The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-09-03


ing hands, and the Eskimos set them
selves to the problem of devsing Il
suitable outfit. Before the end of the
long winter night we were ready for
the enterprise, and plans had matured
to force a new route over Grinnell
Land northward along its west coast
out on to the polar sea.
AT sunrise Of Feb. 10. 1908 the
main expedition embarked on its vow
age to the pole. 1t consisted Of eleven
men and 103 dogs drawing eleven
heavily laden slpdges.
"Thc expedition left the Greenland
shore and pushed westward over the
troubled ice of Smith sound. The
gloom of the long night was relieved
only by few hours of daylight. The
chill of the winter was felt at its
worst.
LAS we crossed the heights of Ellcs-
mere sound to the Pacific slope the
temperature sank to minus S3 degrees
c. Several dogs were frozen. and the
mon suffered severely, but we soon
found the game trails. along which the
way was easy.
eve forced through Nansen sound to
Lands End. In this march we secured
1O1 musk oxen, Z bears and go hares
We pushed out into the polar sea from
the southern point of Herbert island
on March IS.
'SiX Eskimos returned from here.
With four men and forty-siX dogs NOV
ing supplies for eighty days the cross
ing of the circumpolar pack was be
gun. Three days later two other Eski-
mos. forming the last supporting par
ty, returned. and the trials had now
been reduced by the survival of the
fittcSt. The two best men and twenty
six dogs were picked for the final eff
fort.
"ThCrp before us in an unknown line
of AGO miles lay our goal. The first
days provided long marches. and we
made encouraging progress. a big
lead which separated the land from
the ice of the central pack was crossed
WIN lirtlc delay.
"Thc low temperature was persist
cnt. and the winds made life Il torture
But. cC0Ncd up in our snow houses.
eating dried hrCf, tallow and drinking
NOT tea. there were some animal com
fcrtS occasionally To be gained.
"Nor several days artcr thr sight of
known land was lost the overcast sky
prevented IN accurate determination
ii our Positions. ON March 30 the ho-
riz"n WAS partly cleared, ANA new land
AZ
our position as latitude 81 degrees -
minutes. longitude ST degrees 3G min
utC$. There was urgent need of rapid
advance. our main mission did not
permit Il dCtoHr for the purpose of eX-
plcring the coast. Here were seen the
last si%nS of solid earth. Bcyond there
was nothing stable to he seen.
We advanced steadily over the mo-
nutony of movin% sea ice and now
found ourselves beyond the range Of
all life. Neither footprints of bears
nor the blow holes of seals were de-
tCctCd. 4.Ven the microscopic creatures
of the deep were no longer under us.
Tho mnddcnin% influence of the
shifting desert Of frost became almost
, uncomfortable in the daily routine The
surface of the pack offered less and
less trouble. and the weather mprov-
ed. hut there still remained the life
Sappin% wind. which drove despair to
its lowest recess. Tho extreme cold
compelled physical action. Thus day
after day our weary legs spread over
bic distances. Incidents and positions
were recorded. but adventure was
promptly forgotten in the next days
efforts The night IF April 7 was made
notable by the SWIMMING Of the sun ut
midnight over iii" northern ice. sun
burns and frOStbitcS now were record
ed on the same day. but the double
days glitter infused quite an incentive
into ones life of shivers.
"Our observation on April = placed
the camp in latitude Sc degrees sc
minutes. longitude "a degrees , min
uteS. In spite of what seemed long
marches we advanced but little over
100 miles. Much of our work was lost
in circuitOuS twists, around trouble
some pressure lines and high, irregu-
lar fields. \ very old ice drift. too,
was driving eastward with sufficient
force to give some anxiety.
although still equal TO about fifty
/ miles daily, the extended marches and
! the long hours for travelling with
which fortune favored us earlier were
no longer possible. We were now
about 200 miles from the pole, and
sledge loads were reduced. One dog
after another went into the stomachs
Of the hungry survivors until the
teams were considerably diminished
in number, but there seemed to re-
main a sufficient balance for man and
brute to push along into the heart of
the mystery to which we had set our
| selves.
"On April 21 we had reached SO de-
grees so minutes 46 seconds. The pole
was in sight. We covered the remain.
ing fourteen seconds and made q few