Let us imagine a scientific observer able to take a position in the prolongation of the earth's axis above the North Pole, and so gifted with superhuman vision as to see the traces of the explorers of the present century.
Facing south in the plane of the initial meridian he would see, almost in front of him, the route by which Parry made his arduous effort to reach the Pole in July, 1827, when, by great exertion and commendable perseverance, with boats and sledges he attained latitude 82° 45' N., and, meeting with the main polar pack drifting to the southward, was forced, reluctantly, to give up the attempt which was not eclipsed until nearly half a century later. Here also is the scene of Koldewey's efforts in 1868, and of the five Swedish expeditions under Nordenskiold, as well as of the hazardous voyage of the U. S. steamer Alliance in search of the Jeannette during the summer of 1881.
Looking to the left the observer would see Franz Josef Land, which, lying above the 80th parallel, was discovered in the autumn of 1871 by the Austro-Hungarian Expedition under Lieutenants Weyprecht and Payer, and is, doubtless, the most important arctic discovery of the century.
Now, facing to the right, he sees the great Baffin Bay and Smith Sound route by which Hall in the Polaris (1871-72), Nares in the Alert (1875-76), and Lockwood of the Greely Colony (1882-83) pushed exploration beyond the eighty-second and into the eighty-third degree.
Having thus taken a bird's-eye view of the work on the European side, should the observer face about, looking along the opposite branch of the initial meridian, and then towards the right and left, he would see the half circle of territory bounded by the eightieth parallel into which the explorer has never entered, and, clinging to it on the southern border, a large crescent of unknown region, along the desolate edge of which is the zig-zag track of the Jeannette, and the place at which she was crushed and sunk by the merciless ice. Stretching out before and beneath him are the icy circumpolar regions, practically land-locked on the Asiatic and British American sides, whilst towards the European side would be seen a mighty stream of ice sweeping out between Spitzbergen and Greenland, also a powerful tributary pouring down Smith Sound, reinforced by the icebergs of Baffin's Bay, and drifting as far south as the Newfoundland Banks before the fields and bergs are disintegrated and dissolved by the action of the sun and the warm Atlantic waters.
How can we best judge of what so gifted and well placed an observer would see in the region that is now to us a sealed book?
The case is similar to that of a mighty river, the headwaters of which are considered inaccessible to man. By ascending the river as far as possible, studying the natural characteristics and phenomena of the vicinity, and examining what is brought down by the currents, he can form a fair conception of what may be found in the unexplored region beyond, and, after due consideration, determine whether the advantages to be gained will compensate for the tremendous effort and probable sacrifice of life necessary to overcome the almost insurmountable obstacles to further progress. The polar subject is strictly analogous to this, and let us therefore examine the topography, the resources and general characteristics of the approaches to the central polar regions, which, together with what the ice-bearing currents bring down, may enable us to form a sufficiently clear idea of the situation to define the benefits that might accrue from further efforts, and to conclude if it is worth the while to make them.
Having been in only one field of polar exploration, my information about the others is derived from books and intercourse with men who have gone by different routes, therefore in this paper I shall confine myself as much as possible to the words of the writers when profiting by their experience and knowledge.
THE SPITZBERGEN APPROACH.
By this route the latitude of 80° may be attained with less difficulty than by any other, for vessels can proceed up the west coast of Spitzbergen, encountering little or no ice, until after that parallel is passed. The Alliance had this experience in 1881, and she was not stopped by the ice until 81° 10' N. was reached, where she met the great ice-current bearing down upon the NW. elbow of the island. Previous experience as far back as 1607 was the same, for in that year Hudson reached the parallel of 81° N. without difficulty. In 1827, Parry in the Hecla, "after rounding Hakluyt Headland, attained the very high latitude of 81° 05' N., with nothing but loose drift-ice to the northward and no appearance of the main pack."
The five Swedish expeditions under Baron Nordenskiold in 1858-61-64-68 and '72, and that of Koldewey in the Germania in 1868, all show that Spitzbergen affords the best and surest route for reaching the eightieth parallel—above which occur the great obstacles to further progress.
Let us now examine the polar lands on this important highway to the northward.
"For more than a century Spitzbergen has formed the base from which a number of expeditions have endeavored to reach the North Pole.
"A branch of the Gulf Stream gives its west coast a much higher temperature than is due to its geographical position. The existence of land to the north of it is exceedingly probable; and, if it does exist, it would form a convenient stepping-stone to the Pole."
The area of Spitzbergen and its adjacent islands is estimated at 30,000 square miles, which is a little less than that of Ireland. Its chief importance to the explorer is in the fact that its principal extent is north and south, which permits him to work his ship to the northward, having only at times to encounter ice, not of a formidable character, that drifts out of the numerous fiords and bays penetrating far into the interior.
The island is naturally divided into two parts by Ice Fiord and Wide Bay, the headwaters of which are separated by a dividing ridge only five miles in width. The general features, climate, and resources of the west coast are well described in the work of Wm. Scoresby, Jr., who made seventeen voyages to the Greenland seas and Spitzbergen during the early part of this century. The north and a portion of the east coast have been described by Nordenskiold, but the greater part of the latter is rendered almost inaccessible by the vast quantities of polar ice lodged upon it by the branch of the cold current that sweeps into the Atlantic near Bear Island.
The numerous peaks and acute mountains seen by Barents on the west coast in 1596 suggested the name of Spitzbergen (sharp mountains) to the island. Since 1611 its west coast has been annually visited, and it was long the favorite resort of the English, Dutch, and Russian whale-fisheries, "and though the soil of the whole of this remote country does not produce vegetables suitable or sufficient for the nourishment of a single human being, yet its coasts and adjacent seas have afforded riches and independence to thousands." "Spitzbergen, with some other countries within the arctic circle, exhibits a kind of scenery which is altogether novel. The principal objects which strike the eye are innumerable mountain peaks, ridges, precipices, needles rising immediately out of the sea to an elevation of 3000 to 4000 feet, their color at a moderate distance appearing to be blackish shades of brown, green, grey, and purple; snow or ice in striae or patches occupying the various clefts and hollows in the sides of the hills, capping some of the mountain summits and filling with extended beds the most considerable valleys; and ice of the glacier form occurring at intervals all along the coast, in particular situations, in prodigious accumulations."
The mountain peaks, though numerous, are not of great altitude. Nordenskiold and Duner in 1864 made astronomical observations at eighty stations, and determined mountain heights, the loftiest of which being the Horn Sound Peak, 4560 feet above sea level. The north coast is not so mountainous, the shores not being so high, but the inland ice-hills rise to a height of 2000 feet.
"The beach is everywhere covered with enormous masses of driftwood, among which was found pumice stone, cork, birch bark, poles and floats from the Loffoten fisheries, with other things carried by the currents from the south."
"While Torell was examining all this, he found, among other things, a well-preserved bean of the West Indian plant 'Entadagigalobium.' This bean, which is upwards of an inch and a half across, floats with the Gulf Stream through the Atlantic, is found not unfrequently on the coast of Norway, and being also found on Spitzbergen, affords the most convincing evidence that the Gulf Stream reaches this high latitude."
Where the east coast has been visited immense quantities of stranded ice have been seen, and the beaches have been covered with drift-wood, "consisting of large stems of larch and birch, with occasional fragments of wrecks."
"This drift-wood is apparently deposited by the current, the set of which is from the east and northeast, according to Von Heuglin, turning thence to the southward, washing the shores of Edge Island, and finally commingling with the northward branch of the Gulf Stream in about the latitude of Bear Island, occasioning the prevalence of storms and mists about that place."
Climate.—Scoresby, Jr., made some interesting statements, but his impression of the climate of Spitzbergen was doubtless exaggerated. He had never wintered there, and the information about other polar lands was, in his time, quite limited.
He remarks (page 135): "The climate of Spitzbergen is no doubt more disagreeable to human feelings than that of any other country yet discovered. Extending to within ten degrees of the pole, it is generally intensely cold, and even during the three warmest months of the year the temperature not averaging more than 34.5° F.; it is then subject to a cold occasionally of three, four or more degrees below the freezing point." As far back as 1633 a party of seven Dutchmen passed the winter there successfully, but during the following winter a similar party died of scurvy.
In 1743 four sailors were shipwrecked and had to remain six years and three months on the island, subsisting on its resources. One died, but the others were rescued.
Russian fishermen have successfully wintered in Spitzbergen, the chief danger being the terrible scurvy. Meteorological records were not carefully made and preserved by these early residents, and the most accurate information that we have is derived from the reports of Parry and Nordenskiold. The former remarks: "The officers who remained on board the Hecla (moored in Hecla Cove, latitude 80° 02' N., longitude 17° E.) during the summer described the weather as the most beautiful and the climate altogether the most agreeable they had ever experienced in the polar regions. Indeed, the meteorological journal shows a temperature, both of the air and the sea-water, to which we had been before almost altogether strangers within the arctic circle, and which goes far towards showing that the climate of Spitzbergen is a remarkably temperate one for its latitude." (Mr. Crowe, of Hammerfest, who wintered in latitude 78° N. on SW. coast of the island, informed Captain Parry that he had rain on Christmas.)
"It must however be observed that this remark is principally applicable to the weather experienced near the land, that at sea being rendered of a totally different character by the continual presence of fogs, so that some of our most gloomy days on the ice were among the finest at Hecla Cove, where, however, a good deal of rain fell during the summer." During Parry's celebrated journey over the ice the weather was foggy, raw, and cold, and an unusual amount of rain fell. On one occasion during the clear weather he remarked: "It was so warm in the sun, though the temperature in the shade was 35° F., that the tar was running out of the boat's seams; and a blackened bulb held against the paint-work raised the thermometer to 72° F."
The Swedish Expedition in the summer of 1861 enjoyed a very mild season in Treurenberg Bay (latitude 80° N.) "During the whole stay of the expedition the thermometer was above the freezing point, and after the 22d of June it once rose to 59° F. in the sun. The mean temperature for the month of June, including the cold days at the beginning, when the vessels were cruising off Red Bay, was, according to 305 observations made on the Aeolus, 35° F, The temperature of the water, filled as it was with colossal ice-masses, also underwent a remarkable rise. During the first week it had kept under the freezing point, and had even fallen to 30.3° F., while the ice floating in it visibly melted and thus took up heat from the water. This rise, which cannot, of course, be ascribed to the immediate action of the sun, was specially perceptible at those times of the day when the tide set in from the sea."
The Swedish Expedition (1872-73) that wintered at Mussel Bay, only a few miles distant from the quarters before mentioned, experienced quite a mild climate, the greatest cold being only –36° F. for a few hours in January, and during calm, clear weather. The peculiarity of climate noticed by Nordenskiold was evidenced by there being no sign of putrefaction in the carcasses of a number of white whales which had been exposed day and night to the direct rays of the sun, and the entomologist of the expedition could not find a single fly or other flesh-loving insect upon them. In latitude 82° 30' N. beyond the Seven Islands, Parry mentions "a couple of small flies (to us an event of ridiculous importance) were found upon the ice." Spitzbergen and its contiguous waters are rich in animal life, and its land exhibits abundant and numerous specimens of vegetation. It was the favorite resort of the right whale, but now, since the whaling business has been given up in those waters, they are frequented by walrus hunters and white-whale fishers. Nordenskiold at Green Bay saw "twenty-four white whales of various sizes, the largest 14 to 16 feet in length, in a row upon the beach, most of them already deprived of their blubber. It was stated that a single animal may yield a barrel of blubber, worth in Norway 25 specie dollars, and as a large number may be taken at once (in former times as many as one hundred and fifty), it is evident that the profit from this branch of industry is not inconsiderable. The skin, when prepared, yields a soft and pliant leather."
Numerous bears and reindeer inhabit the islands, and myriads of sea-fowl occupy desolate haunts. Birds began to appear at Welcome Point as early as March 3, 1873.
Bears and reindeer were found by Nordenskiold inhabiting the Parry Islands, about 81° N. Veritable prints of reindeer and bears were visible on the north shore of North-East Land in the spring of 1873. Several very fat reindeer were shot. On the ice journey Parry saw birds and seals above latitude 82°; and the Swedish expeditions give interesting accounts of the collections obtained by dredging. "September 20, 1868. Animal life still abundant; several birds, the glaucous gull and the lumme (Mormon Articus) were seen, and, dredging steadily, added to our zoological collections." "September 23, 1868, the Sofia was in latitude 78° 26' and longitude 2° 17' W. The weather was splendid, with clear sunshine. The vessel lay in an ice-field surrounded on all sides by large and small blocks of ice, some lying flat, others raised up against each other, etc. Animal life was found in unexpected abundance, and dredging became especially interesting; for the depth was 2650 fathoms, and there was brought up a mass which consisted almost entirely of brown and white foraminifera, among which, however, there was found a crustacean (a species of cuma). It was also surprising among the ice in the middle Atlantic and at such a depth, so great abundance of higher animals—seals, glaucous gulls, petrels, guillemots (scarcely recognizable in their winter dress), auks and rotges." The most satisfactory way to account for the prevalence and abundance of animal life so far north is that the Gulf Stream carries food there. How far beyond the eightieth parallel the influence of the warm stream is felt remains a matter for conjecture, but the presence of birds and animal life in the sea north of Spitzbergen indicates that food-bearing currents must reach that locality.
The character of the food supply is described (page 155) by Nordenskiold: "During the voyage (1872) made observations on the color of the arctic seas, which is in some places of a grayish-green and in others an indigo-blue, the areas being frequently so easily distinguished that a ship may sail with one side in blue and the other in grayish-green water. Water is also to be found in the Greenland seas of a decided shade of brown. These colors, green and brown, are caused by a slime, which is absent where the blue prevails. This slime, which is formed of various species of diatomaceae, inconsiderable as it is, but spread over hundreds of thousands of square miles, forms an indispensable condition for the existence, not only of the swarms of birds that frequent the northern regions, but also for the giant of the animal creation, the whale, and for all branches of industry dependent on the whale-fishery."
Another indication that the Gulf Stream reaches the north coast of Spitzbergen is the phosphorescent animalculae which, by their bluish-white glow, light up the dark waters as they dash against the ice floes. The botanists of the Swedish Expedition found that Spitzbergen abounds in vegetation of great richness and variety, making the best field for naturalists yet discovered beyond the arctic circle. The soundings off Spitzbergen show that it is situated in the deepest part of the polar basin now known. As before mentioned, the Sofia obtained bottom specimens at a depth of 2650 fathoms about midway between Greenland and Spitzbergen. The depth of 1370 fathoms with sample of the bottom was recorded by the Sofia at the highest position yet reached by a ship north of the island, 81° 42' N,, and a few hours later 370 fathoms were found, though the ship had moved but little to the westward. At Parry's highest (82° 45' N.) he was unable to reach the sea-bottom with 500 fathoms of line.
The magnetic variation is not very great in that vicinity, the maximum being 20° W., and there being a line of no variation, running north and south, at a short distance to the eastward of the islands. Near Parry's highest he observed the variation of the needle to be 13° 41' W. The ice conditions in the vicinity of Spitzbergen will be included in the general description of the "Ice of the Polar Regions." From a careful study of information from the most authentic sources, it appears that Spitzbergen is the most interesting and best favored country within the arctic circle. No traces of native inhabitants have been found. It is a fine country for walrus hunters and sportsmen, as well as being a grand field for the botanist and the geologist.
It would be a safe and excellent station for meteorological observations, but the experience of Parry and Nordenskiold clearly indicates that there is little chance of success for a polar expedition from its shores. The Swedish scientific expeditions have met with fair success in Spitzbergen and its locality. Speaking of the voyage of the Sofia, the distinguished savant, Professor Oswald Heer, of Zurich, declared: "In my opinion the Swedish Expedition, by the rich collections it has brought home, has achieved more and has widened our horizon of knowledge more than if it had returned merely with the information that the Sofia had hoisted her flag at the North Pole."
Before leaving the subject of this route, let me say a few words about Sir W. E. Parry's "Attempt to reach the North Pole." In my judgment it was the best planned and executed attempt that has ever been made before or since its date. The outfit of boats and the organization of his party have not been excelled in the recent efforts of explorers. His line of retreat was well arranged with boats and provisions placed at suitable points, and the expedition was conducted with admirable skill and judgment.
THE FRANZ JOSEF LAND APPROACH.
Attempts to explore the icy seas north of Europe and Asia were made as early as 1556, in search of a northeast passage to China. It is an historical fact that in the spring of that year Stephen Burrough, afterwards Chief Pilot of England, fitted out a little pinnace called the Search-thrift, and sailing to the northeastward, discovered the Kara Strait between the islands of Novaya Zemlya and Waigatch, and then returned for three causes, viz.: the continual north winds, "the great and terrible abundance of ice which we saw with our eyes," and thirdly, "because the nights waxed dark."
Burrough was followed by many other intrepid explorers, among whom were Pet, Jackman, Barents and Henry Hudson. Important discoveries near the coast were made, and the distinguished Barents explored parts of Novaya Zemlya, and after passing the winter with sixteen Dutch companions at the northeast end of the island he died in June, 1597, and was buried on shore. The survivors reached Lapland and went to their homes. Their abandoned winter quarters were not visited for two hundred and seventy-four years, when a Norwegian skipper, Elling Carlsen by name, circumnavigated the island with his sixty-ton sloop, and on the 7th of September, 1871, visited Ice Haven, where he found Barents' house yet standing. He brought away cooking utensils, implements, etc., that had been used by the gallant band nearly three centuries ago.
Let us, however, turn from the attractive episodes of this region and seek for information about the great effort that was made to gain a high latitude north of Novaya Zemlya. For our knowledge about this subject we are indebted to the excellent work of Lieutenant Julius Payer, entitled "Austrian Arctic Voyage," one of the most readable in the literature concerning that region, from which I shall make numerous quotations.
Attention was first given to Barents Sea, the part of the ocean between Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya, because it was hoped that favorable ice conditions might be found there and a great advance towards the pole be made practicable. This hope was based on the supposition that a branch of the Gulf Stream penetrated beyond Novaya Zemlya. During the summer of 1871 Lieutenants Weyprecht and Payer chartered the Isbjorn (Ice Bear), a small sloop, and made a dashing reconnaissance of Barents Sea. From the experience of this voyage they made some conclusions and inferences which, formulated briefly, were as follows, viz.:
- "The Novaya Zemlya Sea is not always filled with impenetrable ice, making navigation impossible."
- "The Novaya Zemlya Sea is a shallow sea—a continuation and connection of the great plains of Siberia. In the extreme north its depth is 600 feet, and southeast of Gillis Land about 300 feet."
- "The time most favorable for the navigation of this sea falls at the end of August and lasts till the end of September. During this period the ice may be said to be at its minimum."
- "Gillis Land is not a continent, but either an island or a group of islands. Whereas from the circumstance that in the highest latitude, 79° N, we found drift-wood covered with mud, sea-weed, creatures which live only near the land, decreasing depths of the sea, sweet-water ice and bergs covered with dirt, it may be inferred with great probability that there exist large masses of land to the northeast of Gillis Land."
- "The appearance of Siberian drift-wood only in the most northern seas reached during our voyage seems to point to an easterly current there" (means westerly set).
- "The Russian expeditions in the past and present centuries which attempted to penetrate by the northwest coast of Novaya Zemlya miscarried because they sailed before the favorable season for navigation, and also because they had not the advantage of steam."
- "How far the Gulf Stream has any share or influence in the favorable conditions for the navigation of the Eastern Polar Sea which have been described cannot as yet be positively determined. The state of the ice, the observations of the temperature of the sea, its color and the animal life found in it, seem to speak in favor of the action of this current in that region. It is possible that the Gulf Stream may exercise its culminating influence on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya at the beginning of September."
"But, in addition to the causes already specified, the influence of the warm currents produced by the great rivers of Siberia discharging themselves into a shallow sea was also supposed to co-operate in producing this phenomenon. Of these rivers the Obi and the Yenisei alone discharge into that shallow sea a body of water as great as the waters of the Mediterranean or as those of the Mississippi. The course of the current produced by these mighty rivers is not yet known; but it is natural to suppose that old and heavy pack-ice could not be formed on a coast submitted to such an influence."
The Isbjorn reconnaissance having been very successful, the deductions and inferences of Lieutenant Weyprecht so favorable, and the route north via Novaya Zemlya so promising, it was determined that the Austro-Hungarian Expedition of 1872-73 should try its fortunes in that region, with the hope also of making its way to Bering Strait, in case a high northern position could not be attained. The line of retreat was to be provided for by making a deposit of coal and provisions on the coast of Novaya Zemlya near Cape Nassau, and stone cairns with suitable records placed within them were to be erected at prominent places during the advance. Should the ship be crushed off the Siberian coast, the party would retreat up one of the principal rivers. The attempt was to be made during the latter part of August, and the Tegetthoff (220 tons) was fitted out for two and a half years, and placed under the joint command of Lieutenants Weyprecht and Payer. "Our ideal aim," says Lieutenant Payer, "was the northeast passage, our definite object was the exploration of the seas and lands on the northeast of Novaya Zemlya." In a few days it was found that 1872 was a very unfavorable ice year for explorers, heavy fields similar to those on the East Greenland coast were encountered before reaching latitude 75° N. The rough and tumble work commenced July 29, when a close barrier of ice was forced by ramming, and the ship got into the coast-water of Novaya Zemlya, in which she worked slowly along, impeded by ice and dense fogs. On August 20, after separating from her consort, the Isbjorn, which returned to Europe, the Tegetthoff, as chronicled by Lieutenant Payer, "ran into an ice-hole, and in the night barriers of ice stopped our further progress. As usual, the ship was made fast to a floe, the steam blown off, and we awaited the parting asunder of the ice." (The position was then latitude 76° 22' N., longitude 63° 3' E.) "Ominous were the events of that day, for immediately after we had made fast the Tegetthoff to that floe, the ice closed in upon us on all sides, and we became close prisoners within its grasp. No water was to be seen around us, and never again were we destined to see our vessel in the water." Thus the self-agency of the Austro-Hungarian Expedition was paralyzed by the mighty grasp of the ice, and the chances for making valuable discoveries depended on the drift of the pack-ice in which the ship was irrevocably beset. The similarity of this experience to that of the Jeannette seven years later is very marked. In both instances, after the ship had just entered the ice-fields and further progress seemed impracticable, they were made fast to the ice and remained quietly awaiting an opening. One axiom in arctic navigation is that a steamer, after being caught in the ice, should keep her engines in motion until after all chance of getting out is gone. A ship tied up to an ice-floe becomes a nucleus about which other floes collect. But if the engines are kept moving, the floes will gradually work away from the center of disturbance to spaces of least resistance, and sometimes thus afford chances for escape. Vessels in Baffin's Bay and the Greenland Sea may risk forcing ice barriers to the northward, for the southerly drift almost ensures a speedy liberation.
Instances are known of whale-ships having been beset in the ice for weeks and then liberated in time to make a successful season. The notable cases of the Tegetthoff, Jeannette, Vigilant, Mount Wollaston, Eira, and North Star all show that besetment in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and Siberia is sure to be fatal to an expedition.
The position of the Jeannette was about 1400 miles east-southeast of that of the Tegetthoff, yet the ice conditions and the way in which they were hemmed in by the floes were very similar. "The ship and her rigging were stiff with ice, and everything indicated that for us winter had begun. As the masses of ice that enclosed us consisted of small floes, we were led to hope that the strong east wind would disperse them. But the very contrary really happened, for the low temperatures, the calms, and falls of snow bound the floes together the more closely, and within a few days congealed them together into a single field, in the midst of which the ship remained fast and immovable." During the autumn of 1879 the floes moved in upon the ice which encased the Jeannette and became bound together by great sinews of newly formed ice made during the calm weather and comparative inaction of the ocean. The ship was near the center of a large island of ice, the greatest distance across which was more than three miles. This great natural bulwark repelled the encroachments of the contending masses on its borders, which, however, broke into and disrupted the island of ice, and the ship was eventually crushed. Such also would doubtless have been the fate of the Tegetthoff had not the surrounding ice, after drifting more than fourteen months at the caprices of the winds and currents, been stranded in the shallow waters south of Franz Josef Land, which was thus accidentally discovered. The two winters during which the crew stood by the ship were fraught with great perils and anxieties, and the hard-contested battle for life and return to civilization are among the most interesting in the annals of arctic adventure.
The geographical results of this expedition were important from the discovery of a group of extensive islands north of the eightieth parallel, the extreme northern point of which being Cape Vienna, in latitude 83° N. The islands, as described by Payer, are very rugged, and so covered with ice and snow that little soil is visible, the vegetation and animal life being very scanty, owing to the extreme climate. The annual mean for 1873 was only + 3° F., the minimum — 51° F. occurring in February, 1873, the average for that month being —30.9° F., while July, 1873, was the warmest month, it having a mean of +43° F. The mountains of Franz Josef Land are from 2000 to 3000 feet, and some loftier ones in the southwestern portion are estimated at 5000 feet. They are glacier-bearing lands, and it is inferred by Payer that icebergs are shed which drift to the northward, and are then caught by a southwest current and taken to the Hope Island locality. The observations of the expedition were analyzed by Vice-Admiral Baron von Wullersdorf-Urbair, who made the following statements, which, however, seem rather indefinite:
1st. "It is probable that there exists a sea-current between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land; that, at any rate, its existence cannot be denied, although the prevailing winds may produce similar phenomena."
2d. "There is great probability that the ocean stretches to the north and east far beyond the eastern end of Novaya Zemlya."
From what we can gather from the meager descriptions of the ice south of Franz Josef Land, I judge that it is not so heavy as the ice in the Greenland seas and that encountered north of Spitzbergen by Parry. Yet it is practically unnavigable for ships. There may be exceptional seasons, however, during which a ship might reach Franz Josef Land and establish a base of operations far to the northward. Since the return of the Tegetthoff party, such a route has been regarded with favor by many interested in exploration, from the fact that the most northern known land lay on that route; but since the reports of the Greely Expedition in the summer of 1884, and the news of the discovery of Lockwood Island in latitude 83° 25' N. on the Greenland coast, the Smith Sound route has again become the most important.
The wide expanse of ocean between Franz Josef Land and Bennett Island is doubtless covered by drifting ice and dotted here and there with islands. The experience of Leigh Smith in the Eira, which was crushed by the ice, and the failure of Lieutenant Hovgaard to penetrate to the eastward of Novaya Zemlya, both show the impracticability of the route.
Furthermore, the remarkable drift of certain relics of the Jeannette, which were abandoned in latitude 77° 15' N. and longitude 156° 06' E., and found about two years later in the vicinity of Cape Farewell, indicates that large masses of land do not exist north of Franz Josef Land, for were such the case, the continuous northwest drift of the ice would not have prevailed. After a careful consideration of all the information about Franz Josef Land and its vicinity, I conclude that it will not afford the best route to the pole, for exploring vessels cannot with any certainty reach its shores successfully.
THE EAST GREENLAND APPROACH.
This has always appeared an unpromising route, because of the vast quantity of ice constantly drifting to the southward between Iceland and Greenland, in addition to the heavy masses of field-ice with which the east coast of Greenland is beset, even during the summer. The field-ice evidently comes from the inner polar regions, and the icebergs are from the glaciers of the extensive fiords of the east coast. Of late years there has been only one energetic and well-organized attempt by this route, and it was made in 1869 and 1870 by the Second German Arctic Expedition under the command of Captain Karl Koldewey, with the counsel and co-operation of that eminent geographer, the late Dr. Petermann. The salient feature of the scheme was the penetration of the ice-bearing current in latitude 75° N., or higher if possible, and the reaching of the coast-water, when, if found that the land continued to the northward, a vigorous attempt would be made to reach the central polar regions.
With true German enthusiasm, the expedition set out from Bremerhaven in June, 1869. The small steamer Germania (143 tons, 90 feet length, 22 feet beam, and 11 feet depth) was equipped as the leading vessel, to carry the commander and scientific staff. The brigantine Hansa (761 tons) was chosen as consort and store-ship to accompany the steamer.
Soon after entering the ice in latitude 75° N. and longitude 10° W. the two vessels became separated by the misinterpretation of signals, and the Hansa was beset and drifted at the mercy of the ice. She was crushed, and sank in October. Captain Hegemann and his crew drifted rapidly to the southward in plain view of the coast until the following May, when they abandoned the floe, took to the boats, rounded Cape Farewell, and landed in safety at Friederichstal, June 13, 1870.
The Germania being unable to reach a high latitude, wintered at Sabine Island, in latitude 74° 35' N., near the Greenland coast. In the spring of 1870 a sledge-party under Koldewey and Payer reached Cape Bismarck, latitude 77° 01' N. and longitude 18° 50' W., which is the highest position yet attained on that coast. The expedition returned to Bremen during the following summer.
The experience of the Germania shows that during the summers of 1869-70 it was impracticable to navigate the coast-water of East Greenland to a high latitude; that the sharp capes and promontories of the coast intercept the drift-ice and thus effectually blockade the coast.
The soundings were not numerous, but those within the icy girdle show a moderate depth of ocean. About 60 miles west of Jan Mayen the greatest depth was found (1319 fathoms). The observations of surface temperatures were numerous, and they showed that the water cooled rapidly to nearly 32° F. as the vessel approached the outer limits of the ice, and there were only a few instances within the ice when the temperature was a fraction below that point. The climate was not as severe as was expected for latitude 74° 45' N., November being very pleasant, with a daily mean of — 2° F., and even in December the thermometric range was from + 14° to —4° F. In January the lowest was —26.5° F., and on February 21 the minimum was observed at —41° F., when the mercury commenced to congeal, but the extreme cold lasted only one hour.
The greatest thickness of ice recorded during the winter was fifty-seven inches, on February 16, 1870. An abundance of animal life was found, musk-oxen, bears, foxes, walrus and seal were killed by the party, besides a goodly number of sea-fowl. There were no traces of present inhabitants, but ruins of huts, ancient graves, utensils, ornaments, and implements in stone and ivory were found. The result of this German expedition, combined with other knowledge and reports, demonstrates that the coast-water of East Greenland does not present the same advantages to navigators that are to be found every year on the west coast.
The investigations into the general features, climate and resources of the region have a certain scientific interest, but it seems obvious that the central polar regions will not be reached by this route, unless some remarkable ice conditions, never before known, should make it feasible.
THE BAFFIN BAY AND SMITH SOUND APPROACH.
The great Atlantic highway to the north lying between Greenland and the American archipelago was first penetrated by that intrepid navigator John Davis, who sailed from England in the year 1585 in the Sunshine (50 tons) and the Moonshine (35 tons). He discovered the strait which now bears his name, and to the northward he saw a wide expanse of ocean that was subsequently, in 1616, entered by Wm. Baffin, who pushed north with great energy, and on June 9 reached latitude 74° 15' N., though he had only one small craft of 55 tons, called the Discovery. He then encountered the "Middle Pack," and, after battling with it for twenty-two days, reached the head of Baffin's Bay, and was the first to enter what has since been called the North Water—the favorite resort of whale- ships since the beginning of this century.
Beyond the North Water are Smith Sound, Kennedy and Robeson Channels extending to the northward, which have been the fields of the most recent and successful polar expeditions. Baffin Bay receives the great masses of ice that drift through Smith Sound from the higher regions to the northward, and when the lower parts of the bay contain much floating ice, the upper parts have great water spaces and are at times practically free from ice. The great barrier to the North Water is what the whalers call the "Middle Pack." It is well described by Mr. Clements R. Markham as follows:
"This ice consists of some ancient floe-pieces of great thickness, which may have come from a distant part of the arctic seas, of a wide extent of ice formed during each winter, about six or eight feet thick, and of those magnificent bergs which compose the principal charm of the Melville Bay scenery." "It is a curious fact that, although there was a flourishing whale-fishery in Davis Strait, the passage of the 'Middle Pack' was never attempted between the years 1616 and 1817." It is also a fact that in England the statements of the discoveries by Baffin were not believed until after they had been corroborated by the expedition of Sir John Ross, which reached the North Water and named the capes at the entrance of Smith Sound after the ships Alexander and Isabella.
The whale-ships since 1817 have made their most prosperous voyages in that region, for the whales there having for many years enjoyed solitude, their numbers had greatly increased. In August, 1852, during the Franklin search, the steamer Isabel rounded Cape Alexander and saw open water to the northward. The entrance to the sound was found to be thirty-six miles wide. Capt. Inglefield named all the islands and points of land that were in sight, but the celebrated Dr. Kane was the first civilized man who visited the region above the south capes of Smith Sound.
The Second Grinnell Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin consisted of the brig Advance, with a crew of seventeen men, under the command of Dr. E. K. Kane. The brig was frozen in on the east coast of Smith Sound, in latitude 78° 37' N. and longitude 70° 40' W., at a little place called Van Rensselaer Bay. On board the brig and after she was abandoned, whilst the explorers were retreating to the Greenland settlements, Dr. Kane and his party had a thrilling experience.
The discoveries made were very important in showing that a high latitude could be attained, and that there was an abundance of animal life in the waters of the Smith Sound region. The charmingly romantic descriptions of Dr. Kane in his remarkable book awoke lively interest both in Europe and America, and the subject of the "Open Polar Sea" rendered arctic exploration more attractive than ever before. The late Dr. I.I. Hayes, who was surgeon of the Second Grinnell Expedition, organized another and made some important discoveries on the west side of Smith Sound. Again, the United States in 1871 sent an expedition. The Polaris, under Captain Hall, had an exceptionally fine season, and on August 30 reached latitude 82° 16' N. without serious obstruction by the ice. At that date it was the highest position ever reached by a ship. The Polaris was put into winter quarters, and subsequent exploration was made by sledge parties. The sad death of Captain Hall and the tragic adventures of the survivors have made thrilling pages that are familiar to American readers. The geographical discoveries made by the Polaris were important and extensive. Interesting facts about the climate, animal and vegetable life were gathered, and many traces of Esquimaux were observed, though none were actually living in the most northerly region at the time. The climate was found to be milder than in some regions further south, and a current setting to the southward was found in Robeson and Kennedy Channels, which were so named by Captain Hall and Dr. Kane.
The energy and success of the American expeditions, together with the promising features of the route, stimulated the spirits and ambitions of the little coterie of former arctic adventurers in London, and the proposition to send a British Expedition was agitated and met great public favor. After the subject was thoroughly discussed, it was decided to make a splendid effort to reach the North Pole, and some of the best talent of the kingdom was, by the Admiralty, brought to bear in fitting out the Alert and Discovery for the arduous task. The command was entrusted to Captain G. S. Nares, R. N., whose excellent narrative is one of the best authorities, at present, on the borders of the central polar regions. The summer of 1875 was a very favorable season for reaching Smith Sound, but it required the most patient and skillful navigation to conduct the vessels through the dangerous ice of Kennedy Channel. The Discovery was left at Lady Franklin Bay as a relief ship in case of disaster to the advancing Alert, which pushed on and had the good fortune to reach a position near Cape Sheridan, in latitude 82° 20' N., longitude 61° W. This locality is well described by Captain Nares (Vol. I., p. 129). "To the north of Robeson Channel, where the land trends to the northwestward, the coast-line loses its steep character, and near Cape Sheridan the heavy polar ice becomes stranded at a distance of 100 or 200 yards from the shore, forming a border of unconnected masses of ice from 20 to upwards of 60 feet in height, lying aground in from 8 to 12 fathoms of water. Off an open coast, with no more protection than that afforded by such pieces of ice, the Alert was fated to pass the winter. Most providentially, during the eleven months she was exposed we never once experienced a gale blowing towards the shore."
During the long winter of 1875-76 the party had a very interesting experience, which was enlivened with characteristic English jollity. On May 29, 1876, Captain Nares ascended Mount Julia, about 2000 feet above sea level, and gave the following (Vol. I., p. 326): "The interminable pack appeared from our lofty station to consist of small floes hedged round by broad barriers of rough ice, until in the extreme distance it blended with the horizon; not a pool of water nor the faintest appearance of water-cloud was to be distinguished within the range of our vision, which embraced an arc of 160°. We were perfectly satisfied that no land of a great elevation exists within a distance of 80 miles north of Cape Joseph Henry, and none at all within 50 miles, which, from our lookout, bounded the visible horizon.
"We may rest assured, therefore, that from the coast of Grinnell Land, in latitude 83° N. to the 84th parallel of latitude, there stretches the same formidable pack which was encountered by Markham and his companions. Whether or not land exists within the 360 miles which stretch from the limit of our view to the northern axis of the globe is, so far as sledge travelling is concerned, immaterial. Sixty miles of such pack as we know to extend north of Cape Joseph Henry is an insuperable obstacle to travelling in that direction with our present appliances; and I unhesitatingly say that it is impracticable to reach the North Pole by the Smith Sound route."
It was very natural for Sir George Nares to form such a judgment from the ice conditions that he saw in 1875 and 1876, but he was doubtless surprised to learn that in 1882 Dr. Pavy, of the Greely Colony, was adrift on the Polar Ocean for one day, and had to abandon almost everything in order to get back to Cape Joseph Henry. Such are the changing conditions of the ice!
The heaped-up, ancient ice that Nares saw in 1876 was navigable for boats only six years later. The journey made by Markham and Parr with an over laden party has never been exceeded in difficulty and hardship. They reached latitude 83° 20' N. and longitude 63° W.; found there a depth of 72 fathoms—surface temperature 28.5° F. and bottom temperature 28.8° F, with tidal action apparent, setting NW. and SE.
The shallow water in this extreme northern position indicates the probable existence of land in the vicinity. The travelling on the northwest coast of Greenland was very difficult (Vol. I., p. 316). "Dr. Coppinger reports that Beaumont's sledges have experienced greater difficulties and worse travelling than we expected. From their place of crossing the straits they found that the coast-line for the entire distance to Cape Stanton was formed either by very steep snow-slopes or precipitous cliffs, the bases of which receive the direct and unchecked pressure of the northern pack as it drifts from the northwest and strikes against that part of the coast nearly at right angles. The chaos amongst the floe bergs near the shore was something indescribable, and the travelling the worst that could possibly be imagined, seven days being occupied in moving forward only twenty miles."
This was the graphic description of the ice conditions north of Greenland in 1876, yet seven years later Lieutenant Lockwood was turned back by the presence of open water in the very same region. Lieutenant Beaumont reached latitude 82° 15' N., longitude 51° W., and named several points further to the northward. In the summer of 1882 Lockwood worked over the same route, attaining 83° 24' N. in longitude 44° 30' W., where he discovered the island which now bears his name, and from the elevation of 2000 feet could see no land to the north or northwest, but to the northeast he observed land extending as far north as latitude 83° 35', and to the eastward as far as longitude 40° W. The extreme point is now called Cape Kane, the nearest discovery yet made to the North Pole.
To the westward of the Alert's winter quarters Lieutenant Aldrich explored the coast of Grinnell Land, his farthest being longitude 85° W. and latitude 82° 16' N., at which position the land trended to the southwestward. The Nares Expedition added extensive coastlines to our polar charts and made important observations on the climate, topography, geology, flora, fauna and general ice conditions of the regions visited. The public mind seemed satisfied with the decision proclaimed by Sir George Nares that Smith Sound was not a practicable route for reaching the North Pole.
The good judgment shown by the authorities in sending two ships, the care with which they were fitted out, and the energetic skill of the commander conducting the expedition, all met with merited favor, and the polar question seemed settled in the minds of the English people. The further explorations by Lockwood once more bring the Smith Sound route into prominence. The indications given by the trend of the east and northwest coasts of Greenland as determined respectively by Koldewey and Lockwood point to the probable fact that the converging coast-lines of north Greenland meet in about latitude 85° N. The explorations of Greely, Lockwood and Sergeant Brainard into the interior indicate that the territory on the west side of Smith Sound, Kennedy and Robeson Channels consists of large islands with extensive fiords between them, being, in fact, a continuation of the archipelago north of British America, and protecting a "covered way" to the central polar regions. Our information about the other results of the Greely Expedition is very meager, and the full report of the various observations made at Fort Conger will doubtless be of great interest.
THE BERING STRAIT APPROACH.
The nearly land-locked portion of the polar basin bordering Asia and North America has only one outlet for ice, Bering Strait, which is about 50 nautical miles wide, and has an average depth of about 23 fathoms.
The straits and channels between the islands of the American archipelago have been found blocked with heavy ice, but there is a current apparently setting through them to the southeast, as evidenced by the drift of vessels abandoned in Barrow Strait and Lancaster Sound, and also by whales killed in Baffin Bay bearing harpoons belonging to whale-ships on the Bering Strait side, thus indicating sea communication for those great animals. The ice conditions beyond Bering Strait have been found so unfavorable that a real polar expedition never attempted the route before the Jeannette Expedition. It is true that the celebrated Captain Cook entered the strait in 1778 and made some important discoveries on the Asiatic and American shores; that Captain Beechey, with the Blossom, examined the American coast in 1826, when acting in concert with Franklin and Parry; that Captains Kellett, Moore and Maguire (1849-52) and Collinson (1851-53) operated in those waters in connection with the Franklin Search Expedition; that Herald Island was discovered by Captain Kellett in H. M. S. Herald in 1849, and that he reported extensive land northwest of the island; that in 1855 the late Rear-Admiral John Rodgers, then in command of the U. S. S. Vincennes, made a dashing and successful reconnaissance, visited Herald Island, and was within a few miles of the south end of Wrangell Island, which was hidden by the fog. All this work was important, and the reports of the various commanders, supported by those subsequently made by the masters of whale-ships, were to the effect that impassable barriers of ice north of Bering Strait precluded all hope of success for a polar expedition by that route.
The whale-ships cruised along the borders of the heavy ice-fields, and made very profitable voyages. During some seasons the ice would be so open that venturesome captains would enter lanes of water and work to the northward, soon, however, being obliged to return by the movements of the ice. Captain Long, of the barque Nile, in 1867 had the temerity to work his vessel far to the westward of the usual whaling grounds, and sighted the south part of the so-called Wrangell Land, named the capes and a mountain, then returned safely. The wide strait between Siberia and Wrangell Island has since been called Long Strait. Captain Silas Bent issued a pamphlet on the subject of the Kuro Siwo or Japanese Black Stream, entering the Arctic by Bering Strait, and exerting a powerful influence by melting the ice. The "Thermometric Gateway" to the pole was much discussed, and it was stated that a vessel by constantly observing the temperature of the surface water could keep in the warm current and thus reach a very high latitude.
There were many indications of northerly currents beyond Bering Strait. Abandoned whale-ships beset in the ice had drifted to the north or northwest. The experience of Hedenstrom, Anjou, and Wrangell had given a strong impression that there was quite an open sea to the northward, where extensive "polynias" or large patches of open water connected by water lanes would be found to render navigation practicable. In 1878, Dr. Petermann, of Gotha, advanced a theory that Wrangell Land was doubtless an extension of Greenland which reached across the pole and formed an Arctic continent, thus dividing the circum polar basin into two parts. This theory was doubtless based on the study of the circulation of the waters in that basin, from which it seems that the part adjacent to North America is almost a closed sea. Should the coast of the supposed continent extend to the northward, a very high latitude might be attained by working a ship in the coast-water, thus having land for a basis, and sledge travelling might be resorted to after navigation was stopped. An open season might occur to enable a vigorous dash towards the pole. Great interest was shown in this new and untried route. One old Scotch whaling master remarked to Captain De Long that the English had always taken the "uphill" way to the north, thus having to struggle against the southerly current, but that he (De Long) proposed to take the right way, which was "down hill," being with the current towards the pole.
Of course such a voyage would be more hazardous, the line of retreat would be indefinite, and in case of disaster we could not, in all probability, return the way we went. Such was the state of knowledge when the U. S. Exploring Steamer Jeannette entered the ice-fields near Herald Island, on September 5, 1879, and after several feeble, ineffectual efforts, became hopelessly entangled in the ice of the main pack, from "ten to fifteen feet in thickness," as stated in Captain De Long's journal. On the afternoon of September 5 there seemed to be little chance of advancing further, but a very good chance for getting out of the pack. Our commander did not take advantage of it, for the reason, we supposed at the time, that he wished to make a daring and magnificent attempt to reach the North Pole by means of the chief agencies of the Arctic Ocean, the drifting ice and currents. He seemed to have confidence, as at other times he had expressed himself, that the Jeannette was strong enough to resist any ice she should meet. His journal (Vol. I., p. 116) clearly states his object: "September 6, Saturday. This is a glorious country to learn patience in. I am hoping and praying to be able to get the ship into Herald Island to make winter quarters."
This statement is in accordance with remarks made on former occasions by Captain De Long, to the effect that the drifting pack was really the last place in which a ship should be put, for then all command over her movements is given up to the ice. The season of 1879 appeared very unfavorable, though the state of the ice to the eastward of our position in the vicinity of Point Barrow was not known to us. By the courtesy of Mr. George Kennan, in June, 1882, I received a copy of the following statement of Captain Barnes, of the whaling barque Sea Breeze, who was the last man to see the Jeannette before she entered the ice:
"When we reached longitude 170° 40' W. we found the ice trending to the NNW., and during the afternoon of September 2 we steered to the NNW. with a fresh SSE. wind. At 9 that evening we saw the topmasts of a vessel to the westward of us heading north. When it became dark we shortened sail and lay aback till light, then kept away to NNW. When it became quite light, at half-past three o'clock, a sail was seen a few miles ahead, and she was soon made out to be a steamer under sail steering about north. The weather, which had been fine, now began to be foggy, with snow, and we found that we were getting into a bight in the ice, with scattering cakes all around, so at 6 A. M. we luffed to the wind under short sail to await clear weather. At that time the steamer was perhaps six miles north of us. Shortly after the fog settled down and shut her in from our sight, but twice during the forenoon it cleared a little and we saw her close-hauled first on one and then on the other tack. In the afternoon it became very thick and remained so for twenty-four hours. During the fogs I worked a little to the westward, over to the pack ice, and when, on the following day, I headed to the eastward, we soon ran into clear weather and the steamer had gone out of sight. I imagine that he had the clear weather some hours earlier than we did. We last saw the vessel that must have been the Jeannette about 11 A. M., September 3, about 50 miles SW. of Herald Island. In a day or two afterwards the other whalers began to arrive from Icy Cape, and some of them crowded up towards the island, then well in sight, as close as possible. Two of them saw what appeared to them to be the smoke of a steamer in towards the island. In a short time the ice to the east of this open space began to close in upon the western pack, and we whalemen had to run 50 miles further south and to the east, where we began to see whales, and so did not get near Herald Island again till near the end of September."
Now let us turn to Captain De Long's journal for September 3, 1879 (Vol. I., p. 113). "At daylight the weather became thick and foggy. Sighted a barque to the southeast under full sail. Had her in sight for three hours, when we lost her in the fog. At her nearest she was four miles distant, and we were too anxious about finding a decent opening in the pack to run down and speak her."
The Jeannette was boldly put into the ice and worked up a lead until 3.10 P. M., when the weather was so thick and the ice so closely packed that she was made fast to a floe to await clear weather. "The pack surrounding us seemed to have a uniform thickness of about seven feet, two feet being above water. It is somewhat hummocky, but I do not observe any hummock greater in height than six or seven feet. New ice made around the ship during the night, etc. Sounds as of surf heard to the southeast, indicating open water in that direction."
About 4 P. M. on the 4th of September the Jeannette was about 40 miles east-southeast (true) from Herald Island, which was in sight, and greatly distorted by refraction. On the 5th she encountered pack-ice "from 10 to 15 feet in thickness," and the following day, September 6th, she struggled in the ice and made a few miles towards the island, so that at the end of this final effort she was doubtless within thirty miles of it, and bearing due east from the center of the island. The weather was so thick that observations and bearings could not be taken.
In this connection the log of the whaling barque Coral is very interesting and significant. "September 6, 1879. Fresh breezes from NNE. and NE.; ship under easy sail, working to the northward and eastward in leads of water as yesterday. Herald Island in sight about 30 miles distant. Find a current setting to the northward. Twenty vessels in sight. Heard that Bennett's steamer (the Jeannette) was seen by the Sea Breeze three or four days ago, steering to the northward." From this statement it appears that twenty-one vessels were in close proximity to the Jeannette when she cast her lot with the drifting pack. When the whale-ships returned to San Francisco the news was given out that the Jeannette was last seen near Herald Island on September 6, 1879, and her fate was wrapt in mystery until despatches from Siberia about January 1, 1882, announced the presence of survivors at the mouth of the Lena. The salient features of the experience of the Jeannette expedition are doubtless well known to the reader, but I shall briefly draw attention to certain details that have peculiar interest.
"On October 10, 1879, the whale-ships Mount Wollaston, Captain Nye, and Vigilant, Captain Smithers, were last seen by Captain Bauldry, of the Helen Mar, in latitude 71° 50' N. and longitude 173° 45' W., in a narrow channel of open water. The Helen Mar barely escaped being frozen in by crowding on sail and forcing her way through the rapidly forming new ice. In all probability the two vessels which did not escape were frozen in then and there and never got out of the pack."
From a careful study of the Jeannette's drift from September 6 till October 10, taken from the journal of Captain De Long, I find that she was very near the position accredited to the Helen Mar on October 10, and was therefore in the vicinity of the two whale-ships beset in the ice. The range of view from the "crow's-nest" of the Jeannette was twelve miles for an object situated on the horizon. There is definite evidence that the two whale-ships never got free from the ice and that their crews perished. "In November, 1880, one of the whale-ships came ashore on the northern coast of Siberia near Cape North (Svernoi-stove), and was prevented from sinking by the ice which still encircled her. Her crew had disappeared except the few who lay where they had perished, and it is probable that the wreck was that of the Vigilant. Another wreck was reported to have come ashore further west on the same coast, but the report does not seem to have been definitely confirmed."
Prof. Dall says: "We do not know, of course, what had been the wanderings of the hulk before she had stranded, but the resultant of her drift for one year was about 200 miles in a SW. (true) direction. This is in the direction of the prevalent winds (NE.) in this region, which, as has been previously pointed out, govern the motion of the ice much more than the currents; but it is also evident that no such overmastering current as has been claimed for this region could have been experienced by this vessel." The above was written before the experience of the Jeannette was fully known. From it and some other considerations it seems most probable that the two whale-ships did not drift to the SW. nor pass between Herald and Wrangell Islands, which are only thirty miles apart. If such had been the case it is more than likely that those islands would have been visited, records deposited, and signals erected to attract the attention of whalers, who frequent the vicinity and occasionally visit Herald Island. In the two seasons following both islands were visited by the Corwin and the Rodgers, and no traces were found.
As the whale-ships were in the vicinity of the Jeannette on October 10, 1879, when all three were drifting with the ice, it is very probable that all had similar experiences during the first six months. The Jeannette drifted back and forth over the 180° meridian in a locality north of Wrangell Island, where currents seemed to meet, and not until more than a year of such erratic movements did she take up a continuous drift to the northwest. Doubtless the whale-ships were involved in the same conflicting currents, and a few miles difference in position from the Jeannette might have given the mastery to the SW. current, or the ships might have been carried beyond Wrangell Island and then to the SE., reaching the vicinity of Cape North in a little more than one year. The information given by the natives and the marking on the harpoons show conclusively that the wreck seen off the Siberian coast was that of the Vigilant.
Let us return to the fortunes of the Jeannette and see how widely they differed from those of the whale-ships beset in the same locality. After making many gyrations and erratic movements north of Herald and Wrangell Islands in the variable currents, the Jeannette finally crossed the 180th meridian to the westward and took up a continuous drift to the northwestward. She had made a zig-zag course for nearly sixteen months, often doubling on her track, and had traversed about 1300 miles, though making good a resultant of only 220 miles to the northwest of the place where she was imprisoned. The outlook for 1 88 1 seemed more encouraging, for the water was deepening and the drift becoming more uniform in one direction, while the jarring of the ship and the portentous ice movements almost ceased until spring came.
The journal for January, 1881, shows that the prevailing winds were between S. by E. and E. (true), and that it was the most windy month up to that time. The drift for the month was 99 miles NW. by W., which, combined with the increase of soundings, made us hope that we were in the influence of a definite current and would no longer be subjected to the tantalizing delays caused by conflicting currents and ice blockades in shallow waters. Occasionally the ship's course would be deflected to the NE., and the water deepening very rapidly, would revive Captain De Long's hopes for reaching Atlantic waters by way of Smith Sound or to the eastward of Greenland.
February 28, 1881, he writes that he still hopes to be pushed to the NE. by the outflow of the great Siberian rivers.
March 21, 1881. "Soundings in 68 fathoms and an indicated slight drift to NW. Every time we go NE. we deepen our water, and shoal it again when we go NW." From March 16 to April 13 the soundings increased from 60 to 85 ½ fathoms, and then commenced to decrease—the drift during the 28 days being 54 miles N., 28° W. On April 21 the soundings showed 81 fathoms, and on the 25th only 35 fathoms, which was due to a strong east gale.
The greatest drift was recorded April 25, 1881, forty-seven miles to the WNW. in four days. The resultant drift of the Jeannette during the last five and a half months that she was afloat amounted to 400 miles N., 60° W., or an average of 2 ½ miles per day.
I shall not detain the reader with the details of that terrible experience, drifting in the pack for twenty-one wearisome months, nor of the remarkable struggle for life during the retreat from the crushed and sunken ship to the distant and inhospitable Lena Delta. It was a prolonged and emphasized repetition of history.
The similarity of our experience to that of the Tegetthoff is very striking, though ours was greatly intensified by the tragic events of the Lena Delta. The eloquent words of Lieutenant Payer might have been as aptly used by us: "Happy it is for men that inextinguishable hope enables them to endure all the vicissitudes of fate which are to test their powers of endurance, and that they can never see as at a glance the long series of disappointments in store for them. We must have been filled with despair had we known that evening that we were henceforth doomed to obey the caprices of the ice; that the ship would never float again on the waters of the sea; that all the expectations with which our friends but a few hours before saw the Tegetthoff steam away to the north were now crushed; that we were, in fact, no longer discoverers, but passengers against our will in the ice. From day to day we hoped for the hour of our deliverance. At first we expected it hourly, then daily; then from week to week; then at the seasons of the year and changes of the weather; then in the chances of new years! But that hour never came: yet the light of hope, which supports man in all his sufferings and raises him above them all, never forsook us amid all the depressing influence of expectation cherished only to be disappointed."
The results of the Jeannette experience demonstrate that the route to the NW. of Bering Strait is not a feasible one for reaching the central polar regions with a ship; that the so-called Wrangell Land is really insular in character; that in the region traversed there is no warm current setting to the NE.; that the resultant of the contending currents north of Wrangell Island was to the NW. during the winter of 1880-81; that such current was doubtless caused by the prevailing winds; that the ocean north of Siberia is very shallow and does not "teem with animal life," as some theorists have stated; that the depth of the ocean increases gradually to the NW. and rapidly to the NE. of the ship's track, and that the climate in the region explored was not as severe as that of some parts of Siberia, but the cold was greater during the second winter than during the first, when the ship was not quite so far north.
Valuable meteorological observations were made, but from which no important deductions can be drawn, owing to their limited scope and the constant change of the observer's position. The discovery of the De Long Islands, three in number, to the north and NE. of New Siberia, is not of great importance, they being of no commercial value, and not promising even as a base of operations for future expeditions.
The remarkable retreat of the shipwrecked crew, dragging boats and sledges over several hundred miles of rugged pack-ice, then working alternately over the ice or through the intervening water spaces, then, in the face of an arctic gale, embarking in over laden boats to cross nearly one hundred miles of coast-water to reach the Lena Delta, all unite to form a notable example of energy, endurance and heroism that commands the admiration of the world. The administration of discipline and the employment of sanitary measures during those two weary years of isolation were crowned with the greatest success, and the tragic fate of Captain De Long and his immediate party was met with heroic fortitude and ennobling devotion, the remarkable record of which, written with dying hands, brought tears of sympathy to the eyes of the world.
Among the incidental results of the expedition should be mentioned the good work of the revenue cutter Corwin, Captain Hooper, which made two summer cruises in the vicinity of Bering Strait, during which she visited Wrangell and Herald Islands, and obtained also from the natives on the Siberian coast intelligence about the whaleship stranded at Cape North. The brilliant cruise of United States relief steamer Rodgers in the summer of 1881, Lieutenant R. M. Berry, U. S. Navy, commanding, during which he surveyed Wrangell Island, and demonstrated the fallacy of former theories, searched Herald Island for records of the Jeannette, and penetrated the ice to the north and west with great skill and dash, finally extricating his vessel as the season ended, and going to St. Lawrence Bay for winter quarters; then, after the misfortune of losing the Rodgers by fire, he did not give up the main object of his mission, but, with a sledge-party, pushed westward on the Siberian coast to search for tidings of the missing vessel and to render all the assistance in his power.
The work of the U. S. steamer Alliance, Commander George H. Wadleigh, U. S. Navy, is worthy of the thanks and admiration of the Jeannette survivors. With an unprotected vessel, and with a crew in excess of the usual complement, Captain Wadleigh went beyond the 80th parallel, and encountered the heavy polar ice northwest of Spitzbergen. In my opinion the voyage of the Alliance was the most hazardous search expedition since the days of Dr. Kane. The journey of the survivors of the Jeannette through Siberia, and the search-parties of Chief Engineer Melville and of Lieutenants Harber and Scheutze for the gallant and lamented Chipp, who, with his seven companions, were doubtless lost in the gale of September 12, 1881, has attracted the attention of the world, causing the dissemination of much knowledge relating to Siberia and its inhabitants.
THE POLAR ICE.
In the Arctic Ocean the navigator encounters ice of two kinds—the icebergs, which are fragments of glaciers, and the ice-fields, which are formed on the sea. Icebergs are met with chiefly in the vicinity of Greenland, and while drifting south to the neighborhood of the Newfoundland Banks. There are glaciers on Spitzbergen and Franz Josef Land which are comparatively small, and the waters contiguous to those lands are not of sufficient depth to float off immense icebergs.
The suggestion has been made that the glaciers of Franz Josef Land probably shed icebergs which float to the northward, and are then brought south by the great polar current; but there seems to be no good evidence to sustain the theory. The iceberg, like the parent glacier, is fresh-water ice, and it floats with almost three-quarters of its volume beneath the surface. The mighty glacier is moved forward by the force of gravitation, and pushes its base into the sea, which, being of greater density, exerts a lifting power, and soon breaks off an immense fragment, or berg, with a tremendous crash. Floating away to the southward, subjected to the sun's heat and to the action of warm ocean currents, the berg rapidly melts and breaks into small pieces by the changes of volume caused by varying temperatures. The sea-water in the vicinity of the dissolving berg becomes less salt. Icebergs have been seen as far south as latitude 40° N., but the proportion of such ice in the arctic regions is quite small, and beyond the 80th parallel bergs are not seen, though occasionally fragments of fresh-water ice are met with.
By far the greatest part of the ice in the northern region is sea-ice, which is salty, and is known by various technical terms, such as "young," "old," "new," "pack," "drift," "hummocky," "posh," "floe-ice" and "floe-bergs." During nine months of the arctic year the process of freezing goes on, and the amount of sea-ice increases; but it is obvious that during the three summer months the quantity that is melted by insulation and by the warm ocean currents, together with that drawn off by the cold currents, must equal the average yearly accumulation, otherwise the polar basin would in course of time become filled up with great masses of ice. The growth of sea ice by direct freezing is less than eight feet during one year, as shown by the observations and measurements of recent expeditions, and it is probable that further north towards the pole there is little increase, if any, in the thickness. Captain De Long remarked (Vol. II., p. 508): "January 31, 1881. Ice found by actual measurement to be five feet four inches by direct freezing since August 31, 1880, and a gain of ten inches during the past month. As all our measurements are made in a protected place, no increase of thickness is due to snow-drift freezing on the surface. We get the actual growth, and, naturally, all increase is on the lower side. It is worthy of note that the upper half is much harder. It is with great difficulty that the auger is got down, the ice offering as great resistance as plate-glass or rock, and pieces broken off by the auger-threads being as firm as flint. Through the lower half the boring is much easier, the ice seeming to be softer and more yielding." The maximum thickness was recorded (Vol. II., p. 540): "April 30, 1881. Ice found to be seven feet six inches (90 inches) in thickness, direct freezing since August 31, 1880." The English Expedition was more than 350 miles further north, and Sir Geo. Nares recorded, "May 4, 1876. To-day the ice was 79 ¼ inches thick. This proved to be the maximum thickness it attained throughout the season."
At Markham's highest latitude, 83° 20' N., the "young ice," through which a sounding hole was cut, had a thickness of 64 inches. The mean temperature at the English winter quarters for February, 1876, was —38° F., and the minimum temperature was recorded March 4 at —73-75° F. The second winter on board the Jeannette was a trifle less cold than the above, but the ice formed to a greater thickness—one foot in excess. This was probably due to the cold current in which the Jeannette was drifting; and the ocean in the vicinity of the Alert's winter quarters doubtless maintained a higher temperature during the winter. The greatest thickness of ice formed in Mussel Bay (latitude 80° N.), Spitzbergen, during the winter of 1872-73 was between 6 and 7 feet, as stated by the Swedish Expedition, but in the ocean beyond much heavier ice was met with.
Let us examine some of the most trustworthy descriptions of the ice, and endeavor to get a true conception of its magnitude. Captain Nares (pages 78 and 79, Vol. I.) says:
"The pack, fortunately for us, consisted generally of ice from 4 to 6 feet in thickness, yet there were many heavier floes which must have been from 12 to 20 feet thick; the surface of these consisted of a series of mottled ice-knolls of a blue color and melted-down remains of former hummocks denoting great age. Previous to our departure from England, although ice of similar description had been met with, it was popularly supposed that it had been formed in protected bays which seldom cleared out. One arctic authority asked me to place it beyond all doubt whether it were possible for salt-water ice to attain a mean thickness of more than seven feet; and Dr. Hayes, one of the latest explorers of undoubted authority, was of opinion that ice soon reaches its maximum thickness by direct freezing; that he had never seen an ice-table formed by direct freezing that exceeded 18 feet in thickness. Now that we know the ice in the polar sea is upwards of 80 and 100 feet thick, it may be as well to draw attention to the reports of other navigators on this subject.
"Scoresby describes the ice met with in the Spitzbergen seas as consisting of a single sheet having its surface raised from four to six feet above the level of the water, and its base depressed to a depth of 10 to 20 feet beneath, thus making it 26 feet in thickness.
"Sir Edward Parry, in 1820, when he advanced to the westward of Cape Hay in Melville Island, and was, in fact, at the entrance of the Polar Sea, remarked with astonishment the thickness of a piece of the regular floe, which, when measured by Captain Beechey, was found to be fifty-two feet." Captain Nares described the ice he saw off Cape Desolation (Vol. I., p. 9, Voyage to the Polar Sea). "The pack consists of very old floe-ice floating frequently from eight to ten and occasionally twelve feet above the water, leaving long tongue-pieces projecting below the surface, which form a very large base; thus this ice floating high out of the water has probably one-quarter of its thickness exposed. This estimate would make it from 30 to 40 feet in total thickness.
"We are now able to clear up all doubt respecting the birth-place, age and thickness of this ice. It is the last remains of the heavy floes formed originally in the Polar Sea, which attain upwards of 100 feet in thickness. These drifting south through the main outlet between Greenland and Spitzbergen are carried by the current along the East Greenland coast around Cape Farewell; gradually melting as they reach the warm Atlantic waters of Davis Strait, the ice has all decayed before reaching the Godhaab Fiord in latitude 64° N."
Such heavy ice is not, however, found in Baffin Bay (Vol. I., p. 37). Captain Nares describes the "middle ice," July 22, 1876: "The pack consisted of open sailing ice from one to three and occasionally four feet in thickness."
Captain Parry, describing the ice north of Spitzbergen as it appeared from an eminence, May 22, 1827, remarked: "The nature of the ice was, beyond all comparison, the most unfavorable for our purpose that I remember ever to have seen. It consisted only of loose pieces, scarcely any of them 15 or 20 yards square; and when so large ones did occur, their margins were surrounded by smaller ones thrown up by the recent pressures into ten thousand various shapes, and presenting high and angular masses at every other step. The men compared it with a stonemason's yard, which, except that the stones were ten times their usual dimensions, it indeed resembled very much."
On July 21, 1827, Parry wrote: "The ice over which we had travelled was by far the largest and heaviest we met during the whole journey; this, indeed, was the only occasion on which we saw anything answering in the slightest degree to descriptions given of the main ice. The largest floe was from 2 ½ to 3 miles square, and in some places the thickness of the ice was from 15 to 20 feet." Parry also mentions a great deal of loose ice, some of which was very much water-worn and disintegrated by heavy rains. His descriptions seem to be very fair and not exaggerated, at the same time being more definite than those of most writers. Nordenskiold states, August 30, 1872, latitude 80° 05' N.: "The edge of the ice was met with and its nature was found to be such as to extinguish all hopes of reaching the Seven Islands. The ice formed a continuous sheet of considerable thickness, which appeared likely to stand many a storm before it would be broken up and dispersed. On October 22 Palander visited four walrus-hunters that were frozen in near Grey Hook, lying close together near the beach with a close broad belt of blocks of ice five or six fathoms high thrown up on a shallow; beyond this the ice was of inconsiderable dimensions."
The ice encountered by the Jeannette was not as heavy as that described by Captain Nares in the northern part of Smith Sound, nor as that stated by some authors to have been met with on the east coast of Greenland. Captain De Long called the main pack 10 to 15 feet in thickness" (Vol I., p. 115).
In some places the ice was piled up in ridges; great slabs and blocks were seen, measuring 25 feet. (Page 614, Vol. II.) Captain De Long remarked: "This very old and hard ice is beyond doubt what Sir George Nares calls 'paleocrystic' I measured one place and found it 32 feet 9 inches in thickness, and, where it is not mud-stained, it is rounded up in hummocks resembling alabaster. Over this we sledded and dragged well enough, though it was, as the men said, 'a rocky road to Dublin.' I encountered one piece which was 16 feet thick, and I am almost inclined to believe that it was a single growth, for not a line of union of layers could be seen."
From statements made by whalers and others I had received an exaggerated impression of the appearance of the great ice-barrier north of Bering Strait, but I soon learned that it would be difficult, and doubtless impossible, to gain a full conception of its mighty power when in motion. A few inches of ice on the Potomac has during a spring "break up" carried everything before it. Imagine what must be the force exerted by hundreds of square miles of pack-ice, averaging eight feet in thickness, driven before a strong gale, the hummocks, ridges and irregularities of surface receiving the pressure of the wind.
Viewed from aloft the ice-fields have a rugged appearance, great ridges having been tossed up by the contending masses, huge slabs turned on their sides, and bluff hummocks showing in all directions. If, however, we could refer ordinates of all the irregularities above and below the water to a common axis, the water-level, we should doubtless find the average thickness of the entire pack to be about eight feet, and floating with six feet immersed and two exposed above the water.
Some very heavy ice has been reported northeast of Herald Island, and north of Grinnell Land, along the coast, it is unquestionably heavier than any seen by the Jeannette party, but in my judgment the ice encountered by Parry north of Spitzbergen, by Weyprecht and Payer in the Novaya Zemlya seas, and by Koldewey off the east coast of Greenland, is very similar to that observed by our party north of Siberia.
How to account for the great thickness of some of the ice is a difficult problem. During the winter quantities of snow fall, and before the middle of July the snow is melted, forming large lakes of brackish water on the ice-fields or running off into the sea, rendering it less salty. In summer the ice melts very slowly, and, generally speaking, the thickness of the fields is not decreased more than three feet. Winter comes, and the sea-ice again reaches its maximum of seven to eight feet and takes on its new burden of snow. There is no good reason for believing that within the central polar regions the ice forms to a much greater thickness from direct freezing than on the borders reached by explorers. The probable annual mean temperature at the North Pole has been computed by Dove to be +2.3° F., which is higher than the annual means observed at Ust-Jansk-Siberia (+2.7°), Mercy Bay (—0.2° F.), Rensselaer Harbor (—3.1° F.). H. M. S. Alert, near Cape Sheridan, winter of 1875-76, mean of 366 days (— 3.473° F.) H. M. S. Discovery, at Lady Franklin Bay, mean for 1875-76 (—4.232° F.) The Alert, though nearly one degree of latitude further north, had a higher annual mean. The year 1873, at the Tegetthoff's position, near Franz Josef Land, had a mean of +3° F., and the minimum was only —51° F. Hence we cannot attribute the origin of the heavy ice to direct freezing in regions colder than any yet visited, and must therefore look to other physical causes.
Scoresby (p. 285) says: "The closing of heavy ice encircling bay ice causes it to run together with such force that it overlaps wherever two sheets meet, until it sometimes attains a thickness of many feet." The same author speaks in his books of having seen heavy masses overlapping one another. Payer mentions (p. 148): "By the end of January all the open places of the sea were closed, and the masses of ice were thus driven the one upon the other from their mutual pressure, and pile rose upon pile." During the Jeannette experience the conflicts on the borders of the extensive ice-fields were often witnessed when immense pieces of broken ice were forced up into ridges, and in some cases overlapping of fields took place.
Sir George Nares (p. 58, Vol. II.) says; "As before mentioned, a polar floe only one year old is composed, not of ordinary ice frozen on the surface of a space of water, but of a quantity of conglomerate ice pressed together by the general movement of the pack, and then frozen into a floe ten or twelve feet and upwards in thickness." Dr. Moss, of the English Expedition, seemed to be of the opinion that the growth of the polar ice depended on the annual snow fall, as evidenced by the stratification of the "floe bergs" he examined in the vicinity of the Alert's winter quarters. The heaviest and most extensive floes the Jeannette party encountered on the retreat from the place where the ship sank were in some parts 15 to 30 feet in thickness, and were of the hardest greenish-blue colored ice, without any signs of having been formed from melted snow, and showing no lines of stratification. The snow on their surfaces had all melted, and the flint-like ice that had been exposed to winter temperatures below—60° F. effectually resisted the melting power of the sun's rays. In some cases the hard, fine-grained ice reminded me of the syenitic granite I have seen at the Cairo Museum.
The presence of such extensive floes, showing great age and probable formation in distant localities, was the exception in our experience, and the general character of most of the ice we passed over indicated that we were in its native latitude. I am of the opinion that great masses of ice are formed in the vicinity of Grinnell Land and the islands of the American Arctic archipelago, where the shoving up of floe upon floe takes place by the thrust of the main pack bearing down into the almost closed and inactive part of the arctic basin. The massive accumulations of stranded ice in that region doubtless remain for many seasons unmoved by tidal action and the sea-currents, their proportions and age in some cases appearing so great that it is not surprising Captain Nares called them "paleocrystic floes," though, as defined by Webster, the term means "pertaining to or derived from a former glacial formation," and there is really no evidence pointing to such an origin for the ice described by Nares and Markham. It appears from the reports of the Greely Expedition that Dr. Pavy's party was adrift off Cape Joseph Henry where Markham encountered ancient and formidable ice-floes. This fact indicates that during some seasons the tides and currents gain a mastery over the stranded floe bergs and carry them away to other parts of the polar basin, thus relieving the overburdened parts where the oceanic circulation is less active.
Sea-water, when cooling down gradually, contracts until the temperature of greatest density, about 39° F., is passed, and then it expands to the freezing point, after which the ice obeys the general laws of expansion and contraction for solid bodies. We frequently observed that in temperatures like —30° or —40° F. the ice in the vicinity of the Jeannette would be rent asunder by contraction. In some cases the ice seemed to shrink away from the body of the vessel, and cracks in the floe radiated from her as a centre. Such cracks would immediately fill up with water, which would soon become solid ice. A rise in temperature occurring would cause an expansion, which would be relieved in places of least resistance and sometimes cause overriding and piling up of the ice. Professor Nordenskiold observed the same phenomena north of Spitzbergen.
From the foregoing ice descriptions it may be readily observed that the experience of all the recent expeditions that have reached the borders of the central polar basin demonstrates fully the impracticability of any ship, whatever be its model or however fortified, coping with the ponderous and ever-moving ice-floes of those regions.
CURRENTS AND TIDES OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN.
Apart from the numerous theories about the circulation in the circumpolar basin, let us look at the facts derived from actual observation, and at the indications annually given by drifting ice, driftwood and various articles that have been picked up by navigators. From the configuration of the basin it is evident that the widest outlet is between Spitzbergen and Greenland, and observations of the past two hundred years show that the greatest efflux of cold water and drift-ice takes place there. Another cold stream pours out of Barents Sea between Spitzbergen and the north cape of Europe, bearing immense quantities of field-ice and a few bergs; flowing to the SW. it unites with the main stream pouring down the east coast of Greenland. A cold stream flowing down the west side of Smith Sound and Baffin Bay, increased also by the southeasterly current from the American archipelago, brings large floes and bergs to the south. All three cold streams combine into the great Labrador current which carries the ice to the Newfoundland Banks, and sometimes as far south as latitude 40°, where it meets with destruction. We have direct and unmistakable evidence of the out-flowing currents of the polar basin, and it is evident that the inflowing currents must return an equal quantity of water. The Gulf Stream, in its course to the northeastward, after washing the coast of Norway, divides into two branches, one continuing to the northeast towards Novaya Zemlya and the other washing the west coast of Spitzbergen. This separation is caused by the meeting with the cold stream coming from Barents Sea, which, by its variable volume, causes great fluctuations in the strength and effect of the warm stream on reaching higher latitudes. When the cold stream is in the ascendancy the warm stream is cooled down to 39° F., and then, by its greater density, sinks below the former, reappearing, however, on the west coast of Spitzbergen.
The Gulf Stream is also felt on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, while the east coast of that island is extremely cold from the ice of the Kara Sea, brought there by a branch of the cold stream. How far east of Novaya Zemlya the influence of the Gulf Stream is felt is not accurately known, though some writers claim that it reaches the vicinity of Chelyuskin, the north cape of Asia. There is also a branch of the warm stream that proceeds up the west coast of Greenland. Other proofs of the work of the Gulf Stream besides sea temperatures are not wanting. The mild climates of the places within its influence, the West Indian beans and timber, the Loffoten floats, oars, etc., that are found north of Spitzbergen, and the immense quantity of animal food it transports to the northern seas, are all definite indications of its presence. The extensive range of the cold currents is indicated by the Siberian and North American drift-wood that they carry and heap upon the coasts that are subjected to their blighting influence. The shores of the Seven Islands and of Spitzbergen are striking instances.
Many theorists have supposed a warm current entering Bering Strait and sweeping right across the polar basin to the main outlet, which is almost diametrically opposite the strait. The proposition of an "Open Polar Sea" received much support from this theory. The work and observations of Professor Wm. H. Dall show conclusively that there is no such important current. He says: "The Kuro Siwo (sometimes called the Japanese Black Stream) compared with the Gulf Stream, is cooler, has a much smaller volume, and is subject to serious fluctuations which appear to be due to the monsoons. The Kuro Siwo sends no recognizable branch northward between the Aleutians and Kamchatka, nor from any other direction into Bering Sea. No warm current from Bering Sea enters Bering Strait, with the exception of water from the neighboring rivers or the adjacent sounds. This water owes its heat to the direct action of the sun's rays. The strait is incapable of carrying a current of warm water of sufficient magnitude to have any marked effect on the condition of the polar basin just north of it."
"The average depth of the strait near the line of our section, about the narrowest part (49.33 nautical miles), except that line passing through the Diomedes, is 23 ½ fathoms. The highest rate observed while at anchor by our party was 1 foot per second for the current. The highest temperature observed was 48° F., as will appear by a glance at the section. These figures allow nothing for the space obstructed by the Diomedes, or occupied by the stationary ice on the Asiatic side. The area of the section thus taken, reduced to a rectangle, is 42,289,425 English square feet, and the rate being taken as 1 foot per second, this number represents the number of cubic feet of water which can pass into the Arctic Ocean through the strait at any one second of time. The amount per day is therefore 3,653,806,320,000 cubic feet, assuming the flow to be constant and in that single direction. The basin of the Arctic immediately north of the strait between Asia, America, and Wrangell Island occupies an area considerably exceeding 150,000 square geographical miles, with a depth averaging rather less than 28 fathoms so far as the data go. This contains 931,553 billions of cubic feet of water and ice, which, at the opening of the season, is doubtless at a lower temperature than 32° F. Assuming that half of it consists of ice at 32° F., which is a liberal estimate, we have about 466 trillions of cubic feet of ice. If the basin were empty, it would take eight and a half months to fill it by the flow through the strait. The period of unobstructed flow of water through the strait does not usually exceed ninety days, and when it does, the excess is at seasons when the water is cold…
"The currents through the strait are chiefly tidal, but with a preponderating tendency northward, as before fully set forth. The currents in the Arctic north of the straits are largely due to the winds, but have tendencies in certain recognized directions. Nothing in our knowledge of them offers any hope of an easier passage toward the pole, or, in general, northward through their agency. Nothing yet revealed in the investigation of the subject tends to support the widely spread but unphilosophical notion that in any part of the polar sea we may look for large areas free from ice." The work of Prof. Dall is the best evidence that we have on the currents of Bering Strait, and his opinion about the currents north of the strait is sustained by the experience of the Jeannette and that of many whaleships.
The subject of tidal action in the polar basin is one of great interest, and from the limited observations already made, an important inference has been drawn. Dr. Bessels, of the Polaris, first noted the meeting of the tides off Cape Frazer in Smith Sound, and the same phenomenon was recorded by the English Expedition. [See Appendix, pp. 356-7, of Nares' Voyage to the Polar Sea.] "The tidal observations made during the expedition were of great value, and confirm the opinion formed on other grounds that Greenland is an island…The expedition proceeding northward up Smith Sound met the tide coming from the north at or near Cape Frazer, latitude 79° 40' N., and left behind the tides of Baffin Bay. The new tidal wave is specifically distinct from the Baffin Bay tide and from the tide that enters the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait; and it is without question a tide that has passed from the Atlantic Ocean around Greenland northwards and westwards."
At Markham's highest on the polar ocean he observed: "Tidal action was apparent: probable set NW. and SE." North of Herald and Wrangell Islands the Jeannette Expedition observed tidal action, and particularly at "full and change" the movements of the ice were more genera] and violent. At Bennett Island the "rise and fall" was about three feet, and on the west coast of Spitzbergen it was observed by Baffin, Scoresby, and others to be about six feet. The general movement of the circumpolar ice, when viewed from its periphery, seems to be from right to left, and the apparent cause for this great swirl is the combined action of the winds, currents and tides, some authorities believing that the winds have the principal effect. This turning movement is in a direction contrary to that of the earth's rotation. The inflowing and out-flowing currents, however, have respectively NE. and SW. tendencies imposed upon them by the diurnal motion of the earth. This general movement of ice is towards the widest and deepest outlet west of Spitzbergen and the channels north of Smith Sound, which, trending as they do to the SW., greatly assist the main outlet, being separated from it only by what appears to be the northern peninsula of Greenland. The seeming exception to the general statement of the SW. tendency of the ice-bearing currents is the SE. drift from the American Arctic archipelago into Baffin Bay, which may be due to the peculiar configuration of the polar basin NE. of Bering Strait.
Had the Jeannette continued her drift in the ice, it seems highly probable that she would have eventually reached Atlantic waters after traversing the region between Franz Josef Land and the pole. The theory of Dr. Muhry, of a current through the central polar regions, is in a measure supported by the probable drift of certain abandoned articles that were left on the ice after the Jeannette was crushed and sunk. These relics were found in the vicinity of Cape Farewell about two years after they had been abandoned in a position about 3000 miles to the northward and beyond the pole: thus indicating a mean drift of about four miles per day during that time. There seems now to be no doubt that the relics were found. "At a meeting of the Geographical Society of Copenhagen, December 1, there were exhibited several papers and documents with De Long's signature attached, which, with other relics of the Jeannette crew, such as wraps, buttons, etc., were found off the Greenland coast in July, 1884. The first report of this extraordinary find was discredited, but the relics were produced and the veracity of the report maintained." (From the School Herald, December 15, 1884.)
Before the Jeannette sank there were quantities of provisions and stores deposited on the ice in the vicinity, much greater than it was expedient to attempt to carry during the march over the ice. Careful selections were made and the rejected materials were thrown upon a heap of odds and ends and thus abandoned. It is stated that a charter-party and an old check-book were found. There was a charter made with the schooner Fanny H. Hyde to carry supplies to St. Lawrence Bay, and Captain De Long had a check-book on one of the San Francisco banks. Both documents, together with many other useless papers, were doubtless thrown with the things abandoned. This remarkable drift, together with other well-authenticated ones, is suggestive of the idea that nature supplies a conveyance to the innermost regions of the polar basin that is superior to any vessel that can be devised by man.
GENERALLY RECEIVED FACTS AND INFERENCES.
The arctic basin is the central part of the principal land masses of the globe, while that of the Antarctic seems to be in the middle of the great bodies of water. As the former is much nearer the chief centers of population, it is very natural that the mind is more interested in what is to be found beyond the arctic circle than in what the south frigid zone contains. Hence the greater frequency of north polar expeditions. The Antarctic ice is also much more formidable and the climate more rigorous. In the vicinity of the South Pole great masses of glacier-bearing lands are supposed to exist, and from them come the immense icebergs of that region. Deep waters contiguous to the high lands readily float away the gigantic bergs to encumber the Antarctic Ocean.
The lands within the north frigid zone are mountainous, but, as far as known, they are not very lofty, the highest peak being that of the volcano Beerenberg on Jan Mayen, in latitude a little north of 70°, while on the borders of the polar ocean beyond the 8oth parallel the mountains of Grinnell and Franz Josef Lands are not over 5000 feet.
The greatest depth in the Arctic was found by the Swedish Expedition of 1868 in latitude 78° 30' N., and almost midway between Greenland and Spitzbergen, at 2670 fathoms, with bottom specimens brought up, while beyond the 8oth parallel the greatest depth yet found was by the same expedition at 1370 fathoms. As these soundings were taken in the widest and deepest outlet of the polar basin, they are far greater than the average depth.
The great plains of Siberia seem to extend north as a very even bed for a shallow ocean, such being shown by the observations of the Jeannette Expedition, and also by those in the vicinity of Franz Josef Land. The soundings on the north coast of Grinnell Land indicate an exception to the general rule that deep water is contiguous to high land. The average depth of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans being estimated at 2000 fathoms (2 nautical miles), the polar basin is comparatively a very shallow sea, with an average depth of probably less than 300 fathoms in the parts already traversed by explorers.
From the fact that large icebergs do not come from the regions beyond the 80th parallel, it is reasonable to infer that there is not a sufficient depth of water to float them away, if any are derived from glacier-bearing islands of that region. As explorers have gone north of Europe, Asia and America, they have invariably met with desolate islands, isolated or in groups; for example, the Spitzbergen, Franz Josef Land, New Siberian, and De Long groups, Herald, Wrangell, Lonely, and Lockwood Islands, and the numerous ones of the American Arctic archipelago. Judging from the presence of these many islands on the borders of the unknown regions encircling the North Pole, and by the extensive areas of heavy ice drawn off by the cold currents—ice that brings distinct evidences of having been in contact with land, or of having been stranded upon shoals—it is fair to reason from analogy that more islands will be found within the unknown area of the polar basin.
It seems evident that drifting ice interspersed with islands of limited magnitude is to be found there—that no extensive polar lands—for the immense quantities of ice drifting out of the basin, and the apparent sweep of the great ice-bearing current in close proximity to the pole, will not warrant such an inference. Nor do the known facts sustain the theory of an open polar sea. The steward of the late Dr. Kane doubtless saw a body of open water from which mist arose, but he might have been able to cross it in half an hour with a row-boat. The very locality in which Morton reported the "Open Polar Sea," in 1853, was found by Sir George Nares, in 1876, to be blocked with what that able explorer termed "ancient ice." Again, in 1882, the advance of Lockwood's party was stopped by the presence of open water in the same vicinity. Such are the changes in the ice conditions of the Polar Sea. The ice as an entirety is in constant motion, actuated by the winds and currents.
Great patches of water, that the Russians have called "polynias," doubtless exist in places which, after a brief interval, may be encumbered with heavy masses of ice. The experience of the Jeannette Expedition gives strong support to this view of the subject. On several occasions, whilst she was beset in the ice, sudden movements of the main pack would open out water-spaces from which large volumes of moisture would rise into the cold atmosphere and be rapidly condensed. So it was during our retreat and boat-journey; large bodies of mist (water sky) were frequently seen, and to the south of the New Siberian Islands we came to bodies of water across which the ice was not visible, but a short sail would soon bring it into view.
From time to time extravagant statements of a tropical climate in the far north have been published, but investigation has proved their unauthenticity. The further north we go the colder we find the climate, and the greater the formation of ice, unless both are modified by favorable local conditions, such as proximity of a warm current or of temporary water-spaces in the vicinity. The migration of birds has often been cited in proof of a milder climate in the extreme north. But on examination we find decided indications that there is a geographical limit to such migrations, and explorers who have been on the confines of the unknown region do not give much importance to the fact that a few sea-fowl go beyond the 80th parallel. It is well known that a desolate island may afford nesting places, and the neighboring water-spaces food supplies, for large colonies of birds during the short arctic summer.
CONCLUSIONS.
Having organized and presented the leading facts that are known about the arctic regions, I would suggest, before the reader forms his judgment as to the utility of further polar exploration, that we review and briefly discuss the principal claims for its importance that have been advanced by writers in its favor.
Geographical discovery has generally been stated as the chief object of such researches. The instructions of the National Academy, dated Washington, D. C, June 9, 1871, and prepared for the Polaris Expedition, say: "The appropriation for this expedition was granted by Congress principally on account of the representations of Captain Hall and his friends as to the possibility of improving our knowledge of the geography of the regions beyond the eightieth degree, and more especially to reach the pole itself." Further on the instructions say: "It is evident from the foregoing statement that the expedition, except in its relation to geographical discovery, is not of a scientific character," etc. Likewise it has been with other expeditions: geographical discovery has been given the foremost place.
The efforts of the present century have met with a fair measure of success in extending, step by step, our knowledge of the desolate lands in the extreme north, but the great geographical problem of the North Pole yet remains unsolved.
Granting that, at the times the recent expeditions were sent, geographical discovery was of sufficient importance to justify sending them, let us consider the state of the case to-day. It is obvious that the mercantile value of the numerous islands already discovered is nothing, and, in my judgment, their chief importance is in giving indisputable evidence of what is to be found in the unexplored regions beyond, thus showing the futility of penetrating further into those regions.
The desired field of exploration is principally within the circle bounded by the eighty-fifth parallel of north latitude, and though extensive areas that are unknown are situated below that parallel, especially towards the Bering Strait side, yet the chief interest is directed to the central polar regions just named. The numerous facts set forth in the foregoing pages, and the well -sustained inferences drawn by analogy from what has been found and experienced at the extreme northern positions attained by explorers, all go to show that the unknown central region contains vast areas of ice interspersed with desolate islands that form summer abiding places for sea-fowl, but are of no value to man. The comparative importance of geographical discovery in different parts of the world should be weighed. British America has not been fully explored, and yet it has an area of 3,377,000 square miles, more than eight times that of the central polar region, which has 380,000 square statute miles.
The late discovery of the extent of Lake Mistissiny and of the probable commercial value of the region is of much greater importance than the combined work of all the late polar expeditions. The exploration of the central African regions, the Himalaya Mountains, and the extensive island of New Guinea, besides that of many other parts of the world, seem to be of so much greater importance that the utility of polar expeditions has been very justly questioned. In my opinion the probable geographical results are not of sufficient importance to encourage further exploration.
Second. Hydrographic research is held next in importance to geographical discovery. The formation of the sea-bottom, the ocean currents, the temperature, density and color of sea-water, the animal life it contains, and the action of tides, are all subjects of great interest that need thorough investigation, but it is not requisite to go to the central polar regions to carry on such work to the best advantage. Scientific expeditions should be equipped for the study and investigation of ocean physics, and the best field for operations lies below the 80th parallel, as witnessed by the work of the U. S. Coast Survey, and the British Porcupine, Lightning and Challenger Expeditions.
Third. Meteorology. The observations made in this branch of science by the numerous expeditions of the present century have furnished much important and interesting knowledge of the atmospheric phenomena of the arctic regions. Series of observations for one or more years taken in such isolated places and subsequently brought back to civilization are, however, too limited to sustain deductions and conclusions based upon them.
The results of the work of the twelve international polar stations have not been analyzed and published. It would, doubtless, take a specialist to form an intelligent judgment of their importance. All the polar stations, excepting Fort Conger (lat. 81° 40' N.) and Cape Thordsen, Spitzbergen (78° 30' N.), were situated from seventeen to twenty-six degrees below the pole, and it is a matter of surprise that the American Expedition was placed so far to the northward of the others. There is no special reason for believing that the meteorological phenomena of the central polar regions differ essentially from those observed near the borders, and the possible advantages to be gained would not alone justify further exploration.
From page 72 of the report of the Chief Signal Officer I take the following interesting extract, viz.:
"INTERNATIONAL POLAR RESEARCH."
"The progress made by this office in the study of meteorology has for several years past confirmed the conclusion that, owing to the very mobile nature of the atmosphere, the changes taking place on one portion of the globe—especially the arctic zone—quickly affect regions very distant therefrom. The study of the weather in Europe and America cannot be successfully prosecuted without a daily map of the whole northern hemisphere, and the great blank space of the arctic region upon our simultaneous international chart has long been a subject of regret to meteorologists. I was, therefore, pleased to have an opportunity, with your permission, to carry out the promises of my predecessor, and to co-operate with the International Committee on Polar Research, which has during the past two years organized a system of stations in both the arctic and Antarctic regions.
"These stations will conduct simultaneous hourly or bi-hourly observations in meteorology, magnetism and tides, and special observations on gravity, auroras, earth currents, earthquakes, etc. The general object is to accomplish by observations made in concert at numerous stations such additions to our knowledge as cannot be acquired by isolated or desultory travelling parties. No special attempt will be made at geographical exploration, and neither expedition is in any sense an attempt to reach the North Pole. The single object kept in view is to elucidate the phenomena of the weather and the magnetic needle, as they occur in America and Europe, by means of observations taken in the region where the most remarkable disturbances seem to have their origin.
"By special Act of Congress I was empowered to establish a station beyond the limits of the United States, at Lady Franklin Bay (latitude 81° 40' N., longitude 64° 30' W.). An expeditionary force of twenty-four persons was detailed for this service, of whom eight were from the Signal Corps, the command being assigned to First Lieutenant A. W. Greely, Fifth Cavalry, acting signal officer and assistant.
"With your permission a second station was authorized to be established at Point Barrow, Alaska (latitude 71° 27' N., longitude 156° 15' W.), within the territory of the United States, and ten persons were selected for this service, four of whom were detailed from the Signal Corps. This expedition has been entrusted to the charge of First Lieutenant P. H. Ray, Eighth Infantry."
With characteristic American enterprise the Greely party tried to outdo the British Expedition of 1876, and, as previously mentioned, Lieutenant Lockwood and Sergeant Brainard reached the highest latitude yet attained by man. A full report of the observations made has not yet been published, but the most interesting discovery was that of a fertile belt of territory in Grinnell Land, as intimated by Lieutenant Greely in a recent number of Science.
The party at the second station, Point Barrow, Alaska, was ably commanded by Lieutenant P. H. Ray, and is reported as having been a complete success. If the results of the work at the twelve international stations prove of sufficient importance to make it warrantable, doubtless there will be a repetition of the same scheme. The science of meteorology has been greatly advanced during the past twenty-five years by means of the telegraph transmitting simultaneous observations. It seems to me that the weather service of our country would be more improved by establishing permanent stations with telegraphic facilities in Alaska and British America than by sending temporary expeditions, attended with great expense, to isolated places on the borders of the polar ocean. The weather predictions afforded by stations connected with the general system of the northwest would doubtless greatly increase in value over those now made, and, in the course of time, as deductive meteorology is developed, the line of permanent stations might be extended to the polar basin. It has been remarked by a specialist that the most favorable stations for weather observations are at the extremes of climate, the equatorial and the polar regions.
If that be the case, why have not stations been established near the equator, as well as within the arctic circle? Another fact appears strange to me, and that is why stations are not made in the coldest places now known, the northwestern parts of Siberia. It is true that one station was assigned to the Lena Delta, but that is several hundred miles from the more accessible Werkhojansk, said to be the coldest place in the world.
During the journey through Siberia, in 1881-82, I visited Werkhojansk and was informed by the Russians that the temperature of 70° to 80° below zero (F.) was not uncommon there in winter. We experienced intense cold, but had not the means for observing and registering it. In the Chief Signal Officer's Report for 1881 I find the following (pp. 1091-2):
"Notes and Extracts.
[From Nature, March 19, 1881.]
"Siberian meteorology.—Up to the present time Yakutsk, in Northeast Siberia, has often been cited as the place of our earth where the winter is coldest, while the minima observed during arctic expeditions are believed to be the lowest known. Neither the one nor the other is true. In Maak's book, 'Olekminski Okrug,' I find many data which prove that the coldest winter as well as the lowest well authenticated minima were observed at Werkhojansk, to the northeast of Yakutsk. The name of the author gives us some guarantee that the observations are trustworthy. I give below the minima at some places cited by Maak, and compare them with those observed in Central and Western Siberia, and the arctic archipelago of America:
Northeast Siberia.
Serdze-Kamen 67° N., 173° E. (Nordenskjold) —50.3 F.
Yakutsk 62° N., 130° E. (Maak) —77.3 F.
Wiljuisk 64° N., 122° E. (Maak) —76.3 F.
Werkhojansk 67 ½° N., 134° E. (Maak) —81.0 F.
Central and West Siberia,
Yeniseisk 58 ½° N., 92° E —73-5 F.
Barnaul 53 ½° N., 84° E —61.4 F.
Arctic Archipelago.
British expeditions, 1875-1876:
82 ½° N. Floeberg Beach (Nares) —73.7° F.
81 ½° N. Discovery Bay (Nares) —70.7° F.
"The temperatures at Werkhojansk are the lowest of all given here, and it must be borne in mind that the observations lasted but one year, while we have more than thirty-five years at Yakutsk and eight and a half at Yeniseisk. The mean temperatures are as follows:
| Year | July | Nov. | Dec. | Jan. | Feb. | Mar. |
Serdze-Kamen, 1 year | … | … | 2.1 | -9.0 | -13.1 | -13.2 | -6.9 |
Ustjansk, 2 years | 2.8 | 52.7 | -2.2 | -33.0 | -38.9 | -36.9 | -17.5 |
Werkhojansk, 1 year | 4.3 | 60.1 | -29.2 | -46.8 | -55.5 | -54.5 | -29.0 |
Yakutsk, 10 years | 12.2 | 66.5 | -20.5 | -41.9 | -46.8 | -37.7 | -0.0 |
Yakutsk, 24 years | 12.4 | 63.3 | -19.1 | -37.8 | -41.4 | -30.8 | -8.7 |
Floeberg Beach, 1 year | -3.5 | 38.3 | -16.8 | -22.2 | -33.0 | -38.0 | -39.8 |
Discovery Bay, 1 year | -4.2 | 37.2 | -18.4 | -24.5 | -40.7 | -35.0 | -37.4 |
"Though the observations were made only during one year at Werkhojansk, it is probable that it would have the coldest winter of all observed till now, as even at Yakutsk, which is the next coldest, January and February were in no single year colder than at Werkhojansk in 1869. From a comparison with the other stations of Northeast Siberia it is probable that here in 1869 February was too cold and December too warm.
"Now, as to the reason why the winter should be colder in Northeast Siberia than on the North American archipelago farther to the north, it is to be found in the extent of the continent, the distance from any sea open in winter, and the prevailing calms. How important is the last reason is best seen by the comparison of the December and January temperatures of the last British Expedition. The more northerly Floeberg Beach is warmer, because more exposed to winds. Now, in Eastern Siberia, calms prevail to a large extent in winter, except near the coast.
"There is a phenomenon to be considered which is noticed everywhere in winter in high latitudes; during calms with clear sky the valleys are colder than the surrounding hills and slopes, because the cold air sinks downward and stagnates there. This is confined to the night where the midday sun rises high enough, but in high latitudes during some months the midday heat of the sun is too small and the day too short to interfere much with the equilibrium of the strata of air established during the night. Even in middle latitudes (45°-50°), when calms and clear weather prevail very largely in December, the valleys are regularly colder than the hills. So it was felt in December, 1879, in Central Europe. What is an exception here is a rule in Northeast Siberia, because calms and clear sky are the rule in winter; the valleys are much colder than the hills. On this account the exceedingly low temperature of Werkhojansk in winter is probably not common to the whole surrounding country, and especially in the mountains rising to a short distance south we may expect a much higher temperature. The more we consider the conditions of the winter temperature of Northeast Siberia, the more difficult it seems to draw isotherms. We know that plains and valleys there are much colder than hills and mountain slopes, but how much, and what conditions are most favorable to that so-called interversion of temperature? I consider it as highly probable that both at Yakutsk and at Werkhojansk the local topographical conditions are very favorable to winter cold. This being the case it is quite natural that the latter place is colder in winter than the former, being situated 5° farther to the north, and yet far enough from the west to have a continental climate. A. Woeikof."
From the foregoing facts and considerations I am of the opinion that the science of meteorology would not be greatly benefited by sending an expedition to the central polar regions.
Fourth. Next may be cited, briefly, the following, viz.: Magnetic, pendulum and auroral observations. Spectrum analysis, atmospheric electricity, astronomical and terrestrial refraction.
The north magnetic pole was discovered, in 1830, by Sir James Ross in Boothia, latitude 70° N. and longitude 96° 43' W., since which time it has not been visited. By the calculations of the best authorities the magnetic pole was directly north of London in 1657, and since that time it has had a westerly movement, the period of its revolution about the terrestrial pole being estimated at 650 years. It would seem that if magnetism and its kindred subject are of sufficient importance, a magnetic survey of the American Arctic archipelago should be made, for the central polar regions do not offer better fields and they are less accessible.
The international station at Kingava Fiord, Cumberland Inlet, latitude 66° 36' N. and longitude 67° 13' W., was the nearest one to the magnetic pole, and it doubtless made interesting observations in magnetism and auroral phenomena.
The most brilliant auroral displays are said to take place in the vicinity of the magnetic poles and also on the plains of Northeast Siberia, where one of the magnetic foci or places of greatest force is located. At such places magnetic observatories should be established and provided with instruments and trained specialists for obtaining the most refined observations possible. Should the heart of the polar regions be reached by an explorer, it is extremely doubtful that he would have the time or the ability to make the observations that could stand the rigorous criticism of specialists in the middle latitudes. Very good determinations of the magnetic elements might be made, but the delicacy of instruments and the accuracy required in pendulum and the other observations before mentioned could not be successfully attained under the circumstances in which an explorer finds himself in those regions. The Jeannette Expedition drifting in the ice found it impracticable to make delicate observations. The Tegetthoff and Germania parties had similar experiences, and the English at the Alert's winter quarters found great difficulty in making good observations even in the most carefully arranged "sub-glacial" observatories. Captain Markham (p. 206, "The Great Frozen Sea") says: "Under these circumstances it is no easy matter to handle delicate instruments, the manipulation of which even in a temperate climate requires the utmost care and caution. Made extremely brittle by the intense cold, a fall to any of the small movable metal parts of an instrument, such as needles, would prove fatal, yet it is almost impossible to touch them with uncovered hand. The breath freezing on the arcs and verniers of instruments during observation and on the glasses and mirrors of telescopes adds seriously to the difficulty; whilst the unequal contraction of different metals during intensely cold weather renders some instruments totally useless." There seems to be a misconception in relation to the practical value of magnetic observations made in the arctic regions, as shown by the remarkable statement of an eloquent divine, recently published in Harper's Magazine, as follows: "And Lieutenant Ray says the result of all these expeditions will be the doubling of the world's knowledge of the magnetic forces. That is to say, 'not one of all the thousand and ten thousand craft sailing to and fro among the many lands of earth but will be a little surer of its compass, a little closer in its reckonings, a little safer than it was before.' Is this worth nothing?"
This interpretation is erroneous. Since the days of Marco Polo (1295), when he brought the compass from China to Italy, the improvements in that instrument have been gradually made by practical navigators and instrument makers. The intelligent methods for ascertaining and correcting compass errors have been derived from experiments and researches at observatories and compass stations near the chief centres of commerce, and principally within the past forty years since iron has been so extensively used in ship construction. In the practical use of the compass for steering the mariner has not been benefited by any arctic expedition. More knowledge about terrestrial magnetism would doubtless be obtained by a series of refined observations in China or Russia than by a series of comparatively rude observations in the polar regions.
The value of pendulum observations also depends upon rigorous accuracy which cannot be attained in the extreme regions of the north. The number of vibrations at the equator compared to that at the North Pole being estimated as 179 is to 180, and allowance having to be made for the wear of the knife edges and for the varying effects of temperature on the metals, the requisite delicacy of observation becomes apparent. During an arctic summer refined observations might be made by an expert, but that is the season for pushing to the northward. At a winter station in the best sub-glacial observatory that can be devised, there are great practical difficulties that prevent good observations.
In Science (Vol. IV., No, 9, p. 397), Mr. C. S. Pierce, of the United States Coast Survey, is mentioned as having presented the outline of a scheme for a gravitation survey of our own country, indicating the position of points, etc. Such a survey would be of far greater value than desultory operations in the far north. As far as I can judge the pendulum observations of recent polar expeditions have not been successful, but the opinions of specialists on this and the other subjects mentioned above would be of great value and interest.
The botanical, zoological, ethnological, and geological results of the further exploration of the extreme northern regions would doubtless be less important than those of former expeditions. Fine collections of flowering plants, ferns, and lichens have been made by botanists in Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Grinnell Land, all giving very interesting comparative studies. It is supposed that vegetation reaches northward to the pole itself, but gradually decreasing in amount and variety, thus rendering those regions less remunerative than the many more extensive ones lying further south, which, though accessible every year, have never yet been fully explored. The same reasoning holds with regard to the animal life of the unknown regions. Exploration having already pushed into regions devoid of native habitation and of ancient remains, there is no justifiable hope of gaining ethnological benefits in this direction.
Much has been claimed in the interest of geology from further exploration. The remains of the hairy mammoth having been found at some places within the polar regions, it has been thought that continued research might show definite indications of an age when those regions enjoyed a tropical climate; but the expeditions of the past quarter of a century have not justified these expectations. The unknown results that might accrue have been stated as an encouragement for sending forth expeditions, but as there are definite scientific objects to be served in so many practicable fields of research, it would not seem good judgment to urge further polar exploration on such problematical grounds.
The time may come in the progress of civilization and advanced knowledge when the exploration of all the present unknown parts of the torrid and temperate zones shall have been completed, and it will then be the occasion to explore the ice-locked regions of the North Pole. The progress of invention has been such during the past two decades as to warrant the expectation that eventually balloon navigation will become feasible, so that the explorer may soar above the rugged ice-fields that now make the central polar regions inaccessible to ships of the strongest types.
After having served with one arctic expedition, and having devoted seven years to the study of the subject, as well as to the watchful observation of the numerous efforts and the comparatively insignificant results attending sacrifice of human life and of treasure, I unhesitatingly record myself as opposed to further exploration of the central polar basin, with our present resources. The gradual extension of observatory stations in the interest of meteorology, magnetism, and other scientific branches, should be made, but national support should not be given to another polar expedition.
DISCUSSION: The Polar Question
Sir George S. Nares, K. C. B., F. R. S., Captain R. N.—Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I consider the paper an able and trustworthy resume of our present knowledge regarding the several routes by which the North Pole may be approached. Lieutenant Danenhower does well, I think, to point out the danger that must be undergone by any expedition making Franz Joseph Land its base—in crossing the Barents Sea and having no continuous coast-line along which to retreat in case of accident. On the other hand, if I understand him rightly, I think he treats too lightly the danger of attempting to force a ship towards Lockwood's farthest on the north coast of Greenland.
In arguing that the polar ocean is navigable occasionally, Lieutenant Danenhower states that "Dr. Pavy…was adrift on the polar ocean for one day." "The heaped up ancient ice that Nares saw in 1876 was navigable for boats," "Lockwood was turned back by the presence of open-water." If this means that the vicinity is ever navigable by vessels or even boats, I would earnestly impress upon arctic men not to be misled by the terms "open water"—a "navigable" water. A crack in the ice a few feet broad that will trouble or stop a travelling party unprovided with a boat is not sufficient for navigation.
On page 652 allusion is made to my supposed surprise at such a condition of the ice in the polar ocean. But in Vol. 2, page 47, of my work, I mention the likelihood of such a thing occurring, and in all my arrangements I ever prepared for such a state of things, and would certainly do so again. At the same time I am certain that no vessel will ever be able to navigate successfully in the Arctic Ocean north of Smith's Sound.
I fancy there is a printer's error regarding the ably conducted retreat of De Long's party, which if not corrected might mislead others to suppose that it was an easy matter to drag boats over pack-ice. On page 661 it is stated that the boats and sledges were dragged "over several hundred miles of rugged pack-ice." Of course such a journey never has or could be made. Allusion is made to articles from the Jeannette Expedition having been picked up, after two years' drift, near Cape Farewell. This should be fully authenticated.
As to the final conclusion, I agree with the author of the paper that if we closely balance the intrinsic value of arctic exploration, and only guide our actions strictly by experience gained, then neither the scientific and commercial results of further research, however successful, undertaken with the sole desire of reaching a higher latitude, would compensate for the dangers that have to be undergone. But fortunately for the advance of our knowledge, neither individuals nor nations guide their action by such a close study. All enterprise would stop if we were never to act without being able to point to a decidedly successful and well-balanced result of our undertaking. Had the United States nation done so, then, the Jeannette Expedition would never have started, and we should have lost the glorious and invaluable lesson of self forgetfulness and ability in the leaders, and dutiful obedience until death in their followers, which is the just pride of their nation and of the world, and which will most undoubtedly bear good fruit in generations to come.
I take it to be of the first importance to a nation to foster within due limits a spirit off enterprise, and it is our duty to study the past and present history of our world. I venture to predict that further arctic research will be undertaken before many years are passed. Lieutenant Danenhower's paper may be usefully studied by those who initiate and take part in the work.
Chief Engineer George W. Melville, U. S. N.—Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: The voluminous compilation of arctic authorities whom Mr. Danenhower quotes, and the vast amount of work they have done, cannot be gainsaid by any one. Neither does it enter into the question whether they have selected the proper route for their explorations or their route for advance toward the pole. Their work was well done, and had its uses in giving the people of to-day the benefit of their experiences, whether happy or unfortunate. The people of the world are so much the gainers, and, "as there is no royal road to learning," the people of the present and of the future must work and suffer as did the people of the past; always bearing in mind, however, that the people of the present have the advantage of the experiences of the past, and if we are as careful and observant as we should be, we can mitigate the hardships of the work before us. Therefore, without hesitancy or fear of contradiction, I say that the explorers of the past have had their uses and have contributed their modicum of knowledge of which it is our duty to make use, and if in the future search for knowledge any should come to grief, it will be another lesson for our successors.
I cannot agree with Mr. Danenhower, however, either in his selection of route toward the pole or in his statement that because of the hardship endured or the loss of life and treasure, arctic research should be abandoned. Men are being born every day to die, and treasure is being accumulated by men and nations to be squandered in luxurious living which leads to the demoralization of men and nations; therefore, if men must die, why not die in honorable employment in search for knowledge—it matters not how meagre—rather than be sacrificed to the moloch of gain for the purpose of adding a few more thousands of dollars to the millions already accumulated that tend only to demoralize our manhood and make the god mammom paramount. Do we question for one moment the lives sacrificed on land and sea for gain only? Do not the ships sail, railroads run, the miners turn out their mineral wealth? And for what? Not alone that the laborer may gain his bread, but that the bondholder may gain his cent for cent. Is there any whim about the sacrifice of life when all these toilers go daily to meet their death and go intelligently too; knowing that death lurks at every turn; yet, go they must; for is not the god mammon after them?
I say in the face of this moloch of gain, can we spare no man for the benefit of science? Must commercial gain be the gauge of every man's work in life? Far be it from us as a nation that our ideas o£ manhood should be dwarfed to the size of a golden dollar. Woe, woe to America, when the young blood of our nation on land and sea has no sacrifice to make for science and for the information of our fellow-man, or gauges its life and services by its commercial value. Tell us not that the heroic youth of all nations has been sacrificed in vain in polar research, for where, in these piping times of peace, will we find such a school for heroic endeavor, unless it be in research in every clime, the reward for which is not in dollars, but in the laurel wreath that the winner puts beyond price, and which the commercial truckster cannot buy?
The work done by the heroes of three centuries, from the days of "Willoughby and Barents down to the last days of De Long and Greely's heroic band at Cape Sabine, have all had their uses, have contributed their share of knowledge to all men, and have added much to the commercial wealth of the world, and let no one with a spark of manhood say it was in vain. While there is one square foot of the globe unexplored, it is to be hoped there is sufficient disinterested uncommercial manhood among the youth and wealth of America to make the sacrifice of comfort and effeminate luxurious living, to face all hardships, all dangers, to solve the uncommercial problem of the pole.
I cannot agree with Mr. Danenhower in his selection of the Smith Sound route toward the pole. This route is through a narrow strait, or "Lena Contracta," where the ice is crowding down through the narrow channel between Capes Alexander and Isabella and the narrow channels to the northward, receiving the ice from the funnel-shaped north entrance to Robeson Channel, where it is barely possible for ships to be able to make a safe passage north of 78° 40', and where the probability is greater of being crushed in the narrow channels.
There is absolutely no navigable difficulty in carrying a ship as far north as 78° 40' every year through Baffin's Bay to the mouth of Smith's Sound, because of the large bay to the southward of Cape Isabella, where the ice, after being ground up and broken in passing the narrow channel between the capes, has room to scatter in the large bay to the southward. Not so will the navigator find it to the north of the Capes Isabella and Alexander, where the ice, as it comes from the northward, is packed in after the manner of corn in a hopper. And for the very reverse of all these reasons set forth against the Smith Sound route, I point to the advantages of the Franz Josef Land route.
Measure with the eye the difference of the width of the channels of the approach to latitude 81° or 82° to Lady Franklin Bay, on the one hand, and to the south end of Franz Josef Land on the other. Supposing that the same influence is at work tending to carry the ice to the southward between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land that there is in the channel of Smith Sound, and our experience is that the ice runs with greater velocity to the southward through Smith's Sound than it does in Barents Sea. But as it is necessary to carry the supplies for a base of operations in ships, it becomes paramount at once that the base be as safe for ships as possible. If any one will take a look at the Circumpolar Map and see with what freedom the ice can scatter to the southward of Franz Josef Land as it is carried to the southward and westward by the polar current, can he question for a moment the easy access to the south side of Franz Josef Land?
Let us look at the recorded voyages toward Franz Josef Land since the time of Barents. There really are but two. Barents followed the coast of Novaya Zemlya to the north and eastward. Weyprecht and Payer, in both the Ice Bear and the Tegetthoff, bore away to the eastward, and it was only the counter current that caught the Tegetthoff and carried her down in a SW. direction and made the accidental discovery of Franz Josef Land. After abandoning their ship, they marched less than one degree of latitude on their southerly course, when they launched their boats and sailed with safety to Novaya Zemlya, thence home.
Leigh Smith, in the yacht Hope, made a successful summer cruise to Franz Josef Land, and, after the season's sport, sailed his vessel home in safety. During his second cruise, he readily made the south side of Franz Josef Land, and in working to the northward, along the west coast, while embayed in a small cove, the tail end of a floe-piece in a twirl (or eddy) pushed his vessel up on shore, and she was destroyed. But this is something that might happen from running ice in any of our navigable rivers in the winter time, from the Potomac to Boston harbor. Vessels are often cut through or pushed up on shore in the Potomac, the Delaware, and in New York and Boston harbors. Yet these rivers and harbors are not abandoned in the winter time on that account.
After the Hope was abandoned, Leigh Smith and his boats' crews, without marching a mile, launched their boats, sailed away in safety, and landed at Novaya Zemlya, showing this to be a perfectly safe route. And the reason why it is a perfectly safe route is, because of the open water space to the southward of it, making room for the drifting ice as it passes to the southward, two ships' companies having made their retreat without the ordeal of a long march to open water.
Now the south end of Franz Josef Land is in about the same latitude as the north end of Spitzbergen; and upon the well accepted theory, that in an approach toward the pole it is necessary to have the land to hold on to, at least until we are within easy marching distance of the pole, Franz Josef Land is far superior to Spitzbergen, and no doubt it is as readily accessible. The water to the west of Spitzbergen, being a favorite feeding ground for whales, caused it to be more frequented by whalemen, hence its early discovery. Being easily accessible by ships for a base of supplies, it was adopted by Sir Edward Parry as his starting point in his sledge journeys toward the north. But had he known of Franz Josef Land and its accessibility, who can doubt that he would have selected it as the point from which he would have made his march toward the pole?
Franz Josef Land has the two essential features recommending it as a base for an advance toward the pole: first, perfect safety of approach and retreat; second, its high latitude. These features are not combined in the same degree by any other route. As the north end of this land is unknown, we can only surmise how far it extends to the northward. But if it extends to 85° north latitude, it will carry the explorer far north of the rapidly moving currents that are encountered further to the southward. For I cannot believe that in so shallow a sea as the arctic basin is known to be, so far removed from the heat currents generated at the equator—the sun being the source of all motion on the surface of the earth—that it is possible there can be a current crossing the pole, or that the Gulf Stream has sufficient vitality to extend beyond 85° north latitude. If my theory be correct, we cannot have the broken, hummocky ice over which Markham and his party travelled or that traversed by the retreating party from the Jeannette. Neither party passed over a paleocrystic sea of ice, but over the ice that was moved hither and thither by currents and gales. If there is a paleocrystic sea of ice, it is north of 85°, where the equatorial currents never reach it; where there is no rolling sea to break it up and carry it out, and where the winds and snows only tend to level and smooth the ice, be it afloat or ashore.
In speaking of the safety of ships, I do not intend that my hearers shall suppose, for a moment, that I intend the use of ships for any other purpose beyond carrying supplies to a point of safety and returning. The advance toward the pole must be made on foot or by deer or dog teams, if a smooth paleocrystic sea of ice is found to the north of the broken "tarrassy" and hummocky pack.
If the ice to the north of 85° is as broken as that over which Markham and the Jeannette crew travelled, dog and deer teams alike would be useless, as neither can travel and haul sledges over such ice as that through which the Jeannette crew cut their road for 300 miles before reaching open water.
The folly of trying to force ships against the ice of the Arctic Ocean is only equaled by the light and fanciful notion of constructing balloons of oiled silk to stand a sufficient force to work to windward against a wind moving 10 miles an hour, when any novice who has been at sea and has seen a foresail or a topsail torn out of the bolt ropes by a half a gale of wind, cannot for a moment conceive of a balloon, made of light material, large enough to float in the air a vessel of dimensions sufficient to carry a motive power working a reactionary wheel of any construction against a medium as light as air. Both projects to my mind are equally absurd, and if the pole is to be reached, it will be by march from the north end of Franz Josef Land; from island to island, if they exist, or across the floe if at rest.
I here record myself for the observer of future expeditions toward the North Pole: That the Franz Josef Land route will be the one selected, and that by this route the highest point, if not the pole itself, will be reached.
Prof. J. E. Nourse, U. S. N.—Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: As to the merits of the question of further efforts for finding the pole, at least by additional or chiefly national aid, I have no hesitation in expressing my belief that it would be unwise, while it seems impossible to think otherwise than that private efforts will be made, if only to show that daring which belongs to man and the curiosity of the race. There is enough surely in the history of past efforts, especially, I may say, in those of Americans and of our own navy, to keep alive a true heroism which itself may prompt any number of volunteers. As to the scientific aims such as prompted the two late expeditions, I feel sure that they will continue to command the sympathy and the genius, and, after a while, the aid not only of the patriotic among the people, but of the Government. It was a great pity, I think, that Ray was recalled. And it was exceedingly unfortunate that for Lieutenant Greely's expedition something was wanting in the planning and carrying out of that mission. If it had been a success, would not ready aid have been the outlook for further efforts which would, and will some time or other, bring additions to our knowledge of the physics of the weird North, and which will prove of lasting value in enlarging the horizon of the sciences?
I do not consider myself at all competent, however, to discuss the topics which present themselves at the very threshold of arctic investigation; and therefore I do not consider this as worthy of further use than as a return of thanks for your kind invitation to discuss this question.
Dr. H. Rink, Ex-Governor of Greenland.—Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: As Lieutenant Danenhower's paper did not reach me until September 16th, I feel obliged, for lack of time, to restrict myself in this discussion merely to expressing my opinion in regard to the chief contents of the said paper:
1. Upon inquiring into the origin and distribution of icebergs produced by the ice-fiords of Greenland, I have arrived at conclusions similar to those quoted by Mr. Danenhower (pp. 674-675). I believe that smaller islands, or groups of islands, but no land of any considerable extent, exist in the unknown regions around the North Pole, excepting it may be in the still not wholly explored northernmost part of Greenland. While, on the other hand, I do believe that a land of more or less wonderful character exists in the greater part of the unknown Antarctic regions.
2. The geographical aim of an expedition directed toward the North Pole should be limited chiefly to ascertaining the existence of such islands, and to determining their size and situation. In regard to the other scientific researches that might be combined with such an expedition, I believe that the usual hydrographic labors would be highly impeded, if not excluded, by the immense difficulties that would be experienced in navigating the arctic basin; and I may venture to assert the same in regard to the meteorological and magnetic observations. Consequently, the scientific results to be expected from the undertaking do not seem to be equivalent to the dangers and expense caused by it.
3. If, in accordance with what has been here asserted, expeditions for reaching the North Pole were abandoned, the question arises whether the solution of any similar problems, and especially that of extending the discoveries already made, might be deemed practicable.
If the answer be in the affirmative, I would suggest that we consider:
1st. The problem of exploring the yet unknown regions of the northernmost part of Greenland.
2d. The advantage of fitting out an expedition for the purpose of crossing Middle Greenland from west to east.
I have given my reasons for making these suggestions more explicitly in a paper read before the American Philosophical Society, March 20 of this year, and which was printed in their Proceedings.
Lieutenant A. W. Greely, U. S. A. —Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I should have been glad, had time permitted, to comment at some length on Lieutenant Danenhower's paper. The merits of the essay in a certain direction, I have no inclination to deny, but its tendencies seem to me particularly unfortunate, and I regret that it should have emanated from an officer of the service.
I consent to the general proposition that, from a strictly utilitarian standpoint, polar explorations do not directly pay. As to whether the subsequent scientific results are commensurate with the cost, I do not even urge, knowing that it would be a waste of words here to argue a question which has been so elaborately and fruitlessly discussed, with no definite conclusion. I leave Lieutenant Danenhower his opinion, though eminent scientific men in Germany, England, and America believe that systematic and scientific polar work (I advocate no other) is worth its expense.
My class motto was "Give a man his due" (Palniam qui meruit ferat), and on that ground I take issue with Lieutenant Danenhower on two points. Of polar work he says that Weyprecht's discovery of Franz Josef Land is the most important discovery of the century.
In 1852 an arctic voyage was made by an Englishman, which for these sixty years has changed the current of arctic work. Captain (since Admiral) Inglefield, in 1852, found that Smith Sound was not a closed bay, and, in his short voyage alone, marked out more new coast than is known to this day in Franz Josef Land. What Kane, Hayes, Hall, Nares, and my own expedition did is well known, and such honor has come to us from that quarter that Smith Sound is known distinctively as the American Polar Route. The results of Inglefield's discovery has been the addition of land covering nearly seven degrees of latitude and fifty degrees of longitude. We know, to-day, accurately the condition of ten times, and approximately of at least twenty times, the amount of land through Inglefield's discovery than we do through Weyprecht's. If Lieutenant Danenhower favored the Franz Josef route to the pole as I do, his bias in favor of Weyprecht would be comprehensible. So let Inglefield have his due.
The second point, that the voyage of the Alliance was the most hazardous search expedition since Kane, I approach with a certain delicacy. Commander Wadleigh was searching for De Long, Captain Schley for me; and yet I think Commander Wadleigh must consider Lieutenant Danenhower's a doubtful compliment, that he should, through failing to conform to his instructions or by unskillful navigation, put an unprotected and unfit vessel into an arctic pack. Apart from its ice dangers, the voyage to Spitzbergen is certainly liable to heavy gales and bad weather, though all these dangers are yearly met by common fishing smacks, with only sail power. All honor and credit to Commander Wadleigh, who willingly ventured, in such a vessel, to such a remarkable latitude for humanity's sake.
The relief squadron of 1884, however, pushed at the earliest possible moment into the most dangerous ice navigated in these days. The story of its dangers has been modestly told by its chief, and the world knows how well they held their own in a race with an unsurpassed class of ice-navigators—the hardy and bold Scotch whalers. If its dangers are thought to be overdrawn, an opinion as to the character of that navigation can be had from a man (Chief Engineer Melville) whose cool courage, self-possession and calm judgment, many times tried in the conflicts of the late war, have later been put to the test in two hemispheres, by experiences of all dangers possible for an arctic navigator. So let Schley, Emory, and Coffin, with their brave subordinates, have their due.
But to pass to the main question. On moral grounds, the highest of standpoints, I believe that to the navy such explorations bring results commensurate with their cost.
On similar grounds to those taken by Lieutenant Danenhower, the various exploring expeditions across the Isthmus of Darien, pursued so heroically by the officers of our navy, at the cost of treasure, health, and life, must be condemned. So, too, must be placed under the ban all hazardous or even scientific service not strictly in the line of the navy, provided it does not pay in good sound coin; and, while continuing for commercial purposes the surveys of our coasts and seas, we must no longer sanction the deep-sea researches in which Belknap, Bartlett, and Sigsbee have so worthily upheld the credit of America and its navy. Does not such an argument sap the very foundations of the navy? Is it not lowering the standard of our navy, making it a well-found, well-paid service, whence the Gold Coast, the Arctic Circle, and everything dangerous, extraprofessional, and unpleasant, save the ordinary perils of the sea, should be eliminated?
In time of war, the duty of the navy is clear. In time of peace, I believe its duty is to prepare for war by cultivating those qualities of daring seamanship, indomitable energy, and prudent daring which result from varied and dangerous service. Such training has not been wanting in the past, and the highest standard of professional daring and ability which has frequently made the American Navy the wonder and admiration of the world owes no small debt to similar extra-professional services deemed often too dangerous and unprofitable. Arctic service should be work for peace time only, serving as a training-school for war's harder task, which God forbid should ever come.
England honored Nelson by selecting him for service in the arctic seas; he honored her at Trafalgar. Holland rejoiced over Heemskerck with Barents in Nova Zembla; it gloried him at Gibraltar. America, with discrimination, sent Wilkes, a junior, into the antarctic sea. Was there a loyal heart which did not thrill with pride at his later daring in the Great Rebellion? If sober second thought and wise statesmanship disapproved, none the less did all rejoice that the American sailor dared too much rather than too little.
Rodgers' work in the arctic seas stands second only to his later war service; De Long, Chipp, and others gave promise in their previous records of the men they were in the Arctic Ocean, or in the Lena delta. I recall De Haven and Harstene, serving, both in the arctic and Antarctic circles, and Kane in his second expedition, all officers of our navy whose glorious labors and sufferings, whether on scientific errands, or on missions of humanity, were of the class which do not "commercially" pay.
Of the living who in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres have displayed in their arctic work the sturdy bravery and strong endurance, burned in their noble natures by the fires of our great civil war, I will not speak; but will the record of their deeds, second I grant you to those of Farragut, Perry, and a score, of others, fade away without stirring up in the youth of our navy an abiding zeal to emulate the daring endurance and energy of these men in peace as of others in war?
Arctic service in the English Navy is prized for the opportunities it affords for the development of the qualities to which I have alluded. I am too unfamiliar, to my shame, with our naval history, but I feel sure of our navy, as all Americans do. In willingness for service, in bravery for conflict, in resources for emergencies, they have never failed the nation. The American Navy asks no one to forefend it against such perilous service. It asks neither legislative prohibition against compulsory arctic details, nor the building up of a hostile public opinion to discourage them.
Wilkes! Rogers! Kane! De Haven! Harstene! De Long! The record of what these men did America would not erase from the tablets of her history for quadruple the money that arctic work has cost her. Their names and work remain to us, to the glory of the English-speaking race throughout the world, to the eternal honor of our great nation and its navy.
Lieutenant J. W. Danenhower.—Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: In reply to the gracefully made comments of Sir Geo. S. Nares. I agree with him entirely "that no vessel will ever be able to navigate successfully in the Arctic Ocean north of Smith Sound." It is very probable that no ship will ever reach as high a latitude as Cape Union, near where his ship wintered in 1875-6. Future work in that locality will doubtless be with properly equipped sledge parties operating from a base established as far north as possible. The prominence given the Smith Sound route by the success of Lockwood is an encouragement to the scheme that sledge parties with mounted boats might reach the vicinity of the pole by that route during an open season.
The statement on page 661 of my paper is correct. The retreat of the Jeannette party naturally divides itself into three stages:
First. The boats and sledges were actually dragged over several hundred miles of rugged pack-ice, though not in a straight-away course. The distance from where the Jeannette sank to Cape Emma, at the southeastern extremity of the newly discovered Bennett Island, is about go miles as the crow flies. The journey to Cape Emma was over the rugged and drifting pack from June 17 to July 27, a period of forty days, during which boat navigation was never possible, the narrow cracks and wider leads being detrimental to the work, for they had to be crossed on rafts of ice or by means of temporary ice bridges formed by large cakes held together with hooks and ropes. During part of this time the ice-fields were drifting and our party was carried to latitude 77°42' N., more than twenty- seven miles beyond the starting-point. For more than two weeks there were seven loads to be transported; the snow being so heavy and the ice so rough that the entire working force was required to move one boat or one loaded sledge, hence, thirteen trips were necessary, seven to the southward with loads and six to the northward empty-handed. The party had to travel back and forth twenty-six miles in order to make two miles good to the southward, which was considered a big day's work. Over the most broken ice encountered it required twelve hours of arduous work to advance the three boats and four provision sledges about 1000 yards. After the snow melted the travelling became better, the loads were decreased to four in number, only seven trips were necessary and our progress was greatly facilitated. These repeated trips were not over the same roads, for in many instances the roads first picked out and travelled over were broken up by movements of the ice. The easiest work was in moving across some extensive fields from one-half a mile to two miles wide with undulating surface, many ice knolls, and large pools of brackish water through which the party waded.
It is therefore fair to state that the Jeannette party did actually travel over several hundred miles of rugged pack-ice during those forty days. I hope this description may convey a correct idea of the first stage of our retreat.
Second. The journey from Cape Emma (Bennett Island) to Cape Medveji (south end of Kotelnoi) was made through drifting ice, sometimes making long stretches in lanes of water, frequently dragging the boats and carrying the stores over large fields that barred progress, and also making a few portages on the shores of the New Siberian Islands. This journey occupied about thirty-five days, and the distance, as we went, was at least 250 miles.
Third. From Kotelnoi Island to our landing place was a distance of 250 miles, performed in ten days, entirely in boats, and the last 100 miles free from ice. We commenced the retreat on June 17, and landed on September 17—though it was not till several days later that we were rescued by the natives.
I agree heartily with Mr. Melville that the vast amount of work already accomplished by arctic explorers has been well and nobly done; but since every feasible route to the North Pole has been explored, and without success, in reaching that goal, I think it is about time to call a halt and to ask men interested in the subject what substantial benefits to mankind are likely to accrue from further attempts!
There is nothing in my paper to justify the expressions of Mr. Melville and Lieutenant Greely to the effect that lack of commercial benefit or gain in dollars and cents is my chief reason for urging that polar exploration should be discontinued.
My conclusion that only limited geographical results may be expected from further research is not questioned by them, and I am glad to see it is supported by as able authority as Dr. Kink. The unimportance of arctic geography compared with that of British America, Asia, and Africa is not questioned. The difficulties that prevent refined observations in magnetism, gravity, spectrum analysis, atmospheric electricity, astronomical and terrestrial refraction, are not questioned by these gentlemen. They do not speak of any definite scientific benefit to be gained, but principally of "glory."
Lurid rhetoric and sentimental phrases may appeal to romantic and adventurous spirits, but they are not arguments and they have no weight with thinking men. There are better directions for the display of true manhood and heroism in the everyday life of our great cities. The circumpolar regions are not to be regarded as the great arena in which heroic youth may pose as gladiators battling for science against the ice-monsters of the North ! The real devotees of science may find better channels for their self-denying efforts. Medicine and surgery, chemistry and all the natural sciences award greater distinction and higher honors to the worthy and successful investigator than the ephemeral notoriety and so-called glory of the arctic explorer.
In regard to Lieutenant Greely's paper and his irrelevant allusions, I would say that whether the Greely Relief Expedition of 1884 deserves more or less credit than the Jeannette search parties; whether Weyprecht and Payer are entitled to more or less glory than Captain Inglefield; whether such invidious comparisons are in good taste; whether Mr. Greely's citation of the work of Admiral Wilkes in the Antarctic and during the war is a happy one; whether the Arctic Ocean is a good or bad locality for training naval officers; and, finally, the question of the employment of the navy in peace-times are all subjects that have no bearing on the polar question as I have put it forward in the paper now under discussion.
Putting the glamour of so-called glory out of the question, I have endeavored in this paper to set forth the most important information at my command, and to draw such unimpassioned conclusions as the evidence before me should justify. I find nothing in the statements of Chief Engineer Melville or of Lieutenant Greely to cause any change in my conclusions.
Captain Carl Koldewey, Commander of the German Arctic Expedition 1869-70.—Mr. Chairman: I share with Lieutenant Danenhower the opinion that exploring expeditions to the North Pole, or the highest attainable point, would result in developing little or nothing of a practical or scientific value. Arctic expeditions for the exploration of parts of the arctic continents or lands will always be of more or less value to science. Nor will mankind, for any length of time, cease making these explorations. It appears to me at present, however, that previous arctic expeditions have had the effect of pushing the more important unsolved scientific problems into the background.
I have the honor to present to the Naval Institute a copy of a report which I delivered before the Geographical Society in Munich last year.
The Chairman.—Gentlemen: Lieutenant Danenhower has raised the question whether the scientific results of arctic expeditions are worth the expense and risk which is entailed by such enterprises. It has been the opinion of statesmen, of men of science, and of seamen during several centuries that these results are well worth all the difficulties and hardships that must be encountered in securing them. Moreover, it has been considered by the highest scientific authorities that, as human knowledge has increased, so the results of arctic research have become more valuable and more varied. I have myself served in an arctic expedition, and I have devoted many years to a study of the subject. I therefore venture to express my opinion that the great array of authorities on the arctic question is planted on firm unassailable ground, and that the more recently formed conclusions of Lieutenant Danenhower, though very ably stated and based on careful study, are mistaken.
The value of the results, in some branches of science, we must accept on the authority of others. As regards geography and hydrography, some of us can speak with the confidence of personal knowledge. I venture to think that Lieutenant Danenhower confuses the science of geography with the application of geographical knowledge to commerce. I maintain that geography is a science, and that the results of any given geographical investigation must be tested with reference to its increase of our knowledge of the abstract science of geography. This, I submit, is the true test; and by that test arctic research will be found to stand very high indeed. I look back at the state of arctic knowledge when I first began to devote my attention to the subject—now nearly forty years ago; and when I compare our knowledge then with what it is now, I am deeply impressed with the immense advance that has been made. When Sir John Franklin sailed to discover the northwest passage, the whole vast region from North Somerset southwestward to Cape Barrow was a blank, representing absolute ignorance. Now we know the geography of that region; and that knowledge teaches us why Sir John Franklin failed; it displays to us the distribution of land and sea, the flow of currents, the nature of the country—its geology, fauna, flora, and climatic conditions, the meeting of tides, and numerous other phenomena of great scientific interest. Is such knowledge not worth having? As a geographer, I warmly deprecate any such conclusion. Equally important additions to the sum of human knowledge have been made in other sections of the polar regions; and it is surely a fair deduction that more valuable, because more extensive, geographical results will be secured by researches in the still unknown area round the pole.
Observations of the sun's spectrum in the far north, where the sun is at a low altitude for a much longer time than elsewhere, and where better opportunities are thus afforded for more deliberate observation, are great desiderata. When the sun is near the horizon additional lines and bands are seen in the spectrum. Most of them are doubtless due to watery vapor, but it is conjectured that others may be due to some other constituent of the earth's atmosphere still unknown, and in such minute quantity as to elude chemical tests. In the far north the absorption due to aqueous vapor is reduced; and most useful observations of this nature may be made by future arctic expeditions, leading to scientific results of great value.
As regards geology, future polar explorations will be of the highest scientific value. I will not dwell upon the conclusions of Count Saporta with regard to the origin of life at or near the North Pole, nor on his reasons for the belief that, for a long period, life was active and productive only there. It is enough to refer to actual geological discoveries in the polar regions, and especially to the existence of fossil forests. Geologists consider that further investigations with reference to the extent and distribution, in the unknown area, of the highly organized vegetation of the Miocene period, and to the evidence derived from these polar plants as to the physical conditions of the globe in past geological epochs, is of the greatest importance. Observations on the extent, height and range of glaciers, on their effects on the surface of the land when composed of different classes of rocks, are also of much value.
Meteorological and magnetic observations in the undiscovered area will be of great practical usefulness. One example may, perhaps, impress this on the mind as well as a long dissertation. In the winter of 1875 a very extraordinary rise of temperature took place at the Danish settlements in Greenland; which was scientifically explained as being caused by a wind analogous to the Fohn of the Swiss Alps, blowing across the continent. Now it is most remarkable that, a day or two afterwards, a similar rise of temperature was observed on board the Alert in 82° N. It will at once be seen how useful such a coincidence in observation must be to those who are engaged in the study of meteorological phenomena. This is one example out of hundreds of the same kind that might be adduced.
Botanical researches in the polar regions are also of the highest value, and these researches refer mainly to the very peculiar distribution of plants, leading to conclusions of great scientific interest. I may mention that there is one species which is found only in West Greenland and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It will at once be understood that it is only by the patient collection of such botanical facts over the whole polar area that sound scientific conclusions can be reached. Sir Joseph Hooker, one of the greatest living botanical authorities, has himself devoted much time and attention to the study of the distribution of the polar flora, and has developed an interesting theory on the subject. He attaches great importance to botanical collections in all parts of the arctic regions, and it must be remembered that his own researches were dependent on the labors of arctic explorers.
Specific results in zoology, within the arctic circle, are numerous and interesting. The arctic seas teem with minute organic beings, and the multitude of kinds is prodigious. Respecting the value of polar research in this branch of science, there is a consensus of opinion; and there is also much to learn respecting breeding places of birds and the habits of large mammals. Nor are the remains of man, occasionally found, of small interest to the ethnologist.
These are my reasons, very briefly and inadequately stated, for disputing the conclusions of Lieutenant Danenhower.
The scientific results to be obtained by researches in the unknown region fully justify the promotion of polar enterprise, and the despatch of expeditions by governments. If the funds are adequate, if a thoroughly well thought out plan is matured for securing the safe retreat of the explorers, and if the best means are supplied for preventing disease, there is no undue risk. Great achievements remain to be done. The south coast of Franz Josef Land can be reached almost every season, as we know from the voyages of De Bruyne and Leigh Smith, and from that starting point great and valuable discoveries will certainly be made. Lieutenant Hovgaard adduced sound reasons for his belief that there is extensive land to the north of Cape Chelyushin, and the question still remains unsolved. Then there is the completion of discovery along the north coast of Greenland, and in the direction of Jones Sound, besides several minor pieces of geographical work.
But scientific results, great and important as they assuredly are, can never be the only reason for arctic adventure. Great statesmen, both in America and in the old country, have wisely fostered it from other motives as well. This is peculiarly a naval question. Wise and prudent statesmen have clearly seen that it is well to encourage the maritime enterprise of their countrymen, and to seek for openings in which it can have a field, and that there is no better opening than one which calls forth all the highest qualities of a seaman. In this respect America has nobly taken her place in the first rank. I rejoice to have this opportunity, on American ground, of expressing my admiration for the gallantry and noble endurance of Greely and his companions, in one part of the polar regions; and of my lost friend De Long and his brave comrades, and of Berry and those who came to his rescue in another. I join issue with Lieutenant Danenhower as to the modest estimate he gives of the work of the Jeannette. It was noble work, so far as it went, but it must be finished. The unknown area must be explored, and there is, therefore, much more such work to be done. Nowhere should this doctrine be more clearly inculcated than in this place. I would respectfully submit that at least one of the aspirations of the young officers who are being trained here should be to win renown in polar research. They should resolve that the race of De Havens and Griffiths, of De Longs, Melvilles and Danenhowers, of Greers and Berrys must not be allowed to die out. May I be allowed to wish the rising generation of American naval officers all success in the noble profession they are entering, and to express a hope that America, and especially the American navy, will maintain the place she has won in the front rank of arctic explorers.