THE JACKSON-HARMSWORTH EXPEDITION
It was, no doubt, the success which attended Mr Leigh Smith’s
expedition that first directed the attention of another well-known
English explorer, Mr F. G. Jackson, to Franz Josef Land, and led him
to think seriously of undertaking an expedition thither, with a view
partly to surveying that still almost unknown country and partly to
pushing on, if possible, another step towards the Pole.
Mr Jackson first published the plans of his proposed journey in 1892,
but, though they were very generally approved by those who were
experienced in Arctic research, no one seemed particularly anxious
to provide the necessary funds. Accordingly, in 1893, he determined
to undertake an expedition to the Yugor Straits, with the double
object of exploring Waigatz Island and of testing the equipment
which he proposed to use on his voyage to Franz Josef Land. His trip
was attended by complete success, and when he had accomplished the
task which he had set himself, he determined to extend his journey
round the White Sea and through Lapland, in order that he might
become conversant with the ways of the Laps as well as with those
of the Samoyads, with whom he had been travelling. We may mention
incidentally that it was on this journey that he first learnt the
value of the hardy Russian ponies which proved of such inestimable
service to him on his later expedition.
It was while he was still far from home that he received a telegram
conveying the welcome news that Mr Alfred Harmsworth (now Lord
Northcliffe) had generously undertaken to provide the funds for the
journey to Franz Josef Land of which he hoped such great things. He
did not return to England immediately, thinking that the objects of
his new expedition would be better served if he were to continue
his investigations in Lapland. These completed, he hurried back and
instantly set about his preparations for his forthcoming campaign.
His first care was, of course, to select a vessel suitable for the
conveyance of his party and his stores to the unknown country which
he was to explore, and his choice finally lit upon the _Windward_, a
steam whaler of 461 tons. The expedition was to be provisioned for
three years, and with such care and good sense was the equipment
prepared, that nothing that the travellers could possibly need during
their lengthy stay in the Arctic regions was omitted. Mr Jackson was
no less fortunate in the selection of his staff, and much of the
great success which attended his expedition was due to the work of
his doctor, Reginald Hettlitz; his botanist, Mr Harry Fisher; and his
mineralogist, Mr Child.
The _Windward_ set sail down the Thames in July 1894, and early in
August she reached Archangel, where she took on board a number of
dogs, four ponies, and three portable houses. The passage across
Barents Sea was not unattended by difficulties and occupied some
eleven days, while another fortnight was spent in tacking about
before Bell Island, a nearer approach to the land being made
impossible by the girdle of ice which surrounded it. On September 10,
however, the _Windward_ cast anchor off Cape Flora, the westernmost
point of Northbrook Island, and here the party erected their winter
house, to which they gave the name of Elmwood.
Mr Jackson made it evident at once that he had at any rate one of the
qualities essential to a successful Arctic explorer, in that he was a
splendid disciplinarian. He was convinced that if good health was to
be preserved, every member of his party must be kept constantly busy,
so he saw to it that his men always had plenty of occupation. If they
were not at work, they were sent out hunting, game being exceedingly
plentiful on the island. If they were not hunting, they were made
to play football or other games. The results triumphantly justified
his methods, for during the three years that they spent on Franz
Josef Land not a member of his party had an hour’s illness and not a
single man had to knock off work through indisposition. The crew of
the _Windward_, on the other hand, who were not under his immediate
supervision, and who were allowed to please themselves as to how they
occupied their time, became subject to scurvy, to which several of
them succumbed.
The winter passed without incident, and as soon as spring came round
they set about trying their sledges and making preparations for their
first journey of exploration. This was begun on April 16, and in the
course of it Jackson and his two companions, Lieutenant Armitage
and Blonkvist, pushed north as far as Back Island, where Nansen and
Johansen were destined to build their winter hut four months later.
They were prevented from going much further, however, by the fact
that their way led them through a mixture of snow and mud, which
their ponies were quite unable to negotiate; accordingly there was
nothing for them to do but to make their way home to Elmwood House.
In June the _Windward_ got up steam and set sail for England, leaving
the explorers behind. Her voyage proved to be one of the most trying
description, for so dense was the pack that it took her sixty-five
days to plough her way through it. No provision had been made for
such an eventuality, and she soon found herself short of coal, with
the result that she had to burn her masts, her bridge, and any other
timber that she could spare in order to keep her engines going.
Meanwhile Jackson and his companions, having been foiled in their
attempt to penetrate far to the north, turned their attention to the
vast tract of undiscovered country which lay to the west of them,
and they spent the rest of the summer in exploring and mapping out
Alexandra Land as far as Cape Mary Harmsworth.
Two serious losses befell them during their second winter at Cape
Flora, in that one of their ponies was found hanged in its stable one
morning, while another fell sick and died. Otherwise, however, the
winter months passed without incident.
The spring was spent in another trip north along the shores of
British Channel, during the course of which Jackson and his
companions added islands and capes innumerable to the map of Franz
Josef Land. Their discoveries, however, though of great geographic
value, need not be recorded at length here, and it was not until June
17 that an event occurred of which we must give any detailed account.
We leave Mr Jackson to tell the story in his own words.
[Illustration: THE MEETING BETWEEN JACKSON AND NANSEN]
“Just after dinner,” he writes, “Armitage came rushing down to tell
me that through his field-glass he could see a man on the floe to
the S.S.E. of Cape Flora, about four miles off. I could hardly
believe it; such a thing seemed utterly impossible, and thought he
had mistaken a walrus on the ice for a man, but having got a glass I
could see he was correct. I could also make out somewhat indistinctly
a staff or mast, with another man apparently standing near it close
to the water’s edge. It occurred then to me that it might be one
of my own men, although they had all been at dinner a few minutes
before, but I, however, found that all were present. I got a gun
with all speed, and firing off a shot on the bank to endeavour to
arrest the stranger’s attention, I started off to meet him coming
across the ice.... On our approaching each other, about three miles
distant from the land, I saw a tall man on ski with roughly-made
clothes and an old felt hat on his head. He was covered with oil and
grease, and black from head to foot. I at once concluded from his
wearing ski that he was no English sailor, but that he must be a man
from some Norwegian walrus sloop who had come to grief and wintered
somewhere on Franz Josef Land in very rough circumstances. His hair
was very long and dirty, his complexion appeared to be fair, but dirt
prevented me from being sure on this point, and his beard was
straggly and dirty also. We shook hands heartily, and I expressed the
greatest pleasure at seeing him. I inquired if he had a ship. ‘No,’
he replied, ‘my ship is not here’—rather sadly I thought—and then he
remarked, in reply to my question, that he had only one companion,
who was at the floe edge. It then struck me that his features, in
spite of the black grease and long hair and beard, resembled Nansen,
whom I had met once in London before he started in 1893, and I
exclaimed:—
“‘Aren’t you Nansen?’
“To which he replied:—
“‘Yes, I am Nansen.’
“With much heartiness I shook him by the hand and said, ‘By jove, I’m
damned glad to see you!’”
Such, then, was the unexpected meeting between two explorers who were
both trying from different directions to solve the problem of the
frozen north. It was as well for Nansen and his companion that that
meeting took place, for they had to confess that they were hopelessly
lost, and small wonder, for Payer’s map of the north of Franz Josef
Land was quite unrecognisable, while, as their watches had run down,
they were unable to discover their longitude. Now, however, their
troubles were at an end, and they were saved from the necessity of
attempting that awful voyage to Spitzbergen in two frail kayacks, a
voyage which must almost inevitably have resulted in their deaths.
Jackson lost no time in taking the two weary travellers back to his
hut, where they were refreshed with a good meal and a wash and brush
up—the first in which they had been able to indulge for a year. We
are told that so begrimed were they after their journey, that the
first application of soap and water had almost as little effect upon
them as it had upon the historic tramp who washed and washed till he
came to a flannel shirt. Time and honest endeavour, however, made
their due impression, and Nansen and Johansen were soon able to boast
that they cut as respectable figures as any of their companions.
The two explorers had, of course, much in common, and they soon
became such fast friends that Nansen’s pleasure at the arrival of
the _Windward_ on July 26 and the prospect of an immediate return to
the civilised world which it brought with it, was tempered by very
real regret. However his course was naturally obvious, and when the
ship, after discharging the stores which she had brought for Jackson,
sailed once more for England, she took with her Nansen and Johansen,
as well as Blonkvist, whose health would not stand another winter
in the Arctic, and Fisher, the botanist, who had now completed his
researches into the flora of Franz Josef Land.
During the ensuing year Jackson continued his exploration of the
new land, and his labours were always attended by the happiest
results. The sum of them was to prove that it consisted of a
cluster of islands, separated from one another by channels in which
ran exceedingly rapid currents. These currents, keeping the ice
constantly in motion, often made travelling exceedingly difficult,
but they ensured open waterways, in which walruses abounded. He
further proved that several countries hitherto marked on the maps,
such as Gillies and King Oscar Lands, did not exist at all, and made
countless scientific observations of the greatest value.
He had hoped that he might be able to extend his visit to Franz Josef
Land over another year, with a view to making an effort to push
north. This, however, was not to be, and when the _Windward_ called
for him on August 6, the force of circumstances compelled him and his
party to return home to England. This they accordingly proceeded to
do, having first established a depot of provisions for the benefit of
Andrée, should fortune direct the course of that intrepid explorer
thither.
[Illustration:
FRANZ JOSEF
LAND
]