The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-09
The Croker Land Mirage.

When DONALD Il. MACMILLAN on
April %, 1914. reached the calcu-
lated site of Admiral PEARY's Crocker
Land, los 90 longitude east and lati-
tude 50 80. the weather was clear
and fine. hut no land was to he seen.
Thus died a myth. PEARy had en-
tertained n doubt that the field Of
mountains seen by him through his
glasses from Cape Thomas Hubbard.
the northern limit Of Axel Heiburg
Land. in the Polar expedition Of 1905,
was new land. perhaps n continent.
In the american Museum journal of
May. 1910, he wrote with faith un-
shaken:
THE exploration Of Crocker Land
easily takes frst rank anong problems
demanding exploration, now that the
pole has been reached and the in
sularity of Greenland has been deter
mined. And. further thar this. should
this land. the distant mountain peaks
of which I was fortunate enough to see
from the Cape OF Thomas Hubbard In
July. 1906. prove to be a land OF large
extent, the possibilities will be most al
Turing, for sue land will become the
gateway to other lands or seas repre-
sented by the large blank spaces on the
maps between the North Pole and
Bering Strait"
When a report from the far north
that the Macmillan expedition had
lean Museum Of Natural History last
November Admiral PEARY would not
he convinced. II believe" he said.
that | sighted Croker Land In 1906,
but do not care TO make any com
ment until I read the full report or
letter given to RASMUSSEN by Elk
BIAw." The full report having now
arrived there is nothing for the Ad-
mlral to do but surrender at dlscre-
ton. 1t was a mirage he saw from
Cape Thomas Hubbard, and we ven.
ture to say that no great Arctic
or Antarctic expedition was ever
financed and sent into the unknown
on such a nehulosity. The Crockcr
Land quest of the sturdy MACMILLAN
was the most serious Of prcmedita.
lions. hut the result al he taken
phlloSophlcally only by n man with a
sense Of humor. Fortunately. Pro
fessor MACMILLAN Is so blessed. but
his old leader may perhaps be par
doned for not looking pleasant when
the subject Is mentioned. Moreover,
Admiral PEARY has never been IA
nous for seeing the humorous side
of things.
II may be asked, How did RoRERr
f PEARY mistake a mirage for n
continent? The explanation is not
difficult when we know that the win
ter of 1906 and the spring and
summer OF 1906 were abnormally
warm in the Arctic. On his return
the explorer complained that after the
sun rose and the expedition started
north from It's winter base the unusual
warmth played havoc with the ice,
opening stretches OF water that de.
layed the advance toward the pole.
Such a condition was conducive to
m~irages.
In the Arctic region ships and Ice
bergs are sometimes seen as If inverted
and suspended In the atmosphere,
In the desert a mirage is produced
by abnormal heating Of the sand.
which causes the air above the desert
to expand. So that an object is viewed
from a distance through two sets Of
rays; in the upper air the sand is
seen reflected in the slmilitude Of 4
lake. In the Arctic abnormal condi-
lions may raise a stratum Of hot
air above the seas surface. and I'm
that medium the reflection of rough
lee, when seen from IA great distance.
might be mistaken for ''land.' We
offer this as an explanation Of the
trick that Nature played upon the
eyesight of Admiral PEARY.