New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-14
ON FOOT TO THE POLE.

new Donts, and his character i"o''" ..
larger as the narrative proceeds. ne'p
him. admiration for him, reachfs 'e'' - ~.
o,i,,ox when he leaves the Fran to pursue MS
-. ,.,,h sIedces and kayaks (arctic canoes'
and on foot. General Greedy has charseu Nam
w =, IN o,,icle which the latter quotes, WIN
having fallen short Of his duty in turning o''
49, - .e'.,,,,a,d IF rho Fran to Captain Sverdrup
and abandoning the ship but we th'i'N ''''
oior oxplorer has done well to pass tie
ohoroe over with Indifference. 1t Will be obvious
.. o,v one who reads the present WI
,,r.s that so far from shiri<inS his duty
In leaving the Fran, Nansen was ie"''
carving out his task to the pi''e' Gnu
riskinr his life far more desperd'e'! IMAM
the men he left behind risked 'he"9 "
allowing themselves to be deprived or MS ieau-
ersbip Sverdrup we'll quaIihed 10 urec'
the homeward voyage Of the Fran throus" III,
ice and out into the open sea 10 Norway anu
in the appendix from his pen WHICH "eS0ii"e'
the experiences of the party AFTER NalSe" ia"
,e,, detached from, IT, he shows that the latter
was never seriously needed during that period
of time If needed at all. Nansen brought the
Fran through the worst Of its adventures ana
when he left the ship he had assured hihseii
that everything was favorable to us easy re-
turn to the homeward route. Moreover ne lei.
the entire company in the best OF heai'h ana
with everything in the way OF PROVISIONS am
munition, fuel and clothing that could be needed
II they were kept frozen in FOR several years
He and Johanscn, the other hand turned
their faces toward extraordinary peril
Before them lay the ice. Whittier would 1t lead
them? They could guess. they could estimate
with tolerabe accuracy, the time 1t would take
them to reach the Pole and then strike southwest
md Cam
ultimately found Jackson. But with all those
miles between them and the Pole. and with the
dangerously limited supplies and equipment that
they and their dog, could draw. how could they
he sure of overcoming every obstacle, how could
they know that they might not lose their proVi-
sions be overcome by the elements. be laid up
with scuryy or be checkmated in half a dozen
other WAYS? hansen worked the thing out on pa
pcr before he undertook the expedition. before he
asked Johansen to accompany him. but both men
knew that they were riskng their lives In the
venture and there can be no talk OF infdelity In
the presence Of their courageous audacity Ger
ta.nlv the men left on the Fran had no feeling
that Nansen was doing wrong In separating from
them. on the contrary, they knew that ne was
leaving them in comparative comfort, that ne
and Joharsen might very easily be swalioWed up
forever in the Arctic night. Not man on the
Fran but was eager to take Johansehs place.
rot man but positively envied the TWO as they
started on their journey. There was no SUCH
thing a. fear among these thirteen There Is
eon,etbine aln,ogt urcanny in Nansens indiffer-
orc. 70 danger once he had resolved 10 take
70 the sedges he exuled in the prospect or break
ing away at last from the inactivity or lie on
the Fran and he ard Johansen started IN hiSh
spirIts Twice they had 10 return, after having
gone but short distance. In order TO repair I'M
expected damages to the sledGes and to make
them stronger than had at first seemed neces-
sarv Their goodbys were cheerful Inc last
thing Syerdrup asked me when sitting on MS
s,edpc lust as we were about to part, was If
thought should go to the South Pole when got
home. for If so, he hoped would wait till he ar
rived" This shows the temper OF the men.
The following fifteen months were cruel be-
vond oven Nansen's measures Of description lie
implies more than he tells the suiferings of him.
cole and his companions. Sometimes the entry
| IN the diary Isl Splendid ice for getting over.
but again he writes: "Ice not so good: yesterday
| was q hard day but we made few miles-not
| more though than seven. am afraid The Ice
| grew worse and worse. being one long stretch
Of hummocks and jagged bitches. with now ana
! then n lane OF open water around when they
would toll I'm misery only to find another and a
worse one Just ahead. The cold grew more ana
more intense During the course OF the day the
damn exbaIations of the body had little by little
become condensed In our outer garments. which
were now mass Of ice and transformed into
complete suits OF ice arm0r. They were so nara
and stiff that II we had only been able to get
tbem off they could have stood by themselves,
and they cracked audibly every time we moved
these clothes were so stiff that the arm Of my
cd
during our marches one of these sores-the one
on the right hand-got frostbtten. the wound
| .rsu, deener and deeper and nearly reached the
| hone tried to protect 1t with bandages. but
| MT until late In the summer did 1t heal and |
| sbal, nrobably have the scar for life" The cold
| made them so sleepy that while eating they
| would lose consciousness and the spoons lifted
to their mouths would fly out of their hands,
| while the latter fell back inanimate. AS the
weeks wore on they had to kill the dogs one by
one feeding their flesh to the survivors.
This was horrible work. nasmuch as they
dared not waste ammunition the animals
but had to butcher them with knives. To avoid
| this revolving task they tried strangulatlon,
but though the two men put all their strength
! into the rope they could not kill the dog and
had TO have recourse 10 the knife. Their pre-
cious ammunition was then constantly required
for the slaughtering OF the pears ana NalruscS
that they encountered 80 frequently that the
reader gives up in despair keeping tally Of the
animals they shot. one of their battles with bear
deserves to he described in Nansons own words,
as showing the imperturbabilty and courage
of his companion. After exhaustinG march
we at last reached lane where we had to ferry
over In the kayaks. After having cleared the
side of the lane from young ice and brash.
my ed %
holding it to prevent it slipping in. when heard
a scuiiie behind me, and Johanscn who had
lust turned round to pull his sedge flush with
mine, cried: Take the gun" turned
round and saw enormous bear throw
inc itself on him, and Johansen ON his