The times., 1898-04-03
WOMEN POLAR EXPLORERS
A Russian Woman Established Il
Record n Century Ago.

The achievements of women are not
confined to the temperate zones. 1t is
we'll known that in 1891, Mrs. Peary ac-
companied her husband to Mccormick
Bay, on the northwestern coast of Green
land, where she wintered with him at
Red Cliff House." Quilt by The expedi-
tom in 7 degrees and As minutes north
latitude, and that. last summer. she and
her little daughter Marie Peary, ap-
preached still nearer to the north pole,
reaching cape Sabine on the Hope. This
is the fatal spot from which Gen Greely
was rescued after the death OF nineteen
comrades, and is rs degrees north, within
degrees of the ''farthest north" on land
that of Lockwood and Brainard i'll 1882
In July. 1875, there sailed from Irkutsk,
Siberia, down the Lena River, into the
Arctic seas, an expedition commanded by
Russian, Lieut.. Pronchistshef. He was
i'll search of the northeast passage" 3"
On board the ship was his bride who,
rather than be separated from the man
she had just welded, cheerfully braved
the perils-more vague and terrible then
eof the north, at his side. The old rec
ords state that the ship managed, despite
the ice. to pass through the most eastern
mouth of the Lena, and then sailed
sage between the ice. not more than 100
or 200 yards wide, almost reaching Cape
Chelyuskin. the northernmost land of
Siberia; but here they were stopped by
ice, and here they were forced to winter
in latitude II degrees. 4S minutes north.
In order to fully appreciate what ii meant
for a woman to do this, it must he re-
membered that in 1875 great ignorance
prevailed as TO the conditions of Arctic
life Tho ~ ha \
ditions on the miserable little sailing yes-
sells, often hardly fit even to sleep upon.
were extremely mcager and could in no
way bear comparison with the carefully
fitted up ships sent north in this century.
The party of Pronchistshef lived
through the Winter suffering from many
fearful privations, and in the Spring
they broke loose from the ice and head
ed the ship back. And here. near the
mouth of the river Olenek, on this
homeward voyage, the courageous little
bride died. Her death was followed in
two days by that of her brave husband,
Lieut.. Pronchistshef Thus ended the
first Arctic romance.
This exploit remained unparalleled for
over 100 years. when Nine d dAunet, in
iS39 visited the island of Spitzbergen.
on board the ship La Recherche, sent
out by France and commanded by Capt.
F'abvre. There was also on board a
committee of scientists. who accomplish
ed much valuable work. La Recherche
sailed to Magdalena Bay, SpitZbergen.
which is 70 degrees and 50 minutes north
two degrees farther north than Mrs.
Pronchistshef and one and a half farther
than Mrs. Peary. Nine. d d'Aunet on her
safe return home. describes the ceme-
terry of fishers in Magdalena Bay, the
men who lost their lives on that bleak
coast. 1t is the farthest north of any
burying ground III the world.
II counted fifty-two graves in this
cemetery" she says, which is the most
forbidding in the wide world; a cemetery
without epitaphs, without monuments
without flowers, without remembrances
without tears, without regrets, without
prayers; a cemetery of desolation, where
oblivion doubly environs the dead
where is heard no sigh, no voice, no hu-
man step: terrifying solitude, a pro-
found and frigid silence. broken only by
the fierce growl of the polar bear or the
moaning of the storm"