Washington sentinel., 1898-04-09
MIR. +. q. jackson ON Arctic
Exploration.

But such was certainly not the
case with us, and / can safely say
we were as busy, what with scien-
tlfic observations OF all kinds, and
with work incidental to our life, as
any men could be. II is to this
that attribute our good health,
and the happiness and cheerfulness
Of our party. In three years not
one Of us had an hours illness, and
/ never knew a single man knock
off work on account Of indisposi-
tion during the whole time lover
three years.. Meteorological OBJ
servations were taken every two
hours, day and night. AS soon as
our dogs were landed they showed
they had been on company" be-
havior while on board ship. Carlo,
a big retriever, opened the ball by
killing one of the Ostriak dogs.
To check his canicIdal proclivities
l tied the dead dog round his neck.
This, however, he evidently viewed
as an excellent arrangement, es.
pecially devised for the Arctic,
where the food supply is defective,
and at once proceeded to make a
cold lunch of his late adversary.
looking up to me with grateful eye,
evidently thinking it was very con-
sideTate of Jackson thus to provide
him with lardeT right at hand.
1t was in our third spring. in the
year 1897, that we discovered St.
Chad's Head. We started, myself
and one other, on icurneY north
wards. AT the be ginning OF March,
with team OF thirteen dogs-the
remnant of our packard our
surviving pony, wearing snow
shoes which had constrU cted, we
pushed north up the British Chan
mel, with the object of discovering
the limits of that western land, and
settling, II possible, the Gillis Land
question. The ordinary charts
placed this northwest Of Prince
George Land, but we have con-
clusively proved that they are in
error. AT an early stage our diff
culties began. The second night
the precious pony broke loose, and
goTged herself with dried Vegeta-
bles. These were her usual fod-
der, with dog biscuits and few
pounds of oats which remained,
the supply Of proper horse food
having run out more than twelve
months before, AS expected, the
surfeit oil dried vegetables brought
on a serious illness, to remedy
which, we clubbed together small
supply of pills we had with us.
We made up a dose of tw enty two
in all, which | administered to our
invalid pony mixed up in some
frozen fat from our frying pan.
This, l am glad to say, had the de-
sired effect of at all eve nts partially
restoring her to health; and II l
could have fed her upon oats or
any legitimate horse food, she
would, think. be alive now. But
she never recovered sufficiently to
battle with the weather, which,
from the outset, was remarkably
bad.
After rounding Cape John Muir
ray on March a7, a new Fjord, or
what at first appeared such, ap-
peared in view At its southern
entrance tall black rock, chiefly
columnar, and apparently wholly
basaltic, jutted out of the glaciated
land. The cape rose to a height
OF TOUR hundred feet, but though l
searched it carefully for anything
OF botanical, geological, or other
interest, / found only few MOSES
and lichens, and a single saxifrage.
This was the cape l named, after
my old school, St. Chad's Head.
The weather now became worse
than ever. Gales OF wind and
driving snow gave us no rest, and
the temperature was as low as
minus 40 degrees. found one oil
the dogs frozen as hard as a rock,
and another frozen down in the
ice SO that 1 had to hack il out to
set it free. The severe weather
killed all our dogs but five, and
our task was often most laborious,
for we had to drag the sledges up
every incline, as our pony was al
most exhausted. On the glacier
land, too, there were frequent
crevasses. One day, suddenly
without warning or any indication
on the surface to show its pres
ence, the pony dropped all four
legs into a crevasse, and lay sus-
pended over a deep, black abyss
upon a bridge of snow. Fortu-
nately she was too frightened to
struggle, otherwise both she and
the sledges would have disap-
peared. Luckily she did not
move a muscle. My comrade,
seeing what had happened, at once
came to my assistance, but unfoT-
tunately stepped of his ski TO give
a hand, and at once dropped in
above his hips. Fortunately he
cor out while was endeavoring to
hold the pony up. We passed a
line round her neck, and managed
to extract her from her psrIlous
position. She had hardly gone
another hundred yards before she
dropped both hind legs into SIM
liar place. There was nothing
whatever on the surface to indicate
the treacherous character of the
glacier we were travelling upon
not even a slight depression in the
snow. When we pitched our camp
for the night, carefully sounded
all round the immediate neighbor-
hood TO endeavor to ascertain the
y,raeeure of creVaSseS.