The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-10-26

sledge expedition Ill person and pene-
trated the icy regions off the north coast
until excessive SHOWS with other OBJ
stacles compelled him to turn back. The
bears had robbed the supply depots, and
together with the savage Eskimos ter
rorized the hunters when out for food.
Kane never ceased to believe that
Franklin was i'll the region, locked III
some tidal eddy and the crews living
upOn wild game. In the summer of 1874
n attempted to go by boat 400 miles to
Beechy island, to fall in with an Eng
lish expedition believed to be there.
This failed. and then half the crew Of
the Advance deserted him, making a
desperate attempt to retreat. This also
failed, and when the party returned
Kane welcomed the dissatisfied men to
his ranks as before. The next spring the
camp in the brig was abandoned and
retreat by boat began. 1t took 81 days
to reach the Danish settlements of south
ern Greenland. For days the men sub
sisted upon bread dust, tallow and bird
meat. They had used their sledges for
fuel and at last could not boil their tea.
hdltS > III SuCCtSo OlSDOStu VI liz OpCu
polar sea theory for a time and turned
the search for the lost Franklin into the
western arctic water, where it eventual
~ succeeded.
Another theory of an open polar sea
led to q novel venture in 1872. Some
European scientists conceived the idea
that the equatorial currents must send
%laI,s az, c+roa \, around fhn chnro Of
the eastern continent to unite and mod
ify the temperature Of the waters of the
pole. Kane had assumed the existence
of an open polar sea to account for the
disappearance Of Franklin. The scien-
fists looked beyond and thought of a
cause. In order to test this theory two
Austrian officers, Lieutenant Carl Wey.
precht of the navy and Lieutenant Ju-
lius Payer Of the army, sailed from Nor
way i'll June, 1871, i'll the small Nor
wegian vessel Isbjorn and penetrated to
latitude 10 degrees Al minutes, where
they found an open ocean coated with
thin ice. This ocean lay north of Nova
Zembla and east of ~Spitzbergen, away
on the other side Of the circle from the
fields made memorable by the explorers
Of different countries in their 20 years.
search for Franklin. The report of the
Austrians led to an expedition which
started in June, 1872, under the same
leaders. Both W%eyprecht and Payer
were men for daring deeds. They had
served in the wars in Italy and won
decorations in battle. Weyprecht was a
navigator, and Payer took a Of
training on the precipitous sides of the
snowy Alps and among the treacherous
glaciers that flow like a slothful sea at
their bases. He had previously made
three trips to the arctic regions. A YES
sci built expressly for arctic voyaging
carried out the expedition. She was fit
ted for sail and steam, having a 100
horsepower engine and three masts. The
ship-the Tegethof-sailed from Lap
land in June, intending to point due
north from Nova Zembla, In the course
marked out by the Isbjorn the previous
year. The end of August found he,
coasting along the western shores OF
Nova Zembla. her progress checked by
the floating masses of ice.
The most careful navigation was nee
essary to keep the ship from destruc
ton, and as u last resort she was made
fast t o an ice foe in the hope that Silt
would be towed by 1t to open water
But instead vast fields and mountains O
ice closed in about the foe until TIN
surrounding sea was everywhere buriet
from sight. Then, for 53 weeks, or
year and ten days, the voyasers wer
prisoners in a ship which was itself
, prisoner in the ice. Yet the journe.
. went on to a remarkable conclusion. 70
the vessel drifted steadily and almos
1 directly toward the pole until it reaches
latitude 70 degrees Al minutes, abou
p the limit Of all arctic voyages before G
since. The most desperate efforts faile
to release the ship. Fissures made b
blasting Immediately froze and trenche
9 opened by saving closed in a might
Then came the arctic winter when tn
h sun never shone. Whan darkness cam
o on, the explorers saw the highlands
& Nova Zembla south of them, but in tt
j spring of 1878 these had disappeared
r aud the prisoners knew their fate. The
10 We're ~journeying toward the pole indeed
4 Fortunately the ship had been provision
s; !: IL