Evening star., 1925-08-23
POLAR HOP BASE
LITTLE VISITED
Cape Hubbard Seen Twice
by White Men Before
Macmillan Party.

Cape Hubbard, the northern ex-
tremity of AXel Heiberg Island and
the proposed hopping off, place of
expedition at the edge of the un-
charted- Polar Sea, has been visited
only twice before by white men. Rob
ert e. Peary, coming from the North
along the fringe of Grant Land,
turned back at this point in June,
1906. The other visitor was Mac
MILAN himself. during April and May.
Cape Horn of North.
AT times Cape Hubbard is a
veritable Cape Horn of the North"
says bulletin from the Washington
headquarters of the National Geo.
graphic Society. Heavy winds from
the Arctic Ocean sweep through Nan
sen Sound, which separates 1t from
the mountainous Grant Land to the
North, bringing low-hanging clouds,
fog and, during the Summer months
chilling rain squalls.
"A good deal of the time however
the air is marvelously clear and
bracing. Arctic birds break the silence
with their twittering while mosses
patches of grass and flowers add soft
touches of color TO the stern and
rocky mountainsides. Snow patches
and ice fields are contrasted sharply
against the dark cliffs and the gravel
patches along the shore. Sometimes
the constant Summer sunshine brings
the mercury well above freezing, and
the melting SHOWS send rushing
mountain torrents down to the shore
covering the sea ice with a lake of
water.
Route shuttle Service"
Far up Nansen Sound which is
the line through which the Navy
planes will fly on their daily jour
neys between the intermediate base
west Of Etah and the outpost of Cape
Hubbard, the snowcrowned SUBMITS
of Ellesmere Island can be seen with
winding glaciers leading down almost
TO the ice foot that marks the shore
line. To the north is the towering
Lands End, or Cape Colgate, the
northwestern angle of Grant Land
1000 feet high and, according to
Peary, more truly Alpine than any
other peak in Greenland or Grant
Land
Cape Hubbard, which was discov-
cred by Peary and named by him in
honor of Thomas II. Hubbard, presi-
dent in 1906 of the Peary Arctic Club
of New York, has a succession of
three peaks rising from the waters
edge in great. sweeping tiers, like a
huge ampitheater.- On the third and
highest Peary built his cairn and
buried a message and a piece Of an
American flag in a cocoa tin during
his visit 10 years ago. Macmillan, re-
turning from the Crockerland expedi-
.tion. brought this record with him, re-
placing it with a duplicate and an
other of his own.
Landing Places Available.
Although both explorers reported
high winds in the vicinity, there are
many high cliffs and indentations near
the cape. Wide gravel beaches below
the cliffs offer suitable landing places
for the planes in case it is not prac-
ticable to drop on the water or ice.
''Peary. in his book, Nearest the
Pole comments on the district,
which he referred to as Jesup Land:
Camping in this region in June, July
and August, If on land, and 1t is calm
and clear, and one is not under the
necessity of travelling every day, can
be very pleasant. But If 1t blows or
SHOWS or both, or If one is on the sea
or bay and obliged to get somewhere
at a certain time, it is sure to be un-
pleasant. I must confess to a feeling
of sadness and regret at leaving this
last camp. 1t was striking pic
Iture, the deer and hare feeding in the
brilliant sunshine under the high
bluffs, the call of the birds and the
sound of running water
Mystery Land Sighted.
"It was from the summit OF the
third hill, where Peary built his cairn,
| that he looked far to the west and saw
what he thought was land. Mac
| MILAN, too, plainly made out the out
| lines here of q huge range of noun
! tains far out over the sea ice. Yet
| Macmillan, after a tortuouS 150-mile
| Journey out on the ice in the direction
| of this 'Crockerland'. as 1t was called,
came no closer to it than Peary. For
the farther Macmillan went in it's di-
rection the fainter it appeared. But
ron his return to Cape Hubbard Mac
MILAN again saw it's mocking. alluring
| visage. a mystery that the airplanes
! may be able to solve.
Strange though 1t may seem, a
/ little more than 400 miles from the
North Pole, big blue flies are one of
the chief annoyances of explorers in
this region during the Summer time
On sultry windless days they swarm
over everything, especially if there is
any meat exposed.
Wild Life Plentiful