The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-09-27

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THE RAGNvALD JARL AT DANES ISLAND.
atinous in consistency, not strong enough
to bear the weight of a man, but incredi-
bly, tough when pushed against by tho
PROV of the Ragnvald Jarl. No ice is
more troublesome to a navigator than this
young ice in continuous sheets, thin though
it may be. Heavier ice in detached masses
is easily pushed aside, but in order to
make progress through this film the ship
had literally to move acres of it at every
10 rods of advance.
In the old days arctic navigators thought
ice was never formed upon the surface of
the sea. They believed that all the ice in
the arctic regions was land made, and
many are the ambitious polar expeditions
that came to grief through attempting to
follow out routes based upon this errone-
Gus assumption. We know that ice does
form upon the surface of the sea, even at
such slight cold as 20 F., because our ship
was several times stopped entirely by this
young ice Moreover, we saw the new ice
in the process of formation, the sea being
covered with little round masses of con-
collation., very much resembling lily pads
in crystal. In day or two, without dis
turbance by wind or current, these pads
join together and form the continuous
sheets of rubberlike ice by which we We're
stopped. When ship forces it's PROV
against this ice, the surface of tho water
for some distance about is set into Sc
ries of undulations, though no water can
be seen, so elastic and SO tough is the thin
frozen covering.
The Three Crowns.
On getting out this morning and TAX
ing our shower baths in a temperature of
II F., the temperature of the water being
81, we found the ship near the entrance to
Kings bay, one of the few places in Spitz-
bergen where coal may be had, and with
three remarkable peaks known as the Three
Crowns looming up In the background.
Magnificent glaciers came down to the
sea, with water fronts 80 or 100 feet high,
blue as the bluest of skies in sunny Italy
The glaciers could be traced back through
the mountain passes as far as the eye
could reach, or to the high inland ice,
tempting our Norwegian members to go
ashore and try their skis upon these per-
feet and magnificent natural toboggan
slides. The easy approach which these
glaciers gave to the high inland ice of
Spitzbergen suggested to us a possibility
for future travel. In case our ship should
be frozen in here for a long time it would
be wholly practicable for us to take our
sledge equipment up the glacier highway,
across the inland ice, which is smooth and
practicable as a road, though desperately
bleak and cold at this season of the year,
and on to the north of Spitzbergen and
the seven islands. But of course such an
alternative was not to be thought of as
long as there was chance of reaching
our headquarters point at Danes island
- Though the condition of the new ice was
exceedingly unfavorable and Captain Bot
telfsen gave it as his opinion that we
should only waste coal in trying, we de-
termined to go on. Though at first COM
PEELED to crawl along at Il rate of half a
mile an hour through the thin jellylike
ice, we at length reached heavier ice in
detached masses and then made much
better progress. The road continued to
improve, and by dint of good steering,
with now and then hard bump, by in
the evening we had passed the northern
most of the seven mountains and were able
to enjoy fine view of Amsterdam island,
the Hakluyt head and Danes island.
Much good it did our eyes to see these
lands looming up SO near ahead, and we
were also delighted to perceive beyond the
northernmost land and out over the great
Arctic ocean, which is to be the theater of
our drama-whether comedy, tragedy or
farce we do not know-a water sky.
A big seal was seen upon piece of ice
near our course, and as we came within
range two reports were heard almost 81
simultaneously. Mr.. Dodge and Mr. Juell
had used their winchesters with good eff
feet, for both balls hit the poor brute in
the head, and he gave one leap toward the
water and then fell back in his death
throes. The Jarl was run alongside the
foe. Young Christian Petersen and Sea-
man Boervrig jumped overheard, followed
by Mr.. Franklin, and, the seal still show
ing signs of life, Boervrig beat his head
into a jelly with a boat hook A line was
made fast, and our first seal was hauled
aboard. A big fellow he proved to be,
weighing fully 500 pounds, and his car
cass made excellent food for our pack of
dogs. The blood was eagerly drunk by
the canine passengers. and much good it
did them after their long confinement and
severe voyage.
Good luck followed us throughout the
evening, for what appeared at distance
to be heavy, impossible ice proved upon
close inspection to be open, and through
it we steamed at good rate. Later
strong wind from the east set in, and in an
incredibly short time cleared all the ice
from the coast and enabled Captain Bot
telfsen to come down from the crows nest
and make the welcome announcement that
no distractions whatever lay between us