Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-06-21
ARCTIC EXPLORATION.
The Determined Advance on Greenland by the
NOrWegians Next Summer.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION.
The Determined Advance on Greenland by the
NOrwegians Next Summer.
The Norwegian Greenland expedition,
now being equipped ia Christiania, says a
letter to The New York Commercial AID
vertiser, is at present attracting very con-
siderable attention from those interested
in Arctic exploration. The hidden mys-
teries of this particular field are deemed
by many TO be of peculiar interest. What
is concealed behind the glaciers that
guard the unknown interior of the North
ern Sahar9," as il is not inaptly termed?
Is it one vast snow field? What has be-
come of the Morse settlements, Eriksfior6
BratSalid, HerjOlj snoes, and the bisphoris
of Garder, so much spoken about in the
Tcelandic Sagas? Shall the Runic in
scri ptions discovered in 1924 near the
Danish colony of Uppernavik, on the west
coast, be the only track to be found CON
corning those enterprising mariners, the
Vikings? A vast amount Of speculation
has been bestowed upon the subject, and
yet the future must show. Prof Nor
densk jold, who has himself made two at
tennpts to traverse these two gigantic
Northern Sahara to be scientifically of
the greatest Importance. The glacial
theory will, TO large extent, rest on mere
guess work until some enterprising ex-
plorer is able to break through some
Chinese wau' surrounding these vast
continents of the Arctic regions aud lay
bare the secrets Of this unknown world.
The present expedition is to be under
the leadership of Mr.. Nansen, curator of
the museum at Bergen. He will be &C
com panied by three or four Norwegians,
all picked athletes, who are we'll versed
in their national sport of snowshoeing
They have arranged to embark on May 5,
from Copenhagen for Issatjord, Iceland,
whence a sealer, under the command of
Capt. Jacobsen, an old Arctic skipper, will
take the party to the east coast of Green
land. Former expeditions have landed
on the inhabited and more accessible
west coast, and have proceeded inland in
an east or northeastely direction. Mr.. Nan
sen, however, thinks it desirable to begin
from the barren east coast, as he believes
that in that case his party will be more
likely to make rapid progress, by reason
of their anxiety to reach place of safety
on the west coast, and to avoid being
inhospitable east coast. Mr.. Nansen
makes a bold venture, but one most like
ly to succeed. It is to cross or die. The
work before the explorers is one of ex-
ceptional difficulty, but MI. hansen and
his party are full of hope. They attach
considerable value to the fact that their
whole party have undergone a thorough
training in snowshoeing, and have shown
themselves capable of performing several
most perilous and trying tours across the
Norwegian mountains in the depth of
winter.
The discovery of Greenland took place
in the year A. D. 983, and the honor is
due co the Morse, or rather, Icelandic
Vikings In spite of many difficulties,
these pioneers founded several colonies
RlOng both the east and the west coasts
The Runic inscriptions, already mention
ed, bearing the date of 1135, show that
the Morse settlers erected boundary lines
as far north as 72 degrees So minutes. In
the year 1121 the first bishop OF Green
land, Erik Upsi, an Iclander, undertook
Christian mission to the then established
Morse colony in Vinland, the present
state of Massachusetts,, which was dis
covered by an Iclandic Viking and trader,
Erik the Red, upward of century prior
to the bishops visit. This fact is only
mentioned to show the Importance of the
Morse settlements in Greenland, which at
one time included more than three hun
dred stations. There appears evidence
that these early colonists regularly visited
both Lancaster sound and Barrow strait
for the purpose of fishing. However,
little Or nothing is recorded about these
early settlements in Greenland during tn
subsequent three or four centuries. and
even the route to that remote country
seems TO have been forgotten. 1t was
not until Hans Egede, the apostle of
Greenland, in the seventeenth century
called the attention of Denmark to their
Arctic colony that any regular communi-
cation was established between these
countries. In 1928 the first recorded at
tempt was made by the Danish governor,
G. Paars, but resulted in complete fail
ure. second attempt was made in l75i,
also by Dane, Lars Dalager, a merchant,
who only succeeded In getting very
short distance inland. With the exception
of An unsuccessful attempt in 1880, more
than century passed before European
again stepped on Greenland's inland ice
This time. in 1860, it was the American
explorer, Hayes, TO whom the honor 1
due. He advanced inland about sixty
miles and reached height of nearly $500
feet above the sea, in latitude rs degrees,
Is minutes. After him comes an English
man, DR.. John Rae, who in the same year
made an attempt to get inland from the
Danish colony of Julianshaab, but with
out success. The next two were also
English men, Mr.. Whymper and Mr..
Brown. These gentlemen made several
determined and interesting expeditions
during 1867 from the Danish colony of
JacobsEavn in So degrees latitude, but
they failed to reach any great distance in
land. Three years later Prof. Nordensk-
jold made his first attempt, IN company
with DR.. Berggren, to explore the North
ern Sahara" They managed, however, to |
get distance of only thirty-tive miles,
spending whole week on the ice without |
tents. After these, three Danes-Jensen, |
Karnarup, and Groth-arranged an ex-
pedition, but were obliged to return.
This was owing chiefly to the severe
weather they met with. In 1888 Prof. i