Omaha daily bee., 1888-06-04
eREENLANp's ICY MOUNTAINS.
what the Scientific Expedition From
Copenhagen Hopes TO Accomplish.

OOBVhhttnkC" AhpiSS w EhCNO"'I'ho"s
Providence Journal: The expedition
which started out on Saturday from
Copenhagen TO explore the interior OF
Greenland may not commend itself to
popular interest as those which have
made the mysterious and aver interest
ing north pole the object Of their ambi-
ton, but scientifically 1t is destined to
become quite as important; and the
more so because the undertaking,
though great, is still moderate enough
to allow OF q slight hope of success.
The expedition has been equipped in
Christiania, and is under the leadership
Of Mr.. Nausen, curato- at the Museum
at Bergen. He has picked for his asso-
ciates three or four Norwegian athletes,
well trained in snowshoeing. They will
sail first to Isafjord in Iceland, where n
sealer under the command of Captain
Jacobsen, an old arctic skipper, will
take them to the east coast of Green
land. Starting out from the uninhabit-
able and bleak east coast is something
new for Greenland exploring parties.
Former expeditions have started out
from the more accessible west coast,
and have pressed into the icy interior
in au easterly or no~rtheasterly direc-
ton. The disadvantage of this has
been that The parties were constantly
going further and further away from
the inhabited portions of the continent,
n the temptation to return out OF the
wilderness of icy mountains has been
too great to overcome.
Mr.. Nansen will reverse the operation.
He will land at once in the wilderness,
and his only motto then can be 'Cross
or die" Such a view of the situation
cannot be entertaining to q small party
set down on an uninhabited coast, but
the sentiment of ''cross or die" will
hold out a kind of philosophical encour=
agement which must be very useful in
expeditions of that character. The
hopes that Mr.. Nansen has of being able
to traverse the unknown interior and
reach a place of safety on the west coast
before winter seems reasonable. His
party has undergone a thorough train
ing in crossing the snowy mountains of
Norway, and have shown themselves
capable of perilous and trying winter
tours.
There has been much speculation on
the interior of this continent, which
Nordenskjold calls the Northern Sa-
hara." 1t is we'll known that a wall Of
mountainous glaciers surrounds the in
terror, but a theory has been advanced
by General Greedy and others that there
is an open country in the interior, at
times free from snow and ice. But a
really enchanting field of discovery is
| offered to Mr.. Nansen in another way.
Greenland was discovered in the year
1888 by the Icelandic or Morse Vikings.
These pioneers founded several colonies
along the east as we'll as west coast. In
scriptions discovered in lisbon the west
| coast, bearing the date of 1l36, show
that these settlers erected boundary
pillars as far north as $3.50. What has
| become of these settlements, also spoken
OF often in the Icelandic sages, where
it is told that in the year 112l
the first bishop Of Greenland, Erik
Upsi, and an Icelander undertook a
| christian mission to the then estab-
lished Morse colony of Vinland, or q
part of what is now Massachusetts.
Other traces OF this hardy people may
be discovered which can throw a new
light on the early history of this CONT
nent. The possibility, at least, OF such
discoveries will make Mr.. Nansen's ex'
petition one of great interest. Several
| futile attempts we're made previous tc
this century to advance into the in
terror, and a few have been made within
the last fifty years. The more import
ant of these were the two attempts made
by Prof. Nordenskiold. In the second
he managed to get inland seventy miles
while two Laps, on now shoes, wen'
fifty miles further and reported an n
less snow field. The fact that during
their march they saw two ravens flying
northward led Nordenskiold to think
that somewhere not far off was an open
country.