New-York tribune., 1905-06-17

6f16 r! SoTdenskj6ld and Dr. job. Gunnar An
fTdS GeI naintngs by F. w Stokes, and 224 Illus
trations from photographs ana arawiiiss' draw ''0
pp Xxx, SOS. The Macmillan COMPANY
If in reading of the loneliness and the dangers
of Polar explorers, the stay-at-hoihe iii M
comfortable library often asks hlmseh "ha' po9
sibIa allurement those cherries regions can
have for any one even the hardest the answer
is at the same time constantly revealed 10 mn.
y, tho snrit of scientific enthusiasm. the zest Oh
oioneer adventure that pervade the RECORDS Oh
those who have thus suffered and discovered
Such was the spirit, such the lnVlncloie aura
ton that gripped the members OF the SWeoiSii
| expedition of the international South Polar eA-
/ ploration of 1901-03. Condemned by d season Oh
| exceptional severity. and-though 1ortuna'eiy
| ignorant of the fact7bys theeloss OF their snip
to second year of isolation and redoubled hard-
ship. the men left at the winter station actually
| welcomed the opportunity thus afforded them
of verifying their observations and Of extend
ing their investigations. The reader even finds
himself synpa thizing with their apprehensions,
as the hoped for time of release draws near, that
it will not come too soon before they nave COM
pleted the programme Of work they had laid
down to be accomplished. And he is rewarded
| with them in the dramatic climax to their ad-
ventures as roma ntica1ly improbable and OPP
| perfume as could have been contrived by the
| most ingenious of fiction writers.
| Nordenskj6ld and one companion, toward the
close of their second year, had undertaken a de-
Iayed sledge trip northward which proved rich
| in geographical discoveries. including the de-
| limitation of Ross and Vega Islands and the
| great Grown Prince Ciustaf Channel, which sep
| arates them from the mainland of East Antarc-
| tica These important facts ascertained an lr-
resistible impulse led Nordenski6ld to approach
| a prominent headand that lay somewhat out of
| his course He had not gone far in its direction
| when he saw something that sent him shore
| ward on the run-three black and bearded saw
| ages but human beings, who approached him at
a similar pace Not until they had told him who
they were was he able to recognize them An
dersson, his second in command; Captain Duse,
| the cartograp pher of the expedition. and Grun-
! den a member of the Antarctic's crew. They
| explained that when the ship had been unable
| to approach the winter station the previous year
| on account of the ice. they had been put ashore
| to make their way afoot to the station for the
purpose of notifying Nordenskj0ld and the others
| of the vessels safety and of the renewed at
| tempt that would be made the next year to res
cue them. The roughness of the ice which pre-
vented their dragging their sledge, had rendered
| it impossible for them to accomplish their task,
and they had been forced to spend the winter
In miserable hut. under conditions more mis-
erabie still They now making second
| attempt to reach the winter station.
| As they had passed along the very coast that
| Nordenskj6ld was about to explore. he lost no
| time in turning back with them, the five men
soon arriving safely at Snowhill Island, where
the station was located. Within a short time
| thereafter the reinforced colony astonfshed
by visit from two officers of the Argentine
| navy who came to them, walking across the ice.
| They reported that no news had been received
| of the Antarctic during the last year. and that
their government had accordingly equipped a
| vessel for the relief OF the Norwegians and the
Argentine naval lieutenant, sorbal who had ac-
companied them. With all haste the party made
ready to leave Immediately and to go in search
of their missing ship for the fate of which and
of the other members Of the expedition they
! now felt the deepest concern. The Argentine
! officers at once returned to their vessel which
lay a few miles distant, while Nordenskj6ld
and his companions continued their preparations
for departure.
A novelist might well hesitate before choosing
this critical moment for the arrival of a boat
load of survivors from the shiowrecked Ant
arctic unless he had constructed his plot with
the incest skill; yet In reality this exactly
what occurred Caught and crushed by the ice
the sturdy little ship had gone the bottom
months before. and after a series of thrilling
adventures and hairbreadth escapes, Captain
Larsen had conducted his crew and the mem
bers of the expedition by boat and over the
foating breaking ice to Paulet Island. They
had spent the winter there. mostly in sleeping
bags under a rude stone shelter, with little tc
eat besides the flesh of penguins and seals. onlJ
one member of the crew had died, and he o
heart disease At the first opportunity Larser
and five others had rowed and dragged theil
boat to the snowhili station, reaching 1t. as We