The age-herald., 1899-03-26

plorat1on, that or one explorer gong lnto the field already occupied by another and attempting to carry out work already plan ned It remains to be seen whether Sver- drups Norwegians, with the chances of dis aster increased by their comparatively large number, will be equal to the sledging feats in the coming season of the Ameri- can explorer, who nas been called by Sir Clements R. Markham "the greatest ice traveller in the world
 Six of Sverdrup's crew are men of scien- tifc education, and geology, botany and zoology are all represented by specialists. Astronomical, magnetic and other physlcai observations will be taken, and special at- tention will be given to glacial phenomena and to the study of the exact nature of the so-ca.-ed paleocrystic, whose origin, form aton and drift are not yet understood. The party is equipped for four years.
 Sverdrups plan to use his ship as winter quarters for his men does not accord with the judgment of Arctic explorers generally who since the Mares expedition in 1875, have regarded 1t as far preferable, when an expedition has a land base, to live in house on shore. The Fram's stores include 170 bottles of brandy and large supply or tobacco, which is quite an innovation on modern ideas of Arctic equipment, the pre- vailing opinion being that creature com forts of this sort are better left at home.
 The purely Canadian expedition Is plan of Captain Berniers, of Quebec, who IS backed by the Quebec Geographical society and the Laurier government. It will start in May, as all the money necessary to de- fray the cost of the outfit Is now in the hands of those having the matter in charge.
 Captain Bernier says there is no special originality in his plans They are based on the results achieved by Nansen. He Is of the opinion that many of the other expe- ditions failed because they were planned in tod !. ward in seas where the current ran to- ward the south. As the vessel advanced in a northerly direction 1t was consequently meeting drift ice, which, instead of assist ing it, barred its progress.
 If the explorers advanced on sledges over the ice foe, they became exhausted by useless efforts, for the slow current grad ually drove to the south the foe on which they thought they were advancing. In the case of these expeditions which were the exceptions to this rule unforeseen circum- stances interfered with their success This was the experience of both the Jeanette and the Tram, and Captain De Long was perfectly justified, according to Bernier, in saying that If his vessel had resisted the pressure of the ice he would have passed over the pole or in its immediate vicinity. Bernier estimates that If De Long had re- mained upon the ice foe which crushed his vessel, he would, three years later at the most, have reached spitzbergen, as 1t was part of northerly bound drift
 Captain Bernier proposes to take advant- age of such northern-bound currents. He intends chartering a good sealing steamer and proceed to the mouth of the Lena river, Siberia, and as far further toward the north as possible, probably abandoning her in about 70 degrees north and between 13O and 140 degrees east longitude. The party will consist of seven men, including two scientific observers, and two Eskimos to take care of the dogs and reindeer With every equipment that human ingenuity can devise he expects at a minimum rate of four miles a day to reach the pole, and within eighteen months to have finished his mission and reached Spitzbergen in the other hemisphere.
 As a precautionary measure the expedi- tion will be provisioned for two years and a half. In his equipment there will be a unique boat in compartments built of alum mum and wood with all the necessary ap- pliances for wind and hand power and so arranged that it will serve also as house.
 There will be thirty sledges of various kinds modelled to carry from 1,500 to 1000 pounds each, also made of aluminium and wood, to fit into and form the bottom of rubber raft twenty-five feet long, six feet wide, four feet deep and capable of carry ing 1S,000 pounds. Six skeleton kayaks will form part of the outfit, with covers detach- ed but ready for use in case of emergency. Each of these kayaks will be able to ac- commodate two men and six months pro- visions.
 Captain Bernier will take with him 12o tame and unhorned reindeer to be utilized in carrying the provisions as far north possible They will be fed with about four hundred pounds of moss a day, and killed one by one to feed the dogs, of which there will be fifty or sixty of the Siberian hound variety. Before going into winter quarters the remaining reindeer will be killed to pro- vide food for men and dogs