Björling–Kallstenius Expedition
The Björling–Kallstenius Expedition was an ill-fated Arctic expedition led by Swedish naturalists Alfred Björling (1871-1892) and Evald Kallstenius (1868-1892). Their aim was to be the first to reach the North Pole. The expedition ended in disaster, with the deaths of the five member crew. Expedition. In 1892, 21-year-old Alfred Björling organized an expedition to be the first to reach the North Pole. Björling convinced fellow countryman and zoologist Evald Kallstenius to join him on what was described as a "botanizing expedition to northern Greenland". The expedition was mounted on a very  low budget and is considered to have been a romantic, even foolhardy, attempt at the Pole. In May 1892, the expedition left Stockholm with a course towards Liverpool and on to St. John's, Newfoundland. The explorers purchased the schooner "Ripple" in St. John's, hiring a crew of three; a Dane and two Newfoundlanders. In June the expedition left St. John's and July 28 reached Godhavn in Greenland. The exact history of the expedition is not well known, however it appears that their plan was to sail to Etah and hire local Inuit to help them reach the  Pole. While stopping at the Carey Islands in Baffin Bay to pick up supplies at a cache there, the "Ripple" was driven on shore and wrecked. The men attempted to sail a small sloop (also purchased in Newfoundland) back to Etah but were forced to return to the Carey Islands. According to letters left in a cairn on the Carey Islands, the four men attempted to sail their open boat 80 miles to Ellesmere Island: In June 1893, the crew of the Scottish whaler "Aurora" spotted a wreck on the Carey Islands. They found the "Ripple" and a man's  body buried under a pile of stones. They found as well Björling's letters. In July 1894, a Swedish search expedition led by explorer Axel Ohlin (1867–1903) went to the area and located the wreck and related tracks on the Carey Islands. No trace of the other four men, or the small boat, was ever found.