encouragingly of his prospects and planning another sledge journey for
the autumn. Within an hour, however, he was taken violently ill, and
upon examination, Dr. Bessels announced that he had been stricken with
apoplexy, that his left side was paralyzed, and that his sickness might
prove fatal. After an illness, with delirium, for several days, he
improved materially, and was even able, through his clerk, to arrange
the records of his late sledge journey, but a recurrence of the attack
caused his death, on November 8, 1871.
The death of Hall left the expedition without a head. However, Captain
Buddington, the sailing-master, and Dr. Bessels, the chief of the
scientific staff, signed an agreement to do all in their power to fulfil
the ultimate object of Hall's ambition. Desultory efforts to go
northward by boat were made without success the following year, and the
only expedition which had definite result was one on foot by Sergeant
Meyer, of the Signal Corps of the United States Army, during which he
reached Repulse Harbor, 82° 9´ N., on the shores of the frozen Polar
Sea, at that time the most northerly land ever attained.
The future of the Polaris expedition does not strictly pertain to Hall.
However, the winter was marked by a series of valuable physical
observations, made by Dr. Bessels and Mr. Bryan, the astronomer. In
August, 1872, it was decided to return to the United States. Pushed into
an impenetrable pack, anchored to a floe, the Polaris drifted with the
main ice-pack down Kennedy Channel, through Kane Sea, and into Smith
Sound, where, on October 15, 1872, off Northumberland Island, the pack
was disrupted by a violent gale, which freed the Polaris. Part of her
crew, left upon the ice-pack, experienced the horrors of a mid-winter
drift southward of thirteen hundred miles, and were picked up off the
coast of Labrador by the sealer Tigress, in the spring of 1872. The
Polaris drifted to land in Lifeboat Cove, near Littleton Island, where
the party built winter-quarters on shore, known as Polaris House. In
the succeeding summer they built boats from the remains of their ship,
by means of which they reached Cape York, where their contemplated
journey across Melville Bay was rendered unnecessary by falling in with
the whaler Ravenscraig, which took them to England.
[Illustration: Esquimau Woman. Sketched from life.]
The geographical results of Hall's last expedition were extensive and
valuable. Not only was the Polaris navigated to the highest point then
ever attained by a vessel, but the very shores of the Polar Sea were
visited and explored. Hall carried northward and completed the
exploration of Kennedy Channel; outlined the coast of Hall Basin and
Robinson Channel; extended Grinnell Land northward nearly two degrees
of latitude to practically its extreme limit; added materially to the
northern limits of Greenland, and charted a very extensive portion of
its northern coast. Unfortunately for the general credit of the
expedition, the accurate observations and conservative estimates of Hall
were not adhered to, and in their stead were published, under government
auspices, a chart of Hall's discoveries which proved misleading in many
of its details, extravagant and unreliable in its claims of new northern
lands.
The fidelity, accuracy, and importance of Hall's Arctic work is
recognized, especially by his American and British successors in Smith
Sound. Nares, in his official report to Parliament, states that the east
coast-line of Grinnell Land agreed "so well with Hall's description that
it was impossible to mistake their identity. Their bearing also,
although differing upward of thirty degrees from those of the published
chart, agreed precisely with his published report." Thus Hall merited
the commemorative inscription on the brass tablet which the British
polar expedition of 1875, with a generous appreciativeness creditable to
its own brave men, erected to Hall's memory over his lonely northern
grave. It recognizes Hall as one "who sacrificed his life in the
advancement of science," and further recites that they, "following in
his footsteps, have profited by his experience."
XII.
GEORGE WASHINGTON DE LONG,
AND THE SIBERIAN ARCTIC OCEAN.
Of all the routes followed by explorers attempting to extend northward
our knowledge of unknown lands, there is one which, more than all
others, seems to have been closed by nature to the daring enterprise of
man. While successful voyages to the northward of America, and along the
meridian of Spitzbergen, have been of frequent occurrence, yet it has
been the fortune of one expedition only to penetrate the vast ice-pack
that covers the Arctic Ocean to the north of Siberia, and give an
account thereof.
This expedition, organized through the munificence of James Gordon
Bennett, Jr., and known to the world as the Jeannette Expedition, was
commanded by De Long, then a lieutenant-commander of the United States
Navy.
George Washington De Long was born in New York City, March 22, 1844, and
entered the United States Navy, by graduation from the Naval Academy, in
1865. He rose to be a lieutenant-commander and rendered ordinary naval
service until 1873, when special duty fell to his lot which turned his
thoughts to Arctic research.
[Illustration: George Washington De Long.]
The rescue of the drift party of the Polaris naturally caused great
alarm as to the safety of the remainder of her crew, and with the
despatch of the Tigress into the waters of Smith Sound, came orders for
the Juniata, to which De Long was attached, to visit the coasts of
western Greenland for additional search for the missing explorers. The
Juniata proceeded to Upernivik, as far as it was deemed safe for the
man-of-war to venture, but its brave and sagacious commander, Captain D.
L. Braine, of the Navy, thought it most necessary to search the fast
inshore ice of Melville Bay, along which he correctly surmised they
would conduct a retreat by boats. For this duty--novel, hazardous, and
difficult--De Long promptly volunteered. For this dangerous trip the
steam-launch Little Juniata, some 32 feet long and 8 wide, was selected.
Her crew consisted of Lieutenant Chipp, Ensign May, ice-pilot Dodge, who
had served with Hayes, and four others, while she was equipped and
provisioned for sixty days. In this small craft De Long, following the
fast ice, reached a point immediately off Cape York, when he was struck
by a violent gale. The sea was so heavy that his only chance of safety
lay in carrying sail, steam being useless, to keep the boat under
control. The violence of the wind disrupted the inshore ice, threatening
the launch continually; owing to fog the presence of immense icebergs
made navigation more dangerous than ever; high seas constantly broke
over her, soaking everything on board and harassing the crew with the
imminent danger of swamping. Thirty hours the gale lasted, leaving the
party in the last stages of exhaustion, wet to the skin and benumbed
with cold, with closed floes to the north and east and the dangerous
"middle pack" to the west. Under these conditions De Long reluctantly
abandoned the search and returned.
This brief experience created an interest in northern work which never
abated, and as a result, De Long, the voyage ended, approached James
Gordon Bennett, Jr., who was favorable to his projects. Nothing,
however, was done until November, 1876, after the return of the Nares's
expedition, when the exploration was decided on; but no vessel could be
procured. Eventually Sir Allen Young, an Arctic explorer of note, was
persuaded to sell the Pandora, in which he had twice made polar voyages.
The ship was, by Act of Congress, given an American register under the
name of Jeannette, strengthened under naval supervision, and put in
commission under the orders and instructions of the Secretary of the
Navy, with full discipline in force; but the expense of the
expedition--repairs, equipment, and pay--was met by Bennett.
On July 8, 1879, the Jeannette sailed from San Francisco, commanded by
De Long, and officered by Lieutenant Chipp, Master Danenhower, Chief
Engineer Melville, Doctor Ambler, an ice-pilot, two scientists,
twenty-four petty officers and men. The route selected by De Long was
via Behring Strait, apparently under the impression that Wrangel Land
was continental in extent, an idea supported by the German geographer
Petermann, whose advice De Long had sought, and along the shores of
which coursed the northern current that swept forever out of the vision
of man such whalers as were fully beset by the ice-pack north of Asia.
Before pursuing his own exploration De Long, in compliance with
instructions from the Navy Department, made search for the Vega, in
which ship Nordenskiold, circumnavigating Europe and Asia, had wintered
at Cape Serdze Kamen, in 67° 12´ N. latitude, on the northwestern coast
of Asia. On reaching this point he learned that the Vega had comfortably
wintered and had passed south, thus confirming the report he had gained
from the natives at St. Lawrence Bay.
They at once steamed northward, thankful, as De Long records, "that
Nordenskiold was safe, and we might proceed on our way toward Wrangel
Land." Ice was soon fallen in with, and, after preliminary efforts to
proceed directly to the north, which impenetrable floes prevented, De
Long, on September 5, 1879, "got up a full head of steam and entered the
pack through the best-looking lead in the general direction of Herald
Island," which was plainly visible at a distance of forty miles.
It was De Long's intention on leaving San Francisco to explore this land
the first winter, but completely beset by heavy floes, in 71° 35´ N.
latitude, 175° W. longitude, his ship never escaped. In hopes that
information of value might be had from a visit to Herald Island, an
unsuccessful attempt was made to reach it by dog-sledge over the
fast-cementing pack, but the party was turned back by impassable leads.
[Illustration: Herald Island.]
It soon became evident that the Jeannette was drifting steadily with the
entire pack. First, the direction was to the north, taking the ship out
of sight of Herald Island, but next it changed to the southwest,
bringing that land again in view. While the drift was by a devious and
very irregular course, yet it was in the general direction of northwest,
from 71° 35´ N., and 175° W., at besetment, to 71° 15´ N., and 155° E.,
when the ship was finally crushed by the pack. In investigating the
cause of the drift, De Long says: "As to the currents in this part of
the Arctic Ocean, I think our drift is demonstrating that they are the
local creation of the wind for the time being. As our drift in resulting
direction has been northwest since our besetment, so the greater amount
of wind has been from the southeast; our short and irregular side-drift
east and west, and occasionally to south, being due to correspondingly
short and irregular winds from northwest or east."
The party settled down to their regular life, which though very
monotonous soon had an element of excitement and danger introduced that
never passed away in entirety. This was the threatened disruption of the
pack, which, seemingly without cause, would change its form and position
with such suddenness and violence as to endanger the safety of the ship.
On November 13, 1879, without warning, the pack separated on a line with
the ship's keel, the port snow-wall being carried with the pack one
hundred and fifty feet away, leaving open water, that fortunately froze
over before other violent changes took place.
De Long writes: "This steady strain is fearful; seemingly we are not
secure for a moment.... Living over a powder-mill, waiting for an
explosion, would be a similar mode of existence.... I sleep with my
clothes on, and start up anxiously at every crack ... of the ship's
frame."
Almost by intervention of Providence, as it seemed, the Jeannette
escaped destruction from these violent disruptions, which, except that
of January 19, 1880, left her, during the first winter, comparatively
unharmed. On that day, with terrible groaning and grinding, the main
pack was fearfully agitated; no large openings were seen and the ice
acted as though its entire periphery was subjected to steady and
irresistible pressure, which being toward the centre caused the whole
surface to buckle up irregularly. Enormous pieces of ice piling up under
the stern of the Jeannette brought a tremendous longitudinal pressure on
the ship and broke her fore-foot, which caused a serious leak. It was
only through the indomitable energy and great professional skill of
Melville that the leak was got under control, and later cared for,
without taxing greatly their precious stock of fuel.
The winter passed with all in health save Danenhower, whose eyes
becoming diseased necessitated several operations and permanently placed
him off duty for the voyage. The summer of 1880 came, found them fast
embedded in the ice, and went without release. Autumn passed, winter
came, and even the opening year of 1881 found them with conditions
unchanged, as De Long recites: "A disabled and leaking ship, a seriously
sick officer, an uneasy and terrible pack, constantly diminishing
coal-pile and provisions, and far from the Siberian coast." A break
came, however, with the discovery of new land in May, along the north
coast of which the Jeannette drifted slowly. On May 31st a party was
sent to examine the island, for such it proved to be, Melville being in
command, as Chipp was then on the sick-list. Melville, despite the open
condition of the ice, succeeded in landing on June 3, 1881, his third
day out. He was obliged to carry his instruments and provisions, at the
risk of his life, through the moving pack. It proved to be a desolate,
ice-capped, rocky islet, almost destitute of vegetation and inhabited
only by dovekies, who nested in the inaccessible cliffs adjoining the
discharging glaciers. Another island appearing, De Long named the two;
Jeannette, in 76° 47´ N., 159° E., and Henrietta, in 77° 08´ N., 158° E.
The end of the besetment came at last. On June 12, 1881, in 77° 15´ N.,
155° E., the pack showed signs of great pressure, the immense floes
seeming to be alive in their motion, and despite all efforts the
Jeannette was terribly nipped, her bows being thrown high in air. It was
evident that escape was hardly possible. Steps were immediately taken to
abandon ship, and everything of value or use was speedily withdrawn,
with boats, sledges, etc., to a safe distance. Early the next morning
the ice opened a little, and the Jeannette immediately sank, with colors
flying, in thirty-eight fathoms of water.
De Long and his party thus found themselves adrift in the Polar Sea,
more than three hundred miles from the nearest point of the mainland of
Asia, and about one hundred and fifty miles from the New Siberian
Islands. While the condition of affairs seemed desperate, De Long never
despaired. Lieutenant Danenhower being disabled, and Chipp sick, De
Long's main dependence was in his chief engineer, Melville, who was
well, strong, energetic, and fertile in expedients.
[Illustration: In the Pack.]
They had five boats (two very small), nine sleds, provisions for sixty
days, ammunition, instruments and records; a terrible load for the
party, as five men were off duty, and several others too weak to do
their share in the drag-ropes. There remained, however, twenty dogs,
whose utility was questionable, as they soon consumed more in weight
than they ever hauled. The ice was very rough, large openings were
frequent, snow often impeded progress, roads had to be made, and on
occasion all the stores and men had to be ferried across wide
water-lanes. At the beginning there was so much baggage that seven
separate loads were hauled, causing the men to travel thirteen times
over the same road, but this was soon unnecessary, as weights were
gradually reduced.
To add to De Long's discouragement he discovered that they were under
the influence of a northwest drift, and after six days' travel due south
were twenty-eight miles further north than when the ship sunk. He
refrained from discouraging the men by this information, but changing
his course to the southwest, got out of the drift.
On July 11th land was discovered, and turning toward it the shipwrecked
and exhausted men reached it July 28, 1881; it was in 76° 38´ N., 148°
E., and was called Bennett Island. Landing was effected by ferrying and
crossing heavy, fast-moving floes, and the danger was greatly enhanced
by the low water, which made it extremely dangerous work to attain the
surface of the overhanging ice-foot. The cliffs were alive with birds,
which was a welcome change of diet, to the sick men especially. The
island was quite mountainous, with several grass-covered valleys; a seam
of coal was found and signs of considerable animal life.
[Illustration: Where the Bodies were Found.]
Recuperated by their nine days' rest, the party started south on August
8th, and landed on Thaddeus Island, of the New Siberian group, August
20, 1881. It is unnecessary to dwell on the dangers and hardships which
this unprecedented journey entailed on the members of this party, which
were met with fortitude, courage, and energy that made its successful
issue one of the most notable efforts in the history of man, overcoming
obstacles almost insurmountable.
This remarkable journey had been so far made alternately by sledge and
boat, owing to the broken condition of the Polar pack; from Thaddeus
Island, however, an open sea enabled them to proceed in boats, which
were respectively commanded by De Long, Chipp, and Melville. On
September 12th a severe storm separated the boats off the Lena Delta;
Chipp with eight men were lost, while Melville, with nine others,
reached a small village through one of the eastern mouths of the Lena.
De Long landed, in 77° 15´ N., 155° E., September 17th, with Dr. Ambler
and twelve men, having been obliged to abandon his boat, owing to the
shallowness of the river. He took with him the ship's records, arms,
ammunition, medicines, necessary camp equipments, and four days'
provisions, which were carried on the men's shoulders. Fuel proved
abundant, and Alexey, their interpreter, killed two deer, thus improving
the situation. Retarded by the presence of sick men and by the weight of
cumbersome records, they followed slowly southward the barren shores of
the Lena, travelling through snow and over ice which broke readily.
Their feet were soon in terrible condition, and eventually an ulcer on
Ericksen's foot rendered partial amputation necessary on September 29th.
De Long then records the terrible situation: They were confronted by a
tributary of the Lena which must freeze before they could cross, and as
to Ericksen, if forced along, he could not recover, and "if I remained
here and kept everybody with me, Ericksen's days would be lengthened a
little at the risk of our all dying from starvation." Ice formed in a
couple of days, and they proceeded, dragging Ericksen on a sled.
October 3d, food entirely failing, their dog was killed and cooked,
giving them strength the following day to reach a deserted hut large
enough to hold the party. Here they were storm-stayed two days; Ericksen
dying, Alexey hunting unsuccessfully, the drifting snow and piercing
cold--all these served to plunge the party into despair. De Long writes:
"What, in God's name, is going to become of us?--fourteen pounds of dog
meat left and twenty-five miles to a possible settlement.... Read the
burial service and carried our departed shipmate's body to the river,
where he was buried." Their last food was eaten October 7th, and nothing
remained except old tea-leaves and two quarts of alcohol; but Alexey
shot a ptarmigan, of which a thin soup was made.
[Illustration: Noros and Nindermann.]
On October 9th the exhausted condition of some of the men and an open,
unfordable creek debarred further progress of the party as a whole. In
this contingency De Long sent Nindermann and Noros ahead for relief,
with orders to keep the west bank of the Lena until they reached a
settlement. Later De Long advanced a mile and camped in a hole in the
bank; Alexey killed four ptarmigans and the party resorted to their
deer-skin clothing for subsistence, but without avail. The last entry in
De Long's diary, October 30, 1881, records all dead except Collins, who
was dying, Ah Sam and Dr. Ambler, of whom no mention was made.
Noros and Nindermann, after a march of one hundred and twenty miles,
reached Bulcour, which they found deserted. Seeking shelter in one of
the vacant huts, they were discovered by a native, who took them to an
adjacent encampment. The natives either did not understand Nindermann or
were unwilling to go northward, for despite his incessant and urgent
entreaties they carried the two seamen southward to Bulun, where they
arrived on October 29th, and met Melville and his party.
This energetic officer, exhausting all practicable means, pushed his
relief parties northward to the extremity of the Lena Delta, but without
success. He reached the Arctic Ocean, recovered the log-books,
chronometer, and other articles on November 14th, when a severe storm
obliged him to abandon the search. Renewing his efforts, in March, 1882,
he discovered, on the 23d of that month, the bodies of his companions.
An official inquiry as to the general conduct of the expedition caused
the board of officers to express their opinion that the general
personnel were entitled to great praise for their solidarity and
cheerfulness, their constancy and endurance. The zeal, energy, and
professional aptitude of Melville were noticed, and special commendation
given to De Long for the high qualities displayed by him in the conduct
of the expedition.
The scientific observations of the Jeannette expedition must be of
considerable value, involving as they do hydrographic, magnetic, and
meteorological observations over an extended portion of the earth's
surface previously unknown, and it appears surprising that after all
these years they remain undiscussed.
[Illustration: Finding the Bodies.]
In addition may be noted the importance of De Long's hydrographic
contributions, covering some fifty thousand square miles of polar ocean,
which indicate with equal clearness the character of fifty thousand
other square miles of area to the south, and thus prove the Siberian
Arctic Ocean to be a shallow sea, dotted with islands.
The geographic results are represented in part by the attainment of the
highest latitude ever reached in Asiatic seas, and in the discovery of
Jeannette, Henrietta, and Bennett Islands. Discoveries, however, are
both direct and indirect, and to positive results should be added
successes of an inferential though negative character. Through De Long's
northwest drift the long-sought-for Wrangel Land shrank from its assumed
dimensions as a continent, connecting, under the Petermann hypothesis,
Asia with Greenland, to its reality--a small island.
It is to be said that this reduction of Wrangel Land into a little
island doomed De Long's expedition to certain failure and closed Behring
Strait as a promising route to high latitudes; for the arctic canon of
Parry yet obtains, that without a sheltering coast no vessel can hope to
navigate safely the Polar Ocean.
With the march of time it is not to be expected that geographic problems
connected with the vast ice-covered ocean to the north of Siberia will
be left unsolved. These coming explorers may be more fortunate than was
De Long, and while profiting by his experiences they will surpass his
efforts, yet their successes cannot make greater demands on the courage
and constancy of them and their subordinates than were shown by the
gallant De Long and his associates in the fateful voyage of the
Jeannette.
XIII.
PAUL BELLONI DU CHAILLU,
DISCOVERER OF THE DWARFS AND GORILLAS.