Secretary Chandler, two vessels, the _Thetis_ and the _Bear_, were
bought and equipped for the relief of Greely. The _Thetis_ was
commanded by Commodore W. S. Schley, and sailed from New York on May 1,
1884. On board the _Thetis_ was Chief Engineer Melville, who had made
the heroic search for De Long of the ill-fated _Jeannette_. Melville
himself had urged this relief expedition for Greely, and his energy and
knowledge brought success.
Congress offered a reward of $25,000 to any vessel not in the navy,
which should first find the missing men, and many a whaler went north
in the attempt to win the prize. These vessels, though unsuccessful in
the search, did some good, for they helped to break a passage through
the ice.
The men of the _Thetis_, under Commodore Schley, did not delay a
moment, or wait for favorable leads. When they could not advance in any
other way, they tried to blast the ice in front and so force a passage.
They fought the ice as they would fight a foe, never swerving from
their one object――to reach Greely in as short a time as possible. Every
possible effort was made, and by June 6 the _Thetis_ reached Melville
bay. Little by little she forged ahead, and reached the neighborhood of
Smith sound.
Here all the men who could be spared were sent ashore to search for
records, and at last one of the men came upon a cairn, which he opened.
In it he found a bundle of Greely’s papers, photographs, and records.
The most recent record was dated September, 1883, nine months before.
It stated that the party had gone into camp four and a half miles west
of Cape Sabine. Commodore Schley immediately ordered a party of men to
take the steam cutter and find the camp. The _Thetis_ then blew her
whistles to call the search parties back to the ship.
The men of Greely’s party in the wretched tent at Camp Clay heard the
whistles and knew that a vessel must be somewhere near, yet they were
too weak to go in search of it, and too hopeless to believe that any
one was near enough to find them. One man did crawl out and try to
raise an oar with three rags on it, as a signal of distress, but the
furious wind tore it down.
The sharp eyes of the men in the steam cutter saw this man. They ran
the boat inshore and were soon questioning him about his companions.
He told them that they were over the hill, and that seven of them
still lived, among them Lieutenant Greely. The ice pilot jumped out of
the boat and ran to the camp. He was the first of the party to speak
to Lieutenant Greely, as he had been the last to see him when the
_Proteus_ steamed away from Discovery harbor three years before. Greely
directed him to cut the back out of the tent with his pocket knife.
When this was done, Greely on his hands and knees in his sleeping bag
peered out. His hair and beard were long and matted, his face was
covered with soot and dirt, and his eyes glittered with excitement. He
heard with joy that help had arrived and that he and his companions
were saved. In the midst of a terrific wind storm, the surviving men of
Greely’s party were transferred to the _Thetis_ and made comfortable.
Then came the dreadful work of collecting the bodies of the dead and
carrying them aboard the ships, after which the _Thetis_ and the
_Bear_ set sail from Camp Clay and headed for home. The ship reached
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 1, 1884, where Greely and his command
were transferred to the navy yard, while the bodies of the dead were
taken to Governor’s island in New York harbor.
Thus ended one of the most successful and rapid relief voyages ever
made. Had Commodore Schley been more cautious, not a man of Greely’s
party would have been found alive. But Schley knew that this was a time
for both courage and daring, and neither he nor any of his command
lacked in these qualities.
Greely and the other survivors of his expedition received a royal
welcome home. The President of the United States thanked them publicly
on behalf of the nation, the Queen of England sent messages of inquiry
and sympathy, and the people of Portsmouth held a grand reception in
their honor. The government sent several large war vessels to the
harbor, and Mr. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy, and other prominent
men came with them. The shores of the river were lined with people and
the harbor was filled with steamers, sailboats, and smaller craft, all
gayly decorated with flags and bunting. Everybody was eager to welcome
the brave men who had risked their lives and suffered so much in
seeking to penetrate still farther into the Frozen North.
Those members of the expedition who lost their lives in this journey
were not forgotten. A public funeral was held at Governor’s island, and
every respect was paid to the memories of these men.
The results of Greely’s work in the Arctic regions were many. The
programme for international scientific work had been carried out daily.
All magnetic and climatic changes had been noted. The effect of the
sun’s rays, the earth and ocean currents, the atmosphere, electricity,
ice, and tides had been observed. A study had been made, also, of the
animal and vegetable life of the locality, and of the Eskimos.
Both this Circumpolar station and the one established at Point Barrow
were abandoned in 1883, but the value of the work accomplished through
them was very great.
XV. LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA IN ALASKA
1883
Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867. It was
supposed to be a barren region of ice and snow, and many people thought
that the price of $7,200,000 was an amount far in excess of the value
of the land.
For many years no attempt was made to form a territorial government in
Alaska, and the country remained in charge of the military forces of
the United States. In 1883, Lieutenant Schwatka determined to conduct
an exploring expedition into the interior, for the purpose of gaining
such information of the country and its wild inhabitants as would be
of assistance to the soldiers stationed there. This expedition did
not have the support of Congress and was kept as secret as possible.
Lieutenant Schwatka feared that, if attention were attracted to the
expedition, Congress would forbid its departure.
All Schwatka’s plans worked well. With six companions he left Portland,
Oregon, at midnight, May 22, and sailed northward, taking the inland
route to Alaska. The inland route consists of a channel which lies
between the coast of Washington and British Columbia and southeastern
Alaska and the line of islands which lie off that coast.
Sitka, then the capital of Alaska, was reached in a little more than
a week, and two days later the ship dropped anchor in a pretty port
called Pyramid harbor, near the mouth of the Chilkat river. The
villages of the Chilkat Indians, consisting of from fifteen to fifty
houses each, are built along this river. At these villages Lieutenant
Schwatka secured the services of about sixty Indians to go with him on
his journey.
[Illustration: SITKA, ALASKA, IN 1880.]
The party started over a good trail and soon reached Haines’s mission
on Chilkoot inlet. Here more Indians were added to the number already
employed, and the tramp began over the mountains to the head waters
of the Yukon. At first the party traveled through a riverlike channel
between high, steep mountains, which were covered nearly to the top
with pine, cedar, and spruce trees. The summits were covered with snow
and ice, which melted and formed cascades and torrents, and rushed
down the slopes, dashing over precipices and flinging spray in all
directions.
This journey brought them to the mouth of a river called the Dayay,
where they camped. Schwatka now explained his plan to his Indian
guides. He told them that when he should reach the Yukon, he intended
to build a raft and float down the great river to its mouth. The
Indians were astonished at this bold project. They ridiculed the
idea, saying that no raft could make such a journey. There were lakes
to pass through, they said, and miles of raging rapids, which would
twist and tear any raft to pieces. But Schwatka paid no attention to
their opinions. He kept steadily on his way, and the journey continued
pleasant and easy through the Dayay river.
On June 10, the course lay over the spurs of the mountains, and travel
became difficult. The trail was up and down hill, over huge trunks of
fallen trees, and through boggy swamps. Each man carried one hundred
pounds of luggage on his back, and when he sank into a bog up to his
knees, it was far from easy to get out.
The snow line reached, the ascent of the pass over the Coast range
was begun. Behind one another, in single file, the men scrambled up
precipices and through valleys. Sometimes they crawled along on their
hands and knees, often using their teeth to grasp a dwarf bush. In
many places a single misstep would have resulted in death, but they
persevered and at length succeeded in crossing the mountains without
accident.
[Illustration: CROSSING THE COAST RANGE.]
Most of the Indians left Schwatka at this place and returned to their
homes. Those who were to accompany him down the Yukon river to the
coast camped with the white men, late in the evening, by a small lake
called by Schwatka, Crater lake. It is the source of the great Yukon
river.
At Lake Lindeman the raft was built, and the stores and provisions
were placed upon it. Then began the longest raft journey ever made for
purposes of exploration.
Lieutenant Schwatka and his companions propelled the raft, by means of
rowing and sculling, through Lake Lindeman into another lake called
Bennett lake. On the mountains around Bennett lake were beautiful blue
glaciers, and among them shone peaks and ridges of a reddish color.
Schwatka concluded that the red color was due to the presence of
iron in the soil, and he accordingly named the range the Iron-capped
mountains.
The explorers now traveled through a chain of lakes connected by
streams of water. The last lake led them into the Yukon river, which
flowed rapidly, so that for a while the raft made good time. On July
1, the party came in sight of the upper end of the Grand Cañon of the
Yukon, where the river, which had been about three hundred yards in
width, grew narrower, until it was about thirty yards wide.
The walls of the cañon are nearly a mile in length and are
perpendicular columns of rock. The center of this cañon expands into a
large basin full of whirlpools and eddies. The waters, white with foam,
tear through this narrow passage of rock at the rate of six or seven
miles an hour, with a roaring that can be heard at a great distance.
At the northern end of the cañon the rushing river widens again, but
for four miles it seethes, foams, and falls in cascades. The luggage
was sent round by portage, and Schwatka prepared to shoot his raft
through the rapids. Once started, the men could not control or guide
the raft at all, but left it to work its own way. This it did very
successfully, though many times they thought it would surely be dashed
in pieces.
After the rapids were passed, the men drew the sturdy raft ashore,
and found that it needed but few repairs. While some of the men were
engaged in mending the raft, the others fished. Schwatka found this the
best fishing ground on the entire river; in a short time between four
and five hundred fine grayling were caught with rod and fly.
The raft was ready for use again by July 5, and on that day Schwatka
and his party started once more down the Yukon, and soon passed through
the last lake they were to encounter. After this the river became wider
and was dotted with islands; then the site of old Fort Selkirk came
into view.
[Illustration: TANANA STATION, RIVER YUKON, IN WINTER.]
Fort Selkirk was built in 1850 by the Hudson Bay Trading Company for a
trading post with the Indians. But the Chilkats wanted the furs from
the interior for themselves; so they gathered a war party together,
descended the Yukon river to Fort Selkirk, burned the building, and
carried off the goods. Now all that remains of Fort Selkirk is a group
of three old chimneys.
Schwatka camped at this spot several days. Near the river bank he came
upon a burial ground of the Ayan Indians, who inhabit this part of the
country. A fence of rough boards, bound together by willows, is built
around each grave. Above the grave there stands a long, light pole
about twenty feet high, with a piece of colored cloth hanging from the
top. Near the grave, but outside the inclosure, stands another pole
of about the same height. To the top of this second pole is fastened
a rude carving of a fish, duck, goose, bear, or some other animal or
bird.
These poles are called totems. They represent the most clever
workmanship of these Indians, and are collected and sold as curiosities.
Some of the carvings are very old and display remarkable skill. No one
knows exactly what these totem poles mean, as the Indians are unwilling
to talk about them, but they are supposed to indicate in some way the
history of the buried person or of his tribe. The Indians do not make
totem poles any more, but they carefully preserve those which they
already have.
At Fort Selkirk the Yukon begins to cut through the northern spurs
of the Rocky mountains. This part of the river is known as the Upper
Ramparts, and the scenery along the banks for one hundred miles is
wondrously beautiful. Schwatka and his party left Selkirk July 15, and
traveled through this beautiful country. As they rounded one of the
islands, they saw about two hundred Ayan Indians gathered on the beach
opposite, waiting to receive them.
The Ayans had heard of the approach of the curious raft with its
white owners, and were anxious to show them some attention. Many of
the Indians ran up and down the bank, shouting, screaming, and waving
their arms wildly. Others in birch-bark canoes surrounded the raft, and
escorted it to shore. When the raft came near the shore, men, women,
and children waded out to their waists in the ice-cold water and helped
to drag it in. Schwatka feared at first that the Indians might do the
party some harm, and ordered his companions to keep their guns near.
But the Indians were very friendly. They began singing and dancing,
while their medicine-man went through the most unheard-of performances.
The Ayan huts are made of spruce brush. Over the top is thrown a piece
of dirty canvas or a moose or caribou skin, and the huts are built so
low that a man can scarcely stand erect inside. Quantities of salmon
hang from the roof, partly dried, but still undergoing a smoking
process from the dense clouds of smoke that arise from the fire. The
dogs sleep in the house, lying around on the floor. In the winter the
Ayans cover their tents thickly with skins and then bank them about
with snow.
As the party followed the river from this Indian village, they
found the mountains becoming higher and grander, while――by way of
contrast――the mosquitoes grew more annoying. The whole region swarmed
with them, and the newcomers longed for veils. They were obliged to use
small bushes to brush away the mosquitoes.
The water of the Yukon became very muddy, so that it was impossible
to fish with a rod and fly. At the Yukon flat lands, reached by our
travelers after three weeks of traveling through this flat region,
the river widened and was filled with low, sandy islands. The fort is
situated on a curve of the river which happens to be almost directly
upon the Arctic circle, and is called the Great Arctic bend.
Fort Yukon is about one thousand miles from the mouth of the river,
which at this point is seven miles wide. The river steamer, named the
_Yukon_, was moored at the fort, and her cannon greeted the raftsmen.
The settlement consists of a few old houses and the old fort built by
the Hudson Bay Company. The Fort Yukon tribe of Indians live in the
vicinity, but the hunting and fishing are poor, and the tribe is small
and nomadic.
After the river men had traded with the Indians the steamer proceeded
upstream, while Schwatka and his party started downstream again on the
raft. In a little while the country began to grow hilly once more,
greatly to the delight of the travelers, for the low region had been
unendurably dreary. The hilly region is known as the Lower Ramparts,
and its scenery is much like that of the Upper Ramparts.
Another trading station was soon reached, where Schwatka saw the
northernmost garden in the United States. This garden, within two days’
journey of the polar regions, belonged to the white man who was in
charge of the station at that point. In it were growing turnips and
other hardy vegetables, which tasted delicious to the men, who had been
living so long upon canned foods.
The raft was laid away at this place, after its journey of thirteen
hundred and three miles, and the party embarked on a schooner, hoping
to make better time. But they were forced to work their way down the
river inch by inch, for heavy winds sprang up and more than once
threatened to wreck the schooner. The _Yukon_ at last overtook them,
on her return to the mouth of the river, as Schwatka had expected.
[Illustration: THE RAFT ON WHICH A JOURNEY OF THIRTEEN HUNDRED AND
THREE MILES WAS MADE.]
The great delta of the Yukon soon came into view. It consists of many
islands and channels which have never been entirely explored. From the
most northern mouth of the delta to the most southern is a distance of
ninety miles. After the Alphoon, the northernmost mouth, was reached,
a weary time began. The vessel slowly threaded her way through shallow
channels of water and between mud banks, until she crept into the
harbor of the little village of St. Michael on the coast. From this
place Schwatka and his party embarked for San Francisco on the _Leo_,
which had stopped at St. Michael on its way from Point Barrow.
By this raft journey of Lieutenant Schwatka, the Yukon was navigated
from its source to its mouth, a distance of two thousand and forty-four
miles.
This river is the fifth in length in the United States, and sends forth
such a volume of water that it freshens Bering sea to a distance of ten
miles.
XVI. NANSEN CROSSES GREENLAND
1888
Schwatka had explored the interior of Alaska, but the interior of
Greenland remained as great a mystery as ever. The only man who
had attempted to cross the inland region was Nordenskjöld, who had
penetrated only a few miles.
In 1888 a young Norwegian named Fridtjof Nansen determined to cross the
ice cap of Greenland.
Nansen was an expert in the use of the ski. Ski are Norwegian
snowshoes. They consist of long, narrow strips of wood, which are
fastened to the shoes in about the same way in which we fasten skates.
The ski are about eight feet in length and three or four inches in
breadth. In front they are slightly pointed and curved up; often the
back is pointed also. A man who is skillful in the use of ski can
travel over the snow by means of them at a rate of eight or nine miles
an hour. In Norway and in some other cold countries, where the snow
lies deep a larger part of the year, ski are much used for traveling.
The people of Norway love the sport of ski-löbning. During the long
winter the boys and the girls go to and from school on ski. At recess
they take a run on their ski, and often the teacher goes with them.
[Illustration: A MAN ON SKI.]
Nansen learned to use the ski when a boy, and after he was grown up he
took great pleasure in strapping these queer shoes to his feet and
trying to climb the high mountains.
One day this question came suddenly into Nansen’s mind: Why might not
a party of good ski-löbners cross Greenland from coast to coast? After
thinking the matter over for a time, Nansen concluded that it could be
done. From that moment he devoted all his time and energy to carrying
out his idea. He decided that the best plan would be to start from the
east coast and travel across to the west. The east coast was barren and
uninhabited. Sometimes a few wandering Eskimo tribes found their way
there, but no settlements had been made. On the western coast there
were settlements.
Nansen knew that if his party landed on the east coast and traveled
west, they would travel toward safety. If this route were reversed,
they would leave comfort and safety behind at every step, and move
continually toward unknown dangers. The men might become discouraged,
give up the expedition, and return to the settlements. So Nansen coolly
made his plans to land on the east coast and cross Greenland to the
west coast. By this arrangement the men would perceive that they must
reach the west coast or die.
[Illustration: FRIDTJOF NANSEN.]
The government of Norway would not assist Nansen. His plan was
considered that of a madman. Many people said that he was attempting to
do an impossible thing. Others said, “Of what use is this exploit, even
if he does succeed?” These people did not know that a large portion of
our earth was once ice-covered, as Greenland is to-day. If we would
know the cause of many curious phenomena that now exist in our own
land, we must study Greenland. As Greenland is now, so, probably, was a
large part of the earth during the ice age, thousands of years ago.
Though Nansen met with discouragements on every side, he continued to
plan for the trip. At length a wealthy Danish gentleman gave him enough
money to equip an expedition. It was not easy for Nansen to find
companions for this journey, but he at length succeeded in securing the
services of three Norwegians and two Lapps. The Norwegians were Otto
Sverdrup, a retired ship captain, Oluf Dietrichson, a lieutenant in the
army, and Kristian Kristiansen Trana, a peasant. The Lapps were named
Balto and Ravna. Balto was a good-looking young man, who spoke a little
English; he was a sea Lapp and lived in a town. Ravna was a mountain
Lapp, forty-five years of age. He was short, and had long, black hair
hanging over his shoulders. Ravna’s home was on the mountains, where he
lived in a skin tent and took care of herds of reindeer.
[Illustration: A HERD OF REINDEER.]
Nansen made sure that all these five men were skillful ski-löbners, for
he thought that, when they reached the inland ice of Greenland, the
journey would be rapid and easy on ski.
Then Nansen arranged with the captain of a sealing vessel to carry
him and his companions to the Arctic ocean. After collecting tents,
clothing, food, sleeping bags, and scientific instruments, the party
proceeded to Iceland, where the captain of the sealing vessel had
promised to call for them. On June 3, 1888, the sealing vessel,
the _Jason_, arrived off the coast of Iceland, and Nansen and his
companions were taken aboard. The _Jason_ headed directly for Denmark
strait, where seals abound, and in a short time the ship was among the
ice floes. Every one on board was watching eagerly for seals, and at
last a large number of the quiet creatures were seen lying like black
dots on the floes.
On board the _Jason_ there was great excitement. The men flew about,
making sure that rifles were clean and in good order and that cartridge
boxes were filled. Then the hunters rushed to the boats and the capture
began. One hundred and eighty-seven seals were shot that day. The
sealers thought this a small number, but Nansen, who had never hunted
seals before, thought it a very good day’s sport.
Sealing vessels, in their efforts to make large hauls, usually push
steadily on through the ice, until they are in the midst of crowds of
seals. The force of the ice against the ship is often so great as to
throw the sailors off their feet. When the vessel is well in among the
seals the engines are stopped, and the men are ordered to start out
in the small boats. There are three or four oarsmen with one shooter
in each boat. Away they go in different directions, each boat trying
to secure the greatest number it can carry and to return first to the
ship. The seals lie all around on the edges of the ice floes, and at
first pay no attention to the boats. They lift their heads and see
the boats coming from a long distance away; then, ignorant of their
danger, they lower their heads again and lie quiet.
As the boats draw nearer, the seals sometimes slide off into the water.
The hunters are quick to see any movement on the part of the seals. As
soon as one moves toward the water, the men in the boat begin to shout
as loudly as they can. The seal is so astonished by the unusual noise
that he lies still awhile to think it over.