Evening star., 1936-08-11

land of $4,000 square miles whose
only inhabitants are policemen
For eight months of the year all they
have to do is arrest each other.
Such Is ElleSmere Land, northernmost
outpost of the British Empire and near
est major land mass to the North Pole,
as described by Dr. Neil Humphreys of
the oxford University Arctic Expedi-
ton of 1885.
At present they found. there are only
two permanent inhabitants of this
tracklesS waste. They both are members
OF the Northwest Mounted Police, with
station on the Southernmost tip Of
country as large as Great Britain itself.
During the brief Summer Ellesmere Land
chiefly known in history as the scene
of the sufferings of the Greeley expe-
dition-iS the favorite hunting ground of
the Cape York Eskimo and is veritable
paradise for the bird hunter. Then the
two policemen have plenty to do. But
when the long Arctic Winter starts the
Eskimo hunters go back to their Green
land iglooS and leave the officers to keep
the British flag flying over the ice wastes.
They constitute, in effect, continuing
British colony and some day, with a
major air route over the Arctic, Elles-
mere Land may be valuable possession.
At one time, 1t is shown by archeo-
logical evidence, this great Arctic island
had a considerable Eskimo population
Remains of their village sites are scattered
all along the southern coast. There
probably has been no permanent habi-
tation, however, since the discovery Of
the land by Baffin in 1916. He reported
meeting no natives. After Baffins dis
covery Ellesmere Land was not visited
again by white men until its rediscovery
in 1918. Since then it has been q part
of the British Empire-but permanent
police post has been maintained there
only about 10 years in Canada's effort
to exercise real authority over her Arctic
possessions.
The Oxford party made one noteworthy
geographic diScovery-a range of noun
tains towering to heights of 10000 feet
at about latitude 81 in Ellesmere Land.
This they named the British Empire
Range and flew the British flag at its
base. The explorers were too exhausted
to attempt to penetrate the mountains
Like a phantasy out of the early sew
enteenth century is the weird adventure
reported in the last issue Of the Austria
liam Geographic Journal by corporal of
the Papuan Police who set out last year
with q small band of native policemen
to explore 5000 square miles of unknown
territory at the headwaterS of the Purani
River in British New Guinea. \
For more than two weeks the little
band made its way over a range of
limestone mountains, in places 10000
feet high. The high passes were unin-
habited and desolate. Finally emerging
out of the clouds on the opposite side,
they saw stretched before them a huge
valley system, about so miles long and
IS miles wide. They descended into this
valley to find themselves in the midst
of q hitherto unknown people and an
unknown civilization.
The people, according to the descrip-
ton of Constable Hides, leader Of the
party, were short of stature and very
light-skinned, compared with the ordi-
nary Melenesian, but with large mops Of
fuzzy brown hair. All wore bands of
bachelor buttons around their forehcads.
This was the first time any of them
ever had come in contact with white
men. They refused to believe that the
little party actually had come over the
mountain range, which they believed to
be the end Of the world. All were
friendly
Yet these people, Constable Hides re-
ports, had built up . remarkable CIVIL.
zation Of their own. The valley was In
tenavely cultivated. the- CHIEF crop heins