Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-01

Wlld ride rom ciNlllzation to this uninhab-
| tied and remote corner of the earth, a fast
| and furious journey, and a lucky one.
Probably We have beaten all records at
| this season of the year. We have not only
| made the south cape of Spitzbergen in
| three days from Tromsoe. but we have done
so in the first days of May. We are now.
| only our fourth day from civilization. be-
tween the nth and 18th parallels of lati-
| tude. or farther north than the spot at
which the Jeanette was sunk. almost as
| far as DIR. Kane penetrated and nearer the
pole than many of the early explorers were
| able to reach. Moreover, we have had to
| come thus far in order to see a piece of ice
| and all the ice now visible from the crows
| nest of the Ragnvald !Jarl would not i'm
| pede the progress ora fishing smack. To-
| day We have calm sea, a bright, genial
sun and a clear way to the north. Tomor-
| row. in all probability, We shall reach our
| headquarters at Danes Island, just under
| the SUth parallel. Rarely have vessels been
able to get SO far north along this coast SO
| early in the year. Never before, so far as
we know. did one make the voyage. as We
| have done. absolutely without interruption
| by ice. Our American luck appears to be
| still with us.
| A Rough Voyage.
But 1t was a wild ride. We left Tromsoe
Tuesday evening, May 1. Early next morn
ing We were out Of the fiords to the north
| and in the open sea. At o'clock Capt.
| Bottelfsen reported his latitude at 1882.
But long before this most of the members
of our party were painfully aware that we
| had exchanged the quiet of the Norwegian
| tiords for the turbulence of the Arctic sea.
| AS arctic travellers We must all be tested.
| but as sailors, the great majority of Us have
| already been tried and found wanting.
1 fhnr.a 1iCor nfrr1 l1nL Of
| the dinner tables The hunks were nearly
| all filled with suffering mortals. Our Nor
wegian contingent suffered even more than
| the Americans. and even the dogs in the I'M
| derdeck were as miserable dogs well could
| be. refusing all nourishment and filling the
noisome air of their quarters with the most
piteous whines. Two of them indeed sue
| Cumbed to the rigorS of the journey, and our
| original pack of fifty -three has been reduc-
| ed by drowning, by fighting, by strangula-
| ton and too much seasckness. to forty
| eight. We held no funerals over the de-
| ceased. There is a great deal of sentiment
| in arctic work, and but for sentiment no
| enc would ever engage in 1t. but We were
all too miserable on our own accounts to
waste any breath over dead dogs. Our only
consolation in this connection was that we
have lost fewer animals than we had ex-
pected to lose. and have more than enough
remaining for our work.
No wonder both human and canine men,
bers of the expedition were i'll. Even one
| of the sailors of the Jarl lost his meals
overheard the first day out, but kept at his
work all the while. brave fellow! Think of
| the heroic stuff there must be In man who
! can run up the ropes and out the yardarms
| of a dancing ship while suffering the tor
ments of NAL de mer!
What Wise NOrwegians Said.
In Norway all the wise old sailing mas
| ters and would-be experts shook their heads
| when they heard We were going to sail on
the LIST Of May. TOO early. Better wait
1
| was a favorable year. but still there must
| be great deal of ice TO the north. There
Away had been ice and always must be
! ice. Nevertheless we concluded to adhere
| to our program. We had studied the Spitz-
| bergen region not in the light of one mans
! experience but in that of thousand ex-
| periences running through 100 years, and We
| felt confident We had a reasonably good
| chance of pushing our way through to
| Danes Island in from ten to fifteen days 1t
| must be confessed, however that the ma
| jority of us were looking rather eagerly for
ice the first day out We knew that when
| the Ragnvald JarI was once within the ice
there would be no more rolling and pitching
| and the dinner bell would cease from mock
| ing, for the water within the ice is still
| AS a pool in the woods Often. one skipper
told us, the ice is formed below Bear Island,
| but those Of us W o hoped for relief in the
neighbOrhood Of the rocky islet discovered
by Barentz 300 years ago were doomed to
disappointment. Ye passed to the west
ward of the island Mt o'clock yesterday
morning in a bowling gale. with the mer-
curry below the freezing point. but the only
ice to be seen WIS that which made a
crystal ship and fairy rigging Of the Rsgn-
valid Jarl
Those Of us who remained up until mid
light were rewarded with a glimpse of one
of the distant high peaks Of Spitzbergen.
Only three days from Tromsoe and a glis-
tening cap of our promised land dead ahead.
Now We are rewarded with a much grander
spectacle 1t is like what one might imagine
as the original from which modern scene
painters draw inspiration for production Of
their transformation pictures upon the
stage. little before midnight the down.
shooting rays of the sun were seen straight
north over Spitzbergen. Between the sun
and us were successive curtains of clouds,
i,lumined. of course. from the far side, like
the mesh curtains used in fairy scenes Of
the theater. Through openings were sights
so grand and deep to draw the vision
and hold II entranced. and make one think
he was looking through all the clouds Of
this world. and the space which intervenes
before the next one into the eternal beyond
/ have no desire to attempt poetical or SEN
tmental description, but the spectacle was
really beautiful beyond the power of my
poor words to describe, and in that deep