The Romance of Polar Exploration Part 5

The growing sickness of some of the men and the decreasing store of provisions brought home to the leader the necessity of a return being made. At the end of the two days' rest the sledge was turned in the direction of Polaris Bay and the men retraced their steps, finding the travelling somewhat easier now that they could use the road they had made by their previous pa.s.sage through the snow. But the leader wanted to be able to form some idea of the coast line beyond where they had been turned back, and, time after time, he made ineffectual efforts to reach the sh.o.r.e and scale some high hill. At last he was successful, after tremendous exertion, in reaching the summit of Dragon Point, an alt.i.tude of 3700 feet. From here he was able to command an extensive view, the land extending away as far as he could see into a cape which he named Britannia Cape.

On June 13 they arrived at Repulse Bay depot, and the state of the health of the men is best shown by the record Lieutenant Beaumont left, and which was recovered by members of the Greely expedition six years later. The record, dated June 13, 1876, reads:--

"Three of us have returned from the camp half a mile south to fetch the remainder of the provisions. Dobing has failed altogether this morning; Jones is much worse, and cannot last more than two or three days; Craig is nearly helpless; therefore we cannot hope to reach Polaris Bay without a.s.sistance. Two men cannot do it, so we will go as far as we can, and live as long as we can. G.o.d help us.

L. A. BEAUMONT."

The discovery of this record, and the simple, manly faith and courage it betokened, was destined to be of great service to another band of English-speaking explorers in later years, and their opinion of it, and the admiration they felt for the man who wrote it, will be told in the account of the Greely expedition.

Meanwhile that Lieutenant Beaumont was making his heroic efforts to save the men of his party, Lieutenant Rawson was growing anxious as to their position. As they did not appear, he, on June 22, in company with one of the Eskimo and a dog-team sledge, started along the coast in search of them. Three days later they were met--on the last march they could have made, for they were at the end of their strength. Lieutenant Beaumont, in his account, says: "On the evening of the 24th we started for our last journey with the sledge; for, finding that Jones and Gray were scarcely able to pull, I had determined on reaching the sh.o.r.e to pitch the tent for the sick men and walk over to Polaris Bay by myself, and see if there was any one there to help us. If not, to come back and send Jones and Gray, who could still walk, to the depot, while I remained with the sick and got them on as best I could."

When Lieutenant Rawson met them, he found the intrepid Beaumont straining at the sledge, with the two sick men helping him as much as they could, while on the sledge lay the four helpless invalids, made as comfortable as circ.u.mstances would permit. No time was lost in removing them to Polaris Bay, where, under medical treatment, all recovered save one. After a brief rest at Polaris Bay the journey back to the _Discovery_ was successfully carried out, and Lieutenant Beaumont had the pleasure of learning that his expedition had added considerably to the geographical knowledge of Northern Greenland.

Shortly after the return of the sledge parties the _Alert_ rejoined the _Discovery_, and, towards the end of August, both vessels weighed anchor and started for England, where they arrived on November 2, 1876, having been absent for seventeen months, during which time they had carried the British flag to the "farthest North," and had brought within the knowledge of man localities previously unknown. They had not reached the Pole, and had come to the conclusion, after their experiences, that to do so was beyond the range of human possibility.

CHAPTER VI

THE GREELY EXPEDITION

The Scheme of the Expedition--Fort Conger--Arctic Wolves--Atmospheric Marvels--A Terrific Storm--Influence of the Sun--Lieutenant Lockwood's Expedition--The Second Winter--Preparations for Departure--They leave Fort Conger--A Remarkable Ice Pa.s.sage--They fail to make Cape Sabine--A New Camp--Rations running Short--Fruitless Efforts to reach Food Depots--Starvation and Death--A Bitter Blow--The Arrival of the _Thetis_.

In 1881 the Government of the United States determined to send out another expedition towards the North Pole, and a vote of $25,000 having been pa.s.sed by Congress for the purpose, Lieutenant Adolphus Washington Greely was appointed to the command. Lieutenant Greely, who was an officer in the 5th Cavalry regiment, had, as his companions, three officers and twenty-one men selected from the United States army.

The scheme of the expedition was to proceed by steamer as far north as Lady Franklin Bay, where they were to form a depot on Grinnel Land, and, using it as a base, push forward, by means of dog-sledges over the ice, and by steam launch over the open water, as far north as it was possible to get.

The steamer _Proteus_, a vessel 467 tons and 110 horse-power, was chartered by the explorers to convey them from New York to Lady Franklin Bay. They sailed in June and proceeded to Upernavik, in Greenland, where they took on board their sledge dogs and two Eskimo, Jens and Frederick, to look after them. On July 1 they resumed their journey in fairly open water. The season was especially mild, and they were able to make excellent travelling through the unimpeded water. On the way they stopped at Cary Islands and examined the records left there by Sir George Nares in 1875, and which had been examined once before by Sir Allen Young, in 1876. The sea was full of white whales, narwhals, and grampus. The latter has the reputation of being a voracious feeder, one authority stating that a dead grampus was found, choked by a seal he had attempted to swallow, although, when he was opened, his stomach was found to contain no fewer than thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals.

On August 4 the _Proteus_, for the first time during the voyage, was stopped by the ice. Being built specially for navigating the ice-covered seas, she was very powerful in the bows, which were further embellished by a strong iron prow. Thus she was able to force her way through ice which would have been impa.s.sable to a lighter craft. Her method, when she was faced by moderately thin ice which was yet thick enough to stop her ordinary progress, was to steam astern for a couple of hundred yards and then rush full speed at the ice. The strength of the iron prow and the force of her powerful engines drove her into the floe, but the operation was one that required great care. As she approached the floe, the crew, running from one side of the deck to the other, caused her to roll as she struck, the engines being reversed directly her prow penetrated the ice, so as to prevent her wedging herself in. This exciting operation was repeated several times when she met the floe in Lady Franklin Bay, and only by its means was she able to ram her way through and reach the destination of the expedition.

A site for landing was selected on the north of Discovery Bay (where the _Discovery_ wintered in 1876), and on August 11, 1881, Greely landed, and proceeded to the cairn which had been erected by the Nares expedition. Here he found two copper cases labelled "Reports and General Information." The date upon them, which showed when they were deposited, was August 11, 1876, exactly five years before to a day.

Proceeding a little distance from the spot where the _Discovery_ winter quarters had been erected, a suitable situation was marked out for "Fort Conger," which was to form the base of the operations pending the time when the relief ship was due to take the expedition home again.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHOOTING MUSK OX IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.

These animals form a welcome addition to the larder of the Arctic explorer.]

During the following week every one was hard at work erecting the frame house which was to form their home during the next two years, unloading stores and other articles belonging to the expedition, arranging the heavy casks and cases of imperishable provisions near the house, and exploring and hunting over the surrounding country. The hunting was a necessary part of the business, for winter would soon be in and no fresh meat would then be obtainable. So a few of the best shots spent their time in the valleys round the bay, where a large number of musk oxen and other game frequented.

On August 18, all the stores, &c., belonging to the party were landed from the _Proteus_, and that vessel, being discharged, got up steam and bade farewell. She was, however, prevented from getting out of sight until August 26, the ice setting in rapidly and strongly. The men of the party worked with such a will that they had their house built, the recording instruments erected in proper localities, the provisions stacked, and everything in order sufficiently early to permit them to carry out some surveys while the weather was yet mild enough for sledge travelling. Attention was also given to obtaining as much game as possible, and by the time that the temperature was cold enough to warrant their going into winter quarters and giving up outside work at any distance from Fort Conger, they had obtained for their larder twenty-six musk oxen and ten ducks, besides hare, seal, and ptarmigan, in all 6000 lbs. of fresh meat for their own food, and an equal amount for the dogs.

In the middle of September they were visited by a large pack of wolves.

These were first discovered prowling over the ice on the harbour in front of the encampment, and, fearing the loss of some of the dogs, as well as provisions, a hunting party went out to shoot them. But the wolves were too cunning, keeping out of range until the men were tired out. They were frequently fired at, but none fell, although, as subsequent events proved, this might not have been due to bad marksmanship. The Arctic wolves, as was discovered later, are perhaps the most tenacious of life of any of the Northern animals.

One was seen, a day or so later, within a hundred yards of the house. It was immediately fired at, and rolled over with a bullet through the body; but before the marksman could get over to where it lay, the apparently dead creature scrambled to its feet and made off, bleeding profusely. The trail left by the blood was distinctly visible on the snow, although the wolf itself, being covered with pure white fur, was quite invisible. For over an hour the trail was followed, and when at last the dead body was found, it lay practically bloodless, having struggled on while there was a drop of blood in its veins. In view of the difficulty of shooting them, the men resolved to poison them. But here, again, the wolves were not to be caught.

The first time that poisoned meat was put out it was left untouched.

Some good meat was added, and at once disappeared, though the pieces containing poison were still left alone. The poisoned baits were then taken up, and only good meat put down, the wolves always taking it until, their confidence being aroused, a few poisoned baits were mixed with the other. The experiment succeeded so well that when the baits were next visited four wolves and one fox were found dead. The others, evidently alarmed, made off and did not again return.

As October pa.s.sed the phenomena of the solar halo and aurora began to make their appearance. The observation of atmospheric conditions being one of the objects of the expedition, great attention was paid to these displays, and some excellent descriptions were given of them. One which occurred on October 21 and lasted five hours is thus described by the leader of the expedition:--

"It consisted of two concentric rings, distant 23 and 46 respectively from the sun, which were marked by five mock suns where the rainbow tints were most clearly displayed. This was followed at evening by the first aurora display, in the form of a delicate convoluted ribbon of colourless light. On the 24th there was another halo. This was a double one, there being two perfect concentric half-circles, distant 23 and 46 from the sun, each half-circle having a contact arch of magnificent clearness. No fewer than six mock suns appeared, two on either hand and two above the real sun, with prismatic colours in each case as vivid, and clear as in any rainbow, the heavens being filled with a great glow and wealth of colour."

After the sun had gone and the twilight of the long winter night had set in, the sky was vivid, at one time, with a wide sweep of red, yellow, and blue, marked by bars of white light running up and down.

Later, when the moon had risen, further atmospheric marvels were recorded.

On one occasion the moon was surrounded by two circles, 22 and 46 above the horizon. Both were topped by contact arches, and within them six mock moons were present, two on each side of the true moon, and two directly above it, all of which were brilliant with the colours of the rainbow. Spires of light proceeded from the moon vertically, reaching downwards to the horizon, and upwards to the outer circle. In addition to these, a brilliant streak of white clear light extended from the moon, horizontally, on both sides, completely round the horizon, and now and again a faint mock moon of rainbow colours appeared high over the whole, and another very low under it, making eight mock moons all visible at the same moment round the real one. The moon was also seen surrounded by a corona of four distinct bands of coloured light, the first white, the second yellow, the third blue, and the outer one red.

But all the experiences of the winter were not so gratifying as these aerial displays. As soon as the snow lay thick on the ground the men banked it up against the sides of the house until they were completely covered in up to the eaves. It then froze on the outside, and the house was practically covered in with ice. This was of very great value in preventing the loss of heat from the interior, and, later on, in saving the house from being blown away in a terrific hurricane which occurred.

But even with the protection of the frozen snow outside, and the constant burning of fires and lamps inside, the temperature of the house was, in midwinter, so cold that any water accidentally spilled on the floor turned to ice, and unless the ink-bottle was kept near a burning lamp, the ink froze at once. Outside everything except alcohol was frozen solid, the mercury being hard in the thermometers, and even the rum getting thick as syrup. The lime-juice, of which a daily ration was taken, was frozen into tablets, and so quickly did any liquid turn to ice that some of the sledge-dog puppies were frozen to the ground through running on to the place where the warm contents of the slush-bucket were thrown.

Early in January the barometer, falling very rapidly, warned them that a severe storm was approaching. Suddenly a fierce gust of wind swept over the house, followed by a steady blow, the apparatus for registering the velocity of the wind showing it to be at the rate of eighteen miles an hour. The barometer continuing to fall, a man was sent out to take an observation from an outside station, but the force of the wind had increased so much that he could not face it alone, and two men had to go. The air was soon filled with driving snow, and the rate of the wind reached fifty miles an hour. It was now only possible for six men, supporting one another, to stand against the dense volumes of snow which the wind carried. When the velocity attained to sixty-five miles an hour, fears were entertained as to the safety of the house. But still the wind increased until, in a series of terrific gusts and squalls, the house rocked and trembled as the register marked ninety miles an hour.

It was a moment of intense anxiety for the members of the party, for the destruction of the house at that period of the year would almost inevitably have meant their own destruction. Fortunately it was securely built and so well protected by the banked-up snow, that it withstood the fury of the hurricane.

This furious outburst was the final effort of the winter, for within a few days of its occurrence the sky began to show signs of the approaching sunrise; with the advent of light the spirits of the party, necessarily depressed by the prolonged darkness, rapidly resumed their normal contentment. When at last enough natural light existed for the men to see one another, they were amused at the appearance of their faces. The prolonged absence of sunlight had entirely robbed their cheeks of any semblance of ruddiness, their complexions having changed to a ghastly yellowy green tint, as though each one was suffering from a severe attack of sea-sickness. The murky light of the lamps had not revealed the change, and the more vainglorious were considerably disturbed at their bleached cheeks, fearful lest the pallor should always remain, like the whiteness of the bear's fur. But it pa.s.sed off under the influence of the sunshine.

Nor was this the only change produced by the sun. The effect of it upon the land was so p.r.o.nounced as almost to seem marvellous. Directly spring set in sledge parties were despatched in all directions to survey and spy out the country. One was led by Greely himself, its course being along the route marked out, for a certain distance, by one of the _Discovery_ parties in 1876.

Pa.s.sing beyond the limits of the previous exploration, a large river, entirely frozen over, was discovered, and along its course the party made their way. The ice was wonderfully smooth in comparison with that on the salt water, and excellent travelling was made, the men and sledges frequently being able to slide for a hundred yards at a time. At the head of the river they found an enormous glacier completely blocking up the valley, extending five miles from side to side, and 175 feet high. This was late in April, and everywhere the ground was covered with ice and snow, desolate and motionless, with no sign of life, and no sound, save the faint gurgle of running water which was occasionally noticed under the ice on the river.

Early in July, little more than two months later, this valley was again visited, but so great was the change in its appearance that the men might have doubted its ident.i.ty with the cold, desolate place they had previously seen, but for the existence of the sparkling glacier. The river now flowed along, glittering in the bright sunlight, between banks covered with flowering plants. Bright yellow poppies gleamed all over the verdure-clad slopes, with st.u.r.dy heath blooms, daisies, and other blossoms mingling, and over them were flitting innumerable white and yellow b.u.t.terflies. Humble bees droned, and flies, including the familiar daddy-long-legs, were everywhere present, as well as their arch-enemies, the spiders. Ptarmigan, their white plumage somewhat speckled with dark feathers, plovers, and birds of smaller size, were seen on the wing; while over the verdant sides of the valley and along the banks of the river, large herds of musk oxen were browsing, with calves following the cows. The sky was brilliantly blue and almost free from clouds. In the face of so much that was beautiful and full of life, it was difficult to realise that a few weeks later the valley would again be desolate and deserted, owning once more the supremacy of the icy grip of the frost and snow.

Exploring the valley carefully, some very interesting discoveries were made of ancient Eskimo dwellings. A number of relics were obtained, some of them being implements which were quite unintelligible to the Greenland Eskimos who were with the party. The remains of the houses showed that they had originally been substantial structures, built of slate, and must have been permanent residences rather than mere summer quarters.

While the interior of the country was being explored, other sledge parties set out over the frozen sea. One of these journeyed North, and reached the spot where the _Alert_ had pa.s.sed the winter in 1875. It was intended to continue the journey over the ice towards the Pole similarly to the sledge party Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr had led, but the ice was too rough for them. They pa.s.sed beyond Cape Sheridan and set out towards the North, but turned back, finding "nothing but an inextricable ma.s.s of huge bergs, and enormous hummocks piled up in a similar manner as when journeyed over by Commander Markham." The scientific instruments they had with them had to be abandoned at one place, owing to a sudden opening of the ice, but they approximated their highest lat.i.tude as being 82 56' N. From the summit of a high berg, they fancied they saw open water to the North, and then they returned to the land, finding cliffs which rose 2000 feet straight out of the water, and along the base of which the ice lay piled in tremendous heaps.

Another party, under Lieutenant Lockwood, the second in command of the expedition, set out in the early spring across the frozen straits to Greenland. This was over a similar route to that taken by Lieutenant Beaumont of the _Discovery_; but the later expedition, not having to struggle against the affliction of scurvy which had proved so disastrous to the _Discovery_ party, was able to reach a far higher lat.i.tude.

The party consisted of Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and the Eskimo Frederick, and they succeeded in reaching the most northerly point that had yet been discovered, not only on the coast of Greenland, but also in the Arctic regions. The lat.i.tude recorded was 83 23' 8" N., and thus the honour, which for three hundred years had been the boast of the British, the honour of having attained the nearest point to the North Pole reached by man, was wrested from the British Lion by its cousin, the American Eagle.

Although only three men were in the party which reached this high lat.i.tude, the party which set out from Fort Conger comprised thirteen men and five sledges. The experience gained by the members of the Nares expedition was of the utmost value to subsequent explorers, and the members of the Greely expedition always made acknowledgment of this fact, coupled with very complimentary references to the skill, the courage, and the devotion of those whom they termed "our kin from over the sea." Thus it was that in laying the plans for this northerly trip they provided for a series of food depots and relief parties all along the route. Several of the former had been placed in position during the early spring, and there is no doubt that this arrangement contributed very materially to the success of the enterprise. The last depot was formed when nearly in sight of Cape Britannia, and from thence the small party of three pushed forward. The dog team saved them an enormous amount of labour by dragging the sledge for them, but even then they found the travelling exceedingly difficult. Their sleeping-bags were damp, and consequently they were always compelled to rest in great discomfort. As they approached Cape Britannia the route became more difficult, and their best march was sixteen miles in ten hours. Beyond the cape an island was reached, to which the name of the leader, Lieutenant Lockwood, was given, and the extreme point of which furnished their "farthest North." The coast line still showed beyond, and to the most distant point the name of Cape Washington was given. Then the small band turned back, having succeeded in reaching a few miles nearer the Pole than Commander Markham, whose journey, however, was over the frozen sea, whereas the other was along the Greenland coast.

The following spring, to antic.i.p.ate the course of the narrative, another effort was made to reach Cape Washington, but so rapid a thaw set in that the party had to turn back before reaching as far as Lockwood Island. They, however, secured all the relics of Lieutenant Beaumont's party, including a British ensign, which were faithfully preserved throughout the terrible privations the expedition was fated to undergo.

These relics were subsequently forwarded by the United States Government to the British and are now in the Greenwich Museum with the Franklin mementoes, treasured not only as emblems of British courage but also of American good-will. Of the memorable record left by Lieutenant Beaumont at Repulse Bay, its perusal by the members of the Greely expedition is thus described by the leader:--

"This brilliant record of British courage, discipline, devotion to duty and endurance, must ever affect deeply all who may read its full details. To the men of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, who justly appreciated the terrible contingencies of the situation, and who bore similar dangers, this story, as told by the gallant Beaumont, was full of deep and a.s.suring interest."

The American festival of "Decoration Day" occurred while the party were at Polaris Bay, the place where the two _Discovery_ men who died were buried. The festival is one for the commemoration of American heroes, and on that day throughout the United States all the graves of their heroes are decorated. Here on the bleak, barren Greenland coast they remembered the festival, and kept it by taking the Stars and Stripes from the sledge poles and draping them over the rough monuments erected above the remains of the two British sailors.

The second winter that was pa.s.sed at Fort Conger was monotonous and gloomy. The experience of the previous period of darkness was of great service, inasmuch as the comfort of the expedition was improved in many ways. The piled-up snow which had formed so useful a protection the year before was carried right over the roof, considerably increasing the warmth and snugness of the interior. But there was one fact which weighed somewhat heavily on the minds of every one. A relief steamer was expected before the winter set in, and it had not arrived. There was still an abundant supply of food, and no alarm was felt on that score; but the novelty of the surroundings having worn off, the prospect of the long, weary stretch of darkness had a depressing influence. It, however, pa.s.sed without any untoward incident, and with the return of the sun field work was resumed. The most notable journey was that of Lieutenant Lockwood and his companion on the "farthest North" trip, Sergeant Brainard, who, in one month, covered 437 miles of the hitherto unexplored interior parts of Grinnel Land, discovering numerous lakes and glaciers. One of the latter was of particular interest by reason of the vari-coloured face it presented. The top layer, which overhung slightly, was of dull opaque white, that immediately beneath it ranging in colour from pale green to a clear blue, while the next and thickest layer was of a rich chocolate colour, due to the soil which had been frozen in with the water. The lowest streak was similar to the topmost, dull opaque white.

In their absence the remainder of the explorers were busily engaged in establishing food depots to the south, along the route they would be compelled to take in the event of a retreat being necessary. The non-arrival of the relief steamer prior to the winter gave rise to some speculation whether it would arrive in the spring, and a plan was arranged for a retreat to the south being carried out, if no relief ship came, in the boats the expedition possessed. These consisted of a steam launch 27 feet long, an iceboat which had been abandoned by Lieutenant Beaumont in 1876, and two whale-boats. A depot of forty days' full rations was placed at Cape Baird and another of twenty days' rations at Cape Collinson, as soon as the ice was open enough to allow the launch to proceed. Then when it had returned and all the survey parties were in, a decision was come to that if no steamer arrived by July 31 the retreat would be commenced.

July pa.s.sed and August arrived, but there were no signs of the approach of any relief steamer, and, on August 9, with the boats loaded with the records of the work done and as much food as could be stored in them, the party bade farewell to Fort Conger and started on their memorable journey. The lateness of the season made navigation extremely difficult for such small craft, and they were frequently impeded by ice which would have offered no obstacle to a big steamer. They had scarcely got out of sight of the house where they had pa.s.sed the two long dark winters before they were so beset with loose ice that progress was almost impossible. Then new ice formed round them, and they were hard and fast. The fact that they only carried a limited supply of fuel made their position more serious, and when, on August 18, a temporary breaking in the floes enabled them to move forward, there was a general rejoicing. But it was soon checked on discovering that they were forced inside of a huge ma.s.s of ice over fifty feet high and extending right up to the solid floe. It was impossible to turn back and fight through the drifting ice behind them, and the only hope of escape seemed to be to steam on in case there might be a channel through the floe ahead.