New-York tribune., 1901-09-29
Northumberland Island.

O., the direction OF civilization. The sky is cloud
less the sun bright. the air almost absolutely
-, 1-,,a thermometer registers 47 degrees in the
shade ga degrees in the This is such day as
might make one wish to remain In the arctic All ms
life II IL were not for the memory OF Gays Oh ull-
ferent character. Such memory unfortunately
Is vivid with US now Last Saturday the steamer
Vindward left here 10 go to Academy Bay. We had
been gIaddened by the assurance Of ten days more
on this island and were planning no" 10 spehu
them 10 best advantage Imagine our feelhsS
when on getting up next morning we iound the
ground covered with an inch Of snow and the nakes
still falling fast. For three days we were Kew
iuprisoned in the tent. the wind meantime threat
ening to deprive us Of our shelter such surprise
NAV here be expected any day, even In midsufn-
mer Last year at Cape York snow teH seVerai
times In July.
Going out this morning, found ice quarter of
an inch thick a lake behind the tent On small
pools il is thicker. The dwarf willow whose bright
green was SO conspicuous during the brief summer
weeks is now turning yellow. The little auks have
reared their young. and are beginning TO move
southwark. Autumn evidently Is upon us Ana
the sun does not yet set at midnight! When we
arrived here on July g. the plants were just be-
ginning TO burst into bloom. All the wet sandy
places were dotted with the brilliant purple OF the
serwausa the earliest Towering plant in tnis
region I do not know English name. The peaty
edges Of rills and pools were gay with outtercups'
the bright gold of the poppy began TO geam here
and there gravelly slopes and on the shelves OF
rock faces A vssk later everything was IN fuii
biOom i especially 0ensnteu 10 Hhu du!le
colony OF II old acquaintance-dandeiion. Ii may
give an idea Of arctic plant growth 10 say that the
colony OF some hundred specimens occupied a
piece Of ground Of about two acres fshaTng II with
grasses, mosses. willow, etc). The ground slopes
very gently southwark, the surface Is diVersihed
nv ridges OF rock with gentle slope northeastward
and vertical faces (about foot high southeast
ward At the OF these vertical faces. In SOFT
he'd Of peat and mould nestle the dandelions otten
INTERVIEWING their roots with the dwarf Willow
he has committed its tUrted Seeds
TO the wind most OF the pOppies have wilted or
turned green: hardly flower is to be seen six
weeks of what in New-York could be called October
weather interrupted by occasional sno~iall-lhdt
is the arctic summer. The record would be a gloomy
one If the winter temperature was correspondingIy
'op Fortunately the process which lowers the
mer temperature, namely the absorption OF
he. by the melting Of snow and ice. Is reversed
-sfr on; the freezing Of water and vapor sets
enough latent heat 10 keep the temperature. at
IN this region. almost always above 10 and
M .e1eraly above 20 N other words, the winter Of
~ Smith Sound is, the whole with the exception
Of seventy-1ve days Of complete darkness, not
much different from that Of Dakota.
- story of our second years stay will be more
IN ligible If prefaeed by brief account of The
lrst year.
Our plan was TO establish a station the west
side Of Alexandra Haven, in Kane Basin, and
rom there proceed westward, either overland or
through any channel that might exist, and there
upon explore the west shore OF Elsmere Land
fer south as possible. Several circumstances in
terfered with this plan. We learned on arriving
hr that the Fran had been detained in that
very vicinity and had most likely done all the
work proposed Later found that Peary,
too. had done large part Of It. The steamer
Diana Gid not return TO Cape Sabine with eight
vslrus. according TO promise that ten dogs
slowly died Of starvation. Finally. in January.
learned by a letter from Peary that owing TO a
change in his plan the Windwsrd would not
turn south the following summer so that
should have means Of getting home that year,
nor, perhaps the next year. AS all arrange
ments were made for year only. DR. Kann and
I decided 20 go to Upernavik and from there
Denmark by Danish vessel. As Peary, however.
OF. his visit March expressed the opinion that
the Fran party had probably left consldera ble
wor for to do. / finally determined that If at
Ipe navik j learned definitely what the Fran had
doEs, and that some of our proposed work re-
maj ned undOne. l would return and try do the
wort the following spring.
The lateness Of the season and the deep
prey ented us from getting further than Cape York
? he e ived-hrst in a native stone hut and
sfte ward in native tents-from May l2 to June 3
waiting for the Scotch whaIers Our own pro-
visions gave out and had 10 live entirely on
Isttye fare. Our worst trouble, however, was the
uncertainty OF the whalers' arrival AT last
jane 8. the suspense broken. lgyengwa, the
most sharp sighted boy at Cape York, came run
ming down In breathless haste crying. 'Umiahsoal
In ahsOar' Ga steamer a steamerD In a few
colony dashed over the Ice toward the open water.
Not sign Of smoke did either OF us anywhere.
bu' the EsQuimaus when asked where the steamer
was, pointed confidently southeastWard. Arrived
81 The edge OF the ice. had the satisfaction OF
seeing three steamers approaching rapidly. Soon
the first one. the Eclipse, made fast the ice and
IN another minute were on board. We learned
thai the Fran had not been heard OF. This
hrnled me in the resolution. which had been pretty
well settled before, return TO Cape Sabine Moth
ing could exceed the kindness or the captains
milne Adams and Guy) toward us Provisions
anc other supplies for my continued stay at Cape
York were furnished with the greatest llberaIity
and again and again the question was asked lis
there anything else that you would lke?" After
enjoying an ample civilized meal the Eclipse
We moved 10 the Diana. where wine and music
awaited US. The toast which orered-"To the
Angio-American alliance.-was rendered less
sincere by the impressions OF the moment The
captains were all deeply interested In international
questions. and in the course of an hour we remade
the map OF Europe In a most satisfactory way
an appropriate occupation IN No Mans Land We
distressed 20 learn of the South African com
fict between two Germsnie nations. but delighted
20 hear OF the way In which Americans had ex-
pressed their Anglo-Saxon sympathy-by sending
the hospital ship Maine TO the OF war
When finally the ships moved away and I was
left alone the ice among the Esqumaus dis
tributed my supplies among four sledges and We
moved leisurely landward. When the four loads
were assembled at my future tent place tho Es-
quimaus, forming a circle around the stately pile
looked at II in mute establishment, and / thought
could read In their faces the reflection: How