The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-18
SOME NEW o


1t 10 a good many years since VIC have ~recsivet
90 valuable n contribution TO tho history Of po
lar exploration as Is presented in the two stump
tuous volumes collectively entitled Fdrthcsj
North, by DR.. FRIpTJoT NASsEN HarpersD
This IL, Of course. a record OF the voyage oil
The ship Fran in the years ls93-a6. includ
Ing tho fifteen months sleigh Journey car
ried out by DR.. Nansen and Lieut.. Johansen.
There Is an appendix by otto sverdrup,
Captain Of the Fran. and the book contains,
besides q portrait Of the explorer, numerous
photographers and four maps. about 100
full-pago illustrations, and sixteen colored
prints. In order TO appreciate precisely what
has been accomplished by this voyage. We should
frst review very briefly the annals OF Arctic OK
ploration and then append n concise summary
of the results attained by Manson, leaving tho
reader to follow for himself the details OF tho
expedition in these interesting pages.
It Is we'll known that tho first attempts to
penetrate the Arctic region wore made by tho
Mortimer, and exclusively by SEQ. 1t goes with
out saying that ships were then Ill adapted to
confront the ice, and that all nnvigators, except
the Northnen, were long loath to make the ven
ture. The clinker-built pine and FIR barks Of
the old Vikings were no better fitted for tho pur-
pose than were the small, clumsy caravels OF the
flrst English and Dutch explorers OF the Arctic
Ocean. Little by little. however,, the Scandina-
VANS learned to adapt their vessels to the condi-
tions and with ever.incrcasing daring thoy forced
them in among the dreaded foes. The uncivil-
lied polar Tribes. however. both those that In
habit tho Siberian tundras and the Eskimo
of North America, had discovered, long before
polar expeditions had begun, another and a
safer means Of traversing the Arctic regions,
to wit, tho sledge usually drawn by dogs.
1t was in Siberia that this mode Of locomo-
ton was fret applied to tho service OF polar
exploration. AS early as the seventeenth
century the Russians undertook very ex-
tensivo sledRe Journeys. and they gradually
charted the whole OF the Siberian coast. from
tho borders of Europe to Boring Strait. More
over they did not merely travel along the coasts.
but crossed the drift Ice itself to the New sibe-
rian Islands. and even went north OF them. In
America, too, the sledge was employed by Eng
nshmen at an early day for the purpose Of in
vestigating tho shores OF the Arctic seas. Some
times the toboggan, or Indian sledge. was used.
sometimes that of the Eskimo. 1t was under
the leadership Of McClintock that sledge Jour-
neys attained their highest development.
While the Russians had generally travelled
with a large number Of dogs and only q few men.
the English employed many moro mon on their
expeditions, and their sledges were entirely. or
u INC poIlv oIa"ho " II Ava hSh
selves. Thus. in ono Of the most energetic at
tempts ever made to reach high ATTITUDES. Al.
bort Markham's march toward the north from
the Alert's winter quarters. there were thirty
three men. who had to draw the sledges,
though there were plenty Of dogs on board
tho ship. The American traveller, Peary,
adopted, on the other hand. q different
method of travelling on the inland ice
of Greenland. employing as few men and
as many dogs as possible. DR.. Nansen tells
us that tho great usefulness Of dogs for sledge
Journeys was clear to him before he undertook
his Greenland expedition. and the reason he did
not use them then was simply that he was una
BILE to procure any serviceable animals. 1t re-
mains to mention a third mode of travelling to
which recourse has been made in the Arctic
regions, namely. boats and sledges combined. A
fact mentioned in the Sagas is recalled by DR..
Eansen that, for days on end. tho old Mortimer
had to drag their boats over the ice in the Green
land Sea in order to reach land. The first in
modern times to make use of this means of
locomotion was Parry, who. in his effort to
reach tho Pole in 1927, abandoned his
ship and made his way over tho drift ice north
ward with boats which he dragged on sledges.
He succeeded In attaining tho highest latitude
1922 450 that had yet been reached: but here tho
current carried him to the south more swiftly
than he could advance against 1t, and he was
Obliged to turn back. OF later years this method
of travelling has not been often employed for
the purpose of approaching the Pole. 1t is, how.
ever. to be noted that Markham took boats with
him on his sledge Journey. Many expeditions
have. through sheer necessity. accomplished
long distances over tho drift leo In this way in
order to roach homo after having abandoned or
lost their ships. Well known examples are the
Austro-H Hungarian Tegethoff expedition to
Franz Josef Land and tho Inflated American
Jeanette expedition.