Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-11-23
Playful Dogs Greeting
Drops Leader With
Broken arm.
DOWNED AGAIN in
Battle WITH BEAR
T,yo Members of Party
Lose Lives Trying
For Outside.

long as daylight lasted IL was pleas
ant, but as soon as night set IN the
pleasant part disappeared. The ship
acted as a kind OF foot ball roughly
handled by powerful players.
AIthoush The Maud is extremely
strong. continuous treatment like tnat
could only be fatal You might have
PROPOSED to slacken the speed. but
then we were sure of losing the
race. 1t was thoroughly disagree
able night On September 20 we
reached Ajon Island. only about a
hundred miles from the point of sale
ty, but here we saw that we had lost
the race The whole pack ice mao
already reached the easternmost part
of this island and was now in an
easterly drift. Ajon Island oners no
refuge whatever on the outside. and
the inside we could not reach. lit
tie belt Of ice, about mile broad.
had hooked on to the island, prob
ably kept there by some grounded
pieces We had really no choice. To
stay out In the drift ice would prob
ably mean to drift all Winter
through. To force our nose into this
mile of stationary ice as far as pos
stbie and then hang on was the only
thing to do. We went out into the
open water as far as possible and
aimed at the weakest looking part
of the shore ice. and then full speed
ahead!
The encounter was a hard one.
They who did not look ahead were
thrown Off their feet right then and
there. We kept going full speed
ahead for some hours and sue
ceeded in that way to force In about
so yards. What a place for the Win
ter, 1t could hardly have been
worse. Fifty yards of conglomerated
drift ice for protection. How we
watched those so yards during the
first days. Would they break of
and carry us out? or would they
augment? We were very fortunate
From the day We tied until we left
the place the following Summer we
never felt as much as shock on the
ice.
Find Natives Hospitable.
Ajon was a table-formed island.
about zoo feet high. falling abruptly
down to the sea, a very narrow beach
ringing IL. But this narrow beach
was covered with driftwood, an invtt-
ing sight. Still more Interesting
were two native tents on the top of
the island. AS soon as possible we
got In touch with them. These
Tsjuktsji. as they call themselves, re-
semble very much the Esouimo
But my little knowledge of the
Esquimo language proved Of no use
Th- languages A.. totally iifferent
We had very nice meeting with
them. and as they were on the poin'
of departing for the interior with
their reindeer. I proposed to DR.
Sverdrup TO follow them to the south
and study them. So he did and
stayed with them for nine months.
bringing back the most interesting
experiences. During the Winter we
had visits Of several Russian traders,
and time passed quickly. In the
Spring we started sled parties again
and made several extensive trips
along the coast. This coast is easy
to travel along, as the natives are
living there in their tents and can
offer you both shelter and meals. If
you are not too particular. Summer
was marked by Sverdrup's and
the Tsjuktsji return. Sverdrup had
taken good many scientific OBJ
servations on this trip and finished
up now at the station.
As we now had been out for two
years, and four of the men wanted
to leave the expedition, I decided to
go, down to Nome. In Alaska, dis
miss them there, reprovision the ship
and then return to the drift ice. Ma
tive tents are dotted all over the
coast from Cape Shelagski and the
south. The ice conditions were ex-
tremeiy bad and barely permitted us
to proceed. In the middle of July we
met the first vessel from the other
side, the Polar Bear of Nome, Alaska.
We stayed a few days together, as
the ice did not permit US to move.
We were now close down to the place
where the Swedish expedition wa.
stopped and forced to Winter 1880.
The Ice was very heavy and densely
packed. Then suddenly one morning,
without any visible reason, the ice
started to move, to open and tighten,