Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-03

cooking apparatus alcohol case, awning,
weapons. instruments and great variety
Of articles indispensable to trip OF this
sort. Before a man set foot in the boat
she was comfortably full, her three thWarts
being completely covered and her water-
tight compartments piled high with freight.
1t was difficult to see how man was to
find room in her. and yet eight men did find
places to squeeze themselves in, and we
soon had an opportunity to observe now
good a sailer the Lockwood Is. Though
very top-heavy, and with our two alum
inium sledges lowed behind, she rode the
waves as gracefully as an cider duck.
A Three-Days' Struggle.
The first day out we had a fine example
of what we could do in the way of travel
an Id reasonably favorable conditions. In
two hours, with wind and tide against us,
we rowed two miles to the northeast. In
three hours more over the smooth ice In
the lee of the REPS Islands, we pulled our
800 pounds at one load and made two
miles more With some good ice like this,
some leads Of water to boat through and a
fair share Of rough ice to get over we couid
easily make from ten to twenty miles day.
Were We now upon the main or true polar
pack we venture to say we could average
dozen miles a day, and forty days of such
travel would carry US very near to the north
pole. We see now more clearly than ever
before what a fine chance we have lost by
the radical change which came over the sea-
son IN May. ftuQ tEc WllluS ptcH iTtii TIC
northeast, as they usually are IN this region
in early simmer. thirty or forty days ago
we might have enjoyed Parry's experience
of boating through the drift ice to the
heavier foes farther north But the north
west winds have piled the winter ice in
hopeless confusion upon all this coast.
We cannot create conditions, but only
struggle against them. For three days we
threw our strength against the ice wall
which we found barring the way to the
north. For three days we worked as We
had never worked before. No words of
mine will serve to give you an adequate
conception of the nature of that hopeless
struggle. In an hour after We had left the
shore of the Reps every man In the party
realized that we were attempting the i'm
possible. Near the coast the ice is piled
twenty or thirty feet high. To get over these
Instructions we had to lift the boat by
main strength. Often it was necessary to
get out the block and tackle and advance by
inches. As soon as we get over one OF
these barriers we find ourselves in a pocket
of loose Ice and water. There Is not water
enough to push the boat through nor Ice
enough for the men to find footing upon.
1t Is mere sludgc, neither the one thing ror
the other. The men cannot cross ahead OF
the boat with a line for fear OF falling In
and drowning before assistance can reach
them. rf-- .--.
But why give further details of our three
days vain struggle against the obstacles
which confronted US? 1t Is not necessary to
repeat over and over the story of lifting,
Juggling. straining, slipping. duckins, and.
now and then, 1t must be confessed swear
ing. In three days of this kind Of work we
had advanced less than three miles. The
only excuse for persistence was the hope
that the nature of the read would soon i'm
prove, bit even this hope was quickly dash
ed to earth, for an exploring party, sent on
ahead, had picked its way from piece to
piece for a couple of miles. ferried them
selves across the pools upon larger specf-
mems of the debris at the risk of their lives
and returned to report the road the same as
far as they had gone or could see.
A Discouraging Sight.
Prof. French and had with great diff
Guilty made our way to the northern end Of
the Reps Island, where a bold cape was
named In honor of Philip d. Armour Of
Chicago-Cape Armour. We assembled the
headland there to a height Of 600 feet and
had the whole Spitzbergen coast, from the
Seven Islands to Brooch Island. within
view. 1t was a most discouraging scene
that met our eyes as we moved our glass
from right to left-nothlng but Ice In every
direction. not a drop Of open water to be
seen. 1t was ice that had been broken up
and jammedt together In a series Of storms
until not a piece of level surface larger
than a bedchamber remained. The day was
clear, and with the glass we could see a
long distance In every direction.
Everywhere 1t was the same. and that
the same high barriers alternating with
sludgy pools through which we had been
struggling. We could not fail to understand
the significance of this view. Its meaning
was defeat, the absolute impossiblity Of
progress to the north, bitter disappoint-
ment for every man in the party; but this
Is the fortune of war. Though We could
organize one Of the best parties that ever
attempted arctic work, with equipment
more perfect and adaptable than was ever
before employed, we must bow to the OBJ
stacles which nature has placed in our way
We have run against a stone wall and are
not foolish enough to beat our brains out
against II. There are seasons In which q
party like ours would be able swiftly to ad-
vance to the far north, but clearly this Is
not one Of them.
1t behooves us to bear in mind that we
have long line Of retreat before us. We
may even have to make our way over the
Ice and along the coast all the way to
Danes Island, fully 200 miles of travel from
our present camp. The road Is rough and
full Of difficulties, as we have found to our
cost and besides, there is the much-dread-
ed Hinlopen to cross. The dense ice fogs
are becoming more and more frequent, and
when the heaviest fogs come We must lie
idle perhaps for days at time, 1t being
then as impossible to advance as 1t would
be in the darkest night. Our means Of re-
treat and of escape from Spitzbergen are
uncertain enough to cause almost any one
to have started back long before this.
Forced to Retreat.
July Ave acknowledge defeat at the
hands Of the Ice king by giving the order to
retreat to Walden Island as rapidly as pos
sible. The men appeared to be even more
disappointed than we ourselves and, with
Capt. Petersen as spokesman, they begged
for an opportunity to make one more effort
to move to the north over the rugged Ice
We perceived that this offer came more
from their zeal than their judgment and
assuring them of our deep appreciat ton of
their loyalty decided that It was useless to
waste more time and human strength IN
attempting to perform the impossible.
1t was with sad hearts that we pulled
down the tent and packed the boats for the
beginning of our return trip. In ord Ter to
notify DIR. Mohun and his little party of
the change of plan, Capt. Petersen and the
writer started for the camp on Walsh Is
land, intending to send back Dahl, Frank
lin and Hoyde to help the Lockwood crew
over the rough shore ice and across the
strait. Imagine our disappointment upon
ascending the heights of Cape Scott to see
that the strait through which we had rowed
for two miles a few days ago was now not
only completely filled with pack ice, but the
smooth shore ice which had surrounded 1t
was nearly all broken up. Nothing could
better illustrate the sort Of luck which has
attended our enterprise since the 10Th day
of May. During the week that we were en-