In a stout volume[G] of nearly a thousand pages Mr. _Jackson_, the
leader of the Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition of 1894-'97, puts
into permanent form the record of three years' observations made in
Franz-Josef Land, a region beyond the eightieth parallel of latitude,
which was accidentally made known to the world twenty years before by
the drift of the Tegethoff, the ill-fated vessel of the Austrian
expedition of Payer and Weyprecht. As such it is a substantial
contribution to arctic literature, and from it much important detail
will be obtained by those seeking further adventure in the quest for
the pole, and a mass of material, geographic and otherwise, pertaining
to the region which forms the subject of the work before us. The
meteorological data, covering as they do a longer continuous period of
observation in the extreme North than has heretofore been possible,
and fittingly supplementing those recorded by Nansen for an almost
equal period, will be specially prized by the scientist, even if the
facts of the air are not considered to be the main object of arctic
research. It is interesting to note, from the observations on
temperature, that the lowest record was only -46° F., the extreme
rigor, consequently, being only that of Dakota or Manitoba, and
marking nearly fifty degrees above what has been observed a thousand
miles farther to the south at Verkhoyansk, in Siberia. Nothing
approaching the extreme cold (-72°) noted by Kane and by the Nares
British Expedition of 1875-'76 has thus been recorded by Nansen,
Peary, or Jackson.
[Footnote G: A Thousand Days in the Arctic. By Frederick G.
Jackson, Knight, First Class, of the Royal Order of St. Olaf,
etc. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1899.]
Mr. Jackson's claims to discovery lie mainly in the field of
geography; for, while the observations on zoölogy, botany, and geology
are by no means meager or lacking in originality, the results obtained
have been largely anticipated by other investigators--notably Payer,
Leigh Smith, and Nansen. In the domain of geography, however, there is
a distinct contribution, and the author has missed no opportunity to
add to the catalogue of geographical names by "rounding up," as it
were, the numerous points which appeared new to him or were thought
worthy of designation. This diligence in applying names, at times to
points or places which are wholly insignificant and which could be
followed with equal advantage or disadvantage on most of the known
coast lines of either Europe or North America, can hardly be said to
detract from the value of the discoveries actually made, although
their publication, from advance letters received by Mr. Harmsworth's
representative in London, has caused hostile comment and bitter
controversy, even on the part of British geographers and scientists.
Much of Mr. Jackson's work, it was contended, was directed to
demolishing the work of Lieutenant Payer in the same region, and
toward substituting names for those given, whether with a correct
placing or not, by the Austrian commander--in itself a legitimate
undertaking, but heralded out, it was claimed, to mask Mr. Jackson's
own failure to accomplish the real task of his expedition--the finding
of the north pole. Mr. Jackson has certainly very largely remodeled
Payer's map of the archipelago, but the new map in no way discredits
the attainments of his predecessor, even though showing up many and
even glaring inaccuracies in the cartographical details published by
him, for allowance must be made for the limitations under which the
Austrian commander made his work. The vital points which have to be
eliminated from the geography of Payer are: That Franz-Josef Land is a
congeries of no very large islands, without continental extent
northward, and that much that has been represented to be land is, in
fact, water or ice, the appearance of land in the frozen North being
frequently suggested by the vast gray and ill-defined ice masses which
loom up in fog and mist, both as flat sheets and mountain buttresses.
It was the failure to find a northward continental extension to
Franz-Josef Land, such as had been thought to possibly exist by Payer,
which led Jackson to abandon all effort to advance upon the pole--a
condition which appears, at this time, the more surprising seeing that
two expeditions, those of Walter Wellmann and the Duke of Abruzzi,
with all of Mr. Jackson's facts before them, have elected this same
route as the one most calculated to bring about a successful issue,
and certainly much can be said in favor of it. While the Franz-Josef
Land route may not commend itself as the one best to be followed--and
surely the open highway which from time to time appears north of
Spitzbergen offers marked advantages for one without a land
following--it still has its advantages in the point of high northern
departure, and arctic authorities will fail to be impressed by the
negative conditions which were obtained from it by the Harmsworth
Expedition. Manifestly, Mr. Jackson had prepared himself for one form
of journey only--that of following the land, a singularly blind
limitation, considered in the light of the little that was positively
known of such land extension as the expedition had counted upon, and
one that is disagreeably emphasized by the lavish expenditure of money
that had been put to the expedition, and the personal confidence that
had in some quarters been expressed in its success. Without wishing in
any way to disparage or minimize the importance of Mr. Jackson's work,
or to underestimate the hardships of any form of arctic exploration,
one can not but feel surprised and in a measure disappointed that an
expedition designed primarily for an advance upon the pole, which
passed the better part of three years beyond the eightieth parallel of
latitude, and whose members during this time did not know a single day
of sickness--an almost unprecedented performance in arctic
methods--should have found itself in a condition unable even to make
an effort upon the "open." The recollection of Parry's performance in
the frozen sea north of Spitzbergen in 1827, of Markham's advance in
1876, and of Peary's "treck" across the north of Greenland in 1892,
emphasizes only more deeply this feeling of disappointment.
Mr. Jackson has made a very careful study of Franz-Josef Land, and has
brought that region into a condition of knowledge similar to that
which the different Peary expeditions have brought to the north of
Greenland. His narrative is simple and direct, virtually a transcript
of notebook and diary, without embellishment of any kind, and with a
statement of facts and conditions such as they appeared almost at the
instant of time of their occurrence. While indisputably impressing a
truthfulness and reality, it can not be said that this method adds to
the readableness of the book, which is overburdened with repetitions,
frequently in identical words and sentences, to a useless and, one is
tempted to say, most distressing extent. It is to be regretted that an
explorer of the marked energy, routine, and persistence which are Mr.
Jackson's qualities should have faltered in what by some travelers has
been considered the most arduous part of their task--the proper
preparation of a report--for surely it can not be conceived that a
good purpose was subserved, either in a popular or scientific aspect,
in the publication of wholly unimportant matter, over and over
repeated, merely because it formed part of an official diary. The work
is abundantly illustrated throughout with half-tone reproductions from
photographs, taken by Jackson and his companions, that give a vivid
reality to the journey which no amount of word-painting, even when so
skillfully handled as by the present author, could prove a substitute
for. Scientists will be gratified to know that supplemental reports,
prepared by specialists in different departments, may be expected
before long to fill out the full scientific aspects of the
exploration.
On one point in connection with Mr. Jackson's discoveries the
geographer, not less than the lay public, has the right to break
straws with the author--that is, the method of naming the new points
of land, water, and ice. Zoölogists and botanists have long been
guilty of an absurd levity in the discharge of their obligations as
namers of new species, and have burdened the vocabulary of animal and
vegetable names with thousands of _personalia_ which in no way called
for perpetuation, and many of which were suggested only by way of
ridicule or jest. So long, however, as these were dressed in Latin or
Greek form and remained merely the possession of the scientific world
there was little to complain of, and even the objections of the
extreme sentimentalists might have been met by an appeal to the
difficulty of obtaining or coining judicious or otherwise appropriate
names. The case is different with the naming of places on the earth's
surface, which at this day can be done with direct reference to
euphony, to a certain appropriateness of dedication or appeal, and the
intelligence of the student. A map of the world is intended for
everybody, and not for a class of specialists, and its symbols are
devised for readers of all classes. Maps of America have particularly
suffered from irrelevant and commonplace designations, and only during
recent years has the money value of names suggested radical changes,
as in the case of many of the seaside resorts of the middle Atlantic
coast. But, with all our indifferences and extravagances of even a
half century ago--the period of Hog Hollows and Yuba Dams--a no cruder
infraction of the logic of nomenclature can be found than in the
coining of such names as "Cape Mary Harmsworth," "Cape Cecil
Harmsworth," "Alfred Harmsworth Island," "Harold Harmsworth Straits,"
"Cape William Bruce," "Bruce Island," "Mabel [Bruce] Islands," "Mabel
Bruce Fjord," "Albert Armitage Island," "Cape Alice Armitage," "Ceceil
Rhodes Straits," "H. M. S. Worcester Glacier," etc. These have not
even the advantage of an old-time arctic "ring" about them. Courting
popularity by the bestowal of all manner of personal names,
irrespective of direct relation to the expedition or to geographical
exploration, is hardly commendable, and is only less objectionable
than the plan suggested a few years ago by an American would-be arctic
explorer to "sell" the names of places to be discovered to the highest
bidder--i. e., according to a graded schedule of contributions to the
expedition funds.