The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-10-20
SvERDRUP'S ARCTIC WORK.
He Has Made Important Discoy cries to the
West Of ElIesmere Land.

on the west coast Of Ellesmere Land. and
, among hitherto unknown islands in the polar
sea TO The west Of that region. His purpose
was 20 ascend the channels through Smith
Sound and ascerta ain the extension Of Green
land toward the north and whether this
great Arctic land finally breaks into groups
| Of islands in the north. His inability 10
| push the Fran through the ice OF these
| channels in the summers Of 1898 and 1899
caused q complete change in his plans and
after he had given up the hope OF reaching
the high northern latitudes he had in view,
! he turned southwark to Jone~ Sound. south
| OF E1iesmere Land, where all his work
was done during the last two years Of his
| stay in the Arctic.
While the Fran was still in the ice OF
the Smith Sound channel. however. he
sent sledge parties 10 the southwest over
the inland ice OF Ellesmere Land. Three
| OF these parties succeeded In adding much
| to our information Of the interior OF this
large region. which had never been pene
| trated by any Of the earlier explorers. They
found In the more s,utherly par Of Elles-
mere Land . great glacier dist riot while
the country further to the north 10 free
| from ice. Sverdr,ip also succeeded in
| making a map Of Hayes Sound. which pene-
| trates deeply into the land between Elles-
mere Land on the south and Arthur Land
on the north.
Sverdrip left Smith Sound on Aug. %.
! 1892 and took the Fran into Jones Sound.
where he spent the winter on the south side
| Of Ellesmere Land. about half way up the
sound between Bafin Bay and Belcher
| Channel He did not succeed during the
t,Ia ~ 10, f<r, hn
westward through the ice Of the western
part Of Jones Sound. All his later explora-
tions, which were rich in results were made
10y sledge parties.
| One OF his first discoveries was that the
| southeastern part Of the Ellesmere Land
coast line does not curve northward as
shown on Ingleield's map, hut extends
a considerable distance in a true westerly
| direction. Sedging westward along the
sound was at all times more or less diff
cult on account OF the rugged ice. In
many places there we're pressure ridges
where the ice was heaped high and had to
be worked through with pick axes and
spades to make a passage for the sledges.
| At other places the ice would be quite
smooth
On the SOU, heas, coast Of Ellesmere Land.
north Of Jones Sound an enormous bay
was discovered about 100 miles in breadth
and penetrating into Elesmere. On the
northern side Of this bay large and COM
plicated fords are situated The south
coast Of Ellesmere extends about fifty
miles west Of this bay. after which IL runs
in north and northwesterly direction.
On the west coast Of Ellesmere Land
in about go west, q large system Of fiords
was discovered. The neighborhood around
these fiords is probably the part Of Files
mere Land that most abounds in game
Musk oxen. reindeer and wolves are very
| plentiful,
| In about 7so north a sound was found
separating North Cornwall from tract Of
new lands situated TO the north These
lands are about 100 miles north Of the Parry
Islands. the most northern land previously
discovered in this part OF the polar sea
On the west coast Of one OF the islands he
explorers looked out far to the west without
seeing any more islands They reached
the northern coast and here also. looking
to the north, they could see not hing but
the rough polar ice. All the new islands
with Ellesmere Land. are rather low. the
! lhRiIfc' nov oNfT ,UD letT
The mapping Of the southwest and west =.
ern coasts Of Ellesmere Land and the dis
covery of these islands to the north Of the
Parry Archipelago. are the main fruits Of
the Franz expedition. Throughout their
work the explorers were able to capture
sufficient wslrus for dog meat. and a con-
siderable number Of musk oxen provided
the explorers with plenty OF fresh food
A sedge expedition was sent down We'll
lington Channel to Beechey Island in order
10 secure certain supplies of which they
were very much in need, from the cache
of the English expedition. planted there
many years ago, The supply depot. how
ever, was found to have been DESTROYED,
probably by polar bears. and only a part
OF the house remained standing
When Sverdrup returned from one OF
his sledgng expeditions. in May, 1900, he
learned the very exciting news that the
Fran had been in the greatest danger
OF being wholly destroyed by fire. The
awning had been ignitsd by a spark from
he funnel and was soon entirely cnveloped
in flames. The kayaks. or sealskin boats.
stored under the awning, as well a. OF her
infammable material. burned fiercely An
iron tank containing about 200 li,ers Of
| spirits stood in the middle Of the Hre
The main rigging and the mast caught fire
Fort unately this accident, which might
easily have involved a great tragedy. oc-
CURED in the middle Of the day when there
we're plenty of men about on the deck
All Arctic explorers keep large hole open
in the ice beside their vessels so that they
may have plenty Of water with which to
eXtnguish fire. This precauton had. Of
course. been taken, and 80 the men were
able to subdue tho flames; but the Fran
had never before been so near destruct ion
A considerable number Of musk OK and
bear skins were destroyed.
Sverdrup has undoubtedly considerably
extended our knowledge NJ a region whose
exploration promised rich rewards His
map will he an important contribution
10 tho improv emen' of the atlas sheet 3
Of this part Of the Arctic, In popula
interest /, cannot he expected that these
explorations will equal the remarkable
sledge journey by which Peary has re.
vealed the limits OF the north and north
| western extension of tho land rnassas . =.