Evening star., 1925-06-04
ELLESMERE ISLAND
LOST ARCTIC LAND
Macmillan to Study Terrain
on Polar Expedition
This Summer.

File smere Isla nd. the second near
est known land 10 the North Pole, is
to get the closest scrutiny it has ever
had by white men as one result OF the
Macmillan Arctic expedition" says a
bulletin from the Washington head
quarters of the National Geogra phic
Society. This land lies at the head
Of Baffin Bay. the broad water high
way to the Artic which is inclosed
on one side by Greenland and on the
other by Baffin Island" continues the
bulletin,
William Bafin. for whom the bay
and island are named, was the first
white man to catch a glimpse of the
unknown land which ca me later to be
called Ellesmere Island. That was in
1915; but it was only a glimpse, and
other Arctic explorers were so long in
duplicating Bafhns farthest north
that there came 10 be serious doubt
OF the existence of Ellesmere Island.
Existence Doubted Two Centuries.
The land was not sighted again un-
III 1852. The first white man TO set
foot on II was Or. Hayes, a member Of
kane's expedition in 1854. After
Hayes explored an isolated section of
the shore the land gradually emerged
from the traditional into the real; but
AS in other OF the northern discoveries,
sheadlands and peninsulas indepen-
IDENTIFY and dubbed each a land
Hayes portion. the east Goa ST of the
north central section of the big is
land, became 'Grinnell Land The
north end. along the Polar Sea. be-
came Grant Land Other names
which have stuck TO localities OF Files
mere Island are North Lincoln
.paradoXically the southernmost por-
tion-'king Oscar Land. Bear Cape
Land and 'Jesup Land
"Ellesmere Island lacks only about
SO miles of being the northernmost
known land in the world. that dis
tinction being held by the north point
of Greenland. Cape Morris Jesup, not
far TO the east. Ellesmere Isla nd :
,northernmost point. Cape Columbia. is
famous as the starting point of Peary
on his memorable dash to the North
Pole in 1909. From Cape Columbia
Ellesmere Island extends 500 miles TO
the south. its sonthernmost point
being still nearly 400 miles farther
north than Point Barrow. Alaska and
1000 miles farther north than the
United States-Canada boundary.
Cut by Fior1s.
'Ellesmere Island is 900 miles wide
at the point of greatest width but
the land is so cut into by deep fiords
that in many places the waters of
the eastern and western sides lie only
30 TO rs miles apart, distances than
be covered quickly by dog teams
These fiords. reaching toward each
other from the opposite sides of the
island. mark out the two or three
routes that have been used so far by
expeditions crossing the island. II
follows, therefore. that Ellesmere Is
land is known chiefly along three
narrow bands; one between Grant
Land and GrinneI Land. one near the
middle of the island an da third
toward the south end. Explorers
.have also traVersed the entire coast
of the island. The southern coast,
covered by Sverdrup in 1899. was the
last of the coastland to come under
close scrutiny.
Despite the fact that Ellesmere
Island is perhaps better known than
any of the other Arctic lands north
of North America, knowledge of it is
confined largely to the coasts and
the ford crossings. Extensive areas
Of the interior are still unknown or
imperfectly mapped and no careful
surveys have been made of any of
the regions. The plane of the Mac
MILAN expedition will repeatedly
cross Ellesmere Island this Summer
In establishing the advanced base in
Axel Heiberg Land. and equipped
map-making cameras will make de-
tailed records of the terrain. Ora mt
Land in particular. over which the
direct air line from Etah to the Axel
Heiberg base lies. should be as well
known topogra phically by next Au-
tumn as Maine or Newfoundland.
GreeIy Found Pass Inland.
"Greely was the first TO discover
pass inland into Ellesmere Island
In 1882 when his expedition was
stationed at Fort Conger. on Lady
Franklin Bay. He found a large
fresh water lake, and west OF it, over
q small divide. broad ice-free valley
lea ding to the west. One of his par