZEN WORLD
nearly bui>l. When the time came to go home, iM-idtjof
had to slioulder seven hares, slim- Ijv the legs. He
slipped, fell forwards, and all the hares shot out like the
rays of a halo round his head.
There was one thing that used to annoy his snow-
shoeing cronies in those days, and that was his total care-
lessness as to creature comforts. If he happened to
look from the tower on Tryvand's Height away over to
Stubdal, twenty miles off, a whim would all of a sudden
seize him, and nothing would serve but he must set off
without taking a crumb of food with him. He on one
occasion descended upon a farm in Stubdal so ravenously
hungry that the people did not forget his visit for many
a day.
Another time he and a party of his friends set off on a
long snow-shoeing expedition, each with his provision waU
let on his back — each one, that is to say, except Fridtjof
Nansen. But when they got to the first resting-place he
unbuttoned his jacket and took out of his breast pocket
— concealed deep within tlie lining — several pancakes,
which were as hot after the snow-shoeing as if they had
just come off the pan. He held them up smoking:
" Have a pancake, any of you fellows } " None of them
were dainty, but the pancakes seemed even less so, and
they declined with thanks. " WY'll," he said, " the more
fools you, for let me tell you there's jam in them!" It
is in such traits that he shows his kinship with the deni-
zens of the great forests. He has the recklessness of the
hunter and the lumberman, their daring and headlong
spirits. He is a typical east-country boy. But at the
same time there is systematic intention in the training to
which he subjects himself; his alert ambition reinforces
NANSEN'S YOUTH 29
his delight in uinariii^hcd nature, and liis tendency to
set at defiance the customs of civiHzation. " The least
possible " is early his ideal, and he has not the slightest
objection to shocking public opinion in acting up to his
principles. It never occurs to him to doubt that it is he
who is right and the world that is wrong. He appears to
have been one of the first consistent disci])les of Jaeger
in Christiania, and later on, in his letters from Bergen, he
boasts that now the wool theory is admitted on all hands.
He quotes in this connection one of his favorite sayings:
" There was a man in a madhouse in London, who used
to say: 'I said the world was crazy, but the world said
that I was crazy, and so they put me here.' "
One thing his friends had to guard against : they must
never say to him that anything was impossible, for that
was inevitably the signal for him to attempt it. His boy-
ish impetuosity brought him on one occasion to death s
door — to the very verge of one of those leaps which
even the most expert athlete cannot clear.
It was in 1.S7S. On a walking tour with his brother
Alexander, he came to Gjendin in the Jotunheim, and
must needs climb the Svartdal Peak. There was a way
round the back of the mountain which was more or less
practical3]e, but h^'idtjof would have none of that; he must
of course go straight up the precipitous black face of the
hill. " As we got up towards the peak," his brother relates,
" there was a snow-field which we had to cross. Beyond
the snow-field lay the precipice, straight down into the
valley. I had alread)- had several attacks of giddiness, so
that iM-idtjof had given me his alpenstock, and was with-
out it when it came to crossing the glacier. Instead of
going carefully stcj) by step, as he would do now, he goes
30 A'AXS/iN IN THE FKOZEX WORLD
at it witli a ru^li, slips, and begins to slide down. I can
see him turn jxale. A few seconds more, and he wil] lie
crushed to death in the valley. He digs his heels and
nails into the ice, and brings himself to a standstill in the
nick of time. That moment I shall never forget. Nor
shall I forget his coming down to the tourist chalet and
disappearing into the trousers which the burly secretary
of the Tourist Club, N. G. Dielrichson. had to lend him,
an essential part of his own ha\ing yielded to the friction
of the glacier."
The same vear in which I^-idtjof Nansen was in the
lotunheim. he had his first experience of j^tarmigan shoot-
ing in the mountains, — Norefjeld and thereabouts, — and
it was then they went on a tramp so exhausting that one
of his brothers fell asleep far up on the heights, and had
to be hauled along with the greatest difficulty. It was
probably these early hunting expeditions through the for-
est and over the mountain ])lateaux that gave him his taste
for the accurate observation of animal life, and thus sup-
plied the initial impulse towards the line of study which
he finally chose. In the year iS8o he matriculated with
sufiicient credit to prove that his distractions during
schooltime had not been so absorbing as to prevent him
from settling down to work when the moment arrived.
He got a first class in all natural science subjects, mathe-
matics, and history; and when in December, i88i,he\vent
up for his second examination, he was classed as latidabilis
prcc ceteris. He ajDpears about this time to have been in
some uncertainty as to his choice of a career. He was
entered as a cadet at the military academy, but the nomi-
nation was cancelled when he finally resolved to continue
NANSEN'S YOCTTr 31
his scientific studies, lie never contemplated going into
the medical profession, Ijiit had at one time an idea of
takino- the first part of the medical examination. It ended,
however, in his choosing a special branch, Zoology. As
early as January, 18S2, he applies to Professor Collett for
advice. The Professor happens to rememljcr how lie liim-
self has been urged by Arctic seamen to go witli them
and prosecute his studies during a sealing expedition.
This ought to be the very thing for Nansen. He is an
expert sportsman and a good shot — why should he not
go to the Arctic regions on board a sealing vessel, niake
his observations, keep a record, and train himself for de-
scriptive zoological research.'^ Nansen came to see him,
and he made the suggestion, which took liold of the young
man at once. /\ week later he again called on the Pro-
fessor, having in the mean time spoken to CajDtain Kref-
ting of the sealer Vikmg, and arranged matters with him.
On January 23, Nansen's father telegraphed to an old
friend in Arendal asking him to secure the shi])-owncrs'
sanction. The friend w^as able, when called upon, to de-
clare that P^ridtjof Nansen was a sturdy, strapping fellow,
ready with his hands, and capable of great endurance, so
that, to the best of the witness's belief, he would proxe a
useful and desirable member of the expedition. Permis-
sion was instantly wired back, and Nansen, having em-
ployed the brief interval at the university in studying the
anatomy of the seal, sailed from the port of Arendal on
board the Viking or\ Saturday, March 11.
The cruise lasted five months; during which Nansen
shot about five hundred large seals, and fourteen Polar
bears. The liking got fast in the ice off the east coast
of Greenland, and it was there that the idea occurred to
32
N.INSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
Nanscn that it would be practicable to land on the coast
and cross the inland ice.
W'e ha\-e Fridtjof Nansen's own word for it that these
weeks off the east coast of Greenland exercised a deter-
mining influence over him. " By day the peaks and the
glaciers lay glittering beyond the drift ice ; in tlie evening
and at niirht. when the sun tinoed them with color and
set air and clouds on fire behind them, their wild beauty
was thrown into even bolder relief."
He brooded incessantly over plans for reaching that
coast which so many have sought in vain. It must be
possible, he thought, t(^ make your way over the ice, drag-
ging your Ijoat along with you. He wanted to set off
alone and walk ashore, but permission was refused him.
Already he had begun to entertain notions of penetrating
NANSEN'S YOUTH n
to ihc heart of the country; and within a year of his
return to Norway the idea of crossing Greenland on
snow-shoes had taken firm root in his mind.
While Fridtjof Nansen was swimming across the rifts
in the ice after Polar bears, the Director-in-Chicf of the
Bergen Museum, Dr. Danielssen, was turning things over
in his mind. He needed a new assistant. Before the
bear-hunter had reached Christian ia, Professor Robert
CoUett was applied to by telegraph for his advice. He
thought instantly of Nansen, and asked him, the moment
he set foot on shore, if he would care to become Curator
{Konservator) of the Bergen Museum. He agreed at once.
He was not yet twenty-one, and had done nothing what-
ever to make his mark in science ; so it was certainly a
very tempting offer. He held the position of Curator of
the Bergen Museum till 1888, during which time he was
engaged in carrying on zoological investigations.
Few things are more characteristic of Nansen than the
way in which he passed froni Polar bear-hunting to the
work-room of the Bergen Museum. " I have become an
absolute first-class stick-in-the-mud," he says in a letter to
his father as early as October 17, 1882. He, the athlete
and sportsman par excellence, has to " reassure " his father
by informing him that he is a member of two gymnastic
societies ! He throws himself into his scientific work as
passionately as if it were the most thrilling of adventures.
He pursues the paltriest insect revealed by the micro-
scope no less impetuously than he pursued the bears
over the Arctic wastes. In the course of his studies of the
nervous system, Nansen became acquainted with the chro-
mic silver method of staining the nerve fibres invented
by Professor Golgi of Pavia.
3
34 .y.lXSFA' IX THE FROZEX WORLD
In order thoroughly to familiarize himself with this im-
portant auxiliary to the investigations which had now oc-
cupied him for several years, he determined, in the spring
of i8S6, to go to Italy. Partly under Golgi's personal
guidance, and partly at the Zoological Station in Naples,
where he would find ample material, he hoped to be able
to carry his researches somewhat farther than had been
possible with the methods hitherto in vogue. The previ-
ous year, at the Bergen Museum, he had won the Joachim
Friele gold medal for his work on the myzostoma. He
had taken the medal in copper, and applied the value of
the gold to his travelling expenses.
After a short stay in Pavia, where he conferred with
Professor Golgi and Dr. Fusari, he went on to Naples,
where he spent the following months, from April till June,
1886, at the celebrated Zoological Station.
The principal results of his studies he embodied in sev-
eral bioloijical works; for "The Structure and Combina-
tion of the Histological Elements of the Central Nervous
System " Nansen received his doctors degree.
By the great public, PVidtjof Nansen is known and ad-
mired chiefly as the dauntless explorer of the unknown
wastes of the North Pole. The above may help to im-
press upon the jniblic, that Nansen is also an investigator
of note in another domain, which, though it does not
attract so much attention, perhaps deserves it no less.
Voyages of discovery in the quiet study, in the labora-
tory, in the world of the microscope, in Nature's secret
workshop, — these too minister to the enlightenment of
mankind and the progress of civilization. In this field
PVidtjof Nansen ])roved himself a born discoverer, and, at
an unusually early age, developed an activity which was
rich in j^romise.
CHAPTER III
NANSEn's GREENLAND EXPEDITION PREPARATIONS PLAN
EQUIPMENT
" One winter evening in 'Sy,'' writes Dr. Grieg, " I sat
in my den at 3A Park\'eien, absorbed in my work. Sud-
denly the door was ilung wide open, and in stalked
Nansen, witli liis long-haired, badly trained dog Jenny.
Without pretending to be an authority on the subject,
it is my opinion that Nansen is too absent-minded to be
able to train good sporting dogs. The evening was cold,
so that even Nansen had thrown his plaid over his shoul-
ders. He sat down on the sofa just opposite me.
" ' Uo you know wliat I'm going to set about now .'^ '
he said. ' I mean to have a trv at crossino- Greenland.'
And he set forth his i)lans with the aid of my old atlas,
which I shall always associate with the memory of that
evening. He was excited and wrought-up, and, at that
stage, far from being certain, or even hopeful, of finding
things go easily. I saw he wanted objections to discuss,
and I supplied him with what occurred to me, though I
knew nothing of the subject. ' It would be easiest to
make the crossing lower down, you understand,' he said,
' but the real thing will be to show the world that Green-
land can ]je crossed so far north as this ' and he
pointed out wIuti.' he had at fu'st ])laniu'd to start. I le
little dreamed that this stretch of coast, which he treated
so lightly that evening, would })rove so hard a nut to
36 Ml.VSAW IN THE FROZEN WORLD
crack. He .said he was going to Stockholm. 'What
arc you going to do there?' 'To look up Nordenskjold,
and ask him to give me his opinion of my scheme. I
shall just wait to take my doctor's degree in the spring,
and then off to Greenland. It will be a hard spring, old
man, but pooh ! I shall manage it.'
" Another friend had meanwhile dropped in. We all
three walked to Skarpsno, we two every-day people mak-
ing feeble objections, he meeting them with increasing
warmth and with youthful emphasis of conviction. He
would stake his lift on the plan, and we should see it
would all go smoothly. It was like a revelation, in these
decadent days, to find a man of action ready to lay down
his hfe for his idea. I was impressed and moved that
evening when we parted."
He went to Stockholm. It may be noted at this point
tliat it was in iS86 that Peary and Maigaard, with their
scanty equii)ment, had made a highly successful inroad
upon the (ireenland ice field, intended, as Peary had
expressly stated in his brief narrative, merely as a prelim-
inary reconnaissance. Nansen had no time to lose if he
did not want to be anticipated. Moreover, his zoological
and anatomical labors w^ere in the mean time at a stand-
still. His great essay on the histological elements of the
central nervous system was finished, and could at any
time be handed in as a thesis for his doctor's degree.
"When, on Thursday, November 3, 1887, I entered my
work-rooin, in the Mineralogical Institute of the Stock-
holm iligh School," says Professor Brogger, " my janitor
told me that there had been a Norwegian asking for
me. I le had not left a card, and did not say who he was.
Compatriots without a name and without a \'isiting-card
NANSEN'S GREKXI.AND KXPEDiriOX 37
were no rarit}'. It was no doubt some one wantin;^ nie
to relieve him from a momentary embarrassment.' 'What
did he look like?' 1 said, with a touch of annoyance.
" ' Tall and fair,' answered Andersson.
" ' Was he well dressed } '
"'He hadn't any overcoat,' said Andersson, smilini;
confidentially; 'he looked like a sailor, or something of
that sort.'
" Ah, yes — a sailor without an overcoat! No doubt
the idea was that I should supply him with one. I saw
it all.
" An hour or two later in came Wille. ' Have you seen
Nansen ? '
" ' Nansen ? Was that the name of the sailor? The
man without an overcoat ? '
" ' Has he no overcoat ? 7\t any rate he 's going to
cross the Greenland ice sheet.' And Wille rushed off —
he was in a hurry.
" After that comes another of my colleagues, Professor
Lecke, the zoologist. ' Have you seen Nansen ? Is n't
he a splendid fellow ? He has been telling me of many
interesting discoveries about the sex of the myxme —
and about his investigations of the nervous system too.
Charming things ! Splendid ! '
" After all these ])reliminaries, Nansen at last appeared
in person — tall and erect, broad-shouldered and powerful,
yet with the grace and suppleness of youth. His rather
rough hair was brushed back from his massive forehead.
He came straight up to me and gave me his hand witli a
peculiarly winnmg smile, while he introduced himself.
" ' You are going to cross Greenland ? '
" ' Well, I 'm thinking of it.'
38 NANSEy IN THE FROZEN WORLD
" I looked him in the eyes. There he stood witl^ the
kindly smile on his strongly-eiit, massive face, his com-
plete self-confidence awakening confidence in others.
.Although his manner was just the same all the time, —
calm, straightforward, perhaps even a little awkward, —
yet it seemed as if he grew with e\ery word. This plan,
— \\\\> .snow-shoe expedition from the east coast, — which
a moment ago I had regarded as an utterly crazy idea,
became, in the course of that one conversation, the most
natural thing in the world. The conviction possessed me
all of a sudden : he will do this thing, as surely as we are
sittinof here and talking^ about it.
" This man whose name I had never so much as heard
until a couple of hours before, had in these few minutes —
quite naturally and inevitably as it seemed — made me
feel as though I had known him all my days ; and with-
out reflecting at all as to how it happened, I knew^ that I
should be proud and happy to be his friend through life.
" ' W'e '11 go straight to Nordenskjold,' I said ; and we
went. With his sinmilar dress — a tiorht-fittins:, dark blue,
jersey-like blouse or jacket, closely buttoned up — he did
not fail to attract a certain amount of attention in Drott-
ninggatan (Queen Street). Gustaf Retzius, as I heard
afterwards, took him at first for an acrobat or rope-
dancer.
" Well, we hunted up Nordenskjold, crossing the quiet,
cloistral quadrangle of the Academy of Science, which
has always something awe-inspiring about it.
" Nordenskjold was in his laboratory, as usual at that
time in the morning. We went through the anterooms
filled with mineralogical specimens and cases. 'These
used to be Berzelius's quarters,' I remarked to Nansen in
NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 39
passing. Lindstrom, the Professor's assistant, jDresently
appeared, with both hands full of retorts and chemicals.
" ' The old man is inside ; he 's up to his eyes in work,'
he whispered quietly to me.
" There, in the work-room, ' old man Nor ' was wander-
ing around among his minerals. I can never see his
strong, broad back, without thinking of a story in connec-
tion with his boat expedition up the Yenisei in 1875. At
one point, where the seas repeatedly threatened to swamp
the boat, Nordenskjold took his seat on the after gunwale,
and let the ice-cold waves break on his broad back.
There he sat for hours, doing duty, in a literal sense, as a
breakwater. Of such stuff are Arctic explorers made.
" I greeted Nordenskjold and performed the introduc-
tion. ' Curator Nansen, of Bergen. He intends to cross
the Greenland ice sheet '
" ' Good heavens ! '
" ' And he w^ould like to consult you upon the matter.'
" ' I 'm delisfhted to see him. So ! Mr. Nansen intends
to cross Greenland ? '
" The bombshell had fallen. The friendly, amiable, but
somewhat absent expression he had worn an instant be-
fore had vanished, and his liveliest interest w^as aroused.
He seemed to be scanning the young man from head to
foot, in order to see what sort of stuff he had in him.
Then he burst out with a twinkle in his eye: 'I shall
make Mr. Nansen a present of a pair of excellent boots !
Indeed, I 'm not joking ; it 's a very important and serious
matter to have your foot-gear of the best quality.'
" The ice is broken. Nansen expounds, Nordenskjold
nods a little skeptically now and then, and throws in a
question or two. He no doubt regarded the plan — at
40 NAXSEN AV THE FROZEN WORLD
least so it seemed to me — as foolliardy, but not absolutely
impracticable. It was obvious that Nansen's personality
had instantly made a strong impression on him. He was
at once prepared, in the most cordial manner, to place the
results of his own experience at the young man's service.
*' There were of course numbers of details to be irone
into: the Laplanders, snow-shoes, sledges, and boats —
and then the question whether the drift ice could be
crossed as Nansen had planned. But ' the old man was
up to his eyes in work,' and it was agreed that Nansen
should come again. Meanwhile, we were to meet the
same evening, at the Geological Society. As we were
leaving I said aside to Nordenskjold, ' \\(i\\, wliat do you
think ? I back him to do it.'
" ' I dare say you 're right,' answered Nordenskjold.
But the skeptical expression was again to the fore.
" After the meeting at the Geological Society, Nansen
accompanied me home. It was pretty well on in the
evening. W'liile we were sitting talking, he genial and at
his ease, I quite absorbed in all these new ideas, there
came a ring at the door, and in walked Nordenskjold. I
at once saw that he was seriously interested.
" We sat there till the small hours, discussing Arctic
and Antarctic explorations in general, and the Greenland
expedition in |)articu]ar. It was only four years since
Nordenskjold himself had made his last expedition on the
Greenland ice sheet; and he was at this time, if I remem-
ber rightly, much interested in arranging a combined
Australian-Swedish Antarctic expedition, in which his
promising son, G. Nordenskjold,^ who unfortunately died
so early, was to have taken part.
' Three years later this young man undertook an expedition to .Spitzbergen.
NANSKN'S GREENLAND EXJ'EDITION 41
" 1 was goini;' tlic next day to the usual l'\)urtl"i of
November banquet at the house of the Norwegian Secre-
tary of State, and I asked Nanscn if he \vf)u]d care to
liave an invitation. No, he could n't well appear on such
an occasion — he had only the clothes he was wearing.
'"But Mr. Nansen can come and dine with me, just as
he is,' suggested Nordenskjold with frank cordiality; and
so it was arranged.
" I cannot say whether Nansen, when he returned to
Christiania, a couple of days later, took with him the 'ex-
cellent boots,' though I know that Nordenskjold after-
wards sent him a pair of snow-spectacles. But, boots or
no boots, he certainly took back with him many a valuable
hint, and the assurance of complete sympathy on the part
of the great explorer. When, nearly two years later, they
again met in Stockholm, the foolhardy plan had been
carried out, and the journey over the inland ice from coast
to coast was an accomplished fact."
Nansen's application to the " Collegium Academicum "
for the means to carry out the expedition is dated Novem-
ber II, 1887. The very first sentence goes straight to
the heart of the matter: "It is my intention next sum-
mer to undertake a journey across the inland ice of
Greenland from the east to the west coast." The amount
he asked for w'as 5,000 crow^ns (less than 300/.). It is so
infinitesimally small in comparison with the magnitude
and importance of the undertaking, that one cannot speak
of it now without a smile. But as yet the jDroject, was
only a project, and the projector an untried man. The
faculty and the council warmly recommended the scheme
to the Government. But the Government could not see
42 XJXSJtX AV THE FROZEN WORLD
its way to sanctioning it. One of the official organs was
unable to discover any reason wj-iy the Norwegian people
should pay so large a sum as 300/. in order that a private
individual might treat himself to a pleasure-trip to Green-
land. And undoubtedly the Government here repre-
sented a \er\- large section of the people. Two widel)'
different sides of the Norwegian character were in this
case at odds. The love of adventure is represented in
Nansen, the cautiousness, the " canniness," of the Norwe-
gian peasant is represented in the Government. It is no
mere chance that this 300/. should have come from
abroad. For except in scientific circles, and among the
young and ardent, the general ojjinion certainly was that
Nansen's undertaking was only worthy of a madman —
though no one actuall)' went so far as to have him locked
up, like the man in the London madhouse whom Nansen
is so fond of citing. A comic paper in Bergen inserted
the following advertisement : —
Notice. — In the month of June next. Curator Nansen will give a snow-shoe
display, with long jumps, on the inland ice of Greenland. Reserved seats in
the crevasses. Return ticket unnecessary.
And in private conversation the affair was taken much
in the same way, when it was not regarded from a more
serious point of view, by people who thought it sinful to
give open support to a suicide.
Nor was it only the outside public that held these
opinions. Previous explorers of Greenland, who might be
suppo.sed to know the local conditions, characterized the
plan as absolutely visionary. Nansen has himself reprinted
in his book a short extract from a lecture delivered in
Copenhagen by one of the younger Danish explorers of
Greenland. lie says: "Among the few of us who know
NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEJUTION 4;,
sometliini;' of the nature of Danish Mast (jreenland, tliere
is no doubt that unless the ship reaches the coast and
waits for Iiim till he is forced to confess himself beaten, it
is ten to one that either Nansen will throw away his own
life, and perhaps the lives of others, to no purpose ; or
else he will he })icked uj) by the Mskimos, and convoyed
by them round Cape Farewell to the Danish stations on
the west coast. But no one has any right needlessly to
involve the East Greenlanders in a long journe)', which
must be in many respects injurious to them."
It was, however, from Denmark that the requisite finan-
cial assistance came. Professor Amund Helland, who had
himself been in Greenland, had strongly advocated the
plan in the " Dagblad " of November 24, 1887. "After
the experiences of others on the inland ice," he says, " and
after what I myself have seen of it, I cannot see why
young and courageous snow-shoers, under an intelligent
and cautious leader, should not have every prospect of
reaching the other side, if only the equipment be care-
fully adapted to the peculiar conditions. . . . All things
carefully considered, I believe there is every likelihood
that competent snow-shoers should be able to manage
this journey without running any such extreme risks as
should make the expedition inadvisable. Those who
have travelled some distance on the inland ice of Green-
land number, at present, about twenty men, and not a
single life has been lost in these attempts."
As a result of this article, Professor Helland was able
to announce to the "Collegium Academicum," on Jan-
uary 12, 1888, that Mr. Augustin Gamel, of Copenhagen,
had offered to provide the 5,000 crowns.
Nansen accepted the generous offer. Afterwards, when
44 XA.VS£A^ IN THE FROZEX WORLD
all was happily over, people criticised this action. He
ought to ha\c waited patiently till the money turned up
somewhere in Norway. This wisdom after the event is
foolish enough. It ignores the actual facts of the situ-
ation. Nansen had made up his mind to pay for the
whole enterprise out of his own pocket ; no one in Norway
showed the slightest eairerness to prevent his doinir so.
And, with all his self-reliance, he could not, at that time,
regard the realization of his idea as a privilege that must
be reserved solely and exclusively for Norway, The situ-
ation was quite different ^\■hcn, five years later, with the
eyes of all the world upon him, he set out for the North
Pole. Then, indeed, it was of the utmost importance that
the money as well as the flag should be Norwegian. The
criticism seems all the emptier when we remember that
the Greenland Expedition did not cost 5,000 crowns, but
more than three times that amount, and that Nansen him-
self would have met this deficit out of his small private
means, had not the Students' Society, after the successful
return of the expedition, set on foot a subscription which
brought in 10,000 crowns.
It was, as Nansen had said to Dr. Grieg, a hard spring.
The first six months of 1888 passed in one incessant
rush. At the beginning of December, 1887, he is back in
Bergen. At the end of January, he goes on snow-shoes
from Kidfjord in Hardanger, by way of Numedal, to
Kongsberg, and thence to Christiania. In March he is in
Hergen again, lecturing on nature and life in Greenland.
One day — or rather night — we find him camping on
the toj) of Hlaamanden, near Bergen, to test his sleej^ing-
bag, and a week later he is on tlie rostrum in Chris-
tiania giving his first trial lecture for his doctors degree,
NANSEN'S GREKXf.AND EXPEDITION 45
on tlic structure of the sexual or^'ans in the myxiiie.
On April 2.S he defends his doctoral thesis: " The Nerve
Elements: their structure and connection in the central
nervous system " — and on May 2 he sets off for Coj^en-
hagen, on his way to Greenland. " I would rather take
a bad degree than have a bad outfit," he used to say to
Dr. Grieg in those days. lie succeeded in getting both
good, but only by straining every nerve. On the one
hand, he had his scientific reputation to look to; on the
other, his own life and the lives of five brave men ; for he
was fully convinced that, of all the dangers which were
pointed out to him, the most serious by far was the danger
of a defective outfit. On the outfit, more than on any-
thing else, depended victory or defeat, life or death.
It was in the January number of the periodical " Natu-
ren " (1888) that he for the first time made a public state-
ment of his plan. He explains that, by striking inland
from the east coast, he will need to cross Greenland only
once. It is true that by this course retreat is cut off.
" The inhospitable coast, inhabited only by scattered
tribes of heathen Eskimos, is bv no means an enviable
winter residence to fall back upon in the event of our
encountering unforeseen obstacles in the interior; but the
less tempting the line of retreat, the stronger will be the
incentive to push on with all our might." This is one of
the essential points of the ]:)lan — all bridges are to be
broken. Here we see the irresistible self-confidence of
genius — its triumphant faith in its power to reach the
goal. The thing that presents itself to ordinarv ])rudence
as the first necessity, namely, a safe and easy line of re-
treat, genius regards rather as a hindrance and a thing to
be avoided.
46 A\-iXS£^^ IX THE FROZEN WORLD
'• Setzet Ilir nicht das Leheii ein,
Nic wire! cucli das Lebcn gewounen sein."
We will not here dwell upon the other features of the
plan, because in all essentials it was carried out as pro-
jected ; and the modifications which proved necessary are
sufficiently well known through Nansen's own account of
the expedition. It will be remembered how they were
caught in the drift ice, carried down alniost to the
southern point of Greenland, and then had to fight their
way laboriously north again. It will be remembered, too,
that they did not strike inland, as they intended, north of
Cape Dan, but a good way farther south, and that they
reached the west coast, not, as contemplated, on Disco
Bay near Christianshaab, but at the Ameralikfjord near
Godthaab. These alterations are important enough in
themselves, but inessential in relation to the main object.
The plan itself having been set forth, the article proceeds
to enumerate the scientific problems which may be solved
or brought nearer to a solution by a journey across the
inland ice. Nansen concludes by quoting Nordenskjold's
words in the preface to his book, " The Second Dickson
Expedition to Greenland:" "The investigation of the un-
known interior of Greenland is fraught with such mo-
mentous issues for science that at present one can hardly
suggest a worthier task for the enterprise of the Arctic
explorer."
Nansen was himself fully conscious of the great scien-
tific import of the journey he was about to take.
I- or the rest, this expedition required in its leader a
quite unusual comljinalion of c|ualities : an adventurous
imagination to conceive it, a Viking-like hardihood to
carry it through, strenuous physical training throughout
NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXJ'EDITION 47
childhood and youth to cnal3lc him to face its fatigues,
and self-sacrificing devotion to science in order to make
the most of the oj^portunities it afforded. And even more
was required. This young man, whose fame as yet rested
entirely uix)n an unfulfilled idea, had to take command of
a little group of brave men who all risked their lives ex-
actly as he did, and among whom were some who them-
selves had held command. This was not a company of
soldiers to be officered as a matter of course ; it required a
special tact, a peculiar instinct, to bear one's self tis primus
in lev pares. With all his ])roud self-confidence, Nansen
had just this instinct. It springs in part, no doubt, from
a strain of gentleness in his character, but may on the
whole be regarded as simply another manifestation of his
singular knack of doing the right thing at precisely the
right moment. He had been too earlv intent on ends of
his own to develop what one would call a specially social
disposition. " He is something of a soloist,'' one of his
friends writes to us, " steadfast towards those to whom he
really attaches himself; but they are not many." He is
too absorbed in his work. He is not expansive, in the
sense of feeling any inborn craving to make friends. But
now, in the moment of need, the unaffected geniality of
his temperament comes out quite naturally in his relation
to those who have had the courage and the insight to
place their trust in him. Given another personality than
his, the whole undertaking would not improbably have
gone to wreck, with the most disastrous consequences.
If it had been simply a question of mechanical discipline,
the spirit of revolt might easily have arisen in the course
of these indescribable hardships, and ruined everything.
As it was, all were as^rccd that, though discussion should
48 N.'IXSJ':^ IN THE FROZEN WORLD
of course be free, one must haxe the decisive voice. But
that one was of no higher rank than the otliers when
there was work to be done or hunger to be endured ; and
it was this complete equaHty that formed the strongest
bond of union. Stories have been invented as to the rela-
tions between the six Greenland explorers, some of them
of a dark and almost tragic tenor. We are able to state
t)n the best authority that all these legends, from first to
last, are the product of popular imagination, which, after
the tremendous enthusiasm over Nansen's return, neces-
sarily underwent a reaction.
The men who accompanied Nansen were Ca])tain Otto
Neumann Sverdruj), born October 31, 1855, in Bindalen ;
Lieutenant Oluf Christian Dietrichson, born May 31,
1856, in Skogn, near Levanger ; Christian Christiansen
Trana, born February 16, 1865, at the farm of Trana, near
Stenkjasr ; besides the two Lapps, Samuel Johannesen
Balto, aged 27, and Ola Nilsen Ravna, aged 45. All
these names have become historical. To the two first-
mentioned in particular a great share in the credit of the
expedition is due. The whole civilized world is indebted
to them, and Nansen most of all. " People are very
ready," he says in the preface to " The First Crossing of
Greenland," " to heap the whole blame of an unsuccessful
expedition, but also the whole honor of a successful one,
ui)f)n the shoulders of the leader. This is ])articularly
unfair in the case of such an expedition as the present,
where the result depends on absolutely no one falling
short, on every one filling his place entirely and at every
point."
For the lives of all these men Nansen had now^ assumed
the responsibility, so far as the planiiing and management
NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 49
of the journey \n^is concerned ; and his responsilDilit}'
beean with tlie outfit. WMth re'>ard to tliis essential mat-
ter, all the c|ualities we ha\'e been dwelling upon would
have been of no avail had he not possessed one other of
the first importance. He was accustomed to see things
for himself. He was an observer not only in the domain
of science, but also in that of practical life. As a boy, he
pulled the sewing-machine to pieces to see how it was
made, and as a young man he had gone deeply into the
question of the nutritive value of the various food-stuffs.
He had an eminently ])ractical and mechanical talent ;
and he had been born with the instinct of the Youngest
Son in the fairy tale, for picking up a magpies wing
whenever he came across it, since you never could tell
w^hen it might come in useful. No doubt he had learned
much in his brief consultations with Nordenskjold, whose
numerous expeditions had always been conspicuous for
their careful and excellent equii)ment. But the expedition
now in hand must be set about on an entirely original
])lan, since they were to have neither reindeer nor dogs,
but were themselves to be their own beasts of burden and
drag every crumb of food and every instrument. Now
was the time to act up to the Nansen motto, " To rec|uire
little." The thing was to ascertain wl^at food-stuffs com-
bine a maximum of nourishment willi a minimum of
weight ; and equally important was the consideration of
the means of transport to be employed. The lightness
of everything was the cardinal point which distinguished
the Nansen expedition from all others. Lightness became
a study, an art. Nansen brooded on the prol:)lem by day,
and dreamed of it at night. Like Macbeth, he was
haunted with visions of insubstantial toUck)iivs (sheath
knives).
4
50 ^'.^^'S£^' av 7///^ froakn world
EvcrvthinL;- was niinutcl}' criticised, froni tlic raw mate-
rial uj) to the finished j^roduct. Many of the most imi)or-
tant articles Nansen designed for himself, h'rom his
detailed description of the outfit we reproduce in a few
words the essential points : Five specially constructed
hand - sledges of ash, with broad steel - plated runners.
These sledges were about 9 ft. 6 in. long by i ft. 8 in.
broad, yet weighed, with the steel runners, onl)- a little
t)ver 2.S lbs. They were so excellently made that in spite
of the tremendous wear and tear they were subjected to
not one of them broke. Next came Norwegian snow-
shoes [ski) of the most careful make, as well as Canadian
snow-shoes and Norwegian wickerwork triiger. The last
were used particularly in ascending the outer slope of
the inland ice, and on wet snow where ski were useless.
The tent was furnished by Lieutenant Ryder, of Copen-
hagen. It was just large enough to accommodate the
two sleeping-bags side by side upon the floor. The dress
of the party consisted of a thin woollen vest and woollen
drawers; over the vest a thick Iceland jersey; and for
outer garments, jacket, knickerbockers and thick snow'-
socks on the legs, all made of Norwegian homespun. For
windy and snowy weather they had an outer dress of thin
sail-cloth. Their foot-gear consisted of boots with pitched
seams and Laj^land lauparsko, a sort of moccasin. On
their heads they wore woollen caps and hoods of homc-
sjjun, woollen gloves on their hands, and in extreme cold
an extra pair of dogskin gloves. For their eyes they had
snow-spectacles, some of smoke-colored glass with baskets
of steel-wire network, some of black wood with horizontal
slits.
The provisions consisted mainly of pemmican, meat-
NANSEN'S G/UiEXI.AXD F.Xri'.DrJ'/OX 51
powder chocolate, calf-li\'cr pate, a Swedish l)iscuit known
as kuakkcbrod, meat biscuits, butter, dried liahbut, a Httle
cheese, pea-soup j^owder, chocolate, and condensed milk.
They took two double-barrelled guns for rej)lenishing
their larder. The cooking apjDaratus was a s])irit-burning
contrivance devised by Nansen and a chemist named
Schmelck, uj^on which they expended much labor. No
spirits for consumption ; some tea, a little coffee, a little
tobacco. On the other hand, an abundance of scientific
instruments. And, to complete the list, tarpaulins, which
on the inland ice were sometimes used as sails ; bamboo
poles; and a (|uantity of tools and small necessaries of
various kinds from matches and a few candles down to
darning-needles — everything of course lis light as pos-
sible.
In only one single respect did this e([uipment prove
inadequate. The pemmican, which should have been the
staple of their diet, had in the course of manufacture
been deprived of all fat, and Nansen did not discover the
fact until the last moment. The result was that thev suf-
fered after a while from "fat-hunger, of which no one who
has not experienced it can form any idea." lu'en during
the last days, w hen they had as much dried meat as they
wanted, the\' did not feel satisfied.
1 low easy it would have been in this terra incognita
for the outfit to ha\-e fallen slioit in other respects!- b'or
one thing, no one in the least foresaw that the exjjedition
would, at this time of the year, be exposed to such severe
cold as was found to prevail on the inland ice. It was a
new and unknown meteorological phenomenon which the
expedition enc^ounfered. If Nansen had chosen woollen
sleeping-bags instead of those of reindeer-skin, which he
sa
Ar.4jys£-v /.y the frozen world
at last determined on, he and his comrades, as he liimself
admits, would scarcely have reached the west coast alive.
Yes, a great deal might have happened ; but luck was
on Nansen's side. His good genius was very active in all
that concerned this, his first great undertaking. But in
the last analysis, no doubt, the man who has " the luck
on his side " is he who shows capacity, foresight, genius,
and does not pit himself against forces which are in the
nature of things unconquerable.
We cannot conclude these lines on the preparations for
the Greenland expedition without mentioning that Nan-
sen was in constant communication with one of the most
notable of the explorers of Greenland, Dr. H. Rink. One
service that Rink certainly rendered him was to throw
into strong relief the perils of the expedition, although
there were moments when the enfeebled and nervously
conscientious old man reproached himself with not having
dwelt on them sufficiently. " Rink at first regarded the
plan," his wife writes to us, " as a mere romantic fancy.
The more he pondered over it, and the more he became
attached to the man who was to carr}- it out, the more
perilous did it become in his eyes, until at last he blamed
himself severely for not having, in the course of all their
discussions, painted in strong enough colors the dangers
to which he believed the expedition would be exposed.
So, ex^Dressly on this account, we invited Nansen to pay
us another visit. Tliat evening we spent for the most
part in looking at ])ictures of Greenland, in a quieter and
more serious frame of mind, on the whole, than on pre-
vious occasions, when there had been a vast amount of
jesting over the chances (cannibalism not excepted) that
might befall the expedition on the ice fields. On these
NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXJ'J'.DITJON 53
occasions everybody used to lau<;h very licarlily, except
Rink. And I remember I had to bear all the Ijlame of
this unseemly conduct after the j^arty broke u])."
In Rink's liouse, too, they used to take lessons in
Eskimo, when time j^ermitted. Sverdruj) tried it fust ;
but he could not get his tongue round the Greenland
idiom. 1 )ietrichson was good at it. " Curiously enough,"
writes Mrs. Rink, " I had pitched upon these two as the
predestined spokesmen of the expedition, and did not
offer to give Nansen any lessons. Whereupon he said,
as though a little hurt: 'Mayn't I try too .'^ ' — and he
went at it with the earnestness and perseverance that are
such charming traits in his character. How remarkably
he succeeded in picking up the language, tlie Eskimos
themselves bear witness."
The last evening Nansen was at Rink's house, Mrs.
Rink accompanied him to the door. " I said," she writes,
" what had often occurred to me, ' You must go to the
North Pole, too, some day.' He answered emphatically,
as though he had long ago made uj) his mind on the
])oint, ' I mean to.' "
CHKISTIANSEN
•.A.NSE\ DIETRICHSON SVF.RDRUP
THE MEMIiERS OF THE CREENLAND EXPEDITION
CHAPTER IV
ACROSS GREENLAND
(X\ May 2, 1 888, Nansen started from Christiania, by
way of Copenhagen and London, for Leith, where he
was to meet tlie rest of the party, wlio had gone, with
the whole outfit, from Christiansand direct to Scotland.
l^-om Scotland they proceeded to Iceland l^y the
Danish steamer Thyra. Not until June 4 did they join
ihf scaler Jason (Captain M. Jacobsen), which was to
carry them over to the east coast of Greenland — under
the express stipulation, however, that the vessel should
not be hindered in its sealing operations for the sake of
landing the party.
ACROSS GREENLAND 55
On Monday, June 11, they liad tlicir first ^^limjisc of
tlic east coast of Greenland, sighting the high rugged
peaks north of Cape Dan at about the latitude where, in
1.S.S3, N(jrdenskjold had succeeded in getting through
the drift ice with the Sophia. The ice belt between the
vessel and the coast pro\'ed, however, to be still so wide
(from iiine to ten miles of rough ice) as to render any
attempt to reach the land unadvisable for the present.
They had to wait about a month for a favorable op])ortu-
nity of leaving the Jason, which was bound to remain in
the region where the seal-hunting was likely to be good.
Meanwhile, Nansen acted as "doctor" to the whole fleet
of sealers, and had to possess his soul in patience until
the sealing season was practically over.
Finally, on the morning of July 17, the yason was so
near land (about 2.I miles from the coast near Sermi-
likfjord, at 65.]° N. lat.) that Nansen determined to force
a passage through the comparatively narrow belt of drift
ice.
The boat belonging to the expedition, and a smaller
one which the cajDtain of the Jason had placed at their
disposal, were therefore lowered, the baggage packed and
stowed in the boats, and every preparation ])romi)tly
made. At 7 i'. m. all was ready ft)r a start. Nansen went
up into the crow's-nest for a last sur\ey of the course,
and saw jDlainly, with the aid of the glass, a belt of ()])en
water between the drift ice and the shore.
"We are taking to our boats with the firmest hojK' of
a successful issue to our enterprise," Nansen wrote in a
letter to the " Ahirgenblad " hastil\- scribbled at the la>t
moment.
It was soon ajijiarent that their hopefulness was. at the
56 A'.LVS^iV AV THE FROZEN WORLD
\cry outset, to be put to a severe test. After they had
tried the whole night long', in storm and rain, to get
through the drift ice opposite the mouth of the Sermihk-
fjord, the ice became so packed by the current tliat, in
the early morning, they had to drag their boats up on the
floes. One of the boats was injured b)- the pressure of
the ice, so that it had to be repaired in liot haste; and
during the short time lost in doing tliis they were caught
in a strong southerly current, and swept seaward again
at a great speed. At six o'clock on the 19th they found
that they were alread}- twice as far from land as when
they had left the ship.
There was nothing for it but to drift southward with
the ice until an opportunit\- should offer of getting in
under the land again.
For ten days the expedition drifted along the east coast
of Greenland as far down as the island of Kudtlek, 61°
40' N. lat., at an average rate of nearly six knots in the
twenty-four hours. Quite apart from the very serious
dangers to wliich Nansen and his comrades were exposed
during this drift voyage, the expedition was carried a long
way from its projected starting-point, and had lost a great
deal of very precious time. It was not till July 29 that
they succeeded in setting foot on dry land, and thus the
best part of the summer was already gone.
Nansen has gi\-en a vivid description of this interesting
drift voyage, and of life on the ice floe, which, tossed about
by the waves and breakers, and repeatedly cracked and
broken, was yet the abiding-place of the expedition during
all these days.' With the mountains of the coast so near
that in bright weather they could clearly distinguish their
^ For description, see next chapter.
53 AUXSE.V y.V THR FROZEN WORLD
outlines, they were steadily burne southward, farther and
farther from their <;oal.
The ni«j;ht of Jul\- 20 might easily have been their last.
The ice Hoe on which they were drifting had come right
out to the verge of the open sea, which was running very
high, so that the surf kept on washing over the fioe almost
up to the tent. Had the Hoe been crushed, they might
very likely have ftiund it impossible to launch the boats in
such a furious sea, and among the clashing masses of ice.
In any case they could not ha\e saved more than one of
the boats, and the most indispensable part of the provi-
sions and equipment. One scarcely knows which to
admire the most. — Sverdrup, wlio kept the night watch,
pacing calm and composed, with his quid in his cheek, up
and down the fioe, between the tent and the boats, many
times on the point of loosening the liooks of the tent-flap
to make them all turn out, but always staying his hand ;
or Nansen and Dietrichson, who lay quietl)^ asleep in the
tent, while the surf roared and rattled the ice-brash o\'er
the rocking floe, and swei)t ever nearer and nearer until it
lapped the very edge of the tent. But just as the outlook
was blackest, the floe suddenly changed its course, headed
shoreward once more " as if guided by an unseen hand,"
and was soon in safer waters.
Nansen and his companions had a hard time of it
during these jierilous, exciting days on the ice floe. They
did not so much mind their toil iii the rain and surf, fruit-
lessly striving to force a jiassage through openings in the
ice pack ; they did not so much mind their scanty diet of
raw horse-flesh, etc. (the cooking apparatus was only once
lighted during their days of drifting); they did not so
much mind the dangers that threatened them on every
ACA'O.SS GREEXLAND
59
hand; but tlicy dreaded the j)ruspect of ha\in«;- to L;i\e up
for tliat season the joui-ney across tlie inland ice. 'I'liese
wasted da)s were tr)'inL!; days indeed.
When the news of tlie success of the expechlion
reached Stockhohn, Nordenskjold pointed out, as tlie
strongest proof of the achniraljle energy dis]:>layed (hning
the entire journew that when at last the\- liad got through
the belt of drift ice they instantly set to woi'k to row-
northward again, in order to reach tlie ])ro]jer ]}oint for
attacking the ice sheet. They had, in a waw made an
unfortunate and discouraging start. It was alread) well
on in the suninier, the sup])]y of pro\'isions was not over-
abundant, and — cixilization was, nioreoxer, within temi)t-
ingly easy reach. The)' were now only 180 miles fi'om
the nearest colony, P'rederiksdal, while the Sermilikfjord,
the starting-jDoint originally fixed uj)on, was nearl\- twice
as distant. The mere fact of their resisting the tempta-
tion to put off till the following year may be called truly
heroic; not many would have shown such resolution.
But for them the temptation was no tem|)tation at all. It
did not enter their thoughts that there was anything to
be done except to head the l3oats northward as cpn'ckly
as possible. And it was not with anxious fear, but with
radiant joy, that they now saw a clear water-wa)- before
them.
The first jDroblem, th.at of getting through the drift ice
w ith whole skins, was thus .solved — with <'reat labor, it is
true, and less of precious time, l)ut ne\ertheless solved.
It had been prophesied that e\en this would proxe im-
l^racticablc ; for a long series of wain attemj)ts had shown
that it was next thing to impossible to ixMietrate the ice
belt south of the sixt}-si\th degree of latitude. Not until
6o AUjys£\v y.v niE frozkx world
18S3 had Nordenskjold, with the steamer Sophia, sue
ceeded in reaehini;- the eoast near Cape Dan (Kini;- Oscar's
Haven). So nuich the more daring was it on Nansen's
j3art to make the attempt.
But now the thing was to make all speed northward.
The best of the summer was gone. If they were to have
any chance of reaching the west coast that year, they
must go at it in earnest. And they did go at it in
earnest.
On the day of their landing at Kekertarsuak they had
a lordly repast of hot chocolate and extra rations of oat
cake, Swiss cheese, mysost (goat's milk cheese), and cran-
berry jam, to celebrate their landing; but after that their
meals consisted of cold water, biscuits, and dried beef —
they could not waste time in cooking until they had in
some measure made up what they had lost in the ice
drift. It was a toilsome journey by boat northward along
the coast. For long distances they had to exert all their
strength to force the ice f^oes apart in order to get the
boats through the narrow channels between them ; and
sometimes they had to drag the boats over the ice, skirt-
ing the low barren coast, with glaciers and snow-fields
coming right down to the margin of the sea. They got
safely past the dreaded glacier Puisortok (near it, at Cape
Bille, they came ujion an encampment of heathen Eski-
mos, of which Nansen has gi\en a highly interesting
description),' and they forced their way with the greatest
difficulty through a closely packed belt of drift ice south
of Ingerkajarfik. At Mogens Heinesens Fjord the appear-
ance of the coast altered, k'rom this point northward
there is a long stretch of bare coast land, with a view of
^ Sec chapter vi.
ACROSS GREENLAND Cn
hl'j^h mountain ranges, "summit on summit, and rank be-
hind rank."
By dint of constant battling with the drift ice and the
current, the exjDedition reached Nunarsuak (62" 43' N.
hat.) on August 3. From this point they tried to sail, but
tlie wind soon rose to a tempest which was near proving
fatal, for tlie boats were on the i)oint of being crushed
between the ice floes, got their oars and thole-j)ins
smashed, and were separated into the bargain. It was a
hard pinch, but by putting forth all their strength they
got through it at last, and the tent was pitched on a
patch of soft greensward on Griffenfeldt's Island, for the
highly needful repose after an exhausting day. A feast
of sjDlendid hot caraway soup, " never to be forgotten,"
was the reward for their toils.
On August 5 the boats narrowly escajoed being
crushed by the falling of a fragment of an iceberg, and
"after almost incredible labor" they reached in the even-
ing an islet at the mouth of the Inugsuarmiutfjord, where
they intended to rest for the night. I^ut from liere thev
perceived that the water was open ahead, the fjord lying
smooth as a mirror; so their rest had to be adjourned.
Forward again ! They certainly did "go at it in earnest."
At Singiartuarfik, on August 6, they again fell in with
Eskimos. Then noi^thward again, now in open water,
now fighting with drift ice, always on cold dr\- diet which
was served out, moreover, in very scanty rations. They
were never really satisfied, not even directly after eating;
but Nansen said " they had had enough, so enough it had
to be," as Christiansen put it. To the La|')])s, who natu-
rall\- had no \-erv clear notion beforehand of what they
had embarked upon, this perj^etual fighting with drift
62 X.-J.VSAW AV THE FROZEN WORLD
ice, and fasting on top of it, began to seem rather de-
pressing.
The coast now became less precipitous again, and the
mountain contours rounder, and the explorers began to
think of landing and beginning their journey proper.
On August 8 they reached Bernstorff's Fjord (Kangerd-
lugsuak) at about 63^'' N. lat. The fjord was brimful of
glacier ice, niany of the huge icebergs rising out of the
water to a height of over two hundred feet (six or seven
times as much being under water), and running to a mile
or so in breadth, sometimes flat-topped, sometimes jutting
forth into the most fantastic peaks, ])innacles, and crests.
These colossal masses were so innumerable that they
threatened to bar all advance. From the top of one of
them the eye ranged over an " Alpine world of floating
ice."
At last chinks were discovered even in this barrier —
open channels "with a narrow strip of sky visible between
high walls of ice." And "although huge icebergs more
than once collapsed, or capsized witli a miglity crash, and
set uj) a \iolent sea-way," here, too, they at last got out of
their difficulties for the moment. That night they slept
in the sleeping-bags only, upon a rock so small that there
was not room to pitch the tent.
\\\ a more and more open water-wa;- they pressed on
northward, with masses of ice breaking off from the
glaciers and icebergs on every side. On August 9, while
they were in the act of forcing asunder two floes, among
a number of icebergs, a huge piece of an iceberg fell
down with a mighty crash upon the floe they were stand-
ing on, smashing it and violently churning up the sea.
" Had we gone to that side a few moments earlier, as we
ACROSS GRKE\I.AXD 63
originally intended, \vc should almost certainly have been
crushed to death. It was the third time such a thing had
happened to us," Nansen says in his account of the ex])e-
dition, characteristically describing it as " an odd occur-
rence." Well may it be called " odd " ! How does it ha}>
pen that some men come safe and sound through all such
adventures; go voyages on ice floes and sleep undisturbed
while the surf is on the ])()int of breaking up the fragile
barrier between them and eternity; row in boats under
toppling icebergs, and get clear of them two minutes be-
fore they fall ; plump into fissures in the inland ice at the
very points where their arms and their ali)enst()cks can
save them; row for days in dangerous waters in nut>he]l
boats improvised out of sail-cloth, and get in just in time
to escape storms and certain destruction ; sleep on the ice
in a temperature of —45° C. (—49° Fahr.) without freezing
to death ; fall into the ice-cold water half a score of times
not only without drowning, but without so much as taking
cold ; lead a dog's life of toil and hunger for months at a
stretch, and come out none the worse for it ; while others
— alas! one has no heart to insist on the contrast. But
truly it may well be called "odd"!
Let us admit that ninety-nine hundredths of thi> "devil s
own luck " is due to having an eye on every fmger, so to
speak — is due to the sound mind in the sound body —
to the alert capacity of genius — to the indomitable energy
of the man with a vocation. Granted all this, how are we
to account for the remaining hundredth .■*
These (ireenland exj^lorers are in league with destiny!
When Njaal and his sons were hard bestead, Njaal would
have had them give in ; and one of the sons agreed with
liim tlKit tlial was "the l)est they could do." Whereuj^on
64 A\-LyS£iV AY THE FROZEN WORLD
Skaq^hcdin answered : " I am not so sure of that, for now
he is fe\-." Tlie Saga-man would have us understand that
he who is " fey," who is marked for death, has no longer
complete control of his will and his intelligence.
These young men were not " fey " in any sense of the
word.*
They now j^ressed forward in tolerably open water j^ast
the glacier-bound coast near Gyldenlox'e's h^jord and Col-
berger Heide, and at last, at eight o'clock in the evening
of August lo, in a thick fog, they made their final land-
ing on the north side of Umiviksfjord. They were now
done with the boats, and were overjoyed to haul them up
on land, Nansen meanwhile making the coffee " for the
second hot meal in twelve days."
After Nansen and Sverdrup had assured themselves, by
a laborious reconnaissance on August ii, that it was pos-
sible to make the ascent of the inland ice from Umivik,
the following days were devoted to all kinds of repairs
of foot-gear, sledge-runners, etc., the final j^acking of the
baggage, and, in short, the most careful preparation for
the journey that lay before them. During all these days
the weather was mild and calm, with a great deal of rain
— weather in which it would not in any case have been
advisable to make a start.
At last, at nine in the evening on August i6, every-
thing was in order for the ascent. Hie baggage was
stowed on four sledges, each carrying about 220 lbs., and
a fifth, somewhat larger sledge, carrying about double that
amount. This last was therefore drawn by two men,
Nansen and S\erdrup.
' The worrl in tlic ori,c;inal is " feig," wliich means not only " fey," but
" cowardly."
ACJWSS GREENLAXn 65
The asccMTt of the ice was very steep, so that their pio-
gress was slow, and, althougli they at first travelled by
night, the surface was soft. The ice was full of crevasses,
yet not so difficult but that they could manage to get
across them. It rained a good deal, too, so that they were
wet to the skin. For three days and nights, from noon
on the 17th till the morning of the 20th, the weather was
so execrable, with torrents of rain and wind, that there
was nothing for it but to kec]) to the tent. They were
not very agreeable clays, especially as the supply of provi-
sions was so small that Nansen decided that one meal a
day must suffice while they were doing nothing.
On the 20th they were able to start off again. It was
frightfully slow going, over the steep surface, full of rents
and fissures. On the 21st it cleared up, and there was
frost enough to make the snow firmer. I'^rom that clay
till thev reached the west coast they found no drinkinor
water anywhere, and consequently suffered from a burn-
ing thirst. While on the march they got nothing to drink
but just what they could melt by the warmth of their own
bodies. They filled small fiat pocket-flasks with snow and
carried them in their breasts, often next the skin, until the
snow was melted. In such intense cold as they encoun-
tered later, these were hard-earned dro])s.
When they turned out at two o'clock on the morning
of the 2 2d, they found a frozen surface. They were now
at a height of about 3,000 feet, and thought they had got
over the worst of the ascent. But the ice was still very
uneven, and the labor of dragging along the heavy sledges
was terrible — " the strain on the ujjper part of the body
was very trying, and our shoulders felt as if they were
burned by the ropes."
6
66 AUXSJSX /.V THE FRO/. EN WORLD
iM-oni the 24th onward they travelled by day. The
cold now began to increase rapidly. Nevertheless, except
for a single day, the surface was still, as a rule, extremely
heavy, on account of the loose snow into which the
sledges sank deep ; and on the 26th they had, in addition,
a regular snow-storm. The ascent was still so steep (a
gradient, sometimes, of 1 in 4) that it would often take
three men to i)ull each sledge, so that they had to cover
the ground several times over. No wonder that Chris-
tiansen, who, as a rule, never opened his mouth, should
have said to Dietrichson after one of these return jour-
neys.: " Good Lord ! to think of people being so cruel
to themselves as to go in for this sort of thing." The
expedition had then reached a height of about 6,000 feet.
This weather, with wind and snow-liurries, continued
during the following days. Although they tried to make
use of the wind by rigging up tarpaulin sails on the
sledges, they nevertheless got on so slowly that it began
to dawn on Nansen that, at this rate, there would be small
prospect of reaching Christianshaab now that the season
was so far advanced. On the 28th, therefore, he deter-
mined to take a different direction, and steer due west, for
Godthaab, or rather for the shores of the Ameralikfjord
(64° 10'), directly south of Godthaab, a considerably nearer
point on the west coast. This proposition was received
with joy by every one, and they set off through the snow
with the same unremitting toil, although in a slightly dif-
ferent direction.
The projecting peaks (nunataks) which, up to this point,
they had.jDassed from time to time, now disappeared ; the
last glimpse of bare rock was seen on August 31. After
that nothing but ice and snow met their view until they
reached the west coast.
AC/WSS GREENLAND 67
Still tJK'ir course lay steadily upward. 'I'hc snow-JRld
r(.)sc in long, gentle waves, higher and higher toward the
interior,
l'\)r weeks tliey fcnight tlieir way inland in this fashion,
one day exactly resembling another, and full of endless
toil from morning till night. The surface of the snow-
was now smooth and even as a mirror, l)roken onl\- l)y
the tracks the)' themseh'cs made with their feet or tluir
sledges. The snow, frec|uentl\' fresh-fallen, was, as a rule,
fine and dry, and therefore exceptionally heavy to drag
the sledges through. The day's marcli under these con-
ditions was not long — not more than from fi\'e to ten
miles, although they were now able to use snow-shoes.
As they advanced the cold became more and more
severe. When the weather was fine, indeed, the midday
sun w'as often quite oppressive, and their feet would get
wet in the slush ; but as soon as the sun went down, they
felt the cold of the nights so much the more keenly —
and they were often in danger of having their wet feet
frost-bitten. " It often hap])ened, when we came to take
off our laupar-shoes of an evening, that we found them
frozen fast in one solid piece with snow-sock and stock-
ing."
On September 11, the temperature at night within the
tent was under — 40^ C. ( — 40° Fahr.), and outside the tent
probably under —45' C. ( — 49" Fahr.). The difference be-
tween the day and the night temperature was often more
than 20° C. (36° Fahr.). Fven inside the closed sleej:)ing-
bag, the cold was so severe that when they awakened they
would often find their heads completel)' surrounded with
ice and hoar frost. " To be obliged to be out constantly
in such cold is not always agreeable," says Nansen in his
68 jVANSEN AV the FROZEN WORLD
book. " It often happened that so much ice formed about
the face that the beard was absolutely frozen fast to the
wrappings round the head, and it was difficult enough to
open the mouth to speak." When in addition to the frost
there came a snow-storm, we can readily understand that
it was no joke for them to drag themselves, each with a
hea\^ sledge, day after day across the interminable ice
desert, at an altitude of 8,000 or 9,000 feet above the sea.
From September 4 to 8 they encountered a furious snow-
storm, with a temperature of —40° Fahr. On the 7th, in-
deed, they dared not stir from their tent, which was care-
fully hauled taut, lest the wind should blow it to shreds —
in which case, no doubt, their saga would have been over.
But when it was at all possible their daily life followed its
regular course; and in spite of cold and snow-storm, tliirst,
" fat hunger," and other hardships, they toiled steadily on
toward the west coast. On September 5 they passed the
highest point on their route, 8,860 feet.
On September 1 1 and 1 2 they were at a height of about
8,300 feet; and from liere began a perceptible, if not a
very marked, down gradient toward the west. On the
1 6th they came upon several pretty sharp declivities, and
when the temperature at night " just failed to reach zero "
they all felt that it was quite mild.
On the 17th they saw a snow-bunting, and knew they
must now be nearing " land."
On the 19th they had a favorable wind, and hoisted
sails on the sledges, which they lashed together, two and
two. They were soon going at a spanking pace, and
now at last they were distinctly upon the downward slope
toward the coast. Late in the afternoon they saw " land "
for the first time. They went on sailing in the moonlight,
ACJWSS GREENLAND
69
and very nearly suilctl ihcir last voyage, for the)' had now-
reached the fissured marginal zone of the inland ice, with
its yawning crevasses niaii)- hundred feet deep.
Nansen himself had the fingers of botJi hands frost-
bitten that evening, and suffered "almost intolerable pain"
(it must have been bad indeed !). They had little enough
UNDKR SAII, IN THE MUONl.IC.I I 1 — ' 1: 1 A A^sI.n AlllAH
to eat, too ; but for all this they cared not a whit, for they
knew now that they were nearing the west coast.
The next morning (September 20) when they looked
out of the tent, and saw the whole country south of Godt-
haabsfjord spread out before them, one can guess what
were their feelings. " We were like children — a lumj)
rose in our throats, while our e\es followed the valleys and
sought in vain for a g]imj)se of the sea."
70 A'.-JXS£X IX THE FROZEN WORLD
The next day they advanced pretty briskly, aUhougli
with the greatest caution, on account of the numerous
fissures, among which they had many narrow escapes.
( )n the evening of tlie 21st, for the first lime since leaving
the east coast, they f(.)und water, and after several weeks
of thirst were able to drink freely. " We could {positively
feel our stomachs distending," says Nansen. These were
memorable days for them all.
They pushed on now toward .Ameralikfjord ; l3ut it was
an advance under difficulties. The ice soon became terri-
bly uneven, and full of cracks and crevasses on all sides —
sometimes so impassable that they had to make long de-
tours. Several times, one or another of them would fall
into a crevasse, but would generally manage to get his
alpenstock fixed like a horizontal bar across the fissure.
" It was odd enough that none of us fell in any deeper."
In spite of untold difficulties and dangers they made
their way during the succeeding days across this treacher-
ous marginal zone, and at last, on September 24, reached
naked soil, and had the inland ice forever behind them.
" No words can possibly describe what it was to us merely
to have earth and stones under our feet — the sense of
well-being that thrilled through every nerve when we felt
the heather springing under our step, and smelled the
mar\'ellous fragrance of grass and moss."
Their difficulties, however, w^ere not yet over — they
had still a good way to go down the long Austmannadal,
and now e\'er)-thing had to be carried on their backs.
This final stage they accomplished in the following da3's,
and at last the fjord was reached.
lierc Sverdrup and Balto set to work to stitch together
the hull of a canvas boat, using for the purpose the sail-
ACROSS GREENLAND
71
NANSKN AND S\ERDRUI" IN THE CANVAS );oAT
cloth floor of tlu- tent ; while Nansen cut willow-wands to
make the frame. Oars were improvised out of bamboo
staves and split willow-branches covered with sail-cloth.
For thwarts they had nothing but a theodolite-stand and
two thin bamboo rods.
It was an uncouth nutshell of a boat, about 8 feet long,
not quite 4 feet 6 inches wide, and scarcely 2 feet deejD.
It was just big enough to hold Nansen and Sverdrup, and
the most necessary baggage; and they had to keep their
tongues pretty straight in their mouths, or it would have
capsized.
After a terrible business in getting boat and baggage
through the river delta and across a clayey spit of land to
the open water, on September 29, Nansen and Svcrdruj)
at last rowed off down the Ameralikfjord. Although the
boat could scarcely be classed as Ai, and leaked so that it
72 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
had to be baled cNcry ten minutes, it nevertheless carried
them to their journey's end.
They had fa\orable weather on the whole, and, by dint
of great exertions, they brought their coracle safe and
sound to New Herrnhut at midday on October 3.
Scarcely had they got ashore when a terrific southerly
gale came on. From New Herrnhut the}- went overland
to Godthaab.
Dietrichson, Christiansen, and tlie two LapjDS, who had
remained behind at the head of the Ameralikfjord with
the bulk of the baggage and no great store of provisions,
were brought off in safety as soon as the weather per-
mitted; and thus, on October 16, did this remarkable
expedition come to a fortunate close.
"We had toiled hard, and undeniably suffered a good
deal in order to reach this goal ; and what were now our
sensations.? Were they those of the happy victor? No;
we had looked forward so long to the goal that we had
discounted its attainment." So Nansen writes of his feel-
ings the evening before they arri\-ed at Godthaab. And
this is, no doubt, comprehensible enough. They were too
tired, too worn out, for the abstract exultation at having
actually reached their goal to be able to assert itself effec-
tually against the more material delights, for example, of
eating till they were satisfied and sleeping in a proper
bed.
l>esides, the satisfaction had been broken uj) into many
happy moments during the actual journey — they had had
a taste of it when, with confident hope, they landed on the
east coast, after forcing their passage through the drift
ice; they had revelled in it when they first saw land from
the heights of the inland ice, when they first found water
^/C7v'6'.S;V GREENLAND 73
to drink, when ihcy first felt tlic solid earth, with lu-atlier
and moss, under tlieir feet, when they launched their boat
on the waves of the .Vmeralikfjord. Tlie satisfaction
really lay in the exploit as a whole, in the stimulating
o])en-air life, toilsome though it was — not so much in the
goal attained, as in the struggle to attain it. As soon as
that was done, why, it was done; there was no longer
anything to toil and strive for, and lassitude rushed in
upon them until other more distant goals began to loom
ahead in their thoughts. This, indeed, is what inevitably
happens to every man who is really born with the s]iirit
of research. So long as he has strength and faculty for
new problems, his joy over those achieved must be short-
lived. It must give place, in the ferment of the mind, to
new asi)irations ; and in Nansen's case these new aspira-
tions were already l)-ing in wait. We may safel}' assume
that even during his stay in Greenland the plan of hi>
next great enterprise must have been taking shape in his
thoughts.
When the expedition reached the colony, the shij) from
Godthaab had already started. Nansen, howexer, got
kaiak-men to take letters to Ivigtut, seventy miles south
of Godthaab. They were duly delivered, at the last
moment, on board the steamer Fo.w whicli had carried
McClintock on his voyage in search of I'ranklin ; and
thus the news of the successful issue of the Greenland
expedition reached Europe that autumn. It chanced
that the Fox was obliged, by scarcity of coal, to tt)uch at
Skudesnaes, so that Nansen's native country got the fir>t
intelligence.
The two letters brought by the steamer, one from
74 N.-LVSEA" JN THE FKOZK.X WORLD
Xanscn to Gamel, the other from Sverch-up to liis fatlier,
were soon teleg-raphed o\-er the whole world, and, as will
be remembered, were everywhere recei\-ed with great
rejoicing.
Meanwhile Nansen and his comrades had to winter in
Godthaab, where Merr Bistrups, the director of the colon}-,
Doctor Binzers, Pastor Balles, and the other Danish
residents, showed them the greatest hospitality, and did
e\-er\lhing to make their stay as })leasant as possible,
Nansen himself turned his time to account in studying
the I'^skimos. lie shared their life with them in their
luits, went thoroughly into their methods of hunting,
their customs and occupations, and even got to know
their language pretty well. He learned to manage the
kaiak and wield their weapons; in short, he spared no
possible pains in his stud)' of this remarkable i)eople, for
whom he soon came to entertain a real affection.
He also made several excursions with the Greenlanders,
a hunting expedition to Ameralikfjord, and longer trips
to Sardlok and Kangek, during which he lived for some
weeks entirely with the Mskimos.
On A})ril 15, 18S9, while Nansen and his comrades sat
chatting over their coffee with the colonial director and
the doctor, the whole colony resounded with one universal
cr)', " Umiarsuit ! Umiarsuit ! " (The ship, the ship !)
It was the longed-for vessel, Hvidbjonien, under the
command of Lieutenant (iarde.
The hour of dej^arture had come, and everything was
soon in order. " It was not without sorrow," Nansen
says, " that some of us turned our backs on the people
\\\\() had been so good to us, and the place where we had
lived so happily." So far as Nansen himself is concerned,
AC A' OSS GREENLAND 75
one may he sure that these words are tlie e.\i)ressi()n of
sincere feeling-. A nature like liis, with its licalthy
])assi()n for opuu-air arti\it\-, nuist haw heeu in its ele-
ment anions' these kindl)- priniitiw ])eo])!e. lie relates
a charmingly characteristic little incident of their leave-
taking. One of his Eskimo friends, whom lie had often
visited, said to him the day before his dcj^arture : " Now
you are going back to the great world whence you came
to us, and \-ou will meet many peojjle there, and hear
many new things, and you will soon forget us; dul zue
lui/l never forget you!'
Those who know Nansen know that he has not forgot-
ten his Eskimo friends ; and those w ho have read his book
describing their life will understand how dear they had
become to him.
On May 21, after a favorable passage, Hvidbjoriien an-
chored in the harbor of Copenhagen. It was a little more
than a year since Nansen, on his way to Greenland, had
passed through Copenhagen, and i)ut the hasty finishing
touches to the jireparations for the expedition. A great
deal had happened in the interval. In himself, indeed, he
was just the same when he came back as when he went
away ; but in the eyes of the world he w\as a very differ-
ent person. Then he had been a young dare-devil setting
forth on a forlorn hope; now he \vas the world-renowned
explorer who had successfully carried through a great un-
dertaking.
And then came the triumphs. Finst a week's festivi-
ties in Copenhagen, and then the home-coming— such a
home-coming as has fallen to the lot of no other Norwe-
gian. It was a lovely day as the triumj^hal ])rocession
passed up Christiania h'jord — all the ships were in festal
76
A^4.VSE.V IN THE FROZEN WORLD
array, tlie woods wore their first green leaxes, there
were tiowers and flags and music on e\ery hand, u}) the
whole long fjord, to the city. It was as tliough a Hood of
color and warmth had streamed forth to greet these vis-
itants from the white wastes of the inland ice.
I'-irst came the men-of-war, and the torpedo boats, skim-
ming along beside the
M. G. Mclchior, and
forming a guard of
honor, right u]) to the
capital ; then the great
squadron of steamships,
then the sailing-boats
and cutters with their
white sails, darting
around Nansen's ship
like a flock of sea-gulls,
now astern, now abeam,
now^ ahead. There he
stood in his gray clothes
which had turned to
dirty brown in the
Greenland turf huts.
The honor done him
was too overpowering for him to feel proud at that mo-
ment. A softer and more subdued emotion must doubt-
less have been in the ascendant. Me must have felt how
he jDassed over into his people, and became one with it.
He had gone forth as an emissary, an interpreter of this
people; the courage which goes unknown and unrecorded
to its fate in the dark nights on sea and fjord, it had been
his happy lot to lead forward into sunshine and victory
NANSKX AT THIRTY-ONE
ACROSS GREENLAND jj
before tlic eyes of tlie whole world. Aihoiil;' all the thou-
sands who waved to liim from the ramparts of Akerhus,
wlio burst the cordon of the police and swarmed round his
carriage in the streets, how many at tliat moment had any
thought of science ? It was the exploit that appealed to
them — they saw in him the victorious cliieftain, the con-
necting link between the heroes of the Sagas and tlie
heroes of every-day Hfe, the fisherman clinging to his o\cr-
turned boat, the snow-shoer on the wintry uplands, the
lumberman shooting the rapids on his raft. They saw in
him the national type ; and they were right in a way. In
that hour he must certainly have felt himself close-knit
to the soil from which his deed had sprung, and memories
of childhood must have rushed in upon him when his car-
riage stopped at the house of the sisters Larsen, and he
ran upstairs to greet the old housekeeper at Great Froen,
who had bandaged his blood-stained forehead the first
time that he kissed the ice.
CHAPTER V
DRIFTING TX TIIK ICE ^
Next morninc;', July 20, I was roused by some violent
shocks to the floe on whicli we were encamped, and
thought tlie motion of the sea must have increased very
considerabh-. When we oret outside we discover that the
floe has spht in two not far from the tent. The Lapps,
wlio had at once made for the highest points of our piece
of ice, now shout that they can see the open sea. And
so it is; far in the distance lies the sea sparkling in the
mornimr sunshine. It is a siQ:ht we have not had since
we left the Jason.
I may here reproduce the entries in my diary for this
and the following day : —
" The swell is growing heavier and heavier, and tlie
water breaking over our floe with ever-increasing force.
The blocks of ice and slush, which come from the grind-
ing of the floes together, and are thrown up round the
edges of our piece, do a good deal to break the violence
of the waves. The worst of it all is that we are being car-
ried seaward with ominous rapidity. We load our sledges
and try to drag them inward toward land, but soon see
that the pace we are drifting at is too much for us. So
we begin again to look around us for a safer floe to pitch
our camp on, as our present one seems somew^hat shaky.
When we first took to it it was a good round flat piece
' From Nansen's Across Greenland.
nRIF'I'LXG /.V 7//A /CF. 79
about seventy yards across, Imt it s])lit once cluriiiL; ibe
nis^ht, and is now prcparinjj; to part a^^'ain at otlicr places,
so that we sliali soon not liave nuicli of it left. Close by
us is a large strong Hoe, still unbroken, and thither we
move our cam]).
" Meanwhile tlie breakers seem to be drawing nearer,
their roar grows louder, the swell comes rolling in and
washes over the ice all around us, and the situation prom-
ises before long to be critical.
" Poor Lap])s ! they are not in the best of spirits. This
morning they had disappeared, and I could not imagine
what had become of them, as there were not many places
on our little island where any of us could hide ourselves
away. Then I noticed that some tarpaulins had been
carefully laid over one of the boats. I lifted a corner
gently and saw both the Lapps lying at the bottom of the
boat. The younger, Balto, w^as reading aloud to the other
out of his Lappish New- Testament. Without attracti]ig
their attention I replaced the cover of this curious little
house of prayer which they had set up for themselves.
They had given up hope of life, and were making ready
for death." — As Balto confided to me one day long after-
w^ard, they had opened their hearts to one another here
in the boat and mingled their tears together, bitterly
reproaching themselves and others because they had ever
been broutjht to leaxe their homes. This is not to
be wondered at, as they have so little interest in the
scheme.
" It is glorious weather, with the sun so hot and liright
that we must have recourse to our spectacles. We take
advantaore of this to get an observation, our bearings
showing us to be in 65^ 8' N. and z^° 20' W ., i. c, 30
8o jV.lXSE.y AV T/ZE FROZEN WORLD
minutes or about 35 miles from the mouth of SermiHk-
fjord, and from z^^ to 25 minutes or about 30 miles from
the nearest land.
" We get our usual dinner ready, deciding, however, in
honor of the occasion, to treat ourselves to pea-soup.
This is the first time we have allowed ourselves to cook
anything. While the soup is being made the swell in-
creases so violently that our cooking apparatus is on the
point of capsizing o\-er and over again.
" The Lapps go through their dinner in perfect silence,
but the rest of us talk and joke as usual, the violent rolls
of our floe repeatedly giving rise to witticisms on the part
of one or other of the company, which in spite of our-
selves kept our laughing muscles in constant use. As far
as the Lapps were concerned, however, these jests fell on
anything but good ground, for they plainly enough
thought that this was not at all the proper time and place
for such frivolity.
" From the highest point on our floe we can clearly see
how the ice is being washed by the breakers, while the
columns of spray thrown high into the air look like white
clouds against the background of blue sky. No living
thing can ride the floes out there as far as we can see.
It seems inevitable that we must be carried thither, but,
as our floe is thick and strong, we hope to last for a while.
We have no idea of leaving it before we need, but when
it comes to that, and we can hold on no longer, our last
chance will be to try and run our boats out through the
surf. This will be a wet amusement, but we are deter-
mined to do our best in the fight for life. Our provi-
sions, ammunition, and other things are di\ idcd between
the two boats, so that if one is stove in and sinks we
DRIFTING IN TIIK ICE Si
shall have enough to keep us alive in the other. We
i hould probably be able to save our lives in that case,
but of course the success of the expedition would be \ery
doubtful.
" To run one of our loaded boats into the water
through the heavy surf and rollins: floes without irettin*'-
her swamped or crushed will perhaps be possible, as we
can set all our hands to work, but it will be difficult for
the crew of the remaining boat to get their shij^ launched.
After consideration we come to the conclusion that we
must only put what is absolutely necessary into one boat,
and keep it as light as possible, so that in case of
extremity we can take to it alone. For the rest, we shall
see how things look when we actually reach the breakers.
" We have scarcely half a mile left now, and none of us
have any doubt but that before another couple of liours
are passed we shall find ourselves either rocking on the
open sea, making our way along the ice southward, or
sinking to the bottom.
" Poor Ravna deserves most sympathy. He is not yet
at all accustomed to the sea and its caprices. He mo\es
silently about, fiddling with one thing or another, now and
again goes up to the highest points of our floe, and gazes
anxiously out toward the breakers. His thoughts are
evidently with his herd of reindeer, his tent, and wife and
children far away on the Finmarken mountains, wliere all
is now sunshine and summer weather.
" But why did he ever leave all this ? Only because
he was offered money.'' Alas! what is money compared
with happiness and home, where all is now sun and sum-
mer } Poor Ravna !
" It is but human at such moments to let the remem-
6
82 A\4.yS£JV IX THE FJWZEN WORLD
brance dwell on what has been fairest in life, and few
indeed can ha\'e fairer memories to look back upon than
yours of the mountain and reindeer-herd.
'* But here, too, the sun is sinning as kindly and peace-
fully as elsewhere, down on the rolling sea and thundering
sui-f, which is boiling round us. The evening is glorious,
as red as it was yesterday, and as no doubt it will be to-
morrow and ever after, setting the western sky on fire,
and pressing its last long passionate kiss on land and ice
and sea before it disappears behind the barrier of the
' inland ice.' There is not a breath of wind stirring, and
the sea is rolling in upon us ruddy and polished as a
shield under the light of the evening sky.
" Beautiful it is, indeed, with these huge long billows
coming rolling in, sweeping on as if nothing could with-
stand them. They fall upon the white floes, and then,
raising their green, dripping breasts, they break and
throw fragments of ice and spray far before them on to
the sflitterino: snow, or hi^h above them into the blue air.
But it seems almost strange that such surroundings can
be the scene of death. Yet death must come one day,
and the hour of our departure could scarcely be more
glorious.
" But we have no time to waste ; we are getting very
near now. The swell is so heavy that when we are down
in the hollows we can see nothing of the ice around us,
nothing but the sky above. Floes crash together, break,
and are ground to fragments all about us, and our own
has also split. If we arc going to sea we shall need all
our strength in case we have to row for days together in
order to keep clear of the ice. So all hands are ordered
to bed in the tent, which is the only thing we have not
DRll-TJNG IX Tim JCK 83
yet packed into the boats. S\erclruj), as the most exjjeri-
encecl and cool-headed anioni; us, is to take the first
watch and turn us out at the critical nionient. In two
hours Christiansen is to take his place.
" I look in \ain for any sign which can betray fear on
the part of my comrades, but they seem as cool as ever,
and their conversation is as usual. The Lapps alone show
some anxiety, though it is that of a calm resignation, for
they are fully convinced that they have seen the sun set
for the last time. In sj^ite of the roar of the breakers we
are soon fast asleep, and even the Lapps seem to be slum-
bering quietly and soundly. They are too good children
of nature to let anxiety spoil their sleep. Balto, who, not
finding the tent safe enough, is lying in one of the boats,
did not even wake when some time later it was almost
swept by the waves, and S\erdrui) had to hold it to keeji
it on the fioe.
" After sleeping for a while, I do not know how long, I
am woke by the sound of the water rushing close by my
head and just outside the wall of the tent. I feel the floe
rocking up and down like a ship in a heavy sea, and the
roar of the surf is more deafening than e\er. I la)- exjject-
in«j: everv moment to hear Sverdrup call me or to see the
tent filled with water, but nothing of the kind happened. I
could distinctly hear his familiar steady tread up and down
the floe l)etwcen the tent and the boats. I seemed to my-
self to see his sturdy form as he i)aced calmly backward
and forward, with his hands in his pockets and a slight
stoop in his shoulders, or stood with his calm and thought-
ful face gazing out to sea, his quid now and again turning
in his cheek — I remember no more, as I dozed off to
sleep again.
84 NANSEN AV THE EROZEX WORLD
" I did not wake again till it was full morning. Then I
started up in astonishment, for I could hear nothing of the
breakers but a distant thunder. When I got outside the
tent I saw that we were a long way off the open sea. Our
floe, however, was a sight to remember. Fragments of
ice, big and little, had been thrown upon it by the waves
till they fomied a rampart all around us, and the ridge
on which our tent and one of the boats stood was the
onl\- part the sea had not washed.
" Sverdrup now told us that several times in the course
of the night he had stood by the tent-door prepared to
turn us out. Once he actually undid one hook, then
waited a bit, took another turn to the boats, and then
another look at the surf, leaving the hook unfastened in
case of accident. We were then right out at the extreme
edge of the ice. A huge crag of ice was swaying in the
sea close beside us, and threatening every moment to fall
upon our floe. The surf was washing us on all sides, but
the rampart that had been thrown up round us did us
good sen-ice, and the tent and one of the boats still stood
higli and dry. The other boat, in which Balto was asleep,
was washed so heavily that again and again Sverdrup had
to hold it in its place.
" Then matters got still worse. Sverdrup came to the
tent-door again, undid another hook, but again hesitated
and waited for the next sea. He undid no more hooks,
however. Just as things looked worst, and our floe's turn
had come to ride out into the middle of the breakers, she
suddenly changed her course, and with astonishing speed
we were once more sailing in toward land. So marv^ellous
was the change that it looked as if it were the work of an
unseen hand. When I got out we were far inside and in
DRIKJ'IXG IN THE JCE
85
a good harb().Mh„ugh the roar of the breakers was still
audible enough to remind us of the night. Thus for this
time we were spared the expected trial of the seaworthi-
ness of our boats and our own seamanship."
THE ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT AT CAPE BILLE
{By E. Nielsen, /roll! a photograph)
CHAPTER VI
AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT ON THE EAST COAST
As we drew near Cape Bille, the promontory which Hes
to the north of Puisortok, we heard strange sounds from
shore — as it were, a mixture of human voices and the
barking of dogs. As we gazed thither we now caught
sight of some dark masses of moving objects, which, as
we examined them more closely, we found to be groups
of human beings. They were spread over the terrace of
rock, were chattering in indistinguishable Babel, gesticu-
lating, and pointing toward us as we worked our way
quietly through the ice. They had evidently been watch-
ing us for some time. We now too discovered a number
of skin-tents which were perched among the rocks, and at
the same time became aware of a noteworthy smell of
train-oil or some similar substance, which followed the off-
shore breeze. Though it was still early, and though the
water in front of us seemed open for some distance, we
could not resist the temptation of visiting these strange
and unknown beings. At the moment we turned our
' From Nansen's Across Greenland.
A.V ESKIMO EXCAMPMEXT 87
boats toward shore the clamor increased tenfold. 'I hey
shrieked and yelled, pointed, and rushed, .^onie down to
the shore, others up on to higher rocks in order to see us
better. If we were stopped by ice and took out our long
boat-hooks and bamboo ]3oles to force the floes a])art and
make ourselves a channel, the confusion on shore rose to
an e.\traordinar\- })itch, the cries and laughter growing
simply hysterical. As we got in toward land some men
came darting out to us in their " kaiaks," among them
a native whom we had seen in the morning. Their faces
one and all simply beamed with smiles, and in the most
friendly way they swarmed around us in their acti\e little
craft, trying to point us out the way, which we could quite
well find ourselves, and gazing in wonder at our strong
boats as they glided on regardless of ice, which would have
cut their fragile boats of skin in pieces.
At last we passed the last fioe and drew in to shore.
It was now growing dusk, and the scene that met us was
one of the most fantastic to which I ha\e ever been
witness. All about the ledges of rock stood long rows
of strangely wild and shaggy-looking creatures — men,
women, and children all in much the same scanty dress
— staring and pointing at us, and uttering the same bo-
vine sound which had so much struck us in the morning.
Now it was just as if we had a whole herd of cows about
us, lowing in chorus as the cowhouse door is opened in
the morning to admit the expected fodder. Down by
the waters edufc were a number of men eaijerlv struir-
gling and gesticulating to show us a good landing-place,
which, together with other small services of the kind, is
the acknowledged Eskimo welcome to strangers whom
they are pleased to see. Uj) on the rocks were a number
88 A'.1XS£JV AV THE FROZEN WORLD
of \X'llo\vish-bro\vn tents, and lower down canoes, skin-
boats, and other implements, while more " kaiaks "
swarmed round us in the water. Add to all this the
neighboring glacier, the drifting floes, and the glowing
evening sky, and, lastly, our two boats and six unkempt-
looking selves, and the whole formed a picture which we
at least are not likely to forget. The life and movement
were a welcome contrast indeed to the desolation and
silence which we had so Ions: endured.
It was not long, of course, before our boats were safely
moored, and we standing on shore surrounded by crowds
of natives, who scanned us and our belongings with won-
dering eyes. Beaming smiles and kindliness met us on
all sides. A smiling face is the Eskimo's greeting to a
strano^er, as his lanoruao-e has no formula of welcome.
Then we look around us for a bit. Here amid the ice
and snow these people seemed to be comfortable enough,
and we felt indeed that we would willingly prolong our
stay among them. As we stopped in front of the largest
tent, at the sight of the comfortable glow that shone out
through its outer opening, we were at once invited in by
signs. W'e accepted the invitation, and as soon as we
had passed the outer doorway a curtain of thin membra-
neous skin was pushed aside for us, and, bending our
heads as we entered, we found ourselves in a cosey room.
The sight and smell which now met us were, to put it
mildly, at least unusual. I had certainly been given to
understand that the Eskimos of the east coast of Green-
land were in the habit of reducing: their indoor dress to
the smallest possible dimensions, and that the atmosphere
of their dwellings was the reverse of pleasant. But a
sight so extraordinary, and a smell so remarkable, had
AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 89
never come witliin tlie grasp of my imagination. The
smell, which was a peculiar blendin<^ of several charac-
teristic ingredients, was quite enough to occupy one's
attention at first entrance. The most prominent of the
components was due to the numerous train-oil lamps
which were burning, and this powerful odor was well
tempered witli human exhalations of every conceivable
kind, as well as the pungent efiluvia of a certain fetid
liquid which was stored in vessels here and there about
the room, and which, as I subsequently learned, is, from
the various uses to which it is applied, one of the most
important and valuable commodities of Eskimo domestic
economy. Into further details I think it is scarcelv ad-
visable to go, and I must ask the reader to accept my
assurance that the general effect was anything but at-
tractive to the unaccustomed nose of the new-comer.
However, familiarity soon has its wonted effect, and one's
first abhorrence may even before long give way to a cer-
tain degree of pleasure. But it is not the same with
every one, and one or two of our part}- were e\en con-
strained to retire incontinently.
For my own part, I soon found myself sufficiently at
ease to be able to use my eyes. My attention was first
arrested by the number of naked forms which thronged
the tent in standing, sitting, and reclining positions. All
the occupants were, in fact, attired in their so-called
" natit " or indoor dress, the dimensions of which are so
extremely small as to make it practically invisible to the
stranger's inexperienced eye. The dress consists of a
narrow band about the loins, which in the case of the
women is reduced to the smallest possible dimensions.
Of false modesty, of course, there was no sign, but it is
90 A^AA^S£A' AV 7J/£ FROZEN WORLD
not to be wondered at that the unaffected ingenuousness
with whicli all intercourse was carried on made a very
strange impression upon us conventional Europeans in
the first instance. Nor will the blushes which rose to the
cheeks of some among us when we saw a party of young
men and women who followed us into the tent at once
proceed to attire themselves in their indoor dress, or, in
other words, divest themselves of every particle of cloth-
ing which they wore, be laid to our discredit, when it is
remembered that we had been accustomed to male society
exclusively during our voyage and adventures among the
ice. The Lapps especially were much embarrassed at
the unwonted sight.
The natives now thronijed in in numbers, and the tent
was soon closely packed. We had been at once invited
to sit down upon some chests which stood by the thin
skin-curtain at the entrance. These are the seats which
are always put at the disposal of visitors, while the occu-
pants have their places upon the long bench or couch
which fills the back part of the tent. This couch is made
of planks, is deep enough to give room for a body re-
clining at full length, and is as broad as the w'hole width
of the tent. It is covered with several layers of seal-skin,
and upon it the occupants spend their whole indoor life,
men and women alike, sitting often cross-legged as they
work, and taking their meals and rest and sleep.
The tent itself is of a very peculiar construction. The
framework consists of a sort of high trestle, upon which a
number of poles are laid, forming a semicircle below, and
converging more or less to a point at the top. Over
these poles a double layer of skin is stretched, the inner
coat with the hair turned inward, and the outer generally
AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 91
consisting of the old coverings of boats and " kaiaks."
llie entrance is under tlie above-mentioned trestle, which
is covered by the thin curtain of which I have already
spoken.
This particular tent housed four or five differeiit fami-
lies. Each of them had its own partition marked off
upon the common couch, and in each of tlie stalls so
formed man, wife, and children would be closely packed,
a four-foot space thus having sometimes to accommodate
husband, two wives, and six or more children.
Before every family stall a train-oil lamp was burning
with a broad flame. These lamps are flat, semicircular
vessels of pot-stone, about a foot in length. The wick is
made of dried moss, which is placed against one side of
the lamp and continually fed with pieces of fresh blubber,
which soon melts into oil. The lamps are in charge of
the women, who have special sticks to manipulate the
wicks with, to keep them both from smoking and from
burning too low. Great pots of the same stone hang
above, and in them the Eskimos cook all their food which
they do not eat raw^ Strange to say, they use neither
peat nor wood for cooking purposes, though such fuel is
not dif^cult to procure. The lamps are kept burning
night and day ; they serve for both heating and lighting
purposes, for the Eskimo does not sleej) in the dark, like
other people; and they also serve to maintain a perma-
nent odor of train-oil, which, as I have said, our Euro-
pean senses at first found not altogether attractive, but
which they soon learned not only to tolerate, but to take
pleasure in.
As we sat in a row on the chests, taking stock of our
strancre surroundimrs, our hosts began to try to enter-
92 AU.VS£jV IX 'THE FROZEN WORLD
tain us. The use of every object we looked at was kindly
explained to us, partly by means of words, of which we
understood nothing, and partly by actions, which were
somewhat more within reach of our comprehension. In
this way we learned that certain wooden racks which
hung from the roof were for drying clothes on, that the
substance cooking in the pots was seal's-flesh, and so on.
Then they showed us various things which they were
evidently very proud of. Some old women opened a bag,
for instance, and brought out a little bit of Dutch screw-
tobacco, while a man displayed a knife with a long bone-
handle. These two things were, no doubt, the most
notable possessions in the tent, for they were regarded by
all the company with especial veneration. Then they
began to explain to us the mutual relations of the various
occupants of the tent. A man embraced a fat woman,
and thereupon the pair with extreme complacency pointed
to some younger individuals, the whole pantomime giving
us to understand that the party together formed a family
of husband, wife, and children. The man then proceeded
to stroke his wife down the back and pinch her here and
there to show us how charming and delightful she was,
and how fond he was of her, the process giving her, at
the same time, evident satisfaction.
Curiously enough, none of the men in this particular
tent seemed to have more than one wife, though it is a
common thing among the east coast Eskimos for a man to
keep two if he can afford them, though never more than
two. As a rule the men are good to their wives, and a
couple may even be seen to kiss each other at times,
though the process is not carried out on European lines,
but by a mutual rubbing of noses. Domestic strife is,
AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 93
however, not unknown, and it sometimes leads to violent
scenes, the end of which generally is that the woman
receives either a vigorous castigation or the blade of a
knife in her arm or leg, after which the relation between
the two becomes as cordial as ever, especially if the
woman has children.
In our tent the best of understandings seem to prevail
among the many occupants. Toward us they were
especially friendly, and talked incessantly, though it had
long been quite clear to them that all their efforts in this
direction were absolutely thrown aw'ay. One of the
elders of the party, who was evidently a prominent {per-
sonage among them, and probably an " angekok " or
magician, an old fellow with a wily, cunning expression,
and a more dignified air than the rest, managed to explain
to us with a great deal of trouble that some of them had
come from the north and were going south, while others
had come from the south and were bound north ; that the
two parties had met here by accident, that we had joined
them, and that altogether they did not know when they
had had such a good time before. Then he wanted to
know where we had come from, but this was not so easily
managed. We pointed out to sea, and as well as we
could tried to make them understand that we had forced
our way through the ice, had reached land farther south,
and then worked up northward. This information made
our audience look very doubtful indeed, and another
chorus of lowing followed, the conclusion evidently being
that there was something supernatural about us. In this
way the conversation went on, and. all things considered,
we were thoroughly well entertained, though to an out-
side observer our j^antomimic efforts would, of course,
have seemed extrcmclv comical.
94 JV.-1XS£.V IN THE FROZEN WORLD
I will not be rash enough to assert that all the faces
that surrounded us were indisputably clean. Most of them
were, no doubt, naturally of a yellowish or brownish hue,
but how much of the color that we saw in these very
swarthy countenances was really genuine we had no means
of deciding. In some cases, and especially among the chil-
dren, the dirt had accumulated to such an extent that it
was already passing into the stage of a hard black crust,
which here and there had begun to break away and to
show the true skin beneath. Every face, too, with few
exceptions, simply glistened with blubber. Among the
women, especially the younger section, who here as in
some other parts of the world are incontinently vain, wash-
ing is said to be not uncommon, and Holm even accuses
them of being very clean. But as to the exact nature of
the process which leads to this result it will perhaps be
better for me to say no more.
It might be supposed that the surroundings and habits
of these people, to which I have already referred, together
with many other practices, which I have thought it better
not to specify, would have an extremely repellent effect
upon the stranger. But this is by no means the case
when one has once overcome the first shock which the
eccentricity of their ways is sure to cause, w'hen one has
ceased to notice such things as the irrepressible tendency
of their hands to plunge into the jungle of their hair in
hot pursuit, as their dirt-encrusted faces — a point on
wdiich, I may remark, we ourselves in our then condition
had little right to speak — and as the strange atmosphere
in which they live ; and if one is careful at first not to look
too closely into their methods of preparing food, the gen-
eral impression received is absolutely attractive. There
AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 95
is a frank and homcl}- j^cniality in all their actions wliich
is very winning, and can only niakc the stranger feel thor-
oughly comfortable in their society.
People's notions on the subject of good looks vary so
much that it is difificult to come to a satisfactory determi-
nation with regard to these Eskimos. If we bind oursehes
down to any established ideal of beauty, such as, for in-
stance, the Venus of Milo, the question is soon settled.
The east coast of Greenland, it must be confessed, is not
rich in types of this kind. But if we can only make an
effort and free our critical faculty from a standard which
has been forced upon it by the influences of superstition
and heredity, and can only agree to allow that the thing
which attracts us, and on which we look with delight, for
these very reasons possesses the quality of beauty, then
the problem becomes very much more difficult of solution.
I have no doubt that, were one to live with these people for
a while and grow accustomed to them, one would soon
find many a pretty face and man}- an attractive feature
among them.
As it was, indeed, we saw more than one face which a
European taste would allow to be pretty. There was one
woman especially who reminded me vividly of an acknow-
ledged beauty at home in Norway; and not only I, but
one of my companions who happened to know the proto-
type, was greatly struck by the likeness. The faces of
these Eskimos arc as a rule round, with broad, outstandirg
jaws, and are, in the case of the women especially, very
fat, the cheeks being particularly exuberant. The eyes
are dark and often set a little obliquely, while the nose is
flat, narrow above, and broad below. The whole face often
looks as if it had been compressed from the front and
96 NA.VSEy IX THE FROZEN WORLD
forced to make its growth from the sides. Among the
women, and more especially the children, the face is so flat
that one could almost lay a ruler across from cheek to
cheek without touching the nose ; indeed, now and again
one will see a child whose nose really forms a depression
in the face rather than the reverse. It will be understood
from this that many of these people show no signs of ap-
proaching the European standard of good looks, but it is
not exactly in this direction that the Eskimo's attractions,
generally speaking, really lie. At the same time there is
something kindly, genial, and complacent in his stubby,
dumpy, oily features which is quite irresistible.
Their hands and feet alike are unusually small and well-
shaped. Their hair is absolutely black, and quite straight,
resembling: horse-hair. The men often tie it back from
the forehead with a string of beads and leave it to fall
down over the shoulders. Some who have no such band
have it cut above the forehead or round the whole head
with the jawbone of a shark, as their superstitions will not
allow them on any account to let iron come into contact
with it, even when the doubtful course of having it cut at
all has been resolved upon. But, curiously enough, a man
who has begun to cut his hair in his youth must necessa-
rily continue the practice all his life. The women gather
their hair up from behind and tie it with a strip of seal-
skin into a cone, which must stand as perpendicularly as
possible. This convention is, of course, especially strin-
gent in the case of the young unmarried women, who, to
obtain the desired result, tie their hair back from the fore-
head and temples so tightly that by degrees it gradually
gives way, and they become bald at a very early age. A
head which has felt the effects of this treatment is no
Ay ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT
97
attractive sight, but tlic victim in such cases has generally
been a long time married and settled in life, and the dis-
advantage is therefore not so keenly felt.
After we liad been sitting in the tent for a while, one of
V >
ESKIMO BEAUTY, FROM THE EAST COAST, IN HER OLD AGE
{^By E. Nielsen, from a f>ltotograph taken by tite Danish " Konebaad" expedition')
the elders of the company, the old man with the unat-
tractive expression, of whom I have already spoken, rose
and went out. I'resently he came in again with a long line
of seal-skin, which, as he sat on the bench, lu' began to un-
roll. I regarded this performance with some wonder, as I
could not imagine what was going to happ.en. 'I hen he
brought out a knife, cut off a long piece, and. rising, gave
it to one of us. Then he cut off another piece of equal
7
98
X.LVSEX /X THE FROZEX WORLD
lcni;th and gave it to anotlier, and ihc i)r(jcess was re-
peated till we all six were alike provided. When he had
finished his distribution he smiled and beamed at us, in
his abundant satisfaetion with himself and the wnild at
large. Then another of them went out,
came back with a similar line, and dis-
tributed it in like manner; whereupon
a third followed his example, and so
the game was kept going till we were
each of us provided with four or fi\'e
pieces of seal-skin line. Poor things !
they gave us what they could, and what
they thought would be useful to us.
It was the kind of line they use, when
seal-catching, to connect the point of
the harpoon to the bladder which pre-
vents the seal from escaping, and it
ESKIMO liov, FROM THE j^ astonishiuorly strouor.
CAMP AT FORT BILLE c> 7 O
After this exhibition of liberality we
sat for a time looking at one another, and I expected that
our hosts would show by signs their desire for something
in return. After a while, too, the old man did get up and
produce something which he evidently kept as a possession
of great price and rarity. It was nothing else than a clumsy,
rusty old rifle, with the strangest contrivance in the way of
a hammer that it has ever been my good luck to see. It
consisted of a huge, unwieldy piece of iron, in which
there was a finger-hole to enable the user to cock it. As
I afterwards found, this is the ordinary form of rifle on
the west coast of Greenland, and it is specially constructed
for u.se in the " kaiak." After the old man had .shown us
this curiosity, and we had duly displayed our admiration,
.-IjV ESk'/.]/0 l:\CAMrMENT 99
he niiidc us uiulcr.staiul 1)\' soinc vci')' iiiiiiii>l;ikciljlc <res-
turcs that he had nothini;" to put in il. At hrst 1 j)re-
tcnded not to !-;ras]) his incaniuL;, hut, this insincerity
lieini; of no avail, I was ubhged to make it plain to him
that \vc had nothing to give him in the way of ammuni-
tion. This intimation he rcccixcd w ith a very disapjiointcd
and dejected air, and he went at once and put his rilie
away.
None of the others showed by the slightest token that
they expected an)-thing in return for their j^resents. They
were all friendliness and hosjjitality, though no doubt
there was a notion lurking somewhere in the background
that their liberality would not j^rove un}Droductive, and, of
course, we did not fail to fulfil our share of the transac-
tion next day. The hospitality, indeed, of this desolate
coast is quite unbounded. A man will receive his worst
enemy, treat him well, and entertain him for months, if
circumstances throw him in his way. The nature of their
surroundings and the wandering life which they lead have
forced them to offer and accept universal hospitality, and
the habit has gradually become a law among them.
After we considered we had been long enough in the
tent we went out into the fresh air again, and chose as our
camping-ground for the night a flat ledge of rock close to
the landing-place. We then began to bring our things
ashore, but at once a crowd of natives rushed for our
boats, and were soon busv moving <.m\x boxes and bags
up .)n to the rocks, lixery object caused an admiring
outburst, and our willing hel])ers laughed and shouted in
their glee, and altogether enjoNed themselves amazingly.
The delight and admiration that giveted the big tin boxes
in which much of our j)rovender was packed were espe-
loo 2y.LVS£iV IX THE FROZEX WORLD
cially unmanageable, and the tins were each passed round
from hand to hand, and every edge and corner carefully
and minutely examined.
As soon as the boats were empty we proposed to drag
them up, but here again all insisted on giving their help.
The painter was brought ashore, manned by a long line
stretching far up the rocks, and the boats hauled up each
by the united efforts of twenty or thirty men. This was
splendid sport, and when one of us started the usual
sailors chorus to get them to work together, the enthusi-
asm reached its height.
They joined in, grown folk and children alike, and
laughed till they could scarcely pull. They plainly
thought us the most amusing lot of people they had ever
seen. When the boats were safe ashore we proceeded to
pitch our tent, an operation which engaged all their atten-
tion, for nothing can interest an Eskimo so much as any
performance which belongs to his own mode of life, such
as the manat^ement of tents and boats and such thinsfs.
Here their astonishment does not overcome them, for
they can fully understand what is going on. In this
case they could thus admire to the full the speedy way
in which we managed to pitch our little tent, which was
so mucli simpler a contrivance than their great compli-
cated wigwams, though at the same time it was not so
warm.
Our clothes, too, and, above all, the Lapps' dress, came
in for their share of admiration. The tall, square caps,
with their four horns, and the tunics with their long, wide
skirts and edging of red and yellow, struck them as most
remarkable, but still more astonished were they, of course,
in the evening, when the two Lapps made their appear-
AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT loi
ance in their rciiulccr-skin pelisses. All must needs n-o
and feel them and examine them, and stroke tlie haii" of
this wonderful skin, iiothini;- like which they had e\'er
seen before. It was not seal-skin, it was not bear-skin,
nor was it fox-skin. " Could it be dog-skin } " they
asked, pointing to their canine companions. When we
explained that it was nothing of that kind they could get
no further, for their powers of imagination had reached
KSKIMOS, FROM THE CAMP AT CAI'E BILLE
(From a /i/iotograAh)
their limit. Balto now began to gibber and make some
very significant movements with his hands about his
head, with the idea of representing reindeer horns, but
this awoke no response. Evidently they had never seen
reindeer, which do not occur on that part of the east
coast which they frec{uent.
I02 ^u^'S£^' av the frozen world
Then we distributed the evening rations, and ate our
supper sitting at the tent-door, and surrounded by specta-
tors. Men, women, and cliildren stood there in a ring
many ranks deep, closely watching the passage of every
morsel of biscuit to our lips and its subsequent consump-
tion. Though their mouths watered to overflowing at
the sight of these luxuries, we were constrained to take
no notice. W^e had no more in the way of bread than we
actually needed, and, had we made a distribution through-
out all this hungry crowd, our store would ha\e been
much reduced. But to sit there and devour one's biscuits
under the fire of all their eyes was not pleasant.
Our meal over, we went and had a look round the
encampment. Down by the water were a number of
" kaiaks " and a few specimens of the " umiak " or large
skin-boat, which especially interested me. One of the
men was particularly anxious to show me everything.
Whatever caught my eye, he at once proceeded to ex-
plain the use of by signs and gestures. Above all, he
insisted on my examining his own " kaiak," which was
handsomely ornamented with bone, and all his weapons,
which were in excellent condition and profusely deco-
rated. His great pride was his harpoon, which, as he
showed me triumphantly, had a long point of narwhal
tusk. He explained to me, too, very clearly the use of
the throwing-stick, and how much additional force could
be giv^en to the harpoon b\- its help. Every Eskimo is
especially proud of his \\ea]X)ns and " kaiak," and expends
a large amount of work on their adornment.
By this time the sun had set and the night fallen, and
consequently the elements of weirdness and unreality
which had all the time pervaded this scene, with its sur-
^.V ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 103
roiindiiiL^s of snow and ice and cui'ious hunian adjuncts,
were now still more ])rcdoniinant and strikini;'. Hark
forms flitted backward and forward among the rocks,
and the outlines of the women with tlieir JDabies on tlu'ir
backs were especially pictures(.|ue. I'rom every tent-door
thrt)Uoli tlie transparent curtain shone a red glow of light,
which with its suggestions of warmth and comfort led the
fancy to \'ery different scenes. The resemblance to
colored lamps and Chinese lanterns brought to one's
mind the illuniinated gardens and summer festivities
away at home, but behind these curtains there li\ed a
happy and contented race, quite as happy, perhaps, as
any to which our tlK)ughts turned across the sea.
Then bed-time drew near, and the rest we sorely
needed after the scanty sleep of the last few days. So
we spread our sleeping-bags upon the tent-floor and be-
gan the usual preparations. But here again our move-
ments aroused the keenest interest, and a deep ring of
onlookers soon gathered round the door. The removal
of our garments was watched with attention b)' men and
women alike, and with no sign of embarrassment, except
on our part. Our disappearance one by one into the
bags caused the most amusement, and when at last the
expedition had no more to show than six heads, the door
of the tent was drawn to and the final " (iood-night "
said.
That night we could sleep free from care and without
keeping watch, and it was a good niglit's rest we had, in
spite of barking dogs and other disturbances. It was late
when we woke and heard the I'^skimos mo\ing busily
about outside. Peeping through the chinks of tlie door,
we could see them impatiently ])acing \\\) and down, and
I04 A'AA'S£X IN THE FROZEN WORLD
waiting for the tent to be thrown open again that they
mio-ht once more feast their eves on all the marxels hid-
den inside. We noticed to-day, and we supposed it was
in our honor, that they were all arrayed in their best
clothes. Their clean white frocks, made of the same thin
membraneous skin as the tent curtains, shone as brilliantly
as clean linen in the distance, as their wearers walked up
and down and admired their own magnificence. Down
by our boats, too, we saw a wliole congregation, some
sitting inside and others standing around. Every imple-
ment and every fitting was handled and carefully scru-
tinized, but nothing disturbed or injured.
Then came the opening of the door, and forthwith a
closely packed ring of spectators gathered around, head
appearing above head, and row behind row, to see us
lying in our bags, our exit thence, and gradual reinstate-
ment in our clothes. Of all our apparel, that which
excited most wonder and astonishment was a colored belt
of Christiansen's, a belt resplendent with beads and huge
brass buckle. This must needs be handled and examined
by each and all in turn, and of course produced the usual
concerted bellow. Then our breakfast of biscuits and
water was consumed in the same silence and amid the
same breathless interest as our supper of the night
before.
After breakfast we walked about the place, for we had
determined to enjoy life for this one morning and see
what we could of these people before we left them. I
had tried, unnoticed, to take a photograph of the ring
which thronged our tent-door, but as I brought the
camera to bear upon the crowd some of them saw my
manoeuvre, and a stampede began, as if they feared a
^iV ESKIMO EXCAMPMEXr
105
discharge of missiles or otlier sorcery from llie apparatus,
I now tried to catch a group who were sitting on the
rocks, but again w itli the same result. So the oidy expe-
dient was to turn my face away, and by ])retending to ])e
';w#^m '1 ' • ■'■■■■
y^
"OUTSIDE ONE LITTLE TENT I FOUND AN UNUSUALLY SO( lAliLE WOMAN
{By E. Nie/sen, frovt a photograph)
otherwise engaged to distract the attention of my victims
and meanwhile secure some pictures.
Then I took a tour round the camping-ground with my
camera. Outside one little tent, which stood somewhat
isolated, I found an unusual])- sociable woman, ajjparently
the mistress of the establishment. She was relatively
young, of an attractive appearance altogether, with a smil-
ing face and a pair of soft, obliquely set eyes, which she
made use of in a particularly arch and engaging way.
Her dress was certainly not elegant, Init this defect was,
no doubt, due to her established position as a married
io6 NANSEN IN THE EROZEN WORLD
woman, and must not be judged too harslily. \\\ her
'• amaut," a garment which forms a kind of hood or bag
behind, she had a swartliy baby, which she seemed \ery
fond of, and whicli, Hke many of the mothers, she did her
best to induce to open its black eyes and contemplate my
insignificance. This was partly, no doubt, the flattery of
the coquette ; on the whole we got on ver)- well together,
and unperceived I secured several photographs. Then
the master came out of the tent, and showed no sign of
surprise at finding his wife in so close converse with a
stranger. He had evidently been asleep, for he could
hardly keep his eyes open in the light, and had to resort
to a shade, or rather some big snow-spectacles of wood.
He was a strongly-built man, with an honest, straightfor- .
ward look, was very friendly, and showed me a number of
his things. He was especially proud of his " kaiak " hat,
which he insisted on my putting on my head, while he
meantime unceremoniously arrayed himself in my cajj.
This performance was little to my taste, as it was quite
uncertain what would be the result of the exchange to me.
Then he took me to see his big boat or " umiak," as well
as other of his possessions, and we parted.
I went on, and looked into some other tents. In one
of them I found two girls who had just taken a big gull
out of a cooking-pot, and were beginning to devour it,
each at work with her teeth on one end of the body, and
both beaming with delight and self-satisfaction. The bird
still had most of its feathers on, but that did not seem to
trouble them much. Perhaps, after the manner of the
owl, they subsequently ejected them.
Some of the women had noticed that the Lapps used
the peculiar grass known as " sennegrses," which the Eski-
-LV ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT
107
mos also use, in their boots, and thc\' now Ijrought each
of us a huge supply of the comniochtw smiling most co-
qucttishl)' as thc\- made their offering. We expressed
our thanks, of course, by an equalh' lavish di.splay of
smiles. Then they began to inquire, by means of signs,
whether we had no needles to give them in return. I
could have gratified them, certainly, since I had brought
a number of these articles of barter, which are much
prized on the east coast. But my
real object was to keep them in
case we had to spend the winter in
these parts, in which case they would
have proved invaluable. So I told
them that we could not let them
have anv needles in exchange for
their grass, and gave them instead
a tin which had had preserved meat
in. This made them simply wild
with delight, and with sparkling
eyes they went off to show tlie
others their new ac(|uisiti()n. Tlie
grass came in very hand}' for the
two Lapps, whose store was run-
ning short, and without this grass
in his shoes a Lap}) is never thor-
oughly comfortable. 'Ihey had a
deal to say, too, about this h'.skimo
" sennegraes." The fact that these people had sense
enough to use the grass impressed Ravna and Halto to a
certain extent, but they declared it had been gathered at
the wrong time of year, being winter grass taken with
the frost on it, instead of being v\\\ fie>h and then tlried.
TIIKN THK MASTKR CAME
(JUT OK THK TKNT "
(From a photognif'h'S
loS NANSEN AV THE FROZEX WORLD
in accordance witli tlic practice of rational beings. It
was of little use to i)oint out to them that it was not the
habit of tlie b:skimo to lay up greater stores of such
things than he actually needed to keep him going.
Ikit the time of our departure drew near, and we began
by degrees to make our preparations. A nian now came
up to us and asked whether we were going northward.
At our answer in the affirmative his face brightened
amazingly, and it proved that he was bound in the same
direction with his party, to whom he went at once and
announced the news. The camp was now a scene of
lively confusion, and, while we and the Eskimos vied with
one another in our haste to strike our tents, launch our
boats, and stow our goods, the dogs, who well knew what
was in progress, expended their energy in a howling com-
petition.
As the tent we had spent the preceding evening in was
going southward, it was necessary that we should go and
make some return for the presents we had received. So
with a number of empty meat-tins I went in and found a
party of half-naked men taking a meal. I gave them one
each, w^iich delighted them hugely, and some of them
at once showed their intention of using them as drinking-
vessels. Outside I found the possessor of the rifie, who
again urged upon me the fact that he had no ammunition
for it. But when I presented him with a large tin instead
he expressed perfect contentment and gratification.
The great skin-tents were soon down and packed away
in the boats. It was indeed quite astonishing to see the
speed with which these Eskimos made ready for a journey
with all their household goods and worldly possessions,
though, of course, there were a great number of helping
AiY ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 109
hands. We had almost finished our preparations too,
when a salt-box was pleased to discharge its contents in
the middle of one of the provision-bags. This had to be
seen to at once, and the Eskimos consequently started
before us. Two of the boats set off on their southward
journey, and two more presently disappeared behind the
first point of rock to the north. The company of " kai-
akers," however, were still left, as they stayed behind to
bid each other a more tender farewell, before they parted,
perhaps, for a separation of some years. This leave-tak-
ing gave rise to one of the most comical scenes I have
ever witnessed. There \Aere altogether a dozen or more
of their little canoes, and they all now ranged up side by
side, dressed as evenly as a squad of soldiers. This ex-
traordinary manoeuvre roused my attention, of course, and
I could not imagine what it purported. I was not left
long in ignorance, however, for the snuff-horns were pres-
ently produced, and the most extravagant excesses fol-
lowed. Their horns were opened and thrust up their
noses ao-ain and again, till every nostril must have been
absolutelv filled with snuff. Several horns were in circu-
lation, and each came at least twice to every man, so that
the quantity consumed may well be imagined. I wanted
to photograph them, but lost time and could not bring
my camera to bear upon them before the line was broken,
and some of the canoes already speeding away southward
among the floes.
This genera] treating with snuff is the mode in which
the Eskimos take leave of one another, and is a very
similar performance to the ceremonious dram-drinking
among our peasants at home. In this ]Darticular case
only those who had come from the south had anything to
no XA.VSEiV AV T//E FROZEN WORLD
stand treat with. They were evidently fresh from the
Danish colonies beyond Caj^e Farewell, as their abundant
supply of snuff i^roved, while the others were probably
bound south on a similar errand. Tliese pilgrimages
occur unfortunately too often, though their emporium lies
at no trifling distance — a couple of years' journey, in
fact, for those who live farthest up the coast.
One would almost expect that so long a journey would
"THE Ll.NE WAS KRUKEN, AND SOME OF THE CANOES ALREADY SI'EEDING
AWAY SOUTHWARD AMONG THE FLOES "
{Front a photograplt)
be followed by a long stay at tlie place of business. But
this is not the case, and the Eskimo, in fact, s]:)ends little
more time over his jDcriodical shopping than a lady of the
world over a siiiiilar, Init daily, visit. In half an hour, or
an hour perhajxs, he has often finished, and then disap-
pears again on his long journey home. A shopping
expedition of this kind will therefore often take four years
A^V ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 1 1 1
at least, and coiisccjucntly a man's ()|)i)()rtunitics in this
way in the conrsc ot a hfctimc arc very limited. 'I'hcsc
arc ({uitc cnoui^h, howcxcr, to prodncc a niiN( hicxons
elTcct. One is apt to suppose that it is the want of cer-
tain uselul things, otherwise unattainable, that ureses them
to these long journeNs; but this is scarcely so, for the real
incentixe is without doubt a cravini; for tobacco. As a
mailer of fact the)' do buy some useful things, like iron,
which they get chieil)' in the form of old hoops, but they
really have a good supply of such things already, they do
not use them much, and they are not absolutely necessary.
Most of their purchases are things which are either alto-
gether valueless or else actually injurious.
Among the latter must especially be reckoned tobacco,
which is the conmiodity of all others most desired, and
which tliey take in the form of snuff. Smoking and
chewing are unknown on this coast, but their absence is
made up for by all the greater excess in snuff-taking, the
indulgence in which is quite ]:)henomenal. They buy
their tobacco in the form of twist, and prepare it them-
selves, by drying it well, breaking it up, and grinding it
fine on stone. Powdered calcspar or quartz or other rock
is often added to the snuff to make it go further, and to
increase, it is said, the irritating effect upon the mucous
membrane.
In addition to tobacco they buy other things which
certainly have an injurious effect upon them, such as,
for instance, tea. Coffee, curiously enough, these jicople
have not learned to like, though this drink is bliss celes-
tial to the west-coast Eskimos.
It is truly fortunate that they have no opportunity of
getting spirits, as the sale is absolutely prohibited by the
112 ^^A.ys£^^ ix the frozen world
Danish Government. Of other European products, they
buy biscuits, flour, peas, which they are particularly fond
of, and similar things. Articles of clothing, too, are in
great demand, such as tliick jerseys from the Faroe
Islands, cotton stuffs for outer tunics, and material out of
which they can make hats; old European clothes are
highly valued, and they have an idea that when they can
dress themselves out in these worn-out rubbishy garments
they cut a far finer figure than when they content them-
selves with their own warm and becoming dress of seal-
skin.
In exchange for such things, which are of little value
to us and of still less real worth to them, they give fine
large bear-skins, fox-skins, and seal-skins, which they
ought to keep for their own clothes and tlie other nu-
merous purposes for wliich they can be used. It is, of
course, unnecessary to remark how much better it would
be if these poor Eskimos, instead of decking themselves
out in European rags, would keep their skins for them-
selves, and confine themselves to those regions where
they have their homes, instead of straying to the outskirts
of European luxury and civilization.
When the Eskimos have at length consumed their pur-
chases and must needs return to the old manner of life,
the net result is that they have lost a number of useful
possessions and have acquired a feeling of want and long-
ing for a number of unnecessary things. This is, in fact,
the usual way that the blessings of civilization first make
themselves felt upon the uncivilized.
CHAPTER VII '
THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE THE FIRST SIOIIT
OF LAND AND FIRST DRINK OF WATER
As tlic middle of September approached, we hoped
every day to arrive at the beginning of tlie western slope.
To judge from our reckoning it could not be far off,
though I had a suspicion that this reckoning was some
way ahead of our observations. These, however, I pur-
posely omitted to work out, as the announcement that we
had not advanced as far as we supposed would ha\e been
a bitter disappointment to most of the party. Their ex-
pectations of soon getting the first sight of land on the
western side were at their height, and they pushed on
confidently, while I kept my doubts to myself and left
the reckoning as it was.
On September 1 1 the fall of the ground was just appre-
ciable, the theodolite showing it to be about a third of a
degree. On September 12 I entered in my diary that
" we are all in capital spirits, and hope for a speedy
change for the better, Balto and Dietrichson being even
confident that we shall see land to-day. The)- will need
some patience, however, as we are still 9,000 feet above
the sea " (we were really about 8,250 feet that day), " but
they will not have to wait \ery long. This morning our
reckoning made us out to be about seventy-five miles
from bare land, and the ijround is fallinc: well and con-
^ From Nansen's Across Greenland.
8
114 ^\'l^^SJiN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
tinuoLisly." The next day or two the slope grew more
and more distinct, but the incHne was not regular, as the
ground fell in great undulations, like those we had had
to climb in the course of our ascent.
On September 14 the reckoning showed that it was
only about thirty-five miles to land. But even now we
could see nothing, which the Lapps thought was \ery
suspicious. Ravna's face began to get longer and longer,
and one evening about this time he said, " I am an old
Lapp, and a silly old fool, too ; I don't believe we shall
ever get to the coast." I only answered, " That 's quite
true, Ravna ; you are a silly old fool." Whereupon he
burst out laughing: "So it's quite true, is it — Ravna is
a silly old fool ? " and he evidently felt quite consoled by
this doubtful compliment. These expressions of anxiety
on Ravna's part were very common.
Another day Balto suddenly broke out: "But how on
earth can any one tell how far it is from one side to the
other, when no one has been across 1 " It was, of course,
difficult to make him understand the mode of calculation;
but, with his usual intelligence, he seemed to form some
idea of the truth one day when I showed him the process
on the map. The best consolation we could give Balto
and Ravna was to laugh at them well for their cowardice.
The very pronounced fall of the ground on September
17 certainly was a comfort to us all, and when the ther-
mometer that evening just failed to reach z.ero we found
the tem])erature c|uite mild, and felt that we had entered
the abodes of summer again. It was now^ only nine miles
or so to land by our reckoning.
It was this very day two months that we had left the
Jason. This happened to be one of our butter-mornings,
TJIK CKOSSIAG OJ- J'JU: JM.IND ICE 115
the very gladdest niorniii^s of our existence al iIk- lime,
and Ijreaklast in bed with a ^ood cup of tea brou'dil the
whole ])arty into an excellent humor. It was the first
time, too, for a long wliile that the walls of our tent had
not been decorated \\\\\\ fringes of hoar-frost. y\s we
were at breakfast we were no little astonished to hear, as
we thought, the twittering of a bird outside ; but the
sound soon stopi)ed, and we were not at all certain of its
reality. Hut as we were starting again after our one
o'clock dinner that day we suddenly became aware of
twitterings in the air, and, as we stopped, sure enough
we saw a snow-bunting come flying after us. It wan-
dered round us two or three times, and plainly showed
signs of a wish to sit upon one of our sledges. But the
necessary audacity was not forthcoming, and it fmallv
settled on the snow in front for a few moments, before
it flew away for good with another encouraging little
twitter.
Welcome, indeed, this little bird was. It gave us a
friendly greeting from the land we were sure must now
be near. The l^elievers in good angels and their tloings
must inevitably have seen such in the forms of these two
snow^-buntings, the one which bade us farewell on the
eastern side, and that which offered us a welcome to the
western coast. We blessed it for its cheering song, and
with warmer hearts and renewed strength we confidently
went on our way, in spite of the uncomfoi-tahlc knowledge
that the ground was not falling b)- any means so raj^idly
as it should have done. In this way, however, things
were much better next day, September iS; the cold con-
sistently decreased, and life grew brighter and brighter.
In the evening, too, tlie wind sprang up from the south-
ii6 A\-1A^S/£A^ AV THE FROZEN WORLD
east, and I liopecl \vc should really get a fair sailing breeze
at last. We had waited for it long enough, and sighed
for it, too, in spite of Balto's assurances that this sailing
on the snow would never come to anything.
In the course of the night tlie wind freshened, and in
the morning there was a full breeze blowing. Though,
as usual, there was no great keenness to undertake the
rioo-in'j: and lashins: tofrether of the sledges in the cold
wind, we determined, of course, to set about the business
at once. Christiansen joined Sverdrup and me with his
sledge, and we rigged the two with the tent-iloor, while
the other three put their two sledges together.
All this work, especially the lashing, was anything but
delightful, but the cruellest part of it all was that while
we were in the middle of it the wind showed signs of
dropping. It did not carry out its threat, however, and at
last both vessels were ready to start. I was immensely
excited to see how our boat would turn out, and whether
the one sail was enous^h to move both the sledges. It
was duly hoisted and made fast, and there followed a
violent wrenchimj; of the whole machine, but durintr the
operations it had got somewhat buried in the snow and
proved immovable. There was enough wrenching and
straining of the mast and tackle to pull the whole to
pieces, so we harnessed ourselves in front with all speed.
We tugged with a will and got our boat off, l3ut no sooner
had she begun to move than the wind brought her right
on to us, and over we all went into tlie snow. We were
soon up again for another trial, but witli the same result ;
no sooner were we on our legs than we were carried off
them again by the shock from behind.
This process having been gone through a certain num-
TUK CA'OSSJA/C; OP' THJ'. LXI.AM) ICE
i'7
bcr of times, wc saw plainly that all was not ri^^ht. Su
wc arranged that one of us should stand in front on jiis
ski and steer 1)\- means of a staff fixed between the two
sledges, like the ])()le of a carriage, leaving himself to
be })ushed along by his vessel, and onl\- keeping it at a
FIRST ATTEMPTS AT SAILING
respectful distance from his heels. Tlie other two mem-
bers of the crew were to come behind on their ski,
cither holding on to the sledges or following as best tliey
could.
W^c now finally got under way, and S\-erdrup, wlio was
to take the first turn at steering, had no sooner got the
pole under his arm than our vessel rushed furiously off
before the wind. I attached myself l)ehind at the side,
riding on my ski and holding on b}' the back of one of
the sledges as well as I could. Christiansen thought this
looked like too risky work, and came dragging along
behind on his ski alone.
Our ship flew over the wa\'es and drifts of snow with a
speed that almost took one's breath away. The sledges
ii8 J^AA'S£.V AV THE FROZEN JVORLD
struggled and groaned, and were strained in every joint
as they were whirled o\er the rough surface, and often
indeed they simply jumped from the crest of one wave on
to another. 1 had ciuilc enough to do to hang on behind
and keep myself upright on the ski. Then the ground
be^ran to fall at a sharper angle than any we had had yet.
The pace grew hotter and hotter, and tlie sledges scarcely
seemed to touch the snow. Right in front of me was
sticking out the end of a ski, which was lashed fast across
the two sledges for the purpose of keeping them together.
I could not do anything to get this ski end out of the
wav, and it caused me a i^reat deal of trouble, as it stuck
out across the points of my own ski, and was always
cominor into collision with them. It was worst of all when
we ran along the edge of a drift, for my ski would then
get completely jammed, and I lost all control over them.
For a long time I went on thus in a continual struggle
with this hopeless ski end, while Sverdrup stood in front
gayly steering and thinking we were both sitting comfort-
ably on behind. Our ship rushed on faster and faster;
the snow flew around us and behind us in a cloud, which
gradually hid the others from our view.
Then an ice-axe wliich lay on the top of our cargo
began to get loose and promised to fall off. So I worked
myself carefully forward, and was just engaged in making
the axe fast when we rode on to a nasty drift. This
brought the projecting ski end just across my legs, and
there I lay at once gazing after tlie ship and its sail,
wliich were flying on down the slope, and already show-
ing dimly through the drifting snow. It made one quite
uncomfortable to see how quickly they diminished in size.
I felt very foolish to be left lying there, but at last I recov-
THK CROSSIXG OF 'J 7//: /ALAND ICJ:
I 19
crcd myself and set off bra\L-l)- in the wake of the \esse1,
which was by tin's time all but out of si<;ht. 'J"o my oreat
(leliL;ht 1 found that, thanks to the wind, 1 could i;et on
at a very decent pace alone.
I had not gone far before I found the ice-axe, in trying
to secure which I had come to grief. /\ little way farther
on I caught sight of another dark object, tliis time some-
thing sc[uare, l\iug in the snow. This was a box which
contained some of our j^recious meat-chocolate, and which
of course was not to be abandoned in this way. .After diis
I strode gayly on for a long time in the sledge-track, with
the chocolate-box under one arm and the ice-axe and m)-
"A.M) there I LAY GAZING AITKK THE SHIP AND ITS SAIl"
staff under the other. Then I came upon several more
dark objects lying straight in my path. These proved to
be a fur jacket belonging to me, and no less than three
pemmican boxes. I had now much iiiore than I couKl
carry, so the only thing to be done was to sit down and
wait for succor from the others who were following be-
hind. All that could now be seen of our proud ship and
its sail was a little square patch far away across the snow-
field. She was going ahead in the same direction as
I20 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
before, but as I watehed I suddenly saw her brought up
to the wind, the tin boxes of her cargo gHtter in the sun,
and lier sail fall. Just then Christiansen canie w\) with me,
followed not long after by the other vessel. To them we
handed over some of our loose boxes, but just as we were
stowing them away Balto discovered that they had lost no
less than three pemmican tins. These were much too val-
uable to be left behind, so the crew had to go back and
look for them.
Meanwhile Christiansen and I started off again, each
with a tin box under his arm, and soon overtook Sverdrup.
We now sat down to w^ait for the others, which was not
an agreeable job in this bitter wind.
Sverdrup told us that he had sailed merrily off from the
very start, had found the whole thing go admiral^ly, and
thought all the time that we two were sitting comfortably
on behind. He could not see behind him for the sail, but
after a long w'hile he began to wonder w^hy there was not
more noise among the passengers in the stern. So he
made an approach to a conversation, but got no answer.
A little farther on he tried again and louder, but with the
same result. Then he called louder still, and lastly began
to shout at the top of his voice, but still there was no
response. This state of things needed further investiga-
tion ; so he brought his boat up to the wind, went round
behind the sail to see w^hat was the matter, and was not
a little concerned to find that both his passengers had
disappeared. He tried to look back along his course
through the drifting snow, and he thought he could see
a black spot far away behind. This must have been my
insignificant figure sitting upon the lost tin boxes. Then
he lowered his sail, which was not an easy matter in
THE CKOS:SIXG OF TIIK J N J. AN J) JCK 121
the wind tliat was blowing, and contented liini.sclf to wait
for us.
W'c had to sit a long- time before tlie otliers caught us
u}) again. \Vc could just see the vessel through the snow,
but her sail was evidently not up, and of her crew there
was not a sign. At last we caught sight of three small
specks far away up the slope and the glitter of the sun
^■J
SAILING ON THE INLAND ICE
on the tins they were carrying. Presently the sail was
hoisted, and it was not long before they joined us.
We now lashed the sledges better together and made
the cargo thoroughly fast, in order to escape a repetition
of this ])crformance. Then we rigged up some rojocs be-
hind, to which the crew could hold or tie themselves, and
thus be towed comfortably along. In this way we got on
splendidly, and never in my life have I had a more glo-
rious run on ski.
122 NANSEN AV THE FROZEN WORLD
A while later SNcrdruj) declared that he had had
enough of steering, and I therefore took his place. We
had now one good sloj^e after another and a strong wind
behind us. We travelled as we should on the best of
ski hills at home, and this for hour after hour. The
steering is exciting work. One has to keep one's tongue
straight in one's mouth, as we say at home, and, whatever
one does, take care not to fall. If one did, the whole
conveyance would be upon one, and once under the run-
ners and driven along by the impetus, one would fare
badly indeed, and be lucky to get off without a complete
smash-up. This was not to be thought of, so it was
necessary to keep one's w^its about one, to hold the ski
well together, grip the pole tight, watch the ground in-
cessantly, so as to steer clear of the worst drifts, and for
the rest take thini^^s as thev came, while one's ski flew on
from the crest of one snow-wave to another.
Our meals were not pleasant intervals that day, and we
therefore got through them as quickly as we could. We
stopped and crept under shelter of the sails, which were
only half lowered on purpose. The snow drifted over us
as we sat there, but the wind at least was not so piercing
as in the open. We scarcely halted for the usual choco-
late distributions, and took our refreshment as we went
along.
In the middle of the afternoon — this notable da)- by
the way was September 19 — just as we were sailing our
best and fastest, we heard a cry of joy from the party be-
hind, Balto's voice being })rominent as he shouted " Land
ahead ! "
And so there was; through the mist of snow, which
was just now a little less dense, we could see away to the
THE CROSSING OF TJIE lAJ.AM) ICK 123
west a loHL!,-, dark mountain ridge, and to the south of it
a smaller peak. Rejoieings were loud and general, for
the goal toward whieh we had so long struggk-d was at
last in sight.
Balto's own account of the occurrence runs as follows :
" While we were sailing that afternoon I caught sight of
a, black spot a long way off to the west. I stared and
stared at it till 1 saw that it reall\- was bare ground.
Then I called to Dietrichson, ' I can see land!' I )ie-
trichson at once shouted to the others that Halto could
see land away to the west. And then we rejoiced to see
this sight, which we had so often longed to see, and new
courage came into our hearts, and hope that we should
now happily and without disaster cross over this ice-
mountain, which is the greatest of all ice-mountains. If
we had spent many more days upon the ice, I fear that
some of us would have fared badly. As soon as Nansen
heard this he stopped and gave us two pieces of meat-
chocolate each. It was always our custom, when we
reached a spot which we had long wished to reach, to
treat ourselves to the best food we had. So when we
came to land after drifting in the ice, when we reached
Umivik, when we had climbed to the highest point of
Greenland, when we now first saw land on the west side.
and lastly, when we first set foot upon bare ground again,
we were treated to our very best — which was jam,
American biscuits, and butter."
Though this first land we saw lay a little to the north
of the line we had hitherto been following. I steered for
it nevertheless, because the ice in this direction seemed to
fall away more rapidly. However, the jioint was soon
hidden in the snow again, and we went on with the wind
124 NAlYSEN JX TJIK l^KOZEX WORLD
straifrht behind us for tlic rest of the afternoon without
getting any further sight of land. Tlie wind grew
stronger and stronger, we iiew down slope after slope,
and everything went famously.
A while later both the gradient and the wind slackened
off for a time, but as evening began the breeze freshened
and the slope grew steeper, and we rushed along through
the dense driving snow more furiously than ever. It was
already growing dusk, when I suddenly saw in the gen-
eral obscurity something dark lying right in our path. I
took it for some ordinary irregularity in the snow, and
unconcernedly steered straight ahead. The next mo-
ment, when I was within no more than a few )'ards, I
found it to be something very different, and in an instant
swung round sharp and brouglit the vessel up to the
wind. It was high time, too, for we were on the very
edge of a chasm broad enough to swallow comfortably
sledges, steersman, and passengers. Another second and
we should have disappeared for good and all. We now
shouted with all our might to the others, who were com-
'i\^ g^yb' on behind, and they managed to luff in time.
Here also Balto has something to say : " The same
evening while we were still sailing along — it may have
been about half-past seven and it w^as rather dark — we
saw Nansen, who was in front on his ski, signalling
wildly to us, while he shouted, 'Don't come here; it is
dangerous ! ' We, who were tearing along at full speed,
found it difficult to stop, and had to swing around and
throw ourselves on our sides. At the same time we saw
in front of us an awful crack in the ice, which was many
hundred feet deep."
i\s to the rest of the day's sail my diary says : " This
y///'.- CA'OSS/NG OF 'J/f/C INLAND ICE 125
SAII.IM; IN' MUONLUIUT. "WHEN THEbNOW LOOKED TKEALil KKOl .S I HAD TO
GO CAUTIOUSLY AND USE MY STAFF "
was tlic first crevasse, but was not likely to be the only
one, and we must now go warily. It was suggested that
it was hardly advisable to sail any farther that evening,
l3ut I thought it too early to stop yet, as we must take
advantage of the wind. So I left the sledges and went
on in front to reconnoitre, while Sverdrup undertook tlic
steering of our boat, and the sails of both of them were
taken in a bit. The wind was strong enough even to
blow me along, and I could run long stretches without
moving a muscle, and so covered the ground fast.
" When the snow looked treacherous I had to go
cautiously and use my staff to see whether I had solid
ground under foot, and, if not, to signal to the others to
wait till I had found a safer route. In spite of all precau-
tions, Sverdrup and Christiansen all but came to grief
once, as the snow fell in behind them just as tliey had
passed over an unsuspected crevasse. Meantime the
126 JV.-4XS£2V IN THE FROZEN WORLD
wind was steadily increasing, and tlie sails had to be
taken in more and more to prevent the sledges overrun-
ning me. As we were all getting hungry, biscuits were
served out, but no halt was made to eat them.
" It was rapidly getting dark, but the full moon was now
rising, and she gave us light enough to see and avoid the
worst crevasses. It was a curious sight for me to see the
two vessels coming rushing along behind me, with their
square viking-like sails showing dark against the white
snow-field and the big round disc of the moon behind.
" Faster and faster I go flying on, while the ice gets
more and more difficult. There is worse still ahead, I can
see, and in another moment I am into it. The ground is
here seamed with crevasses, but they are full of snow and
not dangerous. Every now and then I feel my staff go
through into space, but the cracks are narrow and the
sledges glide easily over. Presently I cross a broader one,
and see just in front of me a huge black abyss. I creep
cautiously to its edge on the slippery ice, wdiich here is
covered by scarcely any snow, and look down into the
deep, dark chasm. Beyond it I can see crevasse after cre-
vasse, running -parallel with one another, and showing
dark blue in the moonlight. I now tell the others to stop,
as this is no ground to traverse in the dark, and we must
halt for the night.
" In the west we could now^ see land again against the
evening sky, which still shows a faint trace of day. They
were the same mountains we had first seen, but they now
tower high above the horizon, and to the south of these
peaks again there is a long ridge of rock protruding from
the snow.
" It was a difficult business to get the tent up in this
yy/A CA'OW/AG' OF J UK LXLAXD JCJ: 127
stroni;- wind, aiul on the hard, slippery ice, which L!;aw no
hold for our i!;ny-roiJcs, and wc had to cut deep holes
before we could make our staffs do duty as l)egs. At last,
after havini^ fared worse than usual with the cold, we ''ot
the tent up and were able to crawl into a partial shelter.
No one was inclined to do any cooking that evening, as
even inside the tent the wind was much too aggressive,
and the little feast which was to do honor to the day, and
which we had much looked forward to, was put off till
next morning. So we were content to divide our last
piece of Gruyere cheese, and then, well pleased with our-
selves and our day's work, creep into our sleej)ing-bags.
I now discovered for the first time that I had got the fin-
gers of both my hands frozen during the afternoon's sail.
It was too late now to rub them with snow, as they had
begun to thaw on their own account, but that night the
pain they gave me was almost unendurable, till I fell
asleej) in spite of it."
Early next morning, September 20, I started wy with
the consciousness that I had forgotten to wind my watch
up over-night. Unluckily Sverdru]) had done exactly the
same, and though we wound them both up at once it was
now too late. This was, of course, rather unfortunate for
our longitude observations, but we were now so near land
that we could reckon our position with tolerable exacti-
tude nevertheless.
When we looked out of the tent we could see the whole
country to the south of Godthaabsfjord lying spread out
before us, a rough mountainous tract with many deep val-
leys and lofty jDcaks. Those who remember their first
sight of a mountain landscape in their childhood, with its
sunlit peaks and stretches of glittering snow ; who can
128 NANSEN AV THE FROZEN WORLD
remember huw this new mysterious world fascinated and
allured them — they will understand what our feelings
were this morning. We were just like children, as we sat
and crazed, and followed the lines of the valleys down-
ward in the vain search for a glimpse of the sea. It was
a fine country that lay before us, wild and grand as the
western coast of Norway. Fresh snow lay sprinkled about
the mountain tops, between which were deep black gorges.
At the bottom of these were the fjords, which we could
fancy, but could not see. A journey to Godthaab in this
kind of country looked anything but a simple matter.
We enjoyed our grand breakfast at our ease and leisure
this morning, made tea unlimited, and simply revelled in
cheese and oatmeal biscuits. It was glorious to have a
treat like this once in a way. The morning was well gone
before we got finally on the move. In the darkness of
the evening before we had sailed into some very rough fis-
sured ice, and w^e now had to bear away to the south to
avoid the worst crevasses and reach smoother ground. The
snow throughout this day's march was partly blown into
drifts, especially where there was any unevenness in the
ice to catch it, and partly swept away by the wind, leaving
the surface slippery and bare.
Presently we reached the top of a long, steep slope
which had to be descended. Sverdrup and I started down
on our ski and had a fine run. But our sledge was dif-
ficult to steer, and we had huge crevasses on each side, so
at last we were constrained to take our ski off for safety's
sake. We then went on, standing each on a runner of
the sledge, and scraping and breaking with our feet in
order to keep clear of the crevasses. The Lapps during
this run were especially reckless, and let their sledge rush
THE CROSSJSG OF TIIK INLAND ICE i2.j
ahead nuich as it pleased. A little farther down we came
upon a flat piece of ice, which was so slippery that it was
quite difficult to cross. It looked like the frozen surface
of a lake or pool. Beyond this we found ourselves in
some nasty ice again, and after I had fallen through the
snow sexeral times I thought it best to jnit the ski on
again. With them one is of course much safer, as when
one slides across the narrower crevasses their great length
COASTINC. DOWN THK SLOl'KS
will eenerallv hold one uid. At this time we had a nastv
experience, as our sledge came lengthways upon a cre-
vasse, the snow-cornice of which gave way under one of
the runners, and we only managed to drag it on to firm
ground just as the whole mass of snow was falling in be-
neath it. Ravna and Balto nearly got into a worse scraj^e
once, when they tried to take a short cut instead of follow-
ing our course. They slid down on to a huge wide fissure,
whereupon one of the runners cut straight through the
snow and all but upset the sledge, and it was only by the
skin of their teeth that they escaped. I was furiously
9
I30 jvaa:s£a^ av t///': frozex worj.d
angry with them, of course, and rated them well for not
being content to let us who went in front run sucli risks
as were necessary. Christiansen, too, was once on the
point of k^sing his sledge in much the same way.
Ill the afternoon we liad a hailstorm from the south and
southeast. The hail stung our faces and the wind contin-
ually blew the sledges around, so that hauling became hard
and difficult work. In this respect Sverdrup and I were
worst off, as our load was very bulky and lay high on the
sledge, which therefore exposed a large surface to the
wind. The steel bars or keels under the runners would
here haxe been an advantage, but they had long ago given
way on the rough ice of the east coast.
We stopped for the day on a little flat, on which there
was just enough drifted snow to hold our staffs, and the
pitching of the tent was thus a simple matter. We had
flattered ourselves that we should come within very easy
distance of land, if not reach it altogether, this evening,
and we were considerably disappointed when it seemed
to us at the end of the day that we were almost as far off
as ever.
Next day, September 21, snow was falling, and we
could sec nothing either of the land or the ice around us.
W^e had to grope our way as best we could, and there
was no possibility of choosing the most advantageous
course.
Toward ncjon we stopped in order to get an observa-
tion, if it were j^ossible, as the sun now and again showed
through the clouds. It was most important that we
should know where we were, and the day before I had
been too late for the puqjose, having made a mistake
about the time owing to my omission to wind my watch
7///'. cA'o.ss/.vi; ()/■■ in I: l\j..\.\d ice 131
11]). I.iiikiU' tlii> liiiK' tlu- Mill was visible' for a wliilc,
and 1 \\a> able to get the .illilii(k\ iny rcckoiiinij; j)iitting
us .it about hit. 64'' I V ^•- 1 bi.s position ua.s a little
more northerlv than 1 .should ha\e liked, the reason being
that I had, as 1 ha\e said, steered too nuieh to the north
as we were sailing .ifter wi- came within siglU of land.
.As it will a])j)ear, we now had to jxiy some days" penalty
lor the mistake, if we had kept our original more .south-
erly course, we should probabl)- ha\e been able to sail
right down on to the land itself.
We now, therefore, turned more to the south wlu'ii we
set off again. In the course of the afternoon .S\erdru|)
and I had a disagreement as to our best route — a thing
which lareK' happened, lie wanted to take us more to
the right uj) on to a ridge, as he had through the snow-
seen crevasses down below in front of us. I had seen
nothing of the kind, and ])referred to keep awa\- to the
left ; but after .some di.scussion Sverdru]) j)revailed, and
we climbed the ridge, but only to find oursehes in the
middle of some terrible crevasses. They were worse
than any we had hitherto had to deal with, and we were
very glad to clear out again and bear awa\- more to the
.south. Here we found a tolerably smooth stretch of ice
forming the bottom of a valley between two ridges, which
were both quite a network of fi.ssnres. Tliis allev or fur-
row narrowed in front of us, and ended in a defile, where
the two ridges almost met. I lere there was an al)rii|)t
fall in the ground, and dic ice was uncomfortabK' rough.
I he place lookc-d all but impracticable, and it was clearlv
no use trying to push on anv farther while the weather
was so thick. It seemed very likely that we had come
too far already.
,jj .\U.yS£N IN THE FKOZEX WORLD
So it was settled that Dietrichson, Ravna, and Balto
should pitch the tent, while Sverdrup, Christiansen, and I
j»houId go down and see whether this broken ice would
allow of a passage. Balto in his quality of under-cook
was told to set the apparatus going, and have everything
ready by the time we came back — some good pea-soup
and plenty of hot water in the upper vessel, so that we
could have some lemon-grog after >ui)i)cr.
We three soon had the Alpine rope round our waists
and set off downward. The ice was unusually rough
and hard to pass, a simple chaos of sharp edges with fis-
sures in between ; but it was not dangerous, as the clefts
were as a rule not deep.
We had not gone far before, to my astonishment, I saw
a little dark spot down below us between some ridges
covered with snow. It looked amazingly like water, but
it was quite possible that it was only ice, so I said nothing
to the others. Hut when I reached it and, putting my
staff in, met with no resistance, our surprise and delight
were quite unbounded. We threw ourselves down, put
our lips to the surface, and sucked up the water like
horses. After a month of incessant thirst and limited
rations, the pleasure of having abundance of drink was
indescribable. How many quarts we swallowed I should
not like to say, but we plainly felt ourselves swell within
and without during the operation. We then went on
refreshed, but before we had gone far we heard some one
shouting behind, and saw little Ravna running after us
as fast as his short legs would carry him. We waited,
fearing that there was something wrong in the camp, and
I was much relieved to hear, when he came up, that all
he wanted was the wicks for the spirit-lamp, which I usu-
THE CKOSSJ.\G OF 'llJE lALAMJ JCE
^11
ally carried in w^\■ pocket to keep them dry. I was anx-
ious to know whether he had seen the water, for Ravna
was the worst of all of us to drink when he had the
chance, and I was half afraid that he would l;() at it till
he made himself ill. lie had seen the water, he told us,
but had not had time to attend to it as he came down,
though he meant to make up for the omission on the way
back.
So we sent him off again and went on with our e\})lora-
tion. We presently found ourselves among the roughest
ice I had ever seen, and all that I knew of from Captain
Jensen's descriptions was nothing compared to this.
Absolutely impassable it was not, but ridge upon ridge,
each sharper and more impracticable than its neighbor,
lay in all directions, while between them were deep clefts,
often half full of water, which was covered with a thin skin
of ice not strong enough to bear.
Darkness was already coming on when we finally
turned homeward. We were wretchedly done up by
liaving to toil over this rough ground, on which the soft
snow lay deep in places, and were much comforted when
we at last caught sight of the tent in the distance. As
we passed the pool again we must needs have another
drink. We lay down and let the water fairly flow down
our throats. Our foreheads grew numb and cold, but
that did not stop us. It was a truly di\ine pleasure to be
able once more to drink to the very end of one's thirst.
A cheering smell of good ]Dea-soup met us as we entered
our little tent, where we found the others squatting around
the cooking machine. Balto had everything hot and
ready for us, and was verv ]^roud of having carried out
his orders to the letter.
,34 ,\UyS£.V IN THE FROZEN WORLD
Hii dcstTiptinn. too, will serve to tell us what the rest
iif the party did while we were away.
"The other three went off with a rope round their
waists to liKik for a way, while we — that is, Ravna, Die-
trichson. and I — stayed behind to i)ut uj) the tent. I
had to n».. ae pea-souj), too. for I was cook. So
I i»ot the machine out. but then found that there were
MO wicks, as Nansen had them in his pocket. So I sent
Kavna off to get them, and when he came back he said
he had found water and drunk his stomach full. When
I heard this I caught ujj a tin box and ran as hard as I
could go till I reached the jjool. Then I threw myself
down and began to drink. 1 had to lift my head up now
and then to get breath, and then I went on drinking
again. It tasted just like fresh, sweet milk, for we had
not had any water for a whole month. Then I filled the
tin and carried it uji to the tent, and when Dietrichson
saw it he lay down and drank till he could not hold any
more. The tin was a very big one, but there was only
just enough left for the pea-soup afterward. We found
plenty «)f water every day after this."
I am sure we all remember September 21, when we
first found water. I really think it was one of the best
days of the whole expedition.
Halto's fragrant soup was soon served out, and we set
to work ui)on our supjjcr with more than usual keenness,
which means considL-rably more than it seems to say.
I*:ven kavna could eat that night. He used to declare he
nt-ver could make a good meal because there was not
enough to drink. This used to induce him to save up
his rations, and he would often annoy us, and make our
mouths water fruitlessly, by bringing out four or five
yy/A C/WSSJNG OF THE lAL.lXD JCE ,35
spare biscuits at a time to show us. Tlic truth probably
was that his little body did not need as much food as our
larger ones.
After supper we had lemon-grog, which consisted of
citric acid, oil of lemon, sugar and hot water, a compound
which to our tastes was nothing short of nectar, and
uhicli we sipped and enjo3-ed to the utmost as we lay in
our sleeping-bags. l'\,r my own part it was a long time
since I had been so tired. The laborious wading^'n the
deep, fresh snow had tried my legs severely, and I do not
fancy that the others were much better. Hut an evening
hke this in the tent brings a feeling of comfort and grati-
tude upon one, and a veil of forgetfulness is gentl/and
soothingly drawn over all the pains and tribulations of the
day.
A candle-end — the last we have — has been lighted
for supper. This over,\and all our preparations fcir the
morrow made, we put out our light, bury our heads well
beneath the hoods of the sleeping-bags, and pass suiftl)-
and lightly over into the region of dreams.
CHAPTER \'1II
rnr descf.nt to ameralikfjord^
lU.KOKE UicakLisl un ^cpicmbcr 22, while Balto was
making the tea, Sverdrup and I climbed the ridge of ice
which lay tu the south of the tent for a reconnaissance.
It was seamed with broad crevasses of unfathomable
depth, most of them running parallel. Once I fell through
a snow-bridge, but the fissure was so narrow that I could
keep my hold on both its sides, and after some amount of
struggHng I managed to extricate myself. From the top
of the ridge we had a fine view over the surrounding ice,
and could see that our best course would probably be to
keep a westerly direction for the jDresent and turn south-
ward again lower down. As far as we can see, in front
of us the ice seems to lie in fissured ridges, which all run
westward toward Godthaabsfjord. We had been in doubt
as to what valley or fjord the depression right before us
could be, but we could now see that it must be Kan-
gersunek. Altogether we were able to make out our
wherealx)uts very well, and it was quite plain that we had
come down f-.t,.- ,,r five miles farther to the north than we
had mean;
We found breakfast ready when we got back to the
tent, and afterward it was settled that Sverdrup and I
should go out again and explore the ice to the west, keep-
ing to the north of the jiart we examined the previous
* From Nansen's Across Greenland.
TJIJi DESCENT TO AMERALIKFrOR D
'37
AN AWKWARD PREDICAMKNT
eveningr. The others meanwhile must follow us with the
four sledges as far as they could in the same direction,
and, if they could get so far, stop at the last ridge we
could see from here. As they had a fair wind behind
them, I thought they would be able to manage a sledge
each without much difficulty.
So Sverdrup and I started off, and with the wind be-
,j8 A^-tySEX /.V THE FROZEN WORLD
hind us ran fast down on our slippery oak ski. The
irround was fairly easy till we came far enough to see
":. wn into the fjord, which was full of floating glacier-ice.
1 iicn the crevasses began, but at first they ran parallel,
and we pushed a good way farther on. But presently
things became utterly hopeless, a simple network of inter-
lacing fissures, the ice protruding in small square islands
from the midst of the blue abysses. Even the fancy could
form no idea of tlie depth of these chasms, and the sight
of the riven and chaotic mass was unearthly in the ex-
treme. Not a step farther could we go ; there was nothing
for us to do but eat our dinner and go back to look for
the others. We found shelter in a little crevice, where
the sun did its best to comfort us and temper the keen-
ne.ss of the biting wind.
On the way back I had the ill-luck to fall into a cre-
vasse. I was left hanging by my arms, and the position
was neither eas\- nor jDleasant. The fissure was narrow-
indeed, but it was very difficult to get a footing with my
ski on the slippery edges. I was alone, too, as Sverdrup
had taken a different line, and, being a long way on
in front, saw nothing of my disaster. However, after
struggling for a while, I at last managed to scramble out
by myself. Strangely enough, none of us ever went far-
ther into these crevasses than to the armpits.
We had not gone far before we cauorht si^ht of the
tent, which lay a little way to the north of us and on the
very ridge where the party had been ordered to halt.
They had reached this point about half an hour before,
and the coffee was already under way. I must explain
that we were now so near the coast that the coffee pro-
hibition was not .so stringently observed. It was not
THE DESCENT TO AMERALIKEJORD
'39
ON THE MORNING OK SEPTE.MBER 23: ROU(;HISH ICE
quite ready, and a short rest after our little ski excursion
did us good. After we had finished our coffee the tent
was struck, and we set off in a southerly direction in
order to skirt the ice-stream which flowed down to the
fjord, and in the middle of which we had just been. At
first the ground was easy and w^e made good progress,
though the wind did its best to hinder us by blowing the
sledges around. In the evening, when it was already
growing dusk, we reached a ridge of nasty, broken ice,
which we had seen in the distance that morning, and w In'ch
there seemed to be no way of avoiding. It was necessary
to explore the ground here before moving any farther,
and so there was nothing to be done but encamp and
wait for daylight. While supper was preparing two of us
went out again. The ice was undeniably awkward, but
with enterprise we could no doubt get through. The
I40 .y.-iXSEA' IN THE FROZEN WORLD
ridge was luckily not broad, and the best route was evi-
dently the straightest and shortest.
'\ \t morning, September 2^, Sverdrup went out upon
.iiu.tncr prospecting expedition, and came back with com-
jiaratively reassuring intelligence. The ice was not so
bad as it had seemed to be at first sight, and it would be
|X)ssible, if we put three men to each sledge, to get them
along without carrying them.
Then we broke up camp and set out upon the heaviest
KIM AND KKI-LKCTION (SKPTEMHKR 2J)
{By the Author, from a pliotograph)
bit of ice-travelling which we had yet had. In many
places we had to carry each sledge bodily up the steep
sloiK-s of the ridges we had to cross, while as we de-
scended the other side the unfortunate man who went
behind had tr, hold ii back with all his micdit. If he
THE DESCEN2- TO AMEKA/JKEyORD
141
slipped, down went he and the sledge on to the heels of
the others in front, and tlie whole group slid on together
Often, however, we were lucky enough to hit upon the'
course of a frozen river, which gave us an easy though
somewliat winding passage among the hummocks and
ON THE AFTERNOON OF SEPTEMBER 23: INTO BETTER ICE AGAIN
ridges of ice, which often formed cliffs with nearly per-
pendicular walls. In one case we had to pass through a
narrow cleft which only just gave us room, and at^^the
bottom held a little stream only partially frozen, the water
of which stood well above our ankles.
In the afternoon we at last passed out of the wor.-l
of the ice, and could again take the sledges singly. The
surface was now tolerably good, and it grew still better,
but the wind was awkward, as it was always blowing- the
sledges around. A good way farther on I discox'ered a
moraine running across the ice in an easterlv direction
,43 NJNSEN IN TIJI:. FROZEN WORLD
from the land. I iinairincd that this moraine must mark
the limit between the streams of ice, more especially be-
cause it lay in a depression, and as 1 could not see any
gtxxl in getting into the full current of another ice-stream,
I determined to work down toward land on the north
side of the moraine. We now halted, and the tent having
been pitched and Balto sent out to look for water for the
ctiffec, Sverdrup and I set off downward toward the
land to see whether the ice were practicable here. We
had not gone far before wc saw that our opportunity had
come. We seemed to h.a\e crossed to the south side of
the stream of ice which fell into Godthaabsfjord, for the
surface seemed to fall away to the south, or more cor-
rectly toward the land which lay straight before us. We
went back with the encouras^ino: news, and the whole
party drank their coffee in the highest spirits. The
prospect of once more feeling dry land beneath our feet
was now not far off, and this was enough to fill us with
delight. As soon as we could we went on again, and
with the wind behind us made good progress, the ice
being relatively smooth and yet often falling rapidly. We
were disappointed, however, in our hope of reaching land
that evening, as, owing to the gathering darkness, we
presently had to sti))). But on the whole we w-ere more
than satisfied with the da)''s work, as we had advanced a
gcM>d deal farther than we had had any reason to hope in
the morning.
Next day, Se|)tember 24, we turned out earlv and set
<»ff with the determination to reach land that day. This
time, too, we were not disappointed. We pushed on fast,
a-s the gradient was often tolerably steep and gave us
much help. The wind was fair, too, the ice easy, and
THK DRSCKXT TO AMERAUKFJORD
143
everythinL; i)romisinL;-. Some way clown a reconnaissance
proved necessary, as the ice here got rather rougher. I
went on in front and soon found myself upon the brow of
an ice-slope which overlooked a beautiful mountain tarn,
the surface of which was covered with a sheet of ice.
Beyond was a gorge through which a ri\cr from the tarn
"UPON THE BROW OF AN 1CE-SL01>K WIIUH OVKRI.OOKED A DEAUTIFUL MOUN-
TAIN TARN "
{By A. Block, from a photo f;rapK)
ran downward, while to the right the great glacier sloped
evenly down to its end moraine, and would have formed
the most magnificent coasting-hill imaginable, but for the
stones that lay scattered over its surface. Here was an
easy descent for us, and no obstacles to separate us from
our goal. I soon had the whole party by me, and we
stood enjoying the sight of the land below. After I had
144 XA.VS/':.y IN TlIK FROZKN WORLD
taken a couple of plu)tograi:)hs, we set off down the last
-' c. It was steep, steeper perhaps than any we had
; ..vn before, and we had to use our brakes ; but the
>letli:es went i^ayly, and soon we were safe and well upon
ihc larn below the glacier, with the inland ice
forever left behind.
W'c now pushed across the tarn toward tlie ri\'cr on
the other side. The ice was not everywhere quite safe,
but by moving carefully we reached the rocks beyond
without mishap, took off the " crampoons " which we had
been using the last few days, and, like schoolboys released,
ran wildly about the shore. Words cannot describe what
it was for us only to have tlie earth and stones again be-
neath our feet, or the thrill that went through us as we
felt the elastic heather on which we trod, and smelled
the fragrant scent of grass and moss. Behind us lay the
inland ice, its cold, gray slope sinking slowly toward
the lake; before us lay the genial land. Away down the
valley we could see headland beyond headland, covering
and overlapping each other as far as the eye could reach.
I lere lay our course, the way down to the fjord.
THE BOAT AND ITS BUILDER
CHAPTER IX
ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB
Next morning, September 29, we carried the boat down
to the water. It was desperate work plodding along with
it through this sticky sand, in which our feet sank deep,
and fixed themselves, and wheezed like the piston of an
air-pump as we pulled them out again at each step. But
at last we reached the water's edge, and set the boat
down, to s:o back and e^et the rest of our thinors. There
were any number of gulls down here, and we had looked
forward to the prospect of a supply of fresh meat ; but,
unfortunately, they kept at a respectful distance, and we
had no chance of a shot. When we got back to our
camping-place, we came to the conclusion that we had
had quite enough of the sands, and determined to carry
' Iiom Xansen's Across GrccnlitiitL
10
,46 y.^ASI-N AV 77//; FROZEN WORLD
Ihc uthcr things over the liiglicr grDund, rou-h and diffi-
cult though it was.
When we got down tu the sliorc again, we saw tliat the
boat was now afloat a long way out in the water, as, while
we had been away, the fjord had risen to such an extent
as to flood all the outer j^art of the sands. Luckily Sverd-
rup had been thoughtful enough to moor her fast by
driving a stake into the ground, though we had left her so
far from the edge of the water that we thought she was
quite safe. He now waded out to lier, and rowed her in
to a i>oint of land close by, while I moved the baggage to
meet him at the same spot. Thus, at last, after a day's
labor, we had overcome one more obstacle, and were ready
to embark on a good sea-way.
After we had had our dinner we set out upon our first
voyage, our destination being the farther side of llie fjord,
alcmg which we meant to coast on our way outward. We
di.scovered at once that our boat travelled much better
than we had expected. She did not prove to be a fast
craft, certainly, but we could get along in her, and reached
the other side of the fjord after what we considered to be
a remarkably quick passage. Nor was water-tightness one
of our boat's virtues, for we had to take to baling with one
of the souj)-bowls about every ten minutes.
Just here, the head of the fjord formed a little bay or
inlet, which seemed to us, in our present state of mind, an
unusually attractive sjjot. It ended in a peaceful, gentle
valley — a valley of long, brown slopes and stretches of
moss and stones, and skirted by low, round hills ; just the
ground that is most welcome to the reindeer and his pur-
suer. Our interests still centred in all that we could con-
nect with food and the pursuit of game, and the more
<
.o>^
1^1^'
V
"^
.^' ^°
Map showing Nansen's Rmite across ( '.rci iil.iinl i frnm L'rnuik l<i ( ■.odtlinab. — just below the Arctic Circle) ; also
I'e.irv's .iiui Astniji's expediliim (frfMii Mniih Sniiul to lii(le|>ciidoiici- H.iv .itul rrliirn .u ro-- tin- Soih psr^lleh
,48 XJ.VS£.y /y THE FROZEN WORLD
poetic reader must forgive us. To us, at this time, this
\vai> the most beautiful side of Nature ; and for lier true
Ij^.autv — the lofty peaks, the snow-clad mountains, the
precipitous cliffs, and all the glories of barrenness, glories
of which Ameralikfjord has enough and to spare — we
had no eyes of appreciation. Such delights are for that
true lover of Nature, the tourist, as he wanders among
them on his comfortable steamer, with abundance of warm
clothing and good food.
Then we worked along the stupendous cliffs which
form the northern shore of Ameragdla, as the inmost
branch of Ameralikfjord is called, and stopped for the
night at a spot where we could land our boat and find flat
ground enough to sleep upon — accommodation not to be
procured everywhere. \\ c had not advanced much that
day, but we were quite satisfied, and very pleased to be on
the sea once more. Our chief delight, however, was the
prospect of eating our fill of good fresh meat after nearly
seven weeks of the driest of food. During our row I had
shot six big blue gulls. At first I missed several times,
as the birds kept out of range, but at last one ventured
nearer, and then I had no further trouble. Gulls, as most
jK'oplc know, are inquisitive birds ; so when I had thrown
one dead body out to float, the others must needs come
to look at it, and I brought down one after the other, and
stocked our larder for the time.
These gulls arc big birds, and we determined to have
two apiece for our evening meal. They were skinned,
put two at a time into boiling water, and cooked as little
as jKissible. .Sverdrup was afterward asked whether he
tfKjk care to clean them projK-rly. " Oh, I don't know,"
he answered ; " I saw Nan.sen pull something out of tliem,
ARR/l'AJ. AT (iOJ)rJLlAB
149
and I suppose it was ])art of the inside ; and some more
came out in the i)ot while they were cooking. All I can
say is, 1 nex'er tasted better birds in my life." And he
SHOOTING GULLS KKUM THE BOAT
{By A. Block, after fhotografih and sketch)
was quite right : we both thought we had never had any-
thing which could be compared with those gulls; the ten-
derest of chickens could not have been better. W hether
the cause lav in our appetites, or the ])eculiar method of
preparation, I will not attem])t to decide. We looked for
no reason at the time, but tore our birds in pieces as fast
as teeth and finirers would allow. It was not lom:: before
,5o X.LVSJ-X AV 2V/£ FROZEX WORLD
the first two had disappeared, and tlien we set to work
upon the second with greater deliberation and more j^ro-
longed enjoyment. We finished with the broth in wliich
they had all been boiled. Thi^ had a \ery cliaracteristic,
ganiey taste, which added nuich to its peculiarity, though
we were not quite certain to what we should attribute its
origin.
Language, in fact, has no words which can adequately
describe the satisfaction of the two savages who sat that
evening on the northern shore of Amcragdla, and dipped
each his hands into the pot, fished out the body of a gull,
and conveyed it, i)iece by piece, head, feet, and all, into
the dej)ths of his hungry stomach. The light of the fire
nieanwiiile was almost dimmed by the brighter glory of
the northern lights. The whole heaven blazed, both north
and south ; the lights swept onward, and then returned
again; and suddenly a whirlwind seemed to pass across
the sky, driving the frames before it, and gathering them
together at the zenith, where there was a sparkling and
a cracklinir as of burninfr fire, which almost dazzled the
eyes of the onlooker. Then the storm seemed to cease,
the light died slowly awa\-, there was nothing left but a
few hazy flecks, which sailed across the starlit sky as we
stcKKl there still gazing. Such a display of northern lights
I have never seen, either before or since. And there, be-
low us, lay the fjord, cold and imjDassive, dark and deep,
and girt round about by stei'j) walls of rock and towering
mountains, the familiar fjord landscape of the west of
Norway.
Next day things did not go quite so well with us, as in
the course of the morning a head-wind sprang up, which
blew so hard that, instead of making progress, we were
ARRJIAL AT GOIDTIIAAB 151
almost driven backward, and our little cockle-shell danced
up and down upon the waves to such an extent that there
seemed every chance of our capsizing. She proved a
good sea-boat, however, and never shipj^ed a dr()i3 of water,
except that which ran in unceasing streams through her
bottom. Against the breeze, though, she travelled very
heavily, and there was nothing to be done but land, rest
meanwhile, and hope that the wind would drop toward
evening. This it eventually did, and we embarked again.
It was not long before we reached Nua, as the point is
called which lies at the mouth of Itivdlek Fjord, the north-
ern branch of Ameralik. Here the country was less wild
and broken, and, with its low ridges covered with moss
and heather, promised excellent reindeer-ground.
It was a fine, still evening, and we now set about to cross
the fjord. This was the longest sea-passage we had as yet
attempted ; but all went well, and we w^ere soon across to
the opposite shore. It was dark by this time, and we put
to land to get some supper. Here, however, we found nei-
ther fuel nor water, and had to eat our food cold and with-
out drink, a state of things to which we were, nevertheless,
well used. We had thought of pushing on farther during
the night, but we now saw some ominous storm-clouds
coming up from the west, and gathering about the sharp,
wild peaks on the north side of the fjord. The night, too,
was so dark that it would have been difficult to cross the
fjord again, as w^e wished ; and so we determined to bring
the boat ashore, and get a little sleep, in the hope that
the moon might come to our help later. During the oper-
ation of beaching the boat, Sverdrup was unlucky enough
to fall into the water, which is not very pleasant just be-
fore bedtime, and when one has so little in the way of a
change of clothes.
,5j .V.-iySEN IX THE FROZEN WORLD
There was no iniprDVcnicnt in the weather, and \vc slept
till the morning of October i. It was a splendid sunny
day, and there was a gentle w ind blowing to help us.
In the course of tlie morning we crossed the fjord again,
and went ashore to get ready a substantial dinner of two
*4ull> apiece and a soup of unsurpassed excellence. To
the broth in which tlie birds had been cooked we added
peas and bread, and the compound was so invigorating
that we literally felt the strength grow in us as we took
down one basin after another.
Unluckily, at this spot where we had landed there was a
great abundance of crowberries, and as a matter of course
we added them to our bill of fare. It was long since we
had had access to fresh, wholesome, vegetable food, and
we actually indulged ourselves be}'ond the bounds of rea-
son. First we ate the berries standing ; and then, when
we could stand no longer, we ate them sitting; and when
this posture became at last too wearisome, we lay prone at
our ease, and prolonged the debauch to incredible lengths.
When we landed there had been no wind, but now a stiff
northerly breeze sprang up, wliich blew up the fjord, and
made any attempt at further progress on our part quite out
of the question. All we could do, therefore, was to lie
here, and go on with our crowberries. At last w^e grew so
torpid that we had not the energy to pick the berries any
longer with our hands, and so we turned on our faces, and
went on gathering them witli our lips till we fell asleep.
We slej)t till evening, and when we woke, there hung the
great black, luscious berries still before our very lips, and
on we went eating them till we do/.ed off again. If what
people say is true, that gluttony is one of the deadly sins,
then may Heaven's mercy save us from the dire punish-
AKRJVAL AT GOD Til A A Ji
•53
ment that must await us for what we did that day in Anic-
raHkfjord. It has always been a cause for wonder to me
that we did not pay the penaU)- then and there ; but, as a
matter of fact, we suffered no ill-effects from our excesses.
At midnight the wind dropped, and 1 turned the crew
out. In spite of the crowberries, S\erdrup had had siiffi-
BY AMEKAI.IRIJOKD UN THIC MORNING OK OCTOBER I
{From a photografili)
cient energy in the course of the evening to collect some
wood and fetch water in the event of our needing a meal
in the night. We now, therefore, fortified ourselves for
work, and by one o'clock we were afloat, ready to push on
with renewed energy. We made our way c|uickly along
the shore in iiitense darkness. The phosphorescence of
the water was almost as brilliant as anything that trojDical
seas can show. The blades of our oars gleamed like
molten silver, and as they stirred the surface the effect was
,54 AU.\'S£.y Jy THE FROZEN WORLD
!<*en in the glittering radiance that stretched far below.
The whole scene was very grand as we passed along under
the beetling cliffs, where we could see scarcely an\ tiling
but the flashes of phosphorescence which flitted upon the
water round about us, and danced and played far away in
the ccidies of our wake.
We seemed to have luck with us just now — a state of
things to which we were not much accustomed. The
weather was fine, and there was no wind ; so, to make tlie
best use of our opportunities, and keej) the steam uj), we
had recourse to frequent stimulants in the way of meat-
chocolate. Rations were served out often and liberally,
and with apjxarent effect, for we made rapid progress.
At dawn, while we were resting at a certain spot, we
heard numbers of ptarmigan calling in the scrub close by
us. It would ha\-e been easy to bag some, and I was
tempted to try ; but we thought we had no time to waste
on land for such a purpose, so wc showed an heroic deter-
mination by rowing away from the enticing spot.
We rowed on all the morning without stopping, except
for chocolate. Along the whole stretch of shore the rocks
fell so abruj)tly into the water that there were but two or
three places where a landing was possible. About noon,
to our great astonishment, we found ourselves approach-
ing the mouth of the fjord. Here wc came upon a jDoint
with a nice flat stretch of beach, and pulled in to land.
'I he spot seemed a favorite camping-place, for there were
several rings of stones marking the sites of Eskimo tents,
and masses of seals' bones and similar refuse strewn about
the place.
'I he consciousness of having got so far made us unus-
ually reckless. Wc felt that we should soon be in Godt-
ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 155
haab now, and in honor of the occasion we contrived
a dinner which, in magnificence, surpassed even that of
the day before. We had now no need for parsimony or
self-restraint, and no meal thioiiL^liout the course of the-
expedition came up to tliis in extravagance. We began
with sea-urcliins, or sea-eggs, which I collected in num-
bers on the beach close by. The ovaries of these are
especially good, and little inferior to oysters, and of this
delicacy we consumed huge quantities. We then went
on to gulls and guillemots, which were followed bv the
usual excellent soup. Biscuit and butter we had in
abundance, and there were plenty of crowberries for him
that had recovered from the surfeit of the preceding da\-.
It was, indeed, a dinner worthy of the name, as Sverdrup
said. It was no easy matter for us to convey ourselves
into the boat again, and bend over the oars to do our
proper work. If at any time afterward I wished to bring
Sverdrup into a thoroughly good humor, I had only to
call to mind our notable dinner at the great camping-place
in Ameralikfjord.
Iu)rtune was strangely kind to us that da\-: we now
had a fair wind behind us, and, in s])ite of our torjior and
laziness, we made ra})id progress during the afternoon.
Everything was rosy to us now% and we pulled away in
sheer fulness of heart. There was one thorn in the side
of our ha]Dpiness, nevertheless. This came from the
absurdly thin little rails on which we had to sit instead of
thwarts. I suffered so much that I felt 1 could well do
without a certain part of the bod\- altogether. We
shifted, and shifted again, but with little relief to our sore-
ness and discomfort. The hap])iness of this world is,
indeed, seldom pure and unalloyed.
156 A\^XS£.\ Jy THE FROZEN WORLD
Thus we passed out of the fjord, and saw the sea,
islands and scattered rocks spread out before us, and
h>;hted by the most glorious of sunsets. The wliole ex-
panse seemed to be suspended in an atmosphere of
gently glowing hght. The vision stopped us, barbarians
\ere, and deprived us of speech and power of ac-
uuii. A feeling of home and familiar scenes came over
us : for just so lie the weather-beaten islands of the Nor-
wegian coast, caressed by fl\ing spray and summer haze,
the outskirts of the fjords and valleys that lie behind.
It is not to be wondered at tliat our forefathers were
drawn to this land of Greenland.
We had set ourselves the task of passing the mouth of
Kobbefjord. an inlet which lies just to the south of Godt-
haab, that evening, so that, in the event of bad weather
ne.vt day, we could, nexertheless, easily reach our destina-
tion overland. We now came to a little fjord which is
not marked sufliciently clearly on the map we had, and
which we therefore wrongly assumed to be Kobbefjord,
though I thought at the time that it lay suspiciously near
to the mouth of Ameralik,
Consequently, we thought we might as well land there
and then, as we .sat simply in torture, and our legs were
stiff with the pain and discomfort of the position. But
then it struck us that we had better keep on till we could
see the lights of Godthaab, for, in our innocence, we sup-
jx>sed them to be visible from the south. We saw, how-
ever, nothing at all, and, as tlie current now ran hard
against us, we were at last obliged to desist and go
ashore. This was at a j)oint which lies at the foot of a
high mountain, which we afterward found to be Hjorte-
takken. It was now about nine o'clock, and, with the
ARRirAL AT GODTJIAAB 157
exception of short intervals for breakfast and dinner, we
had been fixed to those seats of afHiction for a o-ood
twenty liours. It was indeed a welcome change to have
a broad surface to stretch ourse]\-cs upon.
Phenomenal as our dinner had been, the supi)er which
now followed was not much less so. For the first time
since we left the Jason we could go to work upon bread,
butter, and liver "pate" without restraint and stingy weigh-
ing out of rations. We drank lemonade to our heart's
desire, and did our very best to prevent any of that jjrov-
ender which we had beeii economizing so long from
remaining over, to be carried to people among whom it
would have no value. This thought it was that harassed
us, and urged us to further effort; but in the end we
were obliged to desist, with our task as yet undone.
This was the last of these wonderful nights which we
had a chance of enjoying before our reentrance into ci\'ili-
zation. We felt that it was our farewell to Nature and to
the life which had now grown so familiar and so dear to
us. The southern sky was as usual radiant with the
northern lights, streamer after streamer shooting uj) to the
zenith, each more brilliant than the last; while the stars
glittered in their usual impassive way, their brightness
more or less eclipsed as the rival lights waxed or waned in
intensity.
We were both of us in a strange mood : our wander-
ings were all but ended ; we had met witli manv mishajjs
and many unforeseen obstacles, but we had succeeded in
spite of all. We had passed through the drifting ice, and
pushed our way up along the coast ; we had crossed o\er
the snow-fields of the continent, and made our way out
of the fjord in our miserable little boat, in defiance of
,58 XJXS£y /.V THE FROZEN WORLD
winds; wc had worked liard, and undeniably i;-one
• ,.^.1 a deal of tribulation to reach the goal which now
lav so near to us. And what were our feelings now?
Were they feelings of triumph t)r exultation ? For my
own part, I must confess that mine were not of this lofty
order; to no other feeling could I attain than a sense of
gross repletion. It was a feeling grateful enough to me;
but as for our goal, we had been kept waiting too long —
there was too little .surjjrise about its eventual attainment
for us to give much thought to it.
We curled ourselves up in our fur ])clisscs, chose each
a stretch of heather among the rocks, and slept our last
night under the open sky as well as we had seldom slept
before.
It was late before we woke next morning, October 3,
and when we at last shook off our sleej), the wind had
long been blowing freshlv u]) the channel leading to Godt-
haab, and calling us to work. But we felt that for once
we need not hurr\' — we ccnild sleep to the end, and yet
reach our destination in good time.
We bcijan breakfast acjain with the worthiest intentions
of consuming to the last morsel the ])ro\isions which
remained ; but though we attacked them manfull}', we
had to j)ut to sea once more with this end still unattaincd.
\\ ith the wind behind us we made rapid progress north-
ward, and when we passed the s])it of land on which we
had camped for the night, we found that we had been all
the time on the south side of Kobbefjord. This fjord
now lay before us set in a circle of wild, lofty mountains,
among which Hjortetakken was most conspicuous, with
its sides sprinkled with fresh snow, and its peak from time
to time wrapped in light, drifting mist.
ARKIKII. AT GOJrrifAAr, 159
Wc now set about to cross the fjord to the soulli side
of the j^roinontory on which Ciodthaal) itself Hes. As we
reached llie middle we heard, for the first time for many
weeks, the sound of unfaniihar voices. They were evi-
dently Eskimo women and chiklren from whom the
sounds came. They were screamiiiL;" and shouliuL;'; IjuI,
though we listened, w^c could make out notlTing, and
though we looked, there was no one to be seen. Some
time afterward we learned that these voices must ha\e
come from a party of folk who had gone over to " Store
Malene," a mountain h'ing to the east of Godthaab, to
gather berries. They had caught sight of us, and were
shouting to one another that they could see two men in
half a boat, and were much exercised to know what new
sorcery this could be. Such a vessel they had never seen
before, and they did not at all like the look of it.
This Eskimo description of our little craft as half a
boat was really very happy, as it did nuich resemble the
forepart of an ordinary boat. Some way farther on we
saw in the distance the figure of a man sitting, as it were,
in the water. This was the first " kaiaker " we came
across on the west coast. Presently we caught sight of
two more; they were out after seal, and took no notice
of us. This was either because they preferred their own
business, or because they thought there was something
wrong about us. There is no doul)t that they saw us
long before we saw them, for the Eskimo has the keenest
of eyes, and never fails to use them.
As we rounded the next point, Sxerdrup, who was row-
ing bow, caught sight of some houses which he thought
must be Godthaab. I turned m\- head in astonishment,
and saw some Eskimo huts, but could not think them to
,6o jVMVSEA /.y THE J-ROAEX UORJ.D
be Ciodthaab. as. according to the map, the settlement did
nut lie just there. Sverdrup then said : " But those big
houM.-s can't belong to these wretched Eskimos." I then
tumc*d quite round, and could now see the slated roof of
a long building, surmounted by a little tower, and was
quite ready to agree that this could not be an Eskimo
abode, though it struck me that it might very well be a
warehouse. Hut as we passed another point, we found
we had before us no warehouse, but a church and a num-
ber of Eskimo huts lying by a little bay. We did not
think it was any use landing here, and were for keeping
straight on ; but suddenly a fresh breeze sprang up, and
made it very lieaxy work to row, and we concluded that
it would be better to go ashore at once, and proceed to
Godthaab overland.
So we turned our little tub shoreward, and found that
a number of Eskimos, chiefly old women, were already
swarming out of the houses, and coming down to the
beach to receive us. Here they gathered, chattering, and
bustling to and fro, and gesticulating in the same strange
way as we had seen their fellows of the east coast often
do. We could see little or no difference between the two
branches of this people we had met ; here there w-as just
the same outward aspect — the same ugliness, and the
same beaming friendliness and good humor.
When we landed they thronged around us, and helped
us disembark our goods, and bring the boat ashore, all the
while jabbering unceasingly, and laughing, in wonder and
amusement, at us two jDoor strangers. While we were
standing there, mounting guard over our gun and the
more valuable of our possessions, and ignoring the crowd
of people around us, whom, of course, we could not under-
AA'A'/r.lL AT GODTHAAB i6i
stand one whit, S\crdrup said: "Here comes a Euro-
pean ! " I looked up, and saw a youni; man advancing
toward us. He was clad in an attempt at a (ireenland-
er's dress, but had a Tam-o'-Shanter cap ui)()n his head,
and a fair, good-looking face, w^hich was as little like an
Eskimo's as could well be. There could be no mistake
about him ; he and his whole demeanor were, so to say, a
direct importation from " the King's Copenhagen," as it is
called here. I le came up to us, we exchanged salutations;
then he asked, " Do you speak English 1 " The accent
was distinctly Danish, and the question somewhat discom-
fited me, as I thought it a little absurd for us to set to
work at Eno^lish instead of our own mother-tomrue. But
before I could answer, he luckily inquired : " Are you
Englishmen ? "
To this I could safely answer, in good Norse: " No; \ve
are Norwegians." " May I ask your name ? " " My name
is Nansen, and we have just come from the interior."
"Oh, allow me to congratulate 3'ou on taking your Doc-
tor's degree." This came like a thunderbolt from a blue
sky, and it was all I could do to keep myself from laughing
outright. To put it very mildly, it struck me as comical
that I should cross Greenland to receive congratulations
ui^on my Doctor's degree, which I happened to have taken
just before I left home. Nothing, of course, could have
been more remote from my thoughts at the moment.
The stranger's name was Baumann. He was a good-
natured, sociable native of Copenhagen, who was now in
the Greenland Service, and acting as assistant, or, as they
call it, "Volontbr," to the Superintendent of the colony of
Godthaab. \\> subsequently had a good deal of his soci-
ety. The Superintendent, he told us, was just now away
11
,62 XANSEN IX THE FROZEX WORLD
from home, and in the name of his superior he offered us
a hearty welcome to the colony. Godthaab itself was close
bv. and it was quite by chance that he had just walked out
to Ny Herrnhut, the spot where we landed, to see the mis-
sionar)'. This is one of the few stations established by
the German Moravian Mission in Greenland.
The first question I asked, as soon as I could get an
opportunity, was about communication with Denmark, and
whether the last ship had sailed. From Godthaab I
learned that the last ship had gone two months or more
ago. and there was none now that we could catch. The
only possible chance was the Fox, at Ivigtut, but she was
to leave in the middle of October, and the place was 300
miles away.
These tidings were anything but welcome. It had been
the thought of catching a ship to Europe which had
spurred us on during our crossing of the ice ; the vision
of a ship had haunted us unceasingly, and never allowed
us the enjoyment of rest or ease. We had consoled our-
selves with the thought that wc could make up for lost
time on board, during our voyage home ; and now, w^hen
the time came, we found that our ship had sailed before
ever we started upon our journey across the continent. It
was a magnificent structure of hopes and longings that
now sank into the sea before our eyes. As far as I was
concerned personally, this was not of much account, for,
on the contrary, I was quite ready to spend a winter in
Greenland ; but for the other poor fellows it was another
matter. They had friends and relatives — one of them
wife and children — away at home, whom they longed to
sec, and they had often talked of the joys of their return.
And now they would have to wait through the long win-
ARR/IAL AT GODTHAAB 163
tcr licrc, wliilu tlicir i)C()i)]c at lionic would think them
loni;- since dead. I'his must never be; a message must
be sent off at once to the Fox, our last ho|:>e of relief.
While we were talking- the matter over, we were joined
by another Iuu"o])ean — the Moravian missionary, 1 I err
Voged. lie greeted us very kindly, ga\'e us a hearty
welcome, and would not hear of our going by his door
unentertained.
He Hved in the building with the tower which had first
cauirht our attention, and which served both as church
and as a residence for him. We were received here, by
the missionary and his wife, with unaffected heartiness, and
it was with a strange mixture of feelings that we set foot
once more in a civilized dwelling, after four months of
wild life on shipboard, in our tent, and in the open air.
The room we were taken into will alwa)'s remain vividly
impressed upon my memory. Its dimensions were not
grand, and its features were uniformity and simplicity;
but for us, who were used to a cramped tent, and the still
greater simplicity of the open air, the appointments of this
house were nothing less than luxury itself. The mere sit-
ting upon a chair was a thing to be remembered, and the
cigars to which we were tieated w^ere a source of uncon-
cealed satisfaction. Then the cup of welccnne was handed
round, while coffee and food were being prepared for us.
It was a queer change to be sitting at a table again, and
before a white cloth, and to be using knife and fork upon
earthenware plates. I will not say, unreservedly, that the
chancre was altocrether for the better, for we had been
thoroughly comfortable when sitting by the camp-fire, and
tearing our gulls to pieces with our teeth and fingers, with-
out forks, plates, and formalities.
i64 A'.iys/-:x /y the frozen world
While the meal was in progress, the pastor of God-
thaab. Herr Balle, arrived ; soon after him came the
doctor of the place, whose name was Binzer. The news
of our coming had already reached the colony, and they
had hurried out at once to bid us welcome. We were
now beset with questions as to our journey: as to why
we had changed our route, how we had got out of the
fjord, where we had left the others, and so on ; all our
accounts being followed with the most lively interest.
Then the party broke up, and we took our leave of our
kind ho^t and hostess.
W'liL-n wc got out of doors, we found, to our surprise,
that it was raining. Our luck was true to us this time,
and we had reached the habitations of men none too soon,
for the rain would have been very unpleasant to us in our
little boat.
\\ e were assured that our boat and thinfjs should be
taken care of and sent on, and then we started off to walk
in the rain over the hills to Godthaab.
After a time our way brought us out upon a project-
ing point of rock, and we saw the colony lying below us.
There were not a great number of buildings — four or
five European houses, a church perched upon an emi-
nence, and a good man\- Mskimo huts. The whole group
lay in a small hollow between two hills, and by a pleasant
little bay. The Danish flag was flying on its high mast,
which stood on a mound down by the water. Crowds of
pcoj^le were swanning about. The)^ had all come out to
see the mysterious strangers from the interior who had
arrived in half a boat.
Then we made our way down; but we had hardly
reached the houses before a gunshot rang out over the
ARRIVAL AT GODTIfAAB
'65
water, and was followed by one after another, in all a
complete salute. We had parted from civilization amid
the thunder of cannon, and with this same thunder we
were received into the civilized world again, for to such
the west coast of Greenland must certainly be reckoned.
It nu'ght have been supposed that we were individuals of
the most warlike tendencies. How many shots they fired
%
■4-
BOLEITK. tikEENLAND WOMAN UV MiXtl) RACE
in our honor I cannot say, but the salute was well sus-
tained. The little natix'es had all their work to do around
the guns under the Hagstaff, as we were passing among
the houses and between long rows of Greenlanders of
both sexes, who crowded around and lined the wav. Thev
,6o .V.-/A'5A.\' Jy rllE FROZEN WORLD
— and especially the women — were a striking sight in
their picturesque attire. Smiles, good nature, and here
and there, perhaps, a little unaffected wonder, beamed
from ail the faces about us, and added a new sunshine to
the surroundings.
Then our eyes fell upon a more familiar sight — the
figures of the four Danish ladies of the colony, who were
coming to meet us, and to whom we were duly presented.
At the same time, it struck us somewhat curiously to see
European petticoats again among all the skin jackets and
trousers of the fair Eskimos.
As we reached the Superintendent's house, the salute
was brought to an end, and the native gunners, under the
lead of one Frederiksen, gave us a ringing cheer. The
Superintendent's wife now welcomed us, on her own part
and that of her husband. Here, again, we were tem-
porarily entertained, and also in\ited to dine with the
doctor at four o'clock.
We had still a lonu: time to o;et throuoh before then,
•3 0 0 '
however, though we had plenty to do in the way of wash-
ing and decorating ourselves. We were shown u}) into
our new friend Baumann's room, the aspect of which,
again, was sufficiently unfamiliar to us to make a very
vivid impression upon our minds. Here a musical-box
|)layed to us "The Last Rose of Summer," an air which
will hereafter ne\er fade from my memory ; and here we
were, for the first time, horrified by the sioht in a o-lass
of our sunburnt and weather-beaten faces. After our
long neglect in tlu- way of washin<f and dressino-, we
seemed to ourselves little fit for presentation in society,
and. Ix>th in our faces and clothes, a considerable number
of tlie hues of the rainbow were intrusively conspicuous.
ARRIVAL AT GODTIIAAB 167
It was an indescribable delight to jjlun^c the licacl into
a basin of water once more, and to go throngh the cere-
mony of an honest Saturday nights wash. Cleanness
was not, however, to be obtained at the first attempt.
Then we attired ourselves in the clean linen, so to say,
which we had brought all the way across Greenland for
the purpose ; and, thus reconstituted, we felt ourseKes
([uite ready for the good things of the doctor's well-
provided dinner-table.
By all the Danish inhabitants of Godthaab we were
entertained with unprecedented hospitality, and the lux-
ury displayed on all sides was quite astonishing. We
had expected to find that the Europeans exiled to this
corner of the world would be so influenced b}- the na-
ture of their surroundings, and the primitive section of
humanity amid which they dwelt, that they would have
inevitably forgotten a certain amount of their native
etiquette. And therefore our surprise was great when we
saw the ladies appear at social gatherings in the longest
of trains and gloves, and the men in black coats and
shirt-fronts of irreproachable stiffness, and e\'en on
occasions going to the extremity of the conventional
swallow-tail. Surrounded, as we were, by tlie natives in
their natural and picturesque attire, and thoroughly
unaccustomed as we had grown to all these things, to us
tlie absurdity of European taste in such matters seemed
altoii^ether inconc^ruous.
We two were now safe in port, and the next thing to
be done was to send relief to our comrades in Ameralik-
fjord witli the least possible delay. rhe\- had no means
of knowing wlietlier we liad reac^hed our destination, or
had gone to the bottom of the fjord, and left tliem to
,68 yA.yS£N IN THE FROZEN WORLD
sUn-e to death out there. And after tliis was done, we
must despatch a message to the Fox.
In the course of the afternoon we tried, therefore, to
arrange matters, but without success. No sooner had we
arrived tlian a storm from the south had sprung up, and
the weather was so bad that the Eskimos, who are bad
sailors in anything but their " kaiaks," would not venture
upon the voyage into AmeraHkfjord. The letter to the
Fox was to be sent b)- one or two " kaiakers," but w^e
could find no one in the colony who would undertake
to start in this weatlier, and we were therefore obliged to
wait till next day.
When night came, and lodging had to be found for
us, Sverdrup was quartered upon the before-mentioned
Frederiksen, the carpenter and boat-builder of the place,
while lierr Haumann's room was put at my disposal. It
was strange, too, to find myself in a real bed again after
six months' absence. There can be few who have en-
joyed a bed as completely as I did this one. Every limb
thrilled with delight as I stretched myself on the soft
mattress. The sleejD which followed was not so sound as
I could have expected. I had grown so used to the bag
of skin, with the ice or rock beneath it, that I felt my
present couch too soft, and I am not sure that, after
a while, I did not feel a faint loncjino- for the old order of
things.
(Jn the morning of (October 4 I was roused from my
unquiet dreams by the gaze of the Eskimo maid-servant
who had come with the morning supply of tea and sand-
wiches. After this early meal I got up, and went out to
look around the ])lace.
Down by the beach there was just now a deal of life
AA'A'/J'AL AT CWD'J'HAAn ,69
and niox'cnicnt, for a boat s load of seals, which liad hccn
caught not far off, had just come in, and the so-called
" liensing," or process of cutting the blubber out, was now
in progress. I went down with Baumann to study this
new phase of life. The Eskimo women, with their
sleeves rolled up, knelt in numbers around the gashed
and mangled seals. P^rom some the blood was taken, and
collected in pails, to be afterward used in the manufac-
ture of black puddings, or analogous delicacies ; from
others the intestines were being drawn, or the blubber or
flesh being cut. All parts were carefully set aside for
future use.
After having seen enough of the sanguinary spectacle,
and duly admired the dexterity and grace displayed by
the Eskimo w^omen, as well as the good looks of some
among them, we went across to see Sverdrup, and, if he
were up, to ask him to come and have breakfast at the
Superintendent's house.
When we entered, however, we found him already at
table with his host, Herr Frederiksen, and engaged upon
a breakfast of roast ptarmigan and other delicacies. I
expressed my regret that this was the case, as I had
hoped that we should breakfast together. But S\'erdrup
could see no reason why we should not do so still. I le
was now occupied with his first breakfast, certainlv, but
so good a thing would easily bear repetition, and he
expressed himself ready at once to begin again. So he
actually did ; and, as a matter of fact, he made at this
time a regular practice of eating his meals twice over.
For three daNs he stood the strain ; but after this he suc-
cumbed, and had to keep his bed for some hours in con-
sequence. It was a long time, indeed, before any of us
,7o X,^XS£X /X THE FROZEN WORLD
returned to decent ways again, and were content to take
our food like civilized beings.
In the course of the morning a man was found wlio
was considered equal to the task of carrying our de-
spatches southward, and was at the same time willing to
undertake the journey. I'lie man's name was David, and
he was a resident of Ny llerrnhut. He was to go to
I'^iskerna^s, a small settlement some ninety miles to the
south, and there to send the letters on by other " kai-
akers." An errand of this kind is usually undertaken by
two men in comjxany, as ri>ks of a fatality are thus much
lessened. lUit as the same I)a\id was not afraid of the
undertaking, and had expressed his readiness to start the
same afternoon, I, of course, had no objection to make.
I promised him, as well as the others to whom he was
to hand the desj)atches, extra pay in case they caught
the Fox.
I then wrote a hurried letter to Herr Smith, the man-
ager of the cryolite (|uair\' at Ixigtut. rhe Fox being
the j)r()j)crty of the company who own this quarry, it lay
really with the local manager to decide w^hat course the
vessel should take ; but I also wrote to the captain of the
ship. In both these letters I asked that the vessel should
Ix" allowed to come uj) to Godthaab to fetch us, if possi-
ble. I did not propose that she should wait at Ivigtut till
we could join her there, because, in the present uncertain
state of the weather, it was C|uite im]X)ssib1e to calculate
how long it would take us to get the rest of the party
from Ameralikfjord, and cover the necessary 300 miles in
o|)en boats. .\-> far as we could judge, we could not
reckon upon reaching Ivigtut by the middle of the
month — the date at which the slu'p was expected to sail
ARRIl'AJ. AT CODTHA.Ml
171
— and \vc could not ask Iilt to wail an inck-HniU- linic for
us down there. On the other hand, it seemed to nie that,
if she thought of doing anything on our iDehalf, it would
be to come and fetch us. By these means she could save
time, and it would be possible to reckon, with a fair
amount of accuracy, how- many days the \'o)'age to Godt-
haab and back would take her.
Furthermore, in case my messengers should catch the
Fox, but she could not see her way to fetching us, I
hastily wn'ote a few lines to Herr Gamel, of Copenhagen.
This letter, and one from Sverdrup to his father,
brought to Europe the first news of our having reached
the west coast of Greenland, and contained all that was
known of our journey for six months. In one respect
they hold, perhaps, a somewhat unusual position, for their
postage came to no less than eighty-fi\'e dollars.
Our messenger promised me that he would start that
very afternoon. He did make the attempt, but, as far as
I could learn, was driven back by stress of weather.
As things w^ere just as bad in this respect when even-
ing came, and it was the general opinion that no boat
w^ould be able to make the voyage into Ameralikfjord
next day either, the pastor proposed that a couj)le of
men should be despatched in " kaiaks " to take to our
companions the news of our safe arrival,^ together with
a temporary supply of provisions, with which they ct)uld
console themselves until the boats could be sent to fetch
them away. This jDroposal I accepted, of course, most
gratefully; and while the pastor went to secure his
" kaiakers," two pluck)- brotluTs, named Terkel and
Hoseas, who belonged to Sardlok, but hajjpened at this
monient to be at Godthaab, the ladies of the colony set
,;, XAXSE.V IN THE FROZEX WORLD
busily to work to collect a suppl}- of the most unheard-of
delicacies. These were stowed away in the two canoes,
while I supplemented them with some simpler articles of
food, such as butter, bacon, and bread, and last, but not
least, some pipes and tobacco. Among the latter was a
big Danish porcelain pipe witli a long stem, and a pound
of tobacco, for Balto's jjrivate delectation — a present
which I had promised him up on the inland ice on
some occasion when he had surpassed himself in handi-
ness. As soon as the " kaiaks " were ready packed, I
gave Terkel, the elder of the two brothers, through the
medium of the jxastor, an exact descrijjtion of the spot
where the others were to be found, and pointed it out to
him on the map, which he understood well
Next morning, therefore, October 5, three Eskimos left
G(Klthaab — two bound for Ameralikfjord, and the third
fur I-'iskerna'S. The first two, who were excellent hands
at their work, made good use of their time, and found our
com|)anions on the morning of the following day. But
the latter, who was an inferior " kaiaker," had to turn
back, and was a long time before he finally got off. As
far as I could make out, he was seen hanging about Ny
Herrnhut, which was his home, some days later.
This same morning, too, a boat for Ameralikfjord made
an attempt to start, but only to come back a couple of
hours afterward. y\s I have already said, these Green-
landers arc no great jK-rformers with the oar. In the
afternoon they had another try. and tliis time, strange to
say, we saw no more of them; but, as we subsequently
learned, they got no farther than to an island a little way
to the south, where they disembarked, and passed the
next few flays in a tent instead of returning, though they
AA'A'/l\l/. AT GO/) 77/ A An ,73
were 110 more than an hour's row distant all the while.
There was a very ^^mA reason for this odd conduct, as it
appeared, for had they come hack they would have lost
all the pay which tlicy now managed to ])ut to their
credit; and, besides, they would have had nothing- like so
good a time at home as in their tent on the island, and
therefore they felt no call to move till they had consumed
their whole supply of provisions.
Next day the Superintendent of the colony, Hcrr
Bistrup, returned, together with llerr Ileincke, the
German missionary from Umanak, a Moravian station up
the fjord, some forty miles from Godthaab. The Sujjerin-
tendent had been in Umanak, when a '' kaiaker," who
had been sent ofT from the colony, brought him the news
of our arrival. He and the missionary had thereupon at
once despatched a couple of men in canoes into Amera-
likfjord. They also carried a supply of provisions sent
by the missionary and his wife, and were told to remain
\vith our party, and help them in every possible wav.
On October 7, Terkel and Hoseas came back from
Ameralikfjord with a letter from Dietrichson, telling us
that they now felt cpiite comfortable in there, as they had
an abundance of provisions, and now knew of our safe
arrival at Godthaab.
Two days later, or on October 9, the weather was suffi-
ciently favorable to allow of my sending off an ordinary
Eskimo boat, which I had borrowed of 1 lerr \'ogcd, the
German missionary whom we had first met. The crew
consisted as usual chiefly of women. The same day. too.
the first boat, commonly known as " the whaler," finally
left the island on which its crew had hitherto been \)\c-
nickino:.
,74 A.^ys/iN jx Tin-: FKOZF.y world
Several days now jDasscd, and as wo liad heard nothing
of our companions, we began to expect tiicir arrival every
moment. The Greenlander^ in particular were extremely
anxious to see them.
Like all Eskimos, they have the liveliest imaginations,
of the fruits of which we had some noteworthy examples.
The very day after our arrival the strangest rumors were
flying about among the natives of the colony as to our
e.\|x.Tiences upon the inland ice. We were said to have
taken our meals in the comijany of the strange inhabi-
tants of the interior, who are double the size of ordinary
men. We had also come across the tiny race of dwarfs
who inhabit the rocks in the recesses of the fjords. Of
the feet of these little people we had seen numerous traces
in the sand, and we even had two sj^ecimens of the race
in our company.
On the other hand, it was reported that two of the mem-
Ix-rs of the exjjedition had died on the way ; but of this
sad occurrence we, as was quite natural, had no desire to
speak.
At first, indeed, we were regarded as possessing certain
almost supernatural attributes, and it was feared that we
had achieved the heroic feat of crossing the dreaded
inland ice by the aid of means not strictly orthodox. And,
therefore, as soon as Svcrdrup or I showed ourselves in
public, the natives assembled in Qrreat numbers to eaze
at us. I, esjjecially, on account of my size, was a favorite
(•hject of their regard. We received appropriate names
at once: Sverdrup was called " Akortok " — that is to say,
"he who .steers a ship;" while I was honored with two
apjK-llations — " Angisorsuak," or " the very big one," and
"Umitormiut nalagak," which means "the leader of the
AKRIIAL AT GOniUAAB 175
men with the great beards," under which descripti(jn the
Norwegians are generally knowr..
It had also come to the knowledge of these good people
that we had two Lapps in our company — members of a
race which they had never seen. The two "kaiakers"
who had come back from Ameralikfjord had minutely de-
scribed their meeting with the strangers. " There were
two men," they said, " of the people \v\\o commonly wear
great beards, and two who were like us, but were clad in a
wonderful dress." They were thus quite acute enough to
see that the Lapps, in si)ite of all distinctions, belonged
to a race somewhat on a level with themselves, and were
widely different from all Danes and Norwegians.
At last, early on the morning of October 12, the two
Eskimos who had been sent into the fjord from Umanak
arrived with a note from Dietrichson, saying that the
whole party were now^ on the way.
The entire colony, Europeans as well as natives, now
turned out, and awaited their arrival in great excitement.
At last we could see, by a movement among the "kai-
aks," which lay below us, that the boats must Ix' in ^ight.
Presently, too, " the whaler" appeared from bcliind a ])ro-
jecting point. The " kaiaks " simply swarmed around her,
and we soon caught sight of our four companions, seated
in the stern, in front of the steersman, and already waving
their caps in the air by way of salutation. It was a little
strange to me to see them sitting there as passengers,
instead of working at the oars.
The boat came slowly on, with a long string of " kai-
aks " tailing out behind, and soon jiut in to shore under
the flagstaff mound, where the four strange beings from
the interior landed, and were heartily welcomed by the
,76 A^yS£y JX TJIE FROZEN WORLD
Europeans of the colon)-, as well as by crowds of Eskimos,
to whom, of course, they were a source of renewed
wonder and admiration. The Lapps came in for marked
attention. The Greenlanders set them down as w^omen,
because they wore long tunics something like the cloaks
of European ladies, as well as trousers of reindeer skin,
which jwrticular garments are only used by the women
of the Eskimos, lialto seemed to take the attention which
fell to his share with the greatest complacency and non-
chalance. He talked away, related his experiences, and
was soon on an intimate footing with all the inhabitants
of the place. Ravna, as usual, went his own silent way ;
he came up to me, ducked his head, gave me his hand,
and, though he said very little, I could see his small eyes
twinkle with joy and self-satisfaction.
Tiiey were all glad enough to have reached their desti-
nation, and the announcement that there was a very doubt-
ful prospect of their getting home this year did not seem
to have much effect upon their good spirits.
As stated before in this work (see page 74), Nansen and
his companions had to sjDend the winter at Godthaab.
On Ajjril 15 the shijD Ilvidbjorncn arrived, and soon after
the home journey began; on May 21 Copenhagen was
reached, and on May 30 they entered Cliristiania Fjord,
where they were received by hundreds of sailing boats
.111(1 a \v1i(,l.- fleet of steamers.
CHAPTER X
WITH THE CURRENT
In the beginning of 1S90, Nanscn delivered a lecture
before the Norwegian Geographical Society, and set forth
his plan for a new Polar Expedition. " I believe," he said,
after giving a short sketch of the history of polar investi-
gation, " that if we study the forces of nature itself which
are here ready to hand, and try to work with them instead
of against them, we shall find the surest and easiest way
of reaching the Pole. It is useless to work against the
current, as previous expeditions have done ; we must see
if there is not a current that will work with us. There
are strong reasons for supposing that such a current
exists."
Nansen's plan was founded upon the assumption that
from Berins: Strait and the north coast of Eastern Siberia
a constant and comparatively strong sea-current sets in
the direction of the North Pole, whence, again, it turns to
the south or southwest, between Spitzbergen and Cireen-
land, follows the east coast of Greenland, and then sweeps
around Cape Farewell into Davis Strait.
Three years after the sinking of the Jca7iuc(ti\ north of
the New Siberia Islands in June, iSSi. a number of arti-
cles were found on the drift ice off the southwest coast
of Greenland, which must undoubtedly have belonged to
the lost ship — among them, for exam]:)le, a jirovision list
with the signature of the captain, I)e Long, a list of the
lyS .V.LVS£X /.V THE FRO/. EX WORLD
J(anHclUs boats, and a pair of oil-skin trousers marked
with the name of one of the sailors who were rescued.
'I'hc news of this discovery upon the drifting ice floe
atti-ncted inucii attention, and it was conjectured, w itli a
plausibility ajjproachini; to certaint)-, that the iloe must
have been carried l)v the abo\e-mentioned current from
the New Siberia Islands, across or near the Pole, to the
place where it was found. It was calculated that the
articles must have been conveyed at a speed of about two
miles in the twenty-four hours, which corresponded with
the rate at which the yeanncitc was borne along in the ice
during the la.st four months of her existence.
These relics of the ycanuctte are not, however, the
only objects which have made the long journey with the
current from Hast Siberia across the Pole, and have been
swept southward along the east coast of Greenland. A
so-called " throwing stick," used by the Eskimos for hurl-
ing their bird-darts, was found by a Greenlander, and
given to Dr. Rink at Godthaab, who afterwards presented
it to the Christiania University. It has been shown that
this instrument is quite different in form from that used
by the Greenlanders, but exactly resembles the throwing-
sticks used by the Plskimos of Alaska, the northwestern
extremity of North America, which borders on Bering
Strait ; so that it too, in all probability, had traversed the
I*olar Sea.
'I he drift wood which is washed ashore in Greenland
in such large quantities, and is so indispensable to the
Eskimos in the absence of timber trees, has been shown
to consist ff)r the most ])art of timber native to Siberia,
so that it too must have been carried by the same current
across the very precincts of the Pole.
WITTF 77 fE CL'RRENT
179
NANSl-N I.N
iS,j3
In tlic course of liis wanderings along tlic shores of
Denmark Strait, Nansen found on the drift ice large
quantities of mud. Of tliis he collected a number of
specimens, which were examined by Professor P. Cleve,
of Upsala, and A. P2. Tornebohm, of Stockholm, and
proved to consist of varieties of soil characteristic of Si-
beria. Thus the i)robability is that this mud, too, had
made the long polar voyage.
These facts of themselves sufficiently prove that there
,8o NAXSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
must be a practicable connection between the sea to the
north of Asia and the sea on the east of Greenland —
not, perhaps, an open water-way, which one could scarcely
expect to find, but a practicable route in the sense that
the current carries the ice floes (now frozen together, now
piled one on the top of the other, and then again broken
up and scattered), across the distance indicated, with con-
siderable regularity and in an ascertainable space of time.
From these premises, then, Nansen drew what we may
fairly call the inevitable conclusion that if an ice floe with
what happens to be upon it can thus make its way across
the polar area in a given time, it must be no less possible
for a ship, fixed among the ice floes in the course of the
current, to complete the same passage in the same time.
His plan was to make his way, with a small but strongly
built vessel, to the New Siberia Islands, and there or
thereabouts await the most opportune moment for mak-
ing the furthest possible advance in ice-free water. He
thought it probable that he could get well past the Islands.
*' When once we have come so far, we shall be right in
the current in which the Jeannette was caught. Then
the thing will be to press on northward with all our
might until we stick fast. W'e must now choose a favora-
ble place, moor the ship firmly between convenient ice
floes, and then let the ice screw itself together around her
as much as it jjleases — the more the better. The ship
will simi)ly be lifted out of the water into a firm and se-
cure ice berth." Henceforth — so the project continues
— the current takes uj) the work of propulsion ; the shij3
is no longer a means of transport but a barrack. The
current sweeps it past the Pole and onward into the sea
between Greenland and Sj^itzbergcn. At the 8oth degree
WJJJI nil': CLKRJ'INT
of kititudc, or possibly before that if it be summer, it will
probably find open water and be able to sail home. r)iit
if it should be crushed by the })ressure of the ice ? Then
the equipment and provisions will be moved to a strong
NANSKN ON THK ICK (SIMMKU DRI.SS)
(From an itistantaueotts filioiograpli)
ice fioe, where the tents will be pitched, warm tents of
double sail-cloth with an intermediate layer of reindeer-
hair. One can get far upon an ice floe. The crew of
the Ilansa drifted from Smith Sound right down to Davis
Strait. But if the ice floe should break } Even that will
not be fatal, for the stores will be distributed over the ice
and placed upon wooden rafts. Then, having in thi.s way
,S3 A\-iXS/:.v ix THE j-rozen world
arrived in tlie Greenland sea and found open water, the
expedition will take to its boats. It is not the first time
Norwegian seamen have traversed the Arctic Sea in open
boats: If your boats are good, it is not at all impossible to
get on amid the ice.
And it is no unreasonable calculation that all this may
take no more than two years. Five years' provisions, at
any rate, will be amply sufficient. With the food-stuffs
now available, there is no fear of scurvy. Besides, a
certain amount of fresh meat may jirobably be counted
on; seals and i)cilar bears are to be found very far north,
and the sea no doubt contains plenty of small animals
which may be eaten at a pinch. But suppose, now, that
the Jcauncttc current does not pass right across the Pole,
but, say, between the Pole and Franz Josef Land } That
matters very little. " We do not set forth to seek for the
mathematical point which forms the northern end of the
earth's axis; to reach this })articular spot is not, in itself,
a matter of the first moment. What we want to do is to
investigate the great unknown regions of the earth which
surround the Pole; and our iinestigations will have prac-
tically the same scientific \:ilue whether we reach the
actual Pole itself, or pass at some distance from it —
curious though it would be, no doubt, to stand on the
very P(jle and be turned around with the earth on one's
own axis, or see the oscillations of the pendulum describe
an angle of exactly fifteen degrees in the hour."
Nansen finally dwells upon the scientific significance of
polar exploration — its ini|)oitant Ijcariiig upon the prob-
lems of geography, terrestrial magnetism, atmospheric
electricity, the Aurora Borealis, the solar spectrum, dawn
and twilight, the jjhysical geography of the sea, meteor-
win I TUJ'] CL Rkl'.NT
>!*3
ology, zoology and botany, pakuontology and geology.
" We Norwegians/' so he ends his lecture, " have before
now contributed not a little to the exploration of the
Arctic area ; our gallant Tromsb and Hamnierfest men
in particular have done excellent service in this respect.
NANSKN ON THE ICK (WINTER PRESS)
(Front an itistanlaneous fihotograph)
But as yet no Norwegian crew has set forth straight fi>r
the Pole in a Norwegian craft.
" The i)()lar area must and shall be investigated
throughout its whole extent. There has hitherto been a
noble rivalry between the nations as to which should first
achieve the goal; and one day it will be achieved.
,S4 N.^XSl-N /.y THE FROZEN WORLD
•• May it be Norway's fortune to lead the way ! May it
be the Norwegian tiag that first tioats over the Pole ! "
In November, 1S92, Nansen expounded the same plan
before another geographical society, not a young body
like ours, but old and world-renowned above all others —
the Royal Geographical Society in London.
There was a brilliant gathering, including almost all
the Englishmen who have distinguished themselves in
Arctic exploration, and they are not a few. Before this
societv, the first to which Nansen, on his return from
Greenland (1889), had set forth the results of his expedi-
tion — before this society, which had done more than any
other for the advancement of Arctic research — before, in
short, the most competent body of Arctic specialists in
the world — he had now both to explain and to defend
the basis and the details of his plan.
There they sat before his eyes, all those celebrated
explorers whose names were already inscribed in the
history of Arctic research — those grizzled and white-
haired i)ioneers of the polar world, the heroes of so many
an achievement before Nansen was born. There sat
Admiral Sir George Nares liimself, the celebrated chief
of the Alert and Discovery expedition, during which
Commodore Maikham had, on May 12, 1876, reached the
latitude of 83° 20', a record which only Lockw^ood had
since beaten. There sat Admiral Sir Leopold McClin-
tock, leader of the Fox expedition (1857-58), by which
I'Vanklin's fate had been finally ascertained. There, too,
was Admiral Sir 1^. Inglefield, who in 1852 brought Kane
Basin within the sphere of geographical knowledge. And
there, among the rest, was the famous Arctic traveller,
Sir Allen Young, who, so long ago as 1857, had accom-
nrrn 'jj/k cl rrrnt 185
panied McClintock, and in 1S75 liad taken the Pandora
right iij) into Smith Sound to bring tidings of the Nares
expedition — the same Pandora which, under the name
of the Jeaiiucf/c, carried tlie hajjless I)e Long to his fate.
A whole host of other famous jxjlar travellers were
present — Admiral Ommanney, Dr. Rae, Captain W'ig-
gins, the well-known Yenisei trader, Captain Wharton, etc.
It was to this illustrious gathering that Nansen was to
expound his scheme. His lecture was, as usual, clear,
sober, attractive in its form, and plausible in its matter.
But he here stood face to face with a concentrated mass
of experience, all tending to prove the insuperable difificul-
ties of polar travel, which could not instantly make way
for a new idea. Practically all of these famous pioneers
of Arctic research, one after another, commented unfavor-
ably upon the scheme.
Old Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock opened the dis-
cussion as soon as the lecture was over. He bcfran his
speech thus : " I think I may say this is the most adven-
turous programme ever brought under the notice of the
Royal Geographical Society. We have here a true Vik-
ing, a descendant of those hardy Norsemen who used
to pay this country such frequent and such unwelcome
visits." But he could not venture to express any great
confidence in the scheme put forward, even supposing
Dr. Nansen succeeded in getting into the alleged polar
current. Sir Leoj^old feared the force of the ice-pressure,
and did not l^elieve that it would force the shij) up on
the ice.
The next speaker, too. Admiral Nares, expressed strong
doubts as to the plan. He particularly doubted whether
the Fram would succeed in finding any polar current,
,86 A.iXSJ'JX /X THE FROZEN WORLD
and dwelt ui^on tlie dangers of a drift \oyage such as
Nanscn projected.
Admiral Inglefiekl expressed liimsclf more favorably,
but Sir Allen Young again emphasized tlie dangers and
difficulties, thought that land and shallow water would be
found in the neighborhood of the Pole, and very much
doubted whether the ship would be forced up on the ice.
His opinion was that it would be wisest to strike for the
north from a point well to the westw^ard of the New
Siberia Islands.
Captain Wiggins, too, was opposed to making the New
Siberia Islands the starting-point, " as they are the most
treacherous, low, sandy, muddy, horrible places." But, on
the whole, he approved of Nansen's plan, and ended by
wishing him a hearty God-speed.
Captain Wharton, a well-known authority on these
questions, gave him warm encouragement as to his theory
of the current. He thus ended his speech : " People
sometimes ask: What is the use of Arctic exploration .?
Amongst other things 1 think it may be said that its use
is to foster enterprise and bring gallant men to the front.
To-night we have an excellent example of that in Dr.
Nansen, I can only say to him, God-speed ! "
Manuscrij^t communications from Admiral Sir George
Richards and the celebrated Sir Joseph D. Hooker were
also read, both sceptical and full of warnings. Sir Joseph
Hooker thus ended his remarks: "I may conclude with
expressing the hojic that Dr. Nansen may dispose of his
admirable courage, skill and resources in the prosecution
of some less perilous attempts than to solve the mystery
of the Arctic area."
It was not until late in the evenimr that Nansen him-
U'/riJ -JJJE CURRENT 187
self was at last called upon for a short reply to all these
doubts and anxious warnings. His answer is as like him
as it could be. Though plainly willing enough to take
advice as to details, he is in the main unshaken in his
'conviction of the practicability of his scheme. And while
he answers, point by point, the objections to it, he gathers
new arguments from these objections themselves. Refer-
ring to Admiral Nares's remark, that an Arctic expedition
ought always to have a secure line of retreat, he answers :
" I am of the opposite opinion. My Greenland expedi-
tion proved the possibility of carrying out such an enter-
prise without any line of retreat, for in that case we burnt
our ships, and nevertheless made our way across Green-
land. I trust we shall have the like good fortune this
time, even if we break the bridges behind us."
It is, as Sir Leopold McClintock said, tlie old Viking
blood that speaks in these words.
For it is true, as that famous explorer hinted at the
beginning of his speech, that there is a touch of romance
in Nansen's scheme. It is constructed, indeed, upon a
scientific basis ; but no one who was exclusively a man
of science, or exclusively a sportsman, would have had the
foresight to conceive such a plan, or the courage to exe-
cute it. A creative and daring imagination is its deter-
mining element.
CIIAPTHR XI
NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD
I.M.MEDiATKLV aftcT His rcturn from Greenland, Nansen
was offered the post of Curator of the Zobtomic Museum
of Christiania University, and accepted the offer. Be-
sides the duties of this position, an immense quantity of
work fills up the interval between the Greenland and the
North Pole expeditions; he writes the story of what he
has done, and he makes the preparations for w^hat he has
yet to do. And to all this we must add his lecturing
tours to different parts of Europe.
In 1889 he married a daughter of the late Professor M.
Sars, like his well-known son, Professor O. Sars, an emi-
nent naturalist. Fru Nansen is probably the most skilful
lady skirunner in Norway, besides having attained great
celebrity as a concert singer.
A hone)Tnoon was out of the question. The day after
the marriage, the haj^py couple started by way of Gothen-
burg, Copenhagen, Plushing, and London, for Newcastle,
the scene of a geographical congress which lasted a w^eek,
while the new-made wife wondered in her secret soul that
her husband should thus i:)rcfer " geography " to "love."
Thence back to London, in the great city, they let the
world, with its discovered and undiscovered countries,
look after itself, and gave themselves up, in the- solitude
of that densely peopled wilderness, to the rapture of ex-
istence. Then they passed six glorious days in Paris. In
,;.'5'&^^.-
EVA NANSF.N
(Frotn a photograph)
,9o X.^.VSEX fX THE FROZEN WORLD
OctoIxT they were home again; but the sixteenth of the
month found them once more on the move, this time for
Stockhohii. to attend a meeting of the Swedish Anthro-
|K.logicaI and Geographical Society. This society had,
in January, kSSc;, determined to confer its Vega medal
upon Fridtjof Nansen, and it was now handed to him by
the King. Only five people had received it — Xordcn-
.skjold, Talander. Stanley, Przewalski, and Junker. The
six)kesman of the society, Professor Gustaf Retzius, said
in the course of his si)eech : " Dr. Nansen has had for-
tune on his side in hi> tirst enterprise. Let us hope that
this victory may n(.t prove his Xarva, leading him to un--
ilerrate difficulties, and thus luring him on to a Pultowa.
May it be only the first of a series of triumphs ! " The
speaker knew, he said, that Dr. Nansen was in no way
puffed uj) by his achievement, but precisely tlie same as
he had been two vears ago when he came to Stockholm
to consult Professor Nordenskjold as to liis projected
journey. But Nansen might well be proud of his exploit,
the speaker continued, because it was an honor, not only
to himself, but also to his country. It is not on the field
of battle that small nations can \indicate their place in
tlie world, and secure their indeiDcndence. It is in the
domain of culture, of civilization, of science and art — a
domain which lies ojDcn to all — that they must press
forward into the front rank and strive for the palm of
victory. Here it is that they must seek for their true
distinction, and earn the respect of the great nations.
As far as we can ascertain, the Vega medal was the first
distinction of its kind conferred upon Nansen. Seven
years ago, as an unknown seal-hunter in the Polar Sea, he
had looked with reverence upon the gallant craft which
?
Y
DR. NANSEN
,9a A.-iyS/:X fX THE FROZEX WORLD
had bcirnc Nordenskjold around Asia. Now he himself
held a place of honor by the side of that renowned travel-
ler, and received the medal which bore the name of his
ship and was, according to custom, presented on the day
when the Vega reached Stockholm after her northeast
passage.
The Vega medal was far from being the only mark of
distinction conferred upon him. In the course of these
years Nansen became a member of a host of geograph-
ical and other learned societies, and received several gold
medals and other decorations. We may mention the
Karl Ritter medal, and the Victoria medal of the Royal
Geographical Society, conferred upon him in the begin-
ning of 1.S91. This celebrated body states as follows its
reasons for selecting him for this distinction : " The
patrons of the X'ictoria medal, to Dr. Fridtjof Nansen,
for having been the first to cross the inland ice of Green-
land, a perilous and daring achievement, entailing a jour-
ney of more than three months, thirty-seven days of which
were passed at great elevations, and in the climate of an
Arctic winter; obliging him to lead a forlorn hope with
the knowledge that there could be no retreat, and that
failure must involve the destruction of himself and his
comi)anions; and calling forth the highest qualities of an
explorer. For having taken a series of astronomical and
meteorological observations under circumstances of ex-
treme difficulty and prixation, during a march which
required exception. il jxjwcrs of strength and endurance,
and mental faculties of a high order, as well as the
qualities of a scientific geographer, for its successful
accomj)lishment. And for his discovery of the physical
character of the interior of Greenland, as well as for other
valuable scientific results of his expedition."
N.lNS/wV AT IfOME AND ABROAJ) 193
A distinguished friend in Copenhagen, writing to con-
gratulate Nansen on receixing the Victoria niedal, ends
his letter tluis: "If )'ou should hereafter become ' Com-
mander ' or ' Cirand Cross' of any order whatsoever, you
must excuse me if I do not congratulate you. Crowds of
people have the right to wear a ribbon; but the Victoria
medal is held by very few, and it 's a devilish select com-
pany it brings you into."
The Grand Cross is presumably in reserve for his
return from the Polar Seas. Hitherto Nansen has
received the Knights' Cross of the St. Olaf Order (May
25, 1889) and of the Order of the Dannebrog. It can
scarcely be indiscreet to add, that it pained him greatly
to be the sole recipient of these distinctions. He felt
strongly that his comrades who had risked their lives with
him, and sliared with him his toils and dangers, ought
also to share with him the public recognition of their
exploit. It was certainly no fault of his that he was the
only member of the expedition who received the cross of
St. Olaf.
Even before he returned from Greenland he had been
elected a member of the Christiania Scientific Society.
A whole host of evidences of the appreciation of his
achievement in scientific circles streamed in upon him
after his return, in the form of letters from the leading
authorities on Arctic exploration. We shall here cjuote
only a single exj^rcssion from a letter addressed to him
by the celebrated Arctic traveller. Sir Clements Mark-
ham, dated March 11, iSqi. He says of the Greenland
cx-}Dedition : " l^jr m\ part 1 regard it as being, from the
geographical point of \iew, one of the most remarkable
achievements of our time, remarkable alike for intrepidity
and for the importance of its scientific results."
'3
194 .V.LVSLW AV 77/7: FROZEN WORLD
On June 24, 1 89 1, Nanscn was appointed Correspond-
ing Member of the Institute of France, in succession to
N()rden>l:j6ld, who was promoted to the rank of Foreign
Associate.
Wlien he and his wife returned from Stockhobii they
ItKlged for two months with Martha Larsen, formerly
housekeeper at Great Froen, whom we liave ah'eady had
occasion to mention more than once. Her house, which
revived all the memories of his childhood, was like a
haven of rest where he could take refuge at any time.
He had lived with her during the "hard spring," when he
had to struggle both with his doctoral thesis and with
his preparations for the Greenland expedition. Here he
would seek rest and refreshment of an evening in chatting
over the old days at Froen.
" Do you remember, Martha," he would say all of a
sudden, " that time when I came to you streaming with
blood from a cut in the leg .f* "
" Indeed I do — you had fallen on some broken glass."
" No — I can tell you the truth now, Martha. You see
we had got new sheath-knives, both Alexander and I ;
and as I was slashing the heads off thistles with my new
knife, I ran it into my leg. But of course I could n't tell
you that."
" It was n't like you to tell me a lie," says Martha, with
mild rej^roach.
" No, but there's a limit to everything, Martha; and I
could n't have the new sheath-knife taken from me."
It has been the lot of Martha Larsen to sweeten the
year-long toils of the polar explorers. Not that she, per-
sonally, took part in the expedition ; but she was the self-
appointed pur\^eyor of jams and jellies to the Fram. In
NANSJ'L\' AT IIOMK AM) AnROAD 195
the course of his voyai^e northward, when Nansen was
sending liis farewell greetings in letters to all who stood
very near to liini, or liad j^layed an im]M)rtant part in hi.-,
life, he did not forget liis faithful old fiiend. I'roni Kha-
barova, Yugor Strait, he writes to her on .August 3, 1^93:
" As I am on the point of leaving this last place from
which letters can be despatched, I must send you a part-
ing greeting, and thank you for all your friendshijj and
goodness to me." Her friendship he describes as untir-
ing, and says tliat she is always finding ojijiortunities to
be of service to him and to his wife. We need not ai)ol-
ocize for referrintj: to this simiDle little letter. It i> nol
every celebrated man whose memory is so alert at the
critical moments of his life.
From Martha Larsen's the newly-married couj^le re-
moved to the Drammen Road, where they set uj) house.
Hut there was too litde sun here, and too much town, too
much civilization. They determined to build for them-
selves, and bought a site at Svartebugta (the Black Hay),
where Nansen, as a boy, had often lain in ambush for
wild duck. While their building oi)erations were in pro-
gress, they lived in a pavilion close to Lysaker railway
station — a pavilion which has since been transformed by
the painter, Otto Sinding, into a comfortable house with
a sjDlendid studio. Hut up to this time it had never been
inhabited. The floor was close to the ground, and it was
very cold; the water in the pitchers froze hard every
night. " That winter," says Mr>. Xansen, " cured me of
the habit of feeling cold." In Uiis dog-hutch and in this
biting cold, Nansen set himself down to his book upon
Greenland — he had no difficulty in recalling the atmos-
phere of the inland ice.
,96 A.!.VS£y /y THE FROZEN WORLD
If he took an hour's holiday and became a human
being again, he repented of it afterward. But he was for-
ever going over to watch the progress of the new house,
in the details and arrangements of which he took a keen
interest. The " high seat," and the bed, in the old Nor-
wegian style, were executed from his own designs by
Borgersen, afterward so well known as a wood-carver.
The house, which was built by Mrs. Nansen's cousin,
Architect W'elhaven, was finished in March 1890, but
thcv had moved into it long before that. It was Bjorn-
stjernc Bjornson who gave it its name. He rose from
the " high seat," champagne-glass in hand, and said :
" Godtliaab skal del hede ! '' ("It shall be called Good
Hope I ")
Ciodthaab lies in the bight formed by a little projecting
ness, sheltered and secluded, and quite alone. In front of
the house is a wooded and grassy slope, leading down to
the shore, whence the fjord stretches wide and open right
to Nesodland. Here Nansen had his foot on his own
ground, and could keep his own boat for sailing on the
fjord.
But in the autumn he set off on a long lecturing tour,
accompanied by his wife. He spoke in Copenhagen,
London, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Munich, and Ham-
burg. We have received from one of the most eminent
geographers in Europe, Baron h""erdinand von Richthofen,
a very valuable statement of the impression which Nan-
sen at this time left behind him in scientific circles. We
quote from a letter dated May i 7, 1896 : —
" As I have been confined to my room for several
weeks, and am not yet permitted to do more than the
most imperative work, I unfortunately cannot give myself
NANSF.N AT JIOMI': AND AliROAP
97
NANSKN S IIO.MK
the pleasure of entering upon a detailed account of Dr.
Nanscn's visit to Berlin. I h()])e, therefore, that you will
accept in its stead the following brief notes.
" Fridtjof Nansen was here in November, 1890, two
years after his memorable crossing of Greenland, and a
year and a half after his return to Norway. As he
wanted to comjjlete his book describing the expedition,
he had hitherto been unable to accept any of the rejieated
invitations he had received to visit Berlin. On Novem-
ber 8 he lectured before a meeting of the (ieograj)hical
Society. He was warml)- recei\ed, for we had all fol-
lowed his daring journey with interest. The peculiar
magic of his personality, which never fails to affect those
,98 X.4XSEX fX TlIK FROZEX WORLD
who stand face to face witli him, was strongly felt during
the delivery of this lecture. He took us all captive by
the magnetism of his immovable will. We saw in him a
strong Inan marching toward a clearly realized goal, and
cHnging wilii tenacious energy to a well-weighed and
carefully projected i)lan. We were strongly impressed
with this feeling, even as he told of his crossing of Green-
land, and how lie had 'burnt his ships' before setting
forth on what \\a> then regarded as a foolhardy act of
daring. And it was with growing enthusiasm that the
meeting hung uj^on his words as he went on to sketch
in outline his great 'new scheme for reaching the North
Pole. Many were of opinion that the enteqirise was
altogether too hazardous, and were doubtful of the })rem-
ises on which he l)ased his belief -in its possibility. But
not one among his hearers doubted that if the tiling was
within the range of human possibility, Nansen was the
one man jiredestincd to carry it out. On looking into
the rea.sons ft)r the brilliant success of his first undertak-
ing, one could not but recognize that they lay in the
care with which every detail of the i)lan was thought out,
the sedulous forestalling of every possible contingency,
the jjhysical training whicli enabled him to cojk' willi all
physical difficulties, the talent for making the most of
mechanical aids to locomotion, and fmally, the indomita-
ble strength of will. Although, no doubt, this new pro-
ject far surpassed the former enterprise in magnitude
and daring, yet all the prec^autions necessary to secure
a fortunate result seemed to have been conceived on a
proj)ortionally larger scale.
" Such, my honored friend, is the impression Nansen
left behind him. No one who was jnesent can ever for-
;oo N.^xsjiX y.v V7//; frozen world
get the picture of the handsome, well-knit young man
who so modestly told the story of an accomplished feat,
and sketched in such simple words the outlines of a still
more daring enterprise. Every one felt fully assured that
whatever determination, strength, and intelligence can do
to vanquish the hostile forces of Arctic nature might be
confidently expected of Fridtjof Nansen. And although
we cannot quite rid ourselves of the idea that the assump-
tions on which the scheme is founded are not as yet fully
established, yet we are convinced that Nansen's clear
insight will realize the actual conditions when he comes
face to face with them, and that he will wisely confine
himself to attempting what is physically possible, instead
of clinging with stolid obstinacy to the plan once laid
down. In this confidence, we look forward to seeing
your gallant young countryman return with a rich harvest
of scientific results, followed as he is by the warm sympa-
thy of the whole civilized world.
" One thing I must add to my account of the impres-
sion produced by Nansen. I must note the happy com-
bination in him of a remarkable spirit of enterprise with a
strong scientific sense. These two qualities are not often
found together. Especially in our age of athletics, it may
almost be said to be the rule that the most daring exploits
— for example, in mountain climbing — are carried out
purely for their own sake and to satisfy a mere love of
adventure. So much the more heartily should we ap-
plaud the man who is impelled Ijy higher motives to the
conquest of the greatest physical difficulties. Nansen's
lecture left no doubt of his keen interest in, and thor-
ough understanding of, the problems connected with
Arctic research. He took especial pains to acquire and
JVAAS/iJV A'J' JIOMJ: AND AJiA'OAD 201
communicate a scientific insi^lit into the physical con-
formation and conditions of Greenland; and he has clearly
a no less enlightened sense of the scientific significance
of jiolar exploration."
What especially occupied him in these years was the
preparations for the Polar Expedition. The equipment
involved an immense expenditure of thought — from the
construction of the ship to the minutest detail of the com-
missariat. Even the selection of the crew must ha\e
meant a great deal of corresj^ondence — n(j fewer than
150 foreigners applied for leave to join the expedition.
The list is headed by Englishmen and Americans, then
come Germans, Danes, Swedes and Finns, Italians and
Frenchmen, etc. The labor was enormous. luerything
had to pass through kis head, every one of the thousand
details. Compared with this mental toil, the labor of
dragging the sledges over the Greenland ice fields was
little more than child's play. It engrossed him day and
night, and encroached terribly on the few hours that were
left for his home and his famil}-. The strain upon his
vital force was incomparably greater than in any of his
previous efforts.
In the beginning of 1892 he again set forth on a lectur-
ing tour, this time in England, the profits going to the
expedition fund. He spoke in London and in the other
great towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland, visiting
Lixerpool, Manchester, Sheffield, iiirmingham. Hull, New-
castle, Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Bristol, and man\- other
places.
" His lectures," writes a friend in I^ngland. " were highly
appreciated and made a great success. His mastery of
the Ensflish lanc:ua2:e was remarkable, lie made iiimself
,o2 X.IXSE.y IX THE FROZEX WORLD
thoroughly heard and understood. Of course lie read his
adclresres; but to my thinking his speaking was most
effective when, at the end of his last lecture before the
Royal Geographical Society, he laid liis manuscript aside.
It was, in a sense, a farewell to England, inspired by a
depth of feeling which stirred his audience to enthusiasm.
I can assure you that when Nansen returns, a magnificent
reception awaits him in this country."
Late in the autumn of this year his sliip was launched.
*' A whole troop of invited guests," writes Gustaf Ret-
zius, in the " Aftonblad " for November 3, 1S92, " took the
morning train on October 26, from Christiania to Laurxik.
There had been ten degrees of frost in the night ; snow
had fallen, and a thin white veil lay over hill and valley.
Gradually the mists dispersed, and the morning sun shone
out with the peculiar softened splendor characteristic of
a clear winter day. Nansen liimself receives us at Laurvik
station, and leads us to a whale-ljoat, lying at the pier,
with a crow's-nest at its foretop. It carries us down the
fjord, then turns to the left and runs in shore. Here, in
Ra*kevik Hay, lies tlie hull of a shi]), shored up on the
beach, with its stern to the sea. It is Fridtjof Nansen's
new shij), which is now to go off the stocks. The hull is
high and broad, black below, white above. The three
goodly masts of American pitch-pine are still lying along-
side her on the wharf. Three flagstaffs have been erected
on the deck, two with flags, the one in the middle without.
it i> reserved for the j^ennant bearing the ship's as yet
unknown name, which is to be hoisted after the christen-
ing. There are many sju-culations as to what the name
is to be. I'eojjle guess Eva, Lcif, Norge, and No7'dpolcii.
" Thousands of spectators have gathered around Colin
304 XAXSE.V /.V THE FROZEN WORLD
Archer's wharf, thousands have clambered up on tlie
rocks. But around tlie great vessel lying shored up on
the slips stand groups of sturdy figures in working clothes,
with grizzled hair and furrowed features, carefully examin-
ing her lines and build. These are whalers and seal-hunt-
ers who ha\e year after year braved the dangers of the
Polar Sea. There are also many workmen among them,
ship's-carpenters who have helped in the building, and
who now regard their work with just satisfaction. But the
master builder is the stately man w ith the serious refined
features and the long white beard. It is Colin Archer.
" Fridtjof Nansen, followed by his wife, now mounts a
platform erected close to the vessel's bows. Mrs. Nansen
steps forward, breaks a champagne bottle against the stem
at one strong blow, and says loud and clear: ' Fi-arn skal
den licde^ — 'She shall be called iM-am.' ^ At the same
moment the flag is hoisted on the unoccupied flagstaff,
and the word can be read in white letters upon a red
ground. The last moorings are now quickly cast off, the
last supjiorts knocked away, and the great vessel glides,
at first slowly, then quicker and quicker, stern-foremost,
down the sharjDly sloping groove which leads to the water.
It j)lunges deeper and deeper. For a moment it almost
seems as though it were going to sink, or at any rate to
strike the bottom. But as the stem approaches the water
the stern rises, and finally the whole vessel floats away, to
be brought back in a few minutes, laid alongside the
wharf, and there moored. At the moment when the
whole bulk of the ship had taken the water, a great wave
swept shoreward and washed over the rocks and over the
onlookers who had ]K'rched themselves close to the sea.
' I'ram ^= Forwards.
NANSEN AT //OAf/': AXl) AJiROAD 205
Wc could SL'C ihcm from the dislancc scrambling; like wet
llics up the slippery rocks. A large boat which had been
swept asliore by the wave was with difficulty saved, but
without misachenture.
"On the platform, by his wife's side, iM'idtjof Nansen
stood tall and erect, and watched the scene. All eyes
were bent upon them. We could not but think what
their feclini^s must have been at the moment when the
vessel glided into the sea: feelings of gladness that the
prologue to the long dark drania that was to be enacted
in the polar night was now happily concluded ; feelings
of pain at the thought of the long separation that lay
before them.
" For all who were present, it was a moment of deep
emotion when, amid the Ijooming of guns and the thun-
dering cheers of the multitude, the Fram ])lunged into
the sea and rose again proudly in its freedom. Many
w^ere afterward heard to say that it was one of the most
impressive experiences of their lives. As the ship glided
forth in the silvery light reflected from the calm surface
of the sea, we seemed, in a llash of foresight, to be read-
ing the Saga of the future. We seemed to glance down
the vista of her destiny, to see her, in waters no keel has
yet furrowed, spreading light over regions no eye has yet
seen. And when we came to think of the stern realities
which must one day surround the vessel and its crew on
their daring quest, the cold, the darkness, the storms, the
icebergs, and all that follows in their train, we could not
but feel a touch of awe. Hut in Fridtjof Xansen's serene,
unembarrassed, steadfast glance, there was no trace of
doubt or anxiety. He has the faith and the will-i)ower
that can move mcumtains."
2o6 .\'./.\'^'A,\' A^' THE FROZEX WORLD
Colin Archer, llie builder of the Fram, belongs to a
Scotch family. His name is widely known and highly
rcs|x'Cted in Norway. " ll is not many years since our
pilot boats were sadly deficient in point both of speed and
of safety. They were neither well built nor well designed
for tlK' work they had to do, so that it frequently hap-
jxMied that tlie boat went down and took the pilot with it.
Mr. Archer devoted himself to the task of furnishing our
pilots with a faster and safer sea-boat. After more than
twenty years' work, he has met with such success that
the pilot can now face almost any weather in one of his
boats, and tliat those he leaves at home need no longer
tremble and turn pale when the surf is lashing and the
stomi sweeping over the sea."
In a speech which he made that day, Mr. Archer said
that he would never have been able to solve this peculiar
problem, so unlike any that he had hitherto attempted,
if N'ansen himself had not furnished him with the key;
it was Nansen's constructive sense that had throughout
pointed the way. But Nansen had no less right on his
side when he praised Colin Archer's talent, and expressed
the belief that never before had a shij) been built for
Arctic work with any approach to the care and thought
which had been devoted to this one. Let us hope that
Colin Archer's most noteworthy " pilot boat," which is to
pilot humanity through ice-packed channels and over un-
known waters, may stand the test as well as the other
" Archer-boats," its predecessors.
The Fram, which in reality somewhat resembles a pilot
boat, is specially designed to jDlay the part allotted it in
Nansen's general scheme. His idea is not to burst his
way by force through masses of ice, but to let the Fram
NANSEN J J' //().]//■: .I.\7) .I/IA'D.U) 207
He firmly frozen in and he carried forward Ijy the current.
It is not a fast sldp, then, that he needs, hut a vessel
which can hear an immense pressure of ice without heint;
crushed. It had to he so designed that the ice should
not he ahle to grip its sides and squeeze them together,
but should, as it were, wedge itself under the hull and
force it up out of the water. For this reason the sides
and bottom are strongly rounded. In order to secure
the greatest possible strength the ship liad to be as small
as possible, and particularly short in proportion to its
breadth. This would facilitate both the raising of the
hull when the ice got packed under it, and the handling
of the vessel among the floes when it should be relea.sed
from its ice-berth.
The Franis length on deck is 128 feet; length on
water-line, 113 feet; keel, 102 feet. Her extreme breadth
is 36 feet ; breadth at water-line, exclusive of ice-skin,
34 feet; depth, 17 feet. W'hen she is lightly loaded, the
draft of water is 12.} feet. The keel, which is 14 inches
by 14 inches, American elm, ])rojects only 3 inches be-
low the planking, and its edges are well rounded. The
frames are double, being built chiefly of Italian oak, ob-
tained from the dockyards at Horten, where it had been
stored for thirty years. The lining is pitch-pine. The
outside planking consists of three layers: the inner one
being 3 inches oak, the middle one 4 inches oak, and
outside all an ice-skin of greenheart, increasing in thick-
ness from 3 inches at the keel to 6 inches at the water-
line. Both bow and stern arc protected by a covering
of iron bars. The total thickness of the ship's sides
is 24 to 2S inches, and their jDower of resisting pressure
is thus very considerable ; but it is greatly increased by
2oS A\^ys/':x jy the frozen world
powerful beams or stays of wood or iron. Tlie liold
is divitled into three water-tii^ht compartments. The
structural strength of the Frani is thus quite exceptional.
Never before has a vessel been so fortified against the
attacks of the ice.
During these years of toil Nansen enjoyed breathing
spaces, when he gathered his friends around him. These
pleasant interludes in his work will never be forgotten by
those who took }3art in them. They remember the din-
ner when all the painters — Werenskjbld, Eilif Peterssen,
Skredsvig, Munthe, Sinding — gave themselves up to
high jinks without beginning or end, when they would
on no account listen to polite speeches, but rushed into
the kitchen and set the pump going whenever any one
began. Nansen was thoroughly at home among the paint-
ers— he himself dabbled a little in their handicraft,^ and,
during his Bergen days, had worked in the studio of old
Schiert/. who thought he had the makings of an artist in
him.
They remember, too, that Midsummer Eve, when
Lammers sang of the hero Roland, and Nansen w^ent
down to the bonfire and piled on wood.
By way of exemplifying the hours of relaxation in the
life of labor de]Dicted in this book, one of the authors
will note down his recollections of a luncheon ])arty
at Nansen's house, the day after tlie launch of the Fram.
• N.insen draws excellently; all the plates for his zoological, anatomical,
and histolo);ical essays are drawn by himself. We may mention, as a charac-
tt-rintic instance of his enerj^y in every department, that he was not content
with himself making the drawings for his works, but also learned lithography,
so th.nt, for example, the plates in his principal essay on the nervous system
are drawn on the .stone with his own hand.
NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 209
It had rained overnight, so that the roads were ankle-
deep in autumn mud. Nansen himself met us at the
station in the highest of si)irits.
When we reached his house (a quarter of an hour's
walk from Lysaker station) it was raining-. The fjord
stretched before us dark and depressing, the gray autumn
sky seemed to droop disconsolate among the pine stems.
But in Nansen's study branches and logs were crackling
and smouldering cosily upon the open heartli.
Here everything is in old Norse style. Nansen him-
self, as before mentioned, designed the furniture of light
pine-wood, beautifully carved with dragon arabesques.
Over the high seat hangs a tapestry of an antique pat-
tern.
Luncheon was served in the cosey little dining-room,
and merriment was the order of the day. Full justice
w^as done to one dish after another ; and Nansen is not
the man to forget to season the viands with talk. He
was, of course, still full of memories of the previous day,
and one incident of the launch after another was related
and discussed. Mrs. Nansen had to analyze her sensa-
tions at the moment when she broke the chami)agne
bottle acjainst the bow and said : " Fram skal den liedc ! "
Some one else related how Archer was seen to close his
eyes when the ship began to move; and so forth.
When the champagne appeared. Nansen pro])osed
Ret/ius's health, and Ret/iu> thus ended his speech in
reply : —
" This is a delightful home of yours, Nansen, and I
cannot but marvel at your resolution in tearing yourself
away from it to set forth into the jiolar winter, and brave
an unknown fate. Vou, a biologist, have the sea stretch-
• 4
2IO
.y.iNS/ty Av r//E frozen world
ing Ix'fore yi)ur very windows, with all its inexhaustible
and fa-scinating treasures. Here you are in the midst of
all your old friends, the marine fauna — with worms,
inoilusks, and nuid-eels at your beck and call. We scien-
tists, who so highly appreciate Nansen the biologist —
the man who has successfully steered many a voyage of
exploration over the unknown depths of the biological
world, and especially through the intricacies of the
nervous system — cannot quite reconcile ourselves to the
thought that you are deserting this field of labor to go so
far and to be absent so long.
•' But you ha\'e yourself determined it, you have decreed
your own destiny.
" And besides, when the explorer returns from his
adventurous voyage, the biologist will find the field of
investigation as rich as ever. You may make your mind
eas) we who are left at home will not reap the whole
har\-est — there will be plenty left for you to do. We are
as yet only at the beginning of our w^ork.
" There is only one thing I fear, and that is that
I'Vidtjof Nansen, when he comes back from the North
Pole, will discover that the earth has a South Pole as
well."
As we clink glasses and drink Nanscn's health, strange
thoughts fill our minds. Who knows when this circle of
friends may meet again } Not, at any rate, until one of
them shall have returned from afar.
Nan.sen is, as usual, quiet and at his ease. As the later
courses come on, we get him to tell us some of his stories.
lie has an unusual gift of oral, no less than of written
narrative ; he describes jjicturesquely, with powerful
touches, and, on occasion, with charming humor. P^irst
ALINSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD
21 I
wc get liini on the i)()hir bears. Then some one asks
about the time when lie and Mrs. Nansen climbed Norc-
fjeld on New Year's Eve.
"Yes, it was really New Year's Eve; it was in 1S90.
Eva and I had gone up to Kroderen for a breath of fresh
J^'
'f^:
*'/^
NANSEN AND MRS. NANSEN ON SNOW -SHOES
air. and we made u|) our minds to climl) Norefjeld — to
the top ..f course. We slept at Olberg, and were rather
la/.y in the morning, ><> that it was about ten o'clock
before we made a start. And we didn't hurry at all at
first, so that the day slipped on. It ".s something of an
ascent even in summer; but in winter, when the days arc
short, you have to look sharp if you want to get to the
sia
NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
top while it s lii^ht. And then we had taken a course of
our own — well, it may have been the most direct, but it
certainly was n't the cjuickest. The snow was very deep,
and we had n't any guide. At last we could n't possibly
use our snow-shoes any longer ; it got so steep we had to
take them off and carry them. But we were bound to do
it all the same ; you can't face about and leave a thing
half done, however much ice and frozen snow there may
be. The last jMece almost beat us ; I had to cut our way
step by ste)) with my staff. I went ahead, Eva followed.
It reminded me of what the little girl wrote in her school
essay : ' I'or e\ery step we went forward, we went two
steps back. At last we reached the top.'
" Well, we too reached the top, but it was dark, and we
had been at it from ten till five with nothing to eat. So
now we set to and ])icnicked in the snow and the pitchy
darkness, on vtysost^ and jjemmican mixed."
" You may thank heaven we don't treat you to that
to-day," said Mrs. Nansen.
" Yes, you made wry faces over it, Eva," growled her
husband, " But it 's all a matter of habit."
We lingered over our walnuts and our wine while Nan-
sen continued: "Well, there we two sat alone in the
snow at the top of Norefjeld, something like 5,000 feet
above the level of the sea. The frost-wind nipj^ed our
checks, the darkness grew denser and denser. Far away
in the west there lingered a very, very feeble gleam of day,
the last in the year. We had to sec about getting down
again.
*' We struck a course more or less in the direction of
Eggcdal. iM-om Mbgevarde- down into the valley is per-
' Goat's milk cheese. 2 The top of Norefjeld.
NAxYSEN AT JJOMK AND AH ROAD 213
haps about a Norwegian mile,' wliich would have been
nothing at all if it had been light. But it was n't so easy
to find our way in the darkness.
" Off we i)lunged into the night, I ahead and Mva fol-
lowing. We went like the wind over rocks and slojjes,
and it was no joke to keep our balance, 1 can tell you.
When you Ve been out in the dark for some time, a sort
of dim shimmer seems to rise from the snow ; you can't
call it light, but it is n't absolute darkness either. I leaven
knows how we managed to get along sometimes, but man-
a^re we did. /\11 of a sudden I had to slop short, and
shout to Eva. It was too steep for snow-shoes, there was
nothing for it but to sit down and slide. It \s not good
for your trousers, but it 's safer in the dark.
" The wind nipped our ears till they tingled, ff)r it was
freezing like anything; and on we went. Suddenly, as
we were going at full speed, my hat blew off — a little
gray hat of the sort I usually wear.
" So I had to put the brake on, and get to my legs again.
Far up I saw something black upon the snow, scrambled
up to it, seized it, and found it was a stone. The hat must
be farther back — yes, tlicre it was. Again I clutched at
a stone. Hats seemed to swarm all over the snow; but
when I came to put them on they all turned to stones.
Stones for bread may be bad enough, but stones for hats
are not a whit better. There was nothing for it but to
go ahead hatless.
" Eva remained where I had left her. ' I^va ! ' I shouted,
' Eva !' The answer came from far, far below.
" There seemed to be no end to that mile. Hut we
managed to keej) going somehow ; and now and then we
* Seven English miles.
2,4 X.-IXS/i.V /X THE FROZEN WORLD
could use our snow-shoes too. All of a sudden the ground
seemed to fall away at our feet; we stopped at the verge
of a precipitous bank — how high it was we could n't see,
but over it we had to go, one first, the other after. The
snow was deep, and when that is so, you can clear incred-
ible distances.
'• We had long ago lost our bearings, if we had ever had
any. We only knew that we must go ahead. At last we
came to a dead fix. Eva had once more to sit and wait
while I cast about for a way. I went groping around in
the darkness and was a long time gone. All of a sudden
a thought .struck me : suppose she were to fall asleep!
Such things have been known to happen, and she must
be dead tired. ' Eva, Eva ! ' I shouted. 'Yes!' she an-
swered right enough, but this time from far, far above. If
she had fallen asleep I don't know that I could ever have
found her again. As it was I groped my way up to her,
briniiinir with me the irood news that I had found a water-
course. I won't say that a watercourse is the best possi-
ble snow-shoe course, especially in pitchy darkness, when
your stomach is empty and your conscience ill at ease —
for this was really a reckless piece of work. But some-
how or other we did contrive to make our way clown the
watercourse.
" Now we were amonsr the birch-trees, and at last we
struck ui)on a road. So the worst was over. Far down,
we came uj)on a hut. I thought it looked cosey enough,
but Eva said it was dirty and horrid. And now she was
quite lively; she was determined to push on. Just like a
woman.
" To make a long story short, we at last reached the
|)arish clerk's house in Eggedal. It was now late at night.
HANSEN AT HOME AND AJUWAJJ 215
SO we had to wake the people up. The jDarish clerk was
quite frightened when he heard we had come from the tojj
of Norefjeld.
" This time Eva was not so ])articular about her nighlV
lodging. She had no sooner sat down in a rliair lluin ^lu-
fell asleep; it was twelve at night, and she had been (»n
her feet for fourteen hours.
'" He's quite worn out, i)oor boy,' said the })arish clerk ;
for Kva was wearing a gray snow-shoeing dress, with a
short skirt and trousers.
" ' It is my wife,' said I.
" You should have heard the exclamations. ' Oh Lord,
oh Lord, you don't mean to say so ! Think of dragging
your wife with you over the top of Norefjeld on New-
Year's Eve ! '
" But now came supper — and as soon as she smelletl
that it was not mysosf and pemmican she wakened up.
" It ended in our resting three days at the parish clerk's
— and that was our New Year's lue ascent of Norefjeld.
I thought it great fun ; but I don't know what Iiva would
say.
" When we left Eggedal the poor boy and I dro\e down
Numedal to Kongsberg, and the bo}' was almost fro/en to
death.
" P)ut one has to go through a little hardshij:) now and
then to enjoy life j^roperly after it. If you don't know
what cold is, neither do you know what it is to be warm."
The time draws on for the great departure. The sum-
mer of 1S93 has come. In the evenings, while his secre-
tary is writing at full speed, and Nansen is walking up
and down directing and dictating, he will suddenly slij)
,,6 NANSE.V IN THE FROZEN WORLD
out and appear on the slope in front of the house. Here
planting is going on - gooseberry and currant bushes,
apple and pear trees. Nanscn himself ponits out to the
crardener where every tree, every bush is to stand. " It will
be splendid soil," says the man, as he fills the holes with
mould mixed with seaweed. "Oh yes, I hope they '11 grow,"
says Nansen. The evening sun throws long shadows
from the great pine stents in front of the house, the waves
wash softl)-, in a long slow swell, against the beach. The
nurse comes out of the house carrying little Liv, who is to
be put to bed.
How long will be the shadows cast by these bushes and
trees before he comes back .? How many evenings will
the sun disappear behind the ridge, before current and
wind and wave bring his ship home again ? Evening after
evening, month after month, year after year !
On Midsummer Day the Fram lies at Pipervik ready
to start. Only a small group of Christiania people have
gathered to stare at the clumsy-looking ship, which still
lies at its berth long after the time appointed for the start.
So slight is the notice taken of an achievement in the
bud. When he comes back again, all Christiania will turn
out to receive him. But men are always so. As though
it were nothing to conceive this great design, to take this
immense responsibility, to bear all burdens until you are
ready to drop under them — and to stand erect on the
quarter-deck and take your life in your hands. There
were not many that day who remembered the old saying
which had been cited at Raekevik when the Fram was
launched : " Magnos homines virtute metimur^ non for-
tnnar (We judge great men by their virtue, not by their
luck.)
NAJvSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 217
But among those who had gathered to see Nansen off
were many members of the Storthing. By two resolu-
tions, which must be reckoned to the credit of so small a
people, the Storthing had contributed a sum of about
$75,ocx) to the expenses of the expedition. To^ia}' it had
adjourned in order to bid farewell to its leader. But
Nansen had not been informed of this, and had not yet
come on board. The members of the Storthing waited
for hours, and at last could wait no longer-
Even at the last moment there were details of business
that Nansen had to attend to. The whole morning
passed, and he had had scarcely a moment to exchange
a word with his ^"ife. The farewell ^^-as of the shortest
When he came downstairs, httle Liv was brought to him
smiling. He took the child in his arms : " Ah 3es, you
laugh, Liv, but I ! " He sobbed.
Then he jumped into the little petroleum launch,
steamed up the fjord, boarded the Fram, taking no notice
of any one, went up to the bridge, and gave ordere for the
start Those who saw his face at that moment will never
forget it
One picture from his story of that New Year's Eve ex-
pedition has often risen before our minds during these
years of waiting. She sits alone upon the mountain, and
gazes forth into the impenetrable darkness, so long, so
long. Then a voice is heard from far off on the snow-
field. He is there ! He is coming !
CHAPTER XII
0\ HOARD TIIK " FRAM "
The wind liad been right aliead the whole day, writes
Professor W. C. Hrogger, ever since we started from
Landegode. We had first made a tack under full sail
right across the X'estfjord toward IMoskena^s Island, and
had now put about, and were heading straight for the
passage southeast of Skraaven.
The steady fresh breeze had swept the sky clean, and
lifted the sea into f()ani-to})i)ed waves which plashed
monotonously against the broad bow of the Fram, as she
ploughed her way through them, as heavy as an old
Dutch galliot and as steady as a rock.
Up on the bridge the ])ilot, Haagenscn, was pacing to
and fro in sturd\' securitv, now and then shouting an
order to the man at the wheel in his homely Nordland
dialect, P)iit the fairwax' was at this ])oint so clear that
there was not very much for a ])il()t to do — a wide chan-
nel in front, and a steady wind blowing, hour after hour.
At the end of the bridge Nansen had rigged u}^ for
himself an open-air studio — an easel and a few boxes of
pastel colors — and here he sat the whole evening, and
well on into the night, in his vellow-gray silk mackintosh,
heedless of the cold wind (which, however, was gradually
dropping), dabbing on colors, and smudging with his fin-
ger-tijis on the sandpaper, so intently and indefatigably
that he rubbed the skin off. The blood trickled from the
ON BOARD 11 IF. '' FA\l.]r''
-■'9
THE " FKA.M " IN bEKUKN
abrasion, and made a Inroad red stripe down tlie sk\- of
his landscape.
And the landscape the Fram was passing was indeed
worth painting in its sunset radiance. No pen could
possibly draw a true picture of its ever-changing splendor
of form and hue.
„o jV.I.VSJCA' /.V T//£ FROZEX WORLD
Hastward. illumined by the reflection of the sinking
sun. rose the whole mighty array of the crests, and peaks,
and summits of the mainland ; wliile to the west, the end-
less snow-flecked Lofoten-Wall loomed dark and threat-
ening, a chain of Alps springing right up from the sea.
The sun was so low that the island mountains lay en-
tirely in the shadow, dark purple silhouettes against the
marvellously soft and shifting colors of the evening sky.
Over the highest peaks hung heavy grayish white
masses of cloud, now melting into the strips of snow%
which formed a delicate lace-like collar around the shoul-
ders of X'aagekallen, now transpierced by the smouldering
glow of the evening sun, which, down toward Moskenaes
Island, formed a continuous broad band of gold over the
low-lying banks of mist, like the reflection of a sea of fire
in the far distance.
Above our heads stretched the pale evening sky,
toning off into greenish blue and the most delicate rose-
pink, so cloudless, and bright, and pure, that it seemed
as though Heaven had specially willed that Nansen and
his comrades should see our land at its very loveliest,
without stain or flaw, before they bade it farewell. And
beneath us leajjed the glorious sea, still crisping into
foam-crests that shone white on the dark blue ground —
our forefathers' royal road to " fame and might," ^ the road
on which the Fram was now covering the first stages of
her way to immortality.
The Fram plodded doggedly on tow^ard Skraaven.
Hour after hour the strange sharp peak stood out right
ahead of us, seeming always to recede as we advanced.
' An allusion to tlic Danish national song, Koiii^ Christian stod ved hojcn
Mast.
ON BOARD THE ''FRAM'' 221
The Fraw, as we know, does not })retend to be a elipper.
She has no occasion for speed, she has the years before
lier. Rit^lit you are, Frain ! Slow and sure wins in the
^z\\(\. Chi va piano va sano, chi v a forte va 171 viortc.
The Fram was now comparatively trim and shijj-shape;
Sverdrup himself had superintended the cleaning process,
and worked the hose the whole afternoon, while Gjertsen
followed him with the mop, and whole rivers of water
poured through the scuppers, carrying with them all
superfluities. I should not like to swear that they did
not now and then squirt a drop or two among Nansen's
pastels, when they happened to pass under the bridge ;
but it could not be helped — the Fram had to bestir her-
self in order to look presentable when she got to Tromso,
and a daily scouring was necessary to remove all traces
of the coal-shifting operations in Nx'rosund.
Now the coal was finally stowed away in the hold, and
the greater part of the dried fish cleared from the deck
both fore and aft, so that the ship began to look fairlv
habitable again. This clearing up had cost a good deal
of trouble, for the crew^ was small, and things were not
yet quite in working order. The chief difficulty lay in
the fact that the cargo was so exceedingly heterogeneous.
It is not so easy to get everything into order when an
exact account has to be kept of where all the innumer-
able articles are stowed, so that they may always be at
hand when needed, perhaps in the moment of danger.
Thus every one had his own department to attend to in
addition to the general work of the shij), and the average
day was anything but a holiday.
Even now, one or two had not yet finished their day's
work. The first mate was busy carpentering. Little
:22 \.^XS£X I.y THE FROZEN WORLD
Scott Han>cn was every one's favorite; although a mere
buy to iiiulcrtake such a voyage, — he was only twenty-
five,— he did hi.s man's work with the best of them. He
was always in good humor, always friendly and pleasant
to every one; but his eyes would beam with affection
when they fell u])on the barometers and chronometers
and all his other dear instruments up in the chart-room,
which had been placed under his care. He was to be
both astronomer and meteorologist — and first mate into
the bargain, and a little of everything else. He was
expecting to meet Professor Mohn next day up at Lodin-
gen, and was consequently very busy putting together a
cage for his thermometers, planing and nailing away until
far on in the evening.
There was not much room on the deck of the Fram ;
indeed, there was scarcely a s]X)t tliat was not cumbered
with deck cargo of all sorts. Almost the whole space for-
ward was taken up with the supports for the longboats,
and the superstructures over the hold, to say nothing of
an immense number of odds and ends, such as a huge pair
(»f bellows, a spare crow's-nest, a great tool-chest, etc.
But aft it was even worse — what with a stack of timber
(planks, beams, etc.), a number of large beer-barrels (a
steadily diminishing number, it must be admitted), the
huge spare rudder and spare propeller, several parts of the
great windmill for generating electricity when the coal is
exhausted, caj)acious tanks for petroleum and gas oil, one
of the boats, and finally, under the bridge, a whole pile of
dried fish to feed the dogs who were to be taken on board
at Yugor .Strait.
Around the wheel, however, was a small open space
built in with deck cargo, where one could actually put
ON noARj^ Tin-: -FA'.Dr' 233
one's fool on llu' deck and sit co.sily .shclk'ix'd from the
wind. This was the favorite evening rende/Aous of those
who liad time to spare for a smoke and a cliat.
Here we sat this evening in the twih<;ht, wliile the
Fram buffeted its way through the seas under the Lofo-
ten-Wall— Hendriksen, Gjertsen, Jacobscn, Cliristiansen
(one of the Greenland part)), and I. The pijjes were in
full blast and the talk in full swing.
Jacobsen was a capital narrator, when you could work
him up to the point, which was not every da\-. lie had
seen a great deal of the world between the South Pole
and the North, and had an unusually rich stock of e.\j)e-
riences to draw upon. Whether he was recounting his
adxentures among the Maories of New Zealand or among
the ice floes of Nova Zembla, he always managed to put
an extraordinary amount of life into the situation, and to
transport his hearers into the thick of it. This evening
he was telling the story of his j^olar-bear hunts, with one
of the Hourbon i)rinces, on Spitzbergen, and he graphi-
cally depicted for us all the manners and customs of the
polar bear, its spirit of iliquiry and its clumsy cunning. I
have since read somewhere that at parting the j^rince j^re-
sented him with his own gold watch ; of that he saitl
nothing, and I saw nothing of it while I was on board the
Fram.
Polar bears being the topic, first one and then another
contributed something of his own e\i)eriences.
" How many bears have you shot, Hendriksen, roughly
speaking .^ " asks the mate.
I lendriksen was a Palsfjord man ; the sha|)e of his fore-
head, his ])road cheek bones, and the whole tvi)e of his
physiognomy seemed to indicate that he had OuaMi blood
aJ4
iVAXSEN IX THE FROZEN WORLD
in his veins. Be this as it may, he was a good-natured
and genial fellow, and one who could jnit his shoulder to
the wheel to some puq^ose when strength was needed.
He had now sailed the Arctic Sea in every direction for
fourteen consecutive seasons, ever since he was nineteen ;
during all these years he had
never felt the heat of summer,
until he had come south for
a short time to help in fitting
out the Fram.
He was not a man of many
words, but it was easy to see
that he was by no means
yearning to repeat his expe-
rience of the summer tem-
perature. He was one of
those members of the crew
who preferred to pass the
night in one of the " hotels "
on deck, either in the Grand Hotel or in Gravesen's — so
they had christened the two longboats. It is true that
these boats were deeply padded with all sorts of pack-
ages of furs, so that you could no doubt make yourself
a comfortable enough bed among them, when once you
had wormed your way down through the layers of hand-
sledges, snow-shoes, kaiaks, and other Arctic appliances
which were ])iled up in these airy hanging hotels a la
Scmiramis.
" I 've never kept count of them," answered the giant
evasively.
*' I dare say you may put it at fifty at least," said the
mate.
(NaDKo'i «olr companion on his sledi;c expe
dilion after leaving the " Fram ")
ON BOARD TJIK 'TRAM'' 225
"Oh no! j)crhaps something Hkc forty — white bears,
1 mean," he added, as though a mere white bear were
scarcely worth speaking about.
" Have any of you shot brown l^ears then ? " I asked.
" Yes, Mogstad has killed several," rejilied the mate.
" The first one, he had another man to help him, but that
was when he was only sixteen. Plve or six years after-
ward he ke{)t a bear barricaded in his lair for a whole
month, and then let him out, and put a bullet in him as
he ran. Oh, he 's a rare hand at all sorts of things, is
Mogstad — you won't easily find him at a loss."
" But Sverdrup has shot brown bears too ! " remarked
Christiansen, who was now at the wheel and had hitherto
not opened his mouth. 1 le and Sverdrup were both
Bindal men, so he felt he must stand up for his district;
as a rule it was not easy to get a word out of him. Me
was evidently suffering agonies of indecision as to
v.'hether he should go on with the ship or not, although
he had declared in advance that he would go no fartlier
than Tromsb. Not that the Greenland trip had fright-
ened him off — it was other hindrances that stood in his
way.
Sverdrup had now relieved the ])ilot, and was pacing
backward and forward on the bridge, with an even, slow
step. The Fram and he are in reality not unlike each
other; the same indescribable air of solidity and security
breathes around them l^oth. I^ach has a \ery thick outer
hull, but within all is snug and warm and >(HUk1. Now
and again he stops beside Nansen, and watches him min-
gling the colors on his paper, but as a rule says nothing
and resumes his walk, casting quirk si-arching glances
ahead over the sea.
IS
«6 AUXSE.V /.V THE FROZEN WORLD
Whoever has seen Sverdrup on board the Fram knows
well that lie is the right man in the right place. Tlie
Fram is no luxurious pleasure-yacht, nor is Sverdrup a
model of courtly elegance — but you may be sure that
Afloat "twixt sky and sea,
The first of men is he.
About the wheel the talk went merrily, undisturbed by
wind or weather. The waves kept on gurgling up into
the rudder hole, which, besides fulfilling its original pur-
|X)se, served as a gigantic spittoon. Now and again an
extra puff of wind would come, and the rigging would
creak as the sails tightened ; while the throb of the pis-
tons in the engine-room supplied a monotonous accom-
paniment. Behind the pile of planks and the boat which
shut us oiT from the bulwarks, we could hear Kvik, the
Greenland dog, snoring and growling in his sleep, keep-
ing up a sort of nuirnuir of contentment, now and then
interrupted by a short bark.
"That confounded cur!" said the mate. "What do you
think he 's done to-day.? Eaten up the soles of a pair of
bran new slippers that Amundsen had got from his wife."
Kvik was everybody's favorite on board ; but he had an
unfortunate habit of devouring whatever he came across
in the way of leather or skins, without the smallest re-
spect of persons. Field-glass straps and shoe-soles, port-
manteaus and portfolios, everything that was made of an
animal's skin was for him a dainty scarcely to be resisted,
though he knew that indulgence would be followed by a
beating. After all, he had to lay in strength for the
voyage. Young as he was, he had seen more of the
world than most dogs or men, having travelled from East
Greenland to Copenhagen with the Ryder Expedition,
ON BOARD rrfl'] '' Fh'.\.\f'' 221
then from Copenhagen to Lysaker; and now he was on
his way froni Lysaker to the Polar Sea.
" Amundsen is married, is lie ? " I asked.
" Why, of course lie is! lie 's the most married of the
\\liole lot of us. lie has a wife and six ehildri'ii. It's
a wonder he ran lca\e such a lot at home for so long
a time."
" Has he been north before } "
" Yes, he was out sealing with the Diana one season,
and then last year he went to the Yenisei with a cargo
from Shields. Oh yes, he s quite at home in the high
latitudes, he is."
" Juell, the steward, is he married too.'' "
" Why of course he is — married and has children," said
Gjertsen. " That fine figure of a woman you saw on
board on the way from Christiania to I lorten, you know
— that 's his wife. She 's been a lot about with him, too.
A few years ago she went with him right to the (iold
Coast, and when they were going ashore, Juell thought he
should never see his wife again — for all of a sudden the
boatmen, the ni2:G:ers vou know, as naked as niv hand,
took and seized her in their arms and jumjied into the
water with her. Juell believed he 'd seen the last of her ;
for you know, she's uncommonly jdIuuii) and appetizing,
and he thought no doubt they were cannibals, these
fellows."
" Then a great many of you are married ? " I said.
"Oh yes, we've almost all got some one to leave be-
hind," answered I lendriksen. " Amundsen heads the list,
he does, for he has'five or six children ; then Nordal Iia.s
five, Juell and I have four ai:)iece, and then — let me see
— Pettcrson has two I think, and "
;3& jV.-iXS£X /X THE FROZEN WORLD
" And Nansen and I have one apiece," added the mate.
My thoughts flew back to little Liv, and I turned my
head and saw him still sitting up there upon the bridge,
busy with his painting, as though he had never in his life
done anything else. He had taken off his cap in order
to see better, and was shading tlie picture with his arm
or lookinir throuiih the hollow of his hand to 2:et a con-
centrated impression of the color. His bust stood out
boldly, the massive head with the short-clipped hair show-
ing in sharp outline against the indescribably pure and
clear colors of the evening sky. Were his thoughts bent
on his distant goal, or were they at home willi little Liv
in her cradle ?
The even in fj air beo^an to o^row^ chill, so I rose to eo
bel(jw and get hold of my greatcoat. As before men-
tioned, it was no easy matter to make your way about on
the deck of the I-'raiii ; so I remarked jokingly, "One
would need either four legs or a pair of wings to get
about among all this litter."
" You should do as Johansen did," answered the mate.
" He walked on his hands the other day up the steps from
the fo'c'sle, across the whole of the forward deck, up the
steps to the after deck, and down the companion into the
cabin : and I \w bothered if he was even red in the face
when he put his feet down again upon the floor of the
.saloon."
" Oh, that 's nothing for Johansen, he 's the first gym-
nast in Norway," remarked Gjertsen. " In Paris, he
made a clean somersault over forty-two men, so that the
I'rcnchmen thought there would be nothing but a wet
spot left when he came down. But he fell on his feet,
as ri'-hf n^ possible. He got a gold medal for that, too ! "
ON BOAKl) 77//': '• /A'./.)/ " 229
" Amundsen is not bad at that sort of thing, cither, you
know. What do you tliink lie did the other day down at
Rorvik, while we were loadini; all that beastly coal ? lie
was up in the inain-to}^ and wanted to C(jnie down to the
deck, forward. Confound nie if he did n't slide down the
stay from the main- top to the fore-top, holding on by his
hands alone all the way ! There is n't another man on
board could have done it ; but Amundsen's fists are as
hard as shoe leather, and no mistake. And then, of
course, he 's a bit lighter than I am, for e\amj)le," said
Gjertsen.
I, unable to emulate either of these feats, made my way
as well as I could over the obstacles that bestrewed the
after deck, past the chart-room, in the open doorwa)- of
which several powder-casks were piled up drying, and
down the cabin companion — a journey which, if it did
not require a gymnast of the hrst rank, was certainly not
to be recommended to a gouty subject or a fat man.
The cabin steps went right past the galley, where Juell
was at that moment dee]3 in his culinary occujjations.
A tempting smell of cooking greeted my nostrils, and I
looked in for a moment to warm myself a little and have
a chat.
Juell stood in his shirt-sleeves busy at hi.s work, the
perspiration pouring down his high foreheatl, and his heavy
mustaches droo})ing like a bridle from the corners of his
mouth.
" Nice and warm here, juell," said I.
" Warm ! I should think it was ! When all the pots arc
boiling for dinner I believe the dexil himself would singe
his nose if he j^oked it in here. It s the hardest job I 've
ever had in my life. I 've made many a voyage in my
,3o A.LVSEX /X TJIE FROZEN WORLD
day, but this is the first time I Ve sliippcd as cook, and if
1 come safe and sound back again, it shall be the last
time ! Take my advice, Professor, and never be a cook,
whatever you are."
"No, no, Juell — we can't all be tailors, you know. I
don't suppose I 'm in
much danger of re-
ceiving an appoint-
ment as chef. But
when you come home
again, Juell, I hope I
shall be able to give
I you a dinner and say
tak for sidst} and
thank you for all
' the 2:ood dinners on
board the Fram!'
" Thanks for the
invitation," answered
" But it won't be for some time yet, I 'm afraid. If
only Feik here will hold out till we come back, I dare say
it won't be such a bad trijD after all."
" Peik " was the popular name for an insulated cooking-
ai)i)aratus, of k'inne's invention, a great contrivance which
held the warmth very long. Nansen took a lively interest
ill it, and several times, while I w^as on board, assisted at
the cooking of the dinner, in order to familiarize himself
with the working of Peik. And Peik cooked many excel-
lent things. The fare on board the Fram, in spite of Juell's
a|)ologies for his deficiencies as a culinary artist, was really
capital and not at all monotonous. The menu generally
' " Thanks for our last meeting " — a common form of salutation.
KirCltEN OK Tllli " KRAM
Juell.
ON BOARD THE 'TRAM'' 231
consisted of soup or fish, and a dish of meat, with half a
bottle of beer a head, so long as the beer lasted. I re-
member, for instance, that the first dinner I ate on board
consisted of tinned fish-puddings from Stavanger, tinned
rabbit from Australia, and wild ducks which Nansen had
shot on the way. A great variety of German preserved
vegetables were used in the soups, and American cran-
berry jam was often served with the meat. The provision-
ing of the ship, like all the rest of its equipment, was most
carefully thought out in all its details. There was a par-
ticularly large supply of vegetables and of fatty matter,
so that, so long as it stuck to the Fram, the expedition
should not suffer from " fat-hunger," as the Greenland
explorers had suffered. There were no less than 13,000
lbs. of butter on board, one third of it the best Danish
butter, and the rest superfine margarine, a present from
Pellerin & Co. While I was on board we ate nothing but
this margarine ; it was of such excellent quality that I do
not think any one would have taken it for artificial butter,
unless he had been told.
On the whole, the ship was lavishly provisioned ; vou
could scarcely name a thing that was not in stock, and
generally in considerable quantities. One thing, however,
was entirely absent, and that was alcohol — for drink-
ing, that is to say. The spirits for preserving " speci-
mens " would scarcely come under the heading of com-
missariat.
A passing steamer in Trondhjem Fjord had thrown us a
bottle of port wine, bidding us drink it at the North Pole.
This was — with the excejDtion of the beer, which was
calculated to last for a coui:)le of months — all the drink-
able alcohol on board. " You must lay in one or two
23» XANSEN J\ J HE FROZEN WORLD
battles of champagne in Tromso, Nansen," I said one day
in a joke. " to drink a skaal for Gamlc Norge, when )'oii
hoist your Hag on the axis of the earth." " I was think-
ing of smuggling on board one or two bottles of brandy
for Christmas Eve," he answered; "but you need n't speak
about it to the men." The doctor afterwards swore me
to secrecy, and told me that he, too, intended to smuggle
a bottle or so on board at Tromso.
I can see in my mind's eye the saloon on Christmas
Eve, \\ith the steaming toddy on the taljle. If I know
Nansen aright, the dose for each man will be of the
homa-opathic order. How clearly it stands forth in my
memory, that cosey little low-roofed cabin, with the small
state-rooms around it!
" Saloon " is a misleading word to use. The Frams
saloon was little more than a cot. But the thought of the
high endeavor to which it was dedicated made it seem
loftier and more spacious than the most majestic hall. In
itself, too, it was a cosey little retreat, exceedingly pleasant
to creep down into when it was too raw and cold and wet
to remain on deck.
On the front wall of the saloon, between the two
entrance doors, was placed a long sofa with high end-
posts carved into dragons' heads. It was covered with a
heavy rug of bright Norwegian colors. In front of it
stood the long narrow dining-table ; by making ourselves
as small as jjossible, we cf)uld all (exceiDt those on watch)
sit down to it at once. The table-service was the same
for all dishes ; an enamelled tin i)late and a big enamelled
cup.
Over the middle of the sofa hung, in a frame, an ad-
ON BOARD yJ/K '• J'RAM''
'-U
mirably painted design lor tapestry, by Cierhard Munthc,
representing three fairy-tale princesses surprised by tliree
I)rinces transformed into Ijears. To the left of this little
masterpiece hung a woodland scene by Kilif Peterssen,
and on the right a delicate sketch in cohered chalks by
Skredsvig, representing the i)oint and landing-stage at
SALOON ON THE " 1-KAM "
Nansen's home at Lysaker, with, under it, a study from
Jaederen by Kitty Kielland.
Against the right hand wall stood an harmonium made
by Nystrom & Co., of Karlstad. It was arranged .so that
it could be played either by means of the keys like a
piano, or with a handle, like a barrel-organ, the tune being
determined by a strip of perforated paper. Its repertory
consisted of over a hundred pieces, from the minuet in
Don Giovanni -^ind airs from Dtr J-'rciscJiutz. down to the
commonest dance tunes. As an institution, however, it
did not seem to be particularly popular; at any rate there
was a unanimous movement on board for buving a con-
certina in Tromsij, and great expectations were abroad as
234 A'.^.VSEX /X THE IKOZEX WORLD
to what Moirstad would do with liis violin wlien he joined
the ship.
Over the harmonium liung a picture by Hansteen, and
between the door of Scott Hansen's comfortal^le and taste-
fully arranged cabin and the back wall of the saloon hung
a little woodland sketch, also by Hansteen ; while over the
stove (a petroleum pipe-stove made by Blunck. which
served at the same time as a ventilating apparatus), in the
middle of the back wall, hung a third painting, a study of
birch-stems, by the same artist.
On the left wall, between the entrance to Dr. Blessing's
and Sverdrup's cabins, was fixed a stand with seven Krag-
Jorgensen carbines. These, however, were only a small
portion of the ^hip's armament, which consisted in all of
no fewer than thirt\-t\\() rifles and twenty-four revolvers,
all of the best quality, to say nothing of two cannons, and
a great store of ammunition.
Above the stand of guns hung another charming pic-
ture by Skredsvig — the fir-trees in front of Nansen's
house, a winter landscape with snow.
A little way from the table, the great mast dixided the
saloon into two ])arts. It was surrounded by a quite nar-
row upholstered seat, which, however, was seldom used.
Loose stools were scattered about the cabin.
Light was suj^plied at night by several incandescent
electric lamjis over the sofa. The great arc lam}) was not
used while I was on board.
One other detail must not be omitted : the Norwegian
lion (.n a red background in the skylight over the stove.
Such was the saloon of the Fram. The roof was so low
that (ijcrtsen, Hendriksen, and juell could touch it with
their hats, and so narrow that at scarcely any i)art of it
ON BOARD Tim '• /'A'. /.I/" 235
could two couples pass each otlur wilhoul tiirm'iiL^ side-
ways.
How every little detail between these low walls has fixed
itself in my nieniory, from the half-frightened, half-curious
expression on the faces of Munthe's princesses, to the
check rug on the sofa seat, which, however, Nansen used to
turn wrong side up every day, for he found that the many
pairs of coal-dusty and tarry trousers left too obvious traces
on the pattern, and were already beginning to soften the
gay colors rather too much. " It 's got to last till we come
back again," said Nansen, " so we must be sparing of our
splendors."
In the saloon I found the supper-table still sjDread, al-
though it was already pretty late. The engineers who
had been on duty had come up to have supper and draw
a breath of fresh air, which they had well earned ; for the
stoke-hole of the Ffam, a paradise no doubt in the polar
winter so long as the coal lasts, must in these more south-
erly latitudes and in summer have seemed very much the
reverse.
There they sat, then, the two athletes aforesaitl, h'ngi-
neer Amundsen and Lieutenant and Stoker lohansen,
enjoying their rest and their sui)i)er. Presently in came
Scott Hansen and Dr. Blessing, and we got a warm cup
of tea from the steward and attacked the su])iK-r manfully
— I, indeed, for the second time.
I knew that I should probably eat only one more sui)per
on board the Frani, and rccolKc tions streamed in upon
me of my days on board, which had passed so (|uic-kly,
along with many a thought of the days that were as yet
hidden in the mists of the future. In the mean time, the
supper and the talk went on as usual, Juell going back-
,36 X.lXS^.y /y THE FROZEN WORLD
ward and forward and assisting in both. The talk ran
on all sorts of topics, but of course chiefly on the Fram
and everything connected with her. Now the petroleum
launch was the theme — one held that it was a wretched
affair altogether, that it was quite impossible to kee}) it
clean, and that after you had used it once, it took half a
day to make it fit for use again, while another defended
it and maintained that, with its great speed, it would be
invaluable for reconnaissances, etc. Then some one de-
scribed what a sharp look-out )ou had to keep among the
open lanes in the ice, how it felt to get into an Arctic fog,
and so forth,
I was to take no part in all thisi so felt myself rather
outside the conversation. I turned to the doctor and
said, " Tak for viaden} doctor. It will probably be a long
time before you and I have supper together again on
board tlic /'VamT
" Two summers, I expect," said the doctor, with his
usual cheery confidence.
" If you have good luck, j^erhaps you '11 be back next
autumn," said I.
" That would be the devil's own luck," was the answer.
" No luck at all," y\mundsen put in. " If anything
worth while is to come of the trip, we must be away two
years at the very least."
A hearty burst of laughter greeted Amundsen's frank
prognostication. His view of the matter was undeniably
both a stoical and a practical one.
After supjier I went into my cabin to rest a little and
get out my ox-ercoat before going on deck again. Nan-
sen had given up his own cabin to me, and slept in
' •' Thanks for the food ! '" — a iormula always used at Uie end of a meal.
ON BOARD THE '' FRAM"
237
the deck-house \vliile I was on IxkirI. The door lo his
cabin was on the ri-ht, well forward in the saloon, and,
like all the doors in the J'^aui, was immensely solid, with
a high threshold. None of the cabins had any sort of
window (the sides of the ship were twenty-four inches
thick), and when the door was closed the only means of
ventilation was a couple of small holes in the door itself.
It was of course pitch dark, too, unless the incandescent
lamps, with which each cabin was provided, were lighted.
When you entered the cabin and turncfl the knob for
NA.NSENS s■^^Il^■ mn -nn -ilwi.
the electric light, the first thing it shone \\\)(\w was an afl-
mirable drawing b)' Werenskjold : " Eva with little l.i\ in
her lap." Thus all that was dearest in the world con-
fronted him the moment he ]3ut his head in at the cabin
door. I well remember one morning when he came to
fetch something before I had got up. I le turned the but-
ton while still in the doorway and began to chat with me ;
238 .^:-/.^".sv^-^' ix the frozkx world
but I >a\\ wIktc liis eyes fell, and where his thouglits
were.
Under the jiieture was a bench, a sofa l^y day, a bed by
iiii;ht. Here were no soft si)ring mattresses, only a stuffed
pallet with a pair of warm blankets and a single very
meagre pillow. Hut how sound one could sleep on this
.simple couch — that is to say, when the Fram was not
rolling so as to land one on the floor every now and then.
For the Fram could roll, at any rate before the cargo
was shifted in the Na-rosund.
Scott Hansen declared that she had described an angle
of ft)rty-si.\ degrees in a heavy sea off Lister. It must
have been an uncomfortable night ; the whole forward
deck was deej) in water, so that the deck cargo was wash-
ing about from one side to the other, and at last there was
nothing for it but to throw overboard a number of paraffin
barrels, b^jrtunately they were only empty barrels in-
tended for preserving the skins of bears, seals, walruses,
and other game ; and there were plenty of them left.
1-2 ven while I was on board the Fram, she rolled a good
deal one night, although it was not blowing particularly
hard, and the sea did not run very high — indeed, there
was only a long swell. In crossing the Vestfjord, on the
other hand, when it was blowing quite fresh, the ship was
as steady as a rock the moment she was under full sail.
She was, indeed, a strange, a unique vessel. Sverdrup,
who, as a rule, said little enough, could not help now and
then giving expression to his affectionate surprise in a
sulxlued " She 's a rare little craft, and no mistake ! "
But to return to Nansen's cabin. On one side of the
end wall was a cuj^board containing the cash-box, papers,
diaries, etc., the key of which was in Nansen's own keep-
ON BOARD TIIK 'W'R.IM" 239
ing; on the otlicr side, near the head of the bed or sofa,
was a bookcase with a rich selection of hterature of many
kinds. Numbers of books had been presented to the
Frain by Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish puljHshers and
others. The tolerably extensive library thus formed was
always at the disposal of the crew. Besides, the doctor
had his own medical library in his cabin, and Scott
Hansen kept a collection of books, mainly meteorological
and astronomical, along with tlie charts in the chart-room.
Hut Nansen had j^icked out for his own use a number of
books which he kept in his cabin. They were for the
most part, of course, geographical, geological, zoological,
and other scientific works, but with a fair sprinkling of
imaginative literature and philosophy. Ibsen and Hjorn-
son, Vinje, Jonas Lie, Runeberg, and others were repre-
sented, some of them by their complete works ; and here
too were Tennyson, Keats, Byron, Frauenstedt s Schopen-
hauer, etc. — in short, an ample stock of reading even for
the long night of the polar winter.
When I entered on my short occupation of the cabin,
the greater part of these books lay in a chaos on the floor,
along with all sorts of other things; so I took it uj^on my-
self to arrange them according to subjects in the bookcase,
and I made free use of this librarv while I was on board.
This evening, for instance, when I lay down on the sofa
after supper, I opened the first book that came to hand,
and found it to be Nansen's " How can the North Polar
Region be Crossed ? " — containing his lecture before the
Royal Geographical Society, and all the objections of the
celebrated T^nglish sailors. It was the first time I had
seen it. It made a peculiar and moving imj)ression upon
me as I read it here in Nansen's own cabin.
,40 X.LVSJiX AV THE FROZEN WORLD
When I had done, I felt I must go up and sec him.
Until that moment I had not quite grasped and realized
the significance of his enterprise. He himself was always
so easy and unpretending, and on board the Frant every-
thing took its daily course with such a total absence of
solemnity, that I had, as it were, lost the sensation of
there being anything unusual in this voyage. To cross
Greenland, to start for the North Pole, to go to the end
of the world, seemed no more to these men than a trip
down Christiania Fjord to the ordinary mortal.
I could hear Juell's quick tongue, in the saloon, supply-
ing a running commentary to one of the doctor's stories;
on the deck some one was rumbling a beer-barrel along ;
the piston kej^t up its regular throb, and the propeller its
vibration, while the Fram clove its way foot by foot
through the sea, slowly but surely — as though driven by
some natural law ever onward and onward toward the
unknown goal.
Nansen had lent me a camel's-fur jacket while I was on
board; it was so cosey and warm that it seemed to put my
skin into a positive glow when I had it on. Thank
Heaven, I thought, he need certainly neither starve nor
freeze so long as the J-raiii holds together.
Hut if the Fravi should be crushed, as one of the Eng-
lish admirals jDrophesied .'*
** Then we '11 take to our longboat," Nansen had
answered.
" The boats are too big and heavy," another admiral
had objected.
" We have five or six smaller boats with us," was Nan-
sen's reply, " and if the worst comes to the worst, we '11
get along on an ice floe ; I 've done it before."
ON BOARD THE '"FRAAf" 241
Yes, I felt 1 must sec him and express my affection
for him in the little time we could still be toc^ether. Up
the companion, past the steaming galley, out into the free
air of heaven !
There the Fram lay, heaving gently in the full glory of
the summer night. We had at last drawn near the peaks
of Hammero, so that we could see their green-clad base.
Before us stretched all the mountains of the mainland,
those nearest bathed in a splendid purple glow, while far-
ther ahead they passed through all gradations of subdued
color from tender violet to deep gray, right down to the
edge of the crisp blue-black sea.
It was strangely still. Not a soul was to be seen on
the deck, forward, and when I looked aft, to the south-
ward, I saw nothing; but skv and sea. The solemn silence
of the summer night took such hold on my mind that
I remained leaning on the bulwarks for a long time,
watching the })lash of the waves against the ship's side,
before I went up to him.
There suddenly flashed upon me the recollection of a lit-
tle ragged urchin whom I had seen a few days before on the
beach near Trondhjem while I was waiting for the Fram.
He was going barefoot in the sand, dirty and unkemj^t,
but beaming with health and contentment, and singing at
the top of his voice, " ]Q:'g gaar i fare, hvor jcg gaar ! " '
Then the thought of my own confirmation came ujion
me, when I sat in the church and shouted with all the
rest, " jeg gaar i fare, hvor jeg gaar!" and heard the
mighty organ-harmonies throbbing under the vaulted roof
as though they indeed represented the wrath of the Lord.
* •' I go in clanger wherever I go "' — the first line of a hymn.
16
^42 X.LVSSA' ly THE FROZEN WORLD
bonic ^n\\^ came along the deck wliistling a merry tune ;
it was tlie liglit-hearted Petterson, stripped to the waist in
the chill evening wind, carrying a basin and a tow^el and
preparing to wash the grime of tlie engine-room off his
face and body. 1 Ic had been in the Polar Sea before, on
lx)ard the Ilcrtlui, so that he was at home in these waters.
What a splendidly modelled back! How fine the play of
the muscles in his arms! Yes, indeed, such frames as
this seemed built for a tussle with the darkness and the
fog and the cold and the ice. His whole personality was
^ct to a very different air from that which was running in
my head. Every line of it seemed to sing : —
" \'icr glad naar faren veier
livur L'vne, som du eier ! " ^
and from all his comrades around, from the man who
stood at the helm, from those who were stoking the
furnace, from all who now lay sleeping in their bunks,
it seemed as thouirh the third line came chiminc: in tri-
umjihantlv: —
" Og desto storre seicr ! " -
I could delay no longer, I must go up to Nansen. I
clambered o\er boxes and boards, wormed my way be-
tween barrels and stacks of dried fish, and finally, in
.si^itc of all obstacles, managed to haul myself up on the
bridge.
There he still sat in his thin silk waterproof, as he had
sat hour after hour, def\'ing the wind. When he saw me
he rose and nodded, and said, as though apologizing for
liaving been so absorbed in his j^ainting : —
"I've just finished!" And then, without a pause,
' " Rejoice when danger puts to the test every faculty you possess."
"^ " And so much greater the victory."
ON BOARD THE - J-KAM" 243
" Have you ever seen such a lovely evening ? We "re
lucky in our weather, and no mistake."
"It's a beautiful country, this of ours," I .said, "You
must make haste and come home, and have a better look
at it! — And now let me see your works of art."
"I have a whole bundle here," he answered. "You
shall ha\e the lot of them to take to Kva."
Ah, yes — that was why he had been so busy.
" I Ve been down below, reading," I went on, "and I got
hold of that b^nglish pamphlet of yours with the plan of
your expedition. You did n't get much encouragement
out of them, in London."
"Oh, they didn't treat me at all badly — and there
was n't really anything to discourage one in what they
said. It was just the same when I was starting for (jreen-
land, you know; and tliat, to my mind, was really a more
ticklish business than this. Here, thank goodness, we 've
got everything we can possibly want, and I hoi:)e we shall
neither starve nor freeze." He looked in my face with a
frank smile and said slowly and emphatically : " Boasting
aj)art, no ship has ever been ec|ui])}jed for an Arctic voy-
age as this one is."
Then he bundled u]) his ])ainting things, and we went
below.
Two days later, on the evening of jul\- 1 2, we jiarted
at Tromsi). it had rained and snowed alternately all day
long, and fi'om the toj) of Tromsd.i] Peak, right down to
the gardens along the fjord, an iiuh-lhick sheet (»f new-
fallen snow lay over the green leaves and the fresh gra>s.
An icy north wind was l^lowing, so that the fjord seemed
to reck ])eneath it, and you could see tlie squalls sweeping
over the water.
244
.V.IXS^X JX THE FROZEN WORLD
Nansen and I had been afoot all day making purchases.
Moreover, we liad been studying geology in Tromsb Mu-
seum, had had a glass of wine at Mack's, and had, for the
rest, put in our time usefully and agreeably.
I had been aboard the Frmn in the afternoon to say
COLIN AKCHKK. THE HUILUKK OF THK " 1-KAM "
good-by, and had jjoked my nose into every hole and
corner to fix my impressions firmly in my memory. On
board I found Mogstad, w^ho had now joined the ship, and
was to replace Gjertsen and Christiansen. He impressed
mc as a fine, active, fearless fellow, and was doubtless a
valuable addition to the crew.
ON JWARD THE '' FKAM" 245
While I was busy packing my i^ortmanteau, Nanscn
came clown with the water-colors and pastels, the products
of the northward voyage, which I had j^romised to take
to his wife. He had i)laced them within the leaves of
Nordenskjold s great facsimile atlas, and remarked as he
gave me the parcel : " You 'd better take Nordenskjold's
book with you ; it 's so costly and valuable, it would be a
great pity to lose it if the luck should go against us, and
we should have to leave the Fram behind."
He said this with as much nonchalance as if he had
been speaking of leaving behind an old overcoat, or a
worn-out pair of boots.
" You must sec and bring the Fvam home with you," I
said.
" Oh, you maybe sure we won't leave the vessel until
we can't do anything else ; but of course the ice might be
so bad that we could n't get her through, and then it woultl
be annoying to have to lose more than necessary."
That evening Nansen and Sverdrup accompanied me
on board the Vesteraalen, and had a glass of hot toddy by
way of stirrup cup.
A last hearty embrace, and good-by. " My love to your
wife ! And be sure and give my love to Eva and Liv and
all at home ! "
" Promise me you '11 take care of yourself, and not be
too reckless — and a safe return to both you and the
Fram ! And God bless you, mv dear friend ! "
The steamer's ])cl] rings for t lie last time. At midnight
precisely the Vesteraalen starts for the south. I see Nan-
sen and SverdrujD standing erect, side by side, in the stern
boat of the I-'ravi. Vox a moment more I can distinguish
Nansen's light waterproof; then the two figures seem to
,46 X.!-yS/uV AY THE FROZEN WORLD
melt into one behind the veil of snow, thick as in mid-
winter, which is sweeping over the sound. One last
glimpse of the Fravi through the mist, and all is over.
When shall I see him again.?
lit. • 1 RAM '■ l.KAVING liKKGEN, NORWAY, KUR THE ARCTIC REGIONS
HANSEN'S STORY
AS TOLU I!Y HIMSELF
CHAPTI-R XIII
INTRODUCTION
As soon as ever I began to think about Aretie enterprise
it struck nie that the ways in wliich attempts had hitherto
been made to jDenetrate into the mysteries of the jjolar
regions were hardlv tlie best. It was clear that tlie con-
stantly moving sea-ice which comes drifting from the no>'th
has been the great hindrance which has stopped the ships
and often crushed them, as well as has made progress by
means of dogs and sledges such a difficult task. It oc-
curred to me, h()we\'er, that there must be other ways by
which the interior of these unknown regions might be
reached, and it is many years since I first conceived the
plan of the voyage we have now accomplished.
It was especially the finding of some articles from the
unfortunate yean//i'//c Qxpcdh'um which led me in i SS4 to
think of this plan. These articles were found, as is well
known, on the southwest coast of Greenland, and could
not, in my opinion, have come there from the sea north-
east of the New Siberian Islands, where the Jtaiuieltc
went down, in any other wav than right across the Pokar
Sea north of I^-anz josef Land ; and it struck me that if
objects from a .ship could drift this wa\-. a >hi|) too might
go the same route, provided she was strong enough to
withstand the pressure of the ice.
I then began to study these seas carefully, and turned
my attention especially to the ice and its drift ; but the
250 X.LVSJiN IX THE FROZEN WORLD
more I studied the subject, the more proofs I obtained
of a constant communication between the sea north of
Siberia and that on the east coast of Greenland, and I
was fully convinced that there was a constant drift or
drift current which carried the drift ice in a fixed course
ri^dit across the sea around the North Pole from the Si-
berian and Bering Strait side, out into the sea between
Spitzbergen and Greenland. And so certain was my con-
viction of the correctness of this theory, that I w^as equally
certain that an expedition which, with a specially adapted
vessel, pushed into the ice and allowed itself to be frozen
in at the right spot on the Siberian side, must necessarily
drift the same way, and thus be enabled to lift, to some
extent, the veil which is drawn across these regions. In
my lecture delivered before the Royal Geographical So-
ciety in November, 1892, and published in the " Geograph-
ical Journal" for 1896, I unfolded my plan and the views
upon which it was based.
The proofs upon which I chiefly based my theory of a
drift across the Polar Sea were, as before mentioned : —
(i) The continual conveyance of Siberian drift wood to
the Greenland coast.
(2) The finding on the coast of Greenland of a throw-
ing-stick (an I^skimo implement), of wliich it might with
certainty be affirmed that it came from Alaska by the
Bering .Strait ; and
(3) The very nature of the ice that comes drifting south
along the coast of East Greenland, and which is consider-
ably larger and more massive than any drift ice we know,
and ma)- therefore safely be said to have drifted a long
time in the sea before it could be packed together and
piled up to form such enonnous masses.
INTR OD UCTJON 2 5 1
One proof to which at that time I attached consid-
erable value, and which, after investigating the circum-
stances more closely, I consider to be of still greater im-
portance, was that all over the ice which comes drifting
southward along the east coast of (ireenland, down
through the strait between Iceland and Greenland, 1 found
brown dust and mud. This, I concluded, could not come
from any other place than Siberia. During my Green-
land expedition in 1888, however, I collected .some sam-
ples of this dust, which I got the geologist l'\)rnebohm to
examine. Without knowing my views — simply from
microscopical examination of this dust — he gave it as his
opinion that it had probably come from an extensive
alluvial country, and therefore considered Siberia t(^ be its
probable source. Besides mineral dust, however, he found
in these samples microscopical plants, which are known
by the name of diatoms, and he therefore sent the sam-
ples to Professor Cleve, the great authority on the sub-
ject. Cleve now found a striking conformity between the
diatoms in my samples and those in a samjile which had
been casually gathered during the Swedish Vco^a expe-
dition on a floe off Cape W'ankaivnia, in the neighbor-
hood of Bering Strait. These diatom samples from two
places lying at such a distance from one another are
totally different from all other samjDles hitherto examined
from different parts t)f the world. Mutuallv. however,
they are so exactly alike that Clew did not he>itati' in
expressing it as his opinion that tluTi- must W- an open
communication between tin- sea north of liering .Strait
and that cast of Greenland. By invotigating this more
closely during the expedition, I found a whole world of
diatoms and other microscopical organisms, both vegc-
,52 ^'.l^'s/^^' A^' t//£ frozen world
table and animal, living in the fresh-water pools on the
polar drift ice, and constantly travelling from Siberia to
the east coast of Greenland, — a world which has hitherto
only been known from the above-mentioned samples, but
which, perhaps, no one dreamed was living on the ice in
the far north — that ice which was thought to be utterly
forsaken by all living beings.
After having brought forward in my lecture the various
proofs of the correctness of my theories, I summed up in
the following words : —
From all these facts we seem fully entitled to draw the
conclusion that a current is constantly running across
the polar region to the north of Franz Josef Land from
the sea north of Siberia and Bering Strait, and into the
sea between Spitzbergen and Greenland ; and as we have
seen, the floe ice is constantly travelling with this current
in a fixed route between these seas. Since such is the
case, the most natural way of crossing the unknown region
must be to take a ticket with this ice, and enter the cur-
rent on the side where it runs northward — that is, some-
where near the New Siberian Islands — and let it carry
one straight across those latitudes which it has prevented
so many from reaching.
As was emphasized in this lecture, it was not, of course,
the object of the expedition to reach the North Pole, but
to go right across the unknown polar region. As I then
said (" Geographical Journal," p. 20), it is not possible to
guarantee exactly over what point the current will take
fine. "It may be possible," I say, " tliat the current will
not carry us exactly across the Pole, but the principal
thing is to explore the unknown polar regions, not to
reach exactly the mathematical point in which the axis
of our globe has its northern termination,"
X.LVSEX ly THE FROZEN WORLD
To attain this, it was clear to me that there were only
two ways of proceeding; it was either —
(1) To build a strong ship, so constructed that it can
withstand the pressure of the ice, and, living in this ship,
to float across with the ice ; or
(2) To take only boats along, and camp on an ice floe,
and live there while floating across.
My jilan was especially based on the former of these
two ways, but also in such a manner that we were pre-
pared to take the second way in case our ship should be
overcome by the superior force of the ice.
In order, however, that this should not happen, I gave
all my care tt) the building of a ship especially fitted for
this object, and I was fortunate enough to find in the
well-known Norwegian naval architect, Mr. Colin Archer,
a man who devoted himself with all the skill and capabil-
ity he possessed to the task I set him. Seldom, if ever,
has a ship been built with more care or greater conscien-
tiousness than that with which Colin Archer built the
Fravi; but in return he has the satisfaction of having
produced the first ship that has ever passed the Polar
Circle. The Fram fulfilled perfectly, down to the small-
est details, the requirements wdiich I put upon her. It
was not only her great strength and the picked material
of which she was built which enabled her to go through
the exceptionally severe ordeals to which she was sub-
jected, but it was also the unusually good shape, and the
numerous ingenious means by which all dangerous points
were protected, and which were due in a great measure to
Colin Archer's insight. It is therefore to a great extent
owing to him, through the good ship, that the whole expe-
dition, which it was prophesied in advance would be the
INTRODUCTION 233
hardest and most (laiit;cn)us that iikui had ever yet ven-
tured upon, was a real pleasure or holirlay trij), durin*'-
whieh we led so eomfortable a life that few could be
more comfortable, even in Old England.
When I delivered my lecture to the Royal Ge(\i;raj)hi-
cal Society, many of the great Arctic authorities who
were present as my true friends, and anxious abtnit the
safety of my comjianions and nnself, strongly dissuaded
me from the attempt. A few of them went so far as to
say that the whole plan was founded on theories whi( h
were far from agreeing with the actual circumstances;
and the general opinion, both in England and elsewhere,
was that either the expedition would never be heard of
again, after having once confided itself to the caj)ricious
polar ice, or it would return without results; and all
authorities seemed to agree tliat it was an utter impossi-
bility for a ship to withstand the ice-pack in the unkncnvn
North. The well-known American Arctic traveller, (ien-
cral A. W. Grcely, thought it " almost incredible that
the ]")lan advanced by Dr. Nansen should receive encour-
agement or suj)j3ort," and he concludes his article in the
"Forum" with the following words: " /Vrctic exploration is
sufficiently credited with rashness and danger in its legit-
imate and sanctioned methods, without bearinir the bur-
den of Dr. Nansen's illogical scheme of self-destruction."
This, of course, could not >hake my f.u'th in the correct-
ness of my plan. The Norwegian Stoithing had already,
as soon as I ])ut forward a petition. Noted the sum I
required for its realization, while there was no difficulty
in obtaining from j:)rivate individuals in Norway what
more was required for the expedition. I huiiig, on
account of the expensive construction of the ship. etc..
256 .V.LVS/:X /y THE FROZEN WORLD
run short of funds just before starting, I had to ask the
Norwegian Stortliing for an extra grant, which was again
given with wiUing hand.
STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE
" FKAM " EXPEDITION, 1893-1896
INCOME
Crmviii
Contribution of the State
(government) .... 280,000.00
H. .M. the king and origi-
nal private contributors . 105,000.00
Collected by geographical
society and committee . 20.468.46
Interest 9,729.78
Deficit covered by A. Hei-
berg, A. Dick, and F.
Nansen 19,862.50
London Geographical .So-
ciety (^300), H. Simon,
Manchester (^100), a
Norwegian at Riga (1000
rubles), and others . . 9,278.62
Total cr 444,339.36
(Total about $120,000.00.)
EXPENSES
Hire-account (wages) . .
Life insurance premiums
(for the married mem-
bers of exp.)
Instruments ace
Ship's ace. . .
Provision ace. .
Expense ace. .
Outfitting ace. .
Crowns
46,440.00
5,361.90
12,978.68
271,927.08
39,172.98
10,612.38
57,846.3.1
Total er 444,339.36
(Total about $120,000.00.)
CHAPTKR XIV
TllK VOYAGE OK THE " FRAM "
On June 24, 1S93, cvcnthini;- was at last ready, and
the Fram weighed anchor, and stood off down the
Christiania Tjord. On July 21 we stood out to sea fnmi
Vardb, the last Norwegian port, and shaped a course for
Nova Zembla. On the way we were stopped by ice for
some days, and did not reach Chabarowa, in the Yugor
Straits, until July 29. Here we took on board thirty-four
Siberian sledge dogs, which Trontheim, a man sent by
Baron Toll, had brought for us from the Ostiaks, in West
Siberia. Here, too, the boiler had to be cleaned, and
various other preparations made before we could proceed.
We were also waiting for a slooj), the Urania, whicli was
to bring us a cargo of coal ; but her coming was delayed ;
and as we already had a large quantity of coal and time
was short, I decided not to wait.
On one occasion I am afraid that I lowered my repu-
tation for all time to come among the Russians and
Samojedes in these parts. Some of them had been on
board and had seen me stand in the launch (I was en-
gaged in j)utting the machiner)- in order), with arms bare
and face full of dirt and grease, wearing a woollen shirt
and working hard. After they had gone to shore, they
told Trontheim that he had deceived them in telling
them that I was a fine gentleman. They declared that
I worked like a common laborer on board, and looked
•7
258 X.IXSEX TX THE FROZEN WORLD
worse than a pig. Unfortunately, Trontheim could not
say anything in my defence ; one cannot deny facts.
On the evening of August 3 we were ready to start.
My secretary, Christoffersen, who had accompanied us
so far, now took lea\'e of us. Just as we were about to
weigh anchor, however, a fog came on, and we could
hardly see the length of the bowsprit. The fog did not
seem inclined to lift, and I at last decided to start in spite
of it, I myself, with one man, going in front in our little
petroleum launch to sound the shallow channels where
we might expect to run aground at any moment. We
got safely out, and next morning stood out of the Yugor
Straits, and entered the dreaded Kara Sea. Here it was
not long before we met with ice, and it almost looked as
if every way was blocked ; but we found an open channel
running eastward along the shore, and followed it as far
as the Kara River, Thence we crossed over to Yalmal,
where, on .August 6, we were completely stopped by ice.
We went ashore, and while waiting employed the time in
botanical and geological expeditions. Upon fixing the
locality, we found, too, that on the map the coast was
jDlaced half a degree too far west. While we lay here, two
Samojedes came on board ; they were hospitably received,
and, having been enriched with biscuits and other Euro-
pean luxuries, left the ship well pleased. They were the
last human beings we saw.
On August 12 the ice at length opened toward the
north sufficiently to allow of our venturing on an attempt
to force our way farther. At the northern point of Yal-
mal, indeed, we were fortunate enough to reach open
water on August 1 3 ; but a stiff northeasterly gale com-
pelled us to tack eastward against a heavy sea. This
went on for several weeks.
THE VOyAUK OI' TJJE " /A\LW 250
While beating up one clay against a .stilt breeze in the
Kara Sea, to the northwest of the mouth of the Yenisei
River, we suddenly discovered land. We could not make
out what this was, as our observations gave our jio.silion
as riglU out at sea. It soon, however, became clear to us
that this was a hitherto unknown island, and we named
it Sverdrup's Island. In the evening we got under the
shore at Port Dickson. It had originally been our inten-
tion to put in here to leave letters for home, which were
to be called for by the English Yenisei KxjDcdition under
Captain Wiggins; but time was precious, and I therefore
decided to go on without stopping.
During our sail in a northeasterly direction along the
coast of Siberia we were continually discovering new is-
lands, which I shall not dwell upon here. This coast
upon the whole is very different from that represented on
maps. It gave me the impression of being a glaciated
coast, with deep fjords and a marked belt of rocks and
islands outside it, something like the west coast of Nor-
way or Scotland, although of course the mountains were
not so high nor the fjords so marked.
On August 20 we landed on one of Kjellman's Islands,
where "\ve shot a couple of bears and some reindeer.
Here, as in several places on the Siberian coast, we found
unmistakable traces of a glacial period, which must have
covered Northern Siberia with an inland ice of considera-
ble extent. I found erratic blocks, moraines, ami moraine
deposit almost wherever I landed, from Yalmal to the cast
of Cape Chelyuskin ; and on this particular island I also
found, in a place which was left bare at low water, unmis-
takable striations. When we were about to go on from
this place, we were stojDjDed by storm and a rapid adverse
26o A\ixs£y y.v the frozen world
current, which, in these dangerous waters, full of rocks
and shallows, rendered our advance impossible. Not un-
til August 24 did we get clear of them, when we still had
to beat up toward the east, against a strong head wind.
On August 27 wc reached Cape Palander, and on the
same night were stopped by unbroken land-ice between
Xordenskjold's Taimyr Island and the Alnicjuist Islands.
We endeavored to break our way through to the north of
the latter, but discovered a new chain of islands stretch-
ing far north. After having at length reached the north-
ern end of these, we were stopped there by densely packed
ice, and were obliged to turn back. There was no pas-
sage to be discovered ; unbroken land-ice lay everywhere
between the islands, We were obliged to wait, prepared
to winter in the same spot where Nordenskjold, as early
as the middle of August, 1878, had found water entirely
free from ice. Tlie storm, however, l3roke up the ice, and
on September 6 we were able to continue our way; but to
our suq^rise we came upon land before we were half way
across the Taimyr Gulf, as it is laid down on the map.
'I his bay is considerably narrower than one would gather
from ordinary maps, and has a different appearance. We
went on in a northerly direction toward Cape Chelyus-
kin, but were stopped on September 7 by close-packed
ice to landward,
(>)n the f(jll()wing day I went on an expedition into the
Chelyuskin Peninsula. I found it to consist for the most
|)art of extensive clay ]Dlains, strewn with huge erratic
blocks of granite, ix)rj3hyry, and various kinds of rock. I
also found here the opening of a mighty estuary, which
extended far up into the land.
^n S.-ptember 9 we were once more able to push our
rUE 10 VAC K OF THIi -/A'.l.]/-' 261
way northward, discovering still more new islands in the
sea to the west of Cajie Chelyuskin, which we passed im
September 10. J{ast of this ca])e the thickly packed ice
obliged us once more to make a short halt, Masses of
ice lay to the east and south along the east coast of the
Taimyr Peninsula, so close to the shore that we were
obliged to continue along it southward as far as to about
the mouth of the Anabara Ri\er. On Se])tember 15 we
were off the Olcnek Ri\er, wliere twenty-six hrst-rate
sledge dogs were awaiting us. I'hese, too, had been pro-
cured by Haron Toll, Ijccause the Kast Siberian dogs are
very much better than the West Siberian. It was most
important for me to have these dogs, as I felt that they
might become very useful to us ; but the shallow water
and the lateness of the season ke])t me from gt^ing in.
Were we to run aground here, it might easily cost us
several da\s' labor to get afloat again, and in the mean
time winter might set in, and we should be imprisoned
for a whole year, even if nothing worse happened. I
considered this was too "reat a risk to run, and therefore
continued our course toward the New Siberian Islands.
On the night of September iS we |)assed the most
westerly of these islands — Hielkov Island. Depots had
been left on Kotelny for the expedition by Haron Toll, in
case of f)ur being obliged to leave the shij) and turn our
steps homeward across Siberia. I would have been glad
to inspect these depots; but again time com|)elled us to
continue our way without dcla\- through the ojjcn water
to the north.
It was not until September 20, in 77 44' N. lat.. that
we were stopped by ice. I should have liked to go
eastward along the edge of the ice for the jjurpose of
262 NANSEy IN THE FROZEN WORLD
examining, if possible, tlie mysterious Sannikov Land;
and thence go in the direction of Bennett Island; but
there was a great deal of ice in this direction, and as pro-
gress would consequently be doubtful, I continued in a
northwesterly direction along the edge of the ice. On
September 21 we reached the head of a bay in the ice,
whence the ice-edge extended in a southwesterly direc-
tion. Here we could discover no further lead toward
the north, and we therefore, on September 22, made fast
to an iceberg in 78' 50' N. lat. and 133° zi E. long., and
allowed ourselves to be surrounded by the ice, which was
soon packed closely around the ship.
During the first few days we drifted in a northerly
direction, so that by September 29 we had passed the
seventy-ninth parallel of latitude. Hope was bright, but
before long it was darkened by a north w ind, which con-
tinued throughout tlie autumn, and carried us in a south-
easterly direction. That was a dreary time ; it seemed
as if everything were going against us. On November
S we had come right down as far as 'j']° 43' N. lat., and
1 3S° 8' E. long. ; but then at last we got southerly and
southeasterly winds, and began in earnest to drift in a
northerly and northwesterly direction, just as had been
presupposed, in the plan of the expedition.
As early as October the ice-pressures began to be tre-
mendous, and continued throughout the autumn and
winter. We soon discovered that it was principally due
to the tidal current, and that the ice periodically parted
and |)acked together again twice in the twenty-four hours.
1 he jiressure, was therefore greatest at the s])ring tides,
when it would often lift the vessel several feet, t)nly to let
it drop back again into its former position as soon as the
THE VOYAGI- OF 'J I /I' - JRAM
263
Till-. "IKAM" in NIK KK-PACK
ice again opened. In the case of any other vessel this
])ressure would haw been utterly fatal; hut the /•><?;;/
surpassed our boldest exj^ectations, and was superior to
all jjressure. The ice ])iled itself uj), and crashed against
her sides with a noise like the crack of dooni, but in vain.
1 here was not a sound of the yielding of timbers or wood.
264 iV.^NSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD
The noise of the ice crushing against her sides often rose
to such a pitch that we could not hear each other speak
as we sat in the saloon. It was particularly awkward for
the card-players, who thus could not hear each other's
declarations.
At first, as long as the crew were unaccustomed to this,
they found the scene so interesting that they remained on
deck to watch it ; but they soon tired of it, and no longer
went up, however bad the pressure was. We felt as safe
as in a fortress, and the /''nzw was a comfortable warm
nest, where nothing was felt of the severity of the polar
winter.
The temperature fell rapidly, and continued evenly low
throughout the winter. During many weeks the mer-
cury was frozen. The lowest temperature was 63° below
zero. In spite of this, and although with this temperature
there was often a wind, we felt quite comfortable, during
our open-air excursions, in our good woollen clothing,
with a covering of wind-proof material outside. The
Fram was so well protected against the cold that e\'en in
these low temperatures we had no fire in the saloon until
the New Year.
All the men were in excellent health during the whole
of the expedition, and we are all agreed that the Polar
Sea is a healthy place, especially with such a capital sani-
tarium as the Fj'am.
'I he electric light was produced by means of a wind-
mill, and quite fulfilled our expectations. There was not,
however, sufificient wind to allow of our havinor electric
light all the time, and we then had to content ourselves
with ordinary oil lamps.
On the whole, the time passed as pleasantly as possible
266 M-1XS/':.V IX THE FROZEX WORLD
on board. Every man was on tlie best of terms with his
neighbor, and did his duty with a will. Care was of
course taken to provide occupation ; but even without this,
time did not hang heavy on our hands. For those who
were not continually occupied in scientific observations
and investigations there was abundant entertainment in a
capital library, games, music, various kinds of work, etc. ;
and I think hardly any of us greatly felt the monotony
complained of in all Arctic expeditions. For us who had
charge of the scientific observations there was more work
than we could accomplish. The J-'rain. in fact consti-
tuted an observatory of the best kind for scientific in-
vestigations of all kinds; and it is therefore scarcely to
be wondered at that we should brinu: home such abun-
dant and valuable material as few expeditions before us
secured.
Lieutenant Sigurd Scott-Hansen was responsible for
the meteorological, magnetic, and astronomical observa-
tions, which, I venture to say, are exceptionally complete.
Dr. Blessing undertook the greater part of the botanical
investigations and observations of the Aurora Borealis,
and alx), of course, his physiological and medical observa-
tions, which are by no means unimj^ortant. In addition
to these, zoological researches were made on board, sound-
ings, determination of the temperature and the salinity of
the sea water, observations of the atmospherical electricity,
and much besides.
In the sea near the .Siberian coast and northward to
79^ N. lat., I found only very inconsiderable depths — less
than ninety fathoms. A little south of this latitude, how-
ever, the depth increased with astonishing raj^idity, and I
found the sea north of that to be between i, 600 and 1,900
•■^tanrtSTjihl-Ber, *• Vf WEST '
I i2s?fe-#5^
"tn
f, Northr..;. /• i^
W.m,j)f ,..-^^V^ ~ V KOLA
'~~L.Mfk "■'^"'■■''''^
ATTUAl ROUTt ShOAN
Map showing the Projected and Actual Routes of tlie " Fram," and Uic Course of the Sledge Kx|>e(liti..n
a68 X.-1.VS£.V AV THE FROZEN WORLD
fathoms deep. It therefore seems to me as if the entire
polar basin should be considered as a continuation of the
ileep channel which runs northward from the North
Atlantic Ocean between Spitzbergen and Greenland.
This discovery of a deep polar basin overthrows, however,
all earlier theories based upon a shallow Polar Sea. In
the numerous bottom samples brought to the surface in
our soundings I always found a remarkable absence of
organic life, a fact which will probably lead to some alter-
ation of our views with regard to bottom deposits. The
temperature and salinity of the sea also prove to be very
different frt)m the suppositions of most scientific authori-
ties. I found, not far below the cold ice-water covering
the surface of the Polar Sea, a deep layer of warmer and
Salter water, originating probably in the Gulf Stream, its
temperature being as much as one degree above freezing
point. Below this, indeed, the water was somewhat
colder, but yet considerably warmer tlian is generally
sujjposed.
The sjDced at which we drifted was continually chang-
ing, and our course, in consequence, was not a straight
line. Sometimes we drifted forward, but at others we
went back again; and were our course to be marked on a
map as it actually was, it would Idc such a confusion of
loops and knots that no one would be able to make any-
thing of it. From the accompanying outline map, how-
ever, on which the jDrincipal features of our course are
given, a good impression of its direction may be obtained.
As we expected, we drifted most in a northwesterly direc-
tion in the winter and spring, while northerly winds
stopped us in the summer.
liy June iS we had in this way reached 8i° 52' N. lat.,
/•//A' iov.k;/': of ////, -i-ram- ,6^
but i^rcvailiiio- nnitliuv.st winds a^ain drove us south-
ward, and the whole of that suninicr wc drifted about
in lower latitudes. Not until Oetober 21 chd we reach
82° N. lat. in i 14" 9' K. long. (Jn the evenin^t; of Christ-
mas Day, 1894, ^i" was reached in about 105' !<:. Ioul;..
and a few days later 83" 24' N. hit. — the most northerly
latitude until then reached by man.
On January 4 and 5, 1895, the J^'raui was subjected to
the greatest pressure we experienced. Before we set out
on our expedition the great .Arctic authorit\-, Sir Leopold
McClintock, gave it as his opinion that the Frani would
be able to withstand the ice-pressure in the summer, but
that if she were exposed to it in the winter he believed
the probability of her being able to stand the pressure or
raise herself was \'ery slight. Other Arctic authorities
expressed themselves )et niore strongh', sa\-ing that it
was. an impossibility for any shij) to stand the ice-pressure
in the winter. Now. however, the Fravi was not only to
be exposed to winter pressure, but she was then fast
frozen in ice of o\er thirty feet in thickness, a fact of
which I had prexiously ascertained the ti'uth by boring.
Across this ice immense masses of ice came gliding with
irresistible force against our port side. The {pressure was
tremendous. The ice piled itself up above the gunwales,
and high u]^ the rigging, threatening, if not to crush her,
at least to bury her. Scarcely a man on board believed
she could live. The necessary |)ro\isions. canvas kaiaks,
cooking utensils, fuel, tents, hand-sledges, and ski were all
brought in safety on to the ice. All hands were rcadv to
leave the ship, and no one was allowed to sleej) unless
fully clothed.
l^ut the I'rai)! proved to be stronger than our faith in
2 70 A\IXS£JV /X THE FROZEN WORLD
her. When the pressure was at its height, and for the
first time her timbers and beams began to creak, she
broke loose, and was slowly lifted up out of the icy bertli
in which she iiad been fast frozen.
It was a triumph. By putting together the very worst
po.ssibilities, I could hardly imagine a more dangerous
position ft)r a vessel, and after that experience I consider
the Fnun to be capable of anything. Notwithstanding
the most careful examination, we have not been able to
discover a single crack, a single s])linter displaced in her.
After this it became comparatively quiet as regards the
pre.ssures, and we drifted on rapidly in a northerly and
n( irtheasterly direction.
CHAPTKR XV
TIIK CRKAT SLKIH;!-; 1;.\ I'KI )I tion
As I now ti"i()U!j;lit I coultl assume willi certainty that
the Frani in a short time would reach lier highest lati-
tude north of I'^-anz Josef Land, and as earl\- as the
following summer would, as our })lan presu})i)osed, he
near the sea north of Spitzbergen, I believed the oj^jjor-
tunity had come to carry out a jDlan I had for some time
entertained; namely, to examine the sea north of the
Franis course. This could only be done by a sledge ex-
pedition, which could not reckon upon getting back again
to the Fravt, as the chance of refinding a vessel drifting
in the ice was small. As a journey of this kind might
appear to be fraught with some risk, should unforeseen
hindrances be met with, I felt that I could not take the
responsibility of sending an\' one else, and therefore de-
cided to go myself, although there was no lack on board
of those who were more than desirous of going. I chose
as my companion Lieutenant Johansen, who gladly ac-
cepted the ofTer of going. The command of the remain-
der of the exjjedition or. board the Inavi I left in Sver-
drui)'s hands.
I of course felt some hesitation in tlui.s leaving my
companions and i:)lacing the resjjonsibility for tlieir well-
being and safety in the hands of another; but witli the
perfect confidence that I had in Sverdrup's capability as
a leader and power of t)vercoming difficulties, I had no
272 X.LyS£X /X THE FROZEX WORLD
fear of his not bringing all hands safely home, even
sliould the worst happen and they have to abandon the
Fram; an event, however, which I deemed highly im-
probable.
All the winter I had been busy making preparations for
this expedition. I had had new strong sledges made on
board specially calculated for being drawn by dogs over
the uneven ice. Next I had made two kaiaks, twelve feet
in length, and so roomy that they could each carry a man
with provisions for four months, as well as some dogs on
the deck. The framework of these was made of bamboo
and covered w ith can\as. When completed they weighed
about forty pounds each. The provisions, w^hich consisted
exclusively of the best kinds of dried and greatly con-
densed articles of food, — chiefly dried meat, dried fish,
steam-cooked oatmeal, biscuits, butter, etc., etc., — were
stowed awav in canvas bags of convenient size. We had
constantly driven the dogs to keep them in training for
the journey, and all kinds of experiments had been tried
with the tent, sleeping-bag, etc.
It was my intention to leave the Fram as soon as the
dawning polar day would allow^ of our traversing the
rough drift ice. So on February 26, with six sledges,
twenty-eight dogs, two kaiaks, and provisions for men
and dogs for several months, Johansen and I left the
Fram. However, after four days' toiling with all these
sledges over the rough ice, we saw that, thus heavily
laden, we should not be able to reach our goal in good
time. The dogs could not on this ice draw as much as
we had expected of them ; and we therefore decided to
return to the shij), in order to reduce the number of our
sledges and the quantity of our ]^rovisions, and to wait a
little longer before setting off.
18
= 74
X.LVS/^X LV THE FROZEN WORLD
On March 3, just as \vc were approacliing tlic Fram,
the sun appeared above the horizon for the first time that
spriiii;, after the longest polar night ever experienced by
man. Observations taken on the same day showed that
we had reached a latitude of 84° 4' N.
r.>^.
DR. NANSEN AND LIEUTENANT JOHANSEN LEAVING THE " FRAM "
A few da\s were again s]Dent in preparations. It was
now my plan to take witli us only dog provisions for one
niontli and jjrovisions for the men for a hundred days,
and with this liglit equii)ment try to pass Cjuickly on
over the ice. We thus need not set off so early, and
it was not until March 14 that we again said farewell to
our companions, this time in earnest. We had now only
three sledges, on two of which lay our two kaiaks, and
wc had the same twenty-eight dogs as before. It was
my hope that as we got farther north wc should {mm\
smoother ice, the ice there being older, and its uneven-
THE GREAT SLEDGE EX/'ED/T/OX 275
ncss therefore l)etter covered up by the ch-iftin^ snow.
This ajjpeared at first to be the case. W'c found the ice
tolerably easy to _<;et over, and did some good days'
niarrhes. On March 22 we had already reached 85^ 10'
N. lat., and we calculated that ue tould co\er t;reater and
greater distances as the sledge-loads grew lighter with the
daily consumption of food on the part of both men and
dogs. The dogs, too, ajjpeared to hold out fairly well.
Hut by and by the Hoes began to be more uneven, and
packed together, and the drift, which until then had
seemed to be slight, was now against us. On March 25
we had reached CS5' k/ N. lat.; on the 29111, .S5 30'.
The ice was obviously drifting southward at a good rale,
while at the same lime our j^rogress over the rou'di ice
was slow. It was a never-ending labor, forcing our way
through and getting the sledges over the high hummocks
and piled-up ridges of ice, which were alwavs being
formed afresh, and which the snow-storm never had time
to smooth over. On such ice the dogs, of course, were of
very little assistance. When they came to obstacles such
as these they waited jxatiently until we had carried the
sledges safely over, and they could once more draw them
on over a short stretch of le\el ice to a fiv>h obstacle.
The ice was in constant movement and thundering
around us on all sides. On .\\)v\\ ; we were in S5' 59'
N. lat. W c i)ushed on with all our might, always hojiing
for better ice. On April 4 we reached ^6^ 3': but the
ice grew worse, until at last on April 7 it ua>> so bad
that I thought it unadvisable to continue any fartiier to-
ward the north. If it were like this in the direction of
I'Vanz Josef Land, we might have difficulty enough in
getting there. We were then in S6' 14' N. lat., and
276 A'.-l.yS/t.V /X THE FROZEN WORLD
about 95' H. long. In order to investigate the state of
the ice and the possibility of advance, I went farther
north on ski, but could discern no likely way. From the
highest luimmock 1 could find, I saw only packed and
piled-up ice as far as the horizon.
1 lere, as during our whole journey, we saw no sign of
land in any direction. The ice a])peared to drift before
the wind without being stopped by mainland or islands
for a distance of many miles ; and it seems to me scarcely
jjrobable that land will be found on this side of the North
l\)le, even if we must suj^pose that on the other side any-
thing like a continuation of the North American archi-
pelago may be found toward the north.
The first time we set out from the Fram we had had
our good warm wolf-skin clothes with us ; but as spring
was approaching, and the temperature had latterly been
comparatively high, we did not think we should again
have \'ery low temperatures, and therefore, to save weight
and make the caravan as easy of transport as possible, we
reduced the outfit to a minimum, and left our warm fur
clothing on board when we left the Fram for the second
time, a proceeding that we were subsequently to repent
bitterly.
For about three weeks the temperature remained at
about 40^ below zero, rising on April i to 7.6° below
zero, but soon sinking again to 36.4° below zero. With
such a temperature and a wind, we often felt it bitterly
cold in our good but too light woollen clothing, which,
owing to the perspiration of the body, was gradually
transformed into an icy coat of mail. It was worse with
our outer woollen jackets, which became covered with a
thick layer of ice, which it took us fully an hour to thaw
THE GKh.A'r SI.I:JH;I: /■:.\ /•/■ / )/77(K\' 277
every iiiolU in our .slL'L'i)inL;-l)ai;, no lilllc phy.sical heal
bcino- s])L'nt on the process; antl not until we liad lain
with ehatterini; teeth for about an hour and a half did
we bei;in to tee! at all comfortable. A few minutes after
we got out of our sleeping-bag in the morning, our clothes
were again transformed into ice; and I scarcely think
that either Johansen or 1 will ever wish iov a repetition
of those days. In March the minimum temjieraturc was
49' below zero, the maximum 4 below zero.
It was on Ai)ril S that we altered our course and be-
gan our wanderings toward Cape I'digely, in Franz Josef
Land. l'"or a time we still had the same toilsome kind of
road to go ; but after one day's march the ice became bet-
ter, and its jxissage somewhat easier. It was our habit to
wind uj) our watches every evening when we got into our
sleeping-bags. Being, howexer, \ery anxious to get on,
our day's march was sometimes wry long, and on April
12 more than thirty-six hours had elapsed before we
again crept into our bags; and when we then thought of
our watches they had run down. This was an unfortunate
occurrence. I had taken no observations for longitude
for three days. I of course took an observation for time
tlie following day, but was obliged to make a reckoning
for the three intermediate days' journey, which, however,
I knew must be fairly accurate, even though I could not
tell how much the ice lirul drifted in that time. In order
to have our time once more cjuite exact, I now wanted to
take some lunar distances; but on setting about it I dis-
covered that the table necessary for their calculation had
been left on board by mistake. We naturally, during the
rest of our journey, continued to take obserwitions for
longitude with just as much care, and thought that we
could not be verv far out.
J 78 AUXS£iV /X THE FROZEN WORLD
When we arrived at 85° N. lat. on April 25, to our
astonisliment we came upon two fox tracks. This seemed
to imply that we were near some land ; but nothing of
the kind was visible, notwithstanding the clear weather.
What now most hindered our progress were the cracks
and channels in the ice. In that low temperature they
were, as a rule, covered with a tliin sheet of ice, which
made it im]3ossible to use our kaiaks in getting across.
We were therefore often compelled to go a round of
many miles, and it would sometimes take half a day to
get past a channel of this kind. The farther south we
came, the more of these there were, and they greatly
hindered our advance ; while provisions were dwindling,
and the dogs had to be killed one after another to feed
the remainder. Some of the dogs at first evinced great
aversion to eating their companions ; but as their hunger
increa.sed, and they got nothing else to eat, they gradu-
ally became so voracious for this food that it was diffi-
cult to keep them from it as soon as a dog was killed.
Their rations had to be gradually reduced to the small-
est possible amount, so as to make the little w^e had go far
enough, and keej) them alive as long as possible; but by
degrees they grew sadly worn out. Many of them drew
their load faithfully until tlie)- suddenly dropped down
with fatigue, unable to stand any longer. We then had
no other choice than to kill them on the spot, or to lay
them on one of the sledges, and take them with us to kill
them when we i)il( hed our camp in the evening.
In June the channels became more numerous and
more difficult than ever to deal with, and the state of the
ice was very bad. Dogs, ski, and sledge-runners broke
through the crust on the snow, and sank deep into the
yy/A (,j<i-:.i'r si.J'Jx;!-: Kxrij)/ iion
279
soft and wet snow beneath. The luiniher of cIol^s now,
too, was very small, and was continually diminishing.
Ad\ance seemed almost hopeless, hut we had no choice,
and so toiled on as l)e>t we could, while the rations for
both dogs and men were reduced to a minimum.
It is well known that, according to Payer's maj), there
is a land north of bran/ josef Land, in about .S3" N. hit.,
wliicli he has called I'etermann Land. It had been m\'
intention to try first to gain this land, where jjrogrcss
would probably ha\e been easy, and where we could
have reckoned on fmding sufficient game for our rifles.
According to our reckoning, too, we ought now to have
been in the longitude of this land ; but we came farther
and farther south without being able to descry any land
at all. i\t the end of ALay we were in .S2 21' X. hit.;
on June 4, in <S2' iS'. 1^- June 15 we had drifted north-
west into 82"^ 26', and should not then have been more
than about twenty miles north of Caj)e IHigely. We still,
however, could see no land. This became more and more
|)U//ling, and the state of the ice grew continually worse.
At l.ist, on June 22. we shot a large seal, and now deter-
mined to wait until the snow melted, in the mean time
living ui)on seal's flesh. A little later we shot three l)eai-s.
and we now had abundance of food, so that our two
remaining dogs could be well fed on raw meat. It was
not until July 22 that we once more set out over tolerably
good ice, and two davs later we at length came in sight of
unknown land. We were then in about S2° N\ lat.. but
we were to liave a hard struggle to reacii this land.
One day during that time we had an adventure whit h
might have been much more serious. W c were just
al)out to cross a channel in the ice in our kaiaks. '1 hi>
ago uVJXSEX /y THE FROZEN WORLD
was generally acconiplibhcd by tying the two kaiaks
toi^ethcr on the ice, then placing them on the water, and,
after creeping with the dogs out on to the deck, i)addling
across. This time we had just brought \w\ kaiak up to
the edge of the tioe, and while I was busy with it Johan-
sen turned back to draw up his kaiak beside it. Suddenly
I heard a noise behind me, and, turning, saw Johansen on
his back with a bear over him, and holding the bear by
the throat. 1 caught at my gun, which lay on the fore-
deck of mv kaiak ; but at the same moment the boat slid
into the water, and the gun with it. By exerting all my
strength 1 hauled the heavily laden kaiak up again, but
while doing so I heard Johansen quietly remark, " You
must hurry up if you don't want to be too late." At last
I got the gun out of its case ; and as I turned round with
it cocked, the bear was just in front of me. In the hurry
of the moment I had cocked the right barrel, which was
loaded with shot; but the charge took effect behind the
ear, and the bear fell down dead between us. The only
wound Johansen had received was a slight scratch on the
back of one hand, and we went on our way well laden
with fresh bear's flesh.
The current was strong, and the ice was broken up all
over into small floes. The channels between were, as a
rule, filled with small ice-pieces and crushed ice, making
it impossible to use our kaiaks. We therefore had to leap
from one block of ice to another, dragging our sledges
after us, with the constant fear of seeing them upset into
the water. We continued this for a fortnight, and it was
not until August 6 that we reached land in 8i° 38' N. lat,
and 63'' H. long. This first land consisted of four entirely
glacier-covered islands, which I called Hirttenland, after
THE GJ<liAT SI. K DUE KX/'EDlTJO.\ 281
an old Nor\VL-,i;iaii fairy talc. Aloiii;- the north .side of
these islands Ihnc was ()|)L'n water, iijjon which \vc rowed
westward in our kaiaks. When we reached this oj)en
water there was little i)r()si)ect of our having- niueh more
use for the two dogs we still had left ; and as it was not a
little inconvenient to take tiiein with us on the sea, we
shot them and left them on the drift ice.
In these waters we matle a remarkable ornithological
discovery ; for as long as we were in the neighborhood of
these islands we daily saw numbers of the hitherto so
rare, so mysterious, and so little known Ross's gull {Rodo-
sietia rosea). This, the most markedly polar of all bird
forms, is easily recognizable from other species of gull bv
its beautiful rose-colored breast, its wedge-shaj)ed tail, and
airy flight. It is without comparison the most beautiful
of all the animal forms of the frozen regions. Hitherto it
has only been seen by chance on the utmost confines of
the unknown Polar Sea, and no one knew whence it came
or whither it went ; but here we had unexpectedly come
upon its native haunt, and, although it was too late in the
year to find its nests, there could be no doubt about its
breeding in this region.
During the next few days, a thick fog prevented us
from discovering land south of these islands; but on
August 12 the fog lifted a little, and an extensive land, or
rather a- chain of islan.ds, now lav before us to the west
and .south, extending from the southeast right uj3 to the
northwest. This was more and more puzzling. Tliere
was nothing to be found in Payer's maj) agreeing with it.
I thought we must be \ery nearl\- in the same longitude
as Austria .Sound; but if this was correct, we were now
in the a( t of sailing right across Wilc/ek Land and the
282 .V.LVS£X IN THE JKOZEN WORLD
Dove Glacier, without getting a glimpse of any land near.
Nor could I discover any indication of Austria Sound in
its northern part ; and Rawlinson's Sound, too, had van-
i>hed. It i> therefore scarcely surprising that I came to
the conclusion that there must be some considerable error
in our longitude. How, indeed, this could be was not
clear to me ; but I concluded that either our watches
must ha\-e gone completely wrong of late, or that during
the three days before April 12 we had drifted a most re-
markable distance. However this might be, I could only
suppose that we had now arrixed at the unknown west
coast of Franz Josef Land, or to that mysterious land
which always on maps goes by the name of Gilis Land,
and which is generally placed between Franz Josef Land
and Spitzbergen. Of one thing, however, I was certain ;
namely, that by steering south and southwest we must at
last come to Spitzbergen, our actual goal, where we should
find Norwegian walrus-sloops, which could take us home
at once. We therefore continued, now paddling, now
dragging o\'er the ice, westward through a sound which
lay in ST' 30' N. lat. Having got through this, we found
a large piece of open water, ujDon which we paddled south-
west along the northwest shore of the land, hoping soon
to be able to cross over the sea to Spitzbergen. In vain
did we search for land in the west. On August 18 a
wind from the sea suddenly drove the ice in toward the
shore, and we were imi)risoned for a week. After again
continuing our journey for a day or two, we were once
more imprisoned, on 26th August, in about 81° 13' N.
lat. and 55.] ' I^;;. long. The autumn was now so far ad-
vanced that I considered it would be too late to begin the
long journey to Spitzbergen, where we could scarcely
,84 A\-l.VS£y IX THE FROZEX WORLD
expect to arrive in time to find any ships going home, and
where we sliould accordingly have to winter without hav-
ing time enough to lay in provisions and make prepara-
tions for it. As the place we had reached seemed well
fitted for wintering in, and there appeared to be sufficient
opportunity for getting game, we thought it safest to stop
here and prepare for the winter.
We immediately set to work to shoot walrus, the blub-
ber of which we intended to use for firing. For two men,
however, the manipulation of these huge animals was
attended with considerable toil. W'c had at last to give
UD dra^rcrintr them up on land or on to the ice, and our
only expedient was to lie on them in the water while re-
moving the hide and blubber, during which process we
succeeded in getting our only clothes thoroughly satu-
rated with oil and dirt, thus rendering tlicm peculiarly
unfitted for protection against the winter cold and storms.
There was no scarcity of bears, and we shot them for our
winter store of food. After having laid in a temporary
supply, we set to work on our hut, which was built of
stone, earth, and moss. How we were to roof it seemed
at first a difficult problem to solve. Fortunately, how-
ever, we found a piece of timber cast up on the shore.
This we used as the ridgepiece of the house, and stretched
walrus hides over it, weiorhted at the edcres on both sides
with large stones. On the top of this we laid snow. To
build a chimney was not easy, as we had not the stones
necessary. Our only expedient was therefore to build it
of ice and snow, which had to be renewed, however, two
or three times in the course of the winter.
For cooking, lighting, and heating, we used walrus
blubber and bear's fat. Bear's flesh and fat was our only
THE GREAT SLEDGE JiXrEDITJON 285
food. In the evening we fried il in a large aluminium
frying-jjan ; in the morning we boiled it. We made our
bed and slee})ing-bag of bear-.skin. To keej) warmer, we
both slej)t in one bag, and, taken altogether, we were
quite comfortal^le in our low hut, of which a great part
lay below the level of the ground, and was therefore fairly
well protected from the violent winter storms which con-
tinually raged above it. By the helj) of our lamjis we
succeeded in keeping the temperature inside at about
freezing-point, while on the walls it was, of course, consid-
erably lower. These were covered with a thick coating of
frost and ice, which in the lamj^light im])aited a beautiful
marmoreal appearance to the walls of the hut, so that in
our happier moments we could dream that we dwelt in
marble halls. The hut was about ten feet long, six feet
broad, and high enough in some j)laces to allow of our
standing almost erect. Our couch was formed of rough
stones ; we never quite succeeded in getting it even tol-
erably level, and our most important business throughout
the winter was, therefore, to bend the body into the most
varied ]:)ositions in order to discover the one in which the
pressure of the stones was least felt.
We had no work which could help to make the time
pass: we did little else than sleep, cat, and then slcej)
again. If any one still holds the old belief that scurvy
arises from want of exercise, this is a striking proof that
such is not the case. Strange to say. our ai)pctitcs con-
tinued unimpaired the whole time, and we always con-
sumed our bear's flesh and our fat w ith the same voracity.
When the weather permitted, we would take an hour's
walk every day in the dark outside the hut ; but often it
was so stormy that it was not expedient to put one's nose
,S6 X.-iyS£X AV T//Jt FROZEN WORLD
beyond the passage which led to our palace. Several days
would often pass^in which we lay quite still, until at last a
scarcity of ice to melt for drinking-water, or of food, com-
pelled us to go out to fetch ice or to drag in the carcass or
leg of a bear. After November we were not visited again
b)"^ bears until March, and our only company in the winter
was a number of foxes which constantly sat upon the roof
of our hut, whence we could hear their perpetual gnawing
at our frozen meat. It made us often dream that we
were sitting comfortably at home listening to the rats in
the loft above; and we by no means grudged them a
little of all our abundance. These foxes were of both the
white variety and the valuable dark-furred kind, and had
we been so inclined we could easily have laid by a good
store of valuable furs. Our supply of ammunition, how-
ever, was not so large as to allow\ in my opinion, of our
spending it upon them, for it seemed to me that bears
were the smallest game that could give us any return for
our cartridges.
Upon the whole, the winter passed in a manner beyond
our expectation. Our health was excellent ; and if we
had only had a few books, a little flour, and a little sugar,
we were both agreed that we could have lived like lords.
At last came spring with sunshine and birds. How
well I remember that first evening, a few days before the
sun had ap])eared above the horizon, when we suddenly
saw a flock of little auks {rotges) sail past us along the
mountains to the north. It was like the first greeting
from life and sj^ring. Many followed in their train, and
.soon the mountains around us swarmed with these little
summer visitors of the north, which enlivened everything
with their cheerful twittering. A dark sky, which we had
77/A GREAT SLEDGE EXri.DmON 2S7
had the whole winter, but especially now in the sjJiini;, in
the south and southwest, seemed to imply that there must
1)e water in that direction, of which it was a reflection.
We had, therefore, every hope of making" a (|uicl< and
easy voyage in our kaiaks across to S])itzberc;en, i)artly
o\er ojKMi water, partly over drift ice ; and as daylii^ht
had now returned, we busied ourselves in preparations for
til is journey.
There was much, however, to be done before we could
set off. Our clothes were so worn out and so saturated
with fat and dirt, that they were anything but suitable for
a journey of this kind. We therefore made ourselves
two entire new suits out of two blankets we had brought
with us. Our underclothing we tried to wash as best we
coultl, but ne\er before did I know wlial it was to exist
without soap. It was difficult enough to get one's j)er^on
clean, but this we managed to a certain extent by rubbing
in bear's blood and fat, and then rubbing this off with
moss. But this process was not a|)plical)le to clothes.
After trying every possible way, we found, in our despair,
no other expedient than to boil them as best we could,
and then scrape them with a knife. In this wav we got
so much off them that they did to travel with, though the
thought of putting on clean clothes when we once more
got back to Norway was always in our minds as the
greatest enjo\-ment tlial life could bestow. We had to
make a new sleeping-bag of bear-skins, which we dried
and prepared by stretching them out under the roof of
our hut. (^ur good, precious silk tent, which we had had
during the whole of the preceding year's journey, had at
last, during the autumn storms, become so worn out that
I did not think it could be used anv more. We weri-
iS8 A:ixs\F:.y ix the frozen world
now, therefore, obliged to employ our sledge sails as a
tent. Our provisions for the journey were chiefly bear's
Hesh and fat, and our fuel was train oil and blubber, and
we were sure of finding sufficient game on the way when
the provisions we took with us gave out.
At length, on May 19, we were ready, and started
southward in short day's marches. On May 23, in 81°
5' N. lat., we came to the open water, of w^hich, during
the whole winter and spring, we had seen the reflection
above the horizon ; and we now rejoiced at the thought
of going south in our kaiaks. Storms, however, detained
us until June 3. These storms had caused the ice to set
in and block the water, so that we now went south over
the ice, a favorable wind permitting us to make use of
sails on our sledges, so that we got on at a good rate. A
little farther south we found extensive tracts of land,
whose nortliern coast stretched in a westerly direction.
To the west-northwest along this coast lay open water.
I was in doubt for a while as to whether we ought not
to take to the water, and go on in that direction, but
thought that this would again take us too far north, and
therefore preferred to steer south over flat ice through a
broad, unknown sound. Here, too, a favorable wind per-
mitted the emjjloyment of sails on our sledges, and we
went along at a really considerable speed.
On June 12 we at last reached the south side of the
g-rouj; of inlands, and there came upon a large open piece
of water, extending westward along the south coast.
The wind was still favorable. By tying together our two
kaiaks, rigging up a bamboo rod as mast on them, and
then hoisting our sledge sails, we were now able to sail
upon this open water along the coast, and in this way
^ >
r =
o
^
Vi
..go X.-iySJtA' /X THE FROZEN IVOKLD
made ^^ood progress. When the wind dropped or became
less favorable, we took dow n our sails and paddled on.
In this way we began to approach the southwestern
point of the group of islands, and rejoiced at the thought
of being able to cross over to Spitzbergen, where in the
ct)urse of a few weeks we were certain to be on board a
homeward-bound Norwegian vessel.
As we passed along this coast we noticed how remark-
ably the latitude I obtained by my observations agreed
with the latitude that Leigh-Smith had found for the
south coast of I'ranz Josef Land. It was also remarka-
ble how well, botli in direction and a])pearance, this coast
seemed to agree with Leigh-Smith's ma}) ; and I there-
fore began to suspect that in spite of everything we were
.^till on the south coast of Franz Josef Land, and had
conie south through a wide sound cutting straight across
Zich\' Land, which has hitherto been regarded as con-
tinuous, but now resolves itself into a chain of small
islands.
During our voyage along this south coast we liad sev-
eral misha])s. which, however, ended happily. One day,
when \\(i had been sailing along the shore, we lay to in
the evening to the ice to reconnoitre our fartlier way
westward. In leaving the kaiaks, we niade them fast to
the ice by a strong strap, which we tliought was perfectly
reliable. While we were a little way off on the top of a
hummock, however, we discovered that our linked boats
had broken from their moorings and were rapidly drift-
ing away from the ice, carried along l^y the wind. All
our ])rovisif)ns were on board, our whole outfit, our guns,
and our ammunition. There we stood upon the ice, en-
tirih- without resource. Our only safety lay in reaching
'I'll J: GKJ'.AT SLKDGK KXIl-.niJ/OX 2<ji
our kaiaks, and I had no choice but to spiinL; into tlic
water and try to reach them by swimming.
It was, however, a struggle for Hfe, for the kaiaks
seemed to drift more rai)idly before the wind than I could
swim; the icy water grackially robbed my whole body of
feeling, and it became more and more difficult to use my
limbs. At length I reached the side of our craft ; but it
was only by summoning up my last energies that I finally
succeeded in getting on board, and we were saved.
Two days later my kaiak was attacked by a walrus.
These monsters had tried several times to jnit an end to
us by suddenly coming up from below, and attacking the
kaiak with a violent blow, which might easily have upset
us, but this they had hitherto not succeeded in doing.
This time, however, the attack w^as more violent. The
walrus suddenly pushed up beside my kaiak, and, laying
one tiipper on its edge, tried to upset it, at the same
time driving its long tusks into the bottom, fortunately,
however, without touching me. I managed to gi\e the
walrus such a blow on the head with the jiaddle that it
rose high up out of the water, threatening to fall upon
me, but disappeared the next moment as cjuicklv as it had
come. The water was rushing into the kaiak through
the long rent made in the bottom by the walrus, and I
was sinking rapidly, and only at the last moment managed
to run my kaiak on to a Hoe that was projecting under
the water, and escai)ed in safety from the boat on to the
ice. The next day was emi^jcned in repairing the kaiak,
and in drying clothes, outfit, photograj^hic aj)paratus, etc.,
which were all soaked with sea-water, though fortunately
no real harm was done.
The following day, when we were about to continue
:c)2 A\iyS£X AV 27/£ FROZEN WORLD
our journey, and as I was just preparing breakfast before
startinj;, I went up on to a hummock to reconnoitre land-
ward. As I stood there, puffs of wind came across to
me from the land, carrying a confused noise from the
thousands of loons and other sea-birds which inhabited
the mountains there. As I was listening to all these bird-
voices, I suddenly started at a completely different sound,
which so much resembled the barking of a dog that for
a moment it seemed to me that there could be no doubt
of its being this. But then it was once more lost in the
noise of the birds, and I thought I must have been mis-
taken. Again, however, the wind brought over a fresh
stream of sound, which left no doubt whatever of there
actually being dogs in the neighborhood. I ran down
and waked Johansen in the sleeping-bag by saying, " I
have heard dogs ! " But I could not make him compre-
hend, so I gulped down my breakfast, put on my ski, and
dashed off across the ice. As I approached the shore I
saw a man coming toward me. It was Mr. Jackson, and
hearty was the handshake with which he welcomed me.
[In order to make the narrative more complete, as well
as to mve merited recos^nition to one of the leading: recent
enterprises in tlie field of Arctic research, we will say that
the gentleman whom Dr. Nansen so opportunely met at
this critical time was Mr. F. G. Jackson, leader of the
Jackson-IIarmsworth expedition which left England in
1894. Very soon after the meeting of these explorers
f»nc of the members of the Jackson party came to the
Nansen camp. He was closely followed by four compan-
ions. They all gave Lieutenant Johansen a cordial greet-
ing, and then escorted him to the headquarters of the
exj)c(liti()ii.
J J//: CKI-.AT Sl.inCh / \ /'/■/>///() V
p ^J^t3TiE.«
MEETING Ul DK. NANSli.N AM) MR. JACKmjN 1.\ 1 KA.NZ JusKK IJVND, JL'NI':. 1S96
{By perm Ui ion 0/ Mr. Alfred C. llarinnuorth, of tht fackion-Harmswortk ex/eiL'lioH)
Before origan i/iiiL;" ihi^ cxijcdilion Mr. Jackson had seen
a tjood deal ot Arctic work, and had won (hstinction bv
making, in connection witli his investii^ations, a sledge
journey of four thousand miles. Vny a long time he had
desired to e.\i)l()re I'ranz Josef Land and the area to the
north of this comijarati\el\" unknown region. His plans
294 X.LVSJtX /^' TJIK FROZEN WOKJ.D
were carefully laid, and they seemed so practicable that
he was enabled, under the most favorable conditions, to
make an effort to put them into execution. He found a
munificent patron in ]Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth, a mem-
ber of the l\(>\al Geographical Society, who not only con-
sented to bear the whole expense of the expedition, but
also o-a\-e a great deal of time and personal effort in
securing as complete an equipment as it was possible to
obtain.
\ whaler named the Wiiidwai'd, an exceedingly strong
?>hip which had been constructed with special reference to
service in the ice, was })urchased and transformed into a
steam yacht. Several boats of different types were built,
and seventeen sledges, of an improved pattern designed
by Mr, Jackson, were made. Tents, materials ready to be
put together for houses, and a large supply of excellent
scientific instruments also formed a part of the outfit.
Vi)v the first time in the history of Arctic exploration a
few loonies were taken for use in travelling and in hauling
loads. These were obtained at Archangel, and thirty
dogs were secured from Western Siberia.
The Windward sailed from Greenhithe on the after-
noon of July I I, left Archangel early in August, and pro-
ceeded to iM-anz Josef Land. At Cape Flora, Jackson,
with his few companions, established his headquarters.
The settlement, which consisted of seven huts, was named
l''Jmwood. The Windward returned home, and was on
her second voyage to the station when Nansen and
Johansen became the guests of its inmates.
The primary object of this expedition was to make a
thorough exjiloration of I^-anz Josef Land, both of the
coast and of the interior, and thus determine whether it
7 '//A GR /:. 1 1 • AY. /<:/) O'/i KXrt: niJ ION
'■')S
is the southern poiiion ol ;i L;i\';a jjolar njiiliiicnt or u
collection of islands. In ihi^ work Mr. Jackson has been
very successful, ha\inL; discovered many islands, and an
inii)()rtant bod)' of water which he has named (Jueen
Victoria Sea. As nearly or quite all that is required in
this direction has been pei-formed, it is understood that in
the spring- or summer of the |)resent ^ear (1.S97), Mr.
Jackson will take up the secondary, though very interest-
ini;- and important work of the expedition, and either u|)on
the open water or the frozen surface of this i^reat .sea,
according to its condition at the time, commence a voyage
or a journey which will be continued as far as j)ossible
toward the Pole.]
ClIAPTIiR XVI
IIOMKWAKD HOUND
W'l-; were received liere with a liospitality and hearti-
ness such as those Arctic surroundings can seldom lia\e
witnessed; and though we had fully intended to go on our
way to Spitzbergen, which would probably be our quick-
est way home, we could not tear ourselves away from this
hospitable spot, again renounce all the ease and comfort
wliich were here offered to us, and once more take our
pilgrim's staff into our hand. We decided to accept the
kind inxitation to wait for the JVindwarci^, which was soon
to arrive, and then again return to Europe.
Never shall I forget how delightful it was, as soon as
we entered Jackson's comfortably arranged house, to have
a warm bath. It was not, indeed, possible to become
clean the first time, but still it imparted a feeling of clean-
liness ; and then delightfully soft, clean woollen garments
to follow, to be shaved and have one's hair cut, have a
capital dinner, coffee, cigars, port wine, and, last but not
least, books and the latest literature (two years old, indeed,
but new to us) — in short, we felt all at once transported,
as if bv the stroke of a masfic wand, into tlie heart of civ-
ilization. The attention, the consideration, which every
member of this expedition offered us was touching, and
made an indelible impression on both of us. It seemed
as if their aim was to soften by their kindness the recol-
lection of last winter's loneliness and dreariness.
no.MKW.lKI) nOL XI)
K
DR. NANSKN, AS PHU lUCKAI'IIKD HY MK. J ACKSuN IMMKDIAIHY AUKK IIIHK
MKETINi; IN KKANZ JOSKK LAND, IN JfNF., iS*/)
{By prrniiision of Mr. Al/rrd C Hiirmnvorth, oftlif 'y:t,ksein-Hiirmrti'<>rtk rxf^iiitiirn.)
W'c now discovcR'cl that my suspicions, as indicated
above, were correct. Wf were actually on the south coast
of r'ranz Josef Land, and had arrived at Cape I'lora. on
Northbrook Island. Our observations and determination
of longitude were fairly correct, in spite of everythint^;.
and our chronometers proved to have been right. On
thr other hand, there were mistakes in Payer's map,
298 A'.-i.yS£A' JX THE FROZEN WORLD
which had put me on the wrong track — mistakes of
which I have not yet found an explanation, but will find,
it is to be hoped, on conferring more closely with Payer
himself.
The broad sound through which we had come south
this spring lav just a little west of Austria Sound, and
was considerably larger than the last-named sound. It
had already been traversed by Jackson, and called by him
the British Channel.
During the winter we had been encamped just to the
west of -Austria Sound, on an island which I have called
Frederick Jackson's Island. Before we set out on our
expedition, I stated, in my lecture before the Royal Geo-
grajjhical Society, my opinion that Franz Josef Land was
only a group of islands. This opinion has now been
fully confirmed, l^'ranz Josef Land is not only a group
of islands, but a grouj) of little islands of such small
extent as perhaps no one had thought possible. In my
o])inion the islands forming Franz Josef Land may be
considered as a continuation of East Spitzbergen, and the
most important, most interesting subject yet to be worked
(tut is the exploration of tlie still unknown western j)art
of Vx'wr/. Josef Land and its connection with Spitzbergen.
In this region there are probably many new islands which
it is to be hoped Jackson and his expedition will have an
opportunity of discovering and charting. How far north
the islands extend it i . not yet possible to determine, but
it is scarcely likely to be very far.
I will not venture an opinion as to whether Petermann
Land has any existence ; our course was so easterly that
it may well have been too far off to be seen ; but in that
case it must be an island of inconsiderable extent. The
J/O MK WW kl) /U)(\/) 299
whole ot thcil part of I'ran/ Josef l,aiul tr.iwrscd by lis
consisted of basalt, and lias onee formed a coiUiiuioiis
basaltic land, which is now, however, by numerous chan-
nels antl fjords, cut uj) into small islands, entirely or in
great measure covered with glaciers, and where only here
and there along the shore the dark basaltic rocks arc
visible. .As a rule the land does not rise to a height of
2,000 feet al)o\-e the sea, and only occasionally did the gla-
ciers seem to a])])roach to a height of 3,000 feet. ( )n the
south side of the country there is, beneath the basalt, a
deep stratum of cla\- which extends to a height of fntm
500 to 600 feet above the sea, and which belongs to the
Jura formation, and where both Dr. Koetlitz, of the [ack-
son expedition, and I found numerous fossils of various
kinds, chiefly Aninionites and Iielemnites, which lea\e no
doubt as to its age. As far as I can for the present say. a
large part of this clay belongs to the so-called Oxford clay.
Lignite and fossil wood were also common in these clay .
strata. In a few places numerous fossil plants were also
found, whose age I have not yet had time to determine, but
which probably belong to a later formation than the Jura.
In the mean time the days at Ca|)e I'lora |)assed im|)er-
ce})tibly. We spent our time partly in making scientific
excursions of small extent, j^artly in reading, writing, and
preparing a map of our route across I^'ranz Josef Land
as it aj)|)eared, according to our investigations, to be. In-
cessantly did we scan the horizon in expectation of the
lVi7tii7i.'a)'(/, the ship which was to come from Lurope ;
but a great (|uantity of ice lay in the sea outside, no
sail appeared on the hori/on, and as time went (»n wo be-
came more and more impatient, and more and more often
did anxious remarks fall on the possibility of the ice hin-
300 X.IXS/':\ JX THK FROZEN WORLD
dcrin'; the W'indicani from coming in this year. When
a month had jjassed. Joliansen and I began to repent a
little that we had stopped here, and liad not gone straight
on to Sjiitzbergen, where we should i)robably long before
thi> ha\'e found a ship and been on our way home. I
began to think, indeed, of setting off again, as I was un-
willing to risk passing another winter in the Arctic re-
gions. I was tolerably certain that the Fram would come
home this year, and would then, of course, throw our
friends into the greatest anxiety with regard to our fate ;
there would then hardl\- ha\e been any hope at home of
ever seeing us again.
At length, when six weeks had passed, I was suddenly
aroused one night by Mr. Jackson with the news that the
//V;/^/rt'^rrt(' had arrived. The cheers and joyful exclama-
tions with which the news of our arrival at Cape P^lora
were received on board the Windward were proofs of such
great and sincere delight that we could hardly have ex-
pected greater from our own countrymen. It was a fresh
demonstration of the sympathy which exists between the
Mnglish and Norwegian nations.
The stores brought for the Jackson expedition were
soon unshipped from the ]Vindward, and b)- the aid of
sledges dragged over the ice to land. In less than a week
all was ready; and as soon as letters and telegrams for
home were written, on August 7, we went on board, and
the Windiuard weighed anchor to make for home.
( )n board the shi|) we had the shortest and pleasantest
homeward journey that ])erha]DS any Arctic expedition has
ever had. We again experienced English hospitality to
its fullest extent, and those days can certainly never be
forgotten by either Johansen or myself.
//().]//■: ir. I A' J) /u)c\/) 30,
Thcic was a L;rcaL tlcal ot ice in the sea between l*"ran/.
Josef Land and Nova Zenibla, and it would certainly
have been onl}- too easy to run the little IVtHthuard so
lar into the closel\- packed ice that it would have taken
weeks and months to get out again. Hut with his great
experience and his clear-sightedness in all that concerned
ice and ice naxigation, Caj:)tain Brown, the old whaler
under whose command the Windward now was, knew
how to find just the only wa\- that would hv. certain to
take us through 220 miles of ice out into the o])en sea to
the north of Nova Zembia, and thence shape a straight
course for Vardo, where we arrived on August 13, six
days after having left Cape Mora.
Thus I and one man of my expedition had now come
to our native land, where we were received with open
arms. Our first question after setting foot on Norwegian
soil was whether anything had been heard of the Fratn
and our comrades. Our fear the whole winter and sj^ring
had been that the Frain would reach home before us.
I'o our relief, however, we now learned that nothing had
been heard of the I'^ram, and our friends had been saved
from unnecessary anxiety. I telegrai)hed immediately to
the King of Norway and the Norwegian (lovernment that
all was well on board the Fram when we left her, and that
1 fully expected her and the remaining members of the
expedition home again safe and sound in a short time.
(jreat, then, was the jov when, in Hammei-fest, on Au-
gust 21, 1 received a telegram from Skjarvo. a little port
not far oft. to say that the I' rant had arrived in the night,
all well on board.
CHAPTER XVII
now TIIF. " KRAM " FAKED SVERDRUp's STORY
When I left ihc Frani, I j^avc instructions to Sverdrup.
Among other things they ran thus: '' Tlie chief aim of the
expedition is to push through the unknown Polar Sea,
from tlie district around New Siberia north of P"ranz
Josef Land, out to the Atlantic Ocean near Spitzbergen
or Greenland. The principal part of this task I consider
we have already accomplished; the rest will be accom-
jjlished little by little as the expedition goes farther west.
In order to make the expedition yet more productive, I
will make an attempt to push on farther to the north with
dogs. Your duty will then be to bring the lives hereby
entrusted to you home by the safest way, and not to ex-
l)ose them to needless danger, either out of regard to the
ship, cargo, or results of the expedition.
" How long it may be before the Fram drifts out into
open water no one can tell. You have provisions for
several years ; but should it, for some unknown reason,
take too long, or should the crew begin to suffer in health,
or you for any other reason consider it best to abandon
the vessel, this should uncpiestionably be done. At what
time it should take place, as also the way that ought to
be chosen, you yourself will be best able to judge. Should
it be necessary, I consider P"ranz Josef Land and Spitz-
bergen to be the best lands to make for. If search is
made for the expedition after Johansen's ancl my arrival
CAIIAIN oriU Nl-.l MANN SVKRHKIM'
304 X.l.VS/:X IN THE FROZEX WORLD
home, it will first be made there. When you come to
land you should as often as possible erect conspicuous
cairns on promontories and projecting headlands, and
within each cairn j^lace a short statement of what has
been done, and whither you are going. In order to make
these cairns distinguishable from others, a very small
cairn should be erected four metres from the large one
in a northward direction by tlic magnet. What outfit
will be the best in case of the abandoning of the Fram is
a question we have so often discussed that I consider it
superfluous to dwell on it here. I know that 3'ou will
take care that the needful number of kaiaks for all the
men, sledges, ski, snow-shoes, and other articles of outfit,
are put in order as soon as possible, and ke])t in readi-
ness, so that such a journey ox'cr the ice could be under-
taken with the greatest possible ease. Information as to
the jjrovisions I consider mc^st suitable for a journey of
this kind, and the quantity necessary for each man, I give
elsewhere.
"I know, too, that you will hold everything in readi-
ness to abandon the Fram in the shortest possible time
in the event of a sudden misfortune befalling her in the
shajje of fire or pressure. If the ice permits, I consider
it advisable th.it there should always be a depot, with
sufficient provisions, etc., upon a safe place on the ice,
such as we have lately had. All necessary things which
cannot be ui)()n the ice ought to be so placed on board
that thev are easv to Lj-et at under anv circumstances. As
you know, there are only concentrated sledge provisions
now in the depot; but as it is not impossible that the ex-
pedition might have to remain quiet for some time before
setting off, it would be extremely desirable to save as much
IfOJV THE 'TRAM'' FAKED 305
tinned meat, fish, and vegetables as possible. Should dis-
turbed times eome, 1 would even consider it adxisable to
have a supply of these articles also ready on the ice.
" vShould the /-yam in driitinL;- bear far to the north of
Spitzberoen and t;et iiito the current undei- the east coast
of Greenland, many ]:)Ossibilities could be imagined, which
now it is not easy to form any opinion about ; but should
\()U be obliged to abandon the Fram, and make for the
land, it would be best for you to erect cairns, as mentioned
above, there too, as search might possibly be made for the
expedition there. In tliat case, whether you ought to
make for Iceland (which is the nearest land, and whither
)-ou would be able to go in tlie s]:)ring by following the
edge of the ice) or for the Danish colonies west of Cajjc
Farewell, you will be better able to judge when you sec
the circumstances.
" The tilings that ought to be taken with \-ou, if the
Fram be abandoned, after the necessary provisions, are
weapons, ammunition, and outfit, all scientific and other
journals, observations, all scientific collections that are not
too hea\'y (in the latter case small sanijjles of them), jjho-
tographs, the original plates by ]3reference. or if they are
too liea\\-, then copies of them — the areometer, w ith
which most of the observations on the specific gravity
of sea-water are made, besides, of course, all journals and
memoranda which are of any interest. I leave behind
two or three journals and letters which I will recjue^t
you to take especial care of, and deliver to my wife, if
I should not come home, or you, contrary to expectation,
should get hf)me before us.
" Hansen and Blessing will, as you know, take charge
of the various scientific observations and collections; you
zo
3o6 NAiXSE.V AY THE FKOZKX WORLD
yourself will see to the soundings, and that they are taken
as often as opportunity permits. As the crew was small
before, and will now be still further reduced by two men,
some work may fall to each man's lot ; but I know that as
far as possible you will spare men to assist in the scientific
observations, and make these as complete as possible. . . .
" In conclusion, I wish all possible success to you, and
those for whom you are now responsible ; and may we
meet again in Norway, whether it be on board this vessel
or without her."
The requests I liad here set down Sverdrup made it a
matter of conscience to comply with, and the summer
after Johansen and I had left the Fram was employed,
not onl\' in the work necessary for the safety of the vessel,
but in making the outfit required for a sledge journey
over the ice as perfect and complete as could well be.
And never, perhaps, has an expedition been better pre-
l^ared for leaving their vessel than this, although the prob-
abilities were that the necessity for so doing would not
occur. Light canvas kaiaks, each to hold two men, had
already been partly completed on board before I left, and
sledges, ski, snow-shoes, cooking apparatus, dog harness,
etc., were all tested and put in good order, and, as will be
seen fnjm the orders given, provisions were kept in readi-
ness. Before we left the ship some time had been spent
in carting away the piled-up masses of ice w^hich had been
forced against the Fravis sides during the pressure of
January, 1S95, and the removal of this ice was continued
after we left.
At the end of March, just as the last of this mass had
been removed, the ice cracked in all directions around the
ship, and a broad crack was formed which passed at the
J/0 IV 77//; -J'/xJM" FARJID .307
distance of a few feet from the stern of the vessel. Siil)-
sequcntly in this crack there was great pressure, and the
ice quite split up, so that the greater part of the Fram lay
in open water l)y the end of July. The stern, however,
was still frozen fast in a great block of ice. An attein|)l
was made to break this up by blasting, which seemed, how-
ever, at the time, to have had very little effect, only a small
crack in the ice appearing; and Sverdrup was standing on
the ice talking with some of his companions as to what
more should be done to get the vessel afloat, when they
suddenly noticed that she was slowly beginning to move,
and before they were aware of it the vessel glided from
her icy slip into the water with a deafening noise, while
the spray was thrown from her bows in ever)- direction.
It was like the launching of a ship, and her return to open
water was welcomed by the crew with ringing cheers.
That year, however, the Frams freedom did not last long.
By warping and sawing she was again brought into a safe
haven, and in August was again frozen fast.
At first, after we had left the ship, the drift was not of
much imj)ortance ; but toward tlie end of April it beiMme
somewhat stronger in a westerly direction. On Jul)- jj,
1S95, the Fram was in 84° 50' N. lat., 73' \l. long. .At
this time there seemed to be a great deal of movement in
the ice, and strong pressure on all sides in the vicinity.
After this southwesterly and westerlv winds set in. which
during the latter j)art of the summer stopped the /-'nnifs
dilfting, and e\en drove her back in an easterly and
nothcrly direction. Not until October did she again bear
to the west, and during the remainder of the autumn and
the winter the drift was better than ever. On October
16, 1895, the Fram was in her highest observed latitude.
3o8 A\LyS£X /y THE FROZEN WORLD
viz., 85^ 57' X. lat. and 66 1:^. long. Some days later she
was still farther north, but on those days it was cloudy, so
that no observations could be taken. By the middle of
Februarv, 1896, the Fraiu had come in a southwesterly
direction to 84' 20' N. lat. and 24' E. long. But here,
quite unexpectedly, long-continued south winds stopped
the drift until May, when it again began to go south, until
on July 19 they were in ^^ 14 N. lat. and 14 E. long.,
where the work of getting the Fram out of the ice began.
Had she not got loose here, but had been obliged to con-
tinue drifting, she would of course have come south with
the polar ice along the east coast of Greenland, toward
which the direction of her drift pointed directly ; and
had she not fjot loose before, she would have been driven
south right to Cape Farewell, a drift which has already
been accomplished several times, and which would, there-
fore, not have been so well worth repeating.
Throughout her drift througli the unknown Polar Sea
from New Siberia to the north of Spitzbergcn, the Fram
was constantly exposed to pressure, none, however, being
so serious as that, already described, in January, 1895.
During this last summer, especially now in June, 1896, the
pressure was ])articulaHy great, and of a ])eculiar nature.
The I'^ram at that time lay in a channel, which, A\ith
the changing tidal current, alternately opened and closed
twice during the twenty-four hours. Throughout one
week in June, at the spring tides, the pressure in this
channel was extremely hard, and the Fram was regularly
lifted up once or twice a day, so high that her bottom
could often be seen above the ice. But Inroad and safe
as she is, she rose quietly, without letting a sound be
heard within, either in timber or woodwork. No one on
J/Oir Tin, -J- A' AM" J'.IKJU) 3.,,-,
board was awakened by the i)rcssurc, even when al its
height; while it often ha])i)ened that Sverdrup himself,
who is a very light sleeper, awoke in the morning with-
out an idea of what had taken i)lace in the night. Only
when he canie on deck and looked over the bulwarks did
he observe how high the vessel was raised above the
sui-face of the ice.
This quiet raising was of course due to the well-
adapted lines on which the J^^ravi was built. This, too.
is the reason why, even when raised highest, she did not
heel over to any great extent; as a rule she lay almost
horizontal. Sometimes she heeled over a few degrees,
but the greatest heeHng over that the Fram did in the ice
amounted to 8°.
I have already mentioned the tenij^eratures of the first
winter. I will only add here that the two subsec|uent
winters on board the /')7?;;/ were not colder than that
one. It is well known that the districts south of the delta
of the Lena in Siberia form one of the poles of maximum
cold of the northern hemisphere. It was therefore not to
be expected that the winters in the northern jjarl of the
unknown Polar Sea, which we were going to e.\|)lore,
would be found colder than those to the north of the
Siberian coast. This, too, proved to be the case. Of
course, the tenij^eratures in all three winters were rather
low on lioard the Fram, while we two who were on I*' ran/.
Josef Land had a considerably milder winter; but as a
set-off we had the more \iolent storms, from which the
interior of the polar basin is to a great extent exempt.
The summers in the polar basin were also rather cool,
the temj)erature generallv remaining at about freezing
j)oint, and only occasionally rising a few degrees above it.
3IO jV.^XS/iX IX THE FROZEN WORLD
The highest temperature observed during the journe}^
was, as far as I remember, 7° or 8° (Fahrenheit) above
freezing. The fall of moisture in the inner regions of the
polar basin was \'ery small, as the cold air carries very
little nu)i.>ture with it. All the winter and spring, there-
fore, we had, as a rule, unusually settled, clear weather;
while, on the other hand, in the latter part of the summer
no small amount of fog might often be seen lying low
down on the surface of the ice. Rain was, of course, a
great rarit)'. ,
During the whole voyage the Aurora Borealis was of
exceedingly ct)mmon occurrence, and scarcely a day passed
in which it was not observed, provided the sky allowed at
all of its being seen. We thus had exceptional opportu-
nities of studying this wonderful natural phenomenon,
which often rose to a grand intensity, setting the entire
sky in flames. Northern lights of various colors were
\-er)' frequent, and at times the colors were surprisingly
intense. On the other hand, no sound was ever heard
from them, nor did we ever see them quite low.
Atmospherical electricity was also a subject of investi-
gation, and sometimes the electricity was fairly strong.
'I he result of these investigations, however, cannot be
discussed until later. During the whole journey, samples
of the air were taken in glass tubes, and will be analyzed
at h(jme.
The depth we had found during the earlier part of our
drift continued after I had left the Fram, and the lead
showed between i,<Sooand 1,900 fathoms, until the water
began to grow shallow, as the Fram worked her way south
toward Spitzbergen. The water temperatures, too, con-
tinued almost unchanged ; but the laver of warm water
//ow ■ju/-: ••/•/,'./ 1/ •' I ih'i.n 3,,
below the cold, livshcr water, which 1 h.ue ah-cady mcMi-
tioncd, became somewhat deei)er toward the west, the
nearer they came to the North /Xtlantic Ocean between
S]jit/berL;en and (ireenland.
I have already said that the health on board was unus-
ually good, and so it continued to bi' the last year also.
1 he only cases of illness were oik- or two slight attacks of
gastric catarrh, a short attack of rheumatism, and two or
three other trilles. There was no sign of scurvy durin*'"
the wliole journey, and in in\- opinion this disease cannot
appear if sufilicient attention and care are given to the
l)rovision department in fitting out an e.\j)edition ; and it
is therefore a disease which ought to be forever bani.shed
from Arctic expeditions, — this disease which has hitherto
been the one to claim the greatest number of victims
offered to polar exjilorations.
\\ hen in June and July of this summer the expedition
began to see some ]5rospect of being able to force its way
south with the Fraui. much labor was spent in trettinir
hei- out of the ice, a task which was not eas\- in the great
l)acked masses. The onl\' way was to tr\- to blow uj)
these pieces of ice by blasting, in which ))rocess both gun-
cotton and ordinary gunpowder were employed. The
former of these jjroved to be the most effectual ; but
heavy charges of gunjDowder might also, if judiciously
l)laced, have had a capjital elTcct,
I)nring these blasting exj)erimcnts an accident hap-
l>ened which might easily have had the most serious
consecpiences. Sverdruji, with one man as hclj)er, had
just laid a train in a crack in the ice. and set light to the
fusr, u hen suddenly the j)iece on which they stcxxl gave
wa\-, and thev fell into the water with the charije, and the
3,2 A.-i\S£.V IX THE FROZEN WORLD
burning fuse close to thcni. The situation was anything
but agreeable, and they made the most desperate exertions
to cret on to the ice again, and out of reach of the charge
before it exploded ; but the edge of the ice was high, and
it was only after two or three unsuccessful attempts that
they succeeded in getting to a place of safety. The
charge exploded soon after.
After several days of exhausting labor at this ice-blast-
ing they at last succeeded in setting the Frafu free, and
on July 19 the work of forcing her southward through
the closely packed ice began in earnest. The ice here was
tremendous throughout, the fioes sometimes being so
large that the end of them could not be seen even with a
glass. No open water was visible, and the situation often
looked hopeless. Hut it is a capital thing not to have any
way of retreat ; in other words, to have no choice but to
go on. So on they went, and they had a capital vessel,
by whose means the impossible became possible. By
steaming and warping they forced their way, bit by bit,
through ice which would have made most men give them-
selves up to despair; and when it was too bad for this, a
way was made by blasting. P""or al^out a month they
kept on with this work, and during that time broke their
way through 1 50 geographical miles of ice — ice perhaps
vaster than any other vessel has ever yet ventured upon ;
and on August 13, the very day on which Johansen and I
arrived at V'^ardo, they got out of the ice into open water.
At the time of their coming out of the ice there was a
fog, which, however, soon lifted, and close by was seen
a small vessel, the Sisters (Sostrenc), a schooner from
Tromso, which greeted the Fi-am with hearty cheers.
Captain Hc)ltolfsen coming on Ijoard. The first question
//Oir JlJE -J'A'.IM" JAN 1:1) 3,
l)ut to him was whether X;iii.sL-n and Jolianscn had ar-
rived in Norway. The negative answer to tliis acted like
an uncomfortaljle danijier on the joy they had exjKTJcnced
in L;etlinL; out of the ice, and few on board the Fram had
any hope now of ever seeing us again. Suj^posing, how-
ever, that people on Spitzbergen might be better informed,
they went there to meet .Andree, who was sui)|)osed to
be at that place. There, liowexer. the intelligence was no
more reassuring, and their fears for us — their two lom-
rades — grew more and more serious. Captain Sverdrup
was perhajis the only man on board who still believed
that we were alive ; he thought that we had arrived at
r^-anz Josef Land so late last autumn that we had been
obliged to winter tliere with Jackson's exjjedition, and all
on l^oard were agreed to go at once to I'ranz Jo.sef Land
to look for us. The I^Vavi was indeed fully ecjuipjK'd
for starting on a new joolar exj^edition, should it be neces-
sar\-. To make quite certain, however, it was decided to
go home to Norway to see if there might be any later
intelligence of us there.
It was during the night of August 20 that the I-'ram
cast anchor in 'the little haven of Skjiirvo, in I'inmark.
Sverdrup immediately rowed ashore to desj)atch .some tele-
grams. .After he had hammered for some time in vain
u])on the xarious doors of the telegra|)h office, a licad wa.s
put out of a window, ajid an angrv voice called out : —
" It's too bad that one can't vw^w be allowed a quiet
night's rest! What do you want, and who are you?"
'* My name is Sverdruj), and I am caj^tain of the /-Vv;///, "
came the cpiiet answer.
At thi'^ the tone of voice in the window immediately
changed. " I 11 come directlv, " it shouted, and the win-
3 '4
NANSEN JN THE FROZEN WORLD
,iii^i.->riA.MA Ai II. K ni.R Ki.rrk.N
(low was closed again. Sverdrup went around tlie house
to the entrance, and there, to his surprise, found the
person whom he had seen at the window in the simplest
deshabiUe standing fully dressed before him. No human
being had ever dressed more quickl}', he thought ; and his
astonishment was not lessened by the first words that the
head of the telegraph office said to him, " Nansen and
Johansen have come back."
Sverdrup hardly gave himself time to answer, but
rushed down the island to the shore to shout out the
glad news to his comrades, who fell on one another's
necks in mad delight. The news was immediately sent
out over the water to the Fram, which soon after greeted
it with a salute of two guns, which echoed far out into the
still summer night, proclaiming the return of the Norwe-
gian polar expedition to its native land. (Nansen and
Johansen met the Fram in Tromsb harbor.)
RECEPTION AM) FESTIVITIES AT CHRISriAM \
Tlic reception wliitli look place al C"hri>tiaiiia on Sep-
tember 9 was St) l)rilliai)t that no sovereign could be
welcomed more ro\allv.
As soon as the ti(HnL;s of Nansen's and the J-'ranis
return were flashed o\ei- the woild. committees were
formed to arrani^e L;reat festivities, and they worked with
unremitting zeal to have e\erythin<; ready at the jjroper
time. The notice was rather shoit, hut it a|)])eared to be
long enough, as everybody was anxicuis to assist, and a
lumdred willing hands were ready where there was room
and use for onlv two.
On Wednesday, Sej-jtember 9, the capital of Norway
was in its best attire. There were tlags everywhere along
the route of the procession, and festoons of evergreens,
and shields with the names of the explorers in silver on a
blue ground ; but the most original sj)ectacle was an im-
mense triumphal arch, occujiied by several lumdred young
people dressed in white.
.Ml business was suspended, stores and offices closed
at noon, and crowds of ]3eoi)le thronged the streets from
early morning.
The festivities commenced on Christiania I-'jord, A
fleet of about. a hundred gayly decorated steamers, large
and small, sailed out in the morning to meet the J-'rani
and escort the good shi|) to the ( it\. While this grand
demonstration was taking place on the sea, everv locality
in and around the city from which one could get a \ iew
was filled with j^eople.
When the large fleet of steamers met the Fnifft and
3i6 NANSEN AV 7'HE FROZEN WORLD
her escort of eight men-of-war, a tremendous cheer rang
out, and the Fram steamed into port amidst the salutes
from the ships and the guns on land. She looked quite
insignificant with her sombre and ice-battered luill in
these gay surroundings.
The guns of the fortress then gave the signal that the
lleet had arri\ed, and a boat rowed by quite young sailor
boys took Nansen and his men from the Fram, while the
multitude cheered and waved their handkerchiefs on see-
ing the hero of the day, who was dressed in his celebrated
blue jacket. At the pavilion, on the pier, a large chorus
of men sang with great effect, at this inspiring moment,
the well-known hymn, " A Mighty Fortress is our God."
While everybody present joined in singing the national
hymn, Nansen and his comrades walked from the boat to
the tent, where the indescribably joyful meeting wdth their
families and most intimate friends took place. Then
followed the official reception, at which Mr. Sunde, the
president of the Christiania City Council, made the speech
of welcome. After deafening cheers Nansen responded
in a loud, sonorous voice : —
" Countrymen : it is a difficult task to express the feel-
ings that animate my comrades and myself. \W^11 I
remember the day we left home. The fjord lay before
us heavy with rain ; it was hard to say Good-by, and
great was the responsibility; we felt that Norway's best
wishes were with us ; we realized tliat if we flinched the
country would be disappointed. Hut I was certain that
my men would do their duty even to the shedding of the
last dro]3 of blood. I can say that no one ever went to
the North with nobler men than I did. I thank you,
from the bottom of my heart, for your greeting of wel-
3i8 MLyS/':X JX THE FROZEX WORLD
cumc, — a L;R'ctini;- that hardly any othL-r ^NOl■\vcgian c\er
received. Thanks to Christiania. \\"c only did our
duty, therefore the welcome is doubly dear to us. Lone;
life to our capital city ! May it often send out men like
those it sent with me ! "
-After the reception was ended the explorers were taken
into carriages, — Xansen and Captain Sverdrup in tlie
llrst, — leading the procession as it moved up through
the city.
They recei\ed unceasing ovations, and on passing un-
der the triumphal arch, with its living decorations, flowcr.s
were thrown to the heroes. The professors and students
awaited them at the university, and on their arrival the
rector. Professor Schiotz, on behalf of science, welcomed
Xansen and crowned " The Heroes from the Desolate
Ice Fields " with laurel.
The goal of the procession was the royal castle, into
which Xansen and his men passed while interminable
masses of people collected outside, and called for him so
persistently that he had to appear, time after time, on the
balcony to bow his acknowledgments. At the state din-
ner that followed and to which about one hundred people
were invited, Xansen wore the Grand Cross of the Order
of St. Olaf, with, which King Oscar had honored him at
the reception at the castle. Sverdrup wore the cross of a
commander, and the scientific members of the expedition
the cross of knights, and the other members, the new
Fram medal of silver. The only speech that was made
was that of the King, who said : —
" 1 his is a notable day indeed. Xansen is now, as a
discoverer, the victorious pioneer of an important work of
civilization, whom the whole world crreets with acknow-
R/U liPTIOX AND FKSri 1 1 IIES ;, ,9
lL'(lL;nicnt and aclmiratioii. I lis countrynicii i^rcct him
with special pride, joy, and enthusiasm, because this i^reat
feat was acconiplislied by Xorwei^iaiis alone. Wlien tin-
Fram sailed away slie was followed with ho|)e, fear, and
doubt; but intelligence, jirudence, and dauntless courage
dispelled our fears and fortified our hoj)es, Colin .Arch-
er's Fram, with Svcrdrup at the helm and Nansen on the
commander's ])ridL!,"e, and a crew of brave men, concjucrcd
the many ditliculties. The Frat)i reached a point farther
north than any other ship ever did ; and its fearless leader
went still nearer to the Pole with but a single com])anion.
defying dangers the thought of which makes one shud-
der, and which cannot fail to awaken the highest admira-
tion. A kind Providence held its j)rotecting hand o\er
our countrvmen and insured them a safe return. Hut we
will not give greater credit to Providence than i.s its due.
Pro\idence usually sides with prudence and courage,
therefore we will rather emphasize the remarkable accu-
racy of Nansen's calculations. When the Fram returned,
a threat shout of jov echoed throuirh Xorwav's mountains
and all along its coasts. The Fram has had a trium-
phant voyage; she has returned with her full crew, unin-
jured, and with stores still unexhausted, — all visible j)roof>
of the great care that has made this polar expedition a
success.
".\nd now you stand here In the royal castle, and the
King of Norway feels that it is not only his sacred duty,
but that it is his incontestable right, to interpret the feel-
ings of the Norwegian people at this moment. Accept,
then, through me, the entire peoj)le's sincere and heart-
felt thanks for what you have done, for the joy you have
caused in Norwegian hearts, for the honor and lustre you
320 ^:^XSEA^ /X THE FROZEN WORLD
have spread over your fatherland. These evidences of
ajjpreciation will not die, but will survive those who arc
present here, and will descend to posterity century after
century, as long as the Norwegian mountains stand. We
will salute Fridtjof Nansen and his men with three times
three cheers."
When Nansen left the castle at nine o'clock to drive
to hi.s home, he found the city illuminated with bonfires
and torches. The next day (Thursday) the city was astir
earlv, readv ft)r new ovations. In the forenoon a larije
parade consisting of over twenty thousand school chil-
dren, dressed in their best and carrying flags, passed be-
fore Nansen and his men, who were stationed under a
triumphal arch, where they were nearly buried under the
masses of flowers that the little girls threw at them.
In the e\ening the city of Christiania tendered the
party a great banquet, in which about fi\e hundred ])er-
sons participated. The next evening there was a festixal
performance at the theatre, after which a torch-light pro-
cession of students accompanied Nansen to a banquet at
the Students' CIuId.
The ovation ended the next day with a great popular
festival in the open air at which over thirty thousand peo-
j^le were ])resent. There were addresses by Hjornstjerne
I)j()rnson and others. Nansen expressed his thanks amid
tumultuous applause. Then followed singing and dan-
cing, illuminations and finjworks, and thus ended the great
festival in Christiania where the whole nation had united
to give one of its greatest sons a royal reception.
PEARY'S JOURNEY
ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
LIEUTENANT ROHERT E. PKARV, t'. S. N.
THE NOR'ill GRELNLAM) EXi'EUl 1 ION < )E 1891-9.'
IVrilUit by Eiviitd Astrup for the Geographical Society of Ckristiania, Norway
21
OUTLINE OF THE PLAN
Bkikki.v tuld, the plan of Lieutenant Peary for this
expedition was as follows: With five or six companions
he would land at Whale Sound, on the western coast of
Greenland, latitude 77° 35' N., in June or July. The
remainder of the summer and the autumn were to be
spent in erecting; a liut in which to spend the winter,
storing meat and other supplies, making scientific re-
searches, collecting specimens, and making excursions to
the inland ice. In addition to this, if the character of the
season would permit, a depot of provisions was to be
formed near the southern corner of Humboldt Glacier.
During the winter the members of the party would repair
their sledges and ski, mend their clothes, and get into
readiness for use whatever they might need for travelling
purposes. They would also practise running on ski and
on Canadian snow-shoes. In the sj^ring four or five of
the party would make an effort to cross the inland ice to
Petermann Fjord. iM-om that point, if reached, two or
three of them would continue the journey, while the
others would return to Whale Sound. The advance
]:)arty would pusli on to the most northern ])oint in Green-
land. Aflcr ascertaining its exact geographical position,
they would commence the return trip and rejoin their
comijanions at Whale Sound, and the entire party would,
at the first opportunity, return to the United States.
CII.M'II.K Will
WINTKK (JLAKTKKS AND rKKPAKA TIONS
I'jNiNi) As'iKi I', the autlior of this .sketch of a most
remark. il:)lc c.\i)c(lition, was a younL;- Norwr^ian who ae-
comjianicd Ijciitciiant Peary on liis perilous journey ovlt
the inhiiul iee and to the most northern ])oint of (ireen-
Land. Tlic follow ini;- is his narrative: —
The number of members of this expedition was five.
Besides Lieutenant Pear\-, its eonmiander, there were I )r.
]•. A. Cook, a ])h\sician and a very active and energetic
man who was about thirt)- years of a<;e; Mr. Langdon
Gibson, a j)rominent s])ortsman and an excellent hunter,
who rendered inxalualjle assistance to the party; Mr.
b>hn T. WM-hoeff, the mineraloi^ist of the ex|)edition, who
contributed $2,000 toward fittini;- it out and who never
returned; and nuself. I was the \()unL;est member of
the party, not having; comjjleted my twentieth year when
we left port. Hach member tendered his services without
remuneration. Matthew Henson, a colored man who had
been in Lieutenant Peary's service for many years, went
with us as cook. .\ reiv.arkable innovation which i;ave
the exi)edition an added, not to say a .sensational interest,
was the presence of Lieutenant Peary's wife, who ear-
nestly desired to accompany her husband, l^p to this
time no while woman had ever ventured into the Arctic
regions.
The expedition left New York June 6, 1801. in the
3-'4
ACA'OSS XORTHEKX CKEEXLAND
Kik\ a small steam scaler. Besides the members of the
party, a number of scientists from Philadelphia sailed with
us to make observations and collections during the voy-
age, and intending to return in the vessel after having
landed us at our northern port.
After a prolonged and tedious voyage along the coasts
of North America and Newfoundland, and over Davis
Strait, we sighted, on June 23, the land to which we had
longed to come.
On the western coast of Greenland we called at the
Danish colonies, Godhavn and Upernavik. At each of
these places we were well received and hospitably enter-
tained by the Danish officers stationed there.
326
.fCA'OSS A'OA'77/£A'A' GREENLAM)
On July 2 we were stopped by ice in Melville Bay, and
for three weeks we were able to make but little progress.
Here the time passed very slowly, as we were all impatient
to reach our jioint of destination, the place on Inglefield
Ciulf where we expected to have our winter quarters.
Ai K I.N MELVII.l.K 1!AV
< )iii- principal occuj^ation at this tinie was the shooting of
a few seals and some sea-birds.
On July I I a great misfortune befell Lieutenant Peary.
'I his was the fracturing of his right leg. Although com-
pletely disabled physically, he accepted the situation
calmly and uncomplainingly. For four weeks he was
(onfiiK-d to his bed, but he ni'X'cr lost his patience or
wavered in his confidence of success.
Our first bear was shot on July i6. During the next
few days several more of these ferocious creatures were
\v
N
328 .-ICA'OSS XOKTHERX GREENLAND
seen, but we were not able to get within shooting distance
of any of tlieni.
While east of Cape York, on July 22, we got out of the
pack-ice, and on the next day we beheld in the distance
the desert coast which was to be our home during the
coming winter.
The place which Lieutenant Peary had finally chosen
for our winter quarters was situated on the southern side
of McCormick Bay a little south of latitude ']'^°. We
reached it early in the morning of July 24, and spent
almost the entire day in looking for the most suitable spot
upon which to build our house. Toward evening we de-
cided to take a small dry place that was near the coast,
with a creek running directly past it.
During the following week the crew were busy hauling
our provisions and stores, while we were equally industri-
ous in building a house out of the materials which we had
brought along in the ship for that purpose. This house
was twenty-two feet long and twelve feet broad, and was
divided into two rooms, one of which was considerably
larger than the other. The walls and roof were made of
one-inch boards, which were covered on the inside with
tarred pasteboard. A foot inside of this wall there was
another covering of common pasteboard lined with thick
blankets. On the outside a wall of stone, three feet high,
was built around the house. Upon this wall we piled the
numerous boxes and barrels in which our provisions were
stored. In the autumn we stretched a canvas awning
from the roof of the wall around the house, and thus
formed a closed passage surroundincr the buildine. This
aided greatly in keeping the interior warm and cosey
durinp; the W'inter.
WlNl'KK QiARTKRS .L\D J'K EJ'AKAJJU.WS 3.-9
On July 30 the Kite left us. after IJeutenant I'eary,
who was still unable to walk, had been earried ashore on
a stretcher which was constructed for the occasion. The
house was then almost completed. We were not at all
sad to see the shi|), our last connection with the cixili/.ed
world, disappear in the distance. Now we were alone,
and could without interruption take u|) the work of the
present and i)re]Dare for that which lay before us in the
coming year.
Before the house was quite cr)mpleted we commenced
many other things that were to be done before winter set
in. One of the principal of these matters was to form the
acquaintance of some Eskimos living- on Northumberland
Island and persuade them to settle near our house. This,
because the\- would be of great assistance to us in the
winter by sewing our skin garments, and might ])e helpful
in various other wavs. On .Augu.st 12 four of u> set out
on a boat expedition to the island. We reached it safelv
and found some Eskimos. The first meeting with them
seemed very queer, as we did not understand a word of
their language and thev were ecjually ignorant of ours.
Still, bv means of signs, we managed to make them un-
derstand what we wanted. .A family, consisting of a man,
his wife, and two children, were willing to go with us at
once, and we took them over in our boat, arri\ ing at the
house on the i.Sth of August.
Summer was now far advanced. Ihe remainder of the
season was sjx'nt partly in making short trijjs to examine
the inland ice and partlv in hunting reindeer. W'e
needed the latter both for their meat, to help out our
supply of food, and for their skins, with which to make
clothing for the winter. On the.se hunting trips we went
330 ACA'OSS NOKTJJERN GRKENLAXD
nearly to the end of McCormick Ba\-, and we were usually
quite successful. We had killed, in all, thirty-four rein-
deer that autumn, when darkness set in and we were
obliged to cease our hunting expeditions.
On October 26 the sun left us, not to return for nearly
four months. During about half of this period there was
liardly any difference in the light between night and day.
I will try to give an idea of what we did in this long
period of darkness. As I said before, our hut was warm
and cosey, and though the quarters were close we all got
along \ery well. W^e had three meals each day. The
last of these consisted of reindeer meat and different
canned vegetables, and was more elaborate than either of
the others. The day was spent in various kinds of man-
ual labor. This was partly in the nature of necessity, as
there were many things to be done in the way of prepara-
tion for our sledge journey in the following spring. I did
most of the carpenter work, making sledges, ski, and
other articles. Among the others, Lieutenant Peary
j)articularly excelled in the high art of cutting clothes, and
most of our skin garments were made after his patterns.
Dr. Cook performed quite respectable work as a tanner,
and Mr. Gibson was equally. successful in the line of shoe-
making. After a time we became so proficient in these
occupations that we jokingly expressed to each other our
d(Hibts whether we had ever been doing anything else in
this life but tan, sew, or cut patterns for the peculiar fash-
ion of clothes which we wore.
( )n Saturda)'s we began the day by sweeping the long
stovepipe. This was such a difficult task that all of the
male members of the expedition were obliged to help ;
and when it was finished, if one were to judge by the color
WINTER QL ARIKRS AM) I'K EJ'ARAJJON^ y^x
of our faces, he could have easily imai^ined liiat \vc were
members of a ne^ro settlement in the dark continent.
Hut to make up tor ihi.s discomfort we had, every Satur-
day evening, a warm bath in an old |)etr()lcum barrel.
The bath could be had with or without assistance, as the
bather preferred. If he wanted it. the help of two or
three obliging Mskimos, who used soajj and scrubbing
brush with considerable energy, was freely gi\xn.
On Sundays we walked about in our more or less worn
civilized attire, and, considering the circumstances, aj)-
peared to be a ratlier fine looking set; but on Monday
morning we were content to put aside all legards to
vanity and cheerfully don our skin clothes again.
The clothes last named were made of reindeer skin,
which, in proportion to its weight, is the best material
known to fuiin^h protection from tlu- cold. The skins
were prejDared in the singular but rather troublesome
Greenland way of chewing them, after they are dried, in
order to break the fibres. I'he sewing was done by the
Eskimo women before the winter had fairlv commenced.
.Skin clothes, like clothes made of other material, wear
out. 'Ihey resemble clothes made of other materials also,
in that thev wear more in some j)laces than they do in
others. This was especially noticeable in resj)ect to the
trousers. Toward the end of winter we all looked like
gorillas. Our dignified doctor had attempted to mend
one of his garments by putting a patch of ice lx*ar skin
en the most e.\ix)sed jilace. The long white hair stick-
ing out certainly gave him a comical ai)|)earance.
We filled in a good deal of the time during the winter
in reading old newsj)apers and magazines, scientific
works, and Ixtoks jjertaining t(t .\rctic travel, of which we
332 AC/?OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
had brought a large supply. Our evenings were largely
spent in attempting to talk to the Eskimos. We told
them of the distant countries to the south. They ap-
peared deeply interested; but when we asked them if they
would like to go with us, wlien the ship came to take us
to our homes, they replied with great earnestness that
they would never leave their country of rocks and ice.
They often sang and danced for us. That is, one man
or woman, at a time, would go out on the floor and make
the most hideous faces and movements, singing more or
less improvised songs of a mystic character, which we
could not understand, and beating a drum as an accom-
paniment. The other Eskimos and ourselves, all but the
neirro, stood around the dancer in a circle. The negro
sat away back, on the edge of his Ijertli, and played hymn-
tunes on an accordion which was sadly out of tune, as a
kind of protest against this displav of heathenism.
Nearly every day during the winter we received now
visits from Eskimos. This was especially noticeable
when we had a full moon. Then they would fairlv come
in droves. On these occasions some of them would buikl
their characteristic cupola formed snow-huts immediately
upon their arrival, and would settle down tliere to li\'e ;
while others, who intended to stay only a short time, were
usually allowed to sleep on the floor of our liouse, where
they often could be seen packed as closely as sardines.
One can easily imagine that at first this was decidedly
disagreeable i:>articularly to our sense of smell ; but such is
the modifying effect of habit that the atmosphere, which
had seemed almost suffocating, by degrees became endur-
able, and at length caused us no trouble whatever. By
this intimate association with the natives, we soon
WINTER QUARTERS AXD ER J: TAR \TJO.\S i},},
learned their characters, and ohtaiiud ( ()ii.siclercil)lc prac-
tical knowledge of their (hlfuiiU hinL;uagL'.
Of course, Christmas imi^t be celebrated, even though
we could not ha\e balls and sleigh rides; so on Christmas
Eve we had a lap^e dinner jxirty. About six o'clock wc
sat down to the table witli solemn air but cheerful hearts.
We wore our finest raiment, but with mo^t of un this
consisted of a funn\' mi.xtui'e of st\li.sh and im|)rovised
clothes. We attacked the menu in a resolute manner,
and stopped only when we could hold no more. Then
we gave room to our friends, the Eskimos. We had
several visitors just then, and we were resolved to serve
them at our table in a civili/.ed manner. Ilaxing never
before used knives and forks, they were decidedly awk-
ward in their efforts to eat as white men do. It was
quite amusing to see how carefully they jjut the food in
their mouths for fear of hurting their cheeks with the
tines of the fork ; and they seemed to enjoy the situation
as well as we did. Later in the exening some of the
members of the expedition secretly jjut on masks. I
shall never forget the scene that followed. Old women
and children alike screamed with fright, and even the
bravest of the men disajiijcared with remarkable alertness
through the door. This closed the festivities of the
evening. It was late in the forenoon of the next day
before we could induce the good jjcople to enter our
house again. When we exj)lained to them the mystery
of the great change in the apjiearance of our faces on
the previous evening, and showed them the masks, tiiey
were filled with admiration, and had much enjoyment
with the tovs which had jireviously filled their minds
with alarm.
3u AC A' OSS yORTHERX GREENLAND
Between Christmas and New Year it snowed almost
incessantly. During the winter there was a snowfall of
a little more than twenty-three feet The northern lights
were not very brilliant. Our chief consolation during the
long winter night was the moon. This luminary, when
it appeared, stayed with us uninterruptedly for six or
seven days, and spread such a lustre over the vast waste
of ice that we could easily imagine ourselves in the land
of fairy tales, where everything is made of shining silver.
Late in January we began to see a faint light to the
south, and not long afterward we noticed a brief day. On
February 1 3 we rejoiced to see the returning sun, that had
been absent one hundred and ten days. Our dark winter
night had jxassed more quickly and more agreeably than
we had expected, but we were glad that it was over.
Upon myself its j:)rincipal effect had been to give me a
strong feeling of cosiness and comfort when I came in-
doors from the cold and unceasing darkness outside.
After tlie return of the sun the air became milder day
by day. During the wliole of January and February the
temperature averaged minus 40° Celsius. The lowest tem-
perature noted in the entire winter was minus 47!° Celsius.
About the middle of February we were surprised by
a very marked and interesting change in the weather.
There was a storm from the southeast, and the mercury
suddenly rose to 5°, with a heavy rain. This was be-
tween 77° and 78" N. latitude, and in the coldest month
of the year. A few days later the cold was as severe as
it had been during most of the season.
March and April were busy months for us all. The
work on our equipment was pushed rapidly forward. We
also made some hunting expeditions, and spent seven days
WINTER QiARTERS AXD /'R /: /'.I R.1770\S 335
in a slci<j;h trip .iroiiiul Inglefickl (iiilt. \\y the ciul of tlu-
latlLM- nionlh wc IkkI completed everythiiiL; needed for
travelling over the inland ice. We had also obtained, hy
barter with the Mskinio.s, twenty of their strongest dogs.
Of the etpiipnient 1 will mention ski, sledges, Canadian
snow-shoes, and sleeping-bags made of reindeer skins.
Wc found afterward that the sleeijing-bags were not
ri:\Kv's not SK vndtent
necessary, as our clothes j)roved warm enough to sleej)
in, and the bags were left on our way. On account of its
heavy weight wc could not carry a tent. When wc
wanted to sleep, in fair weather we simply laid down on
the snow, sheltered by a sledge ; if it stormed we crept
under an oilcloth. All of our cooking was done by
the aid of a s|)irit lamp. I'emmican, dried and ground
55(>
.ICA'OSS XORTHERX GREEXJ.AXD
meat mixed with fat, was our principal food during the
whole journey, but we also had some shii)sbread, a little
rancid butter, Knor's pea fiour, condensed milk, chocolate,
and meat j^owder.
On April 30 we transferred provisions, sledges, and
other equipments from our winter quarters to McCormick
Bay, and afterward to the border of the inland ice. It \vas
ICEBtRU Ol'K CAl'E CLKVELAM), .McCOKMlCK 1!AY
exceedingly hard work ; and as our course took us through
deep drifts of snow and over steep heaps of stones, it was
necessary to make the loads very small. When this work
was accomplished everything was in readiness; and the
small party, consisting of Lieutenant Peary, Gibson, Dr.
Cook, and myself, set out with hojDC and confidence that
in due time we should reach our distant*destination.
]VI.\riiR QL'ART/.RS .l.\/> /'R /: /:i A'.l //().\.S 337
/\itcr maichiiii; for sr\cr.il days \\c cncounlLTcd a furi-
ous snow-sloim, which loinpclk-cl us to halt. Wc Iniilt
a snow hut (Mshinio ii;l()()), in which wc took shelter.
The storm ra^cd for thirty-six hours. When it ceased.
and wc crc])t out ol our uariow (juartcrs, a sad si'i^ht met
our eyes. Our sledges were nearl)- buried under great
hills of hard snow, and two of our large tin boxes contain-
ing shipsbread had been swept by the wind over a preci-
pice, where we could not recover them. Ten of our dogs,
always restless in a snow-storm, had gnawed their harness
and straps in i)ieces, and were loose, while three of the
others had been attacked ])\- a disease which the l^skimo.s
call poblakto, similar to hydrophobia, and were at tiie
point of death. This was extremely discouraging, as there
was great danger that the other dogs would fall victims
to the malady, in which case it would be impossible for
us to ])rocced. Pnring tlic l<»ng storm the dog.s had be-
come verN' hungry, and those that had freed themselves
from their straps had devoured everything eatable that
was not buried under the snow. Fortunately our j)rovi-
sions were packed in hermetically closed tin cans, which
proved impervious to the teeth of the dogs. The catch-
ing of the loose dogs, which were not yet well acquainted
with their new masters, was a difficult task that not only
severely tested our j^atience, but also caused our sj)irits to
sink to zero.
The usual method of catching one of these dogs is to
entice him to come near you bv throwing small pieces of
jK'mmican on the snow, in a favorable moment you seize
him bv the neck with a firm grip. \'ou then j)rc.ss his
heail into the snow and hold him in this p<isition until
some one else v,\n harness him. if one is well pi*actiset!
338 .IC/^OSS XOKT]fERN GREEXLAND
in tliis work he can, as a rule, do it without getting bitten
more than two or three times. In two cases we had to
lasso the dog doubly, each man clinging tightly to his rope
and a third man holding the animal down in order to
make it possible for a fourth person to put on a new har-
ness or repair the old one.
bEl'AKATlU.N UK ICE I'LUl-.S
c;ii.\i'ri:R xix
ACROSS Till'; ic:h ( Ai'
TiiK fallowing clays \\c had slow and tcdiniiN work
climbing the steep hills; but after May i| we found the
inland ice slowly sloping u|) toward the northeast and
.shining with an iiilensL- brighhu'ss in the light of the sun.
W L' then began regular]}' to tra\el at night, when tlu-
reflection of tlie sun on the snow was le.ss annovinu-
The much Wcumer (la\ was sacrihced to the gods of sleep
and to the art nf j)reparing tea and ])ea sou|). We
had reached an elevation of three thousand five hundred
feet al)()\e the sea level. I'Our of our dogs had died of
])oblakto, so we oidN- had sixteen of tlie animals with
which we had started. We therefore left some damaged
sledges and all the articles we could ])()ssibly do without.
Even tlun our outfit weighed about one thou.sand eight
hundred pounds.
On MaN- \~ we reached the highest |)oint between
Inglefield ( ".ulf .wmX Kane Hasin. Hcforc us, sloping
toward the north and northeast, but so little as to be
hardly noticeable, lay the inland ice. I had often told my
companions that this was the Norwegian Independence
Day, and they desired to ob.scrve it in some manner that
should distinguish it from ordinary days. I >r. Cook,
who had the gift of making something good out of very
poor materials. j)roj)osed, after we had made our camp in
the morniii'j. to maki- a hre out of a broken ski and cook
340 ACA'OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
a meal that would make our mouths water. He carried
t)ut his part of the programme to perfection. We had
hardly ever eaten a meal with greater relish than we did
the one on that morning of May 17. The principal dish
was of the doctor's own invention. The recipe from
which it was made is as follows : To one litre of warm
pea-soup, add some pieces of pemmican. If the pem-
mican is frozen hard, chop it into small pieces with an
axe. This will cause it to melt more readily. Stir the
A \ i> II I. s ( (J,\ir \.\ l( IN.-
whole over a fire, using pemmican enough to make the
mixture quite thick. It is a very palatable dish, and, if
not eaten in too large quantities, is easily digested.
On May iS and 19 w^e made good progress, covering a
distance of about twentv-two miles each day. On May 20
we encountered a snow-storm from the southeast, and were
obliged to make our camp much earlier than usual. As
soon as we halted, we commenced making a snow hut.
UK MIl'NIi.Hr MS
342 .ICA'OSS XORTHKKN GREENLAND
Here \vc were snow-bound for two days. Had \vc
known that two and a half months would pass before we
should again be under a roof, we probal3ly should have
accepted this detention with much less dissatisfaction.
We were not able to resume our journey until Sunday,
May 22. When we had removed the snow with which
our sledges were covered we found, to our great disap-
pointment, that the only luxury among our stores — ten
packages of fruit preserves — had disappeared. The ex-
planation was easy. The dogs had gotten loose, visited
tlie sledges, and eaten what they found. But the pre-
serves did not agree with their stomachs, and the poor
animals suffered severely for their pilfering.
During the next two days we covered a distance of
about forty-four miles, although we used neither ski nor
sn()W->hoes. On the morning of May 24 we were east of
the Humboldt Glacier, and a]:)out one hundred and thirtv
miles from McCormick Bay. y\fter finishing our meal
Lieutenant Peary informed us that, according to the plan
\\hi( h had been laid out, the time had come for our little
company to separate. Two of its members must return
to Redcliffe House (our winter cjuarters) and the other
two continue the work of exploration. The object of the
latter j^arty would be to determine how far north the
Greenland continent extends. It would require a long-
journey and involve great difficulties. RajMcl traxelling
would be necessary, and the carrying of a sufficient quan-
lily of proxisions to last for cjuite a ]:)eri()(l would be indis-
pensable. \{ conditions are favorable a dog can draw, on
the inland ice, a load of about one hundred and twenty-
five pounds, and recpiires only about one pound of pemmi-
can i)cr day for food. It was therefore desirable that the
.ICA'O.S.S J'llE ICI: 1. 1/'
343
[)arty proccetliiiL; north should have a small nuinlx-r ol
people aiul a rclalivelv lart^c luinihc-r of clogs. \\\\^
would admit of the carrying of provisions for a longer
l)eriod than would otherwise be j)ossible, and would also
afford the means of taking along a larger number of
scientific instruments.
Lieutenant I'eaiv now in(|uired who would be willing
to aceoni])any him farther noi'th. We each and all volun-
teered. 1 le selected me for his companion, and before \vc
returned 1 accomplished the end I had wished for on the
day that I offered my services to the exjiedition in IMiila-
delphia.
We now camped together for the last time. After our
sleep we made ])reparations, in the afternoon, to i)arl,
Ciibson and the doctor tot)k one of the smaller sledges,
two of the dogs, and jjrovisions for twelve days. Lieuten-
ant Peary and myself took the remaining sixteen dogs
and the other sledges. 1 he latter we tied one behind
another with ropes. ()ur entire loatl weighed about
tweKe hundred poimds.
When our two jDarties were ready to move \vc shook
hands, the w hii>s cracked, and we got under way. Ciibson
and Dr. Cook went toward the south, with Redcliffe
House as their destination ; Peary and myself ))roceedcd
to the northeast toward the distant and unknown |)oint at
the North Cape of Cireenland. There was deep solemnity
at this j)arting, and none of us will ever forget the time
when, in the midnight hour, we lost sight of each other in
the middle of a lonely desert of snow. P'rom this j)oint
the success or failure of the expedition depended wholly
ujjon the fate of only two men.
i'hat night wt- covered a distance ol iioi quite four
344 ACROSS XORTHERN GREEXLAXD
miles, and wc made our first canij) alone early in the
morning. The next night one of the large sledges broke ;
and as considerable time was occupied in repairing it, we
did not make much progress. We had now reached a
]3lace where the snow was loose and deep, and during the
three following nights we were able to proceed only a
short distance.
On May 2S we shot one of our dogs. The weight of
our provisions had diminished so much that a smaller
number of animals was needed to draw the load. By
killing one of the dogs we could not only save the provi-
sions he would have eaten, but we could also use his flesh
as food for the others. In time we acquired considerable
facility in skinning and cutting up dogs, but it was the
most unpleasant work we had on the inland ice. It made
our hearts ache to kill the creatures that had been so
faithful to us. At first there were but few of the dogs
that had an appetite for the flesh of their fallen comrades;
but later, when provisions became scarce and they suf-
fered from hunger, the survivors all ate it readily.
Three nights of marching brought us within sight qf
Petermann Fjord. In the background we could see,
through the clear air, to Hall Basin, a good deal south of
latitude Si". After this there were so many deep cre-
vasses in the ice that we were obliged to turn more
toward the east than our course had thus far been di-
rected. On the 3d of June we had to kill another dog.
This left us fourteen.
I*'or a few days we made rapid progress. Then we
again caught sight of the mountains on the coast. Dur-
ing a week of marching on the ice we had made our way
into a trap from which it took us several days to escape.
AC7U)SS TJH: JCJi CAl' 345
On the 9th and lulli of Juir- iIktc was a snow-storm
whicli compelled us to halt. W'c spent the time under an
oilcloth cover, an improvised sleeping-saloon that was not
tiL!,lit enou«;h to _L;ive us the most perfect protection.
W hen the storm was over we resumed our march, but
had not been moving more than a half hour when we
were cut off fiom our course by large crevasses. We now
saw that wc had come too near the coast and were going
down a slope that would lead us to a dangerous locality.
It was evident that we must again climb uj) to the inland
ice. This required two days of hard work to accomplish.
Our best dog sprained a leg, lagged behind, and was lost.
We also lost an excellent telescope down a crevasse.
The time that followed was somewhat monotonous, yet
was full of interest to exjjlorers. On account of the
numerous crevasses our j^rogress was slow; but when on
June 26 we reached a height of 6,000 feet, this difliculty
was over, and our s])irits were percejitibly raised. Though
1 can assure \-ou that he is not at all of a musical turn, I
could off and on hear Peary sing, while I sang .Norwegian
songs as well as 1 knew how. .At these unusual sounds
the dogs turned their heads, and the intelligent look in
their eyes indicated that they were trying to assure them-
selves that they had human beings for companions.
After reaching the elevation noted, we were obliged for
four nights to i^o in a southeasterlv direction, as our direct
progress was checked by a fjord, X'ictoria Inlet, that
"icemed to have no end. .At last, in the night between
|uly I and 2, we found that it was a canal which sepa-
rated the rocks to the north from the real continent of
Greenland. We were then at a height of 5.000 feet.
and could see below the end of the inland ice. Nearer
346 .-ICA'OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
and nearer we
a p p r o a c li e cl
the dark mo-
raine until at
last the memo-
rable moment
arrived when
we set foot on snow-free land
after two months of continuous ski
and snow-shoe running.
It was nearly midnight when
we reached tlie moraine. A cou-
ple of snow-sparrows chirped us a
greeting of welcome, and we heard
the pleasant rippling of a fountain
among the large stones that every-
where covered the ground. We
did not need coaxing to throw our-
selves upon the ground and drink
freel}' of the refreshing stream.
\'\\(: had never seemed more beautiful than it did at this
moment.
Peary at once started on a tour of discovery, and soon
found something that quickened the hunting blood in our
veins. This was a fresh track of musk oxen. We cer-
tainly did not forget to take a rifle and some cartridges
with us when, on the next morning, July 3, we started on
a lour with jjrovisions sufficient to last four days. We
also carried thermometers, barometers, and photographic
and cooking ajDparatus. Slinging our bundles upon our
backs we were off. Peary led the way, I followed, with
our .seven dogs. Our sledges and the rest of our luggage
we left behind amon*'- the stones.
A SI'Kl'I.MKN (iK C.KKKNLANl)
FLORA
AC/^OSS Till: hi'. (.//■ 34;
Up and down wi- went lo the coast, over lulls and dales.
through creeks, alon-; rajjidly running streams, and beside
sniall dark lakes the lixelong day before we stopj)ed to
rest, hverywhere ue found luuiiberless sniall loose and
sharp stones, which made the march in (»ur thin-solcd
seal-skin kanuks a time of continual suffering.
I)uring the man h we collected s|)ecimens of several
minerals and also obtained a number ol ivd, yellow, and
white flowers that enli\ened the otherwise dreary scene.
Several times we found tracks of musk oxen, but none
of the animals were in sight. In the evening, after our
march of twcKe hours, we were sore-footed and fagged out,
but we had hardly eaten oiir j)lain su|)per of pemmican
aiul shipsbread before we fell into a sweet sleep lying
among the stones.
The next day brought glad surprises and pro\ed a
great festival for us. in the morning, about an hour
after resuiuing our journev. we came to a rock about
4,000 feet high. I'lom this point, far awav to the north-
east, we saw the ocean covered with a shining laver of
white. We had reached the east coast, but we only had a
glimpse of what we desired to see in broad expanse. I''or
two hours we jjressed on, but then there was an abru|)t
ending of our marching for the day. Right before us,
and but little more than a half mile awav, we caught sight
of something th.il attrac ted our attention and caused each
of us to utter an exclamation of glad sur|)rise. Two musk
oxen were luoving over the stones. We (juickly agreed,
by means of signs, that Peary should folU)W them with the
rille, while I should ct)nceal our seven dogs, in order that
they might not scent the game, which we greatly desired
to secure. When the dogs were attended ti*. I w.uted and
348 AC A' OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
listened with great anxiety. Soon I heard three sharp
rejX)rts of the ride, by which my excitement was made
still more intense. At length the tall form of Peary came
into view on the slope above me. He nodded, gesticu-
lated, and laughed. By this I knew what had occurred.
We were to have a supply of fresh meat ! In a few jumps
I cleared the hill. The dogs kept me company, and
double-quick time was made to the ])lace where tlie ani-
mals lay. riiere were two cows and two calves. Three
of them Peary had killed. The smallest of the group, a
young long-legged calf, was alive and was calling faintly
to its dead mother for protection.
After securing our dogs to some large stones we ap-
proached our game. The grown animals were as large as
cows two years old. They were covered with long black
hair that, when they stood upright, nearly touched the
ground. The heads were disproportionately large, the
horns were thick and curved, and the faces were half
hidden by long locks resembling manes. Altogether, the
animals presented a very wild and uncanny appearance.
We photographed the creatures in different positions,
and then removed their skins. This took us several
hours. Upon searching for the calf we found it lying
dead among the stones. The poor creature had probably
been killed by fear and excitement.
It was a matter of course that we should celebrate the
securing of such splendid game by a banquet for our-
selves and the dogs. Preparations were commenced at
once. We began by roasting pieces of the meat over our
small sj)irit lamps, but as this took a long time we became
imjiatient and went to eating it raw. I suppose it was
because we had been eating pemmican so long that our
.ICA'OSS 'J 7/ A ICJ: C.W , ,.^
appetites for fresh meat were almost insatiable. We ate
so much that we were really alarmed. l'"or a while we
could hardly keep awake. Our splendid feast was finished
with a few cups of tea, to which wc added some milk
obtained from the cows.
We did not forget or omit to feed the do<;s. They
were i^rcatly excited by the fresh and bloody meat, aufl
-----^ivi^jr^^-^^
ji.^
thoroughly cleaned all the bones of the large animals. It
was late at night when we all got settled down to sleep.
The next morning we saw another lot of the musk cattle
grazing at a little distance from us. There were six ani-
mals in this herd. It was my turn to use the ritle. We
did not need the tiesh of more than one ; and as I did not
want to cause unnecessary injury, I decided to try to pick
out a bull. When I came within .shf)oting distance I
selected one with enormous horns, similar to the old
northern drinking horns, that was evidently the leader of
350 .ICJ^OSS XO/xTJ/ER.y GKEEXJ.AXD
the band. When I fired he fell, fatally wounded ; the
olliers, alarmed at the report, ran a few hundred feet and
then quietly resumed their grazing.
I left the animal where it fell and at once returned to
the camp, in order that we might proceed to a great rock,
about five miles away, from the top of which we expected
to obtain a fine view of the surrounding region and take
some photographs of the coast. As we wished to do this
and return before nightfall, there was no time to lose.
We reached the top of the cliff about 9 a. m. A mag-
nificent view si)read out before us — a view that will
never be forgotten. We were at an elevation of about
3,800 feet. The rock, to which Peary gave the name of
Navy Cliff, ended toward the north in a steep wall that
continued unbroken to the sea. At its foot was a mighty
bay, widening toward the east and surrounded by high
and steejD walls of rock. How far this bay reached we
could not determine, as the view was cut off by large
rocks ; but we considered it probable that it was directly
connected with Victoria Inlet, and that these two bodies
of water form a sort of canal that cuts off the land north
of the .S2d parallel of latitude from the real continent of
Greenland. We firmly believe that here the main body
of land ends and that all the land to the north is in- the
form of islands.
We took a number of astronomical observations, and
then got out our photographic apparatus and sketch-
books. When we had finished our work we sat down to
our dinner. Peary brought out a small silver flask con-
taining whiskey, which he carried for use in case of ill-
ness. We each took a drink, and Peary christened the
magnificent body of water we had found Independence
352 ACJ^OSS XORTHERX GREENLAND
Bay, in honor of the Fourth of July, the day upon which
it had been discovered. We then built a tall beacon of
stones and placed in its centre a small bottle containing
a paper upon which was written a short description of our
trip thus far. Two silk flags which we had brought witli
us were fastened to a bamboo pole, which we placed
among the stones, and which were soon waving in the
fresh summer breeze.
On the Sth of July we commenced our return trip, tliat
lasted twenty-seven days. We had reached a height of
8,000 feet, and were greatly delayed by storms and deep
loose snow. During the last seven days our average
distance was thirty-two miles per day, but during this
period the snow was firmer and the walking was much
better than it had previously been. During most of the
trip Peary used Canadian snow-shoes, while I used ski
exclusively.
On the 5th of August, as we were nearing our winter
quarters, the point at which our journey was begun, we
discovered, at a distance of about two miles, some dark
spots moving about on the surface of the snow. W^e
were soon convinced that they were men, but we could
only guess who they were or on what errand they were
enira<{ed. The doctor or Gibson and some Eskimos
might be out searching for us, but that seemed hardly
probable. We wondered if they could be members of the
expedition that was to take us home and who were out
examining the borders of the inland ice. We even que-
ried whetlier tlie ship that brouglit them might not at
that moment be lying in McCormick Bay awaiting our
return.
Very .soon after we saw these men they caught sight of
JCA'OSS Till: ICJ: C.tl' 353
US. W f thought wc fould distincjuish a faint sound as
of .shoutiuL;, .iiul the rc'|)()rt of a _l;uii. W'c an.swcrcd im-
mediately with hearty clieers, and I discharged our rifle
twice.
(Jur last surmise in regard to the company proved to
be correct. As we a])|)roaciied we found that the f(»re-
most of the jxirty was Professor lleiljjrin, of Philadelphia,
the geologist who had accomi)anied us on the trip (^f the
l^revious year, and who was leader of this rescue expedi-
tion. The other members of the party, seven in number,
were also from Philadeli)hia. Of these, four were scien-
tists, one was an engineer, one an artist, and one a jour-
nalist. They were dressed in modern tourist suits and
carried shining mountain staffs and icc-a.xes. but none of
them had either snow-shoes or ski. .\s the cold of the
preceding night had not been severe enough to form a
frozen crust upon the surface of the deep and moist snow,
they were obliged to wade in a substance resembling
powdered sugar, into which they sank to the knees and
sometimes to the hi|)s. The fact that they had walked
about five miles in thi> terrible slush was abundant evi-
dence of their zeal and perseverance.
-At a distance of about three hundred and iwenty-tive
feet we commenced " shooting " at each other with the
well-known snai)-shot kodaks. These little instruments
with their short cracks gave a kind of warlike appearance
to our meeting — a Jin dc siccie\ni:iViiY)' volley, indeed.
As the parties approached each other a glad hurrah
sounded through the thin mt)untain air. Then came the
most hearty shaking of hands and an enthusiastic greeting
of the men who had come with the steamer KiU to take
us back to civilized society. Never to be forgotten was
23
354 .-if A' OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
this meeting witli fellow-men after seventy-two days of
loneliness on an almost boundless field of snow. Neither
can we ever forget the intense interest and deep enjoy-
ment with which we listened to a recital of the great
events which liad occurred in the inhabited world during
the year that had passed since we left our homes.
Slowly we made our way over the snow, but conversa-
tion did not flag. At length we reached the ship. Our
great journey was at an end.
Since leaving the house we had spent more than ninety
days on the inland ice of Greenland, and had travelled
about tliirteen hundred miles. We had found the exact
northern extent of the mighty ice cap of this great region,
and, with a probability bordering on certainty, had defined
the limits of the Greenland continent to the north. Our
observations show^ed that the land rapidly grows narrow
a little beyond latitude 78°, and very clearly indicated the
existence of several ice-free islands to the north of the
mainland. We also obtained a great deal of information
regarding the meteorology of the region and the height
of the inland ice.
With our five faithful dogs we w^ent upon the deck of
the vessel. Here the friendly sailors joyfully gave us
their hands and warmly congratulated us upon the suc-
cess of our exploring tour and our safe return. I hardly
need say that one of the first things w^e did after reaching
the vessel was to take a thorough bath and put on clean
clothes. Then an accommodating sailor freed us from
a large quantity of long matted hair. This gave us a
rather decent appearance, and we gathered around the
table for dinner, where we spent abundant time and did
full justice to the meal.
Two clays hitcr \\c had all of our lhinLi;s on board, and
tht A7/r Nk'anicd down the bay to our winter (|uartcrs.
I Ik- If \\L- were cordially wclronicd by the other nieiiibers
of the e.\i)e(lition, — the doctor, (iibson. X'erhoeff, and
l\*ar)'s man Matt, all of whom met u> at the shore. !'>(•
hint! them stood a number of our native friends, who loni;
ai;<) had i;iven up all hope of our ever returnint; from the
L;reat mountains, " Sormoksuak." Their faces were beain-
int; with joy, and the men listened in breathless excite-
ment when, a little later, I L;ave them a description of (Uir
mcctini; with musk oxen on the eastern coast. Many
were the (juestions that I had to answer; and with their
usual tlesire for exact information, they were not satisfied
until I had given them ui)on i)aj)er a careful drawing of
our route over the inland ice and of the coasts beyond.
Before we sailed for home a sad misfortune overtook
us. This was the loss of our mineralogist and meteoro-
logical ob.server, Mr. WrhoelT, who jjcrished while on an
excursion which he undertook alone. He had intended
to be awav for two days. As he did not return at the end
of that time we began to feel anxious in regard to him,
and on the evening of the third day commenced a diligent
.search. I''(»r seven days and nights wc continued our
efforts; but with the exception of some footi)rints on the
snow, not the slightest trace of our missing conii)anion
could l)e found, and we were forced to the belief tliat
further work in this direction would be without avail.
i'he general o|)inion was that our unfortunate friend had
fallen into one of the many deej) crevasses which make
travelling extremely perilous in the region which he at-
temi)ted to exi)lore.
On the 24th of August the Kife slowly steamed out of
356
.ICA'OSS JV0K7IIERX GREENLAND
McCormick Bay and away from our small winter quarters,
where we had spent many happy hours. It was with
mingled feelings of joy and sorrow that among hundreds
of icebergs we at last lost sight of our little house. Four
weeks later, after ha\ing sojourned for fourteen months
among desert ice fields, we found ourselves once more in
a civilized land.
/,. - '4/
I'EARY AND ASTRUl' HOISTING FLAGS ON NAVY CLIFF
CII.M'II'K XX
TIIK SKCONI) ri .\k\ IXIlDinoN
ScAKLKi.v nine months IkuI i)as.^c<l after our return
before tlie energetic leader of our ])arty was a<;ain on
his way north at tlie head of another Arctic cxi)edilion.
riiis expechlion left New \'ork on the sealer I'alcon
July 2, 1S93. it was much more fully ec|uipj)ed than the
jjrevious expedition had been. Amonir the novelties were
eij^ht Mexican mules, which were said to be of a remark-
ably stron<4 and hardy breed, and which were taken for
tlie i)urj)ose of transjJortinL;' j)rovisions from our winter
tpiarters up to the Ijorder of the inlaiid iie. We also took
aloni; a pii^eon-house containii\<^ a large nuniberof carrier
j)igeons. It was Peary's intention to use these birds, while
travelling in the interior of Greenland, to carry messages
to the winter (|uarters of the expedition, but they did not
jjrove to be well adapted to this kind of service.
In addition tt) the usual number and kind of boats, we
were provided with a launch fitted with a jietroleum
engine that wc expected would be of great service in
short excursions for hunting and in making surveys near
our winter (juarters. This, too, jjiowd a disappointment,
as the boat was too light, and the engine did n(»t give
sufficient |)()wer. Teary had hoped, after the long winter
set in, to use this engine in the house in connection with
a dynamo which we had taken along to furni.sh us with
electric liirhts.
358
.■ICA'OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
YOUNG ESKIMO GIRLS AND NATIVE IILT AT GOUHAV.N
W'liL'H we left America our party numbered fourteen
members. This number was later increased to fifteen, as
Mrs. Peary, who accompanied her husband in this as well
as in his previous expedition to the Arctic regions, in the
autumn gave birth to a daughter, who lived and was well
and strong when the voyage to the civilized world was
made. Mrs. Cross, an elderly woman, also went with us
to serve as cook, and, when needed, in the capacity of
nurse. On the return voyage in the Falcon the following
autumn, she was taken ill, and she lived but a short time
after the ship arrived at Philadelphia.
The other members of the expedition were as follows :
Mr. hjilrikin, engineer; Dr. Vincent, physician; Mr.
iialdwin, meteorologist; Mr. Clark, zoologist ; Mr. Swain,
secretary and stenographer; Messrs. Lee, Davidson, Carr,
and myself. Then, without being really a member of the
36o A CM OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
expedition, Mr. Stokes, an artist, went with us for the pur-
pose of painting Arctic scenes. Lastly, there w^as Matt,
Peary's colored servant, who had accompanied us on our
previous voyage.
On our way nortliward llie Falcon stopped at several
of the Enirlish mission stations on the east coast of Lab-
rador in order to purchase dogs from the Eskimos. We
obtained about twenty, and then set our course directly
for Greenland. On July 26 we sighted the lofty snow-
covered mountains, and that night we stopped at the
Danish colony, Holstcnsborg. Two days later \\q reached
Godhavn and then proceeded to Upernavik.
On July 31 we passed Melville Ba}^ and on August 3
the Falcon anchored in Bowdoin Bay, about twenty miles
east of our first winter quarters.
W'c proceeded at once to construct a dwelling. On
account of having twice as many peo])le, we were obliged
to build on a larger scale than we had done before. The
]if)use was made thirty-three feet long and fourteen feet
wide and was divided into several small rooms.
On August 20 the Falcon sailed for Newfoundland. In
the following days the house was finished and Peary chris-
tened it Anniversary Lodge.
Meanwhile I \vas enorao;ed in movino: some five thou-
£3 0 o
sand pounds of provisions from the coast to the inland ice.
In this work I had the assistance of twenty natives. W^e
had planned to have the hauling done by mules, but of
the eight which we had when we left Philadelphia five
had died and the three that survived proved entirely un-
fitted for service in the wild region to which we had taken
them.
During the months of September and October a good
362 ACA'OSS yOKTJIEKy GREEXLAND
deal of time was spent in hunting-, in order tliat we might
secure a supply of meat for use in the eoming winter.
We also erected a depot, in which to store provisions, on
the inland ice.
Our hunters were very successful. Before the end of
October they had secured seventy reindeer and twenty
walrus. The meat of the animals last named was used
for feeding our dogs during the winter. The autumn was
unusually mild as far as temperature was concerned, but it
was rainy and disagreeable. Bowdoin Bay did not freeze
over till the early part of November. This was a full
month later than it froze in 1891.
On October 26 the sun left us, to be absent from our
sight for about four months, and the monotonous winter
life began. F"ive days later a catastrophe occurred that
came very near carrying the expedition into utter ruin.
:\ mighty iceberg, loosened from the mountain near our
dwelling, swept down the bay with terrific force, and
caused a flood that inundated the shore and house and
carried with it the thirty-two barrels of petroleum upon
which we were depending for fuel and light during the
winter, h'oitunately only four of the barrels were totally
lost. The others were recovered with great difficulty
after quite a proportion of their contents had been lost by
leakage. From this time we were obliged to be very
economical in the use of coal oil, and all hope of having
electric lights had to be abandoned.
\\ ith the ()])ening of winter we began to receive visits
from our friends, the I^^skimos, who helped us faithfully
and untiringly with whatever work we happened to have
on hand. The months of November and December were
largely spent in preparing clothes and equipments for the
TIIK SJ'XOAn J'EAKV KXI'LLUTJON 363
journey in tin- rominiL;- sprint;-. Christmas and New Year
were eckbralecl in an appropriate manner. l*'el)ruary
brought the severest (old, minus 37" Celsius. On the
14th of this month daNli^ht ap|)rar((l attain. I )urin_i^
the winter more than hall of oui" (lo_i;s had (h\'d ; hut as
tlie Eskimos liad a large numbei-, we had no dilfieulty in
])urehasing thirt\- from them.
On M.ueh 0 the whole et|uii)ment wds brought u|) to
the border of the inland iee, and everything was in readi-
ness lor the long and wearisome jtiuincx.
At this time 1 was attacked b\- an illness, |)robably pro-
duced b\- eating pemmican, which made it unadvisable
for me to attempt to take further j^art in the work of the
expedition. I was comi)elled, \er)- reluctantly, howe\er.
to give u|) m\ long therished plan, though at Peary's
request I remained a few da\s longer at the dej)ot. CJn
March 1.4 I returned to the house, accom|)anied by Lee,
who liad frozen one of his feet .so seriously that he could
not proceed with the others. About two weeks after our
return Dr. X'incent also reached the house with I )a\ids()n,
who had frozen one of his heels, very badly during the
terrible ecpiinoctial storm that raged in those regions
March 22 and 2,:;. 1 )ming this storm the temperature
was minus 45' Celsius, a remarkable i)henomenon in con-
nection with such a violent wind as then jjrevailed.
After the storm was over it was found that several of
the dogs had bet-n fro/i-n to death and all of the otliors
were more or less injured. This was the last news I
heard from the exjjedition till May i, as 1 was absent on a
sledge lri|) around Melville Hay, which I undertook with
a friendly native hunter and eight dogs.
On my return to w inter quarters I found that I*cary
364
ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
and his companions had been compelled to give up the
journey and had come back from the inland ice. The
violent storms and the extremely low temperature, minus
45° Celsius, had greatly diminished the nuiiiber of dogs.
Mr. Entrikin had both of his feet frozen, and all the other
members of the party were in a condition which entirely
unfitted them to continue the trip.
There is verv little to be said about the remainder ot
the time that we spent in Greenland. We were all
earnestly longing for the Falcon to come and take us
home.
One beautiful c\cning toward the close of July two na-
tives brought us word that a ship had arrived. The news
was received with great joy and hearty cheers.
The return voyage in Wmi Falcon was quickly and safely
made, and was without any incident \vorthy of notice.
Ihis is all that it seems necessary to say concerning
Tl/li S/:cO:YD /'/'.. //>') J.XJ'l.PJ IION
365
the expedition. Liciileiiant I'cai)- reeeivecl ii cjuantily cjI
j)r()\isi()ns and coal lioni the J'aicoii, and remained at
winter quarters, intending to s|)end another year in that
desert region. Lee and Matt, the eolored servant, also
remained with him.
CHAPTER XXI
NATIVES AT SMITH SOUND
Latk in the afternoon of July 23, 1891, tlie Kite was
slowly ncaring land on the south side of Whale Sound.
iM-om the deck we discovered what ajjpeared to be human
dwellings. A boat was quickly lowered, and we pulled
for the shore. The land was considerably elevated, but
we succeeded, though with some diflficulty, in effecting a
landing. We then found a collection of tents and earth-
huts situated in a sheltered position at the foot of a
mountain.
There were about a dozen people at this little settle-
ment. The nien promptly came to the shore to meet us,
but the women and the children cautiously kept in the
backgroun'd. Two of us involuntarily held out our hands
to greet them in the manner of civilized people, but our
action made a singular impression upon those with whom
we desired to become acquainted. Instead of shaking
hands they stared at us with surprised looks upon their
faces, apparently without the slightest idea of what we
meant. Soon, however, they seemed to understand that
we were peaceable people, and that we had no intention
of injuring them. Then all was changed, and the scene
which at first had been quite dull became very lively and
interesting.
One of our sailors who, during the landing, happened
to be smoking a short pipe attracted a great deal of
NATIVES A'r SMiril .\()r.\7> 367
attention, antl tlic clouds of suiokc that he jjuffcd out at
intervals made a stroni; inij)ression uj)on the natives, who
evidently ihoui^lil he was endowed with mystical and
supernatural .L;ilt>. I'heir astonishment was L;reatly in-
creased when, with a (|uick movement, he Hi;IUed a match
and thus produced still lari;er clouds of smoke from his
remarkal)le "lamp." It was evident that the peojjle be-
fore us had ne\ei- lonie in contact with civilized men, and
that most of them had ne\er seen a shijj. The latter
appeared to them a wonderful object.
The natives were not the only ones who were inter-
ested and surprised. Their aj)pearance made as stroni;
an impression ui)on our minds as we had made u|)on
their own. Uncouth, dirt\-, and with features anything
but regular, they seemed to beloiiLi; to an inferior race,
while their loni:;, shaL;L;"y black hair, whic h huiiL^ owr their
skin-clothed shoulders and, in some cases, even t)ver their
small dark eyes, gave them a singularly sinister and an
almost terrifying ai)i)earance.
Later on I saw that some of the natives were not so
ncijligent in regard to their hair as were those with whom
we here came in contact. Some of the women, esj)ccially
the younger ones, often had their hair fastened in a s(»rt
of topknot by a thin seal-skin straj). Sometimes, too. a
man would be seen having a similar strap around his
head, in order to keej) hi> eyes free from his long grc.isy
locks of hair. These locks, which closely resemble the
manes of horses, are knotted into solid masses, and make
nice and warm domiciles for numerous jmrasites.
The Eskimo forehead is low, the face broad, and the
features ugly. The eyes are almond-shaped and small,
but their power of vision is really wonderful. The n(»se
368 AC/^OSS i\ORTIIERN GKEENLAXD
is small and broad, the mouth large with thick lips, which
with the fair sex have no resemblance to the ideal '* cherry
lips " of which so much is said and written by civilized
jjcople. Probably this is the reason the men do not kiss
their wives, but instead, if they wish to show especial ten-
derness, press their flat noses still flatter against the faces
of the others. As a rule this caress is accompanied by
an audible sniff.
Within the protruding lips shine rows of strong teeth
which are firmly set in heavy muscular jaws, and which
are used, not only for eating, but also for pulling loads
and in the various kinds of their daily work.
The women also understand, as well as their sisters
livine farther south, how to use their mouths. Some-
times, too, they use them for very practical purposes. As
a single illustration, I will mention the fact that, after it
has been stretched and dried, they chew, inch by inch,
each skin that the men secure in hunting. In this way
they make the skins so pliable that they can readily be
made into clothes.
From the description I have given it will readily be
seen that, if judged by his face, an Eskimo would not take
a i)rize at a beauty show in competition with Europeans.
The bodies come much nearer our ideal, and the hands
and feet are of only medium size and are well formed,
though the appearance of the men's hands is often in-
jured by numerous cuts and scars.
In regard to the color of the skin of these people it is
difficult to form a correct opinion. This, because of the
dirt with which it is thickly and almost constantly coated.
When sufficiently clean to show its natural tint it appears
to be a light brown shaded with yellow or gray. Though
NATIVES AT SMIlIf SOCND 369
it gixcs tlicni a dcciclctlly uni)lc'asaiU apj)carancL', the un-
clcanncss of the Eskimos at Siiiilh Sound should not be
made too much a nialter of reproach. It is one of the
natural and almost iiu-xitable consequences u[ the hard
conditions under \\hi( h they live.
During nine or ten months of the year all the water
they ha\e for drinking, cooking, and other j)urp<)ses is
obtained by melting snow or ice in stone vessels which
are held over small flames of blubber. This is not only
slow and toilsome, but if done to any great extent it also
requires a larger quantity of blubber than they can well
j^rovide. Consequently a bath is an unknown and, under
existing circumstances, an almost impossible luxury.
Still, if they were anxious to be clean they miLrht do
something in this direction by means of a wet bird-skin
or a sharj:) st(Mie. And I think we awakened some inter-
est in this resjK'ct during our sojourn with them. The
women, in whom a desire to please seemed as strong as it
is in their sisters of civilized lands, certainly made some
attcmjHs to improve their appearance.
Possibly one reason why these |)eople care so little
about cleanliness is the fact that it docs not apj^car to be
essential to health. The air seems to be free from bac-
teria, and the se\ere and long-continued cold evidently
tends to jircvcnt the diseases which filth is certain to gen-
erate in warm climates.
The natives at Smith Sound are isolated from all other
tril)es. In 1S92 there were two hundred and thirty-four
individuals. During the next two years the number of
births exceeded that of the deaths by nine.
24
CHAPTER XXII
HUNTING
In order to obtain an intimate knowledge of the Eski-
mos it is necessary to observe tliem at their daily occu-
pations, k'irst of all, you must go hunting with them.
Autumn has come, and in every day that passes the sun
draws nearer and nearer to the southern horizon. Ere
long comes a day when it sends its last golden greeting
to the desert landscape and disappears from view. In
a lonely and protected fjord you will see a red-cheeked
I^^kimo, who by jumping over the blocks of ice near the
land has succeeded in setting foot on the newly frozen
autumn ice. His face is beaming with joy. Life is offer-
ing him many attractions. Summer, with its constant
smiles day and night, had begun to be somewhat monoto-
nous, and he greets the winter as a dear and welcome
guest. Now tliat new ice has formed on the bay he can
begin the exciting hunt for seals. On the shore in front
of the low hut stands his young wife, smiling at the
thought of soon having some fresh seal meat after living
during the summer upon tough narwhal flesh and the
auks, which furnish most of the food supplies during that
season.
Cautiously the native tries the strength of the ice with
his seal-s]3ear, and moves farther and farther out upon its
glassy surface. Smaller and smaller he seems to become,
until at length he disappears behind an immense iceberg.
in'XTIXG
.17'
riii.s is too nuuli for liis tlircc faithful dogs to (|uietly
bear. Standin-; on the slioiv, they have watched, with
ears erect, and willi every indication of intense interest,
their master on his lonely walk. They now |)ull iinj)a-
tienlly at the straj)s with \\hi(h ihcy are tied to heavy
Z')^
- ■ «»*i''"~-^'*=^-
\\ \ H IIINd 1 (U; n1 \|.
>toiHs. and tlu'ir plaintive howls fill the air. They reali/.e
that the ice is strong enough to bear, and still they arc
left behind. Does their master forget liow cheerfully they
used to draw him on the sledge over the ice.** His appar-
ent neglect seems more than they can endure. Their
howls become still louder and more dismal until his wife
goes uj) to them and pets them all. Then they lie down
o!i the cold rocks and go to sleej).
Meanwhile the hunter continues his walk upon the ice.
I le moves slowly, and has an air of constant watchfulness.
372 .IC/^OSS NORTHERX GREENLAND
In his right hand he carries a seal-spear and the line
belonging to it. In his left hand he has a piece of bear-
skin, and fastened with a strap on his back is a well-worn
huntinir-knife with a handle made from the tooth of a
walrus.
Suddenly lie stops and bends over the ice. He has dis-
covered an opening about five inches in diameter. This
is a breathing-hole of a seal. He now cautiously places
the small piece of skin on the ice near the hole, and
quietly sits down to await the appearance of the seal.
But as a seal often has several of these breathing-holes
it may be a long time before he will come to the one
at which the hunter is located. Patiently the hunter sits
there, hour after hour, like a cat watching a rat-hole, until
the nose of the seal appears in the small opening.
This is a critical moment. The opening is small, and
the spear must be guided with a true aim and sure hand
or the game will be missed, and the long and weary wait
will bring no return. If the hunter fails, and there is a
lack of food at the house, he must either wait again or,
if he happens to know of other breathing-holes, go as
quickly as possible to the one which he thinks the fright-
ened seal will be the most likely to visit.
If he hits the seal lie finds that the opening, which was
made only for its nose, is much too small to allow the
body of the animal to come through. He therefore at
once sets to work to enlarge the spot. This work is done
with the hunting-knife, which is used with wonderful dex-
terity. If, when it is jDulled upon the ice, the seal is not
dead, it is killed with the knife, but with a bone needle
the hunter soon sews ujj the wound, in order to prevent as
far as possible the loss of blood.
HUNTING
373
Then, with his heart filled with joy, the native returns
to the shore to i^et the dogs and sledjrc with which to
take the game home. He could, without much difliculty.
l)ull the seal along over the snow-free ice, hut the desire
to enjoy the tirst sledgc-ride of the season is too strong to
be resisted.
He is soon with his dogs, 'lln.) gnri hmi with deaf-
ening barks as he approaches the shore. Ihey are
c|iii( kly loosened and everything is made ready for the
tii|). With a j)ractised hand the master swings the short
whij) handle, to which a lash about seventeen feet in
length is attached, and the team carefully picks its way
o\er the rough stones. When the clear ice is reached it
strikes into a full gallojj. No reins are used in guiding
SLVAtGR FROM SMITH S«»l'ND
tb. is wild team. Only the \\hi|) is needed for their con-
trol. When the driwr beats on the ice to the left of the
animals the\- go to the right, and when he strikes the ice
ori the other side they move to the left. If he wants to
hurry one of the dogs he knows how to touch a tender
sjjot, but he is usually careful not to be too severe.
The seal is soon reached and jjlaced upon the .sledge.
C)n the way home the hunter may make a detour to j»omc
374 ACA'OSS NORTHEKX GREENLAND
tongue of land where he has a fox-trap which he wishes
to examine and see if it is in order for the coming winter.
These trajjs are made of flat stones of about uniform size,
and placed in a rectangular i)osition. A large flat stone
is so arranged that when a fox pulls at a piece of blubber
that is placed at the farther side of the inclosure it falls
ESKIMO FOX-TRAP
and completely closes the opening by which he entered.
How many foxes are caught in this way I cannot tell, but
it must be a large number. It requires about eight skins
to make a coat for a man, and the garments are not very
du ruble.
Formerly the Eskimos made traps in this form, but
considerably larger, for bears. In 1894 I saw the ruins of
an immense trap of this description on the now uninhab-
ited Hllesmere Land. But at present such means are not
employed. A considerable number of bears are killed in
these regions every year, but the work is done in a braver
manner than by catching them in traps.
The finest place for bear-hunting is south of Cape
York, on the ice-bound Melville Bay. Out on these vast
jii yrixG
375
fields of ice, far from honu', the I'-skinio has foui^ht many
a liard battle with the large and powerful .Arctic bear.
'1\) conduct such a battle successfully both courage and
presence ot mind are re(|uiie(l. Conseijuentlv some of
the natixes are much i)(.tter adajjted for this work than
are others. At the piescnt lime one of the most j)romi-
nent hunters in this >t.(ti(in is a man named Akpallia.
When we saw him in iScji he called himself Nordingjer,
but two years later we found that, without ai)j)lying to
HEAR AITACKIN', -■>! Al.
the courts for permission, he had clianged liis name. I
could not obtain from him any definite information re-
garding the reason for this proceeding. Pos>ii)ly he liatl
been bothered with letter^ intended for another person
376 ACA'OSS NORTHRRX GREEXLAND
uf the same name. Well, however the matter may be
explained, the man is an experienced bear-hunter. He is
nearly forty years of age, and many a hairy giant has per-
ished at his hand. Soon after his return from a hunting-
trip I obtained shelter for the niglit in his hut. It was
rumored that for once the bears had the best of the fight,
and that they had torn one of his arms and also killed
two of his dogs. After making many inquiries I suc-
ceeded in obtaining from him an account of his latest
trip. This, in substance, I will repeat, as it will give the
reader a pretty good impression as to the general method
in which bear-hunting^ is conducted.
During the month of March Akpallia suddenly felt an
ardent desire to revisit Melville Bay, his old hunting-
ground. He promptly repaired his sledge, patched his
bird-skin shirt (he was a widower and therefore had to do
this work himself), and gave his dogs a good meal. This
done he took a long sleep, and in the morning, after
leaving his children, a boy and two girls, in the care of a
neighbor, he started on his expedition. Four days later
he arrived at Cape York, one hundred and twenty-five
miles distant from his home. Here the bear-hunters have
their headquarters. There are usually several families
located at this point, and most of the men are expert
hunters.
/\kpallia remained for a couple of days among the
llesh-pots of the Cape York colony. Two of the local
hunters agreed to accompany him on his intended trip.
(Jne of these was only a half-grown lad, but he w^as taken
along because he was the owner of a genuine gun. This
he had obtained from the crew of an English whalingr
ship in exchange for a large quantity of ivory, and he was
/// .\ J7XC ijy
much elated al st'curiiii; what he consiflorcd a ij^reat bar-
gain. Though at tliis lime he had only powtler L-nough
for two loads, and had no lead for balls, but was obligctl
to use small stones in their >tead, and though by an un-
fortunate explosion the leni;th of the barrel had been re-
duced to about twenty inches, the gun was still regarded
as rather a formidable weajjon, and its young owner was
as highly regarded b) his comrades as though he had
killed a dozen bears.
At length the three hunters left Caj)e York. 'I'hey
had three sledges and fifteen dogs. I*'or two days their
search was in vain, but on the morning of the third day
they found the fresh tracks of bears.
One who has never seen the I^skimo under similar cir-
cumstances can form no adequate idea of the intense ex-
citement into which he is thrown bv such an e\ent. The
dogs, too, show a wonderful degree of interest, holding
up their heads, erecting their ears, and eagerly gazing
over the great white field of ice. Their masters talk in
raj)id whispers, stop and listen, run a short distance, tlien
stop and look around again, until the observer begins to
seriously (juestion whether j)eoi)le who act in sm h an
apparently ridicuk)us manner because they have found
the tracks of a bear can be skilful hunters. Hut further
observations will convince him that, notwithstanding such
childish actions at certain times, they show the most won-
derful jjiesence of mind when in dangerous situation.s.
The tracks discovered by our friends were those of a
female bear and her two cubs. I-'or a time the hunters
all followed the same tracks ; but wiien, after proceeding
for some distance, they came to the fresh track of a sin-
gle bear, leading in an entirely different direction, tliey
37S .ICA'OSS .\ORTHEKN GREENLAND
parted, Akpallia choosing to follow the track last discov-
ered and to attempt to kill the bear without the aid of his
companions.
At leni^th he caught sight of the bear of wliicli he was
in pursuit. It was lying at the foot of an iceberg, quietly
sunning itself, but so far away that it appeared like an
almost shapeless mass. The excitement of the hunter is
now intense. In a hoarse and muffled voice he exclaims
to his dogs, '' Takkotakko ! takkotakko ! " (look! look!).
The doers at once turn their heads inquiringly toward
their master as if to ask if he has really discovered some-
thing. They can only see the monotonous snow-drifts
and the fields of ice, which stretch in every direction be-
yond the utmost limit of their vision. Then he con-
tinues: " Nannuk ! nannuk ! nannuksua!" (a bear! a
bear! a large bear!). Hardly are these words uttered
when the dogs become so excited tliat he cannot restrain
them. They leave the long circuitous course of the
track and rush instinctively, and in the wildest haste,
in the right direction.
When tliey are only about a half mile distant from the
bear, he rises and for a moment stands erect, with head
and neck stretched out toward the approaching team. In
this jjosition he becomes visible to the dogs, who now pull
tlic sledge over the ice with increasing fury. The bear
appears to know by intuition the bloodthirsty character of
the Kskimo and his swift-footed dogs, and with all possible
speed h(' flees from tlie dangerous place. Akpallia jumps
fioin tlic sledge to make it lighter for the dogs, and, hold-
ing with his hands one of the guiding arms behind, his
legs dance wildly under him as he follows the frenzied
animals.
lirXJIXG 379
The bear runs fast, but he cannot go as rapidly as the
dou[s. The distance between them becomes jK-rceptibly
shorter. lUil AkpalHa has to jum|j on the sledge again
in order to sa\e his strentrth for the cominir struirirlc.
lie is a rather laige man, and his weight considerably
retards the sj)ee(l of the dogs, but he knows that bears
cannot run a long distance and that the hunted animal
will soon he obliged to slacken his j)ace.
At length the team i> within about four hundred feet
of the bear. Then .\k|)allia bends over and cuts the roj)e
that keejos the dogs together. The sledge stops instantly
and the loosened dogs rush for the enemy with almost
lightning speed. As soon as the bear j)erceives that
flight will be of no a\ail, he turns and faces his assailants.
Meanwhile Akpallia has seized his s])t'ar from the
sledge and is hasting to the battle-held. This hardy son
of the icy de.sert knows nothing of fear, llis two com-
}xmions long ago disaj)j)eared in the distance. .Single-
handed he is to light a ferocious beast t)f prey — a beast
that with one blow of its paw can easily take his life.
Intelligence, coolness, strength, courage, endurance, and
agility will all be recpiired to gi\e him a fair probability
that the conflict will nwCi to his advantage.
As soon as .Akpallia reaches his j)rey he grasps his
spear with both hands, and with all his strength endeavoi-s
to j)ier(e the bear to its luait. lUit the animal, turning
suddenly and unexpectedlv, deflects the ( oursc of the
spear, and its j)(iint strikes his broad shoulder-blade. In
a moment the bear breaks the spear with his jiaw and
Akpallia is disarmed. Wholly ignoring the barkii\g
dogs, the wounded animal turns in rage uj)on the hunter.
Aki)allia takes a few steps in the snow in order to reach
38o ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
his knife, which he threw down when preparing to make
an attack with the spear, but his foot sHps, he falls, and
the next instant a forepaw of the bear is resting heavily
upon the upper part of his left arm. With almost super-
human efforts he tries to get free, he screams in the face
of the mighty brute in hope of scaring it away, he strikes
against its breast with his fist. All in vain ! The claws
of the bear have penetrated deeply into his iiesh, and he
cannot loosen their hold.
It is only because the bear has other foes that are dis-
tracting his attention that he does not do the hunter
more harm. No sooner do the dogs see the predicament
in wliich their master is placed than they make a fero-
cious but foolhardy attack upon his foe. The two oldest,
a pair of handsome animals resembling wolves in appear-
ance, that have been with their master in many a hard-
fought battle, attack the bear in front, one of them even
biting the paw that holds the arm of his master in the
snow. But the bear does not loosen its grip. With a
quick blow of the other paw it puts one of the dogs out of
the fight. The situation, w^hich was dangerous before,
has now become desperate. But it soon grows worse.
Another bear appears from behind an iceberg near by, a
second dog has fallen bleeding upon the snow, and
Akpallia appears to be beyond all hope of deliverance.
At this critical moment two sledges appear. They are
coming at full speed around the iceberg, w'hich had long
kept the bear last noted from view. With these sledges
are the comrades of the prostrate hunter. Seeing his
condition, they give terrific yells, which he answers with
loud calls for help.
The bear now leaves his victim, joins the other beast,
" raiiri" - '■
Kskiiiio k!..\
Knife with Ivory Blade and Wooden Handle
i;,.w.
Arrow- Head, one fourth actual wie
DIKKIKENT WI APONS ANU IMPI-EMKNIS
382 ^C/i-OSS XORTHERX GREENLAXD
aiul Akpallia is saved. The dogs from the newly arrived
sledges are set at liberty, and intercept the bears in their
tlight. After a short but sharp fight, in which the dilapi-
dated gun plays an important part, the huge beasts are
slain. Then Akpallia's wounds, which fortunately have
not caused much loss of blood, are bandaged with Ion 2:
>lrip.s of dirty and greasy seal-skin, the bears are skinned,
and as much of the meat as can be carried is loaded upon
the sledges.
One of the wounded dogs had died upon the spot.
The other was still alive, and was taken home on a sledcre.
In due time the hunters reached the colony at Cape York,
whiere their adventure, with all of its details, was de-
scribed to an interested and appreciative audience.
Similar things often occur in Eskimo bear-hunts. The
life of the hunter is like a game in which no one can
refuse to take part. The stakes are high, even life itself;
clothes and food sufficient to last for only a short time are
the prizes to be gained.
The manner in which the natives hunt the walrus in
these regions also seems to be worthy of description.
Very early in the spring the families leave their winter
huts along the coast near Inglefield Gulf to go north
almost to Cai)e Alexander, where they temporarily live in
snow huts.
Early on some morning when the weather is clear and
favorable, the men set out for a walrus hunt. There are,
perhaps, a dozen sledges. Each is drawn by five or six
dogs and carries two hunters. As a rule it requires a
drive of two hours to reach a good hunting-place, which
must be near the open sea. Sledges are left quite a dis-
tance back of the thin ice, where the hunt takes place.
nryrixG 383
The dogs are taken along and i)lay an im|)<)rtaMt part in
the affair. The hunters walk about a half mile, or farther
if necessary, to ice which moves with every step they
take. They now ha\e to use great care to avoid dan-
gerous i)laces, and are obliged to continually test the
strength of the ice with their si)ears. These ini|)lemcnts
usually ha\e a i)ointetl j)iece of narwhal tooth lied to one
end to i)re\ent their slipping on the smooth surface (»f the
ice, but a few are fitted with ])ieces of iron which their
owners obtained by barter from white men, by whom they
are visited on]\' at long intervals. Thi.s spear is al)oul
five feet in length. It is illustrated in the collection of
weapons and implements, a drawing of which will Ix*
found on a preceding page.
It is on the thin wavy ice cover just described that the
hunt begins. Soon there seems to be a singing and
cracking in the ice; then there is a break into many
pieces, and uj) through the opening thus formed a
bearded walrus quietly and majestically lifts its large
head and grinning face. You hear its deep breathing,
that in the twilight of the forenoon seems to resemble a
slow snoring, and you sec its breath like a cloud of vajxir,
which in the very low tem})erature that {prevails looks a.s
white and shining as the steam from the valves of an
engine. A moment afterward the animal slowly and
quietly disappears in the deep. The cold waves close
over the dark head, but even while it is descending you
hear similar sounds from other ])laces.
It is usually while the walrus is engaged in breaking
the thin ice in order to form a breathing-hole that the
Eskimo rushes to the attack, though sometimes, in spite of
the cold, one is found that has crcj^ up on the ice where
it was strons: enoucfh to bear its weight.
384 ACJ^OSS XORTHERN GREEXLAND
As a rule the native uses only the spear when lie
attacks a walrus. This spear is made in such a way that
it can be used as a harpoon if desired, and thus saves
the trouble of carrying two kinds of instruments. As
the skin of the walrus is exceedingly thick and tough, the
hunter thrusts the spear into its body with his right
hand instead of throwing it, and in his left hand holds a
coiled line that is firmly fastened to it. The spear is
made in a form that admits of its being pulled from the
animal, while the harpoon could not be drawn out.
As soon as the walrus is struck it disappears in the
water, and the hunter must be alert and active to prevent
his carrying away the spear and line. He cannot rely
upon his mere physical strength in such a contest. With
a strong blow he plants the pike of the spear in the ice,
and w^inds the line around it twice. If the pike gives
way or the ice breaks where it is driven in, the game will
be lost, and with it also the spear-head and line. It some-
times occurs that the feet or legs of the hunter become
entangled in the line, and he is drawn into the water.
Two hunters from this small tribe have recently perished
in this way.
But suppose the ice and spear hold, and all goes well.
In this case the hunter feels greatly relieved when the
line slackens. Soon the animal again comes to the sur-
face. With his knife the hunter quickly makes two holes
in the ice, draws the line down one of the holes and up
through the other. Now the spear is free, and every time
the animal comes to the surface it receives a sharp thrust.
This is continued until the walrus dies from wounds and
exhaustion.
In summer the North Greenland walrus are often seen
25
386 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
in companies of consickTable size. Then it is not safe to
disturb then-i. To attack tliem in an open boat involves
considerable danger, and to interfere with them in a kaiak
would be equivalent to suicide. Of these facts we had a
practical illustration in August, 1891, when Ur. Cook,
Gibson, Verhoeff, and myself were taking a boat trijD over
Whale Sound. We saw several herds of walrus sunning
themselves on floating ice. Upon making an attack we
were, to our great surj^rise, immediately surrounded by
something like a hundred of these monsters, which evi-
dently were bent upon our destruction. Fortunately we
were all well armed with rapid-firing magazine rifies, and
Ekva, an Eskimo who was with us, had a harpoon and a
spear. But notwithstanding our excellent equipment for
the battle, it was with great difficulty that we escaped
from the enraged animals. It was a long and hard fight,
some of the time at such close quarters that we used our
oars and boat-hooks to drive off those of the herd that
were so close as to threaten the instant destruction of our
craft. How many of the animals we had killed during
the fieht we could not tell, as most of the dead ones were
drawn under the water by their comrades, who used their
long tusks for this purpose. With the harpoon lines
which the native had brought we secured two bodies.
During such a fight the aim of the walrus is to get his
tusks over the edge of the boat, by which means it would
easily be capsized. If he is successful there is little hope
for the occupants unless there is another boat close by.
In earlier times many Norwegian walrus hunters lost
their lives in this manner at Spitzbergen.
In addition to the method of hunting for seals which
has already been described, which takes place on the new
388 ACJWSS NORrHKRX GREENLAND
ice in autumn and early winter, and which is called " mau-
pok," or waiting hunt, there is another method of securing
these animals that is of sufificient importance to justify its
description. This plan is followed in spring and summer,
when the seals spend much of the time lying upon the
surface of the sunlit ice. In April the ice, which com-
menced to form six months before, has reached a thick-
ness of about five feet. It is therefore only by great
perseverance and the gradual enlargement of its breath-
ing-holes, that the small fjord seal can make its way
through the thick ice in the spring.
For this kind of a hunt the Eskimo likes to start early
in the morning, so that he may have plenty of time for
the work that is before him. To be sure, the sun at
the end of April is up day and night, and at any hour
in the twenty-four you may see seals upon the ice. But in
the daytime the sunshine is stronger, the air is warmer,
and the seals are more sleepy, and consequently are more
easily captured than they are at night.
The native has not been long upon the ice, before with
his keen vision, he detects some dark spots far away on
the white expanse. He chooses one of these, and soon
his swift dogs bring him to within a half mile of his game.
Here he halts lest the dogs should frighten the seals, caus-
ing them to plunge into the water and escape. After
leaving his team the hunter takes his harpoon and goes
on foot toward his game.
As he approaches the seals he bends over more and
more until at last he gets down upon the snow and creeps
on his hands and knees. He wishes to have the seal
believe it is not an enemy, but one of his own kind that is
approaching. If one of the animals looks up the hunter
HUNTIXG
389
at once stojDs inovino- iilonir, scrapes in the snow with one-
hand or foot as the seals often do, and imitates the singu-
lar hissing sound which they make.
It is very interesting to observe from a j)oint near by
the seals and their habits and ways. .Some will be .seen
resting comfortably on their sides like human beings,
some lying on their bellies with their heads down on the
SIKJOlING SEALS
ice and apparently aslcc}), and others lying on tlu-ir backs
and scratching their round bodies with their short fore-
paws. Now and then one will cjuickly raise the upjxT
part of its body, stretch its flexible neck, and look ear-
nestly around, scenting in all directions.
When the hunter has approached Cjuite near the scai.s.
he suddenly rises, takes a few quick jumps to get as close
to them as possible, and the next moment his harpoon
flies through the air. One of tlic anima]> has been struck
in the back. They all disappear in the water, but the
wounded one is soon drawn up on the ice and killed.
390 .-ICA'OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
The hunter now calls his dogs, and they come to him at
their highest speed. The method of killing seals with
firearms hardly needs to be described.
Of the larger animals of the sea that are hunted by the
Eskimos only the narwhal remains to be mentioned. The
hunt is now pursued in kaiaks, but until about 1870 the
natives had nothing of this description, and the hunt-
ing was done on floating ice. The Eskimos of North
Greenland, having used them for so short a time, do not
make as fine kaiaks as their South Greenland brethren, or
manage them with anything like the same degree of skill.
In fact, the kaiaks in use at Smith Sound at the time of
our visit were both clumsy and dangerous.
The hunters of narwhal keep their kaiaks near together,
and as soon as one of the party has harpooned an animal
the remainder hasten to his assistance. When the ani-
mal has been killed they all join in towing it home. The
game is then divided according to certain established
rules. The one who first attacks and wounds an animal,
be it narwhal, bear, seal, walrus, or reindeer, is always
regarded as its real slayer, and therefore receives the lion's
share of the resulting honors and profits.
The meat of the narwhal is quite tough, but the natives
consider it both nourishing and palatable. In summer it
can be obtained in large quantities. The sinews along
the back are dried and used for thread. They are much
stronger than are those which are obtained from the rein-
deer and whicii also serve the same purpose.
Among the land animals which the natives of this
region engage in hunting, the reindeer is by far the most
imiM)rtant. In former years the hunt in this region did
not amount to much. The reindeer were numerous ; but
nUXTJNG
39 •
as tlie bow and arrow formed tin- only weajx)!! used for
this purpose, it was difficult to kill tlicm. They were
hunted, especially in sjjrint; and summer, principally for
sport and with very little regard to the value of their flesh
and skins. But when the natives obtainetl riHes, as
■•; \ ,
^A, 0^
several of them did from the Peary e\i)editions. and be-
came acquainted with their use, reindeer meat became a
common article of diet, and the skin came into ver)' gen-
eral use as a material for men's clothing. In 1S91, when
we first visited this locaHt\-, the natives were using the
bow and arrow almost exclusively for hunting; but Ix'fore
our departure in 1894 these articles had been jjretty gen-
erally discarded, and it is probable that in the compara-
tively near future they will be found only in the glass
cases of ethnographical collections. Then, too, in a short
time nearly all the reindeer will be destroyed. I-'or such
natural hunters as the Kskimos tlie jileasure and e.xcitc-
392 ACROSS NORTHEKN^ GREENLAND
ment of the chase are too great to be restrained by any
considerations of future good. As long as there are
reindeer to be had, the natives will kill them without any
regard to their requirements for food or clothing. These
people are children of the present, who later on will have
to pay dearly for the use they are making of some of the
destructive powers which they have obtained from their
civilized visitors.
How the reindeer is killed with firearms need not be
explained, but it may be of interest to note that a skilful
and patient hunter can approach near enough to shoot it
with a bow and arrow or even to kill it by throwing a
stone.
Hares were formerly caught in large numbers in North
Greenland by snaring, but now they are shot with rifles.
It is a singular fact that the ptarmigan has never been
hunted by the people of this tribe. As its meat is excel-
lent food, the immunity which it enjoys is probably due to
some ancient superstition.
Of the sea-birds, the auk is the only one that plays an
important part in the domestic economy of the inhabit-
ants of this region. They are caught with a net which is
attached to a long pole.
This hunt is largely engaged in by families who have
pitched their tents near the mountains where the birds
make their nests. As these are always along the steepest
and most inaccessible parts of the coast, the occupation is
both difficult and dangerous, and serious accidents some-
times occur.
A few years ago a man of middle age, and the father of
a family, lost his life while catching auks at the south-
western point of Saunders Island, called Akpan (Auk
HUNTING
39.^
Ishmd) by llic nalixcs on account of llic enormous num-
ber of auks which are found tlierc. In company witii
Aningana (moon), a half-witted fellow, he had climlicd up
on the cliff, more than 2,000 feet high, that extends the
full length of the island. When he had reached a j)oint
from which he could see a large flock of auks directly
below, he had Aningana lower him down the perpendic-
ular wall of the cliff, in order that he might reach the
narrow^ ledge upon which the birds make their nests. In
this work the auk hunters use the same lines and straps
CATCHING AUKS Willi A NKT
as they use in walrus hunting. And, what indicates a
still less degree of caution, they do not hesitate, no matter
how dangerous the precipice, to trust their whole weight
to a single person on tojD of the mountain. On this tKca-
sion Aningana had only just commenced to lower his com-
394 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
rade when his strength gave out, he let go of the hne, and
the unfortunate hunter was dashed to pieces on the rocks
at the foot of the cliff. The place was pointed out to me
as I passed on a sledge. When I looked up to the great
mountain wall I could hardly believe that men would run
such fearful risks in order to secure a few birds or eggs.
Another time it happened that an Eskimo, while catch-
ing auks, had one of his legs crushed by a falling rock.
The poor fellow could not faint, — he knew nothing of
any such relief, — so he managed as best he could to
drag himself home. There, by advice of the wise men and
women of the tribe, his leg was amputated. In a short
time he was perfectly w^ell ; and he, in common with the
other members of the colony, had a great deal of amuse->
ment in connection with his stumpy limb.
When we consider the kind of instruments used by the
Eskimos in amputating legs and arms, it is difificult to see
how their work can be successful. They have dirty
knives, and for bandages use strips of greasy seal-skin.
But nature seems to give the best of assistance on such
occasions, and with but little help from man heals wounds
and broken bones that with civilized jDeople would require
the most careful and skilful treatment.
cii.M' ri-.k will
THE NOK'lll (ikl.KM.AM) DOd
The qualities of hardiness and endurance whicli are so
pronounced in the Eskimo of North (irecnland are even
more conspicuous in his faithful doi;. In fact, the extent
to which this animal can endure hard.shij). exiK)sure. and
suffering is almost inconceivable.
The North Greenland dogs arc of different colors, but
the ones most commonly seen are gray, spotted while.
and black haired. Not infrequently there is a round light
spot over each eye. Dogs that are entirely whit.- are
396 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
also found in considerable numbers. The hitter can
hardly be distinguished from the white Arctic wolf that is
chiefly found on the islands north of the continent of
America. As a rule the Eskimo dog carries his l^ushy
tail neatly curled up on his back, but there are some which
let it hang down like the wolf. There can hardly be a
doubt that the species of dogs which the Eskimo now has
in subjection once lived in the northern temperate and
Arctic regions and was identical with the present species
of wolves. It also appears certain that, while its size has
diminished since it was domesticated, there has not been
any admixture of foreign blood.
The close physical resemblance to the wolf which these
dogs, after a long period of domestication, continue to
bear is doubtless owing to the fact that they subsist upon
the same kind of food and ha\'e almost as wild a life as
did their ancestors. They are fed upon raw meat and
blood, blubber, walrus-skin, and the entrails of all kinds of
animals that their master kills. Water they have only in
the short summer, when they can help themselves from
the streams which flow from among the rocks. In winter,
even after the most fatiguing work, they must be content
to quench their thirst as best they may with the snow on
the ground.
The dogs are not fed regularly each day, but on an
average they get something to eat every other day. If
for a time the colony happens to have an abundance of
meat, the dogs are allowed to help themselves. But at
other periods, especially in winter and during long sledge
journeys, they are sometimes obliged to go without food
for three or four days. They do not seem to suffer nearly
as much from these irregularities of feeding as would
Tin-: xukjn ckhexlaxi} dog 397
naturally be cxpcck-d. .\i)])arL'ntly they arc able to cat
enough at a single meal to last them for several dav>.
With the exception of the first few weeks after their birth.
they spend their whole lives under the open sTvy. Kvcn
in the severest cold or the most violent storms this cx|x>s.
ure does not often seem to anno)' or injure them.
Notwithstanding the wild and irregular life which he
leads, the Eskimo dog exhibits many of the traits of the
more thoroughly domesticated house dog of warmer cli-
mates. He is affectionate, obedient, and faithful to his
master. In return tlie Eskimo cherishes a deep love for
his dogs, though he seldom manifests this feeling toward
them by caresses or kindly
words. On the contrary,
a stranorer seeing him start
on a sledge journey would
get the impression that lie
used the whip witli far too
great a degree of severity,
though he would soon
learn that the frequent use of the lash is just as necessary
in managing a team of dogs as is the use of reins and
whip in driving horses.
When the dogs pull a sledge they arc fastened to the
front of it by seal-skin straps which diverge from a com-
mon centre in such a way that the animals can run side
by side. Although this harness is exceedingly simple, it
serves its purpose remarkably well. Usually the fleetest
of the dogs has a little longer strap than any of the others.
in order that by running just ahead of its companions it
may encourage them to greater exertions. 'I lie leader of
the team seems to have a clear understanding of the
honor and responsibility of his jjosition.
u« " ■ ii \ K.N I ^>
a, opening for head, h and r, opening for foret«t>
39S ACROSS XOKTHERN GREENLAND
The Kskinio dog is not at all lacking in intelligence.
This fact is clearly indicated by the skilful manner in
which it perpetrates its frequent thefts. These stealings
are confined to eatables; but as this term includes their
own harness, their master's tent, trousers, kamiks (boots),
and shirts, the straps on sledges, and many other things
niade of skin, they take a pretty wide range. Such thefts
would naturally be somewhat trying to the patience, but
the Eskimos regard them ^\■ith comparative indifference.
I have seen an Eskimo wake up and find the hair of his
reindeer coat all over the outside of his tent and most of
the garment eaten, but his anger against the dog that had
done the mischief did not go any farther than to say,
" Naav ajotupilalek sjo sjo — Sinapadujo — takko ! " or
something like, " Well, did you ever see such a miserable
fool ! " Then he would tie the " miserable fool " to the
stone from which it had broken loose and say no more
about the affair. In contrast with this I have seen two
men belonging to a highly civilized race wake up and
find their fur gloves torn and half eaten on the snow near
their hut. One chose a well-known method of venting
his wrath, and cursed until his companions could almost
smell sulphur in the air. The other, who was too good
to be profane, caught the dog that he considered the
culprit and beat it until the whip-handle was broken. In
the treatment of animals the men of enlightened nations
would often be put to shame by comparison with the
kind-hearted. Eskimos.
I once suggested to a native that he should punish his
dogs for having stolen, from right before her face, the
last piece of blubber that his wife had in the hut. I shall
never forget his answer. It was to the effect that the
THE NOKi'ir CRi:h:xi..\i\n nor, 399
punishment ought to fall ujjon himself, as he had not had
food for his dogs for sexeral (la\s. As the dogs do not
steal when they ha\e enough to eat, it tloes seem hard to
punish them for tr)'ing to proeure food for themselves
when no one oFlers to suppi)' them.
The dogs often eat their reins; and as these arc very
tough to bite, they are usually swallowed in pieces of
considerable length. A member of the expedition once
discovered one of the thirty dogs which we then had
engaged in eating his bridle. Thinking that lie might
save the small piece that was protruding from liie dog's
mouth, he started to take it away. (ireat was his sur-
prise to obtain a strap nearly ten feet in length, which,
although it had been chewed a good deal, was still fit for
use.
When many hungry dogs are together it is ncccssar)'
to keep a close watch over them, even if they are well fas-
tened, in order to avoid being shamefully |)hmdered. If
under such circumstances you lie down to sleep, there
seems to be a sharp competition, especially among the
smaller female dogs, to see which one can get l(K)se first
and steal the most. But there are always some dogs,
especially among the males, that never will condescend to
attempt to get loose, but which become extremely indig-
nant when they see their less honest comrades ajipropriate
the master's property. They howl and growl unintermj)t-
edly in a singularly short and nois\- way that can never be
mistaken after it has once Ix'en heard.
In addition to the noise made by the dogs that remain
tied, there is not infrequently a deafening racket in conse-
quence of violent fights among the thieves when one or
another feels that he has not been allowed a fair opix)r-
400 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
tunity to obtain his share of the pKmder. This betrays
their wrong-doing; and if the sleepy owner will get up and
attend to them at once, he may prevent any very serious
damage. But if the dogs are allowed to continue their
depredations they will not be satisfied with trifles. And
they seem able to surmount nearly all obstacles. The
stones of the meat stores they upset with their noses ;
they o}Den boxes that have been well nailed by attacking
the weaker places with their teeth ; steel w ires they tear
to pieces ; ropes they gnaw ; and to almost e\'ery kind of
package or material they are as destructive as is many
a human robber. They only hesitate when they come to
a barrel of hard-tack. Although they devour boot-soles
and the entrails of all kinds of animals with great relish,
they do not stoop so low as to attempt to eat one of the
hard and dry things that are called shipsbrcad and are
eaten by men.
In the civilized world the prolonged howling of a dog
in W'hat should be the still hours of the night is regarded
as a certain indication that he is troubled or distressed.
In North Greenland the case is altogether different. At
our last winter quarters, where we often had about one
hundred dogs at a time, w^e had the plainest proof that
their howls in the night were caused by joy, and that in
purpose, at least, they took the place of song in human
beings. They particularly excelled as chorus singers; and
when they w^ere unusually happy, as when they had fin-
ished an excellent meal or had enjoyed a good night's
rest, they ahvays treated us to a concert.
To make the whole chorus take jDart in the concert it
was only necessary that a single one of the number sing a
long "O — au — o — au — o — au — o — au!" But it
' vim
*-;An,
26
402 ACROSS NOh'TI/F.RX G/^EEXLAND
was imjicrativc thai lliis be clone by one of the older and
more dignified members of tlie party. If one of the
younger and less prominent ones attempted to start the
performance, it was generall\' an utter failure. He emitted
a few faint howls, but the others did not respond, and with
a very foolish look upon his face he ceased his efforts to
provide a musical entertainment.
To hear a chorus of a half hundred dogs with well-
trained voices makes a powerful impression even upon
people who have no ear iov music. But to persons of
musical ability and cultivated taste the performance seems
so ridiculous that they can hardly refrain from laughing
in the solemn face of the leader. The entertainment is
certainly a fine as well as an original "opera comicjue."
It is quite amusing to see the Eskimo feed his dogs.
He cuts the meat in pieces as large as his fist, piles them
on a board, stands directly in front of the place where the
animals are tied, and when they have all become quiet,
with their eyes fixed upon the meat, he can begin the
feeding. This is the t)nly way in which he is able to con-
trol them so that the weaker as well as the stronger ones
can get their share. Piece after piece of the meat is
thrown by the master and dexterously caught by the dogs
until all is gone. If all the dogs in the team are old
acquaintances, and in tlie habit of lacing fed together, the
feeding-time is likely to pass without disturbance ; but if
there are any strangers among them the whole meal may
be a violent and continuous conflict.
The Eskimo dog is naturally very much inclined to
fight. Good friends actually fight for pleasure. They
sportively snaj) a few tufts of hair from each other's skin,
liowl and bark for a while, and the whole thing is over.
THE XOK'IH CRIJ.M AXD DOG 4.
l')iil il is very cliflciviU whrii strani^c do^ teams arc care-
lessly allowed to eoiiie within reach of each other. Then
the fur will not only llyj)ut the snow between the fighters
will soon be crimson with llu-ir blood.
Another characteristic ot this rate of animals Is that
each team of doers has its own kinti. 1 le may not be the
strongest, but he is the most fearless and skilful fighter
among them, and not one of them dares to ojjpose his
tyrannical rule. When two strange lots of these dogs arc
thrown together a very imi)()rtant fight will immediately
be commenced by the kings of the two teams. At the
same time there will be a general battle between the
other dogs of the teams to settle their relative rank for
the future. When these lights ha\e been finished, and
not till then, the equilibrium of the little society is fully
established. But the vanquished king is utterly broken
in spirit. His tail, formerly carried i)roudly curled on his
back, now hangs limp and drooj^ing, and the head that
was so erect is now held down, while the half-closed eyes
follow every movement of the victor, who ixjmjxiu.siy
stalks around his subjects, and seems almost bursting
with j)ride.
There is a peculiar epidemic disease that ever)' year
destroys a large number of these dogs, and which the
natives say has sometimes been so severe as to threaten
the extinction of the breed. When attacked by this dis-
ease the dog loses its appetite, becomes cross, sometimes
will even bite its own master, and at length develops all
the symptoms of madness in its advanced stage. No one
certainly knows the cause of the disease, but as it occurs
only in the severest weather and during the long night of
the year, it is probable that cold and darkness are the
404 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
principal factors in its production. The foxes also in this
region are said to be subject to this disease.
It was only natural that the appearance of the disease,
of which there were several cases among the dogs at Red-
cliffe House, caused the members of the expedition a
great deal of anxiety. Its close resemblance to hydro-
phobia was a sufficient cause for alarm ; but we were
greatly relieved to find, and to have our observations con-
firmed by the natives, that the bite of an affected animal
was not dangerous to man.
As the success of future polar expeditions may very
largely depend upon the use of Eskimo dogs, it seems to
be of great importance to prevent an outbreak of this dis-
ease. I am convinced that this can be done by having
electric lights in winter, furnishino^ the doffs a moderate
degree of protection during storms and periods of severe
cold, serving their meat warm instead of frozen, and sup-
plying them with a sufficient quantity of water to drink.
In North Greenland the dogs often mate for life. If
young are expected in the cold season, a bed is prepared
on one of the side benches in the hut, near the lamps,
and here the mother remains with her pups until the
winter is over, though to quench her thirst she is often
obliged to go out in the cold and darkness to lick the
snow. Hardly anywhere are pups more kindly treated or
more dearly loved than they are in the hut of the poor
Eskimo. The father of the household plays with them
and names them, the mother sews nice white collars of
bear-skin for all the dark -haired ones, while the children
caress and pet them all day long.
In the spring the pups may be large enough for the
owner to commence their training. Some fine day he
TJIE NORTH (iRERNLAXn DOG 405
furnishes each with a small harness and. with sonic of the
older animals, takes one or two at a time for a short
drive. It does not require much time for them to Ixrconu-
familiar with the meanino- of the whij) and of the diffrr-
ent calls, and when this stage is reached their education
is completed.
m-^-
'-•W'tl 1 ID**.
\\,^i
A GKUUf UK PUPS
KSKIMU liOY
CHAPTER XXIV
HOME LIKE, HABITS AND CHARACTER
To civilized people the domestic life of the Eskimos, or
Innuits, by botli of which terms the natives at Smith
Sound are designated, seems very peculiar.
The winters are spent in low, small huts. These are
built of stones and moss, and are always near the ocean.
The usual size of a hut is about thirteen feet in length
and breadth. The roof is so low that a man of ordinary
size cannot stand erect under it. Sometimes huts are
built so close to each other that they are converted into
one by simply cutting through the separating wall.
The inside of a hut is reached through a long and nar-
row entry, also built of stone, which is so low that one is
obliged to creep when he goes in or out. A small square
opening in the end wall leads up to the living-room. Di-
rectly over the entry is a square window, closed with a
skin, and often almost covered with snow. In its centre
there is an opening a few inches in diameter, through
which the hot and almost suffocatins: air of the hut
ITO^n': /.//j:, ii.muts axd characjek
407
escapes as a ray of .steam, and which also serves as a
peep-hole when the inmates hear noises outside.
The family slcej) in the back j)art of the hut on a
platform, about twenty inches hi^^h, which is made of
stones and covered with bear or reindeer skins. Benches
of the same height are also built along the sides of the
hut. Upon one of these stands a b(nvl-s]iaj)ed lamp of
stone. Directly over it is an oblong cooking-vessel, made
of the same material, which is hung by strings from the
roof.
The flame of the lamp is sustained by blubber and fine
«^».*.
<*»
»
A.N LbKlMU liuUal- l.N Ul.MtK
peat, and serves to both light and warm the small r(K)m.
If the light goes out another is started by means of
sparks from flint or ironstone.
In the immediate neighborhood of their winter huts
the natives build stone chambers, about half in and half
above the crround. Here the house-mother keeps her
4o8 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
stores of skins and otlicr valuable materials, and the
hunter places his winter furs. The stores of meat are a
little farther from the hut and are covered with a pile of
stones.
In the spring, when the days lengthen and the rays of
the sun begin to spread a little warmth over the landscape,
the Eskimo leaves his close and dark winter abode, packs
the seal-skin tent of the family on his sledge, and goes to
some place not far distant that is free from snow and
appears to be a desirable location for a summer residence.
Here he pitches the tent, and the whole family enjoy the
freer life of the new home.
As a rule, before leaxing tlieir winter huts the Eskimos
remove the roofs so tliat the interiors may be thoroughly
ventilated. They live in tents from the end of April till
September. Then tliey return to huts ; but as they are
fond of change, they sometimes select a different place
from the one in which the last winter was passed.
The mother of the household attends to the lamp both
in the hut and the tent. She is careful to renew the
blubber beside it when the supply already there is melted,
and to so adjust the flame that there will be as little
smoke as possible. She also melts the snow that is used
for various purposes, and does the cooking for the family.
That the domestic utensils are not kept in a condition
tliat would be considered decent by civilized people is
not surprising when we remember that the Eskimos
really have no sense of cleanliness. The large stone pot,
the flat dishes, the drinking-cups, and the boards upon
which the food is kept are covered with a thick layer of
dirt, grease, and dried blood, the odor of which will, until
he has become accustomed to it, deprive a white man of
^o^rE j.iii:, n.uirrs A.\n chanacti-.r
409
his appetite. But after a Idii-- day's walk over the roujjii
snow-fields, in a low temperature, when the nui»>cles arc
weary, and the whole system cries out for focxl and water,
the most dainty son of civilization will be glad to eat of
the plain and poorly jirepared food and drink from the
greasy cups of tlie hosjjitable ICskimos.
The dishes which the J^skimo housewife offers her
STONK HUTS UR H.l.Ulib — lAkL.\ A
family and her guests at the different seasons (»f the year
are neither numerous nor complicated. Meat of walrus.
seal, narwhal, bear, reindeer, hares, and auks, with differ-
ent kinds of blood, forms the foundation of all her C(x»k-
ing. Spices, salt, or other condiments are entirely un-
known. Considerable blubber is eaten, but the larger
4IO ACROSS NOR'J'HERN GREENLAND
part of it is used for furnisliing liglit and heat. As a
rule, the meat is cooked, but it is sometimes eaten raw,
especially when it is frozen. When it has been ke])t long-
enough to reach a condition in which most civiHzed
people would consider it spoiled, it is esteemed a great
delicacy. The liver of several animals and certain en-
trails of the seal are ]:)ri7X'd for food, as is also the niaterial
found in tlie stomach of the reindeer. The latter consists
of vegetable matter, but it is so rarely oljtained that it can
almost be said that meat is the exclusive article of diet of
the North Greenland Eskimos.
Dog meat is sometimes eaten, but only under excep-
tional circumstances. Nothing short of the greatest ne-
cessity will induce a native to kill one of his dogs. Be-
sides, the dogs are generally very lean and their meat is
not palatable. The people consider the flesh of pups a
good article of food, and I think they are ca})able judges
in this matter. Once when I was at the Cape York
colony, and nearly starved, I was gix'en some frozen raw
meat of a pup that tasted \'ery well. It somewhat resem-
bled the meat t)f a bear. This might not be the general
opinion of the quality of this kind of food, ])ut it is stated
merely as my personal impression.
The natives at Smith Sound use nothing but water for
drinking purposes. When we first offered them tea and
coffee many of them refused, but after a time they began
to like these drinks. They also soon learned to like hard-
tack, which, considering the fact that they are, in the true
sense of the word, " a breadless people," is not very surpris-
ing. (Jf spirits and tobacco they were entirely ignorant,
and we were careful not to enlighten them. It is remark-
able that they do not use, or even know of any kind of
HOME L/EE, JLiniTS AXD CJlAKACTIiK 4,.
Stimulant. In this respect tlic-y arc yd in the original
" state of innocence " which no ether people in the world
appear to have preserved.
The meals are eaten in a very plain and c-asy manner.
LViS:\.-,
H
CAI'E YUKK, SMI 1 II
A IDs I'V rill
Tlic housewife places the pieces of boiled meat in a vessel,
from which the members of the family, all of whom are
very scantily clothed, take them with their hands when
they want them. In eating, a large j^iece of meat is taken
to the mouth with the left hand and cut off close to the
lips witli a sliarj) knife tliat is held in the right hand.
As with civilized i^eoj^le, marriages among tlie natives
of this reofion are contracted for life. As a rule the rela-
tion of husband and wife continues as long as they both
412 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
live, tlKuigli separations sometimies occur. A few years
ago Agna left her husband, Kaochu, saying that he was
too old, and went to live with Kala, a middle-aged wid-
ower. In excuse for this fault of the in many respects
estimable woman, it can only be said that although her
husband was not so very old, he really did present a
superannuated appearance. His walk was unsteady, one
lea: was crooked from rheumatism, his face was full of
dirty wrinkles, his nose and cheeks had taken on a bluish
tint from exposure to wind and weather, his eyes were
edsed with a red border, and his hair — his hair — well,
let us not attempt to carry the description any farther.
And yet this little lame man is full of fun, and gives his
neighbors the pleasure of many a laugh. His friends,
and a daughter who keeps house for him, see that he does
not suffer from want.
Polygamy does not exist among these people, possibly
because the conditions are unfavorable, but husbands and
wives are not always faithful to each other, and a want of
fidelity in this respect is not regarded as at all a serious
matter. The unmarried young people are strictly chaste.
The position of the married woman is as dignified and
respected as is that of the man, though in any important
disagreement she is obliged to submit to the will of her
husband.
The relations between parents and children are as
close and as affectionate as they are in any part of the
world. When small, the children are rather nice looking,
but as they grow up their features become much coarser
and have a less attractive appearance. At birth their
parents give them names, usually only one, but some-
times two, for each cliild. These names are commonly
no MI', r ii'r., ir.\niTs A\n ciiaricter
tlie terms used to fksip;n.itc animals or other familiar ob-
jects. The cliildren are rarely |)unished, and a** they arc
thoroughly good-natured punishment is seldom needed.
The youngsters often a])])ear very sweet and cunning, as,
for instance, when playing in the open air a gamr (<•!
responding to the " tag " of civilized lanfls, or when <
INTKKIdK 111- 111 1
ing on the little sleighs which their kind fathers have
made for them. Except in the mildest way they never
quarrel or fight, and they never call each other names or
use abusive language in any way. In short, they are a
lot of dirty angels.
Marriages take place at a very early age. The man
wishes to marry as soon as b.e thinks he can support a
wife, usually when from sixteen to twenty years old. and
the girls are considered marriageable when they reach
the age of fourteen years. Love seems to be the foun-
dation for all marriages. Kven if it were preferrcxl. mar-
ryino- for monev or <.tluT worldly goods would not be
,K)ssible. The engagement lasts c,uite a long time, but
414 .-ICA'OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
there are no ceremonies wliatevcr connected witli the
wedding. Tlie number of children in a family is usually
three t)r four. Somelimo, l)ul not often, it reaches five or
even six.
When a visitini;- Eskimo arrives from some distant
colony he does not say "Good day" or " I low do you
do," and the men and women upon whom he is calling do
not welcome liim with words. A bashful smile is all that
he offers, and the same greeting is returned. Soon one
of the older Eskimos, in a low voice, makes some remark
or asks some question, and thus a conversation will be
slowly started. When the visitor is leaving, he does not
say " Good-by," but harnesses his dogs to the sledge
and goes away without saying a word about it. In their
whole behavior these people show a most absolute inde-
pendence which will astonish any civilized person who
comes in contact with them.
Before starting on a long journey the natives drink as
much water as possible. This is done as a i^rccaution
against thirst, which in a fatiguing journey in the ex-
tremely dry Arctic air is a fearful torture.
During the winter night, which lasts nearly four
months, there is never a lack of sociabilitv. Hiis tends
to make the time pass more quickly for the people than
it otherwise would do. The younger families, especially,
travel around a great deal, visiting their parents, aunts,
uncles, and other relalixes and friends. In many cases
they spend more time in this wa}- than the\' do at home.
Even if for a short time they are at home, the\' have
usually made a previous arrangement to entertain some
guests.
In December and Januar)- the darkness is so intense
^o^[F. r./FF., ir.iniTs ,txn ( u.iKAcrKK
that travcllini; can he done only hy moonli^hl. When
llic moon apjjcars, once in four weeks, it remains con-
stantly visihle for ahout a week, and j^ives a splendid
lii^ht for the t ravel -lovinL;- Innuils.
There is happiness shininL; on the broad faces of the
natives when in the month of i'ehruary tiie sun. after
the depressing darkness of the winter, begins to give to
the clouds nearest the horizon a golden coloring. And
when the sun itself for the first time comes into view the
joy is unbounded. Old and young, men, women, and
children, gather on the rocks behind the Iiuls of the
colony, where the \ iew is unol)strueted, and with joyful
shouts greet the returning king of day.
The Eskimos at Smith Sound have no definite melh<Kl
of computing time (Tc of stating the exact date at which
any given event occurred. If they want to indicate a cer-
tain hour of the day, they state the ])osition of the sun
or the stars in the sky at this time. They have names
for our four seasons and terms to designate the to them
important periods of the year, as " the days that we move
into tents," "the days when the sun leaves us." and various
other times and events.
It would naturally be expected that a iK'oi)Ie situated
like the F.skimos, compelled to fight a hard battle for a
mere existence, and who are in almost constant danger of
finding their food sujDplies exhausted, and with no certain
means of replenishing them, would be very serious and
unhappy. We w^ould suppose that they would regard life
as an evil which for some reason had been forced U|K>n
them, and from which death would bring them a welcome
relief. But with regard to the Iiskimos such an opinion
would be wholly incorrect. To one who lives with tliem
4i6 AC/^OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
until lie is well acciuainted with their ways and under-
stands their language, their joyful laughter, their amusing
witticisms, their frequent jokes, and, in fact, their whole
conduct, will indicate beyond the shadow of a doubt that
these people are unusually well satisfied with their lot in
life.
Upon looking more closely at the matter, this satis-
faction with what seem to be very hard conditions of
existence will not be as difiFicult to explain as it at first
glance appears. In the first place they enjoy excellent
health. As they advance in years they suffer somewhat
from rheumatism, but they seldom have any other severe
illness. Snow-blindness, a slight inflammation of the eyes
caused bv the brio^ht reflection of the sun on the snow,
frequently attacks the men in the spring, but it does not
often prove serious in its results. Another and a very
important reason for their contentment is found in the
fact that this small Eskimo society is founded upon the
principle of equal rights and privileges for all of its mem-
bers. Money is entirely unknown. Love to one's neigh-
bor is a fundamental law. /\ society in which liberty,
equality, and fraternity are not, as in many civilized lands,
merely a distant and an almost hopeless ideal, but are the
actual rule of life and conduct, can hardly fail to secure a
large share of happiness and contentment.
If one of the hunters is more skilful or has better suc-
cess than his companions, so that during the summer he
obtains a larger quantity of meat than will be needed by
himself and his family in the winter he does not conceal
the surplus, or attempt to withhold it from the others.
On the contrary, with pleasure and ])ride he will distribute
it among those whose eyes are not as keen or whose arms
HOME LJJ-K, J/.Ui/TS A\D CHARACTER 417
are not as stron*; as liis own, or who were not as fortunate
in finding good luiiUing-grounds.
If the question were raised wliether the expert hunters.
who secure an adequate quantity of provisions for the
winter in a conijxaratively brief time, will not be more
inclined to spend a ])art of the summer in idleness than to
continue tlie hunt in the interest of others, the answer
would be that as long as the ambition of these men con-
tinues as great as it is at present, there is no clanger of
their relaxing their efforts, even if their natural kindness
of heart is not taken into the account.
It is a rule among this peoj)le that any game which a
hunter does not take home, but leaves at some convenient
point, covered with stones for jDossible future use, can be
taken by others, if needed, with perfect right, and without
asking permission of any one. It often hajjjKMis that
meat stored in this way by one man is used by others.
In fact, the tribe forms a single family, and each member,
without exception, consecrates the work of his life to the
common good. They have the joys of life, as well as the
hardships and sufferings, in common. It is seldom that
this tribe are visited by a real famine; and though some
authors have represented them as imjirovident. my obser-
vation convinced me that they endeavor to enter the win-
ter with a full stock of ])rovisions, and that they usually
succeed in obtaining a libera? sujiply.
The members of this tribe manifest a strong affection
for each other. This, perhaps, is not remarkable when it
is remembered that the romjxiny is comparatively small.
and having for a long period been isolated from all other
tribes, the members arc related to each other by blood as
well as by the common ties of humanity. As an instance
27
4iS ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
of the general concern for the welfare of the individual I
well remember how anxious the members of the colony
appeared at a time when one of the younger hunters
remained away a day longer than was his usual custom.
It is extremely seldom that Eskimos quarrel, and when
a disagreement occurs it is a very tame affair. The par-
ties do not talk loudly or call each other names, but sim-
ply separate. They are a quiet and gentle people, and
very much dislike anything in the way of disturbance or
discord.
Judging from the best information we could obtain, it
seems probable that the natural period of life is about
sixty years. The debility incident to old age is then fully
developed, and in many cases is accompanied by an in-
flammation of the lungs which soon proves fatal.
The communistic form of their society renders stealing
from each other impossible. And it must be said of them
that they are really an honest people. When we first
went among them they would often take articles from
the members of the expedition ; but as they had no know-
ledge of the principle of private ownership of property,
they could not justly be blamed for doing so. When
they learned that we disapproved of their course we
could always rely upon their honesty. Still, it was plain
to see that they were intelligent enough to perceive the
injustice of our holding them to a strict account while we
were taking possession of their land without their permis-
sion and without compensation, and killing the reindeer
which would have been useful to them for food.
The Eskimos rarely told us an untruth. When they
did so it usually appeared to be in order to fool the white
people who thought themselves so wise, rather than from
HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 4,9
cither malice or habit. They seldom or never lie to each
other, but it is very liard for them to tell a truth that they
know will be disagreeable, and they emi)loy all kinds of
subterfuges to avoid such an unpleasant task.
Upon the whole, the morals of this interesting tribe-
must be regarded as aj^proaching the standard of Chris-
tianity. Init it is to be remembered that while the jK-oplc
of Christian nations are subjected to many and strong
temptations to violate the principles of religion, the Eski-
mos live under much simpler conditions, and can far more
easily avoid transgression. For many of the evils which
stain civilized society these people have neither motive
nor opportunity; and while in various ways they earnestly
endeavor to follow the right, there are other directions in
which their virtues are negati\e rather than positive.
The QTood humor of the Eskimos is inexhaustible.
When a large company is gathered, as occurred several
times at the house of the Peary expedition, their mirth is
unbounded. It would be utterly impossible to describe
the " circus " \\e had when a party of Eskimos came to the
house, and for the first time in their lives .saw a mule.
Their mirth was exuberant, but was far from childish, and
many and witty were their remarks about the long ears
and the hairless tail of the animal before them.
One of the leading wits of the tribe was little fat Ekva.
He would sit for hours in the centre of a little circle and
keep the audience laughing at his talk and jokes. But he
did not forget his family. He was always careful to put
into a dirty seal-skin bag part of the hard-tack that was
given him and carry it to hi> little two years' old child
Annedor when he went home.
In the Eskimo tribe at Smith Sound there arc no chiefs
42 o ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
or persons who in any way bear rule over others. Each
member is his own master, and one never interferes with
the affairs of another. The older men who have been or
who still are remarkably skilful hunters seem to receive a
good deal of respect, and their words have considerable
influence upon the other members of the colony, but this
is merely a matter of deference, and not a recognition of
authority. No greater degree of liberty can be found in
any part of the world than is enjoyed by the happy people
of this cold and desolate land.
CHAPTER XXV
INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS Am. ( i sh.ms
From the description already given, the reader will
readily admit that the natives at Smith Sound, like their
brothers farther south, are really an intelligent people.
The weapons which they make and the manner in which
they conduct their hunting expeditions show that they
are not wanting either in ingenuity or in skill. In re-
cent years contact with the members of the Peary expedi-
tion has done much to develop these qualities as well as
to bring the merits of the tribe to the attention of civil-
ized people.
They greatly surprised us by the facility with which
they learned to use firearms and the skill which they
exhibited, after practising for only a few hours, in hand-
ling our whale-boats.
I think Kolotengva is one of the most gifted men in
the tribe. He is certainly one of the ablest and most
efficient of the younger members. 1 Iv is about twenty-
five years of age, with a powerful frame and muscles like
steel. His eyes are small but bright, and he can clearly
discern distant objects that are invisible to ordinar)'
people. His hair, which is long and black, is quite curly
and forms a fine frame for his brave-looking face. In
many ways he reminds me of chiefs of whom I have read
in Indian tales. No one in the whole tribe was prouder
than Kolotengva, no one more independent, no one
42 2 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
cooler in danger, shrewder in hunting, or more faithful
in friendship. Tungvingva, his wife, was a red-cheeked,
smilins: child with dark eves and snow-white teeth.
This couple had a pastime in which no other members
of the tribe ever engaged. This was drawing. Some-
times they made sketches of the ships of the Kablunak
(white men), sometimes men were represented, at others
animals, huts, tents, or kaiaks. As I had fortunately
brought a larger quantity of these things than I needed,
I kept them supplied with pencils and paper. Many of
their drawings were very interesting, and all, without a
single exception, showed that they were keen observers.
A picture drawn by Kolotengva in my sketch book
represents a hunting scene. Two hunters, an Eskimo
with a bow and arrow and a Kablunak with a rifle, are ap-
proaching two reindeer from different directions. Their
sledge is waiting at the foot of the mountain upon which
the hunt is taking place. The Kablunak is shown in
a somewhat intoxicated condition and as being lightly
clad, but as a whole the picture is quite instructive. An-
other picture, drawn from memory by Tungvingva, rep-
resents the steam sealer Kite. It was one of her first
attempts to draw with a pencil, and is quite creditable.
Still another drawing b\' Tungvingva represents two
white men. As they have their hair cut, instead of wear-
ing it long like the natives, she has simply represented
them as bald-headed, and has thereby caused the ears to
stand out rather more prominently from the fine heads
than their owners would desire.
Kolotengva was a great admirer of the knowledge and
inventions of the Kablunak, and was glad to adopt and
recommend to the tribe any of our customs or methods
INTELLIGENCE, RELJGJOLS IDEAS, Ci'STOMS 4^3
that could be made of practical use in the conditions
under which they lived. I h- was the first to provide hinv
self with pockets in his seal-skin coat, lie found them
a great convenience, and his example was soon followed
by many of the other young men.
Kolotengva had a comrade whom he liked better than
he did most of the others. This was Kudla. I do not
know a better description of these two than "hurragut-
ter." ^ Wherever anything was going on they were inva-
riably to be found. The)- were always full of fun, and
were sure to do something \ery comical.
In July, 1894, I ^^■''^s accidentally present when Kolo-
tengva and Kudla returned from a reindeer hunt. While
talking with them I noticed that the former's face and
hands were so thickly covered with mosquito bites as to
give him the appearance of having had the smallpo.x,
while the latter was entirely free from such marks. When
Kudla perceived that I was going to speak about it he
forestalled me with the remark, made xQvy seriously and
with an assumption of superiority, that the mosquitoes
had troubled little Kolotengva \Qvy badly while he was
asleep at night, but as for himself the insects did not
dare to attack him. " And why } " continued Koloteng\'a
immediately, " because even the mosquitoes refuse the
miserable stuff that is flowing through your veins." This
is only a specimen of th.e satirical fun and repartee of
which these young fellows were masters.
If possible a still more pronounced hurrah boy was
Kaschu. He was about thirty years old and was as lively
as a cricket. His face, which was broad and round, looked
1 Hurragutter. literally translated would be "hurrah boys." It isequiralcnl
to our terms " one of the boys," " a gay boy,'* or " a jolly fellow."
424 AC7WSS XORTHERN GREENLAXD
as if it liad been hastily cut out of a piece of timber by a
wood-carver. When he was perfectly happy he laughed so
heartily as to stretch his mouth from ear to ear and shut
both his eyes. If for any reason he considered himself in
danger he invariably closed one eye. His physical endur-
ance was almost unlimited, and it would be extremely dif-
ficult to find a travelling companion more energetic and at
the same time more genial.
Kaschu pitched his tent near the winter quarters of the
second Peary expedition, and remained there for a long
time. Every morning, even after it had become very
cold, he could be seen, without a stitch of clothing, walk-
ing around and taking his weather observation for the
da}'. When the white men had any amusements in pro-
gress Kaschu never failed to be with us. W'hen we were
running on ski, on the hills back of the house, he accom-
panied us, and in time he became quite a skilful ski
runner, though his appearance was far from elegant.
When running fast he made the most frightful faces, and
when at full speed he believed that he was in great peril
and always closed one of his eyes.
As I have commenced giving biographical sketches I
will add a few more of some of the typical members of
the tribe.
Among the very old people there were the parents of
Kaschu, Arodoksua and Migibsungua. As an indication
that the old man knows something of the laws of health,
it may be stated that since he ceased hunting he takes
exercise every forenoon by walking for a long distance on
the ocean ice, pushing his empty sledge in front of him.
Recently he has suffered considerably from rheumatism.
His wife is quite well, and her tongue is active from early
INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 4S5
in the niorniiiLr until hitc at night. When strangers are
present she is ahiiost continually jjraising her matchle!»s
son, Kaschu. Her other son, the half-witted Aningana,
she seldom niention.s, but she represents Ka,schu as a
wonderful boy. When ^he describes him as a fine-look-
ing fellow, one who is familar with his wooden head, his
large mouth, and his half-closed eyes can hardly keep
from laughing.
Among the most worthy of tlie married couples of
the tribe should be named Ingajxaddu and Ituschaksiii,
the parents of Tungvingva. They have si.\ children, the
largest number in one family within the memory of the
oldest member of the tribe. Ituschaksui is a good mother,
and looks carefully after the comfort and welfare of her
family. I have seen her go out on the ice for more than
a mile to tell two of her younger children, who were play-
ing there, that it was growing cold and thcv should have
some coverini^ on their hands.
Ituschaksui has two younger brothers, both of whom
are married. Their names are Aseio and Panikpa.
Like their sister, they are highly gifted. i)articularly Aseio,
whose pale, narrow face and large, thoughtful eyes are the
outward signs of a clear intellect and quick perceptions.
He is, however, not very strong, and for this reason his
w^ife, Anavi, has often been obliged to perfonn the kinds
of work that usually fall to the men. So she has turned
into somewhat of an Amazon. She can drive a sledge-
team with suprising dexterity and ply the whip with as
much strength and persistence as any ordinary man.
Panikpa is of a rather retiring and philosophical nature.
He prefers to have his tent or winter hut in a lonely place
where people do not pass daily, and where he, with his
42 6 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
wife and their small children, can enjoy life in a peaceful
and quiet manner. I have had many long conversations
with Panikpa, and he always seized the opportunity to
make inquiries in regard to foreign lands. His faith in
the Kablunak is very great, and he has a strong desire to
see their cities, railroads, horses, and many other things of
which he has learned something from pictures and verbal
descriptions. It is very doubtful if his wish in this respect
is ever gratified. But even now his horizon is more
extended than is that of many a peasant in civilized lands,
and the nature of his inquiries indicates a very thoughtful
mind.
Another prominent member of this tribe is Kayegvitto,
a smart, good-natured fellow who is taller, and probably is
also stronger, than any of his comrades. This superiority
has made him very vain. He seems to have formed the
opinion that he is really the leading man of the tribe and
that he ought to be acknowledged as such. He evidently
gained this idea by observing the conduct of our own
people. He observed that there was one of our party who
was treated with great respect and was obeyed by the
others. Doubtless this awakened a desire on his part to
act as leader of his companions. His vanity was quite
conspicuous, as there was no trace of it in any other
member of the tribe. His comrades treat the matter as
a sort of a joke, smile, and say something equivalent to
" Kayegvitto — yes, poor fellow, he is a little off."
On one occasion this vanity on the part of Kayegvitto
proved of great benefit to our party. This was about the
middle of winter, when the second Peary expedition was
at the north. The supply of food for our large num-
ber of dogs had become greatly reduced. We had heard
INTELLIGENCE, KEI.JClOiS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 4,7
that Kayegvitto had a considerable quantity of meat at
the colony Nachsa, on the scuith side of Whale Sound.
It was decided that I should go there and try to obtain a
supply. I set out and on the following day reached the
colony while the moon was shining. I was received at
the shore by all the male inhabitants, jjrominent among
whom was Kayegvitto. No sooner did ihe latter see
that it was a Kablunak who had come to pay them a visit
than he shot into his hut like an arrow, but he soon re-
turned, clad in an old and well-worn coat that he had
obtained the previous autumn by trade from one of the
members of the expedition. This, he appeared to think
gave him a sufficient degree of dignity to enable him to
represent his "subjects" in proper manner,
I at once walked up to him, took his hand, and shook
it very hard. The ceremony of shaking hands is not
customary among the Eskimos of this tribe, but they had
learned its meaning, and in this case it appeared ver)*
flattering to Kayegvitto. I then explained to him my
errand, telling him that Peary, the great master (nale-
gaksuak) from the distant land, wanted meat for his hungr\-
dogs, and that I had come to ask Kayeg\itto, the great
master of the Innuits, to supply him. I said that Kayeg-
vitto had a good deal of meat, he was a great hunter, and
that only he was nalegaksuak of the Innuits. The last
sentence was highly pleasing to the person to whom it
was addressed. He repeated it several times, and then
invited me to spend the night at his home, an invitation
which, of course, was promptly accepted.
On the following morning a conference was held to
discuss the matter of giving me the supplies for which I
had asked. After I had for a couple of times called this
428 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
heavy, coarsely built man the great master of the Innuits,
Kayegvitto, with an air of superiority that was indescrib-
ably ludicrous, ordered his companions to fill my sledge
with meat. Once in a while he would assist in the work
by graciously picking out for me the larger pieces of meat.
The Eskimos who, for the occasion, had voluntarily con-
descended to be the subjects of Kayegvitto, heartily en-
joyed the whole affair, and were good-natured enough to
continue the comedy to the end.
When the meat was loaded Kayegvitto received a
suitable present, which apparently he had not expected,
and I left the great man standing in the moonlight, still
dressed in his thin coat, although the temperature was
something like minus 40° Celsius.
In this tribe there is a little orphan boy whose name is
Kadluktu. He lived for a long time at our winter house,
under Matt's berth, and was well fed with the remnants
of our meals. He was a nice and bright little fellow,
and we took quite an interest in him. Matt, especially,
seemed to have an almost fatherly care for him. First
he gave him a thorough washing over his whole body.
Then he employed a couple of old women to free his
clothes from dirt and vermin, an operation that was
greatly needed. When these things had been done, he
cut the boy's hair as close as that of a seal ; and as far
as outward appearance could go, Kadluktu was civilized.
The little fellow has no steady home. He lives some-
times with one family and at others with another, but
wherever he goes he is always treated kindly.
Kaoni is the name of a queer fellow wdio has a large
wife and four children. I suspect that he is a bit hen-
pecked. At the colonies which Kaoni visits there is
INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CC'SrOA/S 429
always fun for tlic inhabitants, l)ut it is at his expense.
He is extremely awkward in everything; that he does, and
in addition to this he has the unfortunate habit of stut-
tering. So it is inevitable that he should be the princi-
pal figure in the funny stories whieh his neighbors tell
each other. The following will serve as a .sample of
these humorous narrations, it represents a conversation
such as occurs when two hunters who live near him meet
each other : —
" Nukta caught a narwhal day before yesterday, and
Antrodlu and Mahotia each caudit a seal vesterday."
"Indeed! Akkomodingva and 1 also killed two seals
yesterday. Kaoni was to go with us, but the kaiak he
had borrowed upset just as he pushed out from land, and
then he stayed at home." [Long and subdued laughter
from both hunters.]
" What did Kaoni say when he came back again } "
" Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-iak is no good." " Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-oni
either, we added." [Again prolonged laughter from both
parties.]
On our last expedition we took with us an l£dison
phonograph, and often allowed the Eskimos to listen to
it. Strange to say they did not seem to be very much
impressed with this wonderful invention. They never
for a moment appeared to connect this api)aratus with
anything supernatural. Tb.cy laughed at it, and seemed
to enjoy hearing its hidden voices, but evidently looked
upon it much as they would have looked ujjon a toy with
which they had been familiar for years. We e.xpcctcd
that thcv would regard the voices as those of the spirits
..ho hold a prominent place in their religious conceptions.
But their keen intelligence seemed to immediately make
\\
43 o ACROSS NORTHER X GREENLAND
plain to them that the phonograph, Hke many other curi-
osities which the Kablunak possessed, was a wonderfully
complicated, but otherwise a quite natural, product of the
work of hunian hands and minds.
Most Eskimos can easily count up to twenty, but in
practical affairs they seldom or never have any need for so
large a number. When they refer to more than five ob-
jects they usually say " many," or use some similar term
without attempting to be exact. Sometimes, however,
when in the long winter nights they sit in their low huts
and cut from ivory small figures of men, or animals, or
curiosities of various forms, they try to count them, and
go as high as thirty or forty. They count on their fin-
gers : one, atasuk ; two, magluk ; three, pingarsut ; four,
sissami ; five, tedlumet. If they want to go higher they
call six the first finger on the second hand, or igluane ata-
suk (sometimes abbreviated to igluane) ; seven will be the
second finger on the second hand, or igluane magluk,
and so on until they reach ten. Then, as they have no
more fingers, they begin to count over again on the fin-
o^ers but o^ive them the names of the toes. Therefore
thirteen will be three toes on the first foot ; seventeen
will be two toes on the second foot, and twenty will be
the last toe on the last foot. If the Eskimo wants to
count a larger number than twenty, he starts on a new
man. Twenty -one will then be one on the new man
(Innuit aipachsjani atasuk). In this way the count can be
carried up to forty.
The Eskimos are quite ingenious and are possessed of
a good deal of mechanical skill. These qualities are par-
ticularly exhibited when they have occasion to repair
guns or other weapons or implements, for which work
INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 431
they have nothing suitable in tlic way of tools or mate-
rials. One of their most difficult tasks is to jjut a gun in
repair after the sprini; of the lock has been broken. It
may be a lonu; time, months, perhaps, before the owner or
any of his friends can devise a remedy ; but one is pretty
certain to be found, and on some fine day the gunner
may again be seen in search of game, with his weapon in
good working order. He may have been forced to give
up the old lock, the spring now in use may be made of
ivory instead of steel, and the discharge may be effected
by pulling aside a piece of wood which has kept the ham-
mer drawn back ; but in sj^ite of all these things the gun
is again a serviceable weapon, and the owner is able to do
as much execution as he could before the accident which
disabled it occurred.
East of Cape York there are several large meteors.
These were carefully examined by Lieutenant Pear)- in
the spring of 1894. It is said that when the English
polar expedition under Sir J(jhn Ross visited this region
in the early part of the present century, the natives were
using pieces of iron, which they obtained here, for point-
ing their spears and harpoons. It is not easy to under-
stand how they were able to hammer the iron into a
suitable form witliout heating it. This method of working
the metal was not known to the Eskimos in this vicinity
until they came in contact with the members of the Pear)-
expedition. It is therefore probable that in earlier times
the natives were able to use only a few Hat splinters
which, by tlie agency of natural causes, had become
separated from the larger bodies.
The Eskimos are careful to j^roteci the feet of their
dogs from injury by the hard and shar|) ice that fomis
432 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
upon the surface of the snow in spring. For this purpose
they make socks of seal-skin, which arc tied to the legs of
the dogs below the lowest joint, and which prove very
efficient.
These people know the difference between hard and
soft woods, and readily distinguish between pine and fir
and oak and ash. As they have never seen a living tree,
this seems quite remarkable. If they could suddenly be
brought where they could see the mighty oaks or the
dark green pines, similar to the trees which have fur-
nished the small pieces of timber of which their sledges
are made, they would shout with joy.
The Eskimos have a good deal of musical taste, but in
most cases it is so slightly developed that they are not
able to catch our plainest and simplest airs. Still there
are some exceptions. Ituschaksui was our most advanced
pupil. We succeeded in teaching her to sing several of
our common songs correctly. All the others to w^hom we
tried to teach these airs would introduce many false notes.
Still, their own songs, with which they were thoroughly
familiar, they sang very nicely. This was especially true
in chorus. Here no single voice made itself prominent
among the others, and the general effect of the singing
was quite pleasing.
The relio:ious ideas of the Eskimos at Smith Sound,
though not very clearly defined, are nevertheless quite
interestinir. In this small tribe we find a shadow of the
belief, or perhaps a groping after the ideas, that were held
by our own ancestors thousands of years ago. In reality
we are considering a people who are just beginning to
emerge from the stone age. They are an original people
who have remained in character and in conduct almost
INTFJ.r.fGF.XCE, /,'/•:/./(; IOCS /PE.IS, CUSTOMS 433
Linchanged throuo;li tlic lai).sc ol tlic ai;cs, and who furnish
one of the most interesting objects of study to those who
desire to trace the development and progress of mankind.
The various religions of civilized people have assumed
certain definite forms. The doctrines of each can Ix*
stated in a few Ijricf articles of faith which are set forth
in the most positive terms, liut it is altogether difTcrcnl
with the religion, or rather with the religious conceptions,
of the Eskimos. The views of this jjeople are vague and
undecided. Upon most points there is no general agree-
ment as to what constitutes the truth, but each individual
has his own ideas. These take a very wide range, but
they are mostly in a shadowy form.
Probably this uncertainty is very largriy oue ui uu-
small number of people in the tribe. In large societies
people are strongly influenced by the opinions and beliefs
of the masses around them. The fact that millions of
people have accepted certain doctrines gives to these
forms of belief a very strong jDresumption of truth. But
where the public, so far as is known, embraces only a
very few hundred peoj)le, its inlluence ujjon the individual
must be relatively small. And where, as in this case, no
common statement of belief has been formulated, the jkt-
sonal element attains a still greater degree of prominence.
My opinion upon this point has been stre; *' • d. |kt-
haps I might say that its truth has been ...:.. :.ed. by
various conversations which I have had with the natives
themselves.
After becoming well acquainted with him, and gaining
his confidence to such an extent that he was willing to
talk with me uj^on a subject which is one of the last
which uncivilized people will discuss with others. I askcti
z'6
434 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
Koloteneva, " Do the Innuits believe that there is a life
after death ?" He repHed: " Yes. When an Innuit dies
his soul (or rather ' shadow ') will wander to a land below
us, where there is good hunting, much sunshine, and
everything pleasant. But others think that the soul goes
to a land high up in the air, and nobody is sure what is
right. We Innuits are so few, and there are so many
Kablunaks, and you know everything. Tell us how it is
about this matter."
It is not necessary to state in full my reply to this
request. Suffice it to say that I went so far as to promise
Kolotengva an eternal life much happier than his life on
earlli. No better consolation can be offered a man who
is troubled by the thought of death.
When a Christian feels the cares and sorrows of life
bearing heavily upon him, and finds trial and disappoint-
ment his constant companions, he turns in prayer to an al-
mighty and compassionate God, and obtains the help and
consolation which he so sorely needs. With the Eskimos
mighty but invisible spirits take the place of God, and in
some measure compensate for their want of knowledge of
a single all-powerful Ruler. They think that these spirits
can be imprisoned by their angekoks or magicians. Wlien
this has been accomplished it is thought that conferences
can be held with the spirits, and that they can be per-
suaded to cure sickness, give success in hunting, and aid
in all of the various affairs of the daily lives of their peti-
tioners.
Both men and women can become angekoks, though
all are not equally well adapted for such a distinction.
Clearness of intellect, dexterity, and a talent for acting are
all required to enable a man to secure respect as a magi-
INTELT.IGENCK, Rl-l.lC.fOrS IDEAS, ClSTOAfS 435
cian. TIk- older an^ckoks leach the younger {K'oplc who
think themselves especially (|ualifiecl for the |>()sition, or
who arc attracted to the mystic occupation. The tiftie
required for learn int; extends over several years and dur-
ing the course of instriK lion ni.mv in\ si.i I,,iiv • '-k ironies
are performed.
1l\\c priri(ii)al s])irit of \\hi( h the I^skiinos profe.ss to
ha\e knowledge is Tornahuksua ("the giant .shadow").
According to the angekoks he lives exchisivcly ujKm the
land, can do harm as well as good, and though of su| cr-
natural size, he has the human form. When on a quiet
day in summer some sudden noise of falHng nxrks is
heard in a colony, the inhal)ilants will say in a low and
anxious voice, "Tornahuksua! Tornahuksua!" They
think this mighty spirit is then wandering along the dark
cliffs of the mountain-side.
Another spirit of considerable importance is called
Kokvoia. This is said to have long black arms, and to
live in the sea. There are also many other s|)irits and
mystic beings, but they are all of an inferior order. There
is, as has been indicated, a great deal of su|KTstiti«)n
among the natives, but it is so vague, and varies so much
with different individuals, that it is hardly j)<)ssible to note
any specific form which can be said to be characteristic of
the tribe.
It is difficult to say how many angekoks are t*) Ik'
found among the Innuits at Smith Sound. In f " ' 'I'-re
is a great difference of opinion among the ni. of
the tribe as to which individuals of their numlx-r are
entitled to this distinction. l''or my>elf. I do not think
that there is a very strongly marked difTercnce Ix-twecn
the ma<n'cians and manv of those who are not fully recog-
436 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND
nized as such. My impression is that all who can show a
little feeling and mysticism in their songs make preten-
sions of belonging to this class on every occasion that
offers itself. It is, however, one thing for a person to
pose as an angekok and quite another to so appear as
to inspire others with reverence. There are hardly more
than a half dozen in the tribe who are really venerated by
their companions. Of these, four are men and two are
elderly women.
The youngest of the four male angekoks, and the one
who is the most highly respected, is Kayapaddu. He is
about thirty-five years of age, fat and smiling, and has only
to put on the blue snow-spectacles with which Peary pre-
sented him to very closely resemble a good old-fashioned
minister. When he gave his spiritualistic seances, the
light from the train-oil lamp was turned ^so low that the
occupants of the room could hardly see each other. Then
Kayapaddu, holding a skin drum in one hand and a drum-
stick made of bone in the other, would go forward on the
floor and begin to sing and drum.
At first his song was low and quiet, but gradually it
would show more and more excitement, his body would
sway so that his long hair would wave wildly around, and
his face would take on an agonized expression. In a few
hours he was covered with persj)iration. He pressed his
hands to his forehead, cried and moaned, then suddenly
burst out in a roaring, almost a demoniacal laughter, and
at last succeeded in making appear for him some invisible
spirits of the lower orders that he used as messengers to
the higher powers. Now he frequently changed his voice.
Sometimes it represented the voice of a spirit, at others it
was perfectly natural. He became more and more noisy
INTELLIGENCE, REIICJOUS JDE.iS, CUSIOMS 437
and clcnionslratiM-, imlil at Iciv^lh many of his hearers
became so nervous and excited that they trembled with
emotion and some of them began to moan with him.
If the object of this iKM-formance was to heal the sick,
or to prolong the life of one who appeared to Ixr dyinj;,
Kayapaddu would sometimes continue tlie exercises for
several hours, lie would .seldom give up until the pa-
tient was either dead or imjiroving. If death occurred
at such a time it would be said, in favor of the angekok,
that recovery was im}xjssible, as some hostile s|)irit had
obtained power over the soul, and had j)reviously stolen
it, or some similar excuse for his failure would be made.
If, on the other hand, recovery ensued, respect for the
magician appeared to be greatly increased.
There is no doubt that the natives who are j)resent at
these performances believe that the sjjirits are really pres-
ent, and that they negotiate with the angekok. And for
my part I dare not doubt that the angekok acts in gotxl
faith. It is often said, and perhaps correctly, that if a lie
is repeated times enough, the one who tells it comes to
believe that it is true. There can hardly be a question
that the angekoks are self-deceived.
The belief which appears to extend to all races and all
parts of the \vorld in amulets, or objects that have the
power to jDrotect their wearer from evil spirits and give
security when danger threaten.s, is common among the
Eskimos at Smith Sound. These amulet.s are often nar-
row bracelets of black seal-skin without hair. For women
necklaces of the same material arc in common use. Pieces
of seal-skin clothes that once belonged to people who have
died, small i\-ory figures of men or animals, and N-arious
other objects are also emi)loyed. The amulets are consc-
43S ACJiOSS NOKTHERX GREENLAND
crated by sini^iiiL;- mystic songs over them. As a rule the
older people decide, or at least suggest, what objects the
children or young people ought to select for the purpose.
When an Eskimo dies the remaining members of the
family observe many formalities, in order that the soul of
the deceased sliall not feel insulted. They are not to
mention his name, but must cry and mourn a certain
length of time after his death. Those who have touched
the dead body or anything belonging to it must for a
long period observe certain rules in regard to their cloth-
ing and diet.
Before the body is taken out it is dressed in full travel-
ling costume. Then it is drawn by straps through the
entry of the house, taken for some distance from the
dwellings and away from the shore, and is well covered
with stones. Often the corpse is bent so that the knees
touch the breast, and is then rolled in skins. This is
done to save the labor of making as large a grave as
otherwise would be needed. The house in which a death
has occurred is immediately vacated. If it is ever used
again it will be only after a long period of time has inter-
vened.
All the property of the dead that his friends think
could be of service to him in his long wandering to the
land of souls is placed near the grave. The natives be-
lieve that it is the " souls " of these objects, and not the
material things themselves, that will be useful to the de-
parted in his long last journey. And while the soul is
going toward the distant sunlit hunting fields the body
remains in eternal sleep. Only the chilling blasts of the
wind penetrate among the stones and sweep through the
faded fur coat in which all that was mortal of the man
is clothed.
A BRIEF HIS TORY
OF Till'; I'kiM ii'\i.
EARLIER ARCTIC J.Xl'Lok \ 1 1< )\S
FROM THK NINTH CKNi I KV TO iHl--
PKARY KXl'KDI TION
INCLUDING TIIOSK i>l
CABOT, FRORISHKR, UKRING. SIR |( )||.\ i k AN Kii n.
KANK, HAVES, H ALL. N( )RI )KNSK|( »L1).
NARKS, SCHWA IKA. DK L( )NC.
GREELV, AM) ol IH-:RS
ASSISTANT EDITUK oK THB "cOLrMHIAN CVCU>«WA '
4 to
^^^^^
■-(S^i
EARLIER ARC riC l^XTLoRA 1 loXS
cii.\i''n;R x\\ 1
PIONEKR VOVAGKS
Who first engaged in Arctic cxjjioration. and from
what point and on wliat date the rir>t expedition started, is
unknown. Pytheas, a geographer who hved in the time
of Alexander the Cireat, claimed to have entered the
Polar Zone. He reported the discovery of various re-
gions, and represented that he had " explored Northern
Europe even to the world's end." To .some region that
he visited the name of Thule was given ; but whether this
was Iceland, one of the .Shetland Island.s, or some other
country, cannot be determined.
Whatever may have j^reviously been discovered, ii i>
probable that in the middle of the ninth centurv tVure
were no human settlements farther north than : e
Islands. It is certain that at tliis date the Scandinavian.s
were a hard}- and restless people, fearless and persevering,
and possessed of an uncjuenchable spirit of a' <• and
thirst for discovery. There is reason to - that
about the year .S6o a party of these sea ro\' "-e at-
tempting to reach the Faroe Islands, were driven upon an
island which presented such an inhospitable appearance
that they named it .Snowland. A few years later a party
of Swedes visited the same island and gave it the name (»f
441
442 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
Iceland, by wliich it has since been known. In or about
the year S74 Norwegian achenturers estabhshed the first
permanent settlement upon the island and laid the foun-
dations of a prosperous colony.
Previous to this, voyages in the northern waters appear
to have been undertaken principally for the purpose of
adventure. But in 890 Simon Otho, or Other, a Norwe-
gian sailor, reputed to have been in the service of Alfred
the Great of England, seems to have engaged in a mari-
time exploration which had a commercial end in view.
At this time the Venetians and the Moors controlled
commerce and shut out the English people from direct
trade with Turkey and India. It was therefore desired
to find a way of reaching these countries without passing
into the Mediterranean Sea. According to ancient rec-
ords the king fitted out a ship and commissioned Otho
to make a voyage of discovery " for the glorye of God, the
honour of his kinge, and publique goode of his countrie."
Thus equipped Otho commenced a search for a northeast
passage to India. Just how far he went cannot be deter-
mined, but it is certain that he sailed around the northern
extremity of Iceland, and that he was the first navigator
who crossed the Arctic Circle, After enduring many
hardships he returned home without making any valuable
discoveries.
When the Iceland colony had been established about
a hundred years it was joined by Tiiorwald, a powerful
chief who had been expelled from Norway. He was soon
followed by his son, who is known in history as Eric the
Red. The latter had heard of a land upon which a sail-
ing party had Ijeen driven in a storm, and in the year 9S2
he started on a voyage on which he discovered a country
riOXKKR I'OYAGES 443
wliicli he calk'd ( iivcnland. It is supposed that this
pleasant name was ^ivcii in order to induce |K-ople to
settle there. That it proved disappointing to some of its
visitors is indicated by one of the early writers, who s.'iid
that " certainly there is no |)lace in the world yet knowne
and discovered that is less greene than it." In .spite of
the forbidding' as])ect of the country, Kric succeeded in
establishing a colony which soon became of considerable
importance. The Christian religion was accepted and
the church prospered to such an extent that in 1121 a
bishop was consecrated. I'Or about three hundred years
thereafter the colony was strong and thriving. At the
close of this perit)d a raj)id decline commenced, and the
church and colony fell into utter ruin. 'I'he causes
of their disappearance are imolved in an impenetrable
mystery.
In the year 1000 Lcif, a son of Iiric the Red, having
been told by a \isitor from Icrland who had encounteretl
contrary winds of a land that he had seen while on his
way, started on a voyage in hope of discovering this un-
known region. The numerous accounts of this voyage
which have come down to the i)resenl lime show consid-
erable variation as to details, but it is clear that the |>arty
saw Newfoundland and Xova Scotia, tiiat they landed on
the coast of New England, that they wintered near Plym-
outh Rock, and that here was born a child that in all
probability was the ^n•^t one born of European parents on
the American continiMit. On account of the great num-
ber of vines whi( h were found, the country was named
\inland. All this occurred nearly five hundred ycam
before Columbus set foot on the New World.
In 1 v'^o two X'enetian brothers, named Zeu'v i--.. ^.o.l
444 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
tu have sailed to tlie nortli and on their return given
interesting accounts of the countries which they had
seen, but just wliat hinds the\' reached cannot be deter-
mined. V^arious other venturesome navigators sailed upon
American waters, but for a long period after the discovery
of the New England coast no important results were
obtained.
The wonderful discoveries of Columbus ga\e a new
and powerful impetus to maritime adventure and explo-
ration. F"rom this time on, instead of the ro\'ing voyages
of individuals, expeditions were organized with great care,
often under the authority of the government of the coun-
try whence they sailed, and were commanded by men
who were educated in the science of the time and also
were in most cases practical seamen. In 1496 John
Cabot, a Venetian then Hving at Bristol, and his sons
were authorized by a royal patent from Henry VII. of
England to sail under the English flag " to all parts,
countries, and seas, of the east, of the west, and of the
north," and as officers of the king to take possession of
whatever lands they might discover. The explorers were
obliged to furnish their own ships and equipment, and it
was not until the spring of 1497 that the expedition
started. On this trip John Cabot was accompanied by
his second son, Sebastian, who became a noted explorer.
Newfoundland and Labrador were discovered some eigh-
teen months before Columbus reached the mainland of
America. In 1498 John Cabot received another com-
mission from the king, but for some unknown reason he
was not able to go with the expedition, and Sebastian
Cabot took command of the two ships that had been pro-
vided. There is no doubt that an effort was made to find
PIOXKER VOYAGES 445
a nortliwcst ixissagc to India, Ijut accounts of the cx|K-(li-
tion arc so hopelessly confused and conllictinj; that it is
impossible to dcterniiiie the course that was pursued or
the highest degree of latitude that was reached.
In the year 1500 Cias])ar Cortcreal, of Portugal, a mem-
ber of a noble family and connected with tlie c«»url of
King Emmanuel of that country, sailed from IJslxjii and
explored the coast of Labrador for several hundred miles.
The following year he made another voyage, and probably
reached Hudson Strait; but during a violent stonn his
ship disappeared, and no trace of it or of its crew was
ever found. In 1524 France sent out an expedition, com-
manded by Giovanni V^erazzano, which followed the coast
of the United States and of British .America to a latitude
of 50°. After his return Jacques Cartier sailed from
France and reached the Bay of St. Lawrence, which, with
the St. Lawrence Ri\er, he afterward more fully e.xplorcd.
During the reign of Henry \'1 1 !. two polar expeditions
were made by the English, but they added little or nothing
to the knowledge of northern regions that had jireviously
been acquired. Then a comj^any of merchants, said to
have been men of " great wisdom and gravity," fitted out
three ships for an expedition to search for a northea.stem
passage to India and China. Sir Hugh Willoughby, who.
though he seems to ha\e known very little aUuit naxTil
affairs, was considered " a most valiant gentleman," was
chosen commander. In.structions for the voyaj;e were
carefully drawn l)y Sebastian Cabot. This exjKxlition
sailed in 1553. While off the North Ca|)e a gale sepa-
rated the shijjs. Willoughby came within sight of Nox-a
Zembla, but progress northward being impossible on ac-
count of the ice, he turned back to the mouth tif a river
446 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
in Lapland, wlicre he went into winter quarters with the
crews of tlie two ships which had kept together. Here
they all perished with cold or hunger. The ships were
afterward recovered and started for England with the
bodies of the departed, some seventy in number, but they
foundered at sea and the livin"' were eno^ulfed with the
dead. The third ship, commanded by Chancelor, readied
a place where there was " no night at all " and sailed into
the White Sea. The crew landed at Archancjel and
opened the way for an extensive commerce between Eng-
land and Russia.
In 1576 Martin Frobisher sailed from England in hope
of discovering a northwest j^assage. Oreat demonstrations
were made by the peo})le, and Queen Elizabeth sent a
gentleman on board to inform the crews that she wished
them " happie successe." A point off the coast of South-
ern Greenland was reached, but the winds were so con-
trary that a landing could not be effected. One of the
vessels was lost and the commander of another deserted
the expedition and sailed back to England. Frobisher
continued his voyage and passed into what is still known
as Frobisher Strait. Returning home, he carried, with
various other things, specimens of minerals which were
tested by various parties, by some of whom they were said
to contain gold. Great excitement was occasioned by this
report and the queen placed Frobisher in command of
another expedition. These ships brought back some two
hundred tons of the ore, but it was found to be not only
destitute of gold but absolutely worthless. A third and
larger expedition was soon prepared and sent out under
the same commander, but it met with various and great
disasters and accomplished nothing of marked importance.
rroxr.r.R ro vagus
447
.< \
v^
From Jubtin Winsor's " Narrative and Criliul MiMory o( Amenci."
Uy permission of Houghlon, Mifflin & Co.
In 15S0 two sliips departed from I{n«;Iand in search of
a northeast passage. They were comniaiulcd by Arthur
Pet and Charles Jacknian. They entered the Kara Sea.
but soon found farther progress ini|)ossiblc and returned.
Three years later Sir Muniphrey Gilbert, who had written
upon the subject of the northwest passage, secured fn>m
Queen Elizabeth permission to make a voyage to America
and to take possession of all "heathen and barbarous
countries" which he should discover. One fifth of tht-
448 EARIJER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
gold and silver secured was to become the property of
the crown, and homage was to be paid to the so\ereign.
W'itli these exceptions Sir Humphrey was to have abso-
lute authority in the regions of which he should take pos-
session. After two unsuccessful efforts, the first from
trouble with the crews and the second from bad weather,
he sailed with five ships. One soon returned. The others
reached Newfoundland, and formal possession was taken
of the island. One ship was sent home with a number of
the crew who were sick, and one of the others struck on
the coast and was destroyed by the waves. Only sixteen
of the crew escaped. The captain and about one hun-
dred of his men went down with the ship. Fogs were
heavy and food supplies were becoming scanty. The
crews of the two remaining ships desired to go back to
England. After exacting a promise that they would re-
turn with him the next spring, Sir Humphrey consented
to grant their request and the homeward voyage was com-
menced. The ship on which Sir Humphrey sailed was
greatly overloaded, and, encountering a hard storm, it went
down with all on board. The remaining vessel succeeded
in reaching England, though in a somewhat disabled con-
dition.
A company of English merchants, with the " desire of
advancing God's glory and the good of their nati\e land,"
fitted out two vessels for a voyage to discover a passage
to India. This expedition was placed in charge of John
Davis, who sailed in 1585. After reaching the coast of
Greenland and following it to a considerable distance, he
turned to the west and discovered the strait to which his
name has been given. He reached a point much farther
north than any previous navigator, l^ut storms and fogs
PIOXEKR lOYAGES 449
were encountered and the ships returned to England. In
15S6 and 15S7 Davis revisited the places discovered on his
first expedition, and reached a somewhat higher latitude.
but great quantities of floatinir ice s....,, . .,,....) |^i„^ j^
leave the dangerous locality.
The next polar expedition of great importance was com-
manded by William Barents, of Holland. He made three
voyages, the first in 1594. During this voyage he reached
the northern point of Nova Zembla, but could not prcxreed
farther on account of the ice. That he was wonderfully
persevering in the face of great difficulties is evidenced by
the fact that in trying to get through the pack of ice he
put his ship around eighty-one times. I le returned home
and the following year had command of another exp' "
tion, but soon after he reached the Kara Sea a great si......
arose and large quantities of ice drifted around the ships.
Efforts to proceed were futile and the weather became
severe. At this juncture a council was held, and it was
resolved that they had done the best they could to carry
out the instructions under which they had sailed, but that
it was now to be " seen that it does not i)lease CkkI that
we should continue our voyage, and that it is necessarv
we should desist." They therefore resolved to return to
Holland as quickly as jjossiblc. The government de-
clined to take further risks in the matter, but offered a
reward to any one who should discover the passage. A
few residents of Amsterdam equipped two vessels, one of
which was commanded by a seaman named Kijp, and the
other by Barents, which sailed in 1596. Early in June
they came to Bear Island and later in the same month
they discovered Spitzbergen. Here the commanders \vr--'-
unable to agree as to the ( nm-x- to be nuisued. 1;.')
29
45© EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
therefore separated, and each followed the direction which
seemed to him most likely to lead to a successful issue.
After sailing for some time and making no discoveries,
Rijp returned to Holland. Barents reached the northeast
corner of Nova Zembla, entered a bay which was called
Ice Haven, and was closed in by the ice. Here, with the
sixteen men of his crew, he was forced to spend the win-
ter. With a quantity of drift wood which they found, and
some planks from the ship, they built a house. Here they
suffered almost beyond endurance. An entry in their
journal states that the cold was so intense that " what fire
soever wee made it would not warme us." Often the walls
were covered with ice and clothing froze while it was be-
ing dried by the fire. For eighty-one days they were with-
out the sun. One of their number died. During the
spring the weather became milder and plans were formed
for an escape from their dreary abode. But it was not
until June 14 that they were able to leave, and then they
were obliged to go in two open boats, as the ship was fast in
the ice. Barents, who had been ill for some time, died on
the fifth or sixth day of the voyage. After enduring great
privations twelve of the crew reached Lapland and were
taken home by a Dutch vessel which stopped there on its
return from a trading voyage. More than two hundred
and seventy years later the house which Barents and his
crew had occupied, and in which they had endured such
terrible privations, was visited by a Norwegian trader
named Carlsen, who found cooking utensils, tools, books,
a flute, and numerous other articles, apparently just as
they had been left when those who had used them so long
ago departed never to return.
During the next few years various expeditions sailed
PIONEER I O ) V/ GES
to the norlli, but no valuable results were secured. In
the year 1607 Henry Hudson entered the list of Arctic
explorers, and in the four voyages which he sailed he
made discoveries of great importance. The first of these
expeditions was sent out by the Muscovy Company. Mis
orders were to "go direct to the North Pole." His .ship
was small and his crew consisted of only twelve men and
a boy. He passed along the east coast of Greenland and
examined the coast of Spitzbergen, but after reaching a
latitude of about 81° his progress was checked by ice and
fog. His stock of provisions was scanty, and, the weather
becoming intensely cold, he returned h(ime. The follow-
ing year he sailed again, in a little larger vessel, and
hoped to find a northeast passage ; but heavy fogs and an
enormous quantity of ice prevented him from reaching a
higher latitude than 75^ Upon this voyage he found the
waters teeming with whales and seals, sonic of which he
hoped to capture, and witli the {proceeds defray the ex-
penses of tlie expedition. In this he was as unsuccessful
as he w-as in the main object of his trip, but from his
discovery very extensive and profitable fisheries were
afterward developed. The next year Hudson engaged
in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Hi.s
report of this voyage indicates that he followed his own
inclinations more closely than he did the course which
his employers expected him to j^ursue. For though he
started northeastward, he soon, under the plea that the
ice w^as impenetrable, sailed to the west. Continuing this
course, he reached the bay ujion the shore of which New
York city now stands, and discovered the m.- t
river which bears his name. In the spring "f i"io
Hudson sailed uj^on what proved to be his final voyage.
452 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPIORATIONS
A ship of fifty-five tons, called the Discovery, was fitted
out by persons who believed that a northeast passage
could be found, and who chose Hudson as its commander.
He visited the Orkney and Faroe Islands, passed near
Iceland, and reached what is now called Resolution
Island. From this point he was unable to proceed to the
north. Turning toward the south, he came to the great
strait wliich has received his name. Progress was ex-
ceedingly difficult on account of ice, but he pressed
onward until he came to the great body of water that is
now known as Hudson Bay. This appeared to him to
be a great open sea, and he believed it was a part of the
Pacific Ocean. He sailed for a long distance into this
great bay, but the weather became severe and it was
necessary to go into winter quarters. What appeared to
be a suitable place was found upon an island, the vessel
was brought to the shore, and was soon fast in the ice,
and preparations were made for spending a long and
dreary season at this inhospitable retreat. The crew were
o-reatly dissatisfied. Their means of protection from the
cold were wholly inadequate, their supplies of food were
very scanty, and during the winter they endured great
hardships. Hudson, however, seems never to have lost
courage or wavered in his determination to do all that
was within his power to bring his voyage to a successful
issue. But in the spring, when an attempt was made to
continue the exploration, a portion of the crew mutinied.
Hudson, his son, several sailors who were sick, and the
carpenter, who refused to remain with the mutineers, were
sent adrift in an open boat and were never heard of again.
A careful study of what data could be obtained led to
a belief that by sailing across the great open water that
PIONEER VOYAGES 453
Hudson liad discovered the shore of China could be
reached. In 1612 Captain Iiutt(.)n was sent out by Prince
Henry of Wales to fnid a northwest passage and proceed
to the Asiatic coast. He reached the mouth of the Nel-
son River, where at a later date the Hudson IJay Com-
pany established its first station. I lere he was obliged
to stay until spring, when he continued the voyage until
he reached a latitude of 65". Then he turned southward,
and after touching at Mansell Islands sailed to England.
Although he had not been able to find it, he expressed a
firm belief in the existence of the passage. About this
time various other expeditions were sent out, but no dis-
coveries of great importance were made.
In 1616 William Bafifin reached and explored the great
body of water which has received his name and which
geographers have pronounced " the most magnificent bay
in the \vorld." He passed Lancaster Sound, into which
Parry sailed some two hundred years afterward, and dis-
covered Smith Sound. His reports were not credited at
the time ; but later explorers found that they were true.
and that his lunar observations had been taken with a
remarkable degree of skill.
Several other expeditions were sent out at brief inter-
vals, but for a long period no point was reached as far
north as BafTfin had penetrated, and faith in the existence
of a northwest passage gradually declined. Then. too.
about this time the interest of explorers was turned to-
ward America, which became the objective point of nu-
merous voyages for the discovery- of new regions and the
establishment of colonies.
Toward the close of his career Peter the Great of
Russia formed the plan of sending a party to explore the
454 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
northeastern portion of his dominions and find at \\hat
point, if any, the continents of Asia and America were
separated by water. Empress Catlierine was interested in
the project, and after the death of the Czar carried out his
wishes in this respect. An expedition under the com-
mand of Captain Vitus Bering, a Dane who had become
a trusted officer in the Russian navy, left St. Petersburg
in 1725 and proceeded by land to Ochotzk, a distance of
nearly four thousand five hundred miles. Here two ships
were built, and in July, 1728, the party sailed toward the
northeast. They made various observations along the
coast of Kamtschatka, and proceeded to latitude 67° 18',
when, finding no appearance of land and fearing the
rigors of the rapidly approaching winter, they returned
to the port from which they had sailed. Here the weary
months of the winter were passed. The effort to reach
the American continent was then repeated, but was in
vain.
The final voyage of this great navigator was made in
1 74 1. With two ships he left a harbor in Kamtschatka
on the 4th of June, and on the iSth of July he discovered
the continent of America. The captain of the other ship
had sighted the same coast, at a lower latitude, three days
before. He remained in the vicinity for some days, lost
several men who went on shore, and then, with the
remainder of his crew, returned home. Bering made an
effort to proceed to a higher latitude, but was driven back
by a violent storm. The scurvy broke out among the
crew, and it was decided to return to Kamtschatka, but
on the way they missed their course. Several of the crew
had died, and so many of the survivors were sick that it
was almost impossible to manage the ship. Fogs and
PIOXEER VOYAGES 455
gales were encountered, and they were in almost constant
fear of being wrecked. In November they were driven
upon a small island, which received the name of the com-
mander of the expedition. There tliey made what pre|>-
arations they could and went into winter quarters. On
the Sth of December Bering, who had been ill for some
time, passed away. The discovery and naming (^f Mount
St. Elias, and the discovery of Bering Strait, which proved
that Asia and America were not connected by land, were
among the fruits of this expedition, in which one of the
most meritorious of the great Arctic explorers lost his life.
This was followed by several other Russian expeditions,
some by sea and others by land, by which considerable
additions to the previous knowledge of various sciences
were made.
CHAPTER XXVII
INTEREST RENEWED
In 1743 interest in Arctic exploration was revived by
an offer made by the British Government of a reward of
^20,000 for the discovery of the Northwest Passage by
way of Hudson Strait. Various voyages were made, but
their main object was not accompHshed and the results
were very meagre. In 1776 the government removed the
restriction as to the route, and offered the reward for
the discovery of " any northern passage " navigable for
ships, and also added an offer of i^5,ooo to any one who
would penetrate to within one degree of the North Pole.
Among the navigators who attempted to solve the great
Arctic problem were the famous Captain Cook, whose
course was blocked by ice in latitude 70° 20', and Sir
Alexander Mackenzie, who discovered the great river that
is called by his name. William Scoresby, a noted whaler,
while on a cruise off the east coast of Greenland, in 1806,
succeeded in working his way through the ice into a
great open sea and reaching a latitude of 81° 30', a higher
point than had previously been attained.
From the officers and crews of whaling vessels which
returned from the coast of Greenland in 18 16 and 181 7,
the British naval authorities learned that the sea was
then unusually clear of ice. It was therefore considered a
favorable time for pushing the work of exploration; and
in 1 8 18 an expedition, under the command of Captain
INTEREST A'EXEIVED 4S7
John Ross and Lieutenant William Kclward Parr)'. Ix)th
of whom were subsequently knighted for their scr\'icc8 in
this field of investigation, was sent to discover the North-
west Passage. The two vessels with wliich they had
been furnished sailed in April and arrived at the Danish
settlement on the Whale Islands in June. Here they
learned that the preceding winter had been unusually
severe. After various delays, and encountering great
dangers from the ice, they reached a rugged coast U|X)n
which they landed and which they explored for quite a
distance. Proceeding on their voyage, they followed to
a considerable extent the course which Baffin had pur-
sued. Various sounds that he had described were passed ;
but as appearances indicated that they were either ba)*s
or else were impassable on account (jf ice, no effort was
made to explore them. On the 30th of August they
reached one of these inlets which was bordered by
majestic mountains and which, being free from ice. it was
resolved to explore. This proved to be Lancaster Sound.
For some thirty miles the course was unobstructed, and
the officers and crews were hopeful and almost confident
that full success was soon to crown their arduous and
perilous undertaking. After proceeding a little farther
they found, much to their disappointment, the apjjearance
of a mountain range directly across their course. The
weather was threatening, and Captain Ross hastily gave
orders to return to the bay. When this was reached the
western coast was followed for some distance, and then
the expedition returned to England, arriving there safely
in October.
This failure to discover the passage for which so many
other navi-ators had searched in vain strongly tended to
458 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
confirm the opinion that Baffin had formed, and many
others had accepted, that from Lancaster Sound there
was no entrance to a sea lying to the west. From this
view Lieutenant Parry dissented, claiming that this expe-
dition, like others which had preceded it, " had been
relinquished just at a time when there was the greatest
chance of success." After a careful investigation of the
causes which led Ross to return, the government directed
Parry to make another voyage. In accordance with this
commission he sailed from England, with two ships, in
May, 1819.
The ships were provisioned for two years, and were
well supplied with whatever was supposed to be needed in
such a voyage. The instructions under which he sailed
required the commander to make as thorough an explora-
tion as possible of Lancaster Sound, and, in case that was
found to be impenetrable, to enter other inlets, if open
ones were found. A direct voyage to Lancaster Sound
was attempted, but when latitude ']'^ was reached vast
masses of ice were encountered. For some ten days
navigation was extremely difficult, and many times the
ships narrowly escaped being wrecked. On the 25th of
June an open way appeared, and the voyage was con-
tinued with but little difficulty till on the 30th of July
the southern entrance to Lancaster Sound was reached.
This was about four weeks earlier in the season than the
expedition of the previous year had come to this point.
On the following day the crew went on land and found
a flagstaff that had been set the year before.
The ships then passed up the sound, and officers and
crews watched with great anxiety for evidence that
should determine whether the mountains which Ross had
INTEREST RENEWED 459
claimed to see, and to which lie had given the name of
Croker Range, really existed, or were, as Parry firmly be-
lieved, only imaginary. The i)()int at which the range
had been located was passed without obstruction and was
found to be a splendid bay. Continuing their vovage
along the wide inlet, which, in honor of Sir John Barrow.
one of the principal promoters of the expedition, was
named Barrow Strait, the party became confident that
their course would lead them to an open sea. They
were soon disappointed by coming to an island from
which a body of ice extended to the northern shore. For
some time the compass had been losing its sensitiveness,
and at length it became entirely useless. By this it was
known that they were near the magnetic pole; but the
time in which Arctic exploration could be continued was
so brief that it w-as not considered wise to delay in order
to take exact observations. Varying their course to avoid
the ice, and pressing forward with what speed they were
able, they came, on the 2 2d of August, to a strait some
eight leagues in width, that seemed to be free from ice,
which w^as named Wellington Channel, but which, for
want of time, was not explored. On September 4 the
meridian of 110° west longitude was crossed, and Parr)'
announced to his crews that they were then entitled to
the reward of ^5,000 which had been offered to subjects
of his Majesty who should fust reach that meridian within
the Arctic Circle. In honor of the event a point of land
on Melville Island, near by, was named Bounty Cape.
The weather was growing severe, the nights were dark.
and, as the compass was useless, progress was slow and
difficult. Still, it was hoped that exploration could be
continued for some weeks. But only four days after
46o EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
crossing the meridian which they had been so anxious to
reach, their course was completely blocked by solid ice.
After waiting about a fortnight in hope that the barrier
could be penetrated, they became convinced, not only that
further progress was impossible, but also that to remain
where they were involved great and immediate danger
that the ships would become fast in the ice. It was
therefore decided to return as far as Melville Island and
attempt to enter one of the two good harbors wliich
had been observed as they passed a few weeks before.
Considerable difficulty was experienced in reaching the
vicinity of the western harbor, which seemed to offer
a safer retreat than the other, and then it was found
necessary to cut a channel more than two miles in length
and wide enough to admit the passage of the ships,
throuo^h ice that averaged seven inches in thickness.
This difficult task accomplished, the ships were brought,
on the 26th of September, to a safe anchorage, in five
fathoms of water, at a point near the beach. Here they
were destined to remain until August of the following
year.
For a few weeks some game was secured by hunting
parties ; but as the weather became more severe, the ani-
mals that were suitable for food migrated, and only foxes
and wolves remained on the island. Before the close of
October the mercury sank to 24° below zero, and it be-
came necessary to spend most of the time on board the
ships. In order to keep his men cheerful, and help while
away the long and dreary period which he knew must
elapse before they could leave the spot upon which they
were practically imprisoned, Parry organized a theatrical
party which gave a performance every two weeks during
INTEREST RENEWED 46,
tlie long night of three months tliat set in at the time
this unique place of amusement was opened. A weekly
newspaper was established, and served, in some measure
at least, to take the attention of the men from their un-
pleasant surroundings and keep their minds active and
interested. \\\ these diversions, and by the regular exer-
cise on the decks of the sliijjs, which was required by the
commander, the health of the men was well maintained.
During January it became very cold, the thermometer
registering from 30° to 40° below zero a large part of the
month. r\^bruary brought still severer cold, 55° below
zero being indicated on the i6th, but it also brought the
sun. March gave a little relief, but it was not until
the last of April that there was a rajiid rise in tem|)era-
ture. With the increased warmth birds and quadrujK'tls
returned from the south, and hunting expeditions were
made with the double purpose of giving the men exercise
and of increasing the food supply.
During the first half of May the ice was cut, and on
the 17th of that month the ships were once more afloat,
but until the 2d of August they remained locked in the
harbor by the great body of ice that lay between them
and the open water. When it became evident that con-
siderable time must elapse before their voyage could be
resumed, Parry and a party of his men made a partial ex-
ploration of Melville Island. On most of the area the s<-)il
was barren, but the western coast had some vegetation
and a sfreater abundance of game. Not only were moss,
^rass, saxifrao-e, and dwarf willows found, but one of the
party was surprised and delighted by securing a ranuncu-
lus in full flower. In jUne the snow thawed rapidly and
walking became very ditticult. The ravines, too, were
462 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATJOXS
filled with torrents of water, which made them both diffi-
cult and dangerous to cross.
On the 2d of August the body of ice by which the
ships had for so long a time been imprisoned broke up
and floated awa)-. The voyage was resumed ; but on the
15th of the month, when the southwestern extremity of
the island had been reached, an impassable barrier of ice
was found. Careful observation, from a high point of
land, led to the belief that there was no possibility of
advancing in that direction, and a search for a passage
farther to the south was decided upon. This proved un-
successful, and the expedition returned to England. In
this voyage Parry had reached a spot more than thirty de-
grees of west longitude beyond the extreme point touched
by any of his predecessors.
At the time the expedition commanded by Ross was
sent out to discover a northwest passage, another, under
Captain Buchan and Lieutenant, afterward Sir John
Franklin, was fitted out to discover the North Pole. Two
ships were provided, and instructions were given to pro-
ceed into the Spitzbergen seas, and, passing between
Spitzbergen and Greenland, push directly for the Pole.
The weather was bad and the ships were soon separated,
but early in June they met at an appointed place off
Spitzbergen. Learning from the officers of whaling ves-
sels that the sea to the west was filled with ice, Captain
Buchan sailed to the north ; l^ut before passing the north-
western point of Spitzbergen the ships became fast in the
ice, and for thirteen days they were carried to the south at
the rate of about three miles per day. After getting free
they made another attempt to proceed, but early in July
they were again imprisoned in the ice. Here they were
INTEREST RENEWED 463
detained for three weeks. Inirther efforts to pass north-
ward appearing to be useless, it was decided to give up
the attempt and endeavor to pass aloni; the eastern ojxst
of Greenland. They were soon overtaken by a violent
gale ; and as one of the shijjs was badly injured, it became
necessary to proceed to I\air Hiiven for repairs. When
these were made the ships started on their homeward voy-
age and reached the Thames on the 2 2d of October.
In order to increase the chances of success in the effort
to learn the real condition of the northern jjolar regions,
a party was sent out by the British Government, in 1819,
to pass overland and survey the iiorllicrn coast of the con-
tinent from the mouth of the Coppermine River to Bering
Strait. This party consisted of five persons : Sir John
Franklin, who w^as appointed commander; Dr. Richard-
son, a naval surgeon ; George Back and Robert HckkI,
midshipmen; and John Hepburn, a seaman. They left
England in May and after a perilous voyage reached York
Factory, a station on Hudson Bay, .August 30. Here
they w-ere delayed about ten days in making necessar)'
preparations for a continuance of their trip. Following
rivers and lakes as much as possible, but in many places
finding their course impeded by rocks or rapids, they
reached another station of the Hudson Bay Company,
called Cumberland House, on the 2 2d of Octolx-r. hav-
ins: traversed a distance of about seven hundred miles.
Notwithstanding the lateness of the season and the
increasing intensity of the cold, I-'ranklin felt that a part
of the company ought to proceed to one of the station.s
on Athabasca Lake, or perhaps even farther north, where.
he had been informed, guides and interpreters could l)C
secured. It was arrancred that Franklin, with two of the
464 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
party, should go on, and that the other two members
should remain where they were until spring. Accord-
ingly, Franklin, accompanied by Back and Hepburn,
started on the iSth of January and arrived at Fort Chipe-
wyan, a station at the northwestern shore of Athabasca
Lake, near the end of March. This point was about
eight hundred and fifty miles from the one at which they
had left the remainder of tlicir party. The journey was
tedious and dangerous. While walking, they were obliged
to wear snow-shoes. These weighed two or three pounds
each and made the wearer feel that he was dragging " a
galling and stubborn weight at his feet." The cold was
intense ; but as the mercury froze in the bulbs of the ther-
mometers, its degree could not be measured. The diffi-
culties of the situation were increased by a scarcity of
provisions, and terrible suffering was experienced before
the destination of the party was reached.
At Fort Chipewyan Franklin and his companions re-
mained until July, when they were joined by Hood and
Dr. Richardson, who had been left at Cumberland House.
Other stations had been communicated with, and nearly
twenty Indians and Canadian boatmen had been engaged
to assist in the expedition. A little after the middle of
July the party started, in hope of reaching the mouth of
the Coppermine River before going into winter quarters.
But the greatest exertions were unavailing ; and on reach-
ing a point some five hundred and fifty miles from Fort
Chipewyan they selected a spot on the bank of a frozen
river, where they erected a hut to which they gave the
name of Fort Enterprise. Here the party killed a large
number of reindeer and prepared for future use the meat
that was not required for immediate consumption. Two
INTEREST KENKWKD 465
trips were made, one in a canoe and the other, by Frank-
lin and Dr. Richardson, on land, in order to determine
the distance to the Coppermine River. This proved to
be about eighty miles. Hoth parties returned in sat- •
but they had endured great suffering from cold and w.n.i
of food.
It soon became ajDparcnl that a sufficient quantity of
game could not be obtained to supply the company with
food during the long winter that was then setting in. and
Back proposed to lead a company to some of the stations
that had been passed, even to Fort Chipewyan if nc( o-
sary, and hasten the delivery of provisions that had Ix-en
sent up from Cumberland House. This journey, which
was marked by extreme privations and attended by great
dangers of various kinds, occupied, with the return trip.
nearly five months. During this time liack had walked
more than eleven hundred miles. The winter was exceed-
ingly cold, and at one time the thermometer indicated 57'
below zero. Even the trees were frozen through, and in
trying to cut them nearly all the axes were broken. In
December the food supplies got very low, and great anxi-
ety was felt on this account; but about the middle of Jan-
uary a quantity of provisions sufficient for more than two
months was received from one of the other stations. \\ ith
the opening of spring reindeer appeared, and danger from
starvation was passed for a few months, at least.
As the weather grew milder, preparations for the on-
ward journey were begun. Before the camp was broken
arrangements were made with an Indian chief, who had
been with them for some time, to bring a supply of pnv
visions to the fort before September, in order that, if they
returned that way, they would not be in want of food for
30
466 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
the next winter. Early in June tlie first party, led b\' Dr.
Richardson, started. On the 14th of the month F"ranklin
and the remainder of the force left the fort, taking with
them three canoes, which were drawn over the snow and
ice by men and dogs. Traxelling was difificidt and provi-
sions were scanty. Se\'eral of the men became lame, and
in order to li^'hten the load one of the canoes was left
on the way. Franklin and some of his com])anions fell
through the ice and narro\^■ly escaped being drowned.
On the I St of July the Coppermine River was reached
and the canoes were launched upon its waters. Naviga-
tion-was difficult and perilous; but on the i8th of the
month the mouth of the river was reached, and a Qrreat
O
polar sea stretched out before them. On the way they
had secured some salmon, and also killed se\'eral musk
oxen, but even with these additions their stock of provi-
sions was small. The distance travelled from Fort Enter-
prise to this point was three hundred and thirty-four miles.
For more than one third of this distance it had been ne-
cessary to drag the canoes and baggage over the snow and
ice. Yet after all the time they had spent, the sufferings
they had endured, and the dangers they had encountered,
thev had only reached what, when the main purpose of
the work was considered, was the real starting-point of the
expedition.
After a brief stop at the mouth of the river the jDarty of
twenty men, in two canoes and with provisions for only
fifteen days, started toward the east. For four days they
kept near the coast. This had considerable vegetation,
and the water was comparatively free from ice. They
then came to a rugged ])oint which they doubled. In a
short time they were hemmed in by the ice, in which they
INTEREST RENE WED 467
were detained for sexeral days. Some of the men went
on shore and succeeded in killing a few deer to eke out
their scanty supi)ly of provisions. As soon a.s |x)s.sible the
voyage was renewed. Cai)c Katcr was rounded, and the
canoes passed into tlic open sound. An exploring party
was sent on sliore, in hope that an Hskimo village could
be found ; but the spot was too barren to be- inh.ibitrd
even l)y the hardy natives of the polar region-.
Passing along the coast, they came, on the 10th of Au-
gust, to open water, which, to their great di.sapiK)intment,
they found was only a large bay. This was named after
Lord Melville. They were still far from RepuLse Bay,
which they had hoped to reach. Their canoes were in
bad condition, their stock of {provisions was ahnost ex-
hausted, but little game could he secured, and the rapid
approach of the terrible Arctic winter was heralded by
unmistakable tokens. A long distance had been travelled.
but the route was circuitous and the extreme jxiint ri-.iched
was in latitude 68" 30'. A headland on the - l the
bay was named Point Turnagain. Here the effort to con-
tinue explorations was abandoned, and it was decided to
return to Fort Enterprise.
The lateness of the season made it impossible to return
by the way they came. In order to shorten the distance
and diminish the danger, it was thought l)est to pass for
some distance up Hood's River, which they had recently
discovered, and then proceed overland in as direct .1
course as possible. They halted at a magnificent cataract,
which they named Wilberforce Falls. This |x)int was
about one hundred and iift\- miles from Fort Enterprise
Here, in order that they might be more easily carried, two
small canoes were made from the larger ones which they
468 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
had used thus far. Other preparations for the overland
trip were completed, and on the ist of September the
party set out on what proved to be one of the most
terrible journeys of which there is either record or tradi-
tion.
The party had proceeded only about twelve miles when
they were overtaken by a heavy snow-storm and compelled
to halt for two days. They covered themselves with their
blankets, but could obtain neither fuel nor food. When
the storm abated they renewed their journey, which was
rendered still more diiificult by the snow which had just
fallen. The boatmen complained of the labor of carry-
ing the canoes, and, after a time, either through accident
or design, allowed one of them to be broken by a fall.
As it was injured beyond repair, this canoe was used for
fuel. Intense suffering made these men utterly reckless.
In spite of all that the leaders could say, they abandoned
the other canoe, and even threw away their fishing-lines.
For three weeks the party made what progress they could
through a most desolate region. They not only suffered
from cold and weariness and weakness, but most of the
time they were on the verge of starvation. For days at a
time they had no food except a nauseous and almost indi-
gestible species of lichen, and they were even reduced to
the extremity of eating their old shoes. At length they
reached the Coppermine River, but it was several days
before they could construct a raft upon which they were
able to cross. As some of the men were too weak and ill
to proceed, the party was compelled to divide. Several of
the boatmen perished from hunger and exposure, and
Hood was murdered by one of the Indians.
Back was the first to reach the fort. Instead of find-
INTEREST RENEWED ^69
ing a supply of jjiovisions, as had been promiNcd. the
building was empty. Leaving a note stating that he had
gone in search of the Indians who had been dcjK-ndcd
upon to furnish supj^lies, he continued his toilsome jour-
ney. Franklin and five companions reached the desolate
fort on the nth of October, and nearly three wcek^ later
Dr. Richardson and Hepburn arri\ed. Old .skins, liones,
and lichens were used for food until the jlh of November.
when some Indians, who had been sent by Hack, brought
a quantity of provisions. About a week later the journey
was resumed. Fort Chipewyan was reached in safety, and
here the party remained until the following June. The
next month they reached York Factory, and the difficul-
ties and dangers of their most remarkable journey were at
an end.
The fact that Parry had failed to discover the North-
west Passage was not regarded as proof that it did not
exist. Neither did it diminish confidence in the zeal or
the competence of the commander himself. So when he
expressed an opinion that by commencing explorations at
a lower latitude the desired opening could be found, the
government placed him in command of another expedi-
tion.
In May, 1821, with two ships and a transport loaded
with provisions and other necessities. Parry again set sail
from England. The entrance to Hudson Strait was
reached early in July. At this point the transport was
unloaded and sent home. Strong currents were soon
encountered, and the ships narrowly escaped destniction
by enormous icebergs. In September Repulse Bay was
reached, and found to be clear of ice. Leaving the bay.
Parry proceeded, in accordance with his instructions to*
470 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
explore the coast line. This work was continued, under
many difficulties, until it became imperative to seek
winter quarters. These were found on the shore of a
small island, and the ships were soon fast in ice. Here
Parry adopted the same means for keeping his men cheer-
ful and contented that had been tried on his previous
voyage, and with an equal degree of success. A party of
Eskimos living near by made frequent trips to the vessels,
and the officers also visited the snow huts of these peculiar
people.
It was not till the 8th of July that the expedition was
able to proceed, and even then it was necessary to do a
great amount of work in getting the ships out of the ice.
A little more than a week later they approached an
elevated region which they hoped would prove to be the
northern shore of the strait ; but when its entrance was
reached they were greatly disappointed to find an impass-
able barrier of ice. After waiting nearly four weeks
in hope that an opening would be made, it was decided
to take observations on land. A party proceeded to the
northern point of the peninsula near which their progress
by water had been checked, and discovered a strait in
which there was a strong current and considerable loose
ice. Returning to the ship, an effort was made to reach
this strait, but it proved unsuccessful. In this neighbor-
hood another winter was spent, and the ships were not
again afloat until past the middle of August. Several of
the crew had become ill, and Parry reluctantly sailed for
England.
Soon after reaching home Parry had a dangerous ill-
ness; but in 1824 he was ready to take up his work again,
and was sent out, with the two ships used on the voyage
INTEREST REXE If EI) ^^ ,
just described, to exploiv IMiiuc Kcircnts Inlet, in ho|Ki
that it would lead to an open sea. The expedition left
England in May, and, after encountering many dangers,
arrived late in September at the point where they had
been compelled to halt in iSic;. Near here a harlxir.
which was named Port Bowen. was found, and I'arry
made preparations to pass his fourth winter in the Arctic
regions. It was a dreary season, and in some rcsi)ects
proved even more tedious than any of its predecessors.
On the 1 8th of July the ships were again free and the
voyage was resumed. In a short time large bodies of ice
were encountered, and one of the ships was so badly in-
jured that it had to be abandoned. The crew was taken
on board the other ship, which at once returned to Eng-
land.
Three other expeditions were sent from England at
about the time that Parry started for Prince Regent's
Inlet. Of these, one was commanded by Captain Lyon,
who was instructed to make a more thorough sur\*ey than
had yet been attempted of the coast as far as Point Turn-
again. Another was led by Franklin, with orders to pass
down the Mackenzie River to the sea, and then proceed
along the coast to Bering Strait. The other was com-
manded by Captain Beechey, who was to j)ass around
Cape Horn, proceed to Bering Strait, and continue his
voyage to Kotzebue Sound, where he was to meet the
expedition led by Franklin. The results of this r- — '-— d
effort were very meagre. Captain Lyon was ■ • n
by storms and encountered vast drifts of ice, and when
some eighty miles distant from Repulse Hay was obliged
to give up the enterprise. Franklin and his party passed
the winter at Great Bear Lake. In the spring they sailed
472 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
down the Mackenzie River to the point where it separates
into different channels. The party then divided. One
detachment, under Dr. Richardson, passed to the east,
in order to explore the coast as far as the Coppermine
River. The other, led by Franklin, went to the west, in
hope of reaching Icy Cape and meeting Captain Beechey.
The former party accomplished its purpose with but little
difficulty, and, returning, reached their winter quarters on
the ist of September. They saw a large number of birds
of various kinds, and at one point were greatly annoyed
by mosquitoes.
Franklin and his party had a much severer experience.
Unfriendly Eskimos made them much trouble, and they
were delayed by fogs and storms. By the middle of
August the cold had become severe and the men were
suffering greatly from weariness and exposure. It was
therefore necessary that they at once return to the house
at Great Bear Lake. The extreme point reached was
named Return Reef. It was afterward learned that Cap-
tain Beechey was then only one hundred and fifty miles
away. The second winter was passed at the lake. It
proved very severe. At one time the temperature was
58° below zero. With the approach of mild weather the
party returned to England. During the summer the ship
under Captain Beechey reached the appointed place and
remained as long as the weather would permit ; but as they
had already returned to England, no trace of Franklin
and his companions could be found.
Although he had been repeatedly bafHed in his Arctic
expeditions, Parry was not discouraged. Scoresby had
suggested that by constructing boats in such a manner
that they could also be used as sledges, it might be possi-
INTEREST REAEWED ^^^
blc to reach the P.,Ic by passin.ir over the ice I'arry
accepted this idea and presented it to the attention of the
government officer... It nK-t tlK-ir approval and u-as
promptly put into execution. Tuo boat.s were built • and
with the //cr/a, one of the sh\ps which Ik- had previously
commanded. Parry set out on his fourth expediti.»n.
In 1S27 the ship was sailed to the north coa>t of Spitz-
bergen, where it was left in a safe harbor. On the 22d
of June the men took to the boats. Three days later
they reached the ice, but it proved to be very roujrh and
was intersected by numerous channel>. Pn.irrJ^s wo-s
extremely slow and toilsome. Rains were frequent and
there were hea^•y falls of snow. Dense fogs cau>ed many
delays. At length, finding that they were being carried
south by the drifting of the ice in the water, fa-ster than
they w^ere proceeding north on its surface, it wa.s decided
to return to the ship. 71iis was only one hundred and
seventy- two miles distant, although they had actn.O'N
travelled two hundred and ninety-two mile>. The n..--
northern point reached was 82' 45', which, so far as was
certainly known, was the highest latitude that had then
been reached b}' man.
In 1829 Sir John Ross, whose voyage in iSiS had
been so barren of results and had. brought upon hinj«.eli
not a little adxerse criticism, proceeded to the |)olar re-
gions in a small steamship that had been placexl at his
disposal for this purpose by his friend Sir Felix Booth.
This ship, named the ]^icton\ was commanded by James
Clark Ross, a nephew of Sir John. It wxs the first
steamer ever used in Arctic exploration. Lancaster
Sound was reached in August. The voyage u*as con-
tinued to what is known as the dulf of Boothia, Here
474 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
a sheltered position was found, which was named FeHx
Harbor, where winter quarters were taken. When spring
opened, various land journeys were made. Not until
September did the ship get afloat, and it had proceeded
only about three miles when it again became entangled
in the ice. Here it remained until the following Au-
gust. On the 28th of the month the ship was again free.
But the wind soon arose, the weather suddenly became
cold, and when they had sailed only four miles the}' were
once more firmly surrounded by ice. Here they remained
till the spring, when, on account of the failing health of
the men, the small quantity of provisions on hand, and the
great uncertainty as to when a free passage through the
ice could be found, it was resolved to abandon the ship.
After a wearisome and dangerous journey the party
reached the spot where the Fury had been wrecked in
Parry's third voyage. Here they found a quantity of
provisions that had been saved from the ship, and here
they passed a most miserable winter. There was great
sufferine from cold and illness, and several of the men
died. Early in the summer of 1833 the survivors re-
sumed their journey. About the middle of August open
water was reached, and the party took to their boats.
Twelve days later two ships were sighted. On one of
these their signals of distress were observed. This ship
proved to be the Isabella, which Ross himself had once
commanded. The weary explorers were taken on board
and given every possible means of comfort. On the iSth
of October the rescued party, all of whom had long
before been given up for dead, arrived at England. The
principal result of this expedition was the reaching and
determining of the exact location of the North Magnetic
INTEREST RENEWED 4^5
Pole. This was accomplished by James Ross in April
1832.
As year after year passed and no tidings from Rojis
were received in England, great anxiety was felt for his
safety. A fund was raised in order to fit out an ex|H.-di-
tion to search for him, and, if he could be found, give him
needed relief. The government aided the movement;
and Back, who had accompanied Franklin to the north
and had since been promoted captain, was placed in
command. In February, 1833, he sailed from England.
With his party he reached Fort Chijjewyan on the 29th
of July, and about a fortnight later arrived at a station on
Great Slave Lake. Here two jjarties were formed to
explore the region, in hope of finding a navigable river
upon which the journey could be continued. On the
approach of cold weather they returned to the lake,
where a house, which they named Fort Rt'li.incc u.i>
built, and where they passed the winter.
The season proved to be terribly severe. On the 17th
of January the thermometer registered 70" below zero.
Food was scanty and it was imjiossible to secure fish or
game at that time. A large numlx^r of Indians flocked
to the house ; and though a little food was distributed
among them, many perished from hunger. On the 25th
of April the party were greatly cheered by the arrix'al of a
messenger with the news that Ross had reached England
in safety. This left them free to make further explora-
tions, which was, indeed, a secondary object of the exjK*-
dition. On the 7th of June the house was closed, and
the party proceeded to the Great Fish River, which has
since been named aftci- I'.ack. of which they made a care-
ful examination. After an absence of about four months
476 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
they returned to Fort Reliance, where they passed
another winter. In the following March the homeward
trip was commenced, and in September the party arrived
in England.
In 1836 the British Government equipped another ex-
pedition to continue the exploration of some of the coast
lines that had been partially surveyed. Back was placed
in command of the ship Terror, on which he sailed in
June. The party was doomed to disappointment. They
hoped to winter in Repulse Bay ; but before reaching that
point they encountered a violent storm, by which they
were driven back for quite a distance, and ere long the
ship was caught in a mass of ice. Much of the time
they were driven by the wind, or carried by the current,
with the great body of ice in which they were wedged as
in an enormous vise, and they were often in imminent
danger of destruction.
The ship did not get free until nearly the middle of
July. It had been seriously damaged, and an immediate
return to England was the only course that could be
adopted. The trip was made with all possible speed,
but the ship was in a sinking condition when port was
reached. Although the expedition had failed, it was not
from want of skill or effort. This fact was fully recog-
nized, and soon after reaching home Back was knighted.
The survey which he was unable to make was completed
tlic following year by Dease and Simpson, who were sent
out by the Hudson Bay Company, and who made exten-
sive explorations of the coast of Boothia and Victoria
Land.
CHAPTER XWllI
IIKKolC KNDKAVOKS
The next expedition to the Arctic seas left England on
the 26th of May, 1845. The government had fitted out
two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, in the best jxivsj.
ble manner, and also provided a transjjort, with a cargo of
food supplies and general stores, to accompany them as
far as Davis Strait. The Erebus was commanded by Sir
John Franklin, who was chief officer (jf the ex|x.*dition,
and the Terror, by Captain Richard Crozier. The com-
bined crews numbered one hundred and thirty-eight men.
The object of this expedition, as defined by the govern-
ment ofificers, was " the accomplishment of a northwest
passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,"
and very minute instructions were given as to the course
which was to be pursued. The ships and trans|)ort
arrived safely at Davis Strait. Here the latter Nva> un-
loaded and at once returned to England. The two ships
then went on their way. On the 26th of July. 1845. they
were seen by a whaling vessel named the Pnnce of
Wales. They were then near the middle of HatTin Hay.
waiting for an opening in the ice, which had blocked their
way. From that time they were seen by whitr men no
more.
It was expected that about two years would pass after
the ice fields were reached before word could be rccciNX-d
from the explorers. When this period had elapsed and
478 EARLJER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
nothing was heard from the party, their friends in Eng-
land began to fear that some disaster had befallen the
expedition. As weeks and months went by, leaxing the
silence unbroken, the feeling of apprehension deepened.
In 1848 the British Government sent out three expedi-
tions in search of the missing explorers. Of these, one
was to attempt to reach the Polar Sea b)- wa)- of Bering
Strait, one was to pass down the Mackenzie River to
the sea and then follow the coast to the Coppermine
River, while the other was directed to pass through Lan-
caster Sound and Barrow Strait. Two ships were fitted
. out for the expedition first named. They w^ere the
Hei'cild and the Plover, under Captain Henry Kellett and
Commander Thomas E. L. Moore. The second was led
by Dr., now Sir John Richardson, who was accompanied by
Dr. John Rae, who had already won fame as an explorer
in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. The third
was under Sir James Clark Ross and Captain E, J. Bird,
with two large ships named the Enterprise and the Investi-
gator. Full directions were given to each of these parties;
and as all points that Franklin was at all likely to reach
were to be visited, it was hoped and believed that this
united effort would speedily be crowned with success. The
expeditions made some valuable additions to the know-
ledge of the regions which they visited, but as far as their
principal object was concerned they were utter failures.
In 1849 the British Government offered a reward of
;!^20,ooo to private persons, of any nationality, who should
discover and rescue the missing explorers. This, together
with a deep interest in the fate of Franklin, led to the
formation of numerous parties to prosecute the search.
Lady Franklin also provided means for sending men and
///■A'O/C J.XDI.AIOKS
479
\
IIENKN (;i;l\N|- I
vessels to aid in the work. In 1.S50 there were at least
twelve ships, besides boat and sledge jjartie^. en£(ai(cd in
the enterprise.
Among the expeditions was one from the United
States. This was mainly fitted out by Henr\' Grinnell. a
New York merchant, but it was under government con-
trol. It was commanded b\; Lieutenant De Mavcn. who
had seen service in an exploring expedition in the Ant-
arctic regions. Two ships, the Advance and the Restuf,
were furnished. They left New York on the 24th of
May, 1850. The ])lan j^roposed was to proceed to Mel-
ville Island, pass the winter wherever they were caught
in the ice, and then follow whatever course should seem
most likely to lead to success.
48o EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
The ships of several of these expeditions came near
each other in Baffin Bay. At this point they were long
delayed and were often in extreme peril from enormous
masses of floating ice. Some of the best ships spent five
weeks in sailing northward only thirty miles. When the
course became more open the ships parted company,
goino^ in different directions in order to make the search
as thorough as possible.
On the 23d of August, 1850, the first trace of the
missing party was found. This was at Cape Riley, where
the crew of a boat from the British ship Assistance
landed. Several articles were found which had evidently
belonged to Europeans, but they could not be identified
with the Franklin party. This was followed by a trip to
Beechey Island, about three miles distant. Here was
discovered the spot w^here Franklin spent the winter of
1845-46. The graves of three men who had died during
that season were also found. These were marked by oak
boards upon which the names and ages of the deceased
had been inscribed. Careful search was made by parties
from three of the vessels which were near the island, but
nothing: could be found to indicate in what direction
Franklin intended to proceed when he left the camp. It
was ascertained, however, that during the winter his ships
had been fast in the ice a little south of Beechey Island.
About the middle of September the vessels engaged in
the search were ice-bound, and the work was necessarily
suspended. When spring opened sledging expeditions
were formed to prosecute the search on land. Twelve
parties were organized. One of these, under Lieutenant
McClintock, travelled seven hundred and sixty miles.
The others covered lesser distances. Great suffering was
HEROIC KXDKAVOKS ^g,
expcricncccl from tokl aiul fatigue, and fmc nf the men
died from cxluiii.slioii. One of the pai' hed the
spot where Parry had encamped in 1.S20, and another di*.
covered a wide strait of ojK'n water, which \
Victoria Channel, but no trace of I'Vanklin ... ^ll^ ,ncn
was found.
Although the numerous e.\i)editions which had Ixx-n
sent out were utter failures as far as the accomplihhmcnt
of their main j^urpose was concerned, some very im|X)r-
tant results in other lines were secured. The m()>t notice-
able of these was the discovery by Captain, aftenvard
Sir Robert McClure, commander of the Hritisli ship In-
vestigator, of the Northwest Passage. W\\^ great event
occurred on the 26th of October, 1.S50. N'ear aftei
expeditions followed the ones which have been nankcd.
Several shi|)s were lost. Fleroic efforts were made by
officers and men, and terrible sufferings were endured,
but the mystery regarding the fate of I'l^ankiin was not
dispelled.
In i>S53 Mr. Grinnell, aided h\ several individuals and
organizations, fitted out his second exjx'dilion to the
Arctic regions. The ship, which was named tlie Ad-
vance, was commanded by Dr. I:Iisha Kent Kane, who
had accompanied Lieutenant De 1 laven in the first (irin-
nell expedition. With eighteen men lie sailed from New-
York on the 30th of May, intending to pass a.s far r
as possible in Baffin Bay, and thence proceed, wit!- '
and boats, on land and water in such direction a- :
give the greatest hope of succes.s. After reaching Mel-
ville Bay there was great ditificulty and danger on ac-
count of fogs and ice. At Littleton island a quantity
of jM-ovisions were stored, to be used, in case of necessity.
31
482 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPI.OKATIOXS
on the return trip. Althoui^h the region was dreary and
desolate in the extreme, abundant evidences were found
that it had once been the seat of an Eskimo settlement.
As winter approached, the sliip was brought to a
sheltered place, which was named Van Rensselaer Harbor,
where it became fast in the ice on the loth of September.
Sledging parties were sent out for the double purpose of
establishing depots for provisions and for making exi)lora-
tions. This work could not be continued after the 20th
of November, as the sun then passed below the horizon
to remain for one hundred and twenty days. The winter
was extremely severe. The temperature was often 40°,
and at one time dropped to 75°, below zero. Most of the
dogs, of which a large number had been procured for
sledging purposes, died from brain disease caused by the
depressing influences of intense cold and continuous dark-
ness. Many of the men suffered severely from scurvy,
and the others were greatly debilitated by their close con-
finement and the hardships which they had endured.
On the return of the sun, sledging parties were formed
and the work of exploration \\-as resumed. These jour-
neys proved extremely difficult. Two of the men died as
the result of exposure and privations, and Kane had an
illness that for several days seemed likely to prove fatal.
A latitude of 82° 27' was reached, and a coast line was
mapped which extended nine hundred and sixty miles.
To complete this work involved not less than two thou-
sand miles of walking and sledge travel. Among the dis-
coveries which were made were a magnificent column of
greenstone, four hundred and eighty feet high, rising on
a pedestal which itself towered two hundred and eighty
feet above the ground, which was called Tennyson's
//AVtVvr i:x/>i:.iioKs
<»i
DR. K. K. KANE
Monument; and an enormous wall of ice, tlircc liuiuiaf)
feet in Jieight, which was named the Great Glacier of
Humboldt. The jDarty carried its e.\j)Ioi*ati(»ns to C.i|h-
Constitution, in latitude S2 27'. A lofty peak on the
op])ositc coast of Grinnell Land was named Mount Kcl-
ward Parry.
At this time tlie summer was well advanced, but there
were no indications that the ship would get clear of the
ice. The stock of provisions was small, and the health of
the party had become greatly im|)aired. A careful con-
484 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
sideration of the subject showed that it would be ex-
tremely hazardous to attempt to pass another winter in
the ship. Therefore Dr. Kane resolved to make an at-
tempt to communicate with some English ships, belonging
to a searching expedition, which were lying off Beechey
Island. With five of the strongest men he started in an
open boat, but a terrible storm w^as encountered, and in
spite of their most earnest efforts to force a passage, the
ice presented a barrier which they could not break
through. They returned to the ship, intending to hoist
signals that would brinor to their aid other explorers, if
there were any in that region.
On consulting with his men. Dr. Kane found that some
of them believed it would be possible to escape overland
to the nearest Danish colony. He then gave each and all
the choice of making such an attempt or of remaining
with him in the ship. Nine of the men preferred to go.
The remainder, more wisely as it proved, decided to stay
with their commander. After enduring the most terrible
sufferings, those who had left found their way back to the
vessel.
About seventy-five miles distant from the ship was an
Eskimo village. The inhabitants were friendly to the
weather-bound explorers. For a time communication was
kept up, and some food supplies were obtained ; but with
the coming of continued darkness, and a great scarcity of
meat at the settlement, this source of relief was cut off.
By March all the men were suffering from scur\-\', and
more than half of the number were seriously ill. The
supply of fuel was exhausted, and lamps were used for
both light and heat. Everything in the ship was turned
black with soot. Two of the men became desperate and
JIKROJC JiNDI'.AVORS 4S5
attciiiptcd to desert. One of tlie>e was successful, but he
seems to iKue re])eiUL-(l. us he afterward returned with
some food that he liad obtained from the Eskimos.
Before sprini;- hatl fairly come, preparations were com-
menced for abandoning the shij). The three 1 ■ -c
repaired, sledges were put in order, and a suppls ..i < i..iii.
ing and bedding was got in readiness for use. On the
17th of May, after the reading of i)rayers and the Scri|>-
tures, the tiags were hoisted and haulctl down. Then the
seventeen survivors of the i)arty, four of whom were too
ill to walk alone, started to cross the ice and water which,
for thirteen hundred miles, lay between tli.m ^^^^\ the
north of Greenland.
For nearly a week the party was able to proceed only a
little more than a mile per day. Harly in June one of the
men met with an accident which, a few days later, resulted
in his death. Various Eskimo settlements were v: •• '
and at some of them the supply of provisions was rt, .
ished. On many occasions it was necessar)' to halt for
rest. Various accidents occurred, and difficulty and dan-
ger were the constant com])anions of the weak and wear)*
party. At length, to their great relief, open water was
reached, and on the 19th of June they took to their boats,
one of which was soon swamj^ed. It was a fearful vovniie.
Hunger, cold, weariness, and exposure to storm«« :^X
terrible sufferings. After being in the o|)cn air of an
Arctic climate for eighty-four days, the jjarty reached U|>
ernavik, the seat of a Danish colony on an island off the
coast of Greenland. Here they remained until the 6th of
September, when they embarked on a ship bound for the
Shetland Islands. But at Godhavn an .American expe<ii-
tion that had come out to search for them was seen, and
486 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
they were transferred to the ships which had been sent
for their rehef. In October they were safely landed at
New York. Many important sur\'eys had been made and
much valuable information concerning- the Arctic regions
had been gained, but not tlie slightest trace of Franklin
had been found.
The lons^ absence of Dr. Kane caused a i^^reat deal of
anxiety in the United States, and in February, 1855, the
Secretary of the Navy was authorized by Congress to send
an expedition for his relief. Two ships, the Release and
the Arctic^ were equipped and Lieutenant Hartstene was
placed in command. Bafhn Bay was reached in due time,
and a careful search was made at the numerous points
where it seemed possible that Kane might be detained.
All efforts to find the missing men proving fruitless, the
ships were turned toward the south and proceeded to
Upernavik and thence to Godhavn, on Disco Island,
where, as already related, the explorers were found.
Upon his return home, and the publication of his report
of the voyage, Dr. Kane received many honors, not only
from his countrymen but also from societies and individ-
uals in foreign lands. As soon as possible he prepared a
complete narrative of his Arctic explorations, which was
published in book form and made him famous as an
author. His health, which had never been firm, had suf-
fered from his terrible exposures, and, before his book was
completed, rapidly failed. In hope of obtaining relief he
sailed to England ; but his strtMigth declined, and after a
brief visit he started for home l^y way of Ha\ana, but died
in that city, in February, 1.S57, at the early age of thirty-
seven years.
The numerous maritime expeditions that were sent out
to discover iM-anklin were supplemented by diligent and
extended searcli on land. Dr. kae. who had not only
seen a great deal of serviee, but had won popular rccogni-
tion as an exjXM-t in this held, spent several years in thiii
arduous work. J,i ,^54 he met a band of Kskimos who
told hin^ about a party of some forty men who had slar\'cd
to death at a place far west of where they then were.
I'our winters liad passed since this sad event .^-curred.
The men were drawing sledges and a boat over the ice.
Their language could not be understood; but from signs
which they made the liskimos believed that their shi|>s
had been wrecked, that their provisions were scanty, and
that they were going toward the south in hope of finding
game on which they could subsist. Later in the same
year several graves were found, and al.so the bodies of
about thirty persons which had not been buried. These
were on the mainland. On an island, not far away, five
other bodies were found. Some of the bcxlies were in
tents, some on the open ground, and others under a boat
that had been placed so as to form a shelter from stomis.
Dr. Rae purchased of the Eskimos a large number of arti-
cles that had belonged to the party and that completely
identified the men who had so miserably perished as mem-
bers of the Franklin expedition. He at once proceeded
to England, and, with his men, received the rewarti of
^10,000 which had been offered to those who first should
give definite information regarding the fate of the Frank-
lin party.
The report of Dr. Rae caused a very general feeling in
England that no member of the T^-anklin exjK'dition could
be living, and the Drilish Government declined to risk
more lives or expend more money for a further search.
488 EARJJEK ARCTIC EXJT.OKATIONS
Lady Franklin, however, witli tlie assistance of a few
friends, fitted out a vessel, called the Fox, of which the
experienced explorer Captain McClintock was placed in
command. The ofificers and men numbered twenty-five
The ship sailed from Scotland in July, 1857, was caught
in ice in Melville Bay on the i8th of August, and drifted
until late in April, 1858. Beechey Island was reached on
the iith of August, and a marble tablet, that had been
sent out by Lady Franklin, was erected at the graves of
the men who had died at that place.
The second winter was passed in a haven at the eastern
entrance of Bellot Strait. Early in the spring journeys
were made to establish depots of provisions. Natives
were met with who said that many years before a ship had
been broken up by the ice, that the crew had escaped, had
gone toward the Great Fish River, and all had died of
starvation.
On the 2d of April, 1859, the spring journey com-
menced. From a party of natives news was obtained of
a second ship that had drifted on shore, and several relics
were purchased. The explorers divided into two parties,
one led by Lieutenant Hobson, the other by Captain
McClintock. On the 6th of May Hobson found written
records of the Franklin expedition. The first entry was
dated the 28th of May, 1847, and stated that the j^arty
had passed up Wellington Channel and returned by the
west side of Cornwallis Lsland, thus having completed the
discovery of the Northwest Passage, of which they had
been in search. They were then in winter cjuarters and
all were well. The second entry, dated the 25th of April,
1848, states that Sir John Franklin died on the nth of
June, 1847, that eight other officers and fifteen men had
y/ A /< ( > IC KNDEA I OJiS
I.H^
DR. ISAAC I. II WIS
died, that having l)een fast in ice since the 12th dl ~^
tember, 1846, the ships Erebtis and Terror were deserted
on the 2 2d of April, 1848, and that on the 26th of April
the survivors would commence a journcx- "^ 'v»jh.' of
reaching Back's Great Fish River.
Lieutenant 1 lol^son j)roceeded in the direction indi-
cated, and found liunian skeletons, a boat nearly buried in
the snow, watches, books, and numerous other a?"
Captain McClintock also reached the Ixiat. h
tion with what had alreadv been found, these d: • >
confirmed the statements of Dr. Rae, and proved beyond
doubt that after leaving the sjjot where the records u-ere
found the party attempted to reach the Great Fish Riwr,
49° EARLIER ARCTIC EXELORAIIOXS
that many of them died on the \va\-, that some started
to return to the sliip and lost their hves, and that the
remainder reached the river, but while waiting for the ice
to break they all j^erishcd of exposure and starxation.
Such was the terrible fate of the first discoverers of the
Northwest Passage, which had been sought for hundreds
of years.
Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, who went out as surgeon with the
second Grinnell expedition, under Dr. Kane, was exceed-
ingly anxious to prosecute further search in the Arctic
regions, and endeavored to secure the organization of
another party, and obtain a suitable equipment for that
purpose. But the public had come to believe that no
results could be obtained that would be of sufficient value
to justify the risks of life and ])roperty that another
expedition would inxolve. Yet his zeal was so great, and
he so forcibly presented his views in lectures which he
delivered in the large cities of the United States, that
considerable interest was aroused and a sufficient sum of
money was secured to purchase and fit out a vessel for
his use.
In this shi]), the name of which was patriotically
changed from the Spring Hill to the United States,
Hayes sailed from Boston on the 7th of July, i860.
The party, all told, numbered fifteen persons. The
definite objects of the expedition were to extend, and if
possible complete, the survey of the northern coast of
Greenland and Grinnell Land, and continue explorations
in the direction of the North Pole. The Arctic Circle
was reached near the close of July, and the entrance to
Smith Sound on the 27th of August ; but winds were
contrary and the ship was driven back three times before
m-.ROIC ENDKAIORS 4,,
it was possible to proceed to any great distance in the
strait. i\ harbor, which was named Port I'oulkc. wa>
fouiid about twenty miles south of where Kane wintered
in Rensselaer Harbor.
In April, with twelve of his strongest men and a num-
ber of dogs, Hayes started on a sledge journey. ; • ' -r
to cross the sound to Grinnell Land. Twent\ : ,.<»
of ardous toil did not take them half the distance, but it
utterly disabled several of the men. I'lnvilling to aban*
don the project while there was a possibility of succe»!i,
Hayes sent all but three of his men back to the ship.
The returning j^arty took with them the boat that had
been taken in hope that it could be launched on an ojkmi
sea.
With his three com])anions, two sledi^es, and fourteen
dogs, the resolute leader of the expedition prcs.sed on. and
two weeks after the parties separated he reached the
land. An exploring trip along the coast was coti^'^i''^' id
In less than a week one of the men bccan^
exhausted. With another to care for him, he was left
behind, and Hayes, with a single companion, continue*!
his journey. On the uSth of May they reached Mount
Parry. Here their j^rogress was checked by rotten ice
and fissures which could not be* crossed without a bn.it.
Observations were taken which showed that thi n
latitude 81° 35', a liiglier ])oint than any previous ex-
plorer had reached on land.
The return journey was extremely ditncun. uvn ;ne ship
was reached on the 3d of June. Durini; his absence
from the harbor Hayes had travelled thirteen hundred
miles. In July the vessel was free from i* c Plans had
been formed to sail to Grinnell Sound, in order to make
492 JiAKLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
further cxj^lonilions, Ijut it was found that such injuries
had been sustained during tlie winter that the vessel
would not be safe among floating masses of ice. There-
fore the party returned to Boston. Only one man had
been lost, and his death was due to an accident.
In the year i860, Charles Francis Hall, who from boy-
hood had been deeply interested in the fate of T^ranklin,
and had been a close student of the literature pertain-
ing to the Arctic regions, sailed from New London,
Connecticut, in a whaling vessel, for the north. A boat
which had been specially fitted for his use was taken
along. His plan was to stop at some suitable point,
organize a crew of Eskimos, and j^rosecute a search for
members of the Franklin expedition, some of whom he
believed had reached native settlements and were still
living. He also desired to survey some portions of the
region which was as yet unexplored. Search for the
Franklin party was prevented by the loss of the boat
soon after his arrival ; but he found various relics of the
Frobisher expedition, and learned that the body of water
which for nearly three centuries had been known as
Frobisher Strait was actually a bay. In September,
1862, he reached New^ London in a whaling vessel.
With him he took two Eskimos, or Innuits, Joe and
Hannah, with their little child. The latter was soon
taken ill and died.
In 1864 Hall sailed again, with his Innuit companions,
to the north. He had acquired considerable knowledge
of the Eskimo language and customs. His plan was to
live with these people two or three years, gain their confi-
dence, and then secure their assistance in exploring all
the region in which survivors of the Franklin party, if
///■:/,•()/(• /:a7)/':.ii'oa's
40 \
■<^^^,
such there were, would he at all likely to be found. This
expedition covered a i:>er!od of fi\e years. Th«
efforts were made to learn the truth rei^ardiiv ' ^
explorers. For a long time Hall was very h'
ing some of them alive, but at length he \
the conclusion that the last of that ill-fated party had
perished several years before.
In 1869 Hall reached home and was received with
494 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIOXS
ereat honors. He then made a viirorous effort to secure
an expedition for the purpose of discovering" the North
Pole. A great deal of interest was excited. Congress
made an a])i:)ro]jriation for the purpose, and a steamer
named the Polaris was fitted out. Hall was aj^pointed
commander of the expedition. A scientific corps, to take
observations in accordance with instructions from the
National Academy of Sciences, was selected. A full
complement of officers was chosen, and a crew of fourteen
men was secured. Joe and Hannah, the Innuits who had
pre\-iously accompanied Hall and had rendered him in-
valuable services, were also members of this expedition.
On the afternoon of the 3d of July, 1871, the Polaris
sailed from New London, Connecticut, on her final voy-
age. Smith Sound was reached without special adven-
ture. Passing through Kennedy Channel, the \essel
entered what Kane had supposed was an open sea, but
which proved to be only a small body of water. This
received the name of Polaris Bay. P"arther on a strait
was disco\cred which, in honor of the Secretary of the
Navy who had used his influence in aid of the expedi-
tion, was named Robeson Channel. In this strait a
latitude of 82° 16' w^as reached on the 30th of August.
This w^as the highest latitude yet reached. It was fifty
miles beyond the farthest ]X)int touched by Dr. Hayes,
and nearlv two Inmdred niiles be}-ond where Dr. Kane
had gone. Here progress was checked by ice, and for
a while the ship was carried back l)y tlie drift. Hall and
some of liis men were anxious to niake further efforts to
proceed, but some of the subordinates were opposed to
this course; and the commander, as it subsequently ap-
]X'ared, unwisely heeded their protests. On Septeml^er 3
IIKKOIC ENDRAIORS ^j
llic .sln'i) was put into winter (|uarlcrs in Polaris IJay. in
a Lovc to which Mall -avc the name of Thank God
Harbor.
On the loth of October, Hall, wiui liwce coi-
started on a sledge journey for the piirposc of -
the adjoining; rei^ion and .selecting; the most i. c
route for the expecHtion to tlie l\)le, which he intended
to make in the sprin-'. The ordinary difficulties of
travelling in that region were encountered, but the party
returned in safety, reaching the shij) on the 24th of Octo-
ber. They had attained the higliest latitude yet reached.
and discovered a channel which they expected to utilize
when the northward journey should be resumed. SiMin
after reaching the ship Hall was taken ill, and on the 8th
of November he passed away. Thus ended the life of
one of the noblest and most devoted of Arctic explorers.
It was rumored that Hall had been poisoned, but a
thorough investigation l3y the government proved that he
died from natural causes. His body was buried on the
shore of Polaris Bay, and an American flag was placed
over his grave.
Captain Buddington, who succeeded to the command
of the expedition, had little desire for Arctic explorations:
and though some short journeys were made, nothing of
importance was accomplished. Toward the middle of
Auo^ust the homeward vovaire was commenced. After
sailing about fifty miles, the vessel was caught in the ice
and narrowly escaped being wrecked. When free, the
voyage w^as resumed, but in a short time a field of float-
ing ice was entered, with w hich the shi|) drifted for a long
distance. During the night of October 15 a gale drove
the ice upon her in such a manner as to threaten her
496 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
»
immediate destruction. The captain ordered the crew
to save whatever they could. Pro\isions, clothing, and
various other materials were hurriedly thrown upon the
ice. The Eskimo women and children were taken off,
and several of the men left the vessel to move the
goods to as safe a })lace as could be found. Suddenly the
ship broke away and disappeared in the darkness, leav-
ing nineteen persons, men, women, and children, adrift on
the ice.
Of some poles and lumber which had been thrown
from the ship, the party on the ice constructed a rude
house in which they took up their abode. The stock
of provisions was small, and, though a few seals and an
occasional bear were captured, the ])arty were constantly
on short rations. In addition to the weakness caused by
insufificient food, they suffered terribly from the depress-
ing influence of severe cold, and of darkness, which lasted
for eighty-one days. Meanwhile the floe upon which
they were encamped was rapidly drifting toward the
south. On the iith of March it was broken up by a
terrific gale. This left the castaways ujDon a compara-
tively small piece of ice, as far as area was concerned, but
fortunately it was of considerable thickness. This, how-
ever, gradually wasted away; and Captain Tyson, the
leader of the forlorn party, deemed it inipcrative that they
take to their one remaining boat and attempt to reach
a larger and firmer field of ice. This was safely accom-
plished, though 11 ot without great difficulty and extreme
danger. Violent storms caused them great suffering and,
by preventing the capture of seals, brought them to the
verge of starvation.
On the 20th of April the waves swept over the ice and
HEROIC ENDKAIORH 49y
carried away their shelter, toi^ether with nearly all the
articles which they had thus far been able to save. Only
by the most desperate et^orts, continued for twelve houn*.
were they able to keep the boat from Ix'inj; washed awa\.
Their condition was now even more pitiable than it h.i<l
previously been ; but as they were nearing the M;al-rishini;
grounds they hoped to fall in with a vessel that would
give them relief. On the 25lh (.f April the ice became
so insecure that they were obliged to take to the boat.
A few days later a sealing vessel was seen, but either the
unfortunate party were not able to attract the attention of
those on board or else the ship was unable to get through
the ice which lay between them. After this two other
vessels were siojhted, but the castawavs remained unseen.
On the 30th of April deliverance came. Through a rift
in the foa: a steamer was seen near bv. Signals from the
boat were observed and the vessel went to their relief.
In a short time the almost famished party was taken on
board the ship, which proved to be the Tis^ress, from
Newfoundland, which was on a cruise for seals. On the
12th of May the rescued party reached St. John's. The
government sent a steamer for them, and on the 5th of
June the people who had been exposed to so many |K*ril>.
had so many hairbreadth escapes, and endured almo.st
unparalleled exposure and j^rivation. arrived at \Va>h-
ington.
When the Polaris was carried away from the ice it had
fourteen persons on board. Information given by the
party rescued from the ice led the government to fit and
send out a vessel to find and rescue the officers and crew
of the ship that had so suddenly disappeared. On the
14th of July, 1S73, the Tigress, under Captain Greer.
32
498 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
sailed from New York on this errand of mercy. She was
accompanied by the Jiifiiata, a smaller vessel, which car-
ried supplies for the Tigress and which w^as also designed
to aid in the search. About the middle of Auijust the
Tigress reached Littleton Island, near which the Polaris
was last seen by the party that drifted away on the ice.
Here some Eskimos were found who said that the day
after the separation occurred Captain Buddington had
abandoned the ship. With some lumber from the vessel
the men had built a house on the shore. Here they
had spent the winter. Two boats w^ere made, and in
these the company sailed southward in the spring. Dur-
ing a gale the vessel broke loose from the ice in w^hich it
had been entangled, and, after drifting for a while, had
gone down in the sea. Many articles that had been left
at the winter camp w^re secured by Captain Greer.
The Juniata proceeded to Newfoundland and commu-
nicated the facts to the Navy Department at Washing-
ton. Instructions to continue the search were returned
and another voyage was commenced, but news w^as soon
received from a British vessel that the crew of the Polaris
had been found. After the departure of the Juniata
Captain Greer continued the search, but finding no trace
of the missing party sailed to New York, where he learned
that Ca])tain Buddington and his men had been rescued
by a British whaling vessel about three weeks before the
relief voyage of the Tigress was commenced. As this
ship was not homeward bound, the men were transferred
to other vessels, and by way of Scotland at length reached
New York. With the exception of their noble leader,
Captain Hall, every member of the Polaris expedition
reached home in safety. Many of them had been adrift
in-.KOlC KXDEAlOfiS 4^
on floating ice for oik- luinclicd and ninety days and all
had been exposed to the greatest dangers and ha..
dured the most tenihlL- hardships. Their prc!*cr\*ation
and rescue may well be classed with the miracles of
modern times.
Dr. Petermann, an eminent (ierman geographer, sent
out a small vessel in 186S to prosecute exploration in the
Arctic seas. Captain Koldewey was placed in command.
The crew numbered eleven men. (ireat difficulties were
encountered and only meagre results were - ' • ' !.
Soon after the return of the vessel preparations \sc c
to renew the work. Pounds were secured, two ships, the
Germania and the Haiisa. were fitted out, and Captain
Koldewey was appointed commander. Several noted sci-
entists accompanied the expedition. The object in view
was to penetrate to the very centre of the Arctic regions.
The ships sailed in June. Owing to contrary winds the
Arctic Circle was not crossed until the 5th of July. On
the 20th of Jul}', owing to a misinterpretation of signals,
the ships became separated. Cai)taiii Hegemann, of the
Hansa, sailed away from, instead of proceeding toward,
the Germania^ as Captain Koldewey intended. On the
14th of September the Hansa was frozen in. The danger
that she would be crushed api)eared so great that a house
was built upon the ice. This was constructed of a patent
fuel made principally from coal, in the form of bricks, and
was held together by a mortar made of water and snow.
It was twenty feet long, fourteen feet wide, and eight and
one half feet high at the ridge.
Early in October there was a heavy fall of snow which
completely buried both the house and the ship. On the
19th of the month there was a terrific gale, the pressure
500 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
of the ice upon the vessel was increased, and a serious
leak was started. During the night of the 21st of Octo-
ber the ship went down. A fearfiil winter was passed in
the little house. Violent storms were frequent and the
cold was severe. The great ice field upon which the men
were located was drifted about at the mercy of wind and
wave. On the 7th of May a place was reached from
which there appeared to be an open stretch of water to
the shore. The boats, which had been saved from the
ship, were launched, and after almost insuperable obsta-
cles had been overcome the party reached land. Several
islands were visited, but it was not until the 14th of June,
1870, that the weary party reached a human habitation.
On that date they arrived at Friedrichsthal, a station of
the Moravian missionaries on the southwestern coast of
Greenland, and early in September the entire party
reached home. They had drifted more than eleven hun-
dred miles on the ice, and had been preserved through a
more remarkable series of perils and misfortunes than
almost any other company of Arctic explorers who
returned to their native land.
After losinof sis^ht of the Hansa, the Germania followed
the coast of Greenland as far north as latitude 75° 30',
but near the middle of August was obliged to turn to the
south. Winter was passed off Sabine Island. In the
spring various excursions were made which resulted in
valuable scientific and geographical discoveries. Before
the work which they hoped to accomplish was completed,
a leak in the engine boiler made it necessary for the party
to return home. This voyage was completed in Septem-
ber, 1870.
In 1872 an A ustro- Hungarian expedition was sent to
HEROIC ENDEAVOHS 501
the Arctic regions. It was commanded by I.ieutcfianl
Payer, who had not only distin<ruishcd himself in ihc
German expedition under Captain Koldcwcy. but who
had also made extensive exploratit)ns on his own account.
Captain Weyprecht, who had accomj)anicd Payer in his
previous voyages, was chief tjfficer of the ship. The
steamer Tegcthojf \\7\.<. fitted out in tlie Ijcst possible man-
ner, and Captain Carlsen, an experienced Arctic voyaj^er.
was employed as pilot.
On the 14th of July, i<S72, the voyage was commenced.
Fifteen days later the coast of Nova Zembla was seen.
At about this time ice became troublesome, but the north-
ern coast of Nova Zembla was rounded in safety. Here
progress was checked and the ship was soon fast in the
ice. The dreary Arctic winter now set in. The sun was
absent one hundred and nine days. As there was danger
that the ship would be broken by the ice, a hut was built
in which to take refuge in case such an accident occura'd.
Much of the time the floe in which the vessel was encased
was adrift and toward the end of October. 1S73. it reached
a point within three miles of an island lying oflf a main*
land that had never been explored. Some brief -
sions w^ere made, but the beginning of the .Arctic .....,..:
soon made their continuance im]X)ssible.
The party were now in a higher latitude than where
they passed the preceding winter, and the sun did not
appear at this point for one hundred and twenty-five da\-s.
Snow fell to the depth of tweKe feet and the cold was
very severe. In March several expeditions were made
by sledge parties. During one of these the temperature
dropped to fifty-eight degrees below zero. One of the
men died from lung disease aggravated by scurx'V.
S02 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
Many of the dogs died and others became so weak as to
be of Httle use in the sledge teams. But in spite of all
these obstacles considerable was accomplished in the way
of exploration. One of the sledge parties reached a lati-
tude of 82° 5'. In honor of their sovereign the leaders of
the expedition named the country Franz Josef Land.
There were no indications that the voyage could ever
be resumed, and the diminished stock of provisions, to-
gether with the failing health of the men, made it neces-
sary to desert the ship. On the 20th of May, 1874, the
flags were nailed to the mast and the men took to the
sledges, upon which the boats and some provisions had
been loaded. The deep snow made walking extremely
difficult, and the wind drove back the ice to such an
extent that at the close of two months of most arduous
toil they were less than eight miles from the ship. On
the 14th of August they came to open water, and four
days later Nova Zembla was reached. A few da)'s after-
ward they were taken off by a Russian vessel which
landed them at Norway on the 3d of September. Al-
though the explorers did not accomplish all that they
desired to do, the scientific and geographical results of
their expedition were of great value.
From 1858 to 1878 several expeditions to the Arctic
seas were sent out from Sweden. The expense was
borne in part by the government, but several individuals
and societies were large contributors. The earlier expe-
ditions were principally for scientific purposes. They
resulted in the securing of a vast amount of information
concerning the zoology, botany, and geology of the re-
gions visited. Two of this series of expeditions should
have special mention in this narrative. They are the
ones which sailed in 1872 and in 1878.
m-ROlC EXDI-.AVORS <ot
For the expedition of 1.S72 two .stcamer> and a ir.tMs
port were furnished. Naval officers had conuiiaiul of the
ships, but the expechtion was under the general direction
of Professor Nordenskjold, who had made several voy.-ij5c»
to the North. The steamer Onkcl Adam and the tran?*-
port Gladan took out moss, coal, oil, fifty rein-! -I
the parts of a dwe]lin<;-house ready to be put : ^^. ,,., i.
It was designed that these vessels should return in the
fall ; while the other steamer, named the Polhem, was to
remain at the North during the winter.
The vessels which should have returned More winter
set in were caught in the ice, and were obliged to remain
with the Polhem in Mussel Bay, on the northern coa^t of
Spitzbergen. Tliis proved a great disaster, as the main-
tenance of the crews seriously reduced the quantity of
provisions which had been designed for the party on
board the exploring vessel. As illustrating the jk-HIs of
the Arctic regions, it may be stated that a numlx-r of
fishing vessels, with fifty-eight men on board, were also
frozen in at this time ot¥ the northern coast. Eighteen
men took open boats and succeeded in reaching Ice
Fjord, where a quantity of provisit)ns had lx*en >tored.
Later in the season two of the shii)s got clear of the ice
and, with the remaining men on board, .sailed for home.
In November a relief exjDedition was .sent from Nor\\-ay
for the fishermen who had left the ships, but. owing to
severe cold and unfavorable weather, it was unst • I
Another ship was sent out in December, but w.i^ un.iwie
to reach Spitzbergen. In January. 1873. a third vcs.sel
was despatched, but the effort to find the missing men
was a failure. It was afterward learned that the house
was reached and a quantity of food was found: but a*
504 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
indicated by a diary whicli tliey kept for some time, the
men did not take regular exercise, and they neglected to
freshen their meat. As a consequence of these indiscre-
tions they all fell victims to disease, and the last of the
party died before the summer opened.
The scientists connected with the Swedish expedition
made many important observations; and though all their
reindeer escaped soon after they were landed, several
sledge journeys were undertaken with dogs. But while
it accomplished much in some directions, the expedition
wholly failed in its principal object of making a journey
on ice to the Pole.
The principal object of the expedition of 1878 was
the discovery of the Northeast Passage. It involved an
expense of ^20,000, of which sum three fifths was fur-
nished by Mr. Oscar Dickson, of Gothenburg, and the
remainder by the Swedish Government. A screw steamer
named the Vega, which had been built expressly for use
in the ice regions, was equipped in the best possible man-
ner, and Professor Nordenskjbld, who had accompanied
not less than eight Arctic expeditions, was placed in
charge. The whole force, including of^cers, scientists,
and crew, numbered only thirty men.
The steamer sailed on the 21st of July. She was
accompanied by the Lena, a small steamer which was
designed for use on the river of that name. Progress
was slow on account of adverse winds, but Kara Sea was
reached on the ist of August, and five days later the
vessels entered Dickson Harbor, near the mouth of the
Yenisei River. On the loth of August the voyage was
resumed. The course was unobstructed for only two
days. Then large masses of ice were encountered, and
HEROIC F.XnEAlORS 505
A. E. NORDENSKJOI.D
heavy fogs made progress l^oth >l()\v and dangerous. The
difficulties and dangers of the situation were greatly in-
creased by the fact that the Taimyr Peninsula lies farther
to the west than had been supposed, and several small
islands were discovered in what, according t(» the then
existing charts, should have been the direct course on
which to sail
On the 19th of August the northern extremily t-i Li-
beria was reached. Here flags were raised and '-■ »-
was fired. The only party to obscr\e these <!<
tions was a large white bear, and he plainly manifested
his disapproval of the proceedings. The next day the
5o6 EAKLJKR ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
ships proceeded along the east coast of the peninsula.
A week later they separated. The Le7ia sailed up the
river to its destination, Yakutsk, which it reached on the
2ist of September.
The progress of the ]^ega was retarded by ice, but
North Cape was reached on the 12th of September.
Here it was detained for nearly a week. Several excur-
sions were made on the adjoining land, which led to some
verv interesting: discoveries. Amono; these were ruins of
the habitations of a people, probably allied to the Eski-
mos, who inhabited this region some hundreds of years
a2:o. Fo2:s and ice caused constant trouble, but on the
27th of September the east side of Kolintschin Bay was
reached and the vessel was anchored. It was fully ex-
pected that the voyage would be resumed on the next
day, but the night was cold and the numerous floes were
frozen together so firmly that the}' could not be pene-
trated. It was hoped that the ice would soon break up,
but winds from the north continued to pack heavy masses
along the coast, and new ice was rapidly formed b)- the
increasing cold. Before the close of November it was
evident that the Vega was frozen in for the winter.
Tlie ship was now near the northern part of Bering
Strait, and only one hundred and fifteen miles from the
Pacific Ocean. Had this point been reached one day
sooner the voyage could undoubtedly have been contin-
ued without special difficulty, and an imprisonment in the
ice for nearly ten months would have been avoided. Nei-
ther would the delay have occurred in an ordinary season.
But cold weather came unusually earl), and navigation
closed more than two weeks before the date up to which
whaling ships had, in different years, been able to get
/// A- Oh ■ l.XDEA I OA\S
into open water. I )iirin<; the winter m. •
magnetic observations were regularly t.i..
proved of great scientific interest and value. 1 i
was uccasionall)- visited by ICskinios. of whom thca* were
some two Iniiub-ed li\iiiL; in the vicinity. The cold wxi
severe, but there was no day uj)on which the ray.s of the
sun were not seen above the horizon.
On the 1 8th of July, 1879, after being frozen in for two
hundred and ninety-four day>. the / V^'-^ got free from the
ice and proceeded to Bering Strait. Two days later the
Northeast Passage, for which Willoughby commenced
the search three hundred and twenty-six years Ix'fore. and
which many others had vainly attempted to find, was
completed. Again the Swedish flag was raised and a
salute was fired. The i)oint had been reached at which,
as Professor Nordenskjold expresses it. '" the Old and the
New World seem to shake hands." After visiting the
shores of Bering Strait the I\i;^a sailed for Yokohama.
which port it reached on the 2d of September.
Omitting a description of various minor exjHxiitions,
we must find room for an outline of an im|)ortant one
sent out bv the Britisli (iovernment in 1S7S. The olv
jects of this expedition were to reach the Pole, if |)os>il)le ;
to explore any regions which might be visited, but which
had not previously been seen or described ; and to obtain
information that wouM be useful in forming plans for
further operations in this direction.
Two ships, the A/er^ and the Dtscoirry, were fully
equipped for the purpose and were liberally supph.-,l
with provisions and other necessities. Captain N
was appointed commander. The ships sailed on the 29th
of May. Several islands off the Greenland coast were
5o8 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
visited, and a number of dogs and two drivers were ob-
tained. Smith Sound was reached on the 29th of July,
and for more than a month the ships had extreme diffi-
cuhy in joassing through the ice which ahnost constantly
blocked their way.
The Discovery went into winter quarters at the shore
of Lady Franklin Inlet, in latitude cSi° 44'. The Alert
pressed on, through a channel of open water which ap-
peared between the ice and the shore, passed the point
which the Polaris party had named Cape Union, and
entered what appeared to be an open Polar Sea. On the
ist of September a position was gained nearer the Pole
than any ship had previously reached, and the white flag
was hoisted in celebration of the event. All the indica-
tions were favorable for further progress ; but the channel
soon ended, the wind changed, and the ship was carried
near the shore. A comparatively safe place was reached,
and on the 3d of September the ship was frozen in. The
latitude was 82° 27'. In this until then wholly unknown
region the party were obliged to spend the winter.
During the autumn depots of provisions were estab-
lished for the use of sledging parties in the spring.
Winter brought the darkness and dreariness which are
among the chief characteristics of the Arctic regions at
this season of the year. In March the cold was intense.
On the 3d of that month the thermometers registered 73°
below zero, but the following day brought some compen-
sation in the fact that for a short time the sun was visible
above the hills. But the cold, terrible as it was, proved
less trying than did the sudden and violent changes in
temperature, which sometimes amounted to sixty degrees
within a few hours. As they were farther north than
HEROIC KNDKAIOKS 509
bears, birds, or seals arc found, fresh meat could not Ik-
obtained. One of the results of this deprivation wa.s the
prevalence of the scurvy, fn.ni attacks of which M.-vcrdJ
members of the ])artv died.
As early in the spring as it was |)racticable. slcdRinj;
parties were sent out from each of the ships. One i»f
these, led by Commander Markham and IJcutenant Parr.
moved due north, with instructions to go as far a.H wi*.
sible in that direction and in ho|)e of reaching the !'
another, under Lieutenant Aldrich, was to pa.s!> to in.,-
west, making explorations along the American coa>l ; and
a third, led by Lieutenant Beaumont, of the DisciK-try,
was to move eastward along the northern coast of (irccn-
land. These expeditions led to many interesting dis-
coveries, some of which were of great value to scientists.
One of these was the finding of the remains of a great
evergreen forest in latitude S2' 44'. a discover)- which
proves that vast climatic changes have occurred in this
now desolate and barren region.
Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr reached a
latitude of '^^^ 20' 26", a j)oint farther north than any pre-
vious explorer had reached. The enormous amount <»f
labor involved in this undertaking may be estimated from
the fact that rJ though this spot was only seventy-three
miles, in a straight course, from the ship, the party
travelled two hundred and seventy-six miles going, and
two hundred and forty-five miles on the return trip. T'^-
journey was largely over ranges of ice hills, many of t^
twenty feet in height, through ravines filled with snow,
over or around vast piles of broken ice. or on floes where
it was necessary to use j3icks or axes to make a )■
which the sled2:e could be drawn. Add to all 1...- »..^
5IO EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
suffering and the depression of the vital forces caused by
the severe cold of the inhospitable region, and it hardly
seems possible that the human frame could endure the
terrible hardships to which these resolute explorers were
subjected.
Lieutenant Aldrich and his party explored two hun-
dred and twenty miles of coast line of which no chart had
previously been made. Lieutenant Beaumont, with his
company, made a survey of the northern coast of Green-
land for a distance of some seventy miles. They all
endured severe suffering. Several of the men were taken
ill, and their already overburdened companions had to
draw them on sledges for long distances, and one of the
Beaumont party died on the way.
When his men returned to the Alert, Captain Nares
decided that it was not advisable to continue the work of
exploration. It was evident that at the point which he
had reached the ice fimily and permanently closed navi-
gation. Further attempts of sledging parties to reach the
Pole, from the place then occupied, would certainly result
in failure, would involve a vast amount of suffering, and
probably would cause the loss of many lives. The men
were already weakened by exposure, toil, and disease. It
was therefore determined that the expedition should not
remain there another winter.
It was not till the 31st of July that a passage through
the ice appeared. Upon that day the Alert commenced
her homeward voyage. The ship was often in great dan-
ger from vast masses of floating ice, but it reached Lady
Franklin Inlet in safety on the iith of August. The
Discovery was at once put in readiness, but on account of
the ice the ships did not leave the port until the 20th of
/// /^: 0/C ENDh A I V/CS
the month. Tln-y R-achcd Melville Hay on the l8th o(
September, and the Arctic Circle was crossed on tl
of October, just fifteen months from the day the hhip»
sailed over it when they were outward bound. Ice. and
storms, and adverse winds were encountered. ;ii.<! im. f.-
were some vexatious delays; but on the 2d of .\
1876, the vessels sailed into the harbor of Portsmouth.
Although numerous and earnest efforts had been made
to find records of the Sir John iM-anklin ex|x.'ditlon. they
had, with the single exception of the |3aper discovered by
Lieutenant McClintock, been utter failures. That such
documents would be of great value, both from an histori-
cal and a scientific point of view, was evident. That they
were in existence, seemed probable from the fact that
various parties of Eskimos, from whom articles which had
unquestionably belonged to the unfortunate party had
been obtained, told of books and papers which many
years before white men liad placed in cairns in their
country. These rumors were repeated, not only by ex-
plorers, but by the masters of whaling ships which had
visited that region. Among the parties who Ix'came
greatly interested in these reports was Lieutenant Fred-
erick Schwatka, of the United States .\rmy. Mainly
through his efforts, an expedition, the expenses of which
were met by private subscription, wa?^ organized. A ship
named the Eothen was obtained and fitted for ser\-ice in
the ice, a crew of twenty-three men was secured, and
Schwatka, who had been granted leave of absence fmm
the army, was placed in command of the exploring fxirty.
While the main purpose of the expedition was to fit " "
records of the Franklin party, there was also th-
tant secondary object of obtaining valuable geo^ , d
information.
512 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
On tlie 19th of June, 1S78, the ship sailed from New
York, and on the 7th of August reached Rowes Wel-
come Strait, an arm of Hudson Bay, They were here
visited by friendly natives. Winter was spent on the
mainland, near Depot Island, in latitude 63° 51'. The
reports of the natives in regard to the prospect of finding
the records in search of which the party had come were
not encouraging. One of the visitors said that, long be-
fore that time, his father had found, in a cairn on King
William Land, a box containing a written paper ; but as
the latter appeared to be of no use to himself or his
people, it had been thrown away. But he also told of
another cairn which had not been opened, and of a spoon,
which had been given to Captain Porter, which had un-
doubtedly been used by the Europeans who had perished
in that region. Mr. Gilder, who was second officer of the
expedition, found Captain Porter, who was on a whaling
ship not far distant ; but the information obtained from
him was most disheartening.
Notwithstanding the discouragements that had been
met, it was determined to prosecute the search. Mr.
Gilder visited an Eskimo settlement more than seventy
miles away, to obtain some dogs. Upon his return a
great sledge journey was commenced. The Schwatka
party was accompanied by thirteen Innuits, including
women and children. The winter camp was left on April
I, 1879. The teams consisted of forty-two dogs, and the
sledges were loaded with food supplies sufficient to last
for five or six weeks. They proceeded toward the north-
west, through a region that had not been explored. For
some time travel was very slow and difficult. On the
15th of May a party of natives was found, and informa-
JIEROIC KNDKAVORS 5,3
tion corrobonitinL; many of the points K-arncd by previous
explorers was obtained.
Tl-ic journey was eontiiuic-d to hack's River. Montreal
Island was searched lor traces of the missing men, but
without success. Richardson Point was crossed, and a
party of natives were met from whom considerable addi-
tional information was obtained. On the 4th of June
Schwatka and Gilder examined a cairn which had been
built by Captain Mall over the remains of two men of the
Franklin party. At a s])ot where a jxirty of Kuropcans
had encamped, they found many articles and also an open
grave. A medal that had been placed on a stone at this
grave indicated that Lieutenant Irvinij, of the Terror, had
been buried there. The skull and what other b(3nes
could be obtained were taken in charge, and in due time
were forwarded to Irving's relatives in Scotland. Other
skeletons were found, but they could not be identified, and
were therefore buried.
By the 3d of July the northern |)art of King Wilham
Land was reached, and four days later the party turned
toward the south. Travelling was exceedingly difTicult.
Several cairns w-ere found and various places where white
men had camped. At Erebus Bay remains of a boat and
numerous small articles were discovered. Parts of 8C\*-
eral skeletons were also found and interred. Early in the
autumn many reindeer v.ere met with and an abundance
of meat for immediate use was obtained, but by the mid-
dle of October these animals had entirely disap|K'ared.
After a period of rest the march was resumed on the
loth of December. Food supplies were scanty; and
when an occasional reindeer was obtained the tU-sh was
poor, and it was frozen as well as raw when eaten,
33
514 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIOXS
Wolves were exceedingly troublesome, and some of the
party had narrow escapes from destruction l^y tliese fero-
cious beasts. Heavy snow-storms were frequent, and
often prevented progress a week or more at a time.
The cold was terribly severe, the mean temperature for
January being 53° below zero. During the winter there
were sixteen days when the thermometer indicated a
temperature of 68° below zero, and on one day it marked
71° below. The men endured fearful suffering, and many
of the dogs perished. By almost superhuman exertions
Depot Island was reached on the 4th of March. But here
a terrible disappointment awaited the almost exhausted
party. The captain of the Eothcu had not delivered the
provisions which he had agreed to bring to that point.
The only ship in the region was at Marble Island. This
was reached after a wearisome march which occupied
seventeen days.
Such, in brief, is the history of the longest and most
remarkable sledge journey hitherto made. The distance
travelled was three thousand two hundred and fifty-one
miles, and most of the journey was in not only a desolate,
but in an entirely unexplored region. The company were
out during an entire winter, and one which, according
to the testimony of the natives, was of unusual severity.
The hardship of the journey was greatly increased by
the fact that during most of the long period which it
occujDied the entire food supplies for men and dogs were
obtained from the scanty resources of the country which
they traversed. The principal results of the expedition
were the interment of the bones of the crews of the
Erebus and the Terror, the acquirement of much valuable
geographical information, and the establishment beyond
IIHKO/C ENDEAVOKS u;
a (l.)i.l)l tlial the- records of ihc unfortunate |-
party had Ixcn irretrievably lost. The rcluni
was coniplclccl ,,n tlu- 22A nf Scptcml>cr. i
ciKM-oyand skill ,>f IJcutcnanl Schwatka in the condud
of the enterprise received full rcc(,gnilion at home and
abroad.
CHAPTER XXIX
GREAT DISASTERS
In the year 1879 Lieutenant G. \\\ De Long, of the
United States Navy, was placed in comniand of an expe-
dition which had for its principal object the discovery of
the North Pole. This officer had served as a subordinate
on the Jtmiata, in its voyage in search of Captain Hall,
and was greatly interested in the subject of Arctic explo-
ration. At his earnest solicitation Mr. James Gordon
Bennett, of the " New York Herald," purchased and
fitted out a ship, which was named the yeajinette, and
which, for the purpose of exploring the Arctic regions,
was placed under the control of the United States Gov-
ernment. Lieutenant Chipp was appointed executive
officer; Lieutenant John W. Danenhower, master; and
George W. Melville, engineer, — all belonging to the
navy. Unfortunately, the Bering Strait route was se-
lected.
On the <Sth of July, 1879, the Jeannettc sailed from San
Francisco with thirty-two persons on board. Progress
was slow, as the winds were unfavorable and the ship was
heaxily loaded. At St. Michael's, Alaska, forty dogs were
obtained, and some Indians were employed to go with the
expedition as drivers and hunters. According to gov-
ernment instructions, search was made for Professor Nor-
denskjold, who was known to have started on a voyage of
exploration with a view to obtaining information and also
UHEAT DJSASTEHS
to rciukr assistance if necessan*. On !*
August it was learned thai the I'cga, N<»r<
luul ])asse(l llu- uiiUer in the bay which lli
reached, and had since sailed to llie south.
An atteni|)t was made to proceed to Wrangcll l^ajid.
iDut in less than a week progress was stop|K*d by ice Un
the 8th of September there
was a desperate effort to
force a way to Herald
Island, but only a little
headway was made. A
few days later a jjartv with
dogs and a sled i)r()ceeded
to the island, in hope (A
finding a harbor, and also
of securing some drift wood
for fuel, but it was unsuc-
cessful.
The ship had been
heeled over some fi\e de-
grees, and in this position
was firmly held in the ice.
It drifted, with the Hoe, in various directions. •■•"-^
out to sea and at others within sight of land. 1 '
first half of November large cracks ap|K*arctl in •.
and huge masses of ice were thrown near the ship, whu h
was in imminent danger of being crushed. On the J4th
of the month the shij) got aHoat, and in a f
was sent adrift in a gale, but was stxin frozen i
Toward the cUxse of tlie year Lieutenant I '
was disabled by an affection of one of his eye*, a-
long period was obliged to remain in a darkened n«.ii».
MKl'T. «:. W. I
5iS EARJ.JER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
The ship was in constant peril from tlie ice, and on the
19th of January the fore-foot was broken, and it com-
menced to leak badly. The deck i)umps were put into
iiumediate use, and as soon as was possible the steam
pump was started. Attempts to fill tlie cracks somewhat
diminished, but did not nearly stop, the inflow of water.
Early in June J)e Long had strong hopes that the
voyage could soon be resumed, but the ship did not get
free of the ice, and of course continued to drift. Fogs
and storms were frequent, and there was constant danger.
It was not till the ist of September that a shift occurred
which brought the ship on an even keel. It was still
fast in the ice, and efforts to release it resulted in in-
creasing the already dangerous leak. It soon became evi-
dent that the ship would not get clear until after another
winter at least. It had drifted over an immense area,
sometimes in straight lines but often in circles, — and it
seemed destined to continue this erratic course indefi-
nitely.
On the 1 6th of May, 1881, land was seen, the first for
fourteen months. This was an island, and the ship drifted
past it on the following day. It was named, in honor of
the ship, Jeannette Island. On the 24th of the month an-
other island was sighted. This was visited early in June
by Engineer Melville and several other members of the
party. It was named Henrietta Island, and was formally
taken possession of in the name of the United States.
On the 12th of June the floe split in ]:)ieces and the
ship was set free, but floating masses of ice pressed u])on
it and its bows were raised in the air. De Long gave
orders to remove the chronometers, rifles, and other indis-
pensable articles to the ice and prepare to leave the ship.
GREAT D J S ASTERS
At about eleven o'clock that iiij^lu the Ixiats wen* 1.
aiul the UR-n iornu-d a camp on one of the |>
the broken llur. At four o'clock on the mornin}; of June
13, iSSi, the masses of ice which had held it fa.Ht icpa*
rated, and the shi|) went down.
Several of the ship's company were ill, and the surgeon
advised a l^rief ])eriod of rest. On the I7lh(»f June, at
6 V. M., the retreat toward the south commenced. The
conipanv travelletl at nij^ht, in order to escajx* the blinding
glare of the sun upon the snow. They had ih ' w.
nine sleds, a lartj;e cpiantity of i)emmican, and a i.... -.j.,>ly
of ammunition. The men were harnesse<l to the skxU.
On account of the lari;e tpiantily of material, it woa ne-
cessary to go over the same ground several limes. The
snow was deep and the toil was c.xhaustinj^. After a
week of this wearying labor, observations by the officer
showed that not only had no progress been made, but that
the drift to the northwest had been twenty-seven miles
farther than their advance to the .south. Towan! the
close of the month tlie conditions improve<l. and siime
l)rogress was made in the direction in which they de>irf<l
to go.
On the iith of July Bennett Island was discowrrd.
On the 2Sth of the month a landing was efTecteti, a flig
was unfurled, and the j^arty t(K)k possession in behalf vk
the United States. Mere tliey camiK-d for several da>-v
On the 6th of August the party took to the Ixials, Of
these the larger cutter was commanded by I>e I.ong. the
smaller cutter by Lieutenant Chipp. and the whale-Uut
by Engineer Melville. On the nth of September the
nien landed on an island off the Asiatic a
hunting partv was sent out. The next morning; i...>
520
EARLIER ARCTIC EXFIORATIONS
left the camp and proceeded on their course toward the
southwest. For several hours the boats kept near to-
gether; but a gale came up in the afternoon, and early in
From Melville's " In the Lena Delta." I5y the permission of Honghton, Mifflin & Co.
the evening they were separated, never to be brought near
each other again.
The whale-boat was brought into one of the mouths of
the Lena River. The men were almost exhausted, but
by the help of a native pilot they worked up the river to a
village, where they waited for the ice to form so they could
proceed with sleds. A Russian exile went to Bulun to
notify the authorities. Lieutenant Danenhower made a
GRKA T D/SASmjiS
search willi ii tloo team li;r the olhcr boats. Lui .... t,.»ci-
of thcni was found.
On the 2(){\\ (if ( )cl()bcr wortl was received that a |)arty
of natives Inul niel two sailors of the I )c I-onj; Uiat and
were taking them to lUilun. Tlic sailors had sent a note
to the effect that De Lonj; and the remainder of \\\s |)arty
were in a starving condition. With one native and a
team of dogs Iingineer Melville went at once to learn the
location of De Long and give him relief. Lieutenant
Danenhower took charge of the remainder of the party
and went to Bulim. 1 le then followed Melville to aid in
the search for the n^.issing men. At Vakutslc a di>patch
from the Secretary of the Navy was received. Thi.N di-
rected tliat the invalid and frozen members of the party
be removed to a warmer locality. I )anenhowcr and hi.s
party went to h-koutsk. 1^'rom this point the lieutenant
telegraphed for permission to renew the search, but on
account of the condition of his health the request was not
granted. He therefore returned home, reaching New
York, witli three of his men, on the ist of June. With
the exception of an Lidian, who had died of the smallpo.x
in Russia, the remainder of the whale-boat crew and the
two men whom De Long had sent forward for relief were
all in the United States early in kSS2. One of the mem-
bers, however, had become insane and was placed in a
government institution for that unfortunate class.
The history of the 1 )e Long party and their terrible
fate was fully learned from the journal in which the
leader made freciuent entries up to almost the hour of hi>
death, and from the testimony of the two men who were
saved. C )n the fifth day after the .separation, their UkiI
was driven upon the ground. Most of its contents were
522 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
taken on sliore, and preparations were made to walk to
what was supposed to be the nearest settlement, about
ninety-five miles away. The journey was commenced
September 19. The walking was extremely hard, the
loads were heavy, and the men were feeble from their
exposure and sufferings in the boat. An occasional rein-
deer was killed, which eked out their scanty supplies of
provisions. On the 3d of October there was nothing to
eat, and the last dog was killed for food. A few days
later, one of the men, who had been badly frost-bitten and
very ill for some time, died. As the party had nothing
with which to dig a grave, the body was buried in the
river. On the 9th the two men who finally reached
home were sent in advance, to obtain relief if possible.
On the loth the De Long party had nothing to eat but
deer-skin scraps. On the 17th one of the men died, and
at midnight of the 21st another was found dead. Part of
divine service was read on Sunday the 23d. Upon some
days no entry was made. Upon others the death of one
or more members of the party was recorded. The last
entry was dated Sunday, October 30. It states that two
men had died during the night and that another was
dying. This left De Long, the surgeon, and one sailor,
all of whom must have died soon after the record last
named was made.
The two seamen sent on by De Long endured the
most terrible sufferings before they were rescued by some,
friendly natives. Life was sustained by eating their boot
soles, burned bones, and pieces of their seal-skin clothes,
in addition to a bird and an occasional fish. The natives
took them to Bulun. A telegram was sent to Engineer
Melville, who reached there on the 3d of November.
GREAT DJSASTERS
After IcarniiiL; the clirection in whicli I )c l.f ■■ '• ■ =
ceeded, he started for the Lena DcUa. lie <
ords from nati\e liiiiUerN which enabled him to find ihc
log-books and otiier articles which had been left on the
shore. A long search, entailing great suffering, proved
unavailing. As it was certain that the missing party had
perished, and that nothing more could be- done until a
more favorable season oj^ened and further supplies were
obtained, Melville proceeded to \'akutsk.
Early in spring the search was resumed, and on the 23d
of March, 1SS2, the last camp of the party was found and
the bodies of ten of the men who had died at that jxiint.
One of the men, as Dc Long's journal stated, had died
in a boat, and the body had jirobably been swept into the
river near which the cam]) was formed. \ tomb was
erected on a bluff, and the bodies, in a bo.\ which had
been made for the }Durpose, were jDlaced therein. A
cross, twenty-two feet high, was erected. Upon this cross
was the following inscription: " In Memory of 12 of The
Ofificers And Men of The Arctic Steamer JcannftU, who
Died of Starvation In The Lena 1 )elta, October, iS^Si."
This was followed by the names of the men who met this
terrible fate. Afterward caskets were sent to Silx'ria, and
the bodies were brought to the United States.
After the separation of the boats in the gale of the 1 2th
of September, Lieutenant Chipp and his party were ncwr
seen. There can be no doubt that the frail craft, with all
on board, was engulfed in the sea.
As whaling vessels returning from the North Pacific in
1879 brought no news of the Jcauuette. and two ships of
the whaling fleet which had been near where the cxph.r-
ino- vessel was to go did not come back, the government
524 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
sent out the steamer Corwin to look after the seal fish-
eries in Alaskan waters and also to search for the missins:
vessels. The Corwin sailed from San Francisco in May,
i8So, and returned the following October. No trace of
the vessels was found. In 1881 the government sent out
three ships on the same errand. One of these was the
Corwin, which sailed from San Francisco on the 4th of
Alay and again returned in October. Evidence was ob-
tained that the two whaling ships had been wrecked and
their crews had perished.
On the 1 6th of June the Rodgers sailed from San
Francisco for Bering Strait. While in St. Lawrence
Bay, late in November, the ship was burned. The offi-
cers and crew were relieved by a whaling vessel. The
steamer Alliance was sent to search between Greenland
and Iceland, and along the coast of Norway and Spitzber-
gen. She left Hampton Roads on the i6th of June and
reached New York, on the return trip, on the nth of
November. Although none of these expeditions found
traces of the Jeannette^ a great amount of geographical
and scientific knowledge was obtained.
In carrying out its part in an international plan for tak-
ing observations in the Arctic regions, the United States
established, in 1881, two stations. One of these was
located at Ooglaamie, near Point Barrow, in Alaska.
The expedition was in charge of Lieutenant Ray, of the
army, who sailed from San Francisco on the i8th of
July, and reached his destination early in September.
This party was recalled by an act of Congress, and
reached San Francisco on the 2d of October, 1883.
The other expedition had a terrible experience. It
was sent to establish a station near Lady Franklin Bay.
GREA T DISASTERS
The objects in \ie\\ were the making of cvidMritiinis
the collection of animal, vegetable, and mine;
and the takini; (.f nieteoroiugieai, magnetic, and
observations in aecordanee witii tlic |)lan adoptcti by
the International Conference, to which the establishment
of this station and the one in Alaska was due.
Lieutenant A. W . Oreely, of the army, was placed in
charge of the party, which consisted of twenty-three men.
Two I'^skinios joined it al Upernavik. Very minute di-
rections as to the work to be done, and the course to be
pursued, were given by the government. /\ sh"- •• ■■ to
be sent each year with sujiplies. and depots of ) is
were to be established at s|)ecitK-d points. If the shi|>s
did not reach the station, (ireely was to commence a
retreat not later than Sei)tember i, i.SS;.
On the 7th of July, iSSi, the party sailed from St.
John's, Newfoundland, in the Proteus, a steamer which
had been chartered for the pur|X)se. At various pointjk
stops were made to ])rocure dogs, obtain additional sup-
plies, establish depots of provisions, and complete prcpa-
rations for a long sojourn in a desolate land.
Littleton Island was reached on the 2d of .Aujjust.
Two days later, when only eight miles from the place of
destination, progress was checked by ice. Durinjj the
next few days the shij) was driven back forty-five miles.
On the loth the wind changed, and the next day the ship
crossed Lady I-'ranklin Hay. It was .' ' ' • ' -.to
where the English vessel, the Discoverw ' : •••- ^'•
dition, had wintered. With great ditTiculty a pa '-^
forced through the ice which had formed in the 1
At a point about one hundred yards from the e
ship anchored, and the work of unloading w-l^ t- -m-
526 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
menced. A house was constructed, and the station was
named Fort Conger. After a delay of several days, occa-
sioned by ice at the entrance to the harbor, the steamer
started on her return voyage, which was made in safety.
Two of the party, who did not appear able to endure the
hardships of the service, returned in the ship.
In accordance with the arrangement made when Greely
was sent out, a vessel was despatched with supplies in
1882. This was the Neptune, which sailed from St.
John's on the 8th of July, with William M. Beebe, a pri-
vate in the general service, in charge. On account of ice
and storms the station was not reached. Provisions were
stored at various points and the ship returned.
In 1883 the government sent out two ships, the Pro-
teus and the Yantic, with supplies for Greely and his
party. This expedition was commanded by Lieutenant
Garlington, of the army. The Proteus, in which Gar-
lington sailed, was a strong vessel well fitted for service in
the ice. The Yantic, with Commander Wildes in charge,
was a much smaller, weaker, and slower craft.
The expedition left St. John's on the 29th of June.
Godhavn was reached in safety. The Yantic was obliged
to stay a few days for necessary repairs, and was then to
sro to Waiorat Strait for coal. As soon as the weather
permitted, the Proteus resumed the voyage, but soon
encountered ice, was com])elled to head toward the
south, and was repeatedly turned from a direct course.
At length Cape Sabine was reached, and the shij) was
anchored in Payer Harbor. Here the party remained
four and a half hours. Whether the instructions were too
indefinite, were misunderstood, or the commander of the
expedition did not realize the vast importance of leaving
GREAT DISASTERS 5,;
a full supply of provisions at this point, which Greely and
his men were almost sure to visit two months later if the
shi]i failed to reach Lady iM-ankiin Hay, cannot Ik' told,
IniL the oi:)])()rtunity for Icaviivjj supplies was not iniprovi.*d.
Two small depots of pro\isious wiiiih liad been formed by
preceding parlies were visited, and one of them was re-
paired. Various mai^netic and other obserN-alions were
taken, and the work of the e\j)e(lition at thi>* jxiint was
closed.
As the ice-pack ai)i)eared to have broken, the vu)*age
was resumed in the evening;, .\fler proceeding abtjul
twenty miles, ice was again encountered. On the morn-
ing of the 23d of July the situation was .so perilous that •
an effort was made to return to the south ; but in the
afternoon the ship was hemmed in, and before nijjhtfall it
was crushed by enormous masses of ice. Harly in the
evenine a chanw in the tide caused a movement of the
ice which relieved the pressure, and the ship at once
went down.
When it became evident that the shij) would l)c
wrecked, the boats and a cpiantity of provisions were
taken out. After the Proh-ns went down the crew ttxik
three of the boats and the relief party the other two. A
small quantity of provisions and a few other stc»res were
landed near Cape Sabine. One party, under Lieutenant
Colwell, who had acct)mj)anicd the e.\|)C(htion as a volun-
teer, and had taken charge of the meteorological work,
but who was not in authority, sailed across Melville liay
in hope of hnding the }'an/u. After Ix-ini; in •" ' \\
thirty-eight days, exposed to cold, encount- • • -iid
tremendous gales, and covering a distance • , ' hun-
dred miles, the weary party arrived at Disco, where, to
528 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
their inexpressible relief, they found the ship. Garlington
and his party, including the crew of the Proteus, had kept
along the shore and reached Upernavik on the 24th of
August, only two days after the Yantic had left that port
for fear of being frozen in. Immediately upon the arrival
of Lieutenant Colwell, the Yantic returned to Upernavik,
took Garlington and liis nien on board, and sailed for
St. John's, where it arrived on the 13th of September.
The season was so far advanced that it A\ould be worse
than useless to make further attempts to relieve Greely
that year, but the government soon commenced prepara-
tions for sending an expedition at the earliest moment it
would be possible to enter the Arctic Sea. Two ships,
the Thcds and the Bear, were purchased ; and the Alert,
which had been used by Captain Nares in the expedition
of 1875, was donated for the purpose by the British Gov-
ernment. A steamer, the Loch Garry, was chartered at
St. John's to carry a supply of coal to Littleton Island.
Commander W. S. Schley, of the navy, was placed in
charge of this expedition. The ships were fully equipped,
and officers were chosen and crews selected with great
care. Provisions were taken for two years. To induce
owners of whaling vessels to interest themselves in the
case, Congress offered a reward of ^25,000 for the rescue
of the Greely expedition or conclusive information regard-
ing its fate.
On the 24th of April, 1SS4, the /?mr sailed from New
York. On May i the Thetis left the same j^ort, and the
Alert followed on May 10. The advance ships, the
Thetis and the Bear, had much trouble with ice in Mel-
ville Bay, but succeeded in reaching Littleton Island —
the Thetis on the 21st, and the Bear on the 22d of June.
GREAT DISASTERS
iMiidini; iliat ( irccly had not reached tl.
ships at once |)rocccdcd toward Ca|X' Sabine. L.i
the afternoon of the 2 2d they were stop|K'd b.
Several parties were sent ashore, one of \vl: '
covered records of the niissinj; explorers. i
these was dated October 21. 1.SS3. and staled tha-
rations for only forty days remained. There Mrcm-
be hardly a possibility that any of the party could
f^urvived. iJeutenant Colwell, with a few o'"
forward in a cutter, followed as soon as |x. >-...■,
ships, to the site of the (ireely camp, as stated 1
papers that had been found. This was about five
west of Caj)e Sabine. l*"ortunately, the wind had dnvtrn
the ice froni the shore, thus i^iving a free course.
About nine o'clock in the evenini; Colwell and his
party reached the camp. Here (ireely and si.x «'f '»*-
men were found. The others had perished. .All th-
vivors were feeble ; and several, including Greely. were
almost at the point of death. They were given n -
tives and a little food, and, when somewhat
taken aboard the shij)s, I'he bodies of th ; i.i«
dead were recovered. Of these, one. an 1 '. was
buried at Disco. The other twelve were taken to the
United .States. Mve bodies that had lx"en buried at the
camp had been swept into the sea. Ik'sides the -
men who had died of st.irvation. one had been
while endeavoring to |)rocure foixl. and one
rescued had been so badly frost-bitten, and w.i
reduced by exj)osure and want of ftxKl, that he di'
the homeward journey.
Greely and his men abandoned l-oil Longer .\
9, 1S83. were adrift on ice for thirty day- '-' ^^' "
34
530 . EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS
pelled to abandon their boats before they reached the
spot where the final camp was made, and where they
remained from October 21, 1883, until June 22, 1884.
During the winter gales were numerous, and great quan-
tities of ice were driven through the channel, thus pre-
venting its freezing over and thereby cutting off the party
from the supplies of food which were stored on Littleton
Island.
The Thetis, Bear, and LocJi Garry reached St. John's
on July 17, 1884, and the Aleri arrived on the following
day. About a week later the three vessels which be-
longed to the government sailed for Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, where they arrived on the ist of August.
Here the party was received by the Secretary of the
Navy and other prominent officials, and a public recep-
tion was given. On the 8th of August the ships reached
New York. Officers of the army and navy were pres-
ent, and the relief expedition was received with imposing
ceremonies.
While the station was maintained at Fort Conger much
was done in the way of exploration, and some valuable
discoveries were made. A party under Lieutenant
Lockwood reached latitude 83° 24', a point farther north
than had been gained by civilized man, and which was
not again attained until the intrepid Nansen made his
splendid effort to reach the Pole.
im-:
I'ol.Ak 1,.\I'I,|)IT1()XS
OF IS97
PR(»K. S. A ANI>K> K
(FROM A RECKNT PHOTOGRAI'H l«Y OOSTA rU»ll>l
A XL) RLE
PKAkV
ANTAR« Tl«
Friinkel Andiee Strindbcri.
ANDREE AND HIS COMPANIONS
CH.APTHR XXX
rilK ANDKl I rvii.Hiv IXPEDITION
A wiDKi.v different, and aj>ijaicully afar ii
method tlian any which liad previously IxHrn <n
reaching the North WAc, lias been adopted by 1
Andree, of Sweden. This is an attempt to i.
journey bv means of a balloon. It has not only awal.
the curiosity of the i)ublic in general, but has also ar
the deepest interest in scientific circles. At the pr
writing the outcome of this most remarkn'*^-- .rf...! ;
known, and information regarding the pi
pedition is eagerly awaited throughout the civilized v,
Solomon Akji st Andrki:. the son of an apotheca
Grenna, Sweden, was born in that town in iiS54and •
his father died in 1S71. After graduating at *'-
school in his native town the young man attc:
technical college at Stockholm. When he left this
tution he became one of the owners of a small
foundrv near lonkoping. The business, which
ducted under the firm name of Mciller & Ai '
prove very congenial. This led Andree to > — ^.
ment as a {practical engineer. After working i'
capacitv at various places for severa
teacher of natural i)hilosophy (physics) at t:
Stockholm in which he had previously been a >U:aeiiL
In 1S.S1-S2 Andre-e was a member of Dr. Kkholm's
expedition to S|)itzbergcn which was sent out to lake
meteorological and other scientific obser\-ation». On hi»
534 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
return home he was appointed chief engineer at the
Patent Office at Stockhohri. Later, as a private under-
taking, he crossed the ocean to Philadelphia in order to
make a careful study of atmospheric conditions. He was
struck with the continued regularity of aerial currents
near the surface of the water and formed the opinion that
the his/her currents would be even more uniform and con-
tinuous. This led to a belief that it would be possible to
cross from America to Europe in a balloon. As time
passed on his interest in meteorology increased. He
requested his brother, Ernst, w4io was a captain in the
merchant marine and sailed to all parts of the world, to
make accurate observations of the weather. From reports
received, in response to this request, from Australia,
Japan, and the East Indies, Andree gathered many
interesting facts which were soon published. For some
time he was not able to experiment extensively in aerial
navigation, but the results of several ascensions with the
celebrated Norwegian aeronaut, Cetti, seemed to establish
the truth of some of the theories which he had formed.
Andree spent the summer of 1S93 at Goteborg, on a
visit to his brother who had become the manager of a
sailor's home at that place. Andree had already con-
ceived the singularly daring plan of crossing the ocean in
a balloon from the Cape Verde Islands, near the north-
western coast of Africa, to Venezuela. By making this
trip he wanted to prove the possibility of travelling long
distances in a balloon. By careful calculation the two
brothers concluded that the distance between the points
named could be traversed in ninety-seven hours. After a
great deal of study an elaborate plan was completed. But
when this plan was submitted to the great explorer Nor-
TIIF. AXPRl-.E J^ A I LOON EXPEDtTW.\
denskjold, and other scientists at Stockholm, they naid to
Andrec, " If you have faith in such an und-
not rather try to <;o from Spitzbergen to the NuiUi i'
This led Andre'e to consider the fea.sibihty of m., .. .»
project and eventually to engage in the great work which
during the past few years has kept his name prominently
before the public.
In the same year he obtained from a memorial fund at
Stockholm, called "Lars Hjertas Minna," the sum of
$1400 to assist him in his aeronautical exjx'riments. and
the goxernment allowed him to import, free of duty, a
balloon made in Paris on condition that he should a*|X)rt
the results of his efforts to the Royal Swedish Academy
of Sciences. This balloon, which was named .V • is
large enough to contain about forty thousand five ^d
cubic feet of gas. With it Andree made twelve a-sccn-
sions, — the first late in 1S93 and the last on March 17,
1897. He was usually very fortunate in his descents, but
on one occasion he came near losing his life in the Baltic
Sea.
In the i)romised rei)orts to the .Academy of Sciences
Andree published the results of his obscn-ations and
explained his theories of aerial navigation. The first
elaborate explanation of his project of a Polar c^ m
was made in a lecture read at a meeting of the
on the 13th of I'ebruary, 1S95. On the 15th of :.- c
month the lecture was delivered at a meeting o( the
Swedish Society of Anthropology and C'lcography, and it
was afterwards jirinted in pamj)hlet form with the f-
ing title: " Proposed Plan of an E.\|)e<lition to the Nurin
Pole in a Balk)on."
The lecture be<^rins as follows: 'If we obsenT what
536 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
means have been used to push forward over the ice fields of
the Arctic regions, we find that the explorer so far only has
used one single instrument, and that is the sledge. The
sledge has always been the means of transportation, and
the only difference in the many expeditions has been in
harnessing either men or beasts to it. I will not gi\^e an
opinion as to which is the better, but will only say that
neither has been a success, though in the course of time
fresh exertions have constantly been made. The fact
remains that in attempting to push on over the polar ice
we have lost numbers of men, ships, and money, and
several hundred years of time, without having succeeded
in crossins^ the icv desert and reachini2: the Pole.
" Is it not time to examine this question and look about
for some other means of transportation than the sledge }
Yes, it is time, and we will not have to look far to find the
means that is particularly adapted for such purposes.
" This means is the balloon. Not the ideal perfectly
steerable balloon that is dreamed of and worshipped but
has never been seen, but the balloon that we really possess
and that is judged so unfavorably while only its weak
points are noticed and emphasized. Such a balloon is
good enough to carry the explorer to the Pole and home
again. With such a balloon the voyage across the icy
desert ca7i be accomplished."
Andree was a delegate to the Geographical Congress
which was held in London in July, 1895. There his
plans for crossing the North Pole in a balloon obtained
the greatest degree of publicity and were the subject of
long and earnest discussion. The assemblage was
strongly impressed by his scientific arguments as well as
by his intense enthusiasm. The battle for the recognition
>
I
hm
>'
^i
h
t>-.
^i^ i
i ^
538 THE POLAR EXFEDITJONS
and acceptance of the balloon theory was won. Even
Markham, the pride of the English polar-explorers, who
at first would not listen to any talk of such an expedition,
was brought so fully to its support that at a dinner which
he gave to Andree a few days later, he declared : " I
should like to go with you myself, but," he added as he
pointed to his charming wife, " here is what prevents me."
Later utterances have shown that these encouraging
words of the famous naval officer were not dictated by
mere politeness to his guest.
Baron Nordenskjbld, whose great success in the work
of Arctic exploration made him an invaluable ally, fully
endorsed the arguments of Andree. On Andree's return
to Sweden a subscription to defray the expenses of the
projected expedition was started. In a short time the
required sum ($36,000) was pledged by prominent Swedes.
So great was the interest in this unique plan that ten
times as much money could have been obtained if the
subscription had been open to the public. The principal
subscribers were Alfred Nobel, ($17,000); King Oscar II.,
($8,000); and Baron Oscar Dickson, ($8,000). These
gentlemen also paid the expenses of the second expedi-
tion, which amounted to about $8,000.
While noting these numerous and, to Andree at least,
very gratifying expressions of confidence in the proposed
method of solving the Arctic problem, it should be stated
that there were many people to w^hom it seemed extremely
perilous if not actually impraticable. About the time of
the departure of the expedition the opinion of Dr. Fridtjof
Nansen, as to a successful ending, was sought by a pro-
minent Swedish paper. The following rather non-commit-
tal reply was telegraphed from Lysaker on July 21, 1897:
THE A.\I)RhE BAlLOOy HX/'JiD/JJO
'• On my return here ! received your telegram. I am
not an aeronaut and ihcrclore have no claim lo
authoritw 10 mc, havini; no scientific 1 ' ' ^i.
loonini;. the c.xjK-chtion seems an underl.; ^ , „^.
sible to acconiplisli."
A luunlxr of otlier men who, as practical explciren* «.r
as close students of the subject, seemed to be • it
judges, expressed the opinion that, while it v, n
the Hmits of possibiHty, a successful outcome w..- ,,.,Miiy
to be expected.
Aiuhee sjiciit the winter of 1 895-96 in France and
England, lie made numerous ascensions with French
aeronauts near Paris, discussed his plans with a number
of scientists, and received from them many valuable sug-
gestions.
The balloon was made by M. Lachambre, of Farirs and
cost ;^ 10,000. It is about .seventy-five feet in height from
the opening of the balloon projjer to the top, and not far
from one hundred feet high from the tt)p to the ' ' i
the basket. It is made of three thicknesses (»f -.i»v ..^id
toorether with varnish and the whole overlaid with two
coats of varnish. The gondola, or car, is about fiVQ feet
dec]) and six and a half feet in diameter. It is made of
wicker-work. i> lined with varnished silk, and *«• a
sleeping apartment for one of the aeronauts wn.r inc
others are at work and at v.atch. It is covered with .1 lid
of basket-work. In this lid there is a trap door ■
furnishes a means of entrance to or e.xit from tlv
While at work the men .stand upon this lid an-'
tially protected from the wind by a \i
about the height of a man's waist tl.v. f
the same diameter as the car. U|>on t
540 THE POLAR EXrEDITJONS
instruments of the expedition are firmly fixed. So, while
the explorers stand on the lid of the car, watching their
progress through the air, they are really in the middle of
their observatory with ample facilities for recording what-
ever they may deem worthy of note.
A number of the instruments taken in the balloon were
invented by Dr. Ekholm and Strindberg. Among them
is one for ascertaining the direction and velocity of the
clouds, and another which registers the intensity of the
sunlight. There is also an apparatus, invented by a Ger-
man photographer, for making photographic maps of the
regions over w^hich they pass.
The provisions, sledges, and a collapsible boat, are
stored in the netting above the ring. In order to pro-
mote convenience in handling, as well as to insure better
preservation, the food supplies are placed in canvas bags.
The apparatus for cooking is very ingenious. As either
flame or sparks would be exceedingly dangerous near the
highly inflammable gas of the balloon it was evident that
cooking in the car would involve a terrible risk. So the
work is done in a copper cylinder which is let down
twenty-five feet below the car. Heat is furnished by
means of an alcohol lamp. This is ignited by a mecha-
nism in the car and extinguished by blowing through an
India rubber tube. By looking in a reflecting glass the
cook can easily see whether the lamp is burning.
While this balloon may be regarded as being in almost
every respect a novelty, its most striking characteristic is
the guiding and steering apparatus. This may be briefly
described as consisting principally of guiding ropes.
These are of different lengths, the shortest measuring
about one thousand feet and the longest some twelve
^
i
542 2^HE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
li unci red feet. These ropes hang from the bearing-ring
just outside the car and, when the balloon is not at too
high an altitude, drag upon the earth or the ice. They
are of different leno;ths in order that if one of them oets
entangled with any object the others may run free.
It was Andree s intention to keep only about five hun-
dred feet above the surface of the earth and let the guide
ropes trail behind the car. Sails were rigged from a bam-
boo yard-arm extending horizontally across a second ring.
By the obstruction of the guide ropes and by changing
the sails to the right or the left, or by taking in a sail on
either side, it was thought that a tack of thirty degrees
could be made. This was an important matter, as without
some apparatus for modifying its direction the balloon
would go right before the wind. It was also important
that some method of regulating the altitude of the balloon
while floating in the air should be devised. Otherwise,
when the weather is warm the heated gas will cause the
balloon to rise, while a lower temperature, by reducing its
buoyancy, will draw it nearer to the earth. This variation
is overcome by means of automatic valves, placed at oppo-
site sides of the balloon, which, under certain conditions,
allow an escape of gas. This arrangement, in connec-
tion with the guide ropes and the throwing overboard of
ballast, is expected to enable the aeronauts to keep the
balloon at a very nearly uniform altitude.
After experimenting with \'arious materials for generat-
ing the hydrogen gas needed for inflating the balloon it
was decided that iron filings and sulphuric acid were the
best that could be secured. In order to obtain a sufficient
quantity of gas, forty tons of iron filings, thirty-nine tons
of sulphuric acid, and seventy-five tons of water were used.
544 THE POLAR EXFEDinONS
The balloon house was constructed by chief engineer
Ivan Svedberg, in Goteborg. It is in octagonal form with
a diameter of about eighty feet and is about as high as an
ordinary house of five stories. A balcony runs around the
whole buildino;. All the detail work was finished before
any part of the building was shipped. Thus it was pos-
sible to erect the house in about two weeks after reaching
its site.
A large number of carrier pigeons were taken along to
be released when anything of importance occurred. There
was also a supply of cork buoys which were strong enough
to endure a fall upon the ice from the altitude of the bal-
loon and light enough to float in open water. Each buoy
had a small vertical staff with a Swedish flag large enough
to be visible at quite a distance. In the centre of the buoy
is a place for a water-tight metal box. In this box a letter
is to be placed before the buoy is thrown overboard.
These buoys may float in the currents for months, or even
years, before they are brought to inhabited coasts or are
picked up at sea.
Andree believed that the balloon would follow one of
the four courses indicated on the accompanying chart.
That marked I. shows what he considered the most prob-
able course, and the one indicated by IV. marks the one
which he thought least likely to be followed. If the
wind was from the south when the start was made the
course should be constant to the Pole. From that point
there might be a frequent change of currents and a conse-
quent shifting to different directions.
If the balloon followed what was regarded as the course
naturally to be expected, the party would find their land-
ing-place in the northeastern portion of Siberia. But the
THE ANDJ<KE BALLOON KXJ'EDJTJOX 545
direction „f polar winds cannot be foretold, and instead
of reaching Siberia the party nnoht be carried to the
Samoied Peninsula, to Alaska, or to British North
America.
I- IV r„uy^.
DIAGRAM SIIOWINC FOUR ROI'TKS EITHKR ONK OK WHICH ANDRP.E'S BALXOOM
MAY HAVE TAKKN AI TKK CRuSSINi; THK POLE
Andree's first expedition started on the steamer Virgo,
from Goteborg, on June S, 1S96, and arrived at Spitz-
bergen on the 19th of the same month. I'or his com-
panions Andree had chosen Dr. Nils Mkhohn. and Nils
Strindberg. Dr. Ekholm is four years older than Andr^
and has won considerable fame as a meteoroloj^ist. Nils
Strindberg was born in Stockholm in 1S72. He gradu-
ated from the University of Lund, where he made a
special study of natural philosophy, and he has won an
546 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
excellent reputation as an amateur photographer. From
the first day on which he heard of the proposed balloon
expedition he had been eager to accompany Andree on
the trip. He is a nephew of the Strindberg who is pro-
minent as an author.
Pike's house, the station of an English sportsman, on
the northern part of Danes Island (which lies on the
northwest coast of Spitzbergen), was selected as the most
favorable point from which to make the ascension. The
octagonal house was erected and the balloon was inflated
under the superintendence of its maker, M. Lachambre.
On July 27 the preparatory work was completed. All
that w^as then required was a south wind. For this
Andree and his companions waited, but waited in vain.
During the first week in August it was decided that, as
the season was far advanced, the expedition must be aban-
doned and preparations for returning home were com-
menced. The house, balloon, and scientific apparatus,
were taken to Tromso to be stored, and Andree, with his
companions, returned to Stockholm. Though they were
greatly disappointed it was said that they hoped to renew
the effort the next summer.
During the autumn it was intimated that Andree would
not make another attempt to carry out the plan which
had so signally failed. The fact that Dr. Ekholm had re-
signed as a member of the expedition was quoted as proof
that the rumor was correct. It was said that from the
time of its inflation the balloon lost a considerable volume
of gas each day. This leakage, the Doctor believed,
would make it impossible to keep the balloon afloat long
enough to make the voyage to the Pole. Another ver-
sion, which is probably the correct one, was to the effect
548 THE POLAR EXPEDJTJOXS
that Dr. Ekholm had been married shortly before starting
on the expedition, and that on his return his wife exacted
from him a promise never to attempt another experiment
of this kind. Rumors that the expedition had been aban-
doned were pubHshed in numerous papers, until Andree
made a public and emphatic denial in December, 1896.
The necessary funds for a new expedition were quickly
and easily obtained. King Oscar was the principal con-
tributor. The government also gave Andree substantial
encouragement by placing the gunboat Svcnskstind at his
disposal. During the winter experiments were continued
and various improvements of the steering apparatus were
effected.
When it became known that Dr. Ekholm was not to
accompany the new expedition, Knut Hjalmar Ferdinand
Frankel offered to take his place. Frankel was born in
Karlstad, in 1870, studied at the technical college at
Stockholm, graduated as an engineer in 1892, and was
then employed by the government in building railroads in
the northern part of Sweden. Andree, who knew him as
an able and efficient engineer, gladly accepted his offer.
Early in June, 1897, the expedition started for Danes
Island and on the 14th of that month the case which con-
tained the balloon was landed. This, on account of its
great size, was an exceedingly difficult operation. M.
Lachambre did not accompany this party, but sent his
nephew, M. Machuron, a well-known expert, in his place.
Under his direction the balloon was unpacked. It was
found to be in perfect condition.
On June 19 the work of inflation was commenced under
the direction of Engineer Stake who, with a number of
carpenters and other helpers, had accompanied the expedi-
^^\x.xX>.
350 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
tion to this point. At midnight of June 22 it was com-
pleted. The balloon then contained about one hundred
and seventy thousand cubic feet of hydrogen gas.
Meanwhile Andree attended to the work of getting the
instruments, and a supply of provisions, into the gondola.
Frankel, Strindberg, and an assistant named Schveden-
boro-, areased the immense guide ropes with a mixture of
lard and vaseline in order to make them glide easily over
the ice. The carpenters were also employed in taking
down the upper part of the northern side of the balloon
house.
Then a few days were spent in testing the air-tight
qualities of the balloon. In the performance of this work
an entirely new process was adopted. All the seams of
the balloon were covered with strips of white material
which had been impregnated with a certain chemical mix-
ture. Wherever gas escaped these strips were blackened.
Eight or ten men, holding on to the meshes of the netting,
climbed simultaneously to the dome of the balloon to place
the prepared strips in position. This was difificult work,
but by its means several leaks, which with ordinary
methods could not have been found, were soon discovered.
These were carefully repaired.
The balloon, which bore the very appropriate name of
Ornen {Eagle, in English), was ready to start on June 30,
but nearly two weeks passed before the conditions were
sufficiently favorable to justify the party in leaving. The
following details of the ascension have been gathered from
the diary of M. Machuron and various other sources.
From the first of July the members of the expedition
were anxious to commence their voyage as soon as pos-
sible. They fully realized that each day's delay meant
THE AXDKJ.h r>AJJ^'^.\ /AJJilJjjJi \ r^g
a loss of one clay of summer and of -
ing on their work. Andree was deteuiw;i.<j
should be no such failure as that of the pre.
and declared that lu- would " start for the Pole ■
casion, cost wli at it may and in spite of all difficultieN lh.it
may arise."
During the morning ol July ii .Andree •■ .lly
silent and aj^peared to be in very earnest i ^,... .\t
about ten o'clock he went to note the indications of the
various meteorological instruments — anemometer, ther-
mometer, l)arunK'ter, etc. — which he had brought with
him. The wind was then south-.southwest. About half
an iiour afterwards he suddenly announced that he was
ready for an immediate departure. He asked advice of
the other members of the expedition, the captain of the
Svensksuiid, and M. Machuron. All agreed that the lime
for action liad come. At eleven o'clock the work of pre-
paration was commenced. The car|)enters. aided by the
sailors of the Sz'ensi'sunci, began to take down the northern
side of the shed, while at the same time the southern side
was made higher in order to protect the balloon from the
rapidly rising wind. One of the i)rincipal difficulties xfc-as
to get the balloon free without having its t'
contact with the boards and timbers of tlu -.... . ...-
danger was reduced as much as possible by jjaddinj: thr
posts and other prominent parts with felt. As the
lition of the shed |)rogres>ed and brought it more and
more into view, the balloon, with its great h
large circumference, looked more like a sul)-*
ing than an object lighter than air. Hut it -
roll, and in order to steady it large bands wi d
around it and fastened to the uprights of the shed. I hen
552 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
the whole surface was again carefully examined to discover
and check an}' leakage and repair any weak spots that
mio^ht be found.
All the work was carried on with the greatest rapidity.
Each member of the expedition assisted, and the herculean
strength of Frankel was shown by his easy handling of
enormous beams and weights which an ordinary man
could hardly move. The last thing to be done to get the
balloon in readiness was to attach the car. This was
accomplished at about two o'clock. The attachment was
made to the ring, which itself was held by three strong
ropes which were fastened to large stakes firmly driven
into the ground.
Andree now hurriedly wrote two despatches, one to
the Aftonbladet and the other to King Oscar. They were
to be taken by steamer to Tromso and from there tele-
graphed to Stockholm. These messages, which were as
follows, were received at Stockholm on the 1 6th of July: —
To Aftonbladet : —
To-day, Sunday, at 10.35 a. m. we began preparations
for departure and are ready now, 2.30 p. m. We shall
probably be going in N. and N. East direction and expect
by and by to come into regions with more favorable wind
conditions than here. In the name of all my associates I
send warmest orreetin^ to fatherland and friends,
Andree.
To King Oscar, dated Virgos Harbor, July 1 1, 2.35 p.m. :
In the moment of departure the members of the Polar
expedition beg your Majesty to accept our respectful
greeting and warmest thanks. Andree.
■f^^^y-r^
[ie*-
A GOOD STARt lltl IiM\KTI IK of Till- - r \>.I I HOM I
554 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
Everything had been made ready, and the long-desired
moment for departure had now arrived. There was no
ceremony, and hardly a word was spoken, yet the leave-
takings were very affecting. The final preparations had
been completed in haste, and there was no time for any-
thing superfluous. The members of the expedition shook
hands cordially with those who were to remain. There
seemed to be a suppressed feeling of anxiety and emotion
among the group, but the three explorers were remarkably
calm. Andrea appeared as cool and collected as on any
other day, and his air of quiet confidence fully reassured
the others. Frankel was resolute and cheerful, while
Strindberg, though equally courageous, could not repress
a slight trembling of his hands as the decisive moment
came.
Andree mounted the car, made a careful examination
to see that everything was in order, and then in a tone of
command called out, " Strindberg ! " Strindberg mounted.
" Frankel ! " Frankel mounted. " Come ! " said Andree
cheerfully. Not another word was spoken.
The captain of the Svensksund was in charge of the
sailors appointed to cut the cords that held the balloon.
They first released the bands that stayed the balloon
around the centre. The rolling motion, which these
bands had been employed to check, now commenced
again. It was necessary to wait for a moment when the
balloon should be in comparative equilibrium. Both the
captain of the Svensksund and Andree watched intently.
Suddenly Andree cried out " Cut ! " The sailors vigor-
ously plied their knives, and in a moment the released
balloon bounded to the height of three hundred feet in
the air.
1* t I c
IJIJ: .IXDh'E/: liALLOON KXVEL
Wild cries <.f "Hurrah!" and "Happy Voy..
raised by the spectators on the shore. They u
answered by the occuj)ants of the ball<K»n. ,,u
engrossed in watching the course ..f their .». ■
Almost immediately the balloon rapidly descen..
to the surface of the waves, but the wind u-a* bi
violently, and it (|uickly rose and was soon moving awny
at great si)eed. The three explorers wavc-d their hand-
kerchiefs until the balloon passed out (»f sight of land. In
about half an hour it vanished from the view of the spec.
tators, but for some time longer they remained silently
watching the hori/on and rejoicing that they had been
permitted to witness the departure of one of the mo!»l
remarkable expeditions the world has ever known.
At the moment of leaving an incident occurred which.
though in itself unfortunate, demonstrated the fact that
Andree had carefully and thoughtfully looked into all the
details of the expedition and had providt^d for emergen-
cies. As the balloon first bounded into the air two of the
guide ropes, which were trailing for a consid- ' ' ' th
on the ground, were broken by the tension t.... ::ic
sudden rise of the balloon and the friction of the ro|K*s on
the surface. If no provision had been made therefor such
an accident might have caused the loss of the whole
system of guide ro|)es before the « ■" • • •^.
started. But Andree had foiescen tl.v , h
a mishap and had directed that these . «c
made in lengths of alx)ut one hundred )'ards each, and
that these jxarts should be united with screws. (
quently, the accident noted meant i *
than the loss of a fraction of the avan.mn. n.p ii>i i^um-
ing the balloon.
556 THE POLAR EXPEDIl'IONS
The great utility of the guide ropes was evident at the
very commencement of the voyage. Although the direc-
tion of the wind was from the south-southwest the o-uide
ropes enabled the explorers to turn the course of the bal-
loon nearly or quite due north. They w^ere also of great
service in keeping the balloon at a nearly uniform alti-
tude. At first there appeared to be danger that it would
be dashed asrainst an ice-covered hill, some six hundred
feet in height, that seemed to lie directly in its path. But
as the balloon approached it soared over the hill, like an
enormous bird, constantly keeping at just about the same
distance from the surface.
Such, in brief, is the history of this remarkable expedi-
tion up to the time of its departure for the Pole. If it
returns a new impetus will be given to the science and
practice of aerial navigation. If the explorers perish their
fame will be secure. Their names will be enrolled with
those of the many earlier heroes who gave their lives to
the work of Arctic investigation and discovery.
Andree entered upon this expedition in full confidence
that if he should fail others would promptly carry on the
work. This is indicated by the closing words of a lecture
on the proposed expedition which he delivered at the
annual festival of the Swedish Society of Anthropology
and Geography, on " Vega-dagen," April 17, 1896, and
which were as follows : " If our expedition should return
home without success, or even if we should perish, it will
not be long before a new balloon expedition will be
started for the same purpose as ours. This idea has
taken such a mighty hold on the human mind that it can-
not be quieted. It will necessarily appear again with the
full strength of a natural law."
THE GONDOLA OF THC ** KAGLt
558 THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
THE PEARY EXPEDITION.
At the annual meeting of the American Geographical
Society, which was held in New York city on January 12,
1897, the services of Lieutenant R. E. Peary in the work
of Arctic exploration were recognized by an award of the
Cullum Geographical Medal. At this meeting Mr. Peary
expressed his confidence that the North Pole could and
would be reached, and asserted that the principal factors
of success in that work were time and money. He also
briefly outlined a plan of operations which he believed
could be carried out.
Among the main features of this*^Dlan are the raising of
a fund sufficient to pay the expenses of the work for several
years, if necessary; and making the journey toward the
Pole by regular stages. It was proposed to go on a suit-
able ship to Whale Sound, where several Eskimo families
were to be embarked, and then pass to, or beyond, Sherard
Osborne Fjord, and at some convenient point land the Es-
kimos and the necessary stores. The ship would then
return. The location chosen would be used as a base of
supplies, and depots would be established at intervals as
sledge journeys were made toward the North. The party
would live in snow houses. Land would be followed to
the northern limit of the archipelago, and then a " dash for
the Pole," over what during a large part of the year is
doubtless a frozen sea, would be attempted. As he con-
siders a small party both safer and more efficient than a
large one. Lieutenant Peary proposes, in the final effort,
to take only two or three men, with dogs and sledges.
On May 26, 1897, Lieutenant Peary was granted a leave
Tin- ri'.AK) >/j'/o\ ^5.,
of absL-ncc from llic L'. S. Navy for five
July 19 he sailed from Boston, on the >leamcr //
the northwest coa>t of rireenlaiul. i-
in September. Thi.s trip, it is uncle; ..
to arrange with a few Eskimo families \ ^
the main expedition and establish a colony in iSq-H. ft i^
hoped that from the point then selected the
to the Pole can be commenced in the spring; oi i.-kyy.
[The trip above noted was quite sur ' ' "- - ■
tory arrangements were made with the I.-; . -
Sound to assist in the work to be taken up next year.
On its return voyage the IJopc reached Sydney. C B^
on September 20, where it stopped to obtain a supply of
coal. Lieutenant Peary brought with him si.\ Ii>'
with their tents, sledges, canoes, and dogs. He .i
tained a number of relics of the di>astrous Greely <
tion, and brought from Cape \'ork the famous meteorite
which weighs about t)ne hundred tons and is supixtsed to
be the largest body of the kind in the world. On Septem-
ber 22 Lieutenant Peary and his jiarty arrived at lioston.]
AXTARrTrr expkdition.
As compared with those to the Arctic regions. .Antarc-
tic expeditions have been few and small. W
cially tnie as regards the work that h.i> W'v '
the last half century. Of late, however, t
be an increased degree of interest in the M>uthem field.
From 1567, when Peni sent out the first Ax
pedition. to 1773. when Captain C(M>k. with a l>
crossed the Antarctic circle, sever '
by peojile of diffe""^' . ...•nfi;..^ t.» 1
56o THE POLAR EXPEDITIONS
regions, but they had amounted to but Httle. From the
days of Captain Cook to the present time there have also
been expeditions, mostly on a small scale, from various
lands. The most fruitful of these efforts was that of Sir
James Clark Ross, in 1839-43. A point 78° 1 1' S. latitude
was reached and some interesting discoveries were made.
During the past summer an expedition for exploring the
Antarctic regions has been fitted out under the direction
of Captain Adrien de Gerlache, of Belgium, under whose
command it left Antwerp about the middle of August.
More than half the expense of this expedition was borne
by the Belgian government.
The Belgica, upon which the explorers sailed, was ori-
ginally built as a whaling ship for service in the ice, but it
has been thoroughly refitted and greatly strengthened.
She not only has engines capable of giving a speed of seven
knots per hour, but also carries a large area of canvas.
The ship carries twenty-three men, several of whom are
well-known scientists. Among the latter is Dr. Frederick
A. Cook, of this country, who has made three trips to the
Arctic regions, and who has sailed to Montevideo to join
the present expedition when it arrives at that port. The
vessel is well equipped and has supplies for two years.
The purpose of this expedition is not to reach the South
Pole, but to make as thorough an exploration as possible
of the shores of the Antarctic region. It is expected to
reach Graham Land about the middle of October and be
able to continue work until March, when it will probably
be obliged to retreat to Cape Adare, to remain during the
Antarctic winter.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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