, 1893-11-22
SIX DEGREES FROM THE POLE

vessel succeeded IN reaching S40 nOfLh latltuu6
this summer is Of peculiar interest ut the pre-
sent time. Of course 1t would be premature
TO accept the news as absolutely accurate; tho
Viewpoints obsei vations and log will have to
be examined before the claim to have reach
ed the highest no them latitude ia conceded.
But there ID nothing at all improbable in he
statement. The ycaI has leen an excep ional
one in the polar regions as 1t has been further
south both to The North If America and the
north Of Europe the sea seems to have been
% ticularly tree from ice. Whether the
New port has reached to within about 200
statute miles Of he loie or not it IS evident
that the sea IN the region where she has hcon
has been unusully open.H erschellsiand Where
the Newport Win'eled, Is q small island Ult
the north coast Of America, some miles to the
west Of the mouth of the Mackenzie river, in
about 100 north latitude and 400 west lon
gitude. Of course the Newport would reach
it by way Of l}ehring Strait, We shall be aiX-
ious to know the route taken by the Newport
in her search for W~IialeS-lor hat Of cCu'se
was her object. Did she make direct nolth
from Heischel Island. or did >he 2i.zag? 1t
would be specially interesting to know now
far TO the Westward ehe went. Did she get
anywhere to the west ofLehringStralt,tO With
in hail Of the route of the unfortunate Jean.
nette-the route along which Nanseu hobes to
make MS ny Z IL Do, hAAU AZ SIS 4 & am TX
fortunate enough TO reach the New Siberian
Islands AS easily as vas expected, it is possible
that by this time she has got into the pack
we'll to the north Though the9Kara Sel-a
regular ice trap-may have been packed,
the open sea beyond may have been perfect
" clear,
In connection with the rtported feat of he
Newport it may DO OF interest to recall briet-
ly what have been tho highest attitudes
hith rtO reached. Very early IN the history
Of the Attic enterprise, 30 long ago 8s
1907, Henry Hudson succeeded in II aiming
80 3UI n, in the neighbourhood Of 81 i,z-
bergen. 1t VAS not until 200 Years after
(l8v6) that al equally high latitude was
reached by ScoleSby, nis0 IN the neighbour
hood Of SpitZbel gen. 1t is true that We have
the story, at second hand, Of q Pouust $50.
sAIclguer or Melgueiro, who is sad to have
sailed apparently by Behring's RAFT as tai north
as tie reputed latitude Of the Newport. so,
and TO have returned between Spitl bergen
and Greenland; but it is very difficult 10
establish the authenticity Of the narrative.
Nordonskj 6ld rejects it as quite untrustwor-
thy. Between the dates of Hudson and
ScoreSby we have two records OF high lat
titudes in the neighboulhood of Spitzbergen,
Chelsakof (17G6), hips (T73), lut neither
got further than about $3.50. 1t Was not
IQlll / hIiy AL 1915 AdAN bo AhhA"o0 HHo
curious sledge journey on the ice, that Hud-
son and Scoleshy were SUI ossed by atonC o.
miles, PGtly having reached 90 A. N.
Spitzbergen Was also he ba e Of tins txpe-
dltion. On The ether siGr, by what is known
a. he >mi;h's Sound route, higher attitudes
have been reached, but that only quite recent
Is. In 1886 Kane and Hayes ara reported 10
lave sledged north to 81 : 81 In ISL Hall,
in the famous Poiaris voyage, sailed north to
$50 l6'. Five years later Commander (now
Admiral Markham surpassed Parry's farthest
by about As miles, reaching ON the mea.ora-
lie sledge journey over the "pa'eoelN etlo
ice" a latitude of $50 20 n, which remained
the record for six years till Lockwood, of
the i'll .fatod Greeley expedition, exceeded it
by about four miles-S3o 30. If then the
feat of the Newport turns oct to be authentic,
ehe will have got some forty miles nearer the
north pole than has been done on any previ-
ous occasion. so far as records that NAY be
considered authentic go. That a fresh period
Of Polar enthusiasm has dawned is evident
from the number of expeditions which are out
or ale abou' to start. a oOut Nanssn's route and
aim We all know. Peary, from the north coast
Of Greenland, will, after exploring that coast,
push as far to the north ne be can. One
bears somewhat vague rumours of an expe-
dillon under O. Scandinavian Of the name IF