The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-10-03
WELLMAN AT TABLE ISLAND
Two Days of Ramming Through the Ice fIOes--Leavin.
The Reserve Supplies.
Farewell Oyenad Work Forcing Way Through the Newly Formed
Sheets and Interesting Freaks Of Conseaion
Making Cache.

rose 30 feet above the surface and was
grounded in ID fathoms. 1t must have
been mass from the edge Of the great
polar pack detached by the action of the
waves and drifted down to shoal water,
for IL bore upon its highest part ridge OF
hummocks such as are formed at tho mar.
gins OF tho foes by collision with one an.
other These hummocks, the first we have
seen of the obstacles over which we eexpect
to struggle through the summer, were 10
Or 1S feet high and OF conical form.
This big berg did for us exactly the
work which we wanted 1t TO do. IL cut a
path through the foes of winter ice AS
neatly as a saw cuts through pine log,
and we followed i'm It's wake. OF course
the berg was immovable, great mass
that may never be stirred from its moor
ings, and which the suns Of 100 summers
may be required to destroy. But the foes
were in motion against It, just as the log
is pressed against the saw. What might
be called the sawdust of this great natural
Ice cutting process eddied i'm behind the
berg In the form OF debris, but not enough
Co cause US any trouble. In an hour we
had cut through "A large and apparently
impossible foe without moving the ship
an inch This is what the arctic naviga-
tors called being towed by an iceberg.
"A number Of large grounded bergs We're
In the neighborhood, and fortunate for us
did their presence prove. They broke the
foes up by cutting these burrows through
them and enabled US TO follow the open
ings thus made for number of miles, get
ting first in the wake of one berg and then
of another. These icebergs must have
como from some moro northerly land, for
the north shore OF Spitzbergen has no calv-
ing glaciers such as produce bergs Of this
size. There are calving glaciers on the
eastern shore, but masses detached there
from by protrusion into the sea would
float south and not into this region.
Help From the Wind.
When the bergs failed us, another agency
came forward just in the nick of time TO
help us out A strong wind sprang up
from the south and blew the ice offshore,
opening up the foes with incredible ra-
pidity, and without interruption we con
tinued our way. Soon swell was per-
ceptible, and we knew there must be plen-
ty of open water ahead. At o'clock the
Ragnvald Jarl began To pitch and roll In
n heavy sea, and not piece OF ice was to
be seen in any direction excepting streams
of small pieces which here and there thick
ly covered the surface of the rolling sea-
forming curious spectacle. The wind
now increased to gale, and out of Hin
lopen strait, which separates west Spitzber-
gen from Northeast Land--a cold, stormy
strait much dreaded by the whalers--tho
sea rolled with terrific force.
For four hours, or as long as we were
off the Hinlopen, the Ragnvald Jarl toss
ed about like a barrel on the waves, great
ly to the discomfort of some members of
our party. On the right could be seen
Verlegen hook, Welcome point, SO called
by the early navigators In gratitude for
having passed the stormy Hinlopen and
the highland which lies back of Hecla
cove, whore Sir Edward Parry had his
ship, the Hecla, in harbor while no was
away on his memorable sledge journey
over the pack. With glass we could de-
termine the position Of Mossel bay, where
Baron Nordenskjold passed tho winter
previous TO his attempt to reach the north
pole over the pack, an effort which failed
or rather was not seriously entered upon
on account of the loss of his reindeer and
the condition of the ice to the north Of the
Seven islands.
The Seven Islands.
In the early evening we made the land
near Low island. Captain Bottelfsen hav-
ing steered TO the east In order TO keep
well away from the pack ice To the north
while tho gale was still on We came so
suddenly upon the shore and shoal that
but for the alcrtness of our skipper we
might have run aground, and escaped |
that misfortune only by quickly veering |
about and hacking the propeller. Being |
now in tho lee of the land, we had smooth |
water and fine weather, and the PROV of |
the Jarl was TURNED to the northeast, the |
North cape OF Northeast Land and the |
Seven islands being In plain view.
In little more than "a hours we have |
waters noted for their difficult
ties with ice and in which many arctic ex-
petitions have foundered about quite hope
lessly. IL was in this region that Parry's
ship was drifting in the pack ice for a
month. How great our luck has been may |
DO Judged 10y tho fact that only three times
m the history Of Spitzbergen navigation,
50 far rs is known, covering period OF ESQ
years, have the Seven islands been reach
Ell i'm the first half Of May.
As we go TO bed the Seven islands are
coming up ON our starboard bow, and
he polar ice pack may also be seen to tho
north. The temperature is 22 degrees f.,
md Captain Bottelfsen says tho combina-
ion of cold and calm may give him trou-
dc 10y forming young ice on the surface
II the sea, but we have made a remarka-
'le run along the north coast and 40 TO
leep with light hearts.