Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-14

our headquarters at
Danes Island last evening at s o'clock. All
day the barometer had been rising and the
wind diminishing. and during the afternoon
We saw that the favorable moment for an
advance to the north and east had arrived.
In arctic navigation one must always be
ready to advantage by the first good OPEN
Ing which presents itself. We therefore
made all possible haste toward completion
of our headquarters and getting things
aboard The dogs gave some trouble.
They had enjoyed themselves so much at
the island that they were loath to leave it,
and one little fellow we could not catch at
ell, but left him as another companion for
Prof. Oyen. This made the number of dogs
on board forty-five. quite enough for our
purpose, IL the majority of them will only
prove useful In harness. Late in the after
noon Prof. French went ashore and made
observations for the magnetic variation,
which he found to be 1s.49 west.
The closing scenes at Danes Island were
rather picturesque. At $50 Prof. Oyen came
aboard. gathered up the last of his house
equipment and after saying his good-byes
to the other members of the expedition
started ashore. Between the ice foe to
which the Jarl was moored and the shore 1t
mad been necessary to bridge a narrow
water opening with two of our ice ladders
which came In very conveniently for the
purpose. number Of Mr.. Oyen's Nor
fouse 10 say farewell to him, and when he
had Joined them they shook his hand cross
ed the little bridges. pulling the bridges
after them, and then stopped and gave
. .nree rousing cheers for Peter the First.
King of Spitzbergen." as they have dubbed
their comrade. Carrying the bridges they
came aboard. the colors were run up and
the Jarl steamed out of the ford We waved
our gooc-byes to the sturdy and studio,ls
scientist, who stood in front of his habita-
ton watching the last human faces he ia
Likely TO behold for several weeks without
q doubt the only man whose feet at that
the snow. of the Spitzbergen arehipelago.
lie was indeed monarch OF all he surveyed
smooth Sea I'm sight.
AT U o'clock We rounded Hakluyfs Head,
the extreme northwestern point Of Spitz-
bergen, and were surprised TO find the sea
perfectly smooth after the long north
easter. This was the only unfayorable
Sign to be seen, for the absence of swell in
dicated that at no great distance the sea
was covered with ice. Yet no ice was i'm
sight from the deck. and as We peered to
the east we waited with considerable anx-
iety the news which Capt. Bottelfsen would
presently bring from the crows nest. Our
anxiety was justifable, for at this point
many expeditions and hunting vessels in
Vulnerable have in the past been completely
stopped by pack ice barring their way in
every direction save south. II was here
that Sir Edward Parry, on the nth day of
June. 1877. plunged into the pack by which
his ship was held prisoner until the 2lst
day OF June. After carefully scanning the
horizon with his glass Capt BotteIfsen
came down from his eerie and reported no
ice 10 De seen save few loose pieces drift
ing about and a water sky to the north and
east This good news induced us to change
the course Of the ship from the east more
70 the north for the purpose Of picking up
the ice. wherever Ii was, and following
along Its edge for a closer study of is cha r
acter. That We should steam alone uninl-
peded In an open. smooth sea, with beauti-
ful weather, where so many of our prede-
cessors had been stopped, was rare good
fortune indeed But with all our jubila-
ton over the outlook, we did not forget
that our JOY might in an hour be turned
into sorrow. for hereabouts the ice has an
inconvenient way. like some people we
know. OF making its appearance when least
wanted
But 1t Is one Of the principles of this ex-
petition to have a good time while we may,
and to make the most OF our luck while IT
Is with us, knowing full well that there are
plenty of hardships ahead. So we stood on
the bridge and cracked our jokes. ali with
out gloves or mittens. basking in the sun.
with a temperature of "a degrees F. Could
1t be possible this was the Arctic sea in
latitude 50?
In Tow Of n Berg.
About $50 o'clock this morning Cant.
Bottelfsen stopped the Jarl, the ice ahead
appearing impossible. He had first seen
the pack In latitude SO.3O and had then
steered more to the east to avoid 1t. AT
length he ran among shore ice. or ice which
forms along the coast or in the fOrds and
drifts out to sea, and this being rather
compact and difficult to pass through he
had concluded to await a more favorable
opportunity. We found the Jarl lying sur
rounded by ice about six inches thick.
smooth Of surface. snow covered and lying
In large foes extending as far as the eye
could reach, though broken here and there
by irregular leads. a dashing, reckless ice
navigator, with as stanch q ship as the
Jarl under him, would have press
ed on. but We are learning that our quiet.
taciturl Capt. Bottelfsen is carefulness and
personified. He says he would
much rather be safe than sorry, and the
ofncers of the expedition agree that this
Is Just the sort of man We want in the
crows nest. If any recklessness is needed,
We prefer 20 furnish 1t ourselves.
Notwithstanding the delay the Jarl had
made good progress. She was lying a few
miles north and east of Moffen Island I'm
latitude SOO2 and longitude I430 The
weather was calm and fine, with a light
breeze. A few large icebergs
were seen ahead, and after a visit to the
Crows nest and consultation with Capt
Petersen Capt. Bottelfsen had gone to bed
after his long nights vigiD IL was decided
to push In behind enc of the big bergs and
Use il as a roadmaker. With a good deal
of trouble this change of position was eff
fected. II being necessary at times to move
several acres of Ice at once with the pro.y
Of the Jarl in order to force an opening.
About l O'Clock in the afternoon we came
In behind Il big square berg which rose
thirty feet above the surface and was
in fifteen fathoms. 1t must have
been a mass from the edge of the great
polar pack detached by the action of the
waves and drifted down to shoal water for
II bore upon its highest part a ridge Of
hummocks such are formed at the mar
gins of foes by collision with one another
These hTTnmocks, the first We have seen of
the obstacles over which we expect to
struggle through the summer. were fifteen
or eighteen feet high and Of conicai form
This big berg did for us exactly the work
which we wanted 1t to do. 1t cut n path
through the foes of winter ice as neatly
as saw cuts through a pine log. and we
followed in its wake. OF course, the berg
was immovable. great mass that may
never be stirred from its moorings and
which the suns of q hundred summers may
be required to destroy. But the foes were
In motion against IL, just as the log is
pressed against the saw. What might be
called the sawdust of this great natural
Recruiting process eddied In behind the
berg in the form of debris, but not enough
10 cause us any trouble. In an hour we had
cut through large and apparently i'm
eessaoie Noe without moving the ship an