constantly baled to keep them from sinking. When everything looked
darkest, one of the party saw a large seal floating on a piece of ice
a short distance away. The half-starved men became so excited that
they could hardly handle the oars. Every preparation was made to steal
quietly toward the animal, which seemed to be asleep. Stockings were
placed over the oars to deaden the sound, and a man named Peterson, who
was thought to be the best shot of the party, was stationed in the bow
with the rifle.
Silently the oarsmen guided the boat toward the piece of ice where
the seal was lying. When they were almost within rifle shot, the seal
lifted its head and saw the boat. The men were filled with despair as
they saw the animal move toward the sea as if to plunge in. They all
looked anxiously at Peterson, for their lives depended upon him. Poor
Peterson was trembling with nervousness and weakness. His hands shook,
but with a great effort he steadied himself and fired. Instantly the
seal fell over on its side.
With shouts of delight the men pushed the boat to the ice, climbed upon
it, and seized the animal. They were half mad with joy, and ran over
the ice, crying and laughing, and waving their knives. Soon every man
was eating raw blubber and licking his bloody fingers with relish. It
was a savage meal, but starved men may be pardoned for being fierce.
[Illustration: DRAGGING THE BOATS OVER THE ICE FLOES.]
Other seals were shot, and soon land was sighted. Kane directed the
course of the boats southward along the coast, and a few nights later
the men landed on the rocks for rest and sleep.
One morning Peterson, in great excitement, awoke Kane and told him
that he had just seen a native in a kayak, searching among the rocks
along the coast for eider down. Peterson knew him, and called to him:
“Don’t you know me? I am Carl Peterson.” “No,” the Eskimo answered;
“Peterson’s wife says he is dead.” Then he paddled away very fast as if
in fear.
A few days later Kane and his companions were rowing along in their
boats, when the mast of a vessel loomed in the distance before them.
Peterson burst into sobs in his excitement, and in broken English and
Danish exclaimed, “It’s the Upernavik oil boat!” Indeed, it was the
vessel that goes once a year to Upernavik for a supply of blubber
to make oil. Soon the vessel came near enough for the crews to talk
to each other. You may be sure that Captain Kane’s party wanted to
know what had happened during their long absence from home. The first
question Kane asked was whether Franklin had been found.
The sailors told him that some traces of Franklin had been seen,
but that it was now supposed that he and all of his companions had
perished. This news made Kane very sad, for no one knew better than he
what suffering Franklin and his men must have endured.
After learning all that these men could tell him, Kane journeyed on.
After another halt for sleep, and another long pull at the oars, the
men heard the welcome sound of barking dogs at the settlement.
The people of Upernavik were very kind to Kane and his men. They fitted
up a loft for them to sleep in and shared their stores in a liberal
manner.
[Illustration: UPERNAVIK, GREENLAND.]
A Danish vessel, starting for home early in September, took Kane and
his party on board, promising to land them at the Shetland islands. On
the 11th the vessel reached Disco, where another steamer was sighted in
the distance. As she drew near Kane’s men saw with joy that she carried
the American flag. The vessel proved to be a relief ship sent out by
the United States to search for Captain Kane. The men, under command of
Lieutenant Hartstene, greeted Kane and his companions with cheers and
took them aboard. The _Faith_, which had done such excellent service,
was taken on board also, and may now be seen at the Brooklyn navy yard.
Though Kane had been compelled to leave the _Advance_ in the ice,
had lost his equipment, and had found no trace of Sir John Franklin,
yet his expedition was by no means a failure. The geographical and
scientific value of the knowledge which he gained during his stay in
the icy North was very great.
Large tracts of country, before unknown, had been discovered and
surveyed; the coast of Greenland had been explored as far north as
latitude 81°, and the great glacier of Humboldt, with a sea face
forty-five miles in length, discovered. New land to the north of
Humboldt glacier was also discovered and named Washington Land.
[Illustration: A GREENLANDER IN HIS KAYAK.]
A great channel to the northwest, free from ice, was supposed to lead
into an open polar sea. The theory of an open polar sea, however, has
not yet been proved.
Grinnell Land was discovered, and a survey made of the lands bordering
on Smith sound. Valuable facts in relation to the tides, climates,
and plants were compiled, and a study was made of the Eskimos of Smith
sound. Kane received gold medals from the Queen of England, the Royal
Geographical Society of London, the American Congress, and the New York
Legislature.
But Kane’s health, never of the best, now began to fail. He went to
England, but while there grew rapidly worse. He then sailed for Havana,
hoping that the balmy climate would benefit him; but it was too late
for him to recover his health, and he died at Havana, February 16,
1857.
XI. NORDENSKJÖLD AND THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE
1878–1879
The next man to journey into the frozen North was Adolf Erik
Nordenskjöld.[2] He was born in Finland and educated at its university;
but when he was about twenty-two years of age he fell under the
suspicion of the Russian government and was compelled to leave his
native country. Nordenskjöld then took up his residence in Sweden, and
in 1858 began his career as an Arctic explorer by going on a journey to
Spitzbergen. Five voyages in the Arctic regions followed, during one of
which Nordenskjöld visited Greenland and made an inland journey over
the ice.
[2] Pronounced _Norʹ den sheld_.
The interior of Greenland is believed to be one vast glacier, moving
slowly to the sea. This movement causes the formation of deep chasms
and clefts which are almost bottomless, and which prevent the traveler
from making rapid progress.
Notwithstanding the dangers and hardships of the journey, Nordenskjöld
advanced thirty miles over the glacier to a height of twenty-two
hundred feet above the level of the sea. Upon returning to the coast,
he visited Disco Fiord, and then went home to Sweden.
About the time that Nordenskjöld reached home, the Swedish government
decided to send a sledge expedition from Spitzbergen to the North
Pole. The nation which should first succeed in reaching the pole would
gain the admiration of the civilized world, and Sweden hoped to win
this glory.
The government began at once to look for a leader for this expedition,
and very naturally selected Nordenskjöld, who had already made Arctic
voyages and had thereby gained experience which made him a valuable
commander.
The party was sent out in 1872, but did not succeed in advancing far
toward the pole; yet the results of the journey were important, for
the island of Spitzbergen was explored and a good deal of scientific
information was acquired.
When Professor Nordenskjöld returned from Spitzbergen, he gave his
attention to the northern coast of Asia. Some few whalers had sailed
round Nova Zembla and entered the Kara sea, but the idea prevailed
that this sea was always full of ice and dangerous to navigate.
Nordenskjöld, however, made up his mind to explore the Kara sea and
sail along the coast of Siberia to the mouth of the Yenisei river.
Supported by Mr. Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld sailed on
the _Proven_. He first visited Nova Zembla, and then, passing through
Jugor strait, entered the Kara sea, which was entirely free from
ice, and reached the Yenisei river without much difficulty. During
this journey, he and his assistants made valuable collections of the
products of the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. They succeeded
in increasing the number of known insects to be found in Nova Zembla
from seven to one hundred, and in the Kara sea, which had been thought
barren, they found five hundred species of animal life. Upon reaching
the mouth of the Yenisei river, Nordenskjöld sent the _Proven_ home,
while he and a few chosen companions proceeded up the river in a small
boat.
It was summer time and the tundras were covered with a scanty
vegetation. The tundras are the plains of Russia and Siberia which lie
between the tree limit and the Arctic ocean. Most persons think of them
as entirely barren; in some parts the soil is fertile and would be
suitable for cultivation, if the climate permitted. In the winter they
are frozen, but in the summer they afford pasture to herds of reindeer.
All Siberia is colder than other places in the same latitude. One of
the best-known cold regions on the earth is in Siberia, in latitude 67°
54ʹ N. Here the average temperature of the winter months is often as
low as -53°, while some days the thermometer falls to -75° and -85° F.
The tundras are inhabited by a tribe of Siberian Indians called
Samoyeds. These natives travel about during the summer, hunting and
fishing, setting up their skin tents wherever they find game plentiful.
They usually have with them a large number of dogs, which they use for
sledging in winter and drawing boats against the current during the
summer. The dogs run alongshore and drag the boats after them up the
river, very much as mules draw our canal boats. The Samoyeds are small
of stature and very dirty. Their hair is matted and unkempt, and they
wear clothes of skin, with sometimes a bright-colored cotton shirt over
the skin blouse.
[Illustration: SAMOYED HUTS IN SUMMER.]
These people worship idols, which look like dolls made of skin, and
which they always carry with them on their travels. Some of these
idols, or gods, have faces of brass or copper, and some carry bows made
of forged iron. The Samoyeds worship by making pilgrimages to certain
spots, where they offer sacrifices and make vows; they eat the flesh of
their victims, and besmear their idols with the blood. At these sacred
places there are piles of bones and skulls of the reindeer, with the
horns. Near by are also found quantities of old iron, and hundreds of
small wooden sticks, carved to look like human faces.
[Illustration: A SAMOYED FAMILY IN WINTER COSTUME.]
It was to this Samoyed country that the Russian government used to
send her criminals, and there are many exiles living there now; but
the natives treat them very kindly and never inquire into the cause of
their banishment.
As Nordenskjöld and his companions traveled on, they saw large masses
of driftwood lying along the shores of the river. This driftwood
is carried by the current out into the Arctic ocean, and is often
picked up by explorers on the North American and Greenland shores, a
fact which seems to prove that the ocean currents carry it across the
polar sea. At length the travelers entered the region from which this
driftwood comes. This is the great forest belt of Siberia, the largest
in the world, extending, with but little interruption, from the Ural
mountains to the Sea of Okhotsk. It consists mainly of enormous pines,
growing thickly, and untouched by the ax of the lumberman. Many trees
are withered with age; others are fallen, and their decayed trunks are
covered with mosses and lichens. The wilderness is so vast that a man
might wander hundreds of miles without meeting a human being.
Beyond the forest belt lie the fertile plains, which are partly
cultivated and which supply Europe with wheat. Nordenskjöld visited
these plains, or steppes, and then proceeded homeward overland, by way
of St. Petersburg. The next year, 1876, Nordenskjöld made a second
voyage from Sweden to the mouth of the Yenisei river, proving beyond a
doubt that there is a sea route from the Atlantic to the mouth of the
great Siberian river. For this achievement he was regarded by Russia as
a national benefactor and publicly thanked.
Nordenskjöld hoped that the rich produce of central Asia, the gold,
silver, copper, iron, and coal, the ivory, timber, wheat, and furs,
might now be shipped through the rivers to the Arctic ocean and thence
to Europe. The dangers of navigation through the ice, however, are
so great that it is doubtful whether this route can ever become an
important one for purposes of commerce.
Nordenskjöld was not yet satisfied with the work he had accomplished
in the Arctic regions. He longed to do what Arctic explorers had been
trying to do for three hundred years; namely, to find a northeast
passage to the Pacific. Supported by King Oscar of Sweden and by Mr.
Oscar Dickson of Gothenburg, Nordenskjöld sailed from Tromsö in his
ship, the _Vega_, July 21, 1878, accompanied by three other vessels.
Two of the vessels left him at the mouth of the Yenisei and proceeded
up that river, while the other, the _Lena_, accompanied the _Vega_
eastward. The fog caused the sailors more trouble than the ice, but one
day the mist rose, showing a dark ice-free cape. Then Nordenskjöld knew
that he had succeeded in reaching the northernmost point of the Old
World, Cape Tcheliuskin (Chelyuskin).
More than a century earlier, Lieutenant Tcheliuskin, a Russian officer,
had succeeded in reaching this most northern point of Siberia,
traveling overland by sledge. Many explorers had tried to reach Cape
Tcheliuskin by water, but up to this time all had failed. Nordenskjöld
and his companions were very proud of their success. Flags were
hoisted, salutes fired, and the officers drank toasts in honor of the
occasion.
[Illustration: THE “VEGA” FIRING A SALUTE AT CAPE TCHELIUSKIN, THE MOST
NORTHERN POINT OF THE OLD WORLD.]
A heap of stones, called a cairn, was erected on shore as a memorial,
and soon the two vessels started again on their journey eastward. When
the mouth of the Lena river was reached, the ship _Lena_ headed toward
it and, after exploring the river, returned home.
After parting from the _Lena_, the _Vega_ continued her voyage to the
New Siberian islands and thence along the coast of Asia, nearly to
Bering strait. When within a day’s journey of the strait, the _Vega_
was beset in the ice; and, much to Nordenskjöld’s regret, he was
obliged to pass the winter at the very entrance to the Pacific ocean.
Had he been a few hours earlier, he might have forced his way through
the ice and completed the northeast passage in 1878. But in that case
we should never have known all the interesting facts which he has told
us about the strange people who inhabit the northeastern peninsula of
Asia.
These people are a Siberian tribe, called Tchuktches.[3] There are
two divisions of the tribe, the reindeer Tchuktches and the coast
Tchuktches. The former own herds of reindeer, and travel about,
pitching their tents wherever the pasture is good. They also trade in
skins, hides, furs, and whalebones with the most northern Indian tribes
of America and with the Russian fur dealers, often making long journeys
for this purpose. The coast Tchuktches live along the shore, and hunt
and fish for their living.
[3] Pronounced _Chookʹ chez_.
The reindeer Tchuktches were encamped near the _Vega’s_ winter
quarters. As soon as these people saw a strange ship anchored off the
coast, they launched a large skin boat very skillfully, and men, women,
and children jumped in and rowed through the thin, newly formed ice to
the vessel. They climbed aboard and seemed as pleased to see the white
men as if they had been old friends. The deck of the _Vega_ became a
reception room, for not a day passed without a visit from the natives.
[Illustration: TCHUKTCHE AND REINDEER.]
The Tchuktches are a strong, hardy race, but very lazy. Nothing but
want of food induces them to work. Many are tall, with brown skin and
raven-black hair, and a large nose like that of our North American
Indians. Some have high cheek bones and slanting eyes, like the
Mongolian race. They live in tents, which are made double to insure
warmth during the winter. The inner tent is the sleeping room. The
framework is of wood, and over this are spread thick reindeer skins.
The floor is a walrus skin, and at night extra reindeer skins are
thrown down like a carpet. The inner tent is heated by three train-oil
lamps, which, together with the heat from the bodies of the many human
beings who are packed in this small space, raise the temperature in the
tent to such a degree that even in the most severe weather, the natives
strip off all their clothing. In the winter they live, cook, and work
in the inner tent; the outer tent, used in summer, is built around the
inner tent. The skins of the outer tent are older and thinner than
those of the inner one.
The Tchuktche women work very hard. They take care of the children,
cook, sew, and keep the tent in order. They receive the game and cut it
up, in winter in the tent and in summer on the beach. They help with
the fishing; they tan the hides and prepare thread from the sinews.
The men provide the food, which they obtain by fishing, hunting, and
trading. But in and around the tent they do nothing but put their
hunting tools in order, or play with the children.
[Illustration: TCHUKTCHE MAN AND WOMAN.]
Tchuktche children are healthy and hearty. They often cross from one
tent to another entirely naked, when the weather is bitterly cold. The
children are petted and treated very kindly. The older people never
utter an angry word to them, or punish them. For playthings they have
dolls, bows, and windmills with sails. Tchuktche children are very
well-behaved. A little girl fell down the ship’s stairs head first, and
received so severe a blow that her hearing was nearly destroyed, yet
she scarcely uttered a cry. A small boy of four years once visited the
ship. He was so wrapped up in furs that he looked like a ball and could
hardly move. He fell into a ditch which had been cut in the ice on the
deck, and could not get out. The small Tchuktche did not make a sound,
but waited patiently until some one saw him lying there and rescued
him.
When the ice became solid, the natives came on their dog sleds from
villages far away. Sometimes they brought skins and whalebones to
exchange for tobacco and brandy, but they obtained very little of the
latter from the men on the _Vega_. As winter advanced, the natives’
provisions gave out. Then they gathered around the ship at the time
when they knew the crew were at dinner, and begged for food so hard
that one day the cook himself came out with a large kettle full of meat
soup. The Tchuktches seized it like starving animals and bailed it out
with spoons, empty tin cans, and even with their hands. Nordenskjöld
gave them all the food he could spare, but in spite of his kindness the
plump little babies grew thin and hollow-eyed. One day the Tchuktche
hunters killed a polar bear and several seals. Then begging ceased for
a few days, and they rested from hunting and lived on the fat of the
land, without any thought of the future.
[Illustration: HUNTING REINDEER.]
A few days later a procession of Tchuktches was again seen, coming in
single file over the ice toward the ship, each man carrying a piece of
ice on his shoulder. This he gave to the cook, begging for something
to eat in return; and you may be sure that all the food that could be
spared was given to these poor people.
One morning a number of men approached the ship, dragging a dog sledge
on which a man lay so quietly that Nordenskjöld thought he must be
ill or dead. To his surprise, when the sledge reached the side of
the vessel, the man climbed rapidly to the deck and saluted. He then
informed Nordenskjöld in broken Russian that he was the great chief of
the Tchuktches, and, as a mark of his high rank, he had been drawn over
the ice by men instead of dogs.
This man’s name was Menka. He gave Nordenskjöld two roasts of reindeer
meat, and in return received some tobacco and a woolen shirt. Finding
that Menka was going to a Russian town some distance away, Nordenskjöld
asked him to carry a letter to the Russian authorities there, as he
wanted to let King Oscar know where he was. Menka consented, and
Nordenskjöld wrote the letter and gave it to him. Whether Menka
misunderstood or not, no one knows; but when he reached shore he
assembled the Tchuktches, opened the letter, and, holding it upside
down, gravely read it in his own language to his admiring audience. His
hearers thought him very learned indeed.
The next day the great chief again visited the _Vega_, but no one
mentioned the letter for fear of hurting his feelings. Menka doubtless
meant no harm. The Tchuktches seem to have been very democratic in
their sentiments; they refused to admit that Menka was their chief,
saying that they were just as good as he was.
When Christmas came, some of the whites persuaded the Tchuktches to
bring them a load of willows from the valleys in the south. They took
a piece of wood for the stem and, tying on the willow bushes for
branches, called it a Christmas tree, and decorated it with flags,
colored papers, and wax lights. A box of Christmas presents had been
placed on board by their friends at home; this was opened and the
presents distributed. Then the men danced a polka around the tree and
drank the good health of all their friends.
The spring came slowly, and time dragged, though the men were very busy
collecting specimens and noting the curious changes in the atmosphere
and vegetation. It seemed as if the ice would never break up. On July
18, 1879, Nordenskjöld and his companions sat down to dinner as usual.
During the meal the vessel, which had been motionless for months, moved
slightly. It was a moment of intense excitement, and everybody rushed
on deck. The ice was moving! It did not take long for the engineer to
light the boiler fires, and in two hours the _Vega_ was free and on
her way to Bering strait. There was not much time to say farewell to
the Tchuktches, who gathered on the shore and watched the departure of
their white friends.
The _Vega_ encountered but little ice, and at 11 o’clock on the morning
of July 20, 1879, she sailed into the middle of the strait that
connects the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Salutes were fired and flags
raised. The northeastern passage was accomplished. In a single voyage
Nordenskjöld had succeeded in doing what Arctic explorers had been
trying to achieve for three hundred years.
On his way home Nordenskjöld visited Japan. He remained there two
weeks, collecting facts which contributed a great deal to our knowledge
of that country. When Nordenskjöld reached home, King Oscar made him a
baron, and commander of the Order of the North Star. The remainder of
his life was spent in scientific work. In August, 1901, this great man
passed away, leaving behind him a lasting fame.
XII. VOYAGE OF THE _JEANNETTE_
1879–1881
During the same month, July, 1879, that Nordenskjöld completed the
northeast passage by sailing through Bering strait into the Pacific
ocean, an expedition sailed from San Francisco northward through Bering
sea on a voyage of discovery in Arctic regions.
This expedition was sent out by Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the owner of
the _New York Herald_. Mr. Bennett bought and equipped a vessel, which
he called the _Jeannette_. By special act of Congress, the _Jeannette_
was conducted by the United States Navy, with the rights and privileges
of a government vessel.
The command was offered to Lieutenant George W. De Long and he
accepted, after the expedition was made national. De Long, it is said,
believed that an expedition might reach the North Pole by following a
branch of the Japan Current through Bering strait and into the Arctic
ocean, a route which had never been attempted.
Many explorers who had made trips to the Arctic regions observed that
the ice always drifted toward the southeast, and entered the Atlantic
ocean between the islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was thought
that there must be a strong southeast current to carry this pack of
floating ice always in the same direction. Instead of trying to sail
northward between Spitzbergen and Greenland, where they must meet that
great ice pack, these men said: “Let us enter the Arctic ocean through
Bering strait and sail northward toward the pole. If the ship is caught
in the ice pack, she will drift along with the pack into the Atlantic
ocean. Perhaps the drift will carry the ship across the North Pole.”