The Romance of Polar Exploration Part 8

Occasionally, when the wind was favourable, sails were erected on the sledges and the progress was then very easy and rapid; but when the wind was from the opposite direction both dogs and men had an arduous task.

The return journey was accomplished with greater facility than the outward trip, and on August 8, as they reached the top of one of the dome-like formations near the coastal range, they saw, on the slope of the next dome, a party of men approaching. The Kite had meantime returned to Inglefield Gulf to take the expedition back to the United States, and several of those who had come up in her set out to meet the two explorers. By the time that the combined parties reached the sh.o.r.e, every one was on board the _Kite_ waiting to welcome the two wanderers, whose enterprise had terminated so successfully, not the least delighted being Mrs. Peary, whose patience had been somewhat tried by the persistent way in which the "huskies" had foretold disaster to her husband. But all is well that ends well, and in his return, victorious, the long lonely hours were forgotten.

CHAPTER VIII

NANSEN AND THE _FRAM_

Nansen's Theories of Arctic Currents and Shipbuilding--His Theories adopted--The _Fram_ built--A Start made--The Kara Sea reached--Good Hunting--The Ice Current reached--Frozen in--A Raid by a Bear--Will the _Fram_ stand the Pressure?--Preparing for Calamity--A Conclusive Test--Causes of Ice Movements--Life on the _Fram_--Nansen and Johansen leave the _Fram_--They reach their "Farthest North"--Incidents of their Return Journey--Some Narrow Escapes--The Meeting with Jackson--Arrival of the _Fram_.

In 1879 the _Jeannette_, an American yacht commanded by Lieutenant de Long, of the United States Navy, was beset in the ice in lat.i.tude 71 35' N. and longitude 175 6' E. So firmly was she frozen that it was found impossible to liberate her, and on June 12, 1881, she was so badly crushed in a break up of the pack that she foundered. In the meantime she had drifted with the ice to 77 15' N. lat.i.tude and 154 59' E.

longitude, a point to the north of the New Siberian Islands. In 1884 articles undoubtedly belonging to members of her crew were found in floating ice off the coast of Greenland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS SHOWING ROUTE OF NANSEN AND THE _FRAM_.]

These facts caused a very great deal of discussion among Arctic explorers, and the general opinion expressed was that a strong and steady current evidently flowed along the course taken first by the _Jeannette_, and secondly by the relics. To arrive at that conclusion was not very difficult; to utilise the knowledge thus gained, and profit by it, was the point, and only one man in the world was possessed of the necessary amount of insight, backed up by intellect and courage, to enable him to do so. This man was Fridtjof Nansen.

As a student of Arctic phenomena, and as one who had crossed Greenland from east to west, the existence of this current was full of suggestive possibilities. It seemed to him that if a vessel were built of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure of the winter ice, and provisioned for a sufficiently long period, there was every chance of it drifting along the entire course of the current, perhaps to within a measurable distance of the Pole, and certainly well within that region which had hitherto been unexplored. The area affected by the current would have to be entered as near the outside edge as possible, so as to partic.i.p.ate in the full sweep of its curve, and, in order to avoid the terrible crushing pressure of the winter ice, the vessel would have to be so built as to enable it to slip upwards from the ice, when the pressure became too severe, and rest always on the top.

On the publication of these views, they were not supported by the Arctic veterans. Some went so far as to characterise the whole scheme as being unworthy of serious consideration, while others, less overbearingly prejudiced, were aghast at the daring and audacity of the scheme. The possibility of the drift pa.s.sing over the route suggested by Nansen was not gainsaid by those whose close knowledge of Arctic problems, and desire for general information, made them more tolerant than the keen opponents of the scheme--the latter, strangely enough, being men whose own exploits had not been the most successful in Polar exploration. The hero of the _Alert_ sledge journey admitted the feasibility of the drift theory, but shook his head at the idea of any ship withstanding the winter pressure of the great ice packs in the far North. A ship once caught and frozen in became part of the ice itself, and when the pressure crushed ma.s.ses a hundred feet thick into minute fragments and powder, what chance would a vessel, held in such a ma.s.s, have of escaping?

But Nansen was not to be discouraged. He had the true insight of genius, that insight which gave him the confidence in his own idea and which needed something more than verbal reasons to overthrow it. His idea also recommended itself to a Norwegian shipbuilder, Mr. Colin Archer, who expressed his readiness to construct such a vessel as Nansen had described. The Norwegian Government also were impressed by the scheme and voted over 11,000 towards the cost of carrying it out, and other support being forthcoming, the intrepid explorer was at length able to take definite steps to prove or disprove his contention.

The building of the _Fram_ was at once commenced. She was built of wood and of tremendous strength, her beams and sides being of the utmost thickness, while on the outside of the hull not a single angle was allowed to remain. Every projection was carefully rounded off and smoothed, so that there should not be as much as half an inch protruding and capable of affording the ice a holding place. Even the keel was sacrificed to the general idea of avoiding possible holding places for the ice. The lines of the ship were necessarily different from those of the ordinary vessel. Her sides bulged outwards and the stern and stem sloped away, so that whichever way the ice exerted the pressure, the _Fram_ would present a smooth surface to the ice, inclined in such a way that the tendency of the ice would be to get under it and so lift the vessel up. This did not improve her qualities as a sea boat, and the way in which she pitched, plunged, and rolled, whenever she came into a moving sea, tried the seafaring capacities of every one on board.

She was fitted with engines and a screw, and was rigged as a three-masted fore-and-aft schooner. Electric light was laid on all over her, the power being generated by a windmill when the engine was not working. Every available crevice was utilised for the storing of coals and provisions.

By the middle of June 1893 the thirteen men who formed the expedition had succeeded in finding a place for everything, though not without some difficulty, for the quant.i.ty of the stores which had to be packed was enormous. By a delay in delivery, just as they were congratulating themselves that everything was stowed away, a shipment of dog biscuits arrived. The ship was full already, but the biscuits had to be stored somewhere, so one of the men wriggled right up into the bows, and between the beams and the ribs he packed away the troublesome late arrivals. Everything was at last on board and stored, and on June 24, 1893, the _Fram_ started on her memorable journey.

Leaving North Cape, she headed for Kharbarova, on the Northern Siberian coast, and the point where the team of Siberian sledge dogs were to be taken on board. On July 29 she dropped anchor off the quaint little settlement and found the dogs duly waiting. A ship with coal ought also to have been there, but it did not arrive up to the time that the _Fram_, having shipped the dogs, was compelled to leave. She would soon be in the Kara Sea, where a year would have to be spent if she were caught in the ice. The season was pa.s.sing rapidly, and no time could be lost if the Kara Sea were to be pa.s.sed before winter set in, so the anchor was weighed and the _Fram_ steamed away without her extra supply of coal.

On August 4 the Kara Sea was reached. The ice, although not heavy enough to prevent further progress, with the adverse currents caused considerable delays, and the crew utilised their enforced leisure by visiting the neighbouring land and laying in a store of fresh meat. They were successful in obtaining reindeer venison and ducks, and it was here also that the first bear was killed.

It happened on the Kjellman Islands. The _Fram_ had come to anchor under their shelter, when some one raised the cry that there were reindeer on the sh.o.r.e. Immediately a hunting party was formed, and eight of the members rowed ash.o.r.e. They separated into couples and spread out in search of the deer, which, however, were extremely shy. Two of the hunters, failing to get near the herd, decided to sit down and wait until the other members succeeded in stalking round the deer and turning them back. Suddenly one of the two, looking round towards the sh.o.r.e, espied a bear coming towards them. They waited for him to come within easy range, when they fired together, striking him in the right foreleg.

He turned back at once towards the sh.o.r.e, and another bullet in one of his hind-legs did not stop him. Fearing that he might escape, one of the two ran after him and managed to put a bullet in his shoulder, which brought him to the ground. The bear staggered to his feet again, and in turning towards his a.s.sailants presented his unwounded side to them, with the result that another bullet was discharged into it, and he fell to the ground unable to move; but to make certain that he was not "foxing," yet another bullet was put into his head.

The result of the day's shooting was excellent, the bag consisting of bear, deer, seal, and duck, providing plenty of fresh meat for the members of the expedition, as well as a good supply of food for the dogs. Within a few days they were able to add to the larder by killing some walrus, a feat which was not achieved without some danger and loss.

The _Fram_ had come to anchor in consequence of the ice lying rather thickly ahead, when a group of walrus was seen on a floating ma.s.s of ice. A boat was immediately lowered, and with one man armed with a harpoon in the bows, and Nansen armed with a rifle in the stern, it was cautiously rowed towards the listless walrus. They did not show any sign of life until the boat was close upon them, when the sentinel raised his head and looked towards the boat. When a number are basking, one is always on duty as a sentinel to give the alarm and warn the others of approaching danger. Directly those in the boat saw which was the sentinel, they kept a close watch upon him, remaining as still as possible when he raised his head and only urging the boat forward gently when he resumed his former lazy att.i.tude. By very careful manoeuvring they were able to creep close up to the ice. The sentinel again raised his head and looked at them, but as no one moved he seemed to be satisfied and lowered his head once more.

A sharp stroke of the oars drove the boat right on to the ice, and the man with the harpoon let drive at the group. Due, perhaps, to the movement of the boat, his aim was too high, and instead of plunging into the great body of the nearest monster, the harpoon glanced off his back and over the backs of the others. They were roused at once and turned upon the boat, bellowing loudly. Nansen fired upon the leader, a bull with tremendous tusks, and he fell over, but the others did not stop.

The boat was pushed off, and at the same moment Nansen shot a second bull. The remainder of the herd plunged into the water from off the ice and swam after the boat, rising up alongside it and attempting to drag it down with their huge tusks. For a time the fight was furious, but the three men were too strong, and those of the walrus that were not killed made off under water. The two shot on the ice were secured, but those shot in the water sank before they could be reached.

As the men were getting the two from the ice into the boat, an unfortunate lurch jerked the rifle Nansen had been using overboard. It was a favourite weapon which he was very loth to lose, and for hours efforts were made to drag it up, but without success. It was hopelessly lost, and the first brush with the walrus thus became memorable. A year or two later there was another adventure with them which was even more memorable, but many were to be slain by the explorers in the meantime, and many miles were to be covered before that adventure came to pa.s.s.

On September 10 the _Fram_ had made her way through the ice-enc.u.mbered sea as far as Cape Chelyuskin, the most northerly point of Europe. There was great rejoicing on board, for the fact that such a point had been reached meant that they would be in the region of the current before winter set in, and that, when the _Fram_ became frozen in, it would be in the ice affected by the drift. A week later, the course was altered, and the _Fram_ was headed for the North. The ice became heavier and closer as she advanced towards the limit of the ice-floes, and as the sun was sinking nearer and nearer the horizon, the cold became more intense at every mile. As long as there was open water ahead the energetic crew kept working their vessel so as to get her as high up as possible into the area affected by the current; but when they had pa.s.sed the line which marks the limit of the floes, they soon found that further navigation was impossible. The _Fram_ was soon fast in the ice and, with winter upon them, the crew made themselves and the ship as comfortable as they could.

The builder of the _Fram_ had given attention not alone to the exterior of the vessel; he had also made the internal arrangements as complete as possible for the comfort of the explorers during the prolonged period they were to remain in the ice. Now that they were in the pack, they realised how well their comfort had been considered. For the matter of that, they had always found their quarters cosy, even when the _Fram_ displayed her capabilities of rolling and tossing. The main cabin, in which they lived, was always warm, and the pa.s.sage-ways leading from it to the outside were so skilfully arranged that those on board did not experience the distressing moisture which was so troublesome on the _Alert_ and _Discovery_. The electric light as a subst.i.tute for lamps was also an admirable innovation, for the interior of the cabin was always brightly lit without the air becoming heavy, as would have been the case with exposed lamps. A great deal of thought had also been given to ventilation, with the result that the cabins were never close.

Over the deck a large screen was erected, tent shape, and above it there was reared the windmill which drove the electric motor and generated the electricity for the lights. As the ship was to remain in the ice until it drifted out again, everything was made snug for a long stay. On the ice alongside various observatories were erected and scientific instruments placed to make complete records, and later, a row of comfortable kennels was made for the accommodation of the dogs.

These animals at first had been somewhat troublesome. They were so savage that it was necessary to keep them all tied up on deck, and during the voyage along the coast they were frequently wet and miserable, and incessantly howling. Once, rope muzzles were made, and when each dog was fitted they were allowed loose; but an Arctic dog requires something stronger than a rope to keep its jaws closed when let loose among a lot of other Arctic dogs. The result of the experiment was not a success, except from a dog-fight point of view; when at length the struggling, snarling, snapping pack were separated, they were tied up again to the deck until the ship was fast in the ice.

By that time they were somewhat reconciled to one another; when they had been allowed to have a scamper or two, with plenty of opportunity to find out who were the kings and who were not, they settled down into a big happy family, even making common cause when a stray bear came on board later in the winter.

This happened at a time when every one was below in the cabin. Each man took it in turn to look round the deck every now and again. The man whose watch it was had not long returned to the cabin when a tremendous hubbub started among the dogs. The watch returned on deck with a lamp, but failed to see any cause for the disturbance, and attributed it to a new election of a king or some other canine ceremony. Later it broke out once more, and a further inspection was made, when it was discovered that two dogs were missing.

The man on watch, carrying his lantern, and accompanied by another member of the crew, set out over the ice, following what appeared to be a track in the snow. They had not proceeded far when they found themselves face to face with a bear. It was difficult to say which was the more surprised, the bear or the men; but as the latter had no weapon with them they decided that a return to the ship was the best course to pursue. They turned and started at a run, the man with the lantern, having heavier boots on, being the slower of the two. More than that, he was not so agile as his companion, and stumbled frequently. Once he went down full length, and when he regained his feet he was astounded to see in the dim twilight, and between himself and the ship, the form of the bear.

For a moment they stood looking at one another, the dogs at a respectable distance baying and howling. Then the bear advanced and made a snap at the man, nipping him in the thigh. The lantern was not a very heavy one, but it was all the man had with which to defend himself, and, swinging it round with all his strength, he brought it down on the bear's head. It made him let go his hold, and a few of the dogs rushing nearer to him caused him to turn towards them, thus giving the man a chance to resume his flight, which he immediately did.

By the time he was able to scramble up on to the vessel he found half of the crew tumbling out of the cabin with rifles. They ranged themselves along the side of the ship, and taking a steady aim at the bear, which could be dimly seen in the twilight, all pulled their triggers. They had forgotten, in the hurry of the moment, how well the firearms had been greased to prevent them rusting, and so the volley failed to fire a single shot. Meanwhile the dogs surrounded the bear, snarling and barking, but not going near enough to bite or get bitten. He looked wisely round the ring and then started off at a slouching walk, just as Nansen reached the deck with his rifle. His weapon did not misfire, and a bullet checked the bear's flight, and, some of the other guns now being effective, several more were put into him and laid him low.

Subsequent search revealed the remains of the two dogs a little distance away from the _Fram_, whither they had been dragged by the bear.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE _FRAM_ IN THE ICE.

"The _Fram_ was in 78 50' N. lat.i.tude when she was first frozen in" for the beginning of the great drift.]

The _Fram_ was in 78 50' N. lat.i.tude when she was first frozen in, and the observations for the next few days were watched with a good deal of interest, as every one was anxious to know whether they were in the drift, and at what rate they were travelling. A very great surprise was therefore experienced when it became known that instead of travelling, as they expected they would, in a north-westerly direction, they were going south-east. For several days they speculated whether they had misjudged the place where they would meet the north drift, and had, instead, become fast in ice which would carry them away, rather than towards their goal. It was a very unpleasant uncertainty, and when the discovery was made that the direction had changed and the vessel was slowly but surely drifting northward, there was general rejoicing on board. The ice around the _Fram_ was now over thirty feet in thickness, and, as it was constantly moving in the drift, so was it also subject to the pressure which made it heave and pile itself in great rugged broken ma.s.ses. There was a constant creaking and groaning in the vast pack which made it evident that the pressure had begun. Throughout the winter it would continue, getting more and more severe as the cold became more intense. Would the _Fram_ justify her designer and builder under the trial?

It was a very anxious question for those on board. One authority had said she would become so securely frozen in as to be, to all intents and purposes, a part of the ice body, and that then, if the ice immediately in her vicinity began to move and work, nothing could save her from being crushed into matchwood by the enormous pressure. Well, she was now frozen into such a ma.s.s, and frozen so firmly that she did not budge an inch when the groaning and creaking told of the straining that was going on. The surface of the ice, as far as the explorers could see, was constantly undergoing a change, as the force of the movement pressed great blocks up in one place, and ground them away in another. Jagged, rugged ma.s.ses reared themselves up before the irresistible power, until they stood forty and fifty feet high. Sometimes they were forced up so high that they overbalanced and crashed down upon the lower ma.s.ses with the roar and rattle of thunder. And yet the _Fram_ never moved.

Was the expert opinion going to be verified? Would the ship, held by the grip of the pack, be slowly crushed into fragments directly she was caught in the line of movement? It was evidently not impossible, and precautions were taken so as to insure escape if she were to be caught and crushed. All the boats were taken out on to the ice and filled with provisions; the dogs were put in kennels also on the ice where they would be free to escape, and every one was constantly on the alert for the first sign of the "nip."

At last it came. They were all at meals when the increased uproar of the moving ice told them that the movement was nearing the vessel. Then, for the first time, they heard the ominous sounds of creaking timber. The _Fram_ was being "nipped."

Every one hurried out of the cabin to see to the boats and the dogs and the stores. When they reached the open they found that, close upon her port side, the ice was heaving and piling up into a great ma.s.sive wall, while all around the noise of the fracturing and cracking of huge blocks was deafening. Slowly the wall rose in the air higher than the vessel's deck, higher than the bulwarks, and then it began steadily to glide towards her. For the moment it seemed that nothing could save her, and that the stupendous weight of the gliding wall would soon grind her solid timbers into splinters, while part of it crashed over her decks and swept spars and everything away.

Silent the members of the crew stood on the ice on the starboard side watching and expecting every second to see the moving ma.s.s creep up to her and pulverise the bold little _Fram_, rendering them homeless and shipless. Some of the crushed ice, pushed forward in a huge roll like a frozen billow, was actually against her side and rising over the tent covering on the deck. The line of pressure had now reached exactly where she lay in the ice, and if she did not yield to it and slip from the grip that held her, she was doomed.

There was a sound of rending; a groaning crash; the _Fram_ shivered till the breathless watchers thought they saw her spars tremble. Then, with a mighty wrench, she broke from the bonds that held her, and slowly rose from her nest in the ice, slipping upwards and away from the crushing force. A cheer burst from the lips of every one as she moved, for it meant not only the realisation of the hopes and ideals of those concerned in her construction and the complete vindication of their faith in her, but also the guarantee that the explorers were safely and securely housed, whatever might transpire.

When the movement in the ice had subsided, it was found that the _Fram_ had slipped out of harm's way in a marvellous manner. So firmly had she been frozen in that the spot from whence she had been driven contained a complete mould of her shape, every seam and mark being reproduced in the ice. This proved that the test had not only been a severe one, but conclusive as well, since the vessel had really been frozen so solid into a ma.s.s of ice as to be a part of the ma.s.s. Her escape was an overwhelming disproof of the adverse theories expressed against her, and an entire victory for Nansen. There was now no question in any one's mind as to the result of the expedition; the _Fram_, having stood one test, would stand any, and nothing could stop her emerging in due course out on to the open sea again, having drifted very near to the Pole, if not quite up to it.

With a feeling of absolute security against further pressures and movements, the crew returned on board, and once more the cabin echoed to the light-hearted laughter which had been interrupted by the "nip." The hardy Nors.e.m.e.n who formed the party were as happy as they were brave, and throughout the years they were together there was nothing but good-humour and merriment among them. After the preliminary experience of how the _Fram_ conducted herself during a "nip," little attention was paid to the ceaseless noise and roaring set up by the moving ice. Often she was forced up out of the line of movement, but the men in her cabin sat quiet; she was able to "sail herself" without any help on that ice-locked sea.

The existence of this constant movement of the ice formed a very important discovery in Arctic knowledge. A brief explanation of the causes and the effects may make this clear, and, at the same time, show how it is that such huge mountains of ice are formed in the depth of winter when the Polar Sea was currently supposed to be frozen into one great silent moveless ice-field.

As winter sets in within the Arctic Circle, the sea which flows between the northern coasts of Europe, Asia, and America becomes covered with ice to the sh.o.r.es, thus forming an enormous field of ice some two thousand miles across. This, lying on the surface of the water, often having a thickness of from thirty to fifty feet, checks, but cannot control the tides. The ebb, on one hand, leaves vast tracks of ice, previously afloat, straining on the ground, cracking so as to form enormous fissures and weakening the surface resistance. On the other hand, the flood tide is welling and pressing against the overlying barrier of ice and lifting it up until it cracks and opens, the pressure underneath lifting the separated ma.s.ses on to their neighbours, which in turn resist with all their weight and grind back upon the ma.s.ses beyond, until with the turn of the tide the forced-up ma.s.ses gravitate down again, tumbling, crashing, bounding and rebounding one upon the other.

Meanwhile the ice lowered by the ebb tide has formed a restricted crust against which the flood tide, backed up by the weight of the disturbed ma.s.ses, uses its energy as a man uses his shoulder to lift a load. It is a battle between the resistance and the energy of nature, and usually energy wins along the line of the least resistance. Here, when once a point gives way, the acc.u.mulated energy concentrates. The "point" may be an area of ice a hundred miles square and fifty feet thick, and this tremendous ma.s.s, moved by the immeasurable force of the water pressure beneath it, grinds upon its surroundings and upon itself. Huge ma.s.ses are pushed up on to the surface of the pack, crushing, grinding, and splintering as they go, their weight causing the under ice to bend and crack, and so add to the confusion of the struggle. Ma.s.s meets ma.s.s in a test of strength, and, failing to climb over one another, crush together, closer and higher, until there is a diminution of the pressure from below and they surge back, shattering themselves in the commotion and yet binding themselves into a single unit strong enough to resist the next onslaught of the tidal energy.

Along the sh.o.r.es, where the solid compactness of beetling cliffs holds back the sweep of the tide, the ice piles itself in mountainous ridges and chains. Those of greater bulk, taking the ground, offer a resistance against which the lesser ma.s.ses can only strain and grind; but away out in the unfathomable depths of the Polar Sea there is no chance of the ice ever grounding. It is always floating, and so always susceptible to the force of wind, tide, and current. Consequently it is always moving and feeling the pressure of the water below, of the grinding strain of the drift, and of the surface disturbances brought about by the constant displacement.

Any one who has seen a pond in winter, when the ice round the edge is rotten and when a breeze blows across it, is aware how the loose sheet which covers the centre creaks and groans as it is driven against the bank. The edge is shivered into small flakes before the resistance can stop the forward movement, and then the sheet moves back against the breeze until once more the power of the wind controls it, and there is a renewed straining along the bank, the previously broken flakes either being forced up on to the bank, or else under, or over, the edge of the sheet. Pieces a yard square slowly rise up on end before the pressure and, falling back, shiver into fragments which scurry across the smooth surface of the sheet until they are arrested and become frozen to the main surface. Everywhere when the forward movement is on there is noise of creaking, groaning, and cracking, and everywhere on the ice sheet there is evidence of the force exerted.

The Arctic Ocean may be likened to such a pond, only two thousand miles across and with ice upon its surface which never melts and is always being forced one way or the other by tide, wind, or current. The rugged, piled-up fragments of one winter's fight are smoothed over somewhat later on by the heavy snows of spring and summer, or, more correctly speaking, of the period of daylight, for in this region the year is divided between the time when the sun is seen and when the sun is not seen. Along the sh.o.r.es of the continents which surround it, open water forms in the time of sunshine, and so there is room for the energy of the tides to escape. The currents can also, from time to time, break off great areas into floes and packs which drift away to the warmer South until they melt, leaving more room for the enormous stretch of tumbled ruggedness behind them to swing and drift in obedience to the driving currents. It will be remembered that it was at this period of the year when the _Alert_ party travelled over the ice and found it so broken and rugged that barely a mile a day was covered. It was while this sort of ice was being formed that the _Fram_ and her crew rested in the North, the vessel braving every nip by slipping upwards from the pressure; the crew, confident in her capabilities, living in merry good-humour in her cabin. What the confusion of the ice was like may be gathered from the opinion of those who saw it when the return of the sun enabled them to do so, and also relieved the pressure. "Imagine a stormy sea, all broken waves and flying billows, suddenly frozen solid into ice, and you have some idea, on a small scale, of the piled-up hummocks on the pack."