The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-13
FRANZ JOSEF PARTY BACK.
JACKSON Nv THREE YEARS FOUND
NO LAND no THE NoRTH.

seen or ellis Land or or Petermnnn Land
Open Sea Beyond So'-Impoaslbio for the
Party TO Try 20 Rench tho North Pole
Mr.. Frederick q. Jackson. with tho com
panions who have spent three years Win MN
in the exploration of Franz Josef Land. returned
to tho Thames on Sept. 8 in Mr..
steam yacht windward, which took him out
and which visited the expedition twice before IL
came back. The party was successful In accom-
plishing what II set out to do, namely, TO thor'
oughly explore the country. to make opserNa-
lions and collect snocimens, and had the luck
last year to first meet and aid DR.. Nansen nhu
his companion after they had left the Fran.
The discovery that Franz Josef Land is en-
tirely unlike what 1t was represented 10 Do ny
the Payer expedition. and that the iahu r'
ported to the north and northeast does not OK
list, prevented any attempt being made 10 rcach
tho North Pole, as that was only a secondary
object in Mr.. Jackson's mind when he set out,
to DO undertaken only IL land leading into very
high ATTITUDES was found. Instead he came
upon an open sea, which his equipment did not
enable him to cross with any prospect OF re-
turning.
On landing he gave n preliminary account OF
what he had done. especially during the last
year, to Reuters Agency. This appears IN the
London newspapers OF Sept. 4, from which us
reprinted. Mr.. Jackson's companions were
Lieut.. Armitago of the navy reserve, astroho-
mcr OF the expeditions DR.. Koettlitz, the physi-
clan; Mr.. w. S. Bruce, zo0logist. aud Messrs.
Wilton and Haywood.
On tho question or reaching inc Nortn JIG
Mr.. jackson says:
while l have no sympathy with anyooaS
who by a mere athletic feat tries 10 rcach the
Pole. l am certain that. in spite OF any ASSERTION
to the contrary. the desire TO attain that pom.
lies deep in the heart Of every Arctic explorer.
l still think 1t is possible to do so. but no matter
what plans are adopted the dilhcpities mus. ~
rnorhhHgS the Pole was based upon existing maps
and the belief which was shared by most Arctic
experts that land reached still further north.
Al a result OF this expedition, ! believe that the
possibility OF reaching the Pole by, WY OF
Franz Josef. Land is more than dolottqi:
noH.exis,ence Of Giiis Land in he longi.;
tude assigned to 1t; The existence or
Pctcrmnnn Land is doubtful; certainly there Is
no land OF any extent there. We, ike Manson.
failed to see King Oscar Land. We have OBJ
tanned pretty good evidence that no laha eNlsts
TO the northwest of Franz JOSEF Land. tho ice
| being carried away in such n manner as to in
dicnte the non-existcnco Of land OF any coRse-
Quencc in that direction. 1t has been ,%satisfac-
torily proved that there is no land north OF 90.
Naturally. nil this completely changed my IDEAS
OF reaching the Pole; ont yet, ! thInk, ma az ire 4 re-,
made a shot at it. | have returned with
the intention Of running another expedition en-.
yet formulated. think. however, II | We're to
attempt to reach the Pole by means OF sledges, |
! should 20 either Dy way OF .NOTlH III lshit'
or %orth Greenland. Nansen's idea OF reaching
the Pole by drifting north from Behring, strait
is, OF course, feasible. especially considering me
success OF his expedition. am not u oalloonist'
and that method of reaching the Pole never en-
tered into my calculations, but see nothing to
plishing his project. l have seen or heard noth.
ing OF Andrte. and 1t is quite impossible FOR any
This is his account OF the work done last win
ter and of the precautions taken for the safety
OF other explorers on leaving their quarters:
ton OF Franz Josef Land. with the exception OF
some odd corners. We lett Cape Flora, on Aug; o.
1t was toward evening when we sailed. and be-
fore leaving | carefully sealed up Elmwooc
which had been our home for three years. Win
the ,s sHeEEp s III %oo Of i HHt a tsf Il had b spgs, anTins our our
stay. The windows were carefully boarded ana
nailed up. the door. to which fastened a Union
Jack. was carefully protected by two spars, and
a flag was lett floating on the pole at Flagstaff
Point. Ialsolett behind, for the use OF subsequent
explorers. SIX tons OF coal and anything that
considered might be useful. In the room of our
living house | left a quantity OF supplies, IN
Guiding tobacco. cheese, and butter. in case
these, as | have said. were carefully protected.
in the interests OF Andree or any one who might
know OF he safety of the Fran until the arrival
OF the Windward. and had established a depot
G on c bsii a Inland of = Hah nsmiEh c s'il'pn / 1.' s h0uif
have gone in that direction. This contains Il
good supply OF provisions and can be easily
the island. After leaving Elmwood we steamed
northwest for iifty miles. but saw no indication
of land. The water was very open and there was
less ice than | had ever seen before. Wc landed
at Cape Mary Harmsworth for a few hours and
collected some specimens from a low spit pro
ircting beyond the ice.covcred cape. This was
done with the object of rcfuting, or confirming
the opinion | had formed IN the spring that
ellis Land has no existence In the position as
signed to it on the charts. We then steamed
within ten miles Of the situation given for the
cast coast OF the eastern JohanncSsen Island in
very clear weather. but failed 10 see any land
South OF Bear Island We met with bad weather
persistent head winds and gales-hut thanks
to the skilful navigation OF Capt. Brown and
the stnnch little Windward we nave reached
home safely. 400.
happily, and comfortably. Scientific obscrva.
tons and researches of all kinds were con
less severe and less windy than usual. On
March lG Mr.. Armitlgc and l left with sledges
and two teams. consisting OF the pony ana thir,
Land and define its limits. We met with bad
weather mt the very outset, and found the snow
lying deep and soft, with very trappy. rough
Channel. up which we laid our course
even at this early stage OF tho journey, ncCcssi
Ia, cd frequently retracing our steps, on Marcl
% we discovered II new headland and ford, and
extremity Of the western land. and proceeded
west. having explored all the western shores o
the British Channel to the Queen Victoria Sea
The weather continued exceedingly bad. with
almost constant gales and driving snow. will
temperatures often more than 40 below zero
which played havoc with our animals. Or
April w9 had lost all hut Ave dogs wher
north OF the head of Cambridge bay. and OF
the 10th were forced TO take to the higl
glaciated land, as omen water up to III,
glacier ~facelcut Off all advance upon sea ice. Or
the 18th our pony died. which nccessitated leav
ing behind all equipment not absolutely essen
tial. The weather at All altitude. OF ! 800 fee
now grew worse than ever. with eXccedingl,
dense and constant mist. in addition to gale
and driving snow. On the 10Th We descended
tho high glaciated land behind Cape Mar,
Harmsworth tho land does not extend west o
the point, and no land could be seen during tn,
short clear intervals anywhere of tho coast
from AN altitude OF 100 feet. We crossed
over behind Cape Loilcy, as the sea ice wa
broken up all along the coast and kept us on tn,
glacier. and found a little fast ice at the head o
Wcyprecht Bay, stretching toward Cap
Ludlow. On approaching the cape We agail
met open water, which obliged US TO climb tn
high glnciated land beyond the cape. In Wcy
precht Bay we left u canoe behind, AS we coul,
not get along with II, owing to the badness o
the ice. The weather continued eXccssivcl
bad, and gales OF wind gave us no rest. AbOy
Cape Ludlow ] shot the only bear we had seen
which supplied us with meat and blubber TO
cooking.
"On tho Goth OF April we rounded Cape Ncale
We encountered exceedingly rough ice crushe,
up against the land. To get along at all we ha,
weather offered 10 us. and frequently marche
for twenty-four hours at a stretch, murchinI
from the time one gale ceased until anothe