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

were Of the same thickness ana toughness
They had therefore apparently concluded
70 split even-to give and take. The result
was that for space Of perhaps twenty
feet foe No. ran under No. 2. Then for
what appeared to be precisely the same
distance the latter courteously ducked I'M
der the first, and after literally taking
water its allotted distance rose to the top
again. This was continued in some places
Tor mile or more, or as far as the eye
could reach. No carpenter in Christendom
could do more perfect joiner work, with
more accurate measurements. than these
mortisings and lemons matched together
by the hand of Dame Nature.
A few minutes before 10 this evening we
arrived at Table Island, one of the Seven
Islands group, and ran the prov of the
Jarl into the most beautiful pressed up ice,
full of ultramarine tints and the most
rugged and fantastic shapes. Here the
pack In grinding by with terrific force, had
pressed its own debris high on shore, pro-
ducing mass of indescribable confusion,
hopeless as a road, but attractive as a
spectacle. Here we decided to make our cache
instead Of upon Little Table Island. four
miles to the northwest, as was originally
intended. The advantage Of Table Island
over Little Table Island as a site for a de-
pot Is that the former Is larger and stand
ing very near to Phipps' Island Also If a
boat party were to come from the north in
thick or stormy weather, 1t would have a
better chance to pick up the larger land,
and also have a larger lee shore to run
under.
Cnching Food and Supplies.
We Immediately sent boat containing
several boxes of timed meats, a case of
biscuits and two cases Of armebis the lat
ter a concentrated food comprising both
hour and meat, or enough for a party of
nfteen men for ten or twelve days The
cache was made on a ledge at the northern
point of the island, about 100 feet above the
waters edge. hole in the rocks was
M ~
boxed, put in, and then a sort of roof of
boards built over them Upon the boards a
large number of heavy stones were placed
IN hopes or keeping the meat away from
Ine noses OF the bears which here abound
In bottle placed upon the food boxes was
placed paper containing the following
notice in Norwegian:
ihese provisions were placed here by the
Walter Wellman north polar expedition for
the use Of parties returning BY boat and
sledge from the north. Please do not dis
WALTER WELLMAN"
we nave much more fear of the bear
than OF human pilfering. Few hunting
vessels visit these shores. and Norwegian
be disgrace to his country. For the
sportsman the Seven Islands must be ex
tremely attractive If he could get here he
lore the season of almost constant fogs
sets IN. Wild fowl are seen in abundance
about the ship. bear tracks are plentiful
on iand. and seal. walrus and foxes abound
our progress up to this time has been
almost phenomenal In two days we have
mace the passage from Danes Island TO
the Seven Islands. which Is unprecedented
at any season Of the year. In eleven DAYS
we nave come from civilization to q lati-
tnde beyond which only half dozen arctic
expeditions In all history have penetrated
and only two or three have succeeded In
going more than a few miles nearer to the
pole than We are at this moment. The
record of the farthest north is only lGO
miles beyond our anchorage Rare good
fortune have We had to reach such a point
OF vantage on the 18th day Of May Sir
EDWARD Parry was here six weeks later i'm
1871 and even Baron Nordenskj old who
wintered In Spitzberger In order to get
an early start for the north POLE was here
no earlier than we are.
Whatever may be the outcome of our
effort this record justifes all the conf
dence which we have ever expressed In the
desirabllity of the Spitzbergen route to-
ward the inner polar area, and with the
fine start We now have we shall be pretty
certain, unless prevented by some acct
dent which cannot be foreseen to make a
high northing before the summer is over
In our plans the Seven Islands was the
farthest point We had ever dared hope to
reach with the ship, and we had little eX-
pectation of doing SO much or II at all
not before the end of May or early
to four weeks ahead of what might be
termed our schedule. and having done
we'll with the ship we are naturally eager
to do still better. Though the pack lies
strong and forbiddng to the north we are
rot without hopes of being able to pene-
trate some distance farther to the north
before leaving the Ragnvald Jarl for our
journey over the desert of ice. At any rate.
the chance is worth waiting a day or two
for. WALTER WELLMAN.