The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-02-08
ACROSS GREENLAND.
The Thrilling Story of a Danish Explofefs
Snnw.Shoe Trim.


The Thrilling Story of a Danish Explorers
Snow-Shoe Trip.
Since DR.. Nansen's return to Dem
mark he has added very interesting
jetails to the story of his trip across
Greenland. The fact that his party,
.fter leaving the ship within twelve
miles of Umivik, where they expected
20 begin their land journey, drltteo
many miles south in the ice and were
over three weeks reaching their destl-
nation on the coast, shows the I'M
mense difficulty of penetrating the Ice
barrier that the prevailing winds keep
constantly packed against the eastern
shores of Greenland.
Some of the isolated natives unac-
customed to the sight of white men.
fed in terror. though Captain Holm's
.oiourn among them during one winter
should have taught them better.
Probably no tribe were 80 thoroughly
introduced to the public by means OF
the camera as these natives. OF whom
numerous photographs appear in Cap
tain HOlm's recent book.
The six men of the Nansen expedi-
ton were a spectacle worth seeing as
they gained the lofty summit OF the in
land ice. all tied together with a rope,
as though they were climbing the Mat
terhOrn. 1t was wise precaution. Tor
The snow concealed not few gaping
crevices in the thick ice, and now and
then the fragile bridge gave way UNI
der some member of the party. 1t
was heavy sledging in the soft snow OF
the Arctic summer, but the party. on
their snow-shoes. dragging five little
sedges, made fifty miles in the first
twelve days. They were steadily
climbing toward the summit Of Green
lands ice plain, which, as we have
earned within the past few years, is
higher than any other extensive pla-
teau in the world except those of the
Pamir and some parts of Thibet-
The party occupied over two weeks
in crossing this almost level ex-
panse of ice, 5000 feet above the sea-
1t was now September, and at the
enormous height of nearly 5000 feet
above the summit of our Mount Wash
ington, it is easy to understand that
The Greenland tourists were impeded
no longer by soft and yielding snow.
The temperature, however, was sell
dom lower than twenty degrees below
zero, but many snow storms and great
drifts impeded the progress OF the
travellers.
At last they reached the eastern
slope of the frozen sea, and. hosting
their sails, they found that much OF
the time it was no longer necessary to
haul on the sledge ropes. Often they
travelled behind their sledges to hold
them back and ratified down the long
slope at splendid rate. Now and
then. however, they were face to face
with the most startling dangers, as
once, when they paused on the edge OF
@ great crevice which seemed like the
mouth of bottomless abyss. They
had other hairbreadth escapes, and
once nearly lost their lives through
the breaking of snOw-bridge
Earlier travellers on the inland ice Of
Greenland have found that the need o.
making long detours to get around
crevices was one of the greatest OBJ
stacles in their way.
At last the hOrds of the western cOas
were reached. In forty days the little
party had travelled three hundred
miles, from sea to sea. We do not We
know what scientific value attaches t.
this expedition; but it is likely to adj
interesting facts to our knowledge Q
this stupendous ice mass, which, NOV
ing very slowly toward the coasts. find
some outlet for it's accumulation
through the fords. Contemplate
this tremendous ice movement, it
not difficult to believe that we see
the Greenland of to-day the condition
that, in past geological age, tol
great powders of trap from the Pal
sades, and huge granite and other roc
masses from far northern regions, al
strewed them along the shores of Lor
Island.-N. Y. Sun.