The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-01-12
JANUARY 1s 1eo

graphy, besides discovering new land
 to the south of the Weddellsea.
 A remarkable accomplishment of a Dundee whaling master was that of Captain Adams of the Morning, who, in 1897, successfully piloted fleet of a dozen merchant ships, laden with gen. eral cargoes, through the dangerous Kara Sea to the Gulf of Obi and the River Yenessi. Thus was demonstra- ted the possibility of the regular over sea trade between Great Britain and Northern Siberia, which Captain Wig gins had so long advocated. Two years later. however, another expedi- ton from the Thames proved disas- trous failure. The squadron was beat en back by the ice in the Kara Sea, and one of the vessels was lost.
 The main resort of the whaling ves- sels is Davis Strait. They sail up the west coast of Greenland, through Mel vile bay, where great numbers of ships have been crushed in the ice and lost, to Cape York The vessels then cross the Strait to Baffin's Land, where whales are hunted until the brief Arc tic summer ends. But the Whalers sometimes go further afield, One ship regularly visits Hudson Bay, and in 1892 the scarcity of whales in the north, and the alluring pictures of Sir James Rose and other explorers of the abundance of bone yielding whales in the south, induced four ships of the Dundee fleet to sail for the Antarctic. They found plenty of whales, but none of the species sought for,
 Nansen's glowing accounts of the abundance of walrus on the. coasts of Franz Josef Land led the Balaena and other Dundee vessels to pay those des- olate islands a visit in 1S97 The Bal aena was the fourth vessel that had ever sailed in these waters, and on it's arrival Captain Robertson and his crew were welcomed by MT, Jackson and other members of the Jackson Harmsworth expedition, who had spent three years at their camp at Elmwood, in the vicinity of Cape Flora, in abso- lute isolation from the civilized world. The visit of the whalers created the intensest joy. Never had thrilling story teller more rapt listeners than had the Tayside men as they related all the great and small happenings in the outside world during those three age-ling years; nor the explorers more sympathetic hearers as they told of their hardships in that land of thick ribbed ice" and long darkness, where for months the sun is not seen above the horizon.
 Shortly after this meeting the Wlnd- ward arrived to convey the explorers home, and the Balaena, the Active and the Diana all Dundee whalers-were present to bid them farewell. Rouslng cheers from the whalers crews rang out into the stiffness of that Arctic scene. and the Wlndward's crew re- sponded with lusty rendering of the national anthem.
 Captain Robertson found in the viz cinity of Cape Flora the hut occupied by MT. Leigh Smith and his party, who fifteen years previously had explored the islands, and who in consequence of their ship, the Eira, being crushed in the ice, were compellel to spend a win ter there. The hut was just as the ex- plorers left it, and the seamen's empty chests were still ranged around tn walls, the lids bearing the names of the owners.
 The whaling masters love their call- ing and delight to relate their many exciting experiences. Enough has, per- haps, been said here, however, to show the interest and variety of their lives, and also the good work they do in a quiet and transformations manner.