THE AURORA.
1. The Northern lights had shone for these two winters with incomparable
splendour, not, indeed, with the quiet diverging beams, sometimes
observed in our northern latitudes, and different also from the phenomena
which have been seen and noted in recent years, even in Central Europe;
they resembled rather those we saw in East Greenland, save that the
brilliancy and intensity of their colours were far greater.
2. It is very difficult to characterize the forms of this phenomenon, not
only because they are manifold, but because they are constantly changing.
Sometimes the Aurora appears like flaming arches with glowing balls of
light; sometimes in irregular meridians painted on the heavens, sometimes
in brilliant bands and patches of light on the sky. Each of these forms
was frequently developed from a different one, but towards morning the
last-named appearance was the most general.
3. The movement of the waves of light gave the impression that they
were the sport of winds, and their sudden and rapid rise resembled the
uprising of whirling vapours, such as the Geysers might send forth,
which generally assumed the form of enormous flames, except that they
were transparent and mist-like. In many cases the Aurora much resembled
a flash of summer lightning conceived as permanent. It appeared almost
always in the south, and was visible from September till March, during
which period it was to us the only external excitement which we had. The
illuminating power of the Aurora, when its colours were most brilliant
and intense, was inferior to the illuminating power of the full moon.
Some rare cases excepted, this was either so small or so transitory,
that it had no influence on the darkness of our long winter nights.
Like a stream, or in brilliant convolutions, the light rushed over the
firmament, as well from east to west as from west to east. The formation
of the corona (or the convergence of the streamers in the direction
of the inclination needle) was sudden, and short in its duration,
and frequently happened more than once in the course of a night. Its
greatest intensity was from eight till ten o’clock at night. It was never
accompanied with sound.[26] The sketch we have given represents one of
its most characteristic forms. The inner parts of the flames are usually
whitish green, and their edge on the upper side red, on the lower green.
4. Brilliant auroras were generally succeeded by bad weather. Those on
the other hand which did not rise to any great height in the sky, or
which did not show any special mobility, were regarded as the precursors
of calms. None of the theories which have been ventilated are in exact
accordance with all the manifestations of these northern lights. The
undulating motion of their waves of light, their rolling forth like
pillars of smoke driven by winds, has hitherto remained unexplained.
Although electrical processes, still unknown, seem to be the main causes
of the Aurora, atmospheric vapours may, however, have a considerable part
in producing the phenomenon; and nothing so much favours this supposition
as the indefinite form in which it often appears. Its occurrence during
the day, _i.e._ light clouds with its characteristic movement, has been
rather imagined than actually observed. The transition of white clouds
into auroral forms at night has never at least been satisfactorily
proved. Falling stars pass through the northern lights without producing
any perceptible effect, or undergoing any change. A dirty sulphur yellow
was characteristic of all auroras when the sky was overcast with mists or
when they were seen by moonlight. In clear weather they were colourless.
[Illustration: THE AURORA DURING THE ICE PRESSURE.]
5. Their influence on the magnetic needle was very variable. While
the quiescent and regular arches had little or no effect, the quicker
and more fitful streamers, especially when accompanied with prismatic
colours, produced great disturbance in it. Sir John Ross remarked, that
the aurora when tinged with deep red colour had a great effect on it,
although he completely stultifies his observation by his supposition,
that the phenomenon was produced by rays of the sun reflected on the vast
fields of snow and ice surrounding the Pole. Parry in 1820 could discover
no effect from it either on the magnetic needle or on the electrometer.
During the winter of 1872-3, the character of the northern lights was
much altered, though their colour remained constant. At first they
consisted chiefly of bands of light, running from the south-northwards.
At a later period of that winter they assumed for the most part the
appearance of coronæ, and then their direction was from the north
southwards. During the voyage of the _Tegetthoff_ the observations of the
behaviour of these lights and of the magnetic constants were taken by
Weyprecht, Brosch, and Orel by means of a magnetic theodolite, a dipping
needle, and three variation instruments. The extraordinary disturbances
of the needle rendered the determination of exact mean values for the
magnetic constants impossible. The diminution of their intensity was
considerable during the continuance of auroras. In 79° 51′ N. Lat. and
58° 56′ E. Long. the declination amounted to 19½° E. and the inclination
to 82° 22′. The ice-pressures which occurred in December, 1873 together
with the tedious preliminaries in fixing the magnetic instruments,
prevented these officers from carrying out their labours regularly
till the next month. The following are the principal results of these
observations: (1) The magnetic disturbances were of extraordinary
magnitude and frequency. (2) They were closely connected with the aurora;
and they were greater as the motion of the rays was more rapid and
fitful, and the prismatic colours more intense. Quiescent and regular
arches, without changing rays or streamers, exercise almost no influence
on the needle. (3) In all the disturbances the declination needle moved
towards the east, and the horizontal intensity decreased while the
inclination increased.
6. In spite of the extreme difficulty of describing the appearances
of those fitful and changing lights, I believe that the following
description of Lieutenant Weyprecht will be found equally faithful and
effective:—
“There in the south, low on the horizon, stands a faint arch of light. It
looks as it were the upper limit of a dark segment of a circle; but the
stars which shine through it in undiminished brilliancy convince us that
the darkness of the segment is a delusion produced by contrast. Gradually
the arch of light grows in intensity and rises to the zenith. It is
perfectly regular; its two ends almost touch the horizon and advance to
the east and west in proportion as the arch rises. No beams are to be
discovered in it, but the whole consists of an almost uniform light of a
delicious tender colour. It is transparent white with a shade of light
green, not unlike the pale green of a young plant which germinates in
the dark. The light of the moon appears yellow, contrasted with this
tender colour so pleasing to the eye, and so indescribable in words, a
colour which nature appears to have given only to the Polar regions by
way of compensation. The arch is broad, thrice the breadth, perhaps, of
the rainbow, and its distinctly marked edges are strongly defined on
the profound darkness of the Arctic heavens. The stars shine through it
with undiminished brilliancy. The arch mounts higher and higher. An air
of repose seems spread over the whole phenomenon; here and there only
a wave of light rolls slowly from one side to the other. It begins to
grow clear over the ice; some of its groups are discernible. The arch is
still distant from the zenith; a second detaches itself from the dark
segment, and this is gradually succeeded by others. All now rise towards
the zenith; the first passes beyond it, then sinks slowly towards the
northern horizon and as it sinks loses its intensity. Arches of light are
now stretched over the whole heavens; seven are apparent at the same time
on the sky, though of inferior intensity. The lower they sink towards the
north, the paler they grow, till at last they utterly fade away. Often
they all return over the zenith, and become extinct, just as they came.
“It is seldom, however, that an aurora runs a course so calm and so
regular. The typical dark segment which we see in treatises on the
subject, in most cases does not exist. A thin bank of clouds lies on
the horizon. The upper edge is illuminated; out of it is developed a
band of light, which expands, increases in intensity of colour, and
rises to the zenith. The colour is the same as in the arch, but the
intensity of the colour is stronger. The colours of the band change in
a never-ceasing play, but place and form remain unaltered. The band is
broad and its intense pale green stands out with wonderful beauty on the
dark background. Now the band is twisted into many convolutions, but
the innermost folds are still to be seen distinctly through the others.
Waves of light continually undulate rapidly through its whole extent,
sometimes from right to left, sometimes from left to right. Then again
it rolls itself up in graceful folds. It seems almost as if breezes high
in the air played and sported with the broad flaming streamers, the ends
of which are lost far off on the horizon. The light grows in intensity,
the waves of light follow each other more rapidly, prismatic colours
appear on the upper and lower edge of the band, the brilliant white of
the centre is inclosed between narrow stripes of red and green. Out of
one band have now grown two. The upper continually approaches the zenith,
rays begin to shoot forth from it towards a point near the zenith, to
which the south pole of the magnetic needle, freely suspended, points.
The band has nearly reached it, and now begins a brilliant play of rays
lasting for a short time, the central point of which is the magnetic
pole—a sign of the intimate connection of the whole phenomenon with
the magnetic forces of the earth. Round the magnetic pole short rays
flash and flare on all sides; prismatic colours are discernible on all
their edges; longer and shorter rays alternate with each other; waves
of light roll round it as a centre. What we see is the auroral corona;
and it is almost always seen when a band passes over the magnetic pole.
This peculiar phenomenon lasts but a short time—the band now lies on
the northern side of the firmament; gradually it sinks, and pales as it
sinks; it returns again to the south to change and play as before. So
it goes on for hours; the aurora incessantly changes place, form, and
intensity. It often entirely disappears for a short time only to appear
again suddenly, without the observers clearly perceiving how it came and
where it went: simply—it is there.
“But the band is often seen in a perfectly different form. Frequently
it consists of single rays, which, standing close together, point in an
almost parallel direction towards the magnetic pole. These become more
intensely bright with each successive wave of light; hence each ray
appears to flash and dart continually, and their green and red edges
dance up and down as the waves of light run through them. Often again the
rays extend through the whole length of the band and reach almost up to
the magnetic pole. These are sharply marked but lighter in colour than
the band itself, and in this particular form they are at some distance
from each other. Their colour is yellow, and it seems as if thousands of
slender threads of gold were stretched across the firmament. A glorious
veil of transparent light is spread over the starry heavens; the threads
of light with which this veil is woven are distinctly marked on the
dark background; its lower border is a broad, intensely white band,
edged with green and red, which twists and turns in constant motion. A
violet-coloured auroral vapour is often seen simultaneously on different
parts of the sky.
“Or again, there has been tempestuous weather, and it is now—let us
suppose—passing away. Below on the ice the wind has fallen, but the
clouds are still driving rapidly across the sky, so that in the upper
regions its force is not yet laid. Over the ice it becomes somewhat
clear; behind the clouds appears an aurora amid the darkness of the
night. Stars twinkle here and there; through the openings of the clouds
we see the dark firmament and the rays of the aurora chasing one another
towards the zenith. The heavy clouds disperse; mist-like masses drive
on before the wind. Fragments of the northern lights are strewn on
every side; it seems, as if the storm had torn the aurora bands to
tatters and was driving them hither and thither across the sky. These
threads change form and place with incredible rapidity. Here is one!
lo, it is gone! scarcely has it vanished before it appears again in
another place. Through these fragments drive the waves of light; one
moment they are scarcely visible, in the next they shine with intense
brilliancy. But their light is no longer that glorious pale green, it
is a dull yellow. It is often difficult to distinguish what is aurora
and what is vapour—the illuminated mists as they fly past are scarcely
distinguishable from the auroral vapour which comes and goes on every
side.
“But, again another form. Bands of every possible form and intensity
have been driving over the heavens. It is now eight o’clock at night,
the hour of the greatest intensity of the northern lights. For a moment
some bundles of rays only are to be seen in the sky. In the south, a
faint scarcely-observable band lies close to the horizon. All at once
it rises rapidly and spreads east and west. The waves of light begin to
dart and shoot; some rays mount towards the zenith. For a short time it
remains stationary, then suddenly springs to life. The waves of light
drive violently from east to west; the edges assume a deep red and green
colour, and dance up and down. The rays shoot up more rapidly; they
become shorter; all rise together and approach nearer and nearer to the
magnetic pole. It looks as if there were a race among the rays, and that
each aspired to reach the pole first. And now the point is reached, and
they shoot out on every side, to the north and the south, to the east and
the west. Do the rays shoot from above downwards, or from below upwards?
Who can distinguish? From the centre issues a sea of flames; is that sea
red, white, or green? Who can say?—it is all three colours at the same
moment! The rays reach almost to the horizon; the whole sky is in flames.
Nature displays before us such an exhibition of fireworks as transcends
the powers of imagination to conceive. Involuntarily we listen; such
a spectacle must, we think, be accompanied with sound. But unbroken
stillness prevails, not the least sound strikes on the ear. Once more
it becomes clear over the ice, and the whole phenomenon has disappeared
with the same inconceivable rapidity with which it came, and gloomy night
has again stretched her dark veil over everything. This was the aurora
of the coming storm—the aurora in its fullest splendour. No pencil can
draw it, no colours can paint it, and no words can describe it in all its
magnificence. And here below stand we poor men, and speak of knowledge
and progress, and pride ourselves on the understanding with which we
extort from Nature her mysteries. We stand and gaze on the mystery which
Nature has written for us in flaming letters on the dark vault of night,
and ultimately we can only wonder and confess that, in truth, we know
nothing of it.”
THE EXPLORATION OF KAISER FRANZ-JOSEF LAND.
_THE SLEDGE JOURNEYS._
[Illustration: ORIGINAL MAP of the KAISER FRANZ JOSEF LAND _surveyed by_
JULIUS PAYER.]
CHAPTER I.
THE EXPLORATION OF KAISER FRANZ-JOSEF LAND RESOLVED ON.
1. The necessity of returning home admitted of no question; but the
exploration of the Land of which we had seen hardly anything, beyond
the cliffs that lay in our immediate neighbourhood, was also felt to
be a necessity. That land, which we were all predisposed to imagine as
stretching far beyond this wall of rocks,—of what did it consist? Was it
an island or a group of islands? And those white masses lying on these
lofty ranges, were they glaciers? To these questions no one as yet could
give an answer. But of this there could be neither doubt nor question,
that we could not count on our floe for a moment, and that those were
lost who were not on board the ship if the floe with the ship began to
drift. On the 1st of March the Tyrolese announced, that a fissure had
appeared half-way between the ship and the shore, and the danger of
being cut off became the chief subject of talk, both in the cabin of the
officers and in the quarters of the men. When, however, we considered the
importance of the venture, all hesitation disappeared, and there was not
a man in the ship who would not have made his apprehensions subordinate
to the necessity of exploration.
2. As the commander of the expedition on shore, I explained to the
council we held on the 24th of February, my plan for the projected
sledge-journeys, namely: that the sledge-parties count on the means of
escape being left behind to supplement those they may have at their
command, and that the depositing of these means be completed before the
sledge-parties start; that the expeditions shall begin between the
10th and 20th of March, be continued for six or seven weeks, and take,
if possible, the following directions:—one along the coast towards the
North, a second towards the West, and a third into the interior, and
each to be concluded by the ascent of a dominating height; that in
the event of the sledge-parties not finding the ship on their return,
they should attempt to go back at once to Europe, and only under the
most urgent circumstances pass a third winter in the ice, though the
superfluous stores, which were to be transported to the land, would to a
certain extent enable them to do this. I engaged also not to extend these
journeys to a date which would prevent the men recruiting their strength
before the return of the whole expedition to Europe.
3. The exploration of the strange land having been resolved on, the
greatest activity reigned in the ship. There was not a man on board the
_Tegetthoff_ who was not eager to prepare for the sledge-journeys, though
all knew that besides the two Tyrolese only four men were to accompany
me. Every one longed to take part in the exploration of the unknown land,
and the monotony of our life was now exchanged for a state of great
excitement; a great venture had been resolved on, and expectations rose
with the possibility of discoveries. The comparatively short period for
which our stores had now to last enabled us to indulge in what, under
the circumstances, might be called luxury. We could thus dispose of more
than two hundred bottles of wine, which had been reserved for the sick
in the event of a third winter being passed in the ice. Three-and-twenty
men now in three months drank two hundred bottles of wine and smoked
like chimneys the superfluous stores of cigars and tobacco. Potatoes,
preserved vegetables and fruit, were daily on our table. Our allowance
of rum was increased; lights were freely burnt in every corner, and the
novel sensation of luxury was universal.
4. While we were all living as if the oppressive load under which we had
lain so long had suddenly been removed, in these days of general hilarity
and amid the excitement of new plans, our comrade Krisch drew toward his
sad and melancholy end. From the beginning of February his malady had
made great progress. His body was covered with scorbutic spots; but in
spite of all this the hope of speedy recovery constantly animated our
afflicted companion, who set us a lofty example of the fulfilment of
duty by his zealous activity. In the summer, though already under the
influence of his mortal disease, he had been busy in the construction
of new ice-saws and borers, in order that he might contribute something
to the liberation of the ship, and when he heard of the projected
expeditions to Franz-Josef Land, he gathered sufficient strength to
extort from me the assurance that I would take him with me. But his end
was surely though slowly drawing on; his nights were sleepless, and
pain left him neither day nor night. At the beginning of March a state
of unconsciousness supervened, and the action of his diseased lungs was
now to be heard in an uninterrupted rattling in his throat. Moments of
mental clearness became more infrequent in his delirium; help had become
impossible; all the care of our physician and of the watchers, who never
left him, was now directed merely to the alleviation of his sufferings.
He lingered till we returned from our first sledge expedition on the 16th
of March.
[Illustration: KRISCH, THE ENGINEER.]
CHAPTER II.
OF SLEDGE TRAVELLING IN GENERAL.
1. The sledge is pre-eminently the means of geographical exploration in
high latitudes, and as discovery now forms the main purpose of Polar
expeditions, it may be important to describe clearly and precisely the
system we followed, that others may either adopt or improve on our
methods. Thus I will enter into many details, not in order to dwell on
the inconveniences incident to this mode of travelling, but to show
how the greatest amount of safety and protection may be secured to the
sledge-party.
2. Sledge-journeys presuppose that the ship is safe and secure in a
winter harbour. A ship which has not yet completed its summer voyage
should avoid them as exceedingly hazardous; and as a principle such
expeditions are to be absolutely declined by a ship which is beset in the
ice; the success which may have attended some must by no means stimulate
others to imitate them. Their object is the exploration of lands still
unknown or imperfectly known. They presuppose also the existence of ice,
closely adhering to a coast, on which the journeys are performed, and
this coast-line must run in a northerly direction, if the North Pole
be the goal of discovery. Though sledge-parties follow the coast-line
they actually travel on the frozen sea; for it is never safe to abandon
that line and make for pack-ice at a distance from it. The crossing of
glaciers, however small may be their inclination, is always attended with
danger; and if the route be stopped by a stretch of land whose extent
forbids dragging, it is of course impossible to proceed. The roughness
of the land and its insufficient covering of snow even in winter
sufficiently explain this. A sledge cannot, for any considerable length
of time, be dragged up an inclination exceeding two or three degrees.
3. The season of the year for sledging must depend on the climate of
particular Arctic localities, and the capacity of the men to endure low
temperatures during the night-camping, and driving snow during the march.
It is advisable, when more than one year is to be spent in the ice, to
begin the more extended sledge-journeys in the first year, because the
capacities of Europeans to endure cold rather decrease than increase.
Sir John Ross, for example, says that his people at the beginning of a
third winter were incapable of bearing hardships, especially those of
travelling on the ice. The best season for sledging must always be that
time of the year when snow-storms are infrequent, for even a healthy and
seasoned party will more easily confront a very low temperature than
driving snow-storms. As a rule, these conditions are found most perfectly
in autumn; and I do not understand the objection which Hayes makes to
this season as being the most damp; whereas as a matter of fact it is the
least so. Autumn journeys are preferable to those in spring, both with
respect to climate and the state of the road; only they must be commenced
early, on account of the rapidly decreasing length of the days.[27] The
darkness of winter puts an end to all sledging, and the excessive cold of
spring renders it difficult. Summer makes it impossible by breaking up
the land-ice, or impedes it by transforming the snow into thaw-water and
sludge. Next to autumn, therefore, the latter part of March, all April,
and a part of May, are most adapted for this purpose. It must at the same
time be remarked, that Captain Lyon (1822) and Dr. Kane regarded March as
peculiarly dangerous on account of the prevalence of storms.
4. Next to the season, the state of the snow road, depending on the
hardening action of wind and cold, has to be considered. The cold
should not vary more than from -2° to -24° F., because greater frost
transforms the smooth evaporating surface of snow into a rough plain,
bestrewed with sharp pointed crystals, so that the sledge instead of
gliding along encounters the friction, as if of a sandstone surface,
and stops at the least obstacle. Snow of an ivory-like smoothness rarely
occurs; on the contrary, we find the snow in deep layers as fine as
powder, into which we sink knee-deep, or among barriers of hummocks,
miles in extent, which impose enormous détours in the transport of the
baggage. During the journey from 2° to 13° below zero F. constitutes
the pleasantest temperature, and even the nights, under this condition,
are passed without inconvenience by a party inured to exposure.
Snow-storms, however, in their mildest form—snow-drifting—are, at this
moderate temperature, distressing and dangerous. In fact, among all the
contingencies which may occur during a Polar expedition, there is no
severer test of enduring perseverance than dragging a sledge in the face
of drifting snow at a temperature from 13° to 35° below zero F.
5. The ship in its winter harbour is the only place of refuge, in all
cases where a meeting with Eskimos cannot be counted on. Except for
the accidents of hunting, on which no dependence should be placed, the
country itself affords no kind of means of subsistence; hence all the
necessaries of life must be carried in the sledges. The heavily laden
sledge becomes in truth a ship of the icy wastes, and its loss involves
the destruction of the whole party. In order to lighten its load and yet
prolong the journey as much as possible, supplies of provisions are often
deposited along the routes to be traversed. This may be done, either by
previous shorter journeys, or by leaving behind a part of the provisions
which have been taken from the ship, or by burying the product of the
chase in the manner adopted by fur-hunters and Indians. The danger to
such stores from the inroads of bears or the breaking up of the ice must
be guarded against by a careful selection of localities; and the place
being chosen, the provisions should either be buried four feet deep in
snow between steep rocks, somewhat above the level of the sea, or the
bags containing them should be suspended on the inaccessible faces of
the rocks. The choice of an elevated point is some security against
visits from bears. But it is never advisable to build confidently on
finding the depôt, or to make the possibility of return dependent on
this contingency. A small stock of the necessaries of life should always
be kept in reserve, as a prudent precaution in case the depôt should
be destroyed. If however the depôts remain untouched and uninjured, and
their numbers be considerable, the duration of the journey, which can
be prolonged for thirty or forty days only where provisions are carried
in the sledges, may thus be doubled in extent. The depôts for journeys
in the spring are often formed in the preceding autumn, though their
preservation is of course exposed to great risk.
6. Sledges are dragged sometimes by men and dogs conjointly, sometimes by
men without dogs, or by dogs alone. Reindeer are found to be unfit for
sledge dragging; although Parry in former days, and Nordenskjöld more
recently, frequently attempted to employ them in this service. Though
a reindeer is able to make with a sledge as many as 120 miles in three
days, it cannot continue such efforts without long periods of repose,
nor drag the heavy loads which are requisite in longer journeys. Besides
this, he who has had any experience in this mode of travelling, knows the
unaccountable capriciousness of these animals, their stubbornness, and
the difficulty of feeding them. Natives alone are able to manage them,
while to strangers they refuse subjection. When the sledges are dragged
by men alone, unexpected contingencies are less to be apprehended, but
at the same time their rate of progress is diminished. In an expedition
calculated to last a month, ten miles constitute the average day’s march,
when circumstances are favourable. If the length of the journey be
prolonged, this average will be considerably diminished. The combination
of men and dogs in the work of dragging accelerates the speed. With
regard to the men employed in this work, it is advisable to engage
experienced mountaineers[28] of great bodily strength, such men being
able to do work for which, it is admitted, sailors have neither training
nor inclination.
7. No form of sledge travelling, when measured by results, can be
compared with sledging by the help of dogs alone; for this method
enables us to compass the greatest possible distance, and diminishes
the dead-weight of the load in the sledge. Besides this, dogs are not
only active but tractable; they show no fear; they can endure hunger
longer than men, even while making great exertions; they neither drink
nor smoke; neither fuel for the stove to liquefy the snow, nor tent,
nor sleeping bag, need be taken for them; none, in fact, of those many
little things which are indispensable for men. In extreme necessity
they may be even used for food. And since a strong dog is able to drag,
even for a long journey, double of what he needs for his own support,
the surplus falls to the share of the man who accompanies him, and
who is able, therefore, to prolong his absence from the ship. Without
considering the forced marches which Englishmen, Americans, and Russians
have frequently made on the ice with a number of dogs, the employment
of a few dogs in sledge expeditions has such conspicuous advantage over
teams of men, that I would earnestly recommend the following method of
procedure: two teams of dogs, each of two or four strong Newfoundlands,
should be employed, one to be driven by the leader of the expedition and
the other by one of the most experienced and trustworthy of the party.
Each sledge should carry at starting, a weight of from 4 to 7 cwt., i.e.
provisions for thirty to fifty days, only needing a slight supplement
from the products of the chase. Sixteen miles a day, on an average, may
easily be thus accomplished, especially if the rest of the party attached
to each sledge walk on before their respective teams. Distances varying
from 500 to 800 miles may thus be reached, while 300 or at the most 500
miles are all that men alone in the same time can perform. Journeys of
this kind require much experience, so that those men only are serviceable
who have much practical acquaintance with life in the Arctic wastes,
and not merely with life as it is in the ship, but who are inured to
fatigues and skilled in the use of those precautions which distance from
the ship imperatively demands during the prevalence of extreme cold. With
regard to the route itself, whenever the object is the reaching of higher
latitudes and the exploration of a still unknown country, it is advisable
to choose one from four to eight miles distant from the land. The search
for a route is greatly facilitated whenever we can ascend dominating
heights to enable us to determine our position. Such a course not only
saves us from the necessity of making détours, but affords the only
possibility of being able to touch the land at desirable points and of
ascertaining the character of the intervening districts. A survey may be
made either by triangulation, the base being measured by those who remain
behind in the ship and the summits of the mountains serving as the points
of the triangles, or by the determination of the geographical latitude
and longitude of the different spots. The combination of both methods is
of course most desirable.
8. The following instruments may be employed in sledge journeys,
according to the degree of exactness which is required: a small universal
instrument, a sextant with an artificial horizon, a pocket chronometer,
an azimuth compass, a boat compass of simple construction, an alcohol and
mercurial thermometer, and two small aneroids.
CHAPTER III.
THE EQUIPMENT OF A SLEDGE EXPEDITION.
1. The equipment of a sledge expedition on a large scale demands an
amount of circumspection and precision which experience alone can give,
and its safety and success may be endangered by the neglect of apparently
trifling precautions. At a distance from the ship the most formidable
dangers may arise, from allowing the matches to become damp, from the
leaking or the loss of a vessel containing spirit, from the setting fire
to a tent, which only too probably may happen from the carelessness of
the cook, to say nothing of those yet greater perils,—the inability of
some of the party to march, the destruction of depôts of provisions by
bears, or the breaking in of the sea. The first principle in fitting out
such an expedition should be the rejection of everything not absolutely
necessary for the support of life, the instruments only excepted; and
the second, that the whole of the travelling gear should be of the most
perfect and convenient form. The departure from these rules contributed,
among other things, to the melancholy issue of the Franklin expedition.
McClintock speaks most emphatically of the evils of over-loading with
things not absolutely necessary. The success of an undertaking may
be defeated by the neglect even of things apparently insignificant.
Mojsejew’s sledge expedition along the coast of Novaya Zemlya in 1839
was a proof and illustration of this. It was wrecked within a few days
by the snow-blindness of the entire party, caused by their want of
snow-spectacles. If we except the journeys of the Russian explorers of
the Siberian coast, carried out, however, at the sacrifice of the whole
nomad population, and of all the dogs and reindeer of North Asia—from
which to this day the exhausted country has not recovered—the merit of
the organization of sledge expeditions belongs pre-eminently to the
English. It was by Parry and James Ross that those experiments with
sledges were begun, which have since been brought nearly to perfection
by McClintock.[29] The method thus perfected serves to this day as a
pattern to be imitated, as it enables a party of men, inured to hardships
and fatigues, to pass many weeks without the help of those resources
which only a ship in such icy wastes can afford. I will now endeavour
to describe with sufficient detail the equipment of our sledges in the
journeys we carried out.
2. The changeableness of the weather during the season for sledging,
and the character of our expeditions, required the employment of three
sledges of different sizes. The smallest of these was a dog-sledge,
and the two others were larger and intended to be drawn by men. The
runners were respectively 6, 8 and 11 feet long, and 1½, 2 and 2¾ inches
broad[30]—gently curved at each end—and about one foot high, so as to
raise the lading above the snow. The sledges were constructed of the best
ash, and carried loads amounting to 7, 12, and 20 cwts. respectively.
The two runners were fastened together by two strong front boards, and
by four cross-pieces of wood firmly lashed to the upright standards of
the sledge, which were themselves dovetailed into the runners. Screws
were sparingly used, and chiefly in the fittings of the two horns of the
sledge, and of the rail on which the rifles were suspended, and which
also was used to push and guide the sledge. The rail was, therefore, of
considerable strength, in order to withstand the pressure of a man’s
force. The runners were shod with steel carefully riveted on. The
accompanying sketch shows the manner in which a sledge is drawn by a
team of men and dogs combined. Those who take the longest steps in the
march should precede, and the less active should be placed in the middle,
so that any slackness may be easily detected; for in a sledge journey it
is disgraceful to draw a weight less than the weight of what we can eat.
The centre trace should never be grasped, as this diminishes the force of
the pull.
[Illustration: TEAM OF SEVEN MEN AND THREE DOGS.]
[Illustration: THE COOKING APPARATUS.]
3. The proper construction of the cooking apparatus is of the greatest
importance, the great principle being to develop heat and prevent its
escape as much as possible. The accompanying woodcut represents an
apparatus which excellently well fulfils this condition. A, is the
inner compartment; B, the holder containing about a bottle of spirit,
with seven wicks; C, the covered pan for cooking; D, the outer case;
and E, a pan filled with snow and fitted with a moveable handle, which,
being placed over an opening in the outer case, utilizes the ascending
heat, which would otherwise escape, to liquefy the snow. The apparatus
should be made of sheet iron, each of its parts of one piece, and there
should be no soldering, in order to diminish the risk of breakage and
the setting fire to the tent by the escape of the spirit in a state
of combustion. These cooking machines should be of different sizes,
according to the number of men in the expedition. The largest of those
used by us consumed ¾lb. of spirits of wine to convert snow, with a
thermometer from 13° to 22° below zero F., into three gallons of boiling
water. On account of the smaller consumption of alcohol, it is better to
use ice than snow for the purpose of cooking.
4. Alcohol of the greatest purity and strength is the best fuel, and is
most easily transported in vessels containing about ten gallons. Next
to alcohol, stearine is most to be recommended, on account of its great
heating powers; and then train-oil, though the smoke and dirt produced
by it in the tent are almost unbearable evils. Petroleum ought not to be
employed, on account of its dangerous character and its being prejudicial
to health. Wood and coals generate too little heat in proportion to their
bulk. Parry was the first who, in his journey of 1827, employed spirits
of wine; he still used wood and coals in 1820 and Lyon in 1822.
5. The nights are passed either in snow huts, or in tents. If tents
be used, the climate must determine their material, whether cotton or
sailcloth. A mackintosh floor-cloth should always be spread over the
ground of the tent. It is indispensable to make the walls of the snow
huts two or three feet high, in order to allow room for movement, and
the closed side, _i.e._ the side opposite the entrance, must be made
double, as it is always exposed to the direction of the wind. The tent
entrance must be carefully closed with hooks and rings, and should not
reach to the ground. A tent formed by two poles, about eight feet long,
crossed at each end, with another to rest on these supports, is the most
simple and secure form of erection. During the journey, a small sail
may be advantageously used, whenever the wind is favourable; one of the
tent-poles may be used as a mast, and an “Alpine stock” may serve as a
yard for the sail.
6. The sledge party passes the night in a common sleeping bag, in which
there may be, under propitious circumstances, smaller separate bags for
each. When the temperature is not below -13° F., the sleeping bag may be
made out of a warm strong quilt; but when the cold is more intense, it
must be made of buffalo-skin, and to prevent its being pulled off during
the night it should be buttoned at the top in the middle. Sheep-skins
cannot be recommended for this purpose, as they are far heavier than
buffalo-skins; and as they more easily collect moisture, so they freeze
more quickly. The sleeping bag should always be wrapped up in the tent
and packed with it on the sledge, so that it may come as little as
possible in contact with the snow. If the temperature should fall below
-35° F., the travelling party suffers greatly from the frost even in
such a sleeping bag, and it would then be advisable to lay an inflated
india-rubber mattress under the bag, so that only the legs of the
sleepers should be exposed to the influence of the cold.
7. As for arms, it is enough to have three double-barrelled Lefaucheux
rifles and one revolver; and even in districts where encounters with
bears may be daily expected, three cartridges a day are a sufficient
stock of ammunition. These should be explosive shells, with steel points.
Small shot cartridges are indispensable on sledge expeditions, as birds
are not unfrequently met with. When the cold is excessive, great caution
must be used with the cock of the lock, as the brittleness of the metal
then causes it to be easily broken; and from the same cause the hammer
will often not stand at half-cock. The guns must not be oiled, as it
sometimes happens that the hammer on full-cock will not go down where
the lock is smeared with oil. Light woollen gloves should be worn for
shooting, in order that the fingers may not be frozen in handling the
guns.
8. A chest, fixed on the fore-part of the sledge, contains the
instruments used in surveying and in the determination of localities;
also a thermometer and an aneroid barometer, lucifer matches and
cartridges, packed in tin boxes and carefully protected from damp; a
supply of nails and screws, wind-screens for the travellers, sewing
materials, the spoons of the party, extra soles of felt for shoes,
medical stores, brushes, sketch-book, flags, and a supply of light cord.
The pocket-chronometer must be worn in close contact with the body of the
leader of the party, to guard it against the hurtful influences of the
cold.
9. The provisions should be placed below everything, when the sledge is
loaded. The daily allowance for each man ought to be increased by half
a pound above the usual rations on board ship, so that about 2½ lbs. or
2¾ lbs. of solid food fall to the share of each man, and about an equal
weight to each dog. McClintock allowed 2½ to 3 lbs. a head for the men;
but only 1 lb. pemmican a day for the Eskimo dogs. Hayes calculates
provisions for fourteen dogs for twelve days at 300 lbs.—almost 2 lbs. a
day; and, on another occasion, for fifteen dogs for thirty-eight days, at
800 lbs; and considers 1½ lbs. for Eskimo dogs as too little, when great
demands are made on their strength and endurance. From my own experience,
I should say, that the least diminution of this quantity of nourishment
reduces the capacity to endure great cold and excessive exertions, and
produces, after even a few days, a feeling of lassitude both in the
men and the dogs, harder to endure than even the sensation of hunger.
Parry, in his sledge and boat expedition of 1827, found that 10 oz. of
biscuit and 9 oz. of pemmican were hardly sufficient to sustain a man’s
strength. “It may be useful,” he observes,[31] “to remark, as the result
of absolute experience, that our daily allowance of provisions, although
previously tried for some days on board the ship, and then considered
to be enough, proved by no means sufficient to support the strength of
men living constantly in the open air, exposed to wet and cold for at
least twelve hours a day, seldom enjoying the luxury of a warm meal, and
having to perform the kind of labour to which our people were subject.
I have before remarked, that, previously to our return to the ship, our
strength was considerably impaired, and, indeed, there is reason to
believe, very soon after entering upon the ice the physical energies of
the men were gradually diminishing, although for the first few weeks they
did not appear to labour under any specific complaint. This diminishing
of strength, which we considered to be owing to the want of sufficient
sustenance, became apparent, even after a fortnight, in the lifting of
the bread bags; and I have no doubt that, in spite of every care on the
part of the officers, some of the men, who had begun to fail before we
quitted the ice, would, in a week or two longer, have suffered very
severely, and become a serious incumbrance, instead of an assistance, to
our party; and we were of opinion, that in order to maintain the strength
of men thus employed, for several weeks together, an addition would be
requisite of at least one-third more to the provisions we daily issued.”
10. To facilitate inspection, it is advisable to portion off the stock
of provisions for each week in separate sacks, and never to open a fresh
sack till the previous one has been emptied. The contents of the sacks
for the latter weeks should be increased a fifth-part at least above the
normal weight; because hunger with its accompanying loss of strength
generally grows in a distressing manner. The provisions should consist of
boiled beef, hard bread, extract of meat, chocolate, grits, pea-sausages,
sugar, rice, condensed milk, and coffee. Tea and the two last mentioned
articles of food have an indescribably reviving effect, especially in
the morning, and enable the party to make long forced marches, warding
off the great enemy of such expeditions—thirst. Pemmican and fatty
substances, however, when the temperature is very low, must be used in
moderation, inasmuch as they tend to promote this evil. The fact that
we require more carbon in our food in winter than in summer, and that
the colder a country is, the more of this element should be found in
its nourishment, may, indeed, be true for life in settled abodes or on
board an Arctic ship, but does not hold good of sledge journeys. As fresh
meat affords, under all circumstances, the strongest nourishment, the
business of hunting must not be left to chance. In order to diminish the
weight, all preserved foods—with the exception of milk—are turned out of
their tin cases, and kept in small bags. Wherever there is a certainty
of finding drift-wood, I would recommend, as Back does, vermicelli or
macaroni, which can then be properly prepared. Good strong tea is of
the greatest importance, though at first we set little store by it. A
small ration of rum daily is almost indispensable in sledge journeys,
especially when the temperature is very low. Franklin (1819) and John
Ross (1829) both pronounce in favour of the moderate use of this spirit,
though they were of opinion that rum, when the crews were leading an
inactive life on board ship, promoted scurvy. The provisions we have
specified do not altogether correspond with the views of earlier Polar
navigators. Pachtussow and Ziwolka provided themselves in their sledge
journeys (1835) with the following stores:—Salted meat, barley-meal,
grits, biscuit, butter, tea and sugar; and Parry’s provisions, in 1827,
consisted of pemmican, wheat-meal, sweet cocoa-powder, biscuit, and 300
lbs. of concentrated rum.[32] Hayes preferred dried meat, beef-soup, and
potatoes to the usual pemmican.
11. The equipment should be supplemented by the following articles:—A
small cask of strong rum, a funnel, an india-rubber bottle to measure out
the daily allowance of spirit, a snow-shovel, and a stand for surveying
purposes. The sketch given below exhibits a sledge laden and packed for a
long journey.
[Illustration: THE SLEDGE WITH ITS LOAD.
_a_, Spirit-can.
_f_, Axe, Thermometer.
_h_, Dog-sledge.
_i_, Cooking-machine.
_k_, Box of instruments.
_m_, Tent and sleeping-bags.
_n_ and _z_, Surveying-stand and tent-pole.
_o_, Sledge-sail
_r_, Sacks of provisions.
_s_, India-rubber bottle.
_t_, Funnel.
_u_, Shovel.]
12. To obviate the danger of being cut off from the ship by the breaking
up of the ice, or to enable the party to push on further, boats have
frequently been taken in sledge expeditions. For such purposes, boats of
thin metal or of wood are not to be commended; those made of leather,
india-rubber, or waterproof sailcloth, are preferable. But even when
their wooden frame-work is made as light as possible, their weight is not
less than 300 or 400 lbs. The addition of this weight, and the difficulty
of lading them, are so much felt on such journeys, that the boat is
usually left behind at a little distance from the ship, as was the case
in Kane and Hayes’ journeys up Smith’s Sound. The case is different,
however, in journeys which have to be carried out partly on the ice
and partly—and, indeed, chiefly—on the sea. In such cases, boats of
sufficient size to carry both the crews and the baggage are requisite.
The whale boat of the Norwegian whalers, carrying seven or eight men,
is best adapted for this purpose; although, in long reaches of deep
snow, they have their inconveniences, as almost double the number of men
is then needed to drag them along. The boats in such expeditions are
transported over the ice when the snow road is good, or only passably
good, by means of the largest of the sledges we have described; but, if
the snow be very deep, it would be advisable to use sledges with three
runners underneath, boarded over, so as to prevent the load from sinking
into the snow.[33]
13. As the sledge party has to endure for several weeks all the horrors
of Arctic weather, the article of clothing demands special care and
consideration. Abundance of woollen under-garments and light furs best
answer this purpose. The woollen under-garments should not fit too
closely, so as to hinder the circulation of the blood; and the fur coat
should be wide, and reach half-way down the leg. It would be a great
mistake to take the clothing of the northern nomad as our pattern. Our
powers of enduring the severities of Arctic climate are inferior to
theirs, so that we cannot attempt to imitate their hardihood; but our
own industries enable us to surpass all their resources. During the
march, a long garment of lamb’s-wool, to which a belly-band is sewn, two
stout linen shirts, one or two pairs of woollen drawers, strong cloth
trousers, a pair of common mittens, and a light hood, are sufficient for
all temperatures. Wind, especially if it be accompanied with drifting
snow, necessitates fur coats, with hoods attached, two pairs of woollen
gloves, and a band of flannel to protect the nose, buttoned on to the
hood. Wind-guards, made of strong leather serving to protect the face
against wind and frost, must not be neglected. Flannel masks, with holes
cut for nose and mouth, are of little use, as they are completely frozen
in a few hours. A shawl wrapped round the mouth is, after all, the best
protection against cold wind, and the least hindrance to respiration. As
the shortest beard is converted at once into a glacier by the freezing
of the breath, it is necessary to cut it off. The accompanying figure
exhibits the Arctic sledger prepared for the eventualities of cold. It
need scarcely, however, be remarked, that no absolutely general rules can
be laid down in the matter of clothing, which depends on the different
capacities of resistance in individuals, and also on the variations
of the weather. When the temperature is not more than 2° or 13° below
zero F., some diminution of the garments enumerated above may safely be
allowed. Knitted woollen hoods are sufficient protection for the head
in almost all cases. Gloves, not intended to be used in drawing and in
handling the instruments, should be made of lamb’s-wool, and the fingers
lined with flannel. The stockings also should be strengthened with
flannel at the heels and toes, and should be kept as dry as possible;
because wet feet are inevitably frozen when the cold is excessive. Hence,
also, the stockings must be changed at night and dried, by being laid on
the chest during sleep.
[Illustration: THE DRESS OF THE ARCTIC SLEDGER.]
14. In the matter of furs, no better can be selected than buffalo-skin,
or wash-leather made of bear’s hide; though no covering can surpass that
which is made from the skins of birds—Eider-ducks, for example—which
is equally good for either summer or winter, during the march, or
even during sleep, and which need be exchanged for furs only when the
temperature during a night-camping falls 35° to 58° below zero F.
Sheep-skin and wolf-skin are too heavy; and the reindeer-skin, though
so light and warm, is not suitable, as it at once loses the hair when
exposed to damp, and does not last a winter with constant use; but of
these, the best are those of the young reindeer killed in autumn. Some
Arctic travellers, in the absence of furs, have used an extra covering
of light sailcloth, as a protection against the drifting snow, which
penetrates the clothes and stiffens them. We have tried this experiment,
but were not convinced of its success. In Parry’s second expedition, his
people are said to have worn their furs next to their bodies, and to have
found this warmer than the wearing of woollens next the skin; but this I
am inclined to regard as a mistake. When furs are worn during the march,
their congelation and consequent increase of weight are diminished by
wearing the furs sometimes inside and sometimes outside. The inhabitants
of Lapland and Kamschatka constantly wear the fur outside; and some
Eskimo tribes wear double furs—one turned inside, the other outside. If
cloth clothes are worn, their surface should be smooth, so as not to
harbour the driving snow; and all buttons should be of a large size, as
frozen fingers find it easier to manage them.
15. The covering for the feet of a sledge-party should be sailcloth
boots, lined with flannel, and soled with stout felt; and it is not
advisable to strengthen the soles by plaiting them with string, as the
boot thereby loses that perfect pliability which is indispensable to
preserve the foot from the danger of frost-bite. Hence also any covering
of india-rubber is objectionable. Leather boots must not be used in
sledging; because they become utterly unpliable at a low temperature, and
make frost-bites inevitable; and when once put on they cannot be pulled
off without being cut to pieces. All boots should be so large and their
legs so wide, that they may be put on conveniently over the trousers;
and sailcloth boots especially, because of their shrinking from frost,
should be so wide, that they can be put on easily over three pairs
of strong woollen stockings. The Eskimo, the inhabitants of Lapland,
Kamschatka, and other northern nomad tribes, wear the dried grass of
_Cyperacites_ as their foot-coverings; and this might be recommended,
if it did not also involve the use of skin-coverings for the feet, in
which no European can make long marches, without their being inflamed.
Because, in the Arctic regions, the condensation of moisture in the shape
of ice is an enemy constantly to be guarded against, all stuffs are to be
avoided which tend to harbour moisture, especially the linings of coats,
pockets, and so forth, made of cotton instead of pure wool. India-rubber
garments must never be used, as they prevent evaporation from the body.
16. If dogs are used to draw the large sledges along with men, they
ought to be harnessed in the way which the sketch on a preceding page
represents. The dog-sledge should be laid across the hinder part of
the principal sledge, and made fast to it. If, however, dogs alone are
employed, and at walking-pace, they are harnessed in pairs, one pair
behind the other. Each dog should draw by a single trace, as we can only
thus avoid the constant entangling of the rope-traces. If more than four
dogs be employed, they cannot well go in pairs one before the other, but
must be harnessed to the sledge in a row, side by side, and the traces
must be long, so as to enable the most powerful and best-trained dogs,
which are placed in the middle, to be somewhat in advance of the others.
The dogs should be selected according to the special purpose for which
they are to be employed; for, while an Eskimo dog will run, but shirks
the effort of drawing heavy loads, a Newfoundland submits to its load,
but, goes at a foot’s-pace. In the Hudson’s Bay territory a cross between
a wolf and a dog is regarded as the best animal for draught, because it
surpasses the dog proper in strength and courage. Newfoundlands of pure
breed are, on the whole, most to be recommended, and next to them, the
Eskimo dog, which has a good deal of the character of the wolf, though he
is difficult to hold. These dogs, too, although they are indescribably,
thievish, voracious, and ill-tempered, in consequence of their harsh
treatment and bad feeding, have this further distinguishing quality,
that they will stick to a retreating bear with wonderful pertinacity
till the hunter comes up to kill it. European dogs are only to be taken
when an expedition has not the opportunity of procuring dogs of the
kinds we have mentioned; but, if they be employed, they should be strong
and hardy, with long hair and thick coat. The purity of their breed is
of less consequence than their being good-tempered, as fights between
large dogs end in the destruction of the weaker. The Ostjaks, in the
neighbourhood of Obdorsk, are the nomad tribes nearest Europe who use
dogs for sledges; and their breed of dogs is far superior to any other,
either in Lapland or Northern Russia. The dogs of Russia in Europe were
employed in the expedition (1839) of Ziwolka and Mojsejew to Novaya
Zemlya; but it does not appear that they answered the expectations which
had been formed. In sledge-expeditions the dogs are allowed to sleep in
the open air; but they must be fastened to stakes, lest the scenting
some animal should tempt them to run off. We ourselves, however, allowed
a small tent, weighing little, for the few dogs which accompanied us.
Dogs whose paws have not been early hardened by long marches on the
ice, easily hurt their feet, which do not heal during the journey; and
wounds can only be prevented from getting worse by a daily application
of collodion and brandy, and by a protection of flannel; and this is the
treatment we pursued to Jubinal in the journey we are about to describe.
Whenever a dog is exhausted by dragging, it is generally blooded in the
tail or ear after the fashion followed by the Siberian tribes.
[Illustration: TOROSSY IN HARNESS.]
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRST SLEDGE JOURNEY
1. From the preceding remarks on the equipment of a sledge, the reader
will, perhaps, have gained a pretty clear notion of the procedure
by which we are enabled to travel for weeks in Arctic wastes. This
description will have shown him the various and manifold contingencies
against which a leader has to provide, if he is to conduct an expedition
safely and successfully, especially if he commands a body of men, who are
neither so careful nor so observant as those who accompanied me in the
sledge journeys I am about to describe.
2. I now pass to the first of these, the object of which was to determine
the position and general relations of the new Land, which still remained
a mystery to us, to reconnoitre a route for its exploration towards the
north, and to ascertain what we could of the character of the intervening
regions. I regarded the ascent of the high mountain—Cape Tegetthoff—which
we had seen before us for months, as the preliminary step towards the
attainment of these ends. Its great distance from the ship had rendered
abortive all the attempts to reach it which had been made at the end
of last autumn. With the beginning of March (1874) the sledging was
now to commence in reality. Though the sun had returned on the 24th of
February, it was seldom visible in the remaining days of that month; a
heavy water-sky overspread the southern heavens, and the only cheerful
precursors of spring were the birds which once more appeared in our
neighbourhood. The snow had been distressingly soft, but the north-east
winds which prevailed during the first days of March hardened it. When
these winds fell, the temperature also fell, and although the beginning
of March is regarded as a time little favourable for sledge travelling
on account of the excessive cold, our impatience for action overcame all
doubts and fears, and on the 9th one of our larger sledges stood ready,
laden and packed for an expedition, equipped for a week. It carried an
extra quantity of provisions, which were intended to form depôts. From
the general store we took 39 lbs. of hard bread, 5 lbs. of pemmican, 16
lbs. of boiled beef, 6½ lbs. of lard, 1 lb. of pea-sausage, ½ lb. of
salt and pepper, 6 lbs. of rice, 2 lbs. of grits, 5 lbs. of chocolate, 5
gallons of rum, 1 lb. of extract of meat, 2 lbs. of condensed milk, and
8 gallons of alcohol. The rest of the baggage consisted of such articles
as we have described above. We had besides 3 breech-loaders and 100
cartridges, of which 40 were fired away.
3. I selected for my party six men and three dogs, Gillis, Torossy and
Sumbu. As I reserved the picked men of our crew for the contemplated
longer journey towards the north, some of the above were not altogether
adequate to the work. My two Tyrolese, however, Haller and Klotz,
possessed great endurance, Lukinovich and Cattarinch in a lesser degree;
as for Pospischill and Lettis, they would have done credit to Falstaff’s
corps. As Pospischill suffered from lung disease, Lukinovich from
palpitation of the heart, Haller from chronic rheumatism, and Lettis from
a tendency to bronchial catarrh, it may be inferred how necessity alone
enabled them to do what they did, when the temperature fell lower than we
expected.
4. On the morning of the 10th of March we left the ship, and the “Flag of
the sledge journeys,” which had hung for so long a time over my berth,
now fluttered in the fresh breeze which blew from the north-west. So
much had this “at last,” excited me, that I could not sleep a wink, and
those who were starting on the expedition as well as those who remained
behind were as much agitated, as if the conquest of Peru or Ophir were
contemplated, and not the exploration of lands buried under snow and
ice. With indescribable joy we began the mechanical drudgery of dragging
the sledge, each of us at first wearing a mask, like the members of the
“Vehmgericht,” until we became habituated to the withering effects
of the wind. As we moved along the level surface of the land ice of
the preceding autumn, after forcing our way through the hummocky ice,
which had formed itself on the north of the ship, we saw behind us some
black spots approaching at full speed. These were the dogs we had left
behind, which insisted on travelling with us, and much craft and force,
supplemented by the logic of a few shots, were needed to force them to
return to the ship. My companions interpreted the conduct of the dogs
refusing to remain with the ship as a sign foreboding the death of our
engineer. As the lading of our sledge amounted to about 6 or 7 cwts. and
the snow was favourable for sledging, we were able to advance at the
unusual rate of 100 paces in a minute, and in two hours we passed the
south-west Cape of Wilczek Island. Close to this Cape we saw an iceberg
which had fallen on the ice and crushed it all round, and sheltering
ourselves from the wind under the lee of another, we took our mid-day
rest, with the thermometer at -15° F. As the sun at noon was so little
above the horizon that we got uncertain results for the determination
of the latitude, I preferred during this journey to begin the surveying
and, at the same time, the determination of the localities of Franz-Josef
Land, by a triangulation of elevated points, to which the measurement of
a base was afterwards to be added. Hence the ascent of high mountains
formed part of our programme.
5. We continued our march till the ship disappeared from our eyes, and
the route now lost its level character and assumed the appearance of a
very chaos of ice. In the evening we reached a high rocky promontory
of Wilczek Island, near which rose some stranded icebergs, and against
which the ice-sheet of the sea, impelled by the waves, was dashed and
broken. Close in shore the ice was in violent motion, and as we passed
over the “ice-foot,” to the amazement of all, three of our men fell into
a fissure. All through the night we heard in our tent, which we erected
on the land, the cracking and crashing sounds emitted by the ice. Next
day—March 11th—making a very early start, the thermometer at -14° F., we
saw a water-sky to the south, and, after ascending a height, close before
us lay the sea, covered with young ice. Heavy mists were ascending from
fissures, and the level surface of the young ice glowed with the colours
of the morning. Immediately under the coast of the island lay a narrow
band of piled-up ice, with traces of recent pressures, and thinking that
the interior was impassable to a laden sledge, we began our toilsome
march along its rocky coasts.
6. We were in no mood to observe the picturesque character of our
route, for our labours in dragging the sledge over the hummocky ice
were excessive. We had frequently to unload the sledge or dig away an
obstacle which could not be evaded. The conduct of the dogs was not
quite faultless; and as for my companions, if one of them turned round,
or if a bird flew past, this was enough to make the rest pause in their
pulling, with the ready excuse of surprise at the circumstance. If
in such cases Klotz failed to exert his strength, the sledge at once
came to a standstill. We pressed on through icebergs on each side of
us, shattered by the frost, and amid a constant noise of cracking and
splitting produced by the increasing cold. At length, after several
hours, we came out on an open level and crossed the gentle slope of a
snow-covered spit of land. The rugged mountainous front of Hall Island,
and the long glacier walls of M’Clintock Island, now rose before us. Our
course lay clearly marked out: it ran in a north-westerly direction over
a snow-covered level of old ice towards Cape Tegetthoff. Soon, however,
the mist began to rise, and floated over the wide expanse of ice, and
so obscured every object that we were able to continue our journey in
the twilight only by means of the compass. We determined our course by
the aid of small hummocks of ice, which rose above the general level
surface, but so great was the difficulty of keeping a definite line in
the mist, that we were compelled to halt every four hundred paces, and
correct our route by the larger compass, which often showed that we had
deviated 20° to 40° in azimuth from the true line, and in some cases the
error amounted to even 90°. To add to all this, snow began to fall, so
that we were almost blinded, and hence it was that a bear for some time
followed our footsteps, unseen by any of the party. When we first sighted
him, though he was at a little distance off, he looked enormously large
in the mist. We quickly seized our rifles, and one of our men firing
precipitately, the bear disappeared, leaving no track of blood to show
whether it had been wounded. But bears, even when severely wounded, often
leave no such trace; hence doubtless the origin of the assertion, that a
wounded bear can dress its own wound, using its paw to apply snow to the
injured part.
7. It was our practice in this, as well as in the following expeditions,
to rest at noon for an hour or two, and putting up the tent take a
meal of hot boiled beef. But the inferiority of an untrained to a
well-trained sledge party was seen even in such operations. Much time
was wasted; in like manner and from the same cause, the coffee-making in
the morning, the preparation for the march, the taking down of the tent,
the loading of the sledge, occupied my party for hours, and the smallest
snow-drifting sufficed to blow away all their moral force. As we left
the tent, the bear stood again before us, but disappeared as suddenly
when we seized our rifles. In the course of a few hours we passed some
icebergs shaped like huge tables, and when the wind rose and lifted up
the mist for a few moments, we saw the rocky heights of Cape Tegetthoff
towering above us at no great distance. The snow began to drive directly
in our faces, and meanwhile the bear had followed our steps, often
hidden from our sight by the vehement gusts of snow, sometimes on our
flank, sometimes in our rear, keeping at about 200 paces distance from
us. By feigning unconcern we hoped to stimulate his courage to attack
us, reckoning on converting him into food. Suddenly, however, he ran
towards us, and our apparent indifference disappeared. In a moment we
stood ready to receive him; the sledge was drawn across the line of his
advance, and each casting off his drag-rope, knelt and aimed over the
sledge. The directions were to aim at the lower part of the skull, and
to fire only when he was quite close to us. The dogs were moved to the
further side of the sledge, and covered with its sail. Of the other four
men, two held the dogs, a third laid hold of a revolver, and the fourth
provided himself with some cartridges ready for contingencies. After
the completion of these preparations, no one either moved or spoke. The
bear meanwhile, moved steadily towards us, stopping for a moment at the
spot where a piece of bread had intentionally been placed. Just as he
stopped to examine it, three shots in rapid succession went off, and
the bear, hit in the head and chest, lay dead on the ground. The dogs,
being let loose, rushed on their fallen foe and began to tear his shaggy
skin. While we were cutting the bear up, they sat down and watched us,
occasionally dipping their tongues in the warm red blood and snapping
up the morsels which were thrown to them. The bear we had shot was a
female, six feet in length; and after cutting off the tongue and the best
portions for meat, we continued our march in the teeth of the driving
snow. One of our people had cut his finger badly in dressing the bear,
and as the application of chloride of iron did not suffice to stop the
violent bleeding, we were compelled to halt and erect our tent about six
o’clock in the evening.
8. When we set out again on the morning of the 12th (the thermometer
marking -26° F.) all round us was a red undulating waste, and the driving
gusts of snow, which hid from our view the nearest rocky heights, pricked
us as if with countless sharp-pointed darts. Such drifting snow, although
it greatly impedes travelling, cannot be compared with the tremendous
snow-storms I had experienced in Greenland. The same precursory signs
were, however, common to both—extraordinary refractions, brilliant
auroras, perfect calms, and a dull close atmosphere. In taking down the
tent, which was covered with wreaths of snow, every article which fell
in it was at once buried under its drifting waves. Of all the tests of
endurance in Arctic journeys none exceeds that of continuing the march
amid driving snow at a low temperature. Some of my company who had not
been accustomed to walk in such tremendous weather, in attempting to
button on their wind-screens and nose-bands and fasten up their coats
after we had left the tent, at once had their fingers frozen. Our
sail-cloth boots were as hard as stone, and every one took to stamping to
preserve his feet from frost-bite. Under such circumstances the sledge
is not packed with that precision which is the only preservative against
the loss of the various articles of its contents. To watch against this
contingency is the special business of the man who pushes the sledge
from behind. Hurry and confusion were visible in the bag of provisions
being left open. At last everything was ready: the march began, men
and dogs, dragging the sledge along, all coated with snow and entirely
covered except the eyes. In a momentary lull of the wind, we discovered
that our march the day before had led us far too much to the south, and
Cape Tegetthoff now lay before us directly north. Thither we now directed
our steps, and as the wind still came from the north-west, we struck our
sledge sail. As a consequence of this marching against the wind, which is
most severely felt by the leaders of the team, all, even Klotz, had their
noses frost-bitten. We had much difficulty in persuading him to rub his
with snow, urging that his nose did not belong to himself alone, but that
seven noses and fourteen feet were under the general supervision of the
leader, and that each had a share in this general property.
9. As we came under the land, the violence of the snow-drifting somewhat
abated, and in about two hours a calm set in. Close before us lay the
plateau of Cape Tegetthoff, with its steep precipitous sides. From its
summit a line of basalt rocks descended towards the east, ending in two
columns, each about two hundred feet high. We reached them just before
noon, and the weather being propitious we determined the latitude by
observation and found it to be 80° 6′ N.L. The force of the tide not
being able to raise or burst the bay-ice, the thaw-water of the spring
collects itself on the coast-edge in small lakes. Close under one of
these towers of dark-coloured basalt, we set up our tent; and while our
cook was preparing our dinner of bear’s flesh we lay in the sun under the
rocks in order to dry our clothes, which were coated all over with ice.
[Illustration: CAPE TEGETTHOFF.]
10. About one o’clock I set off with the Tyrolese to the plateau of Cape
Tegetthoff. Those who remained behind spent their time in rubbing their
feet with snow. Lettis had reserved for us the unpleasant surprise that
his feet had been frost-bitten for three hours, and that he had lost
all feeling in them. We marched for an hour on the snow, which lay in
tender azure-blue shadow under the long line of basalt rocks, and after
climbing for another hour over rosy-coloured masses of snow lying between
crystallized rocks, we reached the highest point of the undulating
plateau. No ascent could be more interesting, made, as it was, in a
country so utterly unknown. Haller and Klotz were born mountaineers, and
during my surveys in Tyrol I had made a hundred ascents of mountains of
10,000 feet, without the tension of expectation I now experienced, as
I mounted this summit. The ascent was not without difficulty, and it
taxed the extraordinary dexterity of the two Tyrolese to climb up steep
icy precipices in their sail-cloth boots. It was about three o’clock in
the afternoon when we reached the summit; the temperature had fallen to
-30° F. (in the tent the thermometer at the same time marked -24° F. and
in the ship -20° F.). By a barometrical measurement we found the height
to be 2,600 feet. Contrary to expectation the view from the top proved
to be limited. In a northerly direction, the atmosphere, laden with
innumerable ice crystals, possessed so little transparency that Cape
Berghaus, at no distance off, appeared to be covered with a thick veil,
and all distant objects were enveloped in a dense mist. Fogs lay over the
interior to the west, and banks of reddish vapour covered the icy ocean
to the south. Some narrow strips of open water sparkled in the sun. After
making a sketch of all that could be distinctly seen, and determining the
bearings of some points, we returned to the tent. Here we found Lettis
and Cattarinch engaged in rubbing with snow the hands of Lukinovich,
which had been frost-bitten, while he was occupied in rubbing the feet of
Lettis.
11. Nothing except the wind makes men so sensitive to cold as the want
of exercise. The fall of the temperature had been felt far more by those
who remained behind, than by ourselves. Even the wonderful beauty of
the snow-clad summit bathed in rosy light failed to modify their severe
judgment of Franz-Josef Land. Instead of greeting us with supper ready
at the appointed hour, which he ought to have prepared without the use
of spirit, the bewildered cook was vainly endeavouring to roast bear’s
flesh over smoky chips and sticks, and we got our supper only after I
had served out a bottle of alcohol. We then went to rest in the common
sleeping bag, but soon began to shake with cold, which threw Pospischill,
who took oil twice a day for lung-disease, into a fever. When I left the
tent to look at the thermometers, the mercury in one had gone down into
the bulb and was frozen, and the spirits of wine in the other showed 41°
below zero (C.). Some hot grog, for which a whole bottle of strong rum
was used, put us all right, raising the temperature of our bodies by one
or two degrees. After this refreshment we all fell into a deep sleep,
which was incommoded only by the increasing dampness of our clothes.
12. We started again about six o’clock on the morning of March 13. The
sun had not risen, the spirit of wine thermometer indicated nearly 44°
(C.) below zero, and a piercingly cold breeze met us from the land.
Even on board the ship the temperature at the same time marked 37° (C.)
below zero, a difference to be ascribed to the influence of the land
in lowering the temperature. In Greenland we observed still greater
deviations of this nature, which seem to show that climatical influences
are subject to great variations, even in places which are in close
proximity. Cape Berghaus was our goal. From its summit a general view
of the distribution of the land under 80° N. lat. was reasonably to be
expected. Long before the rise of the sun, the hard snowy plains were
tinted with a pale green reflected light, and the icebergs wore a dull
silvery hue, while their outlines constantly changed and undulated. Our
road was formed from millions of glittering snow crystals, so hard that
the sledge glided over them with difficulty and with a creaking noise,
and after three hours, the exertion of dragging had so exhausted us that
we determined to unload the sledge, and, after melting some snow, to wet
its runners with water. A layer of ice was immediately formed on them,
which greatly facilitated the labour of dragging, till it was rubbed
off. A broad inlet surrounded by picturesque mountains—Nordenskjöld
Fiord—had opened out on our left, and as a large glacier formed the
background of this fiord, we took a westerly direction in order to study
the ice-formation. The heights surrounding this fiord seemed equally as
well fitted as Cape Berghaus for the object we had in view. The further
we penetrated into it, the deeper became the layer of fine powdery snow
which the wind had deposited in this hollow. At noon we reached the high
precipitous termination of Sonklar-Glacier, and pitched our tent by an
iceberg.
[Illustration: MELTING SNOW DURING A HALT NEAR CAPE BERGHAUS.]
13. In the afternoon, accompanied by the Tyrolese, I ascended a
mountain—Cape Littrow—whose height, by means of an aneroid barometer,
we ascertained to be 2,500 feet. From its summit we had a view of the
mountains of Hall Island, and of the islands which lay to the east.
Not a breath of wind was stirring, and the atmosphere was clearer than
usual, so that, without suffering in the least degree from cold, I could
work for three hours, first in sketching our surroundings and then in
taking observations. From south-west to north-east the peaks of distant
mountains rose above the summits of those in the foreground. This view,
while it assured us that the land we had named after our monarch must be
of great extent, stimulated our impatience to know its extent, and the
nature and relation of its constituent parts. The Wüllersdorf Mountains
were the extreme limits of what could be known for the present, and
their three peaks glowed in the setting sun above the dark edges of the
terraces of the Sonklar-Glacier, whose broad terminal front over-hung the
frozen bay of Nordenskjöld Fiord. It was eight o’clock in the evening
when we returned to our tent, not, however, before we had made suitable
preparations for the observation of the movement of the glacier. Sumbu
and Torossy were our companions; but we had to tie them with a rope both
in going up and coming down, and we ourselves only mastered the great
steepness of the cone of the mountain by steps which Klotz, who went
on before, hewed with incomparable dexterity and precision in the ice.
During the night the temperature fell to 46° below zero (C.) (-47° F.
in the ship), and I do not believe that we could have passed through it
without the help of grog. We drank it as we lay close together muffled up
in our sleeping bag. It was boiling hot, and so strong, that under other
circumstances it must have made us incapable of work, yet in spite of the
grog, we suffered much all through the night from cold and our frozen
clothes.
CHAPTER V.
THE COLD.
1. THE coldest day we had during this expedition was the 14th of March.
By six o’clock on the morning of that day the Tyrolese and I stood on
the summit of the precipitous face of the Sonklar-Glacier. The others
remained behind to clear the tent of snow, and to bury a small depôt of
provisions in an iceberg which was close at hand. The sun had not yet
risen, though a golden gleam behind the glaciers of Salm Island indicated
his near approach. At last the sun himself appeared, blood-red, glowing
with indistinct outline through the mists, and surrounded with parhelia,
which generally occur when the cold is great. The tops of the high snowy
mountains were first touched with rosy light, which gradually descended
and spread over the icy plains, and the sun like a ball of fire shone at
length clearly through the frosty mist, and everything around seemed on
fire. As the sun even at noon was but a few degrees above the horizon,
this wonderful colouring lasted throughout the day, and the mountains,
whose steepest sides were covered with a frosty efflorescence, shone
like glass in this radiant light. The alcohol thermometer soon after
we came on the glacier fell to 59° 1′ (F.) below zero,[34] and a light
breeze blowing from the interior, which would have been pleasant enough
on a March day in Europe, exposed me, while engaged in the indispensable
work of drawing and measuring, to such danger, that though I worked
under the shelter of my Tyrolese companions as a protection against the
cold, I was constantly compelled to rub my stiffened and benumbed hands
with snow. We had taken some rum with us, and as each took his share,
he knelt down and allowed another to shake it into his mouth, without
bringing the metal cup in contact with his lips. This rum, though it was
strong, seemed to have lost all its strength and fluidity. It tasted like
innocent milk, and its consistence was that of oil. The bread was frozen
so hard that we feared to break our teeth in biting it, and it brought
blood as we ate it. The attempt to smoke a cigar was a punishment rather
than an enjoyment, because the icicles on our beards always put them
out, and when we took them out of our mouths they were frozen. Even the
shortest pipes met the same fate. The instruments I used in surveying
seemed to burn when I touched them, and the medals which my companions
wore on their breasts felt like hot iron.
[Illustration: ON THE SONKLAR-GLACIER.]
2. The phenomena of cold which we had the opportunity of observing
during this journey, and which I immediately recorded, will perhaps
justify a short break in my narrative while I attempt to describe them.
The horrors of a Scythian winter are an ancient belief, and it used to
be counted wisdom to shun the zones where men were frozen, as well as
the zones where men were scorched. But it has been assumed, with great
exaggeration, that a hot climate makes men sensual and timid, while a
cold climate renders them virtuous and bold. There is far more truth in
the opinion held by some observers, and especially by Polar navigators,
that cold is depressing in its influence, and enfeebles the powers of
the will. At first it stimulates to action, but this vigour is quickly
followed by torpidity; exertion is soon succeeded by the desire to rest.
Persons exposed to these alternations of increased action and torpor feel
as if they were intoxicated. From the stiffness and trembling of their
jaws they speak with great effort, they display uncertainty in all their
movements and the stupor of somnambulists in their actions and thoughts.
Most of the circumpolar animals escape, as much as they can, the horrors
of the frost: some migrate; others, burying themselves in holes, sleep
throughout the winter. The fish, which are found in the small pools of
sweet water on the land are frozen in when these pools freeze, and awake
to life and movement again only when the pools are thawed.
3. The human body, with an inner warmth amounting to 95°-100° F., is
exposed in the wastes of North America and Siberia to frightful cold,
the extremes of which have been noted by many different observers. Back
recorded in Fort Reliance, Jan. 17, 1833, the temperature -67° F.; Hayes,
March 17, 1861, -69° F.; Nevérow, in Jakutzk, Jan. 31, 1838, -74° F.;
Kane, -69° F.; Maclure, Jan. 1853, -73° F.; John Ross, 1831, -56° F.; and
Parry, 1821, -55° F.; while the lowest temperature which has hitherto been
observed in the Alpine countries of Europe is only -24° F. In consequence
of the difficulty of observing the extremes of cold, lower temperatures
than these can scarcely ever have been registered.
4. In order to illustrate the effect of an extraordinarily low
temperature on the human frame, the best point to start from is the
imagination of a man exposed without clothes to its influence. At 37° or
50° (C.) of cold a misty halo would encompass him, the edges of which
would have, under certain circumstances, the colours of the rainbow.
It is evident that the moisture of the body rapidly coming forth and
becoming visible in the cold air would cause this mist, which would
decrease with the heat of the body, and disappear on the death of the
frozen man. The purpose of clothing is to counteract as much as possible
this twofold loss of warmth and moisture, which is the principal cause
of the fearful Arctic thirst. But even clothed men exposed to so low
a temperature present a strange appearance. When they are dragging a
sledge on the march their breath streams forth like smoke, which is soon
transformed into a mass of needles of ice, almost hiding their mouths
from view; and the snow on which they tread steams with the heat which it
receives from the snow beneath. The countless crystals of ice, which fill
the air and reduce the clearness of day to a dull yellow twilight, make
a continual rustling noise; their fall in the form of fine snow-dust,
or their floating as frosty vapour, is the cause of that penetrating
feeling of damp which is so perceptible when the cold is intense, and
which receives accretions from the vapours issuing from the open places
of the sea. Notwithstanding all this, there is an indescribable dryness
in the atmosphere, strongly contrasting with the feeling of dampness.
Heavy clouds are impossible; the heavens are covered only by mists,
through which the sun and the moon, surrounded by halos, glow blood-red.
Falls of snow, as we understand the expression, altogether cease; the
snow crystals, under the influence of cold, are so minute as to be
almost invisible. The land, the real home and source of cold, acts as
the great condenser of vapour, and snow and moisture of every kind, and
lies under a deep covering of frozen snow till the colour of its walls
and precipices reappears in April. The soil, in the stricter sense of
the word, is frozen as hard as iron wherever it appears through the
snow, and the mean temperature of Franz-Josef Land (about 3° F.) makes
it highly probable, that the frost penetrates to the depth of a thousand
feet. Great cold, calm weather, and clear atmosphere combined, are the
characteristics of the interior of Arctic countries. The nearer we
approach the sea, the rarer is this combination. Light breezes sometimes
occur with a temperature 37° (C.) below zero,[35] but the atmosphere is
then less transparent.
5. It is well known that sound is propagated far more freely in
Polar regions than with us. When the cold was great, we could hear
conversations, carried on in the usual tone of voice, distinctly at the
distance of several hundred paces. Parry and Middendorf both assert that
the voice is more audible at a distance in cold weather. The propagation
of sound seems to find less hindrance from the irregular masses of ice
and cushions of snow, than from the curtains of our woods and the carpets
of our vegetation. In the mountainous districts of Europe many of the
characteristics of Polar regions, besides intense cold, are met with; yet
it is a fact, that the report of a gun can scarcely be heard in those
situations. Cold, however, can scarcely be regarded as the essential
condition of this phenomenon; for the propagation of sound, though in a
less striking degree, may be observed even in the summers there.[36] It
would seem rather that the amount of moisture in the atmosphere has a
more decided influence in the production of this phenomenon.
6. When the snow becomes hard as rock, its surface takes a granular
consistence like sugar. Where it lies with its massive wreaths frozen in
the form of billows, our steps resound, as we walk over them, with the
sound as of a drum. The ice is so hard that it emits a ringing sound;
wood becomes wonderfully hard, splits, and is as difficult to cut as
bone; butter becomes like stone; meat must be split, and mercury may be
fired as a bullet from a gun.[37]
7. If cold thus acts on things without life, how much more must it
influence living organisms and the power of man’s will! Cold lowers
the beat of the pulse, weakens the bodily sensations, diminishes the
capacity of movement and of enduring great fatigue. Of all the senses,
taste and smell most lose their force and pungency, the mucous membrane
being in a constant state of congestion and excessive secretion. After
a time a decrease of muscular power is also perceptible. If one is
exposed suddenly to an excessive degree of cold, involuntarily one
shuts the mouth and breathes through the nose; the cold air seems at
first to pinch and pierce the organs of respiration. The eyelids freeze
even in calm weather, and to prevent their closing we have constantly
to clear them from ice, and the beard alone is less frozen than other
parts of the body, because the breath as it issues from the mouth falls
down as snow. Snow-spectacles are dimmed by the moisture of the eyes,
and when the thermometer falls 37° (C.) below zero they are as opaque
as frost-covered windows. The cold, however, is most painfully felt in
the soles of the feet, when there is a cessation of exercise. Nervous
weakness, torpor, and drowsiness follow, which explains the connection
which is usually found between resting and freezing. The most important
point, in fact, for a sledge party, which has such exertions to make at
a very low temperature, is to stand still as little as possible. The
excessive cold which is felt in the soles of the feet during the noon-day
rest is the main reason why afternoon marches make such a demand on the
moral power. Great cold also alters the character of the excretions,
thickens the blood, and increases the need of nourishment from the
increased expenditure of carbon. And while perspiration ceases entirely,
the secretion of the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes is permanently
increased, and the urine assumes almost a deep red colour. At first the
bowels are much confined, a state which, after continuing for five and
sometimes eight days, passes into diarrhœa. The bleaching of the beard
under these influences is a curious fact.
8. Although theoretically, the fat endure cold better than the lean, in
reality this is often reversed. Somewhat in the same way it might be
argued that the negro would have an advantage over the white man, for
the former as a living black bulb thermometer is more receptive of the
warmer waves of heat. But blackening the face or smearing the body with
grease are experiments which could only be recommended by those who have
never been in a position to try them. The only protection against cold
is clothing carefully chosen, and contrivances to avoid the condensation
of moisture. All articles of dress are made as stiff as iron by the
cold. If one puts off his fur coat and lays it down for a few minutes
on the ground, he cannot put it on again till it be thawed. The fingers
of woollen gloves become as unpliable as if they belonged to mailed
gauntlets, and therefore Arctic travellers, except when engaged in
hunting, prefer to use mittens.
9. Constant precautions are needed against the danger of frost-bite,
and the nose of the Arctic voyager especially becomes a most serious
charge. But no sooner has its safety been secured, than the hands which
have rubbed it with snow are threatened with the same fate. The ears,
however, are well protected from frost by the hood. Frost-bite, which is
caused by the stoppage of blood in the capillaries, evinces itself by a
feeling of numbness, which, if not immediately attended to, increases to
a state of complete rigidity. Slight cases are overcome by rubbing the
part affected with snow. When the cold is excessive, feeling accompanied
with a prickling sensation only returns after rubbing for hours. Under
all circumstances, freezing water with an infusion of hydrochloric acid
is the best means of restoring circulation. When the frost-bitten member
is immersed in this, it is at once overspread with a coating of ice,
but as the temperature of the water slowly rises the frozen limb is
gradually thawed. The longer persons are exposed to a low temperature,
the greater becomes their sensitiveness under it. Their noses, lips and
hands swell, and the skin on those parts becomes like parchment, cracks,
and is most sensitive to pain from the least breath of wind. In cases of
neglected frost-bite, the violet colour of a nose or hand is perpetuated,
in spite of all the efforts made to banish it. Frost-bites of a more
severe character will not yield to mere rubbings with snow, but should
be treated with the kind of cold bath we have described, continued for
some days. The formation of blisters, the swelling of the parts affected,
great sensitiveness and liability to a recurrence of the malady, are the
consequences. In many cases a sensitiveness to changes of temperature
lasts for several years. Amputation is inevitable in severe and neglected
cases. When circulation has been restored, a mixture of iodine and
collodion—10 grains to an ounce—may, according to the experience of
Dr. Kepes, be advantageously applied to reduce the inflammation which
generally results.
10. It is remarkable that great heat as well as great cold should
generate the great evil—thirst. It is also remarkable how rapidly the
demoralisation produced by thirst extends when any one of the party
begins to show signs of suffering from it. Habit, however, enables men
to struggle against thirst more successfully than against hunger. Many
try to relieve it by using snow; which is especially pernicious when
its temperature falls considerably below the point of liquefaction.
Inflammation of the mouth and tongue, rheumatic pains in the teeth,
diarrhœa, and other mischiefs, are the consequences, whenever a party
incautiously yields to the temptation of such a momentary relief. It is
in fact a mere delusion, because it is impossible to eat as much snow—say
a cubic foot—as would be requisite to furnish an adequate amount of
water. Snow of a temperature of 37° to 50° (C.) below zero feels in the
mouth like hot iron, and does not quench, but increases thirst, by its
inflammatory action on the mucous membranes of the parts it affects.
The Eskimos prefer to endure any amount of thirst rather than eat snow,
and it is only the Tschuktschees who indulge in it as a relish with
their food, which is always eaten cold. Snow-eaters during the march
were regarded by us as weaklings, much in the same way as opium-eaters
are. Catarrhs of every kind are less frequent in Polar expeditions, and
the chills to which we are exposed by passing suddenly from the cold of
the land journey to the warmer temperature of the ship, have no evil
consequences. It deserves to be investigated whether this arises from the
difference of the amount of ozone in the atmosphere of the respective
latitudes.—Now let us return to our journey.
11. After crossing over the Sonklar-Glacier and measuring its slight
inclination of 1° 6′, we climbed an elevation to ascertain the most
promising route for penetrating in a northerly direction; and none
seemed better suited than that which lay over its back, which seemed
free from crevasses. But we looked in vain for the fancied paradise of
the interior, which had existed only in our desire to clothe in glowing
colours the Land, from which we had been so long held back. The true
character, however, of Kaiser Franz-Josef Land, so far as it could be
explored in this and the following sledge expeditions, will be the
subject of the next chapter. The accompanying sketch represents a block
of snow, about the height of a man, at the foot of the Sonklar-Glacier,
to which the winds had given a fanlike shape. In the afternoon, after
inspecting the stakes which we had fixed for measuring the motion of the
glacier, we came back to the tent and began our return march to Cape
Tegetthoff and the ship. A cutting wind compelled us to make constant
efforts against frost-bites. With a heavy creaking noise the sledge was
dragged over the hard snow, and to our reduced strength it seemed to be
laden with a double load. The night is generally the hardest part of
such expeditions, and our camping out during the night under the cliffs
of Cape Tegetthoff was especially bitter. Happy was he who, exhausted
by the labour of dragging, fell asleep at once. As usual, we dug a deep
hole in the snow and loosened it as much as possible, so that we might
profit by its property of being one of the worst conductors of heat. In
a short time the inside of the tent was covered with rime frost, and we
ourselves with ice. The tongue only seemed to recover its former mobility
with those who bewailed their loss of knives, stockings, gloves—yea,
of everything, even their place in the tent. They ate their portion of
bear’s flesh much as if they had been chloroformed, and dropping asleep
in their stiffened icy coat of mail, they were awoke by its gradual
thawing, to reiterate without cessation how cold it was; a fact which no
one present was prepared to dispute. The alcohol thermometer stood at
-56° F. (-48° on board the ship), and when the warmth produced by the
exercise we had taken and by the effects of supper was gone, the feeling
of cold was so intense that it seemed far more probable that we should
be frozen to death than that we should sleep. The cook therefore received
orders to brew some strong grog, and forthwith six spirit-flames burnt
under the kettle filled with snow; but to make snow of such extreme
coldness boil quickly we should have had to place the kettle over
Vesuvius itself in the height of an eruption.
[Illustration: BLOCK OF SNOW.]
12. We now slept without stirring a limb, and about five o’clock in the
morning of the 15th of March we started to compass the twenty miles
which lay between us and the ship in one march, without encountering the
suffering of another night’s camping out in the snow. The weather was
as clear as it is possible to be at a temperature of -52° F., and going
along with a light breeze from the north, we made use of our sledge sail
to such advantage that we reached the gentle ascent of the west point of
Wilczek Island after a march of seven hours. We formed a second depôt of
provisions on the summit of a rocky promontory, whence we discerned with
a telescope the masts and yards of the ship lying behind an iceberg, and
our fears and anxieties lest it should have drifted away in our absence
were dissipated by this glad view. Our return to the ship could no longer
be a matter of choice; it had become a necessity. Lettis had been unable
for some days to take any share in the labour of dragging, and walked
along in shoes made of reindeer hide, on account of his frost-bitten
feet. Haller also wore similar shoes to save his swollen feet;
Cattarinch’s face was frost-bitten, and he too suffered from lameness;
Pospischill, who could no longer wear his shrunk-up fur coat, so suffered
from frost-bite in both hands, that I sent him on to the ship, that
he might have the help of the doctor as soon as possible. It was with
much effort that we made the last six hours’ march; and when at length,
stiff with ice, we passed between the hummocks that lay around the ship,
Weyprecht, Brosch, Orel, and eight sailors came to meet us, who, alarmed
at the inability of Pospischill to speak in answer to their questions,
had set out from the ship in order to find us.
[Illustration: THE BURIAL OF KRISCH.]
13. As I entered my berth I heard the hard breathing of our poor comrade
Krisch. For more than a week he had lain without consciousness; yet
death had not come to relieve him. On the afternoon of the 16th of
March a sudden cessation of all sound told us that he was no more! Next
day, his body, placed in a coffin, was brought on deck, and our flag
hoisted half-mast high. On the 19th, when the thermometer was at -13°
F., the body was committed to its lonely grave in the far north. A
mournful procession left the ship, with a sledge, on which rested the
coffin covered with a flag and cross, and wended its way to the nearest
elevation on the shore of Wilczek Island. Silently struggling against
the drifting snow, we marched on, dragging our burden through desolate
reaches of snow, till we arrived, after a journey of an hour and a half,
at the point we sought on the island. Here, in a fissure between basaltic
columns, we deposited his earthly remains, filling up the cavity with
stones, which we loosened with much labour, and which the wind, as we
stood there, covered with wreaths of snow. We read the prayer for the
dead over him who had shared in our sufferings and trials, but who was
not destined to return home with us with the news of our success; and
close by the spot, surrounded with every symbol of death and far from the
haunts of men, we raised as our farewell a simple wooden cross. Our sad
and solemn task done, there rose in our hearts the thought, whether we
ourselves should be permitted to return home, or whether we too should
find our resting-place in the unapproachable wastes of the icy north.
The wind blowing over the stiff and stark elevation where we stood,
covered us all with a thick coating of snow, and caused the appearance of
frost-bite in the faces and hands of some of our party. The decoration
of the grave of our comrade with a suitable inscription was therefore
deferred till the weather proved more favourable. We found considerable
difficulty in returning to the ship through an atmosphere filled with
snow.[38]
CHAPTER VI.
A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF KAISER FRANZ-JOSEF LAND.
In now presenting a general view of those parts of Kaiser Franz-Josef
Land which were explored by us, I must be allowed to anticipate the
order of my narrative which describes the subsequent sledge expeditions,
by which our knowledge of the discovered country was so considerably
enlarged.
1. The country, even in its already ascertained extent, is almost as
large as Spitzbergen, and consists of two main masses—Wilczek Land on the
east, and Zichy Land on the west, between which runs a broad sound called
Austria Sound, extending in a northerly direction from Cape Frankfort
till it forks at the extremity of Crown-Prince Rudolf’s Land, 80° 40′
N. L. One branch of it, a broad arm running to the north-east—Rawlinson
Sound—we traced as far as Cape Buda-Pesth. Wilczek and Zichy Lands are
both intersected by many fiords, and numerous islands lie off their
coasts.
2. A continuous surface of ice extends from the one land to the other.
At the time of our exploration, this expanse was formed of ice, for the
most part not more than a year in growth, but crossed in many places
with fissures and broad barriers of piled-up ice. Throughout its whole
extent we saw many icebergs, which we never did in the Novaya Zemlya
seas; whence it is to be inferred that they sail away in a northerly
direction.[39] Our track lay over this ice-sheet. As long as it remains
unbroken, every fiord might serve as a winter harbour; but if it should
break up, not a single locality suitable to form one presented itself
along the coasts we visited, which had no small indentations.[40]
3. The map of this country, which we present, was designed and
constructed from fifteen observations of latitude, from many observations
made with the azimuth compass, from drawings, and from a system of
triangulation, which, from the nature of the circumstances under which it
was formed,[41] makes no pretensions to absolute exactitude. The heights
of the mountains were determined by the aneroid barometer. Near the ship
a base of 2170·8 metres was measured by Weyprecht and Orel, and connected
trigonometrically with the nearest promontories. This work of theirs
formed the basis of my surveys.
4. It has always been a principle and a practice with Arctic explorers
to name their discoveries either after the promoters of their special
expeditions, or after their predecessors in the work of discovery. Though
they are never likely to become important to the material interests of
mankind, the naming the lands we discovered after those who promoted our
expedition, was, we considered, the most enduring form by which we could
express our gratitude for their efforts in furtherance of a great idea.
The localities, I may add, were named during the work of surveying.
5. As I have had the privilege of visiting all the Arctic lands north
of the Atlantic, I have been able to compare them and observe their
resemblances as well as their differences. West Greenland is a high
uniform glacier-plateau; East Greenland is a magnificent Alpine land
with a comparatively rich vegetation and abundant animal life. How and
where the transition between these opposite characters takes place in
the interior is as yet utterly unknown. We may form some notion of
Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya, if we imagine a mountain-range, like that
of the Oetzthal with its glaciers, rising from the level of the sea,
if that level were raised about 9,000 feet. There is more softness,
however, in both these countries than is usual in the regions of the high
north. But Franz-Josef Land has all the severity of the higher Arctic
lands; it appears, especially in spring, to be denuded of life of every
kind. Enormous glaciers extend from the lofty solitudes of the mountains,
which rise in bold conical forms. A covering of dazzling whiteness is
spread over everything. The rows of basaltic columns, rising tier above
tier, stand out as if crystallized. The natural colour of the rocks was
not visible, as is usually the case: even the steepest walls of rock were
covered with ice, the consequence of incessant precipitation, and of the
condensation of the excessive moisture on the cold faces of the rock.
This moisture in a country whose mean annual temperature is about 3° F.,
seems to indicate its insular character, for Greenland and Siberia are
both remarkable for the dryness of their cold, and it was singular that
even north winds occasioned a fall of temperature in Franz-Josef Land. In
consequence of their enormous glaciation, and of the frequent occurrence
of plateau forms, the new lands recalled the characteristic features of
West Greenland, in the lower level of the snow-line common to both, and
in their volcanic formation. Isolated groups of conical mountains and
table-lands, which are peculiar to the basaltic formation, constitute the
mountain-system of Franz-Josef Land; chains of mountains were nowhere
seen. These mountain forms are the results of erosion and denudation;
there were no isolated volcanic cones. The mountains, as a rule, are
about 2,000 or 3,000 feet high, except in the south-west, where they
attain the height of about 5,000 feet.
6. The later Arctic expeditions have established the existence of vast
volcanic formations in the high north, and of very recent deposits
in their depressions. In fact, a vast volcanic zone seems to extend
from East Greenland, through Iceland, Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen, to
Franz-Josef Land. The geological features of the latter are at any rate
in harmony with those of North-east Greenland. The tertiary Brown-coal
sandstone of East Greenland is also found in Franz-Josef Land, though
Brown-coal itself is met with only in small beds, which, nevertheless,
may be reckoned among the many indications that the climate of Polar
lands must once have been as genial as the climate of Central Europe at
the present day. The kind of rock which predominates is a crystalline
aggregation called by the Swedes “Hyperstenite” (Hypersthene), identical
with the Dolerite of Greenland; but the Dolerite of Franz-Josef
Land is of a coarser-grained texture, and of a dark yellowish green
colour; according to Professor Tschermak (the Director of the Imperial
Mineralogical Museum at Vienna), it consists of Plagioclase, Augite,
Olivine, titaniferous Iron and ferruginous Chlorite. The mountains of
this system forming table-lands, with precipitous rocky sides, give to
the country we discovered its peculiar physiognomy.