ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE. CAGNI--COOK--PEARY
The present writer, throughout the sixty years and more of his
connection with polar research, has always deprecated the diverting of
exploring energy to dashes for the Pole, if this be the sole object.
In former days the enterprise of reaching the Pole was looked upon as
including important discoveries, and the opening of a route to the
east. It was for these objects that John Davis made his attempt; that
the Government in the eighteenth century offered a reward for reaching
89° N.; that Phipps, Buchan, and Scoresby tried how far north it was
possible to go in a ship, and Parry with boats and sledges. Sir George
Nares was ordered to attempt an approach to the Pole in the erroneous
belief, inspired by Hall’s map, that the land trended north, in which
case such a journey would have useful results. But since Nansen’s
discovery that the Pole is in an ice-covered sea there was no longer
any special object to be attained in going there, except for magnetic
observations.
Nansen made an interesting journey northwards which showed the
character of the ice to be crossed. As the floes are in motion during
a great part of the year, and there is danger from the lanes of water
that form and much obstruction from the lines of hummocks thrown up by
ice pressure, progress is difficult and uncertain. Nansen wisely took
kayaks with him, capable of carrying the sledges across lanes of water.
The Duke of the Abruzzi was bitten with the idea of reaching the Pole
by way of Franz Josef Land, following Nansen’s route and adopting his
plans for sledge, tent, and other travelling equipage. He bought a
Norwegian sealer and was fortunate in reaching the northern part of
Franz Josef Land (near Cape Fligely) for winter quarters. But a severe
frost-bite, necessitating the amputation of a finger, prevented him
from leading the main journey. His place was ably filled by his second
in command, Captain Cagni of the Italian Navy.
Captain Cagni arranged his scheme for travelling with great care.
His sledges and tents were on Nansen’s pattern, but he altered the
reindeer-skin sleeping bags so as to have room for three persons.
Three limited parties of four sledges each were to enable the fourth
extended party to start full after the 45th day. The sledges constantly
required repairs, and were in worse condition every day. Captain Cagni
encountered the same difficulties as Nansen from lines of pressed-up
hummocks and lanes of water. He succeeded in getting a few miles beyond
Nansen’s furthest to 86° 33′ N.
Detentions by gales of wind and other misfortunes threw out the
original scheme, but the most important lesson taught by Cagni’s
journey is the danger of steering in a wrong direction, and the
absolute necessity for frequent observations to obtain true bearings.
As he approached the land again he found that he was fifty miles out in
longitude. This shows the necessity for taking amplitude observations
of the sun whenever it is possible. In going _towards_ the Pole it
is still more essential, for to attempt to reach a point like the
Pole without a true course constantly verified must inevitably lead
to error. Cagni and his party suffered great hardships before they
succeeded in reaching the ship again.
Peary commenced the first of his three attempts to reach the North
Pole in 1896, when he reported having been to 85° N., travelling from
the north coast of Ellesmere Island. His plan was to hire the sledges
and dogs of the Arctic Highlanders and to get the natives to drive, so
that the white man merely has to walk alongside. The Danes have always
travelled in this way; indeed it is a necessity when the white man
has no companion or only one or two, and nothing could be better for
journeys along the Greenland coast or over the inland ice. Peary, who
holds that the fewer white men in an expedition the greater its chance
of success, also thinks that the Eskimo dress of furs is the best, but
there is much difference of opinion on this point.
The Arctic Highlanders, whose sledges and dogs and skill as drivers
enabled Peary to make his journeys, deserve the greatest credit. All
explorers speak warmly of their generosity, their hospitality and
trustworthiness, as well as of their prowess in hunting. Such praise is
well deserved[163]. Kane, who has given the best account of the Arctic
Highlanders, was indebted to them for much kind assistance, and Allen
Young bore similar testimony.
Peary, who was a man of exceptional perseverance and indomitable
energy, was well backed financially, and was able to proceed to his
third attempt on the Pole in a well-found steamer. The most northern
accessible coast--the north coast of Ellesmere Island--is of course the
best point of departure. Great ranges of pressed-up hummocks and open
lanes of water were to be expected, with the danger of being drifted
with the pack. Both Nansen and Cagni provided themselves with kayaks,
and M’Clintock was always prepared for the necessity of having to cross
water. Peary, however, appears to have made no such provision. He
reported having reached 87° N. in 1906, but he was in great danger from
inability to cross the open lanes of water, and from miscalculations.
He returned with the intention of making another attempt.
He was preceded by a similar attempt, made with much smaller means, by
his former colleague Dr Cook. In July 1907 a schooner yacht belonging
to a Mr Bradley arrived at Etah, near the entrance to Smith Sound.
Stores were landed at Anoatok, 25 miles from Etah, and Mr Bradley
departed, leaving Dr Cook and Mr Rudolf Francke at Anoatok, where
they built a house of packing-cases with a roof of shingles. Dr Cook
had been ethnologist in Peary’s first expedition and had acquired the
Eskimo language as spoken by the Arctic Highlanders. He had also served
in the Belgian Antarctic expedition.
Anoatok, which lies in lat. 78° 20′ N., is the most northern settlement
of the Arctic Highlanders, and here 250 Eskimos were established with
their dogs. During the winter Cook was busy making sledges. These were
of hickory, 12 ft. in length and only 2½ ft. wide, the width of runner
1⅛ in. The dress adopted was much the same as that of the Eskimos. The
principal food was to be pemmican made by Armour of Chicago. A 10 ft.
collapsible canvas boat with wooden frame was considered essential.
The party which started from Anoatok on February 19th, 1908, consisted
of Cook, Francke, nine Arctic Highlanders, and 103 dogs in prime
condition, with 11 sledges carrying 4000 lbs. of supplies.
The party crossed Smith Sound to Cape Sabine, and then took the
route discovered by Sverdrup across Ellesmere Island and proceeded
up the west coast of that island. Abundance of game was met with,
and Svartevæg, the most northern point of Axel Heiberg Island, was
reached. This was to be Cook’s point of departure for the Pole. He
took leave of his Arctic Highlanders, only retaining two lads of about
20, named Etukishuk and Ahwilak, as his companions, and proceeded with
two sledges, 26 dogs, and the collapsible boat. Francke had already
returned. The provisions were almost untouched, as the party had been
able to live on the game its members had shot during the journey of 400
miles from Anoatok. An important depôt was left at Svartevæg.
The final start was made on March 18th, 1908, the travelling being
difficult owing to the lines of hummocks caused by ice pressure and
the lanes of water. On March 30th Cook sighted land to the westward
in 84° 50′ N. which he named Bradley Land, but he did not alter his
course to examine it. On April 21st he reports having taken a sun’s
meridian altitude which gave a latitude of 89° 57′, but he must have
been mistaken, both overrating his distances and failing to make sure
of his direction by observations. He doubtless did make a long journey
over the ice, in a more or less northerly direction; but without
observations to obtain true bearings, no reliance can be placed upon
his positions.
Cook’s instruments were a sextant and a glass artificial horizon
adjusted by screws and spirit levels. He also relied on shadow
observations, and on an odometer fitted to his sledge. But there is
no mention of any observations for true bearing of the sun and that he
made none is conclusively proved by the fact that in returning he was
unable to follow his outward tracks and his route was consequently far
to the west of Svartevæg, until at length he found himself in Hassel
Strait between the two Ringnes Islands, unable to reach his depôt.
Cook was in great difficulties, but eventually he found his way to
Jones Sound, thanks to the collapsible boat and to the efficiency
and resourcefulness of the two Eskimo lads. The party wintered at
Cape Sparbo in Jones Sound on the north-west coast of North Devon.
Cartridges had run out and they had no native weapons. It was due to
the wonderful skill and energy of the two young Arctic Highlanders that
weapons were contrived out of unpromising materials, and sufficient
game obtained to enable them to live through the winter. In the spring
they had to make the long journey from Jones Sound to Anoatok, a great
part of the route being over new ground. Eventually Cook returned by
a Danish ship, having gone from Smith Sound across Melville Bay to
Upernivik. He left his instruments and some notes behind to be taken
back in the next ship, considering that there was danger of losing them
if he had taken them with him on his long journey.
Peary, with strong financial support, fitted out a well-found steamer,
the _Roosevelt_, in the following year, with Captain Bartlett, a native
of Newfoundland, as Master. With him went his secretary, Ross Marvin,
Dr Goodsell as surgeon, two volunteers named Macmillan and Borup, and
his negro servant Henson. There were 22 men all told when the steamer
started in July 1908, and at Etah 22 Eskimo men, 17 women, and 246 dogs
were taken on board. On August 18th the voyage was resumed, and on
September 4th the neighbourhood of the _Alert’s_ winter quarters was
reached, and autumn parties were sent forward to Cape Colombia to form
a depôt, this being Peary’s starting-point for the Pole.
In order that the expedition might be of some use, the American
Coast and Geodetic Survey officials arranged that there should be
tidal observations, and that soundings to fix the position of the
continental shelf should be taken. Tidal observations had already been
taken and discussed by the _Alert_ and the _Discovery_. The _Roosevelt_
observations also included 29 days at Cape Aldrich. The continental
shelf with a depth of 100 fathoms extends for about 46 miles from the
land. In latitude 85° 23′ N. the sounding was only 310 fathoms.
The distance from Cape Colombia to the Pole and back is 826 miles, a
distance which had been greatly exceeded in the sledge journeys of the
British officers of the Franklin search expeditions. M’Clintock made a
journey of 1210 miles in 99 days without the help of dogs, and Lieut.
Mecham travelled over 1336 miles, the average rate outwards being 18½
miles, and on the return journey 23½ miles per diem; a feat that has
never been beaten by dog-sledging. The peculiar difficulty of Peary’s
undertaking was caused by the drift and by the open lanes of water.
Against the latter formidable obstacle he again appears to have taken
no precautions.
In February 1909 the sledging parties proceeded to Cape Colombia,
Bartlett starting on the 15th, and Peary with two Arctic Highlanders,
two sledges, and 16 dogs on the 22nd. On the last day of February
Bartlett started for the north, as a pioneer party to cut leads through
the ridges of hummocks, and thus make the route easier for the sledges
that were to follow. On March 1st Peary started with his own sledges
and the limited sledges--24 men, 19 sledges, and 133 dogs. Iglus were
used instead of tents, which was a mistake, and the scale of diet was
practically much the same as M’Clintock’s, the great master of Arctic
sledge travelling.
On the 5th March they came to a lane of open water, which detained
them for several days owing to lack of means for crossing it. “During
five days Peary paced up and down deploring his luck.” Afterwards they
crossed seven lanes of water on young ice. Bartlett was the last to
return, after taking an observation with the resulting latitude of 87°
46′ 49″ N. Thus 280 miles had been traversed in a month and they were
133 miles from the Pole. The speed had been calculated at under 15
miles a day.
From this spot Peary went on for the Pole with only his negro servant
and four Eskimos, five sledges and 40 dogs. It was a great mistake to
enter upon what he considered the most important part of his journey
without any white companion, more especially as bearings and distances
do not appear to have been ascertained by observations. For help in
making these rough estimates, and for such observations as were taken,
a colleague was imperatively necessary.
Directly Peary parted from Bartlett his estimated distances were more
than doubled, and the course was assumed to be due north. Peary refers
to the meridian of Cape Colombia as if he had never deviated from
that meridian during the whole journey. Yet there is no record of the
latitude and longitude of Cape Colombia having been fixed[164], and no
mention of any observations for amplitude during the whole journey.
Without such observations it would not be possible to keep on the same
meridian. Yet, after journeys during four days estimated at from 25 to
30 miles a day, a meridian altitude of the sun was taken which gave a
latitude of 89° 25′ N. or 97 miles due north from the position where
Bartlett observed. Without amplitude observations this would not be
possible, so that there must be mistakes in the observations for this
and subsequent meridian altitudes. The sun was very near the horizon at
noon at that time of the year. The distances were, perhaps naturally,
over-estimated. Peary was very fortunate in being able to follow his
tracks during his return journey, in spite of a furious gale which
might have obliterated them.
It is to be hoped, in the interests of geographical discovery and
of science, that there will now be an end of the North Pole except
as a necessary point on maps of the world, and that the energies of
explorers will hereafter be turned to more useful work. A complete
series of magnetic observations at the 90th degree of north latitude
would, however, be important in the opinion of those who believe that
terrestrial magnetism is connected with the earth’s axis.