THE SIEGE AND CONQUEST
OF THE NORTH POLE
THE
SIEGE AND CONQUEST
OF THE
NORTH POLE
BY
GEORGE BRYCE, L.R.C.P. & S. (EDIN.)
L O N D O N
GIBBINGS & COMPANY LIMITED
18 BURY STREET, W.C.
1910
PREFACE
My chief object in compiling this work has been to supply a brief
account of the main efforts which have been made to reach the North
Pole. The subject is now so extensive that few have the opportunity of
covering the whole ground. While the exciting and specially interesting
incidents have not been omitted, the book aims at giving the reader an
intelligent idea of the equipment and other means by which the work of
exploration has been carried on.
The many expeditions which have set out to find a north-west or a
north-east passage do not come within the scope of the book, except when
they have had some special bearing on the struggle for the Pole.
Those who may wish to pursue the subject further by consulting the
original authors can be assured that no works of fiction relate greater
deeds of heroism than are found in the records of Arctic exploration;
and that while they may satisfy their love for the adventurous they will
add something to their geographical knowledge.
It is hoped that the maps may be of considerable assistance in enabling
the reader to follow the narrative. The spelling of geographical and
other names is generally that adopted by the authors of the original
works.
GEORGE BRYCE.
BIRMINGHAM, _December 1909_.
CONTENTS AND LIST OF MAPS
I. PARRY’S EXPEDITION OF 1827
II. KANE’S EXPEDITION (1853, ’54, ’55)
III. EXPEDITION COMMANDED BY DR. HAYES IN 1860−61
IV. THE GERMAN EXPEDITION (1869−70)
V. VOYAGE OF THE _POLARIS_ (1871−73)
VI. THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EXPEDITION (1872−74)
VII. THE BRITISH EXPEDITION OF 1875−76
VIII. THE VOYAGE OF THE _JEANNETTE_ (1879−81)
IX. GREELY’S EXPEDITION (1881−84)
X. THE NORWEGIAN POLAR EXPEDITION (1893−96)
XI. SVERDRUP’S EXPEDITION (1898−1902)
XII. ITALIAN EXPEDITION (1899−1900)
XIII. PEARY’S EXPEDITIONS (1886−1909)
XIV. DR. COOK’S EXPEDITION (1907−9)
MAPS
1. THE ARCTIC REGIONS
2. CHART OF SMITH SOUND AND KENNEDY CHANNEL
3. CHART OF PART OF EAST GREENLAND
4. KAISER FRANZ-JOSEF LAND IN 1874
5. CHART OF GREENLAND AND ELLESMERE ISLAND
6. FRANZ-JOSEF LAND
7. CHART OF SVERDRUP’S DISCOVERIES
8. CHART OF NORTHERN PART OF GREENLAND
9. CHART OF NORTH POLAR REGIONS
GLOSSARY OF ARCTIC TERMS
_Beset_, so enclosed by floating ice as to be unable to
navigate.
_Bore_, to force through loose or recent ice.
_Calf_, detached mass from berg or glacier, rising suddenly
to the surface.
_Crow’s nest_, a look-out place attached to the
topgallant-masthead.
_Dock_, an opening in the ice, artificial or natural,
offering protection.
_Drift ice_, detached ice in motion.
_Field ice_, an extensive surface of floating ice.
_Floe_, a detached portion of a field.
_Hummocks_, ridges of broken ice formed by collision of
fields.
_Ice-blink_, a peculiar appearance of the atmosphere over
distant ice.
_Ice-foot_, the ice which adheres to the coast above the
ordinary level of the sea.
_Lane or lead_, a more or less navigable opening in the ice.
_Nip_, the condition of a vessel pressed upon by ice on both
sides.
_Pack_, a large area of floating masses of ice driven
together more or less closely.
_Palæocrystic ice_, the name given by Nares to the old ice
of the Polar Sea.
_Polynia_, a Russian term for an open-water space.
_Rue-raddy_, a shoulder-belt to drag by.
[Illustration: THE ARCTIC REGIONS]
INTRODUCTION
“There’s a flag on the mast, and it points to the north,
And the north holds the land that I love;
I will steer back to northward, the heavenly course
Of the winds guiding sure from above.”
FRITHJOF’S _Saga_.
The North Pole is the centre of the Northern Hemisphere. This hemisphere
contains Europe, Asia, North America, and a large part of Africa, yet no
human being reached its centre before the eighth year of the twentieth
century A.D.
The North Pole is the point where the axis of the earth cuts its
surface. It is the point where, as Captain Hall expressed it, there is
no north, no east, no west. It is the place where every wind that blows
is a south wind. It is a point where all the meridians meet, and there
is therefore no longitude. It is one of the two places on the surface of
the earth where there is but one night and one day in every year. It is
a point from which all the heavenly bodies appear to move in horizontal
courses, and the stars never set. It is not to be confused with the
magnetic pole, which is situated about 1600 miles south of it, near the
mainland of North America. At the North Pole the magnetic needle points
due south.
The North Pole is therefore a place of absorbing interest, and until it
was reached man never rested satisfied. Ever since Robert Thorne, in the
reign of Henry VIII., offered “very weighty and substantial reasons to
set forth a discoverie even to the North Pole,” the struggle has been
going on.
In no other records of adventure do we find greater deeds of daring than
in those of Arctic travel. The dauntless courage in the face of extreme
danger, the perseverance when hope was forlorn, the self-sacrifices made
to render assistance to comrades, all stamp these pioneers of science
and commerce as heroes in the highest sense of the word. Some of their
daring exploits, their successes and disasters, are here recorded, but
the author hopes that this book will only serve as an introduction to
the original ones. After reading the thrilling narratives of Arctic
exploration, one is ready to admit that “truth is stranger than
fiction.”
The Polar regions can be reached by only three navigable routes. Either
by the wide passage between Greenland and Norway, a smaller passage
between Greenland and America, or by the narrow Bering Strait between
America and Russia.
Up till the beginning of the nineteenth century nearly all the Arctic
voyages had as the chief object the discovery either of a north-west or
a north-east passage to the Pacific Ocean.
On the 7th June 1585 two tiny craft sailed from Dartmouth in quest of
the North-West Passage. They were commanded by John Davis, a daring
explorer.
Davis sighted Greenland on 20th July, and on the 29th he was off where
now stands the Danish settlement of Godthaab. He crossed the strait
which now bears his name, and traced part of the western coast.
Davis made a second voyage in 1586, and a third in 1587. In the latter
year he reached and named Sanderson’s Hope, in 72° 41′.
Between 1594 and 1596 three expeditions were dispatched by the Dutch
towards Spitzbergen. That of 1596 is of special interest. William
Barents, the discoverer of Spitzbergen, was the chief pilot. The ship
reached Ice Haven, Novaya Zemlya, on 26th August, and here the party
were forced to winter. A house was built with wood, but the winter was
passed miserably, scurvy ultimately making its appearance among the
crew. The ship being hopelessly beset by the ice, it was decided during
the following summer to abandon it.
In two boats, the party of fifteen men started on a journey of 1524
miles. Barents himself and one of the crew were ill, and had to be
dragged on a sledge from the house to the boats. Both died on the
boat-journey. The remainder ultimately reached Russian Lapland, where
their troubles ceased.
About 274 years afterwards, the house built by Barents was discovered by
Captain Carlsen. Over the fireplace still stood the cooking-pans, an old
clock was against the wall, and arms, tools, drinking-vessels, and books
were found as they had been left nearly three centuries before.
In 1607, Henry Hudson endeavoured to reach the Pole along the east coast
of Greenland. He attained 73° at a point which he named “Hold with
Hope.”
He then examined the edge of the ice between Greenland and Spitzbergen,
and reached the latitude of 80° 23′. He named the north-west point of
Spitzbergen “Hakluyt Headland,” and on his way home he discovered the
island now known as “Jan Mayen.”
In 1610 he discovered Hudson’s Strait, and the great bay which bears his
name.
On 26th March 1616, Robert Bylot as master, with William Baffin as pilot
and navigator, set out from Gravesend in the _Discovery_, a craft of
only 55 tons. Greenland was sighted on 14th May, and on the 30th May,
Sanderson’s Hope, the farthest point of Davis, was reached. On the 9th
June he discovered Baffin Islands, in 73° 54′. He then took what is
known as the “Middle Passage” across Melville Bay, and reached the
“North Water” of the whalers of to-day.
Baffin discovered and charted Wolstenholme Sound and Hakluyt Island, and
passed north till he was within sight of Cape Alexander. He named Smith
Sound after the first Governor of the East India Company. He also
discovered Carey Islands, Lancaster Sound, and Jones Sound.
When we consider the wretched means with which these early explorers
were provided, we are lost in astonishment at their audacity and at the
success of their achievements.
It was exactly two hundred years afterwards that these northern places
were visited by Ross and Parry. Baffin’s work had been almost forgotten,
and his discoveries were not believed.
During the seventeenth century many expeditions were sent out which were
the means of opening up extensive commercial relations with Russia and
of establishing the fisheries of Spitzbergen, Davis Straits, and
Newfoundland.
During the eighteenth century several expeditions were fitted out by the
Hudson Bay Company, and a good deal of exploration was done by the
Russians. In 1728, Vitus Bering discovered the straits which now bear
his name; and in 1742, Lieutenant Chelyuskin reached the most northerly
point of Asia in 77° 34′ by sledges. In 1765, Admiral Tschitschagoff was
sent by the Czarina Catharine of Russia with three vessels to
Spitzbergen to sail towards the North Pole. He reached 80° 21′, but
found it impossible to advance farther. The following year he reached
80° 28′. In 1770 the New Siberian Islands were discovered by Liakhof.
In 1773, Constantine John Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, sailed with
the _Racehorse_ and _Carcass_, with a view of reaching the North Pole.
He reached 80° 37′, and visited some of the Seven Islands. He also
mapped the north of Spitzbergen. In this expedition the great Horatio
Nelson was captain’s coxswain on board the _Carcass_.
In 1818, Captain Buchan in the _Dorothea_, and Lieutenant (afterwards
Sir John) Franklin in the _Trent_, attained 80° 34′ north of
Spitzbergen.
In 1823, Clavering and Sabine, in the ship _Griper_, visited
Spitzbergen, and while Sabine carried on magnetic observations on the
inner Norway Island, Clavering went to sea and steered northwards, but
did not get farther than 80° 20′.
The edge of the ice had now been thoroughly examined between the coast
of Greenland and Novaya Zemlya, and it became evident that the ice could
not be pierced by a ship. It occurred to Sir John Franklin and Sir
Edward Parry that the best way of reaching the Pole would be by means of
sledging over the ice. Parry put his ideas into practice in 1827, when
he undertook his well-known expedition in the _Hecla_. He had just
returned from his third Arctic voyage in search of the North-West
Passage. His fourth voyage was an important one, and will be treated at
some length in the first chapter.
The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole
CHAPTER I
PARRY’S EXPEDITION OF 1827
In April 1826, Captain William Edward Parry proposed to Viscount
Melville, First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, “to attempt to reach
the North Pole, by means of travelling with sledge-boats over the ice,
or through any spaces of open water that might occur.” The proposal was
referred to the Royal Society, who strongly recommended its adoption;
and an expedition having been equipped, Parry was appointed to the
command of it.
Before making the proposal, Parry had given the subject careful
consideration. He mentions that Captain Lutwidge, the associate of
Captain Phipps in the expedition towards the North Pole in 1773,
describes the ice north of Spitzbergen to the distance of ten or twelve
leagues to have the appearance of “one continued plain of smooth
unbroken ice, bounded only by the horizon.” The testimony of Mr.
Scoresby, Jun., “a close and intelligent observer of Nature in these
regions,” was also found to agree with that given by Lutwidge. “I once
saw,” says he, “a field that was so free from either fissure or hummock,
that I imagine, had it been free from snow, a coach might have been
driven many leagues over it in a direct line, without obstruction or
danger.” In addition to these, experienced whalers, whom Parry consulted
as to the nature of the ice, agreed that it was highly favourable for
the purpose of his expedition. An important factor in determining Parry
to make the proposal was the fact that Franklin had drawn up a plan for
making the attempt on the same lines.
For the journey over the ice, two boats were constructed having great
flatness of floor, with the extreme breadth carried well forward and
aft, and possessing the utmost buoyancy, as well as capacity for
stowage. Their length was 20 feet, and their extreme breadth 7 feet. The
timbers were made of tough ash and hickory, 1 inch by half an inch
square, and a foot apart, with a “half-timber” of smaller size between
each two. On the outside of the frame thus formed was laid a covering of
Mackintosh’s waterproof canvas, the outer part being coated with tar.
Over this was placed a plank of fir, 3/16 of an inch thick; then a sheet
of stout felt; and over all, an oak plank of the same thickness as the
fir; the whole of these being firmly and closely secured to the timbers
by iron screws applied from without. “On each side of the keel, and
projecting considerably below it, was attached a strong ‘runner’ shod
with smooth steel, in the manner of a sledge, upon which the boat
entirely rested while upon the ice; and to afford some additional chance
of making progress on hard and level fields, we also applied to each
boat two wheels, of 5 feet diameter, and a small one abaft, having a
swivel for steering by, like that of a Bath chair; but these, owing to
the irregularities of the ice, did not prove of any service, and were
subsequently relinquished. A ‘span’ of hide-rope was attached to the
fore part of the runners, and to this were affixed two strong ropes of
horse-hair, for dragging the boat; each individual being furnished with
a broad leathern shoulder-belt, which could readily be fastened to or
detached from the drag-ropes.” The boats weighed 1539 lb. and 1542 lb.
respectively. Two officers and twelve men were selected for each boat’s
crew. The provisions consisted of biscuit, sweetened cocoa-powder, and
pemmican. The process of making the latter consisted in drying large
thin slices of the lean of the meat over the smoke of wood fires, then
pounding it, and lastly mixing it with about an equal weight of its own
fat. In this state it was quite ready for use, without further cooking.
The _Hecla_, which was to convey the expedition to the north coast of
Spitzbergen, left the Thames on the 25th of March 1827. They arrived at
Hammerfest on 18th April. Here they obtained a small quantity of venison
and an abundance of good fish. They also purchased a set of snow-shoes,
together with Lapland shoes (called “Kamooga”). They also took on board
eight reindeer and a supply of moss. “The quantity of _clean_ moss
considered requisite for each deer per day is 4 pounds, but they will go
five or six days without provender, and not suffer materially. As long
as they can pick up snow as they go along, which they like to eat quite
clean, they require no water; and ice is to them a comfortable bed.”
Hammerfest was left on 29th April, and on the 5th of May, in latitude
73° 30′, the first straggling mass of ice was met. After some delay in
waiting for the ice to open, Hakluyt’s Headland was reached on 14th May.
While preparations were being made to land a quantity of provisions
here, a gale came on, and forced Parry to take shelter among the
pack-ice, where he remained beset twenty-four days. Now began a search
for a suitable harbour for the _Hecla_, but it was not till the 20th
June that this was found in Treurenburg Bay. During this search Parry
reached as far north as 81° 5′, and landed a small store of provisions
on Walden Island, and another on an islet near Little Table Island.
Preparations were now made to leave the ship on the journey to the
north. Parry writes: “As it was still necessary not to delay our return
beyond the end of August, the time originally intended, I took with me
only seventy-one days’ provisions; which, including the boats and every
other article, made up a weight of 260 lb. per man; and as it appeared
highly improbable, from what we had seen of the very rugged nature of
the ice we should first have to encounter, that either the reindeer, the
snow-shoes, or the wheels would prove of any service for some time to
come, I gave up the idea of taking them. We, however, constructed out of
the snow-shoes four excellent sledges for dragging a part of our baggage
over the ice, and these proved of invaluable service to us, while the
rest of the things just mentioned would only have been an encumbrance.”
The _Hecla_ was left on the 21st June, and Low Island was reached on the
22nd. One of the ship’s cutters accompanied the two boats in order to
carry part of the provisions which were to be landed on Low Island and
on Walden Island. Open water for the boats was found until they reached
latitude 81° 12′ 51″, which was now the highest that had ever been
reached. Scoresby, in 1806, had reached 81° 12′ 42″, and with this
exception no one had ever reached the 81st degree.
Parry now writes: “Our plan of travelling being nearly the same
throughout this excursion, after we first entered upon the ice, I may at
once give some account of our usual mode of proceeding. It was my
intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by day, there being, of
course, constant daylight in these regions during the summer season. The
advantages of this plan, which was occasionally deranged by
circumstances, consisted first, in our avoiding the intense and
oppressive glare from the snow during the time of the sun’s greatest
altitude, so as to prevent, in some degree, the painful inflammation in
the eyes, called ‘snow-blindness,’ which is common in all snowy
countries. We also thus enjoyed greater warmth during the hours of rest,
and had a better chance of drying our clothes; besides which, no small
advantage was derived from the snow being harder at night for
travelling. The only disadvantage of this plan was, that the fogs were
somewhat more frequent and more thick by night than by day, though even
in this respect there was less difference than might have been supposed,
the temperature during the twenty-four hours undergoing but little
variation. This travelling by night and sleeping by day so completely
inverted the natural order of things, that it was difficult to persuade
ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all
furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at
what part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were
several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they never
knew night from day during the whole excursion.
“When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day by prayers, after
which we took off our fur sleeping-dresses, and put on those for
travelling; the former being made of camblet, lined with racoon-skin,
and the latter of strong blue box-cloth. We made a point of always
putting on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they
had dried during the day or not; and I believe it was only in five or
six instances, at the most, that they were not either still wet or
hard-frozen. This, indeed, was of no consequence beyond the discomfort
of first putting them on in this state, as they were sure to be
thoroughly wet in a quarter of an hour after commencing our journey;
while, on the other hand, it was of vital importance to keep dry things
for sleeping in. Being ‘rigged’ for travelling, we breakfasted upon warm
cocoa and biscuit, and after stowing the things in the boats and on the
sledges, so as to secure them, as much as possible, from wet, we set off
on our day’s journey, and usually travelled from five to five and a half
hours, then stopped an hour to dine, and again travelled four, five, or
even six hours, according to circumstances. After this we halted for the
night, as we called it, though it was usually early in the morning,
selecting the largest surface of ice we happened to be near, for hauling
the boats on, in order to avoid the danger of its breaking up by coming
in contact with other masses, and also to prevent drift as much as
possible. The boats were placed close alongside each other, with their
sterns to the wind, the snow or wet cleared out of them, and the sails,
supported by the bamboo masts and three paddles, placed over them as
awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. Every man then immediately
put on dry stockings and fur boots, after which we set about the
necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes; and, after serving the
provisions for the succeeding day, we went to supper. Most of the
officers and men then smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boats
and awnings very much, and usually raised the temperature of our
lodgings 10° or 15°. This part of the twenty-four hours was often a
time, and the only one, of real enjoyment to us: the men told their
stories and ‘fought all their battles o’er again,’ and the labours of
the day, unsuccessful as they too often were, were forgotten. A regular
watch was set during our resting-time, to look out for bears or for the
ice breaking up round us, as well as to attend to the drying of the
clothes, each man alternately taking this duty for one hour. We then
concluded our day with prayers, and having put on our fur dresses, lay
down to sleep with a degree of comfort, which perhaps few persons would
imagine possible under such circumstances; our chief inconvenience
being, that we were somewhat pinched for room, and therefore obliged to
stow rather closer than was quite agreeable. The temperature, while we
slept, was usually from 36° to 45°, according to the state of the
external atmosphere; but on one or two occasions, in calm and warm
weather, it rose as high as 60° to 66°, obliging us to throw off a part
of our fur dress. After we had slept seven hours, the man appointed to
boil the cocoa roused us, when it was ready, by the sound of a bugle,
when we commenced our day in the manner before described.
“Our allowance of provisions for each man per day was as follows:—
“Biscuit, 10 oz.; pemmican, 9 oz.; sweetened cocoa-powder, 1 oz. to make
1 pint; rum, 1 gill; tobacco, 3 oz. per week.
“Our fuel consisted entirely of spirits of wine, of which 2 pints formed
our daily allowance, the cocoa being cooked in an iron boiler over a
shallow iron lamp, with seven wicks; a simple apparatus, which answered
our purpose remarkably well. We usually found 1 pint of spirits of wine
sufficient for preparing our breakfast—that is, for heating 28 pints of
water, though it always commenced from the temperature of 32°.”
They set off on their first journey over the ice on 24th June. Instead
of the fine level floes they expected, they found the ice consisting of
pieces of small extent and very rugged, obliging them to make three
journeys, and sometimes four, with the boats and baggage, and to launch
several times across narrow pools of water. They experienced a great
amount of rain, and had sometimes to wade through water from 2 to 5
inches deep upon the ice. It was rarely that they met with a surface
sufficiently level and hard to drag all their loads at one journey. Deep
soft snow was frequently met with, and proved a difficult obstacle to
overcome. At other times their way lay across small loose pieces of ice,
and the boats had to be made to serve the purpose of a bridge between
the pieces. After a laborious day’s work, they frequently found that
they had not progressed more than 2 miles. It had been calculated that
they could travel 20 miles per day over level ice. They found the
Lapland shoes, or Kamoogas, good for walking in when the snow was dry,
but when it was wet they found Esquimaux boots much superior. On the 5th
of July they had reached latitude 81° 45′ 15″, and on sounding with 400
fathoms of line failed to reach the bottom. A like result was met in
latitude 82° 17′ 10″, which was reached on 13th July. About this date
they found that they were being drifted considerably to the
south—sometimes 1 or 2 miles per day. The glare of the sun was often
very oppressive: the best preservative was found to be spectacles having
the glass of a bluish-green colour, and with side-screens to them. On
the 20th July they reached 82° 36′ 52″, less than 5 miles to the
northward of their position on the 17th, although they calculated they
certainly had travelled 12 miles. On the 25th July, Parry wrote: “So
small was the ice now around us, that we were obliged to halt for the
night at 2 a.m., being upon the only piece in sight, in any direction,
on which we could venture to trust the boats while we rested. Such was
the ice in the latitude of 82¾°!”
At noon on the 26th they found the latitude 82° 40′ 23″, and calculated
that since midnight on the 22nd they had lost no less than 13½ miles by
drift. At this time Parry writes: “It had, for some time past, been too
evident that the nature of the ice with which we had to contend was
such, and its drift to the southward, especially with a northerly wind,
so great, as to put beyond our reach anything but a very moderate share
of success in travelling to the northward. Still, however, we had been
anxious to reach the highest latitude which our means would allow, and,
with this view, although our whole object had long become unattainable,
had pushed on to the northward for thirty-five days, or until half our
resources were expended, and the middle of our season arrived. For the
last few days, the 83rd parallel was the limit to which we had ventured
to extend our hopes; but even this expectation had become considerably
weakened since the setting in of the last northerly wind, which
continued to drive us to the southward, during the necessary hours of
rest, nearly as much as we could gain by eleven or twelve hours of daily
labour. Had our success been at all proportionate to our exertions, it
was my full intention to have proceeded a few days beyond the middle of
the period for which we were provided, trusting to the resources we
expected to find at Table Island. But this was so far from being the
case, that I could not but consider it as incurring useless fatigue to
the officers and men, and unnecessary wear and tear for the boats, to
persevere any longer in the attempt. I determined, therefore, on giving
the people one entire day’s rest, which they very much needed, and time
to wash and mend their clothes, while the officers were occupied in
making all the observations which might be interesting in this latitude;
and then to set out on our return on the following day.”
The bottom was found here with 500 fathoms of line. At the extreme point
of the journey the distance from the _Hecla_ was 172 miles. To
accomplish this distance, Parry reckoned they travelled 292 miles, of
which about 100 were performed by water previous to entering the ice.
But as they travelled by far the greater part of the distance on the ice
three, and not unfrequently five times over, the total distance
estimated was 580 geographical, or 668 statute miles, being nearly
sufficient to have reached the Pole in a direct line.
Returning south, open water was reached in latitude 81° 34′, about 50
miles north of Table Island. The party had been forty-eight days on the
ice. During this journey several seals and bears were killed, and these
assisted very much both for meat and fuel. The islet at Table Island was
reached on the 12th of August, and it was found that bears had devoured
all the bread, amounting to 100 lb., left there. To this islet Parry
applied the name of Lieutenant Ross. The _Hecla_ was reached on 21st
August, after an absence of sixty-one days, and the total distance
travelled was estimated at 1127 miles. Parry writes: “Considering our
constant exposure to wet, cold, and fatigue, our stockings having
generally been drenched in snow-water for twelve hours out of every
twenty-four, I had great reason to be thankful for the excellent health
in which, upon the whole, we reached the ship. There is no doubt that we
had all become, in a certain degree, gradually weaker for some time
past; but only three men of our party now required medical care, two of
them with badly swelled legs and general debility, and the other from a
bruise; but even these three returned to their duty in a short time.”
The _Hecla_ left Treurenburg Bay on 28th August, rounded Hakluyt’s
Headland on the 30th, and arrived at Shetland on 17th September. Here
Parry left the ship, and proceeded to London _via_ Inverness.
Having finished his narrative of this attempt to reach the North Pole,
Parry makes the following observations:—
“That the object is of still more difficult attainment than was before
supposed, even by those persons who were the best qualified to judge of
it, will, I believe, appear evident from a perusal of the foregoing
pages; nor can I, after much consideration and some experience of the
various difficulties which belong to it, recommend any material
improvement in the plan lately adopted. Among the various schemes
suggested for this purpose, it has been proposed to set out from
Spitzbergen, and to make a rapid journey to the northward, with sledges,
or sledge-boats, drawn wholly by dogs or reindeer; but, however feasible
this plan may at first sight appear, I cannot say that our late
experience of the nature of the ice which they would probably have to
encounter, has been at all favourable to it. It would, of course, be a
matter of extreme imprudence to set out on this enterprise without the
means of crossing—not merely narrow pools and lanes—but more extensive
spaces of open water, such as we met with between the margin of the ice
and the Spitzbergen shores; and I do not conceive that any boat
sufficiently large to be efficient and safe for this purpose, could
possibly be managed upon the ice, were the power employed to give it
motion dependent on dogs or reindeer. On the contrary, it was a frequent
subject of remark among the officers, that reason was a qualification
scarcely less indispensable than strength and activity, in travelling
over such a road; daily instances occurring of our having to pass over
difficult places, which no other animal than man could have been easily
prevailed upon to attempt. Indeed, the constant necessity of launching
and hauling up the boats (which operations we had frequently to perform
eight or ten, and on one occasion, seventeen times in the same day)
would alone render it inexpedient, in my opinion, to depend chiefly upon
other animals; for it would certainly require more time and labour to
get them into and out of the boats, than their services in the
intervals, or their flesh ultimately used as food, would be worth;
especially when it is considered how large a weight of provender must be
carried for their own subsistence.
“In case of employing reindeer, which, from their strength, docility,
and hardy habits, appear the best suited to this kind of travelling,
there would be an evident advantage in setting out much earlier in the
year than we did; perhaps about the end of April, when the ice is less
broken up, and the snow much harder upon its surface, than at a more
advanced part of the season. But this, it must be recollected, would
involve the necessity of passing the previous winter on the northern
coast of Spitzbergen, which, even under favourable circumstances, would
probably tend to weaken in some degree the energies of the men; while,
on the other hand, it would be next to impossible to procure there a
supply of provender for a number of tame reindeer, sufficient even to
keep them alive, much less in tolerable condition, during a whole
winter. In addition to this, it may be observed, that any party setting
out earlier must be provided with a much greater weight of warm
clothing, in order to guard against the severity of the cold, and also
with an increased proportion of fuel for procuring water by the melting
of snow, there being no fresh water upon the ice, in these latitudes,
before the month of June.”
* * * * *
Parry’s attempt to reach the Pole, hauling heavy boats over the ice,
brings into prominence the determination and daring of English sailors.
Parry’s record of 82° 45′ remained unbroken forty-eight years, when a
new record was again made by English sailors in an exactly similar way
to that of Parry, but in a different region.
The next expedition of importance after Parry’s was that of Sir John
Franklin in search of the North-West Passage, and does not strictly come
within the scope of this book. Although the many expeditions which were
sent out in search of Franklin and his men were the means of tracing a
great extent of coast-line among the islands which lie to the north of
America, only one had any special bearing on the struggle for the Pole.
This was the one commanded by Dr. Kane, and will be treated in the next
chapter.
[Illustration: CHART OF SMITH SOUND AND KENNEDY CHANNEL.]