Class Book- COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT Fighting the Polar Ice By ANTHONY FIALA Commander of the Ziegler Polar Expedition Author of " Troop 'C in Service" With an Introduction by W. S. Champ, and Reports by William J. Peters, Russell W. Porter and Oliver S. Fassig Illustrations from photographs and sketches by the author. Also nine, from paintings in colour by Russell W. Porter and J. Knoiules Hare NEW YORK Doubleday, Page & Company 1906 LIBRARY of CONGRPSS Two Copies Received NOV 24 (906 fr\Copyrlffht Entry , CLASS A XXc, No, COPY B. ' Copyright, 1906, by Anthony Fiala Published, November, 1906 ^4 // rights reserved, including- that of ira?tslation into foreign languages, including tJie Scandinavian Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/fightingpolariceOOfial FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE \ THE GEOGRAPHICAL LIBRARY The Opening of Tibet, By Perceval London Flashlights in the Jungle, ■By C. G. Schillings The Passing of Korea, By Homer B. Hulbert, A. M., F. R. G. S. Fighting the Polar Ice, By Anthony Fiala %. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? Declare if thou knowestit all. Where is the way where Light dwelleth? And as for Darkness, where is the place thereof. Job. qto tit S^rototp OF HIM WHO SENT THE EXPEDITION FORTH % ' • - (Died May 24, 1905) INTRODUCTION The crowning desire of the late Mr. William Ziegler was to link his name with some scientific achievement which would be considered great when compared with others of the 20th Century, and he thought there was no mystery, the solution of which would be so heartily welcomed by the world at large as the exact location of the North Pole and accurate information as to the conditions existing there. In July 1 90 1 he sent out an expedition consisting of the America, a vessel of 466 tons burden, the Frith jo f, 270 tons, and the Belgica, under the command of Mr. Evelyn B. Baldwin. It has been said, and I believe truly, that no explorer had ever sailed under more favourable or promising conditions. Be this as it may, in the following summer the ex-' pedition returned unsuccessful. Mr. Ziegler, although greatly disappointed at this failure, immediately decided to send forth another expedition, and in look- ing over the field for a competent leader, and after consulting with several gentlemen whose names are familiar in Arctic history, he selected Mr. Anthony Fiala of Brooklyn, who had served the first expedition as photographer so well, and the high regard in which he was held by all of the members had a decided bear- ing on Mr. Ziegler's determining this all important problem. x FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE Thus it was that in the spring of 1903 Mr. Fiala left for Norway to take personal charge of the fitting out of the Ziegler Polar Expedition which sailed from Trondhjem, Norway, June 23, 1903. As the personal representative of the late Mr. William Ziegler it was my duty to attend to a very large extent to the financial and business end of both of these expeditions, and I want to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge the great assistance rendered and uniform courtesy extended by both the Nor- wegian and Russian Governments, and also to Mr. Johannes H. Giaever former British vice-consul at Tromso. To the President, Officers, and Executive committee of the National Geographic Society is largely due the mapping out of the scientific work which was successfully carried out by their representa- tive, Mr. W. J. Peters, who was afforded every oppor- tunity for his work by the leader of the expedition, who speaks highly of his service and also of the service rendered by the members of the scientific staff. Though the expedition failed of its object through an unprecedented experience of unfavourable con- ditions linked with the loss of the ship, it did not re- turn without results and the records of its work. The valuable scientific instruments were dragged hundreds of miles over ice of glaciers and channels first in the accomplishment of duties and later to the relief ship. Three attempts north were made and an opportunity was afforded for heroic and loyal devotion to the trust, in which the small body of volunteers who stayed at Camp Abruzzi through the second winter proved true. INTRODUCTION • One died at his post. Their names are given in the narrative by Mr. Fiala and I will not attempt to add to his story. It is with a great deal of pleasure that I announce that this valuable scientific record is being published by the Estate of William Ziegler under the direction of Mr. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Editor of the National Geographic Magazine, Washington, D. C. In conclusion permit me to introduce to the readers of this narrative Captain J. Kjeldsen of Tromso, Nor- way, a true Arctic hero, the man who safely navigated the S. S. Terra Nova, which effected a timely rescue of the members of the Ziegler Expedition. To him and his faithful Norwegian officers and crew the writer feelingly tenders this acknowledgment, and publicly expresses the heartfelt appreciation of the rescued. William S. Champ. New York, Aug. 14th, 1906. CONTENTS Introduction by William S. Champ IX I. The Problem 3 II. Early Days of the Expedition .... 8 III. We Say Farewell to America .... 16 IV. The America Forces Her Way North . . -25 V. The Fight Up the British Channel . . . 35 VI. Camp Abruzzi ....... 41 VII. Adrift in the Darkness . . . . . 48 VIII. The America Wrecked by the Ice Fields . . 52 IX. The Night of Preparation . . . . 61 X. Preliminary Sledge Work 70 XI. The First Attempt North . . . . 78 XII. The Second Effort North 84 XIII. Home Longings . . . . . . 93 XIV. The Retreat South to Cape Flora . . . 99 XV. Camp Jackson 109 XVI. The Vain Wait for the Relief Ship . . .116 XVII. The Start for Camp Abruzzi . . . .126 XVIII. "He Brought Me Up Also Out of an Horrible Pit" 135 XIX. Through Darkness and Ice to Camp Abruzzi . 144 XX. The Polar Night of 1905 153 XXI. The Return of the Sun 162 CONTENTS— Continued CHAPTER PAGE XXII. Our Third and Last Fight with the Polar Ice . 168 XXIII. From Teplitz Bay to Camp Ziegler . . .180 XXIV, Waiting for Relief in 1905 186 XXV. Rescued! 193 An Afterword ......... 199 Appendix No. I. Formation of the Sledge Parties in the Three Attempts North, 1904-1905 .... 237 Appendix No. II. Report of Scientific Work Done on the Ziegler Polar Expedition, 1903-1904 .... 245 Appendix No. III. Porter's March from Cape Flora to Camp Abruzzi 258 Appendix No. IV. Trip to the Northeast Coast of Green- land . 282 Appendix No. V. Winds and Temperatures Recorded at Camp Abruzzi, Rudolph Island, From September, 1903, to April, 1904 ....... 297 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "On October 15th Our Luminary Dipped Below the Horizon in a Glow of Scarlet Fire." {Colour Plate) ..... Frontispiece FACING PAGE Portrait: The late Mr. William Ziegler Portrait: Commander Anthony Fiala . A Group of Officers of the Expedition The Expedition's Dogs at Trono, Norway . The Initiations of Polar Explorers Awaiting Embarkation .... The S. Y. America in the Harbour of Vardo Norway ...... "We Sailed on Our Way in a Spanking Breeze" "Northward Ho!" . . " Some of the Dogs Were Lodged on the Forecastle Head" . . "With every Deckspace Packed with Cargo" The Ponies' Ambitions to Eat . The Pony "Circus" Just Before His Execution View, Taken from the America's Bridge, of the Dog Kennels on Top of the Pony Stable Hauling the Carcass of a Polar Bear Aboard the Ship ...... " The Remainder of Our Pack Were Lodged on the Forecastle Head" The America Entering the Ice . The Ice Fields in Barentz Sea . " We Could do Nothing but Wait " . " Observations Were Made on the Floating Ice for Longitude and for Magnetic Declination" . XV IX- 3 10 13 i5 22 24 27 28 28 29 3° 30 3 1 3 2 3 2 33 36* 37 38 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE " The Waters are Hid as with a Stone and the Face of the Deep is Frozen" ... 39 "The Great Expanse of Ice Gave Little Promise of Opening Up" ..... 40 A Tabular Iceberg near Cape Flora . . .41 Cape Flora — August 12, 1903 .... 42 " Heavy Ice Prevented Farther Progress North" 43 The Stampede of the Ponies . . . Page 45 Map — Course of the S. Y. America from Vardo, Norway, to Teplitz Bay, Rudolph Island, Franz Josef Archipelago .... 46 An Overturned Iceberg near Cape Dillon . . 47 "We Passed Cape Berentz, the Southeast Ex- tremity of Northbrook Island " . . .50 The America Fighting Her Way up the Brit- ish Channel ...... 50 "We Made Fast Alongside the Heavy Ice of Teplitz Bay . . . . . 51 "The Ship was in Her Death Agony" {Colour Plate) . . . . . . ■ ' 54 "The Voyage- weary Animals Wild for Liberty, were Disembarked" . . . . .56 All that Remained in 1 903 of the Winter Quarters Occupied by the Duke of Abruzzi and His Companions in 1 899-1 900 . . . -57 The Duke's Steel Gas Generator . -57 The Shelter Used by the Italians for Their Weather Instruments . . . -57 Sledging the Cargo Ashore by Help of the Ponies, Teplitz Bay . ... 58 " We Start to Build Our Winter Quarters " . 58 " A Large Tent was Erected, and in it the Ponies and Dogs were Sheltered" . . . -59 Interior of Pony and Dog Tent . . -59 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii FACING PAGE Building a House at Camp Abruzzi ... 60 Laying the Floor ...... 60 The House Completed: Front and Rear Views . 61 Our Weather Instrument Shelter . . .62 The Astronomical Observatory . . . .62 The Magnetic Observatory . . . .62 Exercising the Ponies at Camp Abruzzi . . 63 " We Mounted the Tough Little Equines " . . 63 The Ponies Proved Invaluable in Sledging the Stores from the Ship to Our Camp Site . 63 Map: Camp Site at Teplitz Bay, Rudolph Island. 66 "A Thick Gloom Settled Over the Ice of Land and Sea" ...... 67 " We Climbed the Glacier North of the Camp " . 67 In the Astronomical Observatory at Camp Abruzzi 68 The America in Winter Quarters in Teplitz Bay Early in November. 1903 ... 69 The Same Identical Spot as the Preceding Picture, Showing Metamorphosis After the America's Disappearance .... 69 " A Black Giant Skeleton Marooned in the Icy Waste of Teplitz Bay " ... 70 " Printing the Christmas Edition of the Arctic Eagle" . . . . . .71 Sewing Furs ....... 72 " Our Christmas Banquet " . . . - 73 Constructing a Light Sectional Boat . . . 74-' Our Lighting Plant Complete . . . -75 " A Steam Boiler was Constructed " . . -75 Excavating the Great Snow Storehouse . . 76'' LoadingtheSledgesintheShelterof theStorehouse . 76 A Typical Sledge Pony . . . . -77 The First Appearance of the Sun . . .78 Loaded Sledges Placed in Line on the Snow . 79 A Halt on the Glacier . . . . .82 xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE ThePonyColumnCrossingRudolphlsland Glacier. 82 Sledge Party in the Rough Ice North of Cape Fligely 83 A Halt in a Smooth Oasis in the Desert of Rough Ice 83 "The Poor Ponies, with Tails to the Wind and Heads Down, Shivered in the Freezing Blast" . 84 " The Ponies were Surprising in Their Ability to Climb and Get Over the Rough Ice " . . 84 Cape Haberman . . . . . .85 " We Formed a Happy Camp Circle " . . 85 " We Reached Cape Auk at Midnight " .86 The Evening SunOver the Rudolph Island Glacier . 86 "Teplitz Bay was Frozen Over with a New Sheet of Thin Salt Ice" . . . .87 Our First Camp on the Retreat of 1904 . . 87 The Retreat of 1904 ..... 88 Breaking Camp at Cape Richthofen ... 88 "We Camped near Cape Fisher, the Boldest Headland on the Coast " . . . . 89 The Halt at Cape Fisher ..... 89 The Camp at Cape Roosevelt . . . .108 " One of Our Ponies Died from Exhaustion " .108 Cape Flora ....... 109 The Last of Our Faithful Ponies . . .109 Cape Flora ....... 116 The Coal Mine at Cape Flora, 600 Feet above the Level of the Sea . . . . .116 Sixteen Walruses Were Captured at Cape Flora During the Summer of 1904 . . . 117 Map: Part of Franz Josef Archipelago . . 125 An August Day at Cape Flora in 1904 . 134 House-moving, Preparing for Winter at Cape Flora ....... 134 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix FACING PAGE Cape Flora ....... 135 Camp Point ....... 135 "At last I Saw Above Me the End of a Rope" (Colour Plate) . . . . . 136 "The Absence of Light, Making Our Advance North a March of Faith " (Colour Plate) . 142- The Tomb on Saulen's Rocky Height . -150 The Men Who Stayed at Camp Abrazzi . -151 Our Christmas Dinner at Camp Abruzzi in 1904. 154 The Appearance of the Hut on the Return of Light in 1905 155 Busy Days in the Workshop at Camp Abruzzi . 155 Double-page Cartoon that Appeared in the Christ- mas Edition of the Arctic Eagle Published at Camp Abruzzi, December 26, 1904 . Page 156 "A Wind Filled with Drifting Snow Particles Striking Our Faces and Turning Our Cheeks and Noses White " (Colour Plate) . . 158- Camping After a Long Day's March . . . 160. The Sun with Two Mock Suns . . . .160 Entering the Rough Ice . . . . .161 We Seemed to be in an Immense River of Broken Ice ........ 161 A Mile and a Half North in Eight Hours (Colour Plate) ....... 164- Soft Snow and Rough Ice . . . .167 Sledge Teams Waiting to be Assisted Over a Snow- covered Pressure Ridge. All of the Men but One are Concealed Behind the Mass of Ice and Snow ...... 167 "Our Trail was from Ice Cake to Ice Cake" . 169 "We Were All Obliged to go Ahead of the Sled- ges with Our Picks and Ice Axes to Labor at Cutting the Trail and then Return and xx LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Assist the Teams and Sledges One by One Over the Rough Road " . . . .169 " In Other Places We Traversed Monster Pres- sure Ridges that Splintered and Thundered Under Our Feet " 171 "The Ice was Rough, Worse than in 1904, and very Slow Progress was Made " . . 172 "It was Difficult to Find a Cake of Ice Large Enough for Our Small Party to Camp On" . 174 "We Found a Heavy Cake Surrounded with Pres- sure Ice, the Only Flat Block in Sight, and Here We Put Up Our Tents and Unhitched Our Tired Dogs " ..... 174 "We Bent Our Backs Under the Loads" . . 176 " All that was Visible of the Two Years' Sledge Efforts were Four Little Tracks in the Snow that Could be Traced Up the Glacier Toward the Mysterious North " . . . .176 " Mr. Porter was on Hand to Greet Me with Sea- man Mackiernan, having Reached Camp Abruzzi on the 17th of March" . . .178 Cape Trieste, on the Way to Camp Ziegler, May 1905 {Colour Plate) . . . . .182 The Sledge Parties for Kane Lodge and Cape Flora Ready to Leave Camp Abruzzi . . 184 "We Left the Icy Bay of Teplitz Behind Us" . 185- On the March South Engineer Hartt Went Ahead, While Some Distance Behind I Followed with the Two Teams ..... 185 The Camp After Our First Day's March from Teplitz Bay 185 Crossing a Lead in the Channel Ice — Hauling a Team of Dogs Through the Water . . 186 Camp Ziegler, June 1905 . . . . .186 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxi FACING PAGE " Two Little Houses Were Surrounded by Great Embankments of Snow" . The Entrance to the Huts at Camp Ziegler Sixteen Great Walruses were Secured by the Party at Cape Dillon . An Incident in a Walrus Hunt . Hauling a Dead Walrus on the Ice Foot at Cape Dillon ...... Wellman's House at Cape Tegetthoff William S. Champ ...... Anthony Fiala ...... Our Last March ...... William S. Champ ...... The S. Y. Terra Nova — Ziegler Relief Expedition, 1905 {Colour Plate) . . . . . The Arrival of the Relief Ship off Cape Dillon July 30, 1905 Camp Jackson at Cape Flora at the Arrival of the Relief Ship. . Rescuers and Rescued Meet on the Ice of Abe- dare Channel, "and a Memorable Meeting it was " . The Camp at Cape Dillon where Watch was Kept for the Relief Ship — and for Game Our Last Sight of the Ice . The Relief Ship Arrives off Cape Flora The S. Y. Terra Nova at Tromso, Norway, Au- gust n, 1905 .... "Louise" "Billy" "Billy" and "Louise" Passengers on the S. Y Terra Nova on her Homeward Voyage " A Blanket of Thick Arctic Fog Obscuring Vis- ion" 187 187 190 191- 192 193 196 196 196 197 200 212 "' 212 213 213 214 215 226- 227 227 227 257- XX11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE " The Cub Wheeled and Made Straight into the Sound, but Only a Short Way When He Came Back, Tumbling Down with Bullets from Both Rifle and Revolver" . . .266 Building an Igloo ...... 266 " It is a Case of Making Dogs Out of Ourselves" 267 The S. S. Magdalena . . . . .270 The Two Houses on Bass Rock . . .270 Captain J. Kjeldsen . . . . .271 Oliver L. Fassig . . . . . .271 Map of Franz Joseph Archipelago . . . end FAC-SLMTLE OF STAMP PRINTED AND ISSUED AT CAMP ABRCZZI, RUDOLF ISLAND, IN 1905 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE Photo by Damp/, Brooklyn FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM "^TAPOLEON is quoted as having once said that if he had three things he could conquer the world. The first of these was money, the second more money, and the third still more money. If Napoleon's estimate of the power of money had been correct, Waterloo would have been a victory instead of a defeat, and his legions, better equipped then than in any previous campaign, would not have been hampered by conditions internal and external and the great commander would not have sighed in vain for his grand army of veterans whose bones strewed the trail from Moscow to Paris. The Polar explorer needs money, but he needs other things more. While in the history of almost every polar expedition the sad story of imperfect preparations through lack of funds can be read, it is also true that conditions play an important part. The element we call Chance has much to do in the giving of success or failure, but the human elements of en- durance and courage are the most important of all. 3 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE In the frozen zone there is not the stimulus to effort raised by numbers. The soldier in the excitement of battle, sustained and cheered by onlooking thou- sands, may become a hero; but the Polar explorer has a hard, cold, and lonely way in which patience, more patience, and still more patience seem to be the cardinal requirements. There are few to encourage him in his long fight against almost impossible con- ditions, and the highest qualities of Christian character in the personnel of his party are necessary to achieve any measure of success. Beyond the geographical and scientific value of the discovery of the North Pole, and the solving of questions of popular curiosity, another reason exists to explain the ceaseless effort to reach that mystic point: The Spirit of the Age will never be satisfied until the command given to Adam in the beginning — the command to subdue the earth — has been obeyed, and the ends of the earth have revealed their secrets to the eye of man. The conquest of the North Pole has a military as well as a scientific character. To reach 90 North Latitude from the northern limits of Greenland or the Franz Josef Archipelago, an expedition party would be obliged to make a forced march of at least one thousand miles from its base of supplies, the ex- pedition column of men and animals subsisting upon provisions carried along. From Rudolph Island, the northernmost land in the Franz Josef Archipelago, to the Pole is about five hundred miles, over fields of rugged, moving ice that drift continually. Allowing for pressure ridges and THE PROBLEM 5 open water lanes, the distance of five hundred miles would be augmented instead of diminished by the general twist and zig-zag direction of the line of march. Of course the return distance of five hundred miles must be considered, for there would be little value in reaching the Pole unless the explorer returned. The rough character of the ice and the fact that it is mov- ing and continually changing its form make it im- possible to station auxiliary depots of supplies on the ice itself. Even if the ice were stationary it would be almost impossible to find a cache after a few days, for the wind sometimes obliterates a well marked trail in a few minutes, the flying drift covering every- thing with a solid hard blanket of packed snow. A team of nine dogs, the unit of transportation in the north, consumes about nine pounds of food a day, or one pound of pemmican per dog, the human driver about three pounds, making a total of twelve pounds a day. If ten miles a day could be averaged — though it has never been done — in one hundred days the jour- ney to and from the Pole could be accomplished. At twelve pounds a day the total amount of food re- quired by a driver and dog team would be twelve hundred pounds. Through experience it has been found that the sledges go to pieces, no matter how well built, if loaded with more than six hundred pounds, which is the food allowance for only half the distance There is also to be considered the necessary dead weights of tent, sleeping bag, cooking apparatus, extra clothing, ammunition, firearms, nautical in- struments, and kayak — the last a light boat for use on the return march when melting snows and ice, with 6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE the motion of the Polar pack, open great lanes of water across the explorer's path. Dr. Nansen, in his record-breaking trip with but one man and three dog teams, left his ship at the high northing of 84 degrees and reached 86° 13' N. Lat. But, despite the decided advantage of a start from so high a base he was obliged on his retreat to Franz Josef Archipelago, to feed his dogs to his dogs, and in the end he and Johansen drew the two remaining sledges to land themselves. Capt. Cagni, with a party from the expedition led by the Duke of the Abruzzi, broke Nansen's record by about twenty miles, reaching 86° 33 r N. Lat. He started from a base on Rudolph Island and succeeded in making his splendid march by the use of supporting parties that were detached and sent back to the base camp as the main body advanced, each supporting party carrying food for the advance of the entire column and its own return. The first detachment of three men never found its way back to camp. The men probably starved to death while trying to cross the rough ice that separated them from their comrades on the Island. The rough ice was caused by the breaking into pressure ridges of the comparatively smooth newly frozen lanes over which the sledge column made its northward march. The question of food then is important. A remark of General Grant's that " an army travels on its stom- ach " is now a maxim in text-books on military logistics and puts into few words a truth accepted ever since men went to war. If it is true of an army that operates in a cultivated or partially cultivated country that its THE PROBLEM 7 progress is determined by the excellence of its com- missary arrangements, and by the certainty and celerity with which the food supplies reach the individual soldier and animal, how much more true must it be of the Polar explorer who operates in a decidedly hostile and uncultivated territory, where there are no cornfields or henroosts along the line of march, but instead an active enemy in every wind that blows from the north, and opposition to advance in every pres- sure ridge and water lane that crosses his path. CHAPTER II EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION TN AUGUST of 1902 the Baldwin-Ziegler Polar * Expedition returned to Norway after an ab- sence of a year in the Franz Josef Archipelago. The expedition ship, the steam yacht America, had win- tered at Camp Ziegler on Alger Island, 8o° 24/ N Lat. from where a large sledge party in the spring of 1902 transported about 40,000 pounds of pemmican to Cape Auk (8i° 43' N. Lat.), the southwestern end of Rudolph Island, four miles south of the Duke of the Abruzzi's station at Teplitz Bay. On the return of the expedition to Norway, the late William Ziegler, who had so liberally financed it, resolved to send a second party in seach of the North Pole. It was not until December of 1902 that a leader was chosen. Mr. Ziegler then gave the command to me with instructions to equip and sail north in the following spring. Only a few months remained for preparation, a large store of provisions and an extensive equipment had to be purchased, and many things devised and manufactured. The steam yacht America, formerly the Dundee whaler Esquimau, after her year in the north, was in a condition requiring docking and extensive repairs before she could again be headed to- ward the ice fields of the Arctic Circle. Nothing EARLY DAYS OP THE EXPEDITION 9 remained of the large sledge equipment of the former expedition and only a small amount of food stores, so small that it could not be considered. Fortunately there were left 183 dogs, and five Siberian ponies on the small island of Trono, some miles south of Tromso, Norway, where they had been placed for the winter on the return of the America in 1902. In addition to a large pack of dogs a number of Siberian ponies were taken on the 1901-1902 expedi- tion. These little creatures behaved so well and proved of such value that I made provision to take more of them this time. The ponies had been used with success by Jackson and Baldwin and it seemed to me that they could be trained during the autumn and early spring to follow one another "in trace," one man in charge of several pony sledges, just as our pack trains travel in mining districts and in the army, for I realised that if a driver had to go with each sledge whether it was drawn by a team of dogs or a pony, the Polar problem must remain unsolved. Dependence had also to be placed on a good pack of dogs, to be fed on the ponies as the latter' s sledge loads disappeared, the ponies to serve as food on the hoof. With the ponies came the necessity of provid- ing tons of hay in compressed bales. Hay could be purchased in America in bales only a quarter the size of foreign bales and weighing twice as much, so all the hay was transported from this side of the ocean for the sake of economy in space. There were also tons of oats to be purchased and transported to Tron- dhjem, which was to be our sailing port. Corn could be bought in Russia, one of the few countries in Europe io FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE that produce more than enough for their own con- sumption. Thirty-six tons of Spratt's dog-cakes were purchased and about 10,000 pounds of tallow as sup- plementary food for the ever hungry dogs.* The aggregate weight of our food supplies was about ninety- eight tons and the stores alone, exclusive of meats, occupied 7,200 feet of space. In addition to the commissary stores for men and animals coal had to be provided and a large equip- ment of sledges, harness, clothing, furs, footwear, cook- ing apparatus, boats, explosives, tentage, lumber for a house, and the thousand little things necessary for the protracted stay of a large party of men and ani- mals far from the shops and supply stations of civil- isation. Before the numberless parts of the equip- ment had been received for shipment, many hours were spent in calculating the available space aboard the America and in measuring the cargo. In the organisation of the party the question of personnel was a troublesome one particularly in view of the limited time at my disposal. That the party should be all American was the desire of the late Mr. Ziegler and myself, but it was not until nearly all the supplies were arranged for and the entire equipment ordered that we succeeded in finding a native American, Captain Edwin Coffin of Edgartown, Martha's Vine- * It may be interesting to know what a body of 39 men need in a two years' expedition. Allowing ij lbs. of meat a day for each man — the U. S. Army allowance in a temperate climate — 39 men dispose of 42,705 pounds, or over 20 tons of meat. For a cold climate, of course, more has to be allowed. In the same period on the army plan, 39 men consume about 145 bis. of flour, 2,600 pounds of coffee, over 8,000 pounds of sugar, and so on down the list of vegetables and stores. EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION n yard, Mass., to navigate the expedition ship. Capt. Coffin, in turn, after much trouble, got together his officers and crew, a number of them experienced whalers. Because of the high price that whalebone was bringing in the market, whaling, the last few years, had been a lucrative business, and, as all who serve on a whaler share in the profits of the cruise, it was not an easy task to get able men to leave their favourite hunting grounds for the field of exploration. For the sake of organisation I had divided the ex- pedition party into three departments, a Field De- partment, a Deck Department, and an Engine Depart- ment. Capt. Coffin, as Navigator and Master of the vessel, was of course in charge of the Deck Depart- ment. In charge of our Engine Department was Henry P. Hartt, a marine engineer of sixteen years' exper- ience aboard steam whalers, who had passed nine winters in the Arctic and had been with the Baldwin- Zeigler party in 1901-1902. For the Field Department I received numerous applications, many of the American members of the last expedition wishing to go north again. Where possible, preference was given to them, for, having lived and laboured with them through the trials of an Arctic voyage, I knew them as I could not know others. It was odd how quickly the Arctic lost its terrors after the return to civilisation. During the long, dark winter of 1901-1902, every night, after the work- ing hours of the period we called day were over, we would huddle together for warmth around a tiny stove in the cabin of the America and talk of warmer countries. Two of the men avowed their intention 12 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE of going on an expedition to the island of Borneo as soon as the America returned to Norway; two others stated that they were going to Mexico; another ex- pressed a wish to explore Africa, and one of the doctors of the party said he meant to go to the equator and never travel farther than five degrees north or south of it the rest of his days. Yet on the eve of another expedition these men applied to go north once more. The Field Department comprised the members of the Scientific Staff and those of the expedition company not signed on the ship's articles. Among these were the Surgeon, Assistant Surgeon, Assistant Surgeon in charge of the dogs, a Veterinarian, a Quartermaster, a Commissary and a number of assistants. William J. Peters of the U. S. Geological Survey and representative of the National Geographic So- ciety, was chosen as Chief Scientist and Second in Command of the Expedition. Russell W. Porter, First Assistant Scientist and Artist of the Expedition, was commissioned Third in Command while in the field. The following is a list of the members of the expedition: i. Anthony Fiala, Brooklyn, N. Y., Commander of the Expedition. 2. William J. Peters, Washington, D. C, Chief Scientist, and Second in Command of the Expedition. Field Department 3. Russell W. Porter, Springfield, Vermont; First As- sistant Scientist and Artist. < a o z 6 z o eS H H < m O O n 2 O Q W X w w K r- EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION 13 4. R. R. Tafel, Philadelphia, Pa., Second Assistant Scientist. 5. Francis Long, Brooklyn, N. Y., Weather Observer. 6. George Shorkley, M. D., Camden, Maine, Surgeon. 7. Charles L. Seitz, M. D., Evansville, Ind., Assistant Surgeon. 8. J. Colin Vaughn, Medical Student, Forest Hill, N. J., Second Assistant Surgeon in charge of the dogs. 9. H. H. Newcomb, D. V. S., Milford, Mass., Veter- inarian. 10. Chas. E. Rilliet, St. Louis, Mo., Quartermaster in charge of equipment. 11. John W. Truden, Pittsfield, Mass., Commissary. 12. Jefferson F. Moulton, Sergeant Troop G, 2d Cavalry, U. S. A., detailed by courtesy of the War Department to serve in the Expedition. He served as Assistant Quartermaster in care of the ponies. 13. Spencer W. Stewart, Brooklyn, N. Y., Assistant Commissary. 14. John Vedoe, Boston Mass., Assistant Quarter- master. 15. Pierre LeRoyer, Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada, Assistant in care of dogs. Deck Department 16. Edwin Coffin, Edgartown, Mass., Master. 17. Edward Haven, Lynn, Mass., First Officer. 18. James W. Nichols, New Bedford, Second Officer. i 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE Crew 19. Peter L. Tessem, Trondhjem, Norway, Carpenter. 20. Franklin Cowing, New Bedford, Mass. 21. Allen W. Montrose, Lowell, Mass. 22. Wm. R. Myers, Boston, Mass. 23. Chas. Kunold, New York, N. Y. 24. Harry Burns (Harry Paxton), Dunkirk, N. Y. 25. D. S. Mackiernan, Dorchester, Mass. 26. Alfred Beddow, London, England. 27. Elijah Perry, New Bedford, Mass. 28. Gustave Meyer, New York, N. Y. 29. William Ross, New York, N. Y. 30. John J. Duffy, Waltham, Mass. Engine Department 31. Henry P. Hartt, Portsmouth, Va., Chief Engineer. 32. Chas. E. Hudgins, Norfolk, Va., First Assistant Engineer. 33. Anton Vedoe, Boston, Mass., Second Assistant Engineer. 34. George D. Butland, Brooklyn, N. Y., Fireman. 35. Augustinsen Hovlick, Trondhjem, Norway, Fire- man. 36. Sigurd Myhre, Trondhjem, Norway, Fireman. Steward's Department 37. Bernard E. Spencer, Boston, Mass., Steward. 38. Clarence W. Thwing, Boston, Mass., Cook. 39. James Dean, New Bedford, Mass., Cabin Boy. The America had been left through the winter at Tromso, a town above the Arctic Circle in the north of Norway, a place noted as a depot of supply for many a Polar expedition. Her American crew left New ' WE CROSSED THE ARCTIC CIRCLE, AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION WHO HAD NOT CROSSED THE PARALLEL BEFORE, WERE SEIZED BY THEIR COMRADES WHO HAD, AND INITIATED AS POLAR EXPLORERS BY BEING THROWN OVERBOARD WHILE THE STEAMER WAS IN MOTION, THEIR SAFETY FIRST INSURED BY A LONG LINE MADE FAST AROUND THEIR WAISTS." EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION 15 York for Tromso in March, 1903. As nearly all meat and food supplies and equipment had to be shipped from the United States, the stores were ordered early to allow at least a month's time on freighters from New York to Hamburg, from which point they were forwarded to Trondhjem. The mixing of the cargo had troubled us consider- ably on the last expedition, and, to obviate a similar confusion this season, I had a number of conventional signs made into stencils, and had the cases of supplies marked on all sides, so that a glance would reveal the contents, no matter in what position the box might be. For example, a red star signified that the case contained pemmican; a red maltese cross meant pre- served or canned meat; the crescent designated com- missary stores; a red crescent, condensed food; a blue crescent, breadstuff s or flour; a green crescent, vegetables; black always denoted equipment; the horseshoe surrounding a cross was the sign of the Veterinary Department; and so on. In Trondhjem, where the cases were unloaded from the freight steamers for customs house inspection before loading aboard the America, the Norwegian freight handlers had no difficulty in arranging the cases ac- cording to the signs. When the marking was com- pleted, the boxes had a curious appearance looking much like a number of enormous playing-cards; but the value of being able to tell at once the contents of a case in the dimly lighted place between decks or in the hold of the ship, can hardly be overestimated, and many times during the voyage we had occasion to test and recognise the value of the signs. CHAPTER III WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA / "PHE early days of the expedition were char- acterised by many departures and farewells. My wish had been to have the America brought over the ocean from Tromso to New York City to be re- paired, and to receive her cargo on this side of the water, but the limited time at my command would not allow of it. So all members of the expedition, except three men engaged in Trondhjem, were sent over the Atlantic on the passenger steamers to Norway. The Chief Engineer left in January 1903, for Tromso, for which port the officers and crew sailed from New York City on March 10th. Two days later I left for the same port, via England, Germany, and Denmark, for the purpose of purchasing supplies in all these countries. I reached Tromso March 31st in a snow storm. I was glad to find that my American crew had arrived some days before. The expedition ship was anchored out in the fjord, her decks covered with snow, and although a force of men had been busy cleaning her during the spring she still had a dis- mal, desolate air, her ice worn planking, paint denuded sides, and ragged rigging showing the need of much overhauling before she would be seaworthy again. The only cheerful place was the engine room, where I was glad to find that Engineer Hartt had put 16 WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 17 the engine together and was ready to turn on steam. A French-Canadian, Pierre LeRoyer by name, who had acted as guide in the north Canadian woods for Mr. Ziegler in many hunting and camping trips, and who accompanied Mr. Champ on the Relief Expe- dition in 1902, had been left aboard the America as a watchman during the winter. I had written him to use all the heavy furs aboard, left from the previous expedition, in the manufacture of one-man sleeping bags and had also instructed him to make mittens and footwear of fur. I was glad to find that he had improved the time and could show me twenty-five complete sleeping bags in addition to a number of articles of wearing apparel. Furs suitable for cloth- ing could not be purchased in Norway or Sweden. All the garments offered to me by the fur merchants of those countries were too heavy, being made of the fur of the adult wild deer, useless for the purpose of a sledge expedition on account of its weight, the hides being too thick and the fur too long. So I was obliged to order them from Russia and over 800 fawn skins, of from two to five months old deer, of the domesticated variety were purchased. I had to be content with skins tanned in the regular commercial way, very beautiful to look upon, but not as durable by half as the skins tanned by the native Samoyede. To have secured the latter it would have been necessary for me to make a journey along the Siberian coast for the purpose of trad- ing with the Samoyedes, and for that there was not time. Fortunately, through Mr. Bruno Paetz, the British pro- consul at Archangel, I was enabled to secure a num- ber of Samoyede coats made of the skins desired. 1 8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE There was not a dry-dock in Tromso large enough for the America, so, manned by her American crew, with Capt. Keldjsen for pilot, she left for Trondhjem, where she was to be repaired and loaded, and from where she was later to sail on her voyage north. On my return to America in April, arrangements were made for the departure of the members of the Field Department from New York City for Trondhjem. [Copy of order sent to Field Dept. members of the Expedition] Ziegler Polar Expedition 60 Liberty Street New York, May 9th, 1903. general orders no. i. Sir: You are hereby ordered to report at the Astor House, New York City, on the afternoon of May 25th, ready for sailing the morning of the 27th of May for Norway. 2. Accommodations have been arranged at the Astor House and you are to report immediately upon arrival there to Mr. William J. Peters, Second in Command, who is to conduct the expedition party to Norway. 3. Transportation is provided on the Steamship Helig Olav, sailing from Pier, foot of 17th Street, Hoboken, N. J., May 27th. Mr. Charles E. Rilliet, Quartermaster, will arrange for transportation and baggage. 4. Members are expected to carry all their baggage, outside of hand- bags, etc., in two trunks — one steamer trunk to be carried aboard ex- pedition steamer America — the other to be left in storehouse at Tromso, with supply of clothing until return of expedition. 5. Clothing has been provided for the use of the members after August 1st, 1903, but it is advised that each man provide himself with two blue flannel Army shirts, two pair of heavy shoes, of larger size than usually worn, three suits of medium weight underwear, a supply of socks and handkerchiefs, and several suits of old clothing, and a small sewing and darning outfit. 6. Every man should be careful to see that his teeth are in good con- dition before leaving. 7. This order to be acknowledged immediately on receipt. The Commanding Officer presents his compliments to the members of the Field Department of the expedition, and wishes them a pleasant trip across the ocean, regretting that necessity for an earlier departure prevents his accompanying the party to Trondhjem. Anthony Fiala, Commanding. WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 19 The last shipments were made from the United States and eleven days later I was once again at sea on my way to Norway. On arrival at Trondhjem, I found that the repairs on the ship were almost completed, and she was moved to a dock to receive her coal and stores. Leaving the America again I hurried by rail across Norway and Sweden to Stockholm, and from there by steamer to St. Petersburg, and then by the slow moving Russian railroad made my way to Arch- angel, to inspect the furs that had been ordered and to assure myself of their suitability. On return to Trondhjem I found the storehouses and dock filled with cases, bales, barrels, and bags. The great ship- ment of stores from six countries had arrived and the work was well under way. An interested crowd of Norwegians watched us load the vessel and several ship captains there volunteered the information that they believed it would require two ships to transport all our supplies. In addition to this great cargo we purchased lumber with which to construct a house on some Arctic shore for our winter quarters. For the reception of the thirty ponies we were to take along I ordered a stable built on the deck amid- ships. The floor was raised and slatted to keep the ponies' hoofs dry, and stalls were built so as to protect the little animals from accident during the voyage. On the roof of the pony stable a dog pen was constructed as all space had to be utilised. The America's appearance now offered a pleasing contrast to the last view I had had of her. With rig- ging taut, spars cleaned and painted, and a new smoke- stack, I hardly recognised the old ship. Under the so FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE direction of First Officer Haven the cargo was soon stowed and the great mass of supplies and stores went down between decks and into the hold. When at last the decks too were laden it took quite a degree of agility to move from one end of the ship to the other. The members of the Field Department arrived in Trondhjem in early June and helped the crew in the loading of the ship. By noon of June 23 everything was aboard. Mr. William Champ, Mr. Ziegler's secre- tary, who was to accompany us to Archangel, came aboard, and, at six p. m. we steamed from the dock at Trondhjem followed by the cheers of a large company of Norwegians who had assembled to see us depart. We arrived at the little island of Trono early in the morning of the 26th and took aboard 183 dogs, twenty- five of which were pups about five months old, and five little Siberian ponies looking the worse for their experience on the last expedition. We then steamed for the famous little town of Tromso on the northern coast of Norway in whose harbour many an expedition ship had anchored before. On our way there we crossed the Arctic Circle, and all members of the expedition who had not passed that parallel before, were seized by their comrades who had, and initiated as Polar explorers by being thrown overboard while the steamer was in motion, their safety first insured by a long line made fast around their waists. As they were hauled on deck spluttering and half drowned, Father Neptune, impersonated by one of the old tars aboard, scrubbed down the victims with a deck broom to the amusement of all. We stayed at Tromso only a day to take on some supplies, then hurried our WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 21 steamer's bow northward through the beautiful fjords of Norway to the town of Vardo, a curious little place that betrays itself ere you see it if the wind blows your way. From Vardo we steamed down through the White Sea toward Archangel, the metropolis of northern Russia and Siberia, the White City on the White Sea. We arrived off Solombal, the port of Archangel, at 2 p. m. on July 2nd. On going ashore I was glad to find that the twenty-five ponies ordered from Alexander Trontheim, who purchased dogs for Nansen, Wellman, Baldwin, and the Duke of the Ab- ruzzi, were all on hand and ready for embarkation. Several particularly tough looking specimens had been brought more than 800 miles overland fom Siberia. Stephan, one of the Russians who had been with the previous expedition, a splendid fellow, with tears in his eyes begged for the privilege of accompanying us. He said he did not wish any salary but would go for his clothing and food. But there was no room aboard for Stephan; we were crowded without adding to our number, so I regretfully denied his request. At Solombal we coaled the bunkers which were quite empty after our long trip from Tromso. A lighter came alongside with twenty-five dogs and twenty- five of the most beautiful, lively Siberian ponies, intelligent and well conditioned. I succeeded in get- ting a moving picture as they were hauled aboard. About sixteen tons of oats and corn were taken on as provender and, almost like the proverbial "last straw," a boat came alongside with still another ad- dition to the ship's load— our precious furs. Cap- 22 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE tain Coffin said to me rather grimly, " I think we will have to carry the furs in the main top." But they were finally placed safely under cover of the fore hatch. In addition to the work of cleaning and loading the vessel we had visitors to entertain. Some very polite and intelligent officers from a Russian hydrographic expedition came aboard. I have to laugh when I think of it. I wore a pair of khaki trousers and a rough flannel shirt. Minus a hat, my hair tangled and artistic but not neat, I had been directing the arrangement of pony stalls and helping the men trim ship and was hardly in a presentable condition. But I escorted the officers around, all of them in resplen- dent uniforms covered with decorations and gold lace, some of them carrying jewelled short swords; one of them wearing the famous iron cross. We left Archangel on our northward course just before midnight on Independence Day with the glowing orb of the sun cut on our northern horizon. As we steamed toward it the great, burning, red-and-golden luminary rose, flooding us with light and giving us a radiant pathway toward the Great White Sea. A number of Russians cheered us as, under the impetus of our fast revolving screw, we gained headway to- ward the river's mouth and passed the city of Solombal, the Russian flags politely dipping and the whistles of many steamers blowing us their God-speed. The Russian authorities had been most kind, remitting all harbour and pilot charges. Our progress to Vardo, where we were to stop for a few hours to take on more coal before leaving civili- o g WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 23 sation for the ice, was delayed by a gale that sprang up on the seventh of July and blew "great guns" for about forty-eight hours. It meant hard work for those who were not seasick. Neither Mr. Champ nor I is subject to seasickness as a rule, but while the storm lasted we could do little but lie in our bunks and poke fun at each other when a respite from our distressed condition permitted. We made efforts — costly efforts ! I managed to crawl up over the cargo as far as the ponies and dogs several times to satisfy myself as to their condition. Everything was attended to as well as one could expect and none of the animals or cargo was lost. At Vardo we bade good-bye to Mr. Champ, who had accompanied us thus far. Before leaving I went aboard his steamer, and in the privacy of his cabin we talked over the affairs of the expedition and of the Relief Ship that he was to bring up in the summer of 1904. We agreed that Cape Flora, on Northbrook Island, would be the place of rendezvous, as a large store of provisions was there as well as houses and boats. I was to send a party to Cape Flora early in the spring of 1904 with letters through which, should the America not succeed in reaching Cape Flora from her winter northing before the Relief Ship ar- rived there, Mr. Champ would learn of our where- abouts and of the success or failure of the expedition. We discussed the probable ice conditions to be en- countered and the personnel of the exploring party, for I realised that the fate of the undertaking de- pended chiefly upon the moral fibre of the men. I hoped to reach Crown Prince Rudolph Island with 24 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE the ship and winter in some safe harbour near there, or, the ice permitting, cast anchor at Coburg Island. From that point, in the spring of 1904, a march north with a large column of men, dogs, ponies, and sledges, would be made, the ponies to serve as dog food as the loads on their sledges were reduced. The sledge party was to be composed of a number of supporting parties that were to be detached as the main column advanced and sent back to the base camp, the final advance party to consist of four or five men, who would strike for Cape Flora on their return should they be carried toward the west by the drift. I told Mr. Champ that the America would start for Cape Flora just as soon as she could get free in the summer of 1904 and not to wait for the sledge parties should they still be in the field; that I would leave food along the British Channel on my advance north with the ship and, if necessary, on her return to Cape Flora where she would await the sledge parties and the Relief Ship. Mr. Champ left at midnight. The Norwegian steamer, upon whose deck he stood, passed close to the America, the steamers saluting each other by the dip- ping of flags and the shrieking of the steam sirens while the men of the expedition party cheered loudly. The following day, Friday, the tenth of July, after fresh water and about fifty tons of coal had been taken aboard, we raised anchor and at six in the evening left the harbour with our bow pointed north. A fresh breeze was blowing from the southwest and, to save our pre- cious coal, steam was shut off, and with all canvas set we sailed on our way in a spanking breeze. CHAPTER IV THE "AMERICA" FORCES HER WAY NORTH f^N THE afternoon of July 13th, we met the ice at ^ Longitude 38 37' E. and Latitude 74 51' N., and there our progress north was barred by the close-packed, crystal fields. We steamed easterly in hope of finding an open water lead, but without success. On the 18th we sighted 'Nova Zembla and continued on our easterly and southerly course along the edge of the ice in an endeavour to find an opening near the land. But we were disappointed. Capt. Coffin suggested that it would be best to turn the ship around and return to Longitude 49 where the ice seemed loosest and then force our way north, to which suggestion I agreed as the only thing to do. So we steamed to where the ice appeared to make in to the north, and there we spoke a little Norwegian sealing schooner. Captain Coffin and I boarded her, taking with us an interpreter, our Norse carpenter, Tessem; we also carried a bag of mail, our last letters home. The sealers told it was a very bad year for ice, the worst they had ever experienced, and predicted that we could not reach Franz Josef Land, a prophecy which the cheerful spirit that prevailed then aboard the America would not endorse. The ice in the Barentz Sea is on the approach of summer broken into fields by the action of winds and 2 S 26 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE sea. A southerly wind is most effective as it brings with it the roll of the great open ocean southward, smashing the ice-fields. A northern wind then separates the floes and allows the swell of the sea to penetrate further. Thus before the end of summer the whole sea of ice is often broken into comparatively small floes between which it is usually possible to pick a way north to Franz Josef Land. We seemed to have struck a late season. The ice was then about breaking, but the great lanes of water that should have given us a passage between the floes to our destination were not to be found. We steamed slowly along the edge of floe after floe of field ice, some of the floes from thirty to sixty miles long with never a break. Time and time again we were obliged to steam in great circles, miles out of our course, to work around the vast white mass. Under favourable conditions the voyage from Vardo, Norway, to Cape Flora, in the Franz Josef Archipelago, can be made in less than six days. But day after day passed without any appreciable progress north, and the impatient American spirit chafed under the delay, and many a young member of the expedition received his first lesson in Arctic exploration — the lesson of patience. Possibly nowhere on earth was there just such a situa- tion or quite such a community as existed aboard our ship. The America flew the burgee of the New York Yacht Club and had a commission as a pleasure yacht from the Treasury Department of the United States Government. But she was anything but a pleasure yacht. Crowded with thirty-nine men, 218 dogs, and ' ' AMERICA ' ' FORCES HER WAY NORTH 2 7 thirty ponies, and with every available deck space packed with cargo, she had more the appearance of an overloaded freighter or cattle steamer. Hard manual labour was the portion of all alike. In addition to the regular work of the ship the animals had to be cared for, and with the crowded condition of the decks it was a difficult matter to fill the bunkers, and all hands, Field Department members as well as crew, were obliged to take part in the dirty work of passing coal. We carried a heavy deck-load of cases, compressed hay, and coal. Amidships the ponies were stalled in a structure of timber. This rough stable was floored and roofed, and upon the roof, surrounded by a bul- wark of thin boards, a number of the dogs were chained ; the remainder of our pack were lodged on the fore- castle head, where they passed the time away barking and howling in unison with their comrades on top of the pony stable, varying the monotony of their chained imprisonment by innumerable fights. Any dog with- in reach of another would improve the slightest oppor- tunity for a quarrel, and with the savage snarling of the combatants the whole pack would yelp and bark encouragement, the result being general disorder. The noise generally brought Dr. Vaughn, who was in charge of the dogs, and Pierre LeRoyer, his assistant, who, with the aid of whips, speedily restored order. Even the ponies seemed possessed of the spirit of com- bativeness and bit each others necks when they were not engaged in chewing up the lumber of which the stable was constructed. There was not room enough for all the ponies in the stable and five were tied up alongside the ship's 28 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE rail. These had to be watched constantly as they endeavoured to eat all the rope within reach, be- sides chewing up the rail and eating out places in the deck made soft by the constant wash of the sea- water. All of July passed with little distance to our credit. Again and again we were forced to tie up to the ice, the ship's yards and rigging glittering with ice, while a blanket of thick, damp, Arctic fog obscured the vision. At other times, the sky above our northern, eastern, and western horizons was white with the reflection of ice, the ominous "ice blink" that proved the absence of open water. With the floes under pressure, we could do nothing but wait until a change in the wind caused the fields to separate. Then the America, though overloaded and weighted down at the head, under full steam, would squeeze her way between the floes, after charg- ing the frozen masses, and hammer her way sturdily northward. "Bucking" the ice requires skill and judgment and was always an exciting experience, particularly when viewed from the vantage-point of the crow's nest where the Captain, the Mate, and myself passed much of our time. The ship would be slowly backed in the narrow channel she had broken between the fields until there were about a thousand yards of water space. Then, from his position at the mast head, the Captain would send the signal for full speed ahead. With smoke pouring in great clouds from her funnel and mingling with hissing live steam, the engine throbbing and pounding under the strains of its supreme effort — Hartt, the engineer, was forcing his pet — men lining the rig- ' NORTHWARD HO ' SOME OF THE DOGS WERE LODGED ON THE FORECASTLE HEAD ' ' ' AMERICA ' ' FORCES HER WAY NORTH 2 9 ging to mark the advance toward the coveted stretch of clear water, the America would crash into the heavy, glassy mass and under the impetus her great hulk would rise out of the sea and roll from side to side, as the ice broke and splintered under her armoured fore- foot. Dogs barked and whined in terror; ponies stamped and stumbled as the impact of ship and floe threw them almost off their feet. Up in the crow's nest, where every motion was intensified, we hung on like cherries. Sometimes, it seemed that, with her heavy top load, the America must "turn turtle," but the ice always broke and, at last, on an even keel, we would gather steam to buck once more. The ice had to be carefully watched and the course of every little water lead traced from the crow's nest before the ship's nose was pushed into it. In going south, toward the open sea, almost every lane of water can be trusted as leading toward safety, but, in forcing a way north it is like going toward the small end of a funnel, and, in a close season, many an opening, that from the limited view circle of deck and rigging seemed to stretch to the very edge of the earth, resolved itself into what is technically termed a "blind lead" ending in solid ice. Captain Coffin, through the knowledge gained in many years of Arctic whaling, kept carefully out of these traps, which had caused the destruction of the Jeannette, the Tegeihoff, and many another Arctic going ship, and we did very little useless steaming. Under the influence of the winds and currents the ice fields were either closing and under pressure, or separat- ing and relaxing. At the times of pressure it was 3 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE useless to attempt to force a way, and we could only stand by and wait. Every halt of the ship was ac- cepted with impatience by some of the company who, though it was their first experience on a Polar sea, freely gave their opinions as to how the ship should be managed in the ice. The Captain at first thought it amusing, and often asked me to look down over the edge of the crow's nest to see his "ice pilots," strung in the rigging and on the forecastle head with their eyes glued to the ice. On July 30th we had stopped the ship in a little open hole of water from which two blind leads extended, one threading its narrow way in a northwest, the other, in a northeasterly direction. Captain Coffin and I, in the crow's nest, anxiously examined both through our binoculars and with the long ship's telescope but could find no other evidence of water, and the horizon was white with the " ice blink. " The Captain said to me, " We can enter either lead, but it would be foolish for we can only steam about three miles in one, or about four miles in the other. If we wait here, the chances are, that one of the leads will open and the other close; we will then be in a position to take the one that is open and push on." I saw the wisdom of his judgment at once. and agreed that waiting was the only thing to do. On my way down from the crow's nest, I could see, from the lower level, one of the leads showing water almost to the horizon and could under- stand the critical comments made by some of my comrades at the seemingly unnecessary delay. So much in life depends upon the View Point, and the higher our elevation above the earth level, and the ' THE PONIES ENDEAVOURED TO EAT UP ALL THE ROPE WITHIN REACH, BESIDES CHEWING THE RAIL AND EATING OUT PLACES IN THE DECK " THE PONY "CIRCUS" JUST BEFORE HIS EXECUTION ' ' AMERICA ' ' FORCES HER WAY NORTH 3 1 wider our horizon, the less hypercritical and the more just we are apt to be. The following day, under the influence of a twenty- five-mile-an-hour wind, one of the leads closed into a small pressure ridge; the other opened and through it we eventually escaped from our pool. The early days of August were the most discouraging of all. Our latitude was fully one hundred miles south of Cape Flora and the great expanse of ice gave little promise of opening up. Gloom settled over the company and here and there an impatient or thought- less one gave vent to his dissatisfaction in regrettable terms. The animals showed the effect of their long imprisonment, the dogs, craving sympathy, howled dolefully and held up their wet cold paws. The ponies relieved the tedium of the situation by biting each other and doing as much damage as possible to their stable. We were obliged to renew the wood-work of their stalls and the flooring, that had been eaten through in many places. The monotony of inaction was varied by visits from Polar bears which usually paid the price of their curiosity with their lives. They were shot and skinned on the ice, their pelts and carcasses being dragged to the ship where the meat served as fresh food for men and dogs. Thrice in the week after the evening meal, Mr. Peters conducted a class in nautical astronomy and, assisted by Mr. Porter and Mr. Tafel, made ob- servations on the floating ice for magnetic declination. Our weather observer, Sergt. Francis Long of the U. S. Weather Bureau, was the Arctic veteran of the party. He had been a member of the famous Greely Ex- 32 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE pedition and it was his fortunate shooting of a bear which saved the remnant of that company from starvation. Sergt. Long mounted his instrument shel- ter — the " chicken coop " as it was jocularly termed by the members of the party — on the deck over the America's upper cabin, and his anemometer on the bridge, and began his weather observations. He was generally known among the explorers as "Obs," from the signature he attached to his memorandum slips. All sorts of jokes were cracked at his expense, but he kept serenely and good-naturedly at his work, set- ting many a younger man an example of diligence and faithfulness in the performance of duty. Gloom and disappointment gave way to joy on the evening of August the fifth when a flood of sunshine took the place of dull gray clouds and we discovered a great open hole of water through which we steamed with a fair sky and friendly winds until the following evening, when, once again, the ice appeared and with it the depressing fog which threw its chill, wet blanket over everything and caused a rapid drop in the spirits of my companions. I climbed up to the crow's nest on the morning of August the seventh, and while there, through a clearing in the fog, caught a glimpse of land not far off looking very much like Cape Flora. I called out the cheering news, but the ice was fast and under pressure so we could do nothing but wait. It was very tantalising to drift around in sight of land without the power of approaching it. On the morning of the eighth our Veterinarian, Dr. Newcomb, reported to me that "Circus," one of the ponies that had been sick, was infected with glanders and I was obliged to HAULING THE CARCASS OF A TOLAR BEAR ABOARD THE SHIP 'THE REMAINDER OF OUR PACK WERE LODGED ON THE FORECASTLE HEAD" a £ H O z 5 H £-* Z W w < w s H "AMERICA" FORCES HER WAY NORTH 33 order his destruction, for the disease is communicable and deadly to man and beast. The poor little animal was shot and thrown overboard with all his belongings — halter, blanket, chain, and feed-bag. We finally escaped from the pack at a point where two enormous ice fields had crashed together. These had parted a little, leaving a long narrow channel choked with heavy cakes. We dislodged and shat- tered the cakes with charges of guncotton, the crew pushing the fragments out of the way with long poles. Then we forced our way through, steaming between two enormous blocks of ice, and escaping just in time, as the fields crashed together with tremendous force behind us. On the afternoon of August 12 th we arrived at Cape Flora, the historic place where Jackson spent three years with his party and where his dramatic meeting with Dr. Nansen took place ; where Leigh Smith lived with his crew when his vessel was crushed by the ice, and where the Duke of the Abruzzi cached a great store of provisions against a time of need. But our destination was further north, and we left Cape Flora with its relics of former expeditions in an attempt to make a higher northern base for winter quarters. We passed Cape Barentz, the southeast extremity of Northbrook Island, steaming so close that we could hear the chatter of thousands upon thousands of gulls, guillemots, little Auks, and Loons, which make their summer home in the crevices of the great basaltic rock that guards the entrance to DeBruyne Sound. The Sound was free of ice, but the British Channel, through which the Duke of the Abruzzi's ship, the Po- 34 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE laris, had steamed so easily, was now one unbroken line of solid ice from shore to shore. "We steamed east toward Cape Dillon to ascertain if there was an oppor- tunity of going north through the interchannel route by way of Camp Ziegler, where Baldwin wintered in 1 901-1902, or to the east of the Archipelago. We could not make Cape Dillon in spite of effort. From the crow's nest, there was naught to be seen but ice — north, east, and south, showing that we were simply in a water hole off Northbrook and Hooker islands. We then turned west over the course we had come only to find farther advance in that direction blocked by heavy ice off Cape Grant. I then decided to return to the British Channel and fight our way north by that route if it took the rest of the season. CHAPTER V THE FIGHT UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL >T*HE heavy ice in the British Channel gave me -*- reason to believe that we would be late in reach- ing our base and I found it necessary to order the men to begin to fit harness for the ponies and dogs, to put together the sledges, and to start sewing fur garments. Our passage up the British Channel occupied many days, days of anxiety for the leader. The ponies and dogs had been on the ship for almost two months and the long wait in cramped quarters was telling on them. Veterinarian Newcomb and Sergt. Moulton, who had the welfare of the ponies in mind, gave the tough creatures exercise by moving them from stall to stall, changing their places daily. A fortunate drift of the ice northward carried us through the channel past Cape Murray, and then we slowly steamed and worked our way north being obliged at times to explode heavy mines of guncotton to assist our advance. On the night of August 29th, we were tied up to the ice in a bay near a little uncharted island north of Cape Hugh Mill on Jackson Island. My diary for the 30th reads: " Had been up all night and climbed the hill on the island near us several times in anxious watch of the belt of ice that separated us from the navigable water north. I turned in about one a.m. and asked Mr. 35 36 F-IGHTING THE POLAR ICE Peters and Mr. Porter to watch the ice as they were taking a set of angles from the top of the hill. Tired out from many sleepless nights I fell immediately to sleep but was awakened in half an hour by Mr. Porter who informed me that the ice had opened. First Officer Haven was just climbing over the side of the ship for the purpose of going to the top of the hill and we three went together to have our eyes gladdened by the sight of an open lane through the ice. On return, I climbed the hill with Captain Coffin who gave one look then hurried back to the ship as fast as he could go and together we climbed to the crow's nest. On leaving the bay in which we had found refuge we steamed north toward Charles Alexander Island, the beautiful clear, atmosphere and glorious sunshine revealing the fact that Leigh Smith Island did not exist, but that what was supposed to be that island was really the northeast end of Jackson Island, and that instead of the channel marked as De Long Fjord, there was really a deep bay. At Cape Helland we could go no farther, a wide strip of ice preventing farther progress north. We tied up to the ice to await further developments. Second officer Nichols, Surgeon Shork- ley, Seaman Burns, and I took the dingy and sounded in the bay north of Cape Helland, hoping to find a lane of separation between the ground ice and the floe, but to no avail. We then climbed the glacier and, from about 800 feet elevation, beheld the welcome sight of open sea as far as Crown Prince Rudolph Island. Returned to the ship convinced that when we did escape it would not be through the bay but farther out in the channel. Felt very tired on return to ship for want of sleep. About ten o'clock in the morning, I turned in and slept soundly until 4.30. After supper, I climbed to the crow's nest and noticed .. that the ice had opened a little. Reported it to Capt. Coffin, and in a few minutes we were under way. The FIGHT UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL 37 bugle then sounded the time of Sunday service and while we were engaged in a devotional meeting, the shaking and pounding of the ship denoted our en- trance into the ice. At the close of the service, we went on deck to find the America slowly forcing her way through heavy ice. Before long we had passed our last barrier and were steaming in the open sea. Captain Coffin reported that when he started the chances were slim but as the ship advanced, the ice seemed to slacken and open. What heavy masses of ice they were! Great, solid, green, shimmering, tons upon tons, extending from twenty to thirty feet under water! We steamed past Charles Alexander Island and toward midnight passed Cape Auk, the southwestern end of Rudolph Island, where we could see the cache left by the Baldwin-Ziegler Party in 1902. Teplitz Bay was passed in the sunlight, the skeleton-like remains of the framework of the tent where in the past had lived the brave Abruzzi and his companions standing out in plain view. Open water extending farther north, we steamed on toward the midnight sun. On passing Teplitz Bay, Captain Coffin told me the good news that as far as he could see Teplitz Bay would be safe as winter quarters for the ship." Early in the morning of August 31st, we made our highest north, (the open Victoria Sea allowing us to pass beyond the 82nd degree of latitude. We returned to Teplitz Bay by six o'clock in the morning of a beautiful sunlit day, a female bear and her cub paying us a visit as we made fast alongside the heavy bay ice. Several of the men opened fire from the deck of the America, but I was glad to see the mother and her cub escape unhurt. 38 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE The tent where the Duke of the Abruzzi, Captain Cagni, and their companions had wintered in 1899 and 1900, and from which they started on their record breaking trip, had been destroyed by the storms and all that remained were the heavy spars of the frame- work sunk deep in the snow and the tops of the interior tents. A large cache of food stores was found in good condition piled on a high rocky point where the winds would keep it free of drifting snow, and, down near the tide crack, a great heap of coal was imbedded in the ice. Between the coal pile and the cache on the rocks, numerous cases filled with food stores protruded through the snow, a veritable bonanza to the Arctic explorer. Not far from the coal pile was a great case containing a ruined balloon and near it a large mili- tary gas generator, and cases of sulphuric acid and barrels of iron filings were scattered around. Best of all was the discovery of two large steel tanks sunk to their tops in the snow containing a quantity of petroleum. Everything denoted a hurried departure. With all this great store of food we found heaps of glass bottles and many casks, but, though diligent search was made, we never found a bottle containing anything stronger than olive oil or vinegar or a cask with anything more exhilarating than molasses. Out on the bay ice we found the half buried stump of a tree on which the Duke and his companions had prob- ably practised target shooting, and its unchanged position was an evidence to us that the ice of Teplitz Bay had not moved since 1900. Our voyage was now over, and I gave instructions ' OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE ON THE FLOATING ICE FOR LONGITUDE AND FOR MAGNETIC DECLINATION" raaw— — - H o « w 3J H a z < w y o H < a FIGHT UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL 39 to disembark the animals, unload the cargo, and pre- pare the ship for winter quarters. Ziegler Polar Expedition s. y. america Anthony Fiala, Commanding Officer Date Sept. 6, 1903. general orders no. 15 Teplitz Bay 1. Teplitz Bay is to be our winter headquarters, and in honour of the courageous men of Italy and their famous leader who occupied this site before us, we shall name our winter quarters camp ' ' Abruzzi. ' ' 2. We have reached this northern point after many difficulties and trials in a particularly bad season of much ice — and great credit is due to Captain Coffin and Officers and crew of the America for the record she now holds. 3. Our field work is practically in its very beginning and from the lateness of the season we shall be obliged to toil long and suffer some be- fore we can be comfortably arranged in Winter Quarters. 4. The unfortunate stampeding of the ponies on landing caused us considerable labour and worry. But now we have our forces together and our united efforts will soon effect permanent results, and hope of victory by earning it should lead us on, with the glorious example of the men who occupied the ground of camp "Abruzzi" before us, as an incentive. Signed, Anthony Fiala, Commanding Ziegler Polar Expedition. Sept. 6, 1903. general orders no. 16 Camp "Abruzzi" 1. Members of Field Department are to report daily after breakfast to Mr. Peters my executive officer for orders. 2. Heads of Departments are expected to carefully attend to stores in their charge to prevent loss by drifting snow or other causes. 3 . It is necessary to impress on the minds of all members of the ex- 4 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE pedition party, that all tools and small articles should be kept under cover before leaving camp at night, and even in working hours no article of use should be left on the snow to be covered by the drift and lost. 4. We are in a situation where habits of carefulness in all respects may mean the difference between success and failure. 5. Obedience to orders and cheerful compliance to required duty with a hopeful happy uncritical spirit will leave a record for each man to be proud of. Anthony Fiala. 1 o is is w e-i O b. o w o CM B H h > < o w u fc. o is < x w E- < « O E CHAPTER VI CAMP ABRUZZI A GANGWAY was now constructed from ship to *** ice and the sea-weary animals, wild for liberty, were disembarked. The poor beasts had been prisoners for two months, some of them longer. The ponies celebrated their new found freedom by rolling in the snow and kicking each other and the open air in pure delight, while the dogs, unchained and allowed to run free, with tails up and grinning jaws, found relief from the long strain in mischief and enjoyable fights. Our camp was established on a level tract of protruding rocks, the outcropping of a small terminal moraine, on the edge of which, in the snow, a picket line was stretched for the ponies. While the ponies were being lead across the rough bay ice to the shore, a num- ber of them, in a wild desire for freedom, broke loose and stampeded, jumping hummocks and rocks like kangaroos and finally disappearing out of sight across the high glacier. Search parties were sent after them and all were brought back except five. Of this num- ber four were found lodged in crevasses so badly in- jured that they had to be shot, but of the remaining one no trace was ever discovered. Sergt. Moulton, Assistant Scientist Tafel, and Dr. Vaughn distinguished themselves in the search. The anxiety caused by the stampede of the ponies was allayed, but we were 41 42 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE assailed by a new trouble — the rising of the wind which broke off the ice around the ship. Every one had to work day and night to move the cargo to land. Quite an amount of equipment and stores, lumber, sledges, boats, etc., had been placed on the ice near the ship, and quick work was necessary to save them from being lost on the fast disappearing ice. The ponies did valiant service in dragging loads varying from 800 to 1,200 pounds over the hummocks and up the long hill to the camp. One little fellow, a survivor of the Baldwin-Ziegler expedition and not so strong as the others, died from exhaustion due to overwork. After constant exertion we succeeded in getting all the new lumber, stores, and equipment ashore, but we lost the ship's dingy, some old lumber from the stable, and eleven dogs that floated away on broken ice in the gale. Thereafter I ordered the sledges loaded directly from the ship and nothing was allowed to be placed on the ice edge. The violence of the wind and the breaking of the heavy bay ice indicated to Captain Coffin the pos- sibility that Teplitz Bay would be an unsafe harbour for the ship. He told me on September 3d that he would be obliged to take the America away and look for other winter quarters, and that he would not be responsible for her safety if she was allowed to re- main in Teplitz Bay. To send the America away with her crew, I would have been obliged to equip the entire ship's company with sleeping bags, dogs, and sledges — for there was the possibility of the ship's loss no matter where she might be taken in the Archi- pelago. Then there were the added disadvantages o o a w X H Q W Z W > CAMP ABRUZZI 43 of a divided party, the loss to the expedition of the services of the crew, and also the sacrifice of such facilities as were afforded by the work-shop aboard the America. There was only one other thing to do, and that was to add the shore party to the crew, take every- thing — ponies, dogs, large tents, lumber, food, equip- ment, and stores, and look for other winter quarters. But the season was far advanced, and by going farther south we would have lost the decided advan- tage of a high base for the sledge party. After con- sidering both sides of the question I explained to the members of the Field Department the nature of the risk we assumed by remaining in Teplitz Bay, and then gave orders to Captain Coffin to winter the ship in that neighbourhood. A large tent twenty feet wide and eighty-eight feet long was erected, and, in it the ponies and dogs were stabled. In another large tent room was made for storage of food and forage for the animals. A house was built of lumber brought from Norway on the rocky ridge to the west of the stock tent; our company labouring late in the gathering twilight and numerous storms to complete this winter shelter. On September 10th the greater part of the large cache of pemmican which had been stored by the Bald- win-Ziegler Expedition at Cape Auk four miles away was brought north by steamer to our present camp site.* The cache consisted of about 40,000 pounds of pemmican besides a small quantity of bacon, lard, and *The moving of the Cape Auk cache to Camp Ziegler proved to be its salvation. During the summer of 1904 an avalanche of water and rocks descended from the high face of Oape Auk and washed what remained of the cache into the sea, burying the site under a mass of rocks. 44 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE sausages. Having been one of the party detailed to make this cache in 1902, I recalled vividly the two months of hard sledging necessary to its accomplish- ment, and it was with a feeling of much satisfaction that I viewed the cargo of familiar tins on the deck of the America and realised that our labour had not been in vain. This new cargo was added to our supplies at Teplitz Bay, and then preparations were made to make the America snug for the winter. I had given Captain Coffin a little over half our entire store of pro- visions for use aboard ship as he had the larger party. The other half, together with the entire store of sledge provisions, had been moved by the united efforts of expedition members and crew to the vicinity of the camp ; this work necessitating hard hauling in all kinds of weather. The sledges we had put together while coming up the channel stood the heavy loads and hummocky ice very well, and the ponies proved in- valuable in sledging the stores over the mile of rough ice that intervened between ship and shore. In fact the ponies were less troublesome and more powerful than the dogs, the industrious little equines dragging loads that astonished us all. On a ridge of rocks overlooking the bay, not far from our camp and near the cache of food left by the Abruzzi party, our busy scientists erected an astro- nomical observatory, inside of which the large vertical circle loaned by the Christiana Observatory was set up. Near the shore line, about two hundred yards below the stable tent, Mr. Peters and his assistants built the little hut that was to serve as a magnetic observatory. On September 24th the house intended y V o CM w a H W Q W Ph en W Si H CAMP ABRUZZI 45 for the home of the shore party was completed and the fifteen members of the Field Department and the ship's steward, who had volunteered for shore duty, moved their belongings into it. The interior of the house had been divided into one large living room and a number of small rooms just large enough for two or four bunks. A little kitchen was partitioned off for the steward. In the living room a long table was erected over which was hung an arc light connected by wire with the ship more than six thousand feet away, the America's dynamo supplying the current for lights aship and ashore. Toward the end of September the days grew stormy and dark, the sun's visits became daily shorter until on October 1 5th our luminary dipped below the horizon in a blaze of scarlet fire, not to rise again until March of the following year, and a thick gloom settled over the ice of land and sea. By that time the camp had assumed quite a business-like aspect, with a regular routine of duties for all the members. The ponies were stored in the stable tent, half the space of which was shared by the dogs. The dogs were allowed to come and go at will, none being chained except those that were found to be incorrigible fighters. But woe to the canines which strayed on the pony side of the tent within reach of the heels ! A well tramped trail led over the ice of the bay between house and ship, and in the snow along the trail was imbedded the wire that conveyed the electric current. On this same wire Engineer Hartt and Electrician Vedoe had cut in three incandescent lights, mounting them on bamboo poles stuck in the snow 46 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE about a thousand feet apart. Another electric light burned at the gangway of the ship. On windy days, when vision was obscured by flying drifts of snow, and at night these lights served as guides between ship and shore. The America's officers had been busy in the meantime, and the after part of the ship had been housed in with canvas and an extra door and par- tition placed before the entrance to the forecastle. The ship's store of provisions and her small boats were cached on the ice within easy reach. An electrically lighted workshop, with a stove to keep it warm, was arranged between decks. It was clean and comfort- able and in it the work of putting sledges together and lashing the joints with raw-hide was carried on. Wishing to test the dogs and equipment before the rapidly approaching season of darkness rendered the sledge journey impracticable, I left camp on October 15th, the last day of the sun's appearance above our horizon, accompanied by Dr. Vaughn and Pierre LeRoyer and two teams of dogs and sledges. We climbed the glacier north of the camp and then directed our way toward Cape Fligely. Old Pierre went ahead on snowshoes, and Dr. Vaughn and I followed, each with a team and a loaded sledge. We returned to camp on the morning of October 21st, having been delayed on our return from Cape Fligely by a bad storm in which we lost our bearings. After the storm, the twilight revealed to us that we were on the summit of the glacier. Over a thousand feet below us stretched the panorama of Teplitz Bay with the ship frozen in, a thin column of smoke rising from her funnel; the desolate shore enlivened by the houses and tents of the COURSE OF THE S. Y. "AMERICA" FROM VARDO, NORWAY, TO TEPLITZ BAY, RUDOLF ISLAND, FRANZ JOSEF ARCHIPELAGO 7, O i-l ►J < z a OS w 3] w u Q w z H 04 > O < CAMP ABRUZZI 47 camp. The little black specks of life moving around we knew to be our comrades. The descent into camp from the snowy slope did not take long. We rough- locked the runners of our sledges with ropes but even then the speed was so swift that we had to turn a num- ber of our dogs loose. We received a noisy welcome from the canines at camp, a great number of them advancing like skirmishers on our approach. The trip was a valuable experience, proving the sledges and equipment satisfactory and strengthening my reliance on them for future use. CHAPTER VII ADRIFT IN THE DARKNESS 'T^EPLITZ BAY was a place of many storms. On Oc- •*• tober 2 2d a gale sprang up from the southeast shaking the house all night with its fearful blast, the velocity of the wind increasing until it reached a maxi- mum of seventy-two miles an hour. At half past nine at night the arc-light suddenly went out and we knew that our connection with the ship was broken. We feared that something was wrong aboard the America, but were helpless to assist, for in the storm it would have been impossible to find the ship or to return to the house again. All. sense of direction is lost in an Arctic storm. The flying 'snow and drift are like a sandTjTast and blind anyone exposed to their fury. During the evening of the 23d, there was a lull in the gale and Mr. Peters and I carrying lighted lanterns ran over the wind-swept bay ice in the darkness toward the place where the America had been moored. We saw no guiding light from the ship's gangway, and, when we reached the place where the ship had been, to our horror, we found but a wild back sea. We ran up and down flashing our lanterns, but our ship with over half of the expedition company had disappeared! Fierce puffs of whistling wind warned us of the storm's return and we hurried back to camp fearing that our comrades aboard the ship were 48 ADRIFT IN THE DARKNESS 49 lost, reaching the protection of the house just as the wind started up again in increased violence. We flashed a number of signal lights and, to our joy, at last detected a faint glow through the driving drift which indicated an answering signal. However, a sudden increase in the wind made further communi- cation impossible. For three long days the storm raged. On the fourth day our eyes were gladdened in the twilight of noon by the sight of our good ship steaming in from the north, her hull shining with ice, and slowly forcing her way through the thick slush back to her old mooring place. On going aboard we learned that the America had broken loose during the first night of the storm and had been drifting and steam- ing ever since without anyone on board having any knowledge of her whereabouts. The mooring lines became entangled in the blades of the propellor when she went adrift and men had to be lowered into the propellor well during the gale in order to cut the tangled mass from the wheel. It was a long and dif- ficult operation. The temperature was low, and the men had to be relieved frequently. The heavy port I anchor with seventy fathoms of chain first dragged bottom, then hung vertically and, as it could not be raised with frozen machinery, had to be sacrificed to save the ship. It was an awful experience, and I heard wild stories of the drift in the darkness and wind. The gale kept the water agitated and pre- vented its freezing, and thus allowed the America to steam back to Teplitz Bay. She had hardly been made fast to her old berth before the water's surface turned into ice, and in the calm after the storm young 5o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE ice commenced to form, solidifying the floating fields and mushy sea into a cold, still dead-looking waste. I had been living in the house on shore as it was more convenient for me in the work of preparation for the sledge trip. But, after the experience of the last storm, with the drifting away of the ship, and the uncertain feeling of safety aboard, I felt it my duty to take up my abode there, and moved my little store of personal belongings to my old cabin on the America. After all the stores were cached there was little for the ponies to do but draw ice which was to be melted for fresh water. For the purpose of giving them exercise, on afternoons when the weather per- mitted we mounted the tough little beasts and trotted and galloped down the hill and over the trail toward the ship and back. We had no saddles and several of the party caused considerable merriment by using their mittens to soften their seats on the ponies' backs. Sergt. Moulton of the 2d U. S. Cavalry, who had been detailed by the War Department to accompany the expedition, acted as Guidon Sergeant of my little troop. Some of the men rode quite well having gained their firm seats through experience as cavalrymen or artil- lerymen. Old Pierre had served in the Canadian North- west Mounted Police, Sergt, Long in the 2d U. S. Cav- alry through several Indian campaigns, and Commissary Truden in the U. S. Artillery. Nearly all the dogs in the pack accompanied us on our wild rides, barking and running as if mad with excitement. We were sorry when the days grew so dark that we could ride no more. All we could do then to exercise the ponies was to take them out of their stable for an hour each 1 WE PASSED CAPE BARENTZ, THE SOUTHEAST EXTREMITY OF N0RTHBRO0K ISLAND" THE "AMERICA" FIGHTING HER WAY UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL w X H Id Q O '/: O J < a a ADRIFT IN THE DARKNESS 51 day and tie them to a long picket line, allowing them to kick and roll in the snow. Oct. 29, 1903. GENERAL ORDERS NO. 26 i. The Commanding Officer finds it necessary to make his Headquarters aboard the 5. Y. America from this date and takes this opportunity to express his appreciation of the loyal and effective work of the members of the Field Department since the arrival of the America in Teplitz Bay. 2. The period of darkness is upon us and we can be thankful that we are housed so comfortably with such good facilities for the care of animals and opportunities for preparatory work for the Spring campaign. 3. We individually represent the American Nation in this attempt North and the high personal privilege and responsibility of being rep- resentative before the world is an incentive to the development of the best in us — a spur to continued labour, so that when the time comes for heroic indifference to hardship we shall be ready for it by the training of the winter's work. 4. Executive Officer Wm. J. Peters is in charge of Camp Abruzzi, and will keep record of events ashore. 5. Assistant Surgeon Chas. L. Seitz is appointed Acting Quarter- master at Camp Abruzzi and Assistant Quartermaster J. Vedoe will assist him in the care of equipment and Quartermaster Stores ashore. 6. The house ashore as to its sanitary condition and cleanliness is in charge of Surgeon G. Shorkley and members of the expedition are to cheerfully comply with any suggestions that he may make that are for health and cleanliness and to give him assistance daily in keeping the water barrel filled with clean ice. 7. The cutting and sledging of ice for melter in tent and water barrel in house and the clearing of snow drifts from alley and vestibule will be part of the regular work of the Dog and Pony Departments. 8. Great care should be exercised in the use of material and stores and equipment and accounting made for every article used. Every member of the expedition should consider it his duty to care for equipment and keep everything in place and in order. 9. As the plan of the Spring work depends for its success on the good condition of ponies and dogs at that time, every possible opportunity to exercise and train the animals should be used and every member help toward that end, giving all needed assistance to those in charge of the animals. Anthony Fiala. CHAPTER VIII THE "AMERICA" WRECKED BY THE ICE FIELDS XJOVEMBER opened clear and cold, the tempera- -^ ture gradually falling. The minimum ther- mometer registered 47 degrees (Fahrenheit) below zero on the morning of the nth. The ship froze in and seemed safe, every one was hopeful, and work for the coming spring sledge journey went on rapidly. There was a very faint twilight at noon with a low glow in the southern sky on clear days. Thereafter, it grew darker each day until there was little difference between noon and midnight. On the morning of November 1 2th I was awakened about four o'clock by the shaking and trembling of the ship. I lay for some minutes listening to the groan- ing and moaning of the timbers under pressure of the ice, and then "Moses," the Captain's dog, pushed his way into my cabin and put his paws on me, looking into my face with his great black eyes as if beseeching me to rise. I learned later that after coming into my room he went below into the Captain's cabin and awoke him. I got up and putting on a heavy coat went out on deck. It was so dark that I could not see very far, but I could distinguish in the distance the ghostly form of the ice in a jumble of confusion, and could see the pressure ridges approaching the bow and stern of the ship and the enormous folds in the ice off 52 THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 53 to starboard. It felt rather cold, though the tem- perature had risen to 22 degrees below zero. I re- turned to the cabin to dress. While I was putting on my clothing, Captain Coffin knocked at my door and told me that he had ordered all hands to be ready to leave the ship. I agreed with him that the order was necessary and went out on deck. The America was shaking as if with the ague, while the ice was piling up ahead and slowly and fearfully nearing us. En- gineer Hartt coupled his engine and was ready to steam in half an hour. The sledges and stock of lum- ber were dragged out between decks and placed on the main hatch and, as the shocks increased and the America listed to starboard, I had the stuff lowered down on the ice. It was a scene of wild activity with a nerve-racking accompaniment of shrieks and groans from the protesting and resisting ship. About six o'clock the Engineer reported to me that the water was above the fire-room plates and that he had started to pump the ship. After all the sledges and material had been placed on the ice, I returned to my cabin to save some furs and records, which I placed in bags and gave to two sailors who passed them over the side to their shipmates on the ice. Mr. Porter came aboard at that time. He had been working in the magnetic observatory, and, noticing the light at so early an hour walked over to the ship to investigate. I told him to tell Mr. Peters that should the arc light in the house go out he was to take it as a signal for assistance, and come at once to the ship with the members of the Field party and ponies and sledges. About eight o'clock we received our worst squeeze. 54 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE The ship was thrown over to starboard and her bow raised up on the ice. The signal was sent and, flash- ing lanterns through the darkness, the men from camp came to our aid. The bags and equipment piled on the ice alongside the ship were first moved away to a place of safety. Later, the Engineer reported that the pump was gaining on the water and later still that the bilges were dry. The flood was probably caused by the bilge water running astern as the bow of the ship was lifted up on the ice. With the last severe pressure the ice fields became quiet and we had an opportunity to inspect the ship. In the darkness, carrying a lighted lantern, accom- panied by the ship's officers I crawled over the walls of ice blocks, tumbled in massive confusion around the America's stern, and looked for the rudder and wheel. But we could see nothing but a wilderness of ice, tons piled upon tons. The highest pressure ridges were about twenty-five yards forward of the ship's bow and about the same distance astern. Had the America been in either place she would have been destroyed. The edge of the heavy bay ice had been cracked in many places, and one of the ridges nearly reached the cache of ship's provisions. This valuable cache, which had been separated from the shore-ice by a great crack, was in a precarious position, so, send- ing ashore for more ponies and sledges, all hands worked at moving it to the shore side of the crack. All of the coffee and some of the other stores were sledged to the cache on land. The ship in her new cradle of ice blocks seemed to be safer than before and the reassured crew carried Drawn by J. Know Us Hare 'THE SHIP WAS IN HER DEATH AGONY* THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 55 their blankets back to the warm and cozy quarters aboard. Days of storm and varying temperature followed the crush of November 12 th and the nights were made unpleasant by the grating of the ice in mo- tion and the groaning and shaking of the ship under pressure. Early in the morning of Saturday, December 21st, I was awakened by the old grinding and crunching of the ice and the trembling of the ship. As I was hurriedly dressing, the America began to shake as if on the wave of a mighty earthquake; she shrieked like a living thing in pain; every timber seemed to be under a frightful pressure to the very limit of resistance. The First Officer and then the Captain and Chief Engineer came to my room where I was busy collecting records and valuables, and told me it was best to be ready to leave as the ice was bearing down on the ship. I went on deck in the darkness only to realise that the America was in her death agony. The whole sea of ice to starboard was in motion, sweeping down in great lines and billows or breaking blocks that rose and tumbled over each other like an army of giants determined to destroy us. Huge boulders of ice came over the starboard rail, crushing it like paper, and frightful sounds were heard from below as if the ship were breaking in half. The Engineer reported that the water was coming in fast and that the pump had been injured by the crush. However, he succeeded in get- ting it to work and soon its uneven thumping, that sounded like the painful motion of some wounded creature, resounded through the ship. 56 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE With the thunder of the ice fields in our ears, all hands worked sending equipment, clothing, bedding, and everything of value down to the fast bay ice. A sailor was sent ashore to the men at camp and they came over with the little ponies and sledges to help move our equipment to a place of safety on land. About 7:30 Engineer Hartt came to me and, with tears in his eyes, said that the water was entering the ash-pits and that he could not keep up steam. Later he announced that the water had reached the grate bars, that the fires were out, and that he had sent his men ashore. The water steadily rose as the ice pres- sure ceased. With the failing steam, the electric lights slowly faded until they merely glowed red and dull. The donkey pump was quiet and a silence like death crept over the darkened ship. It was the passing of the ship's soul. By the light of a candle I was busily engaged placing small articles of value in bags and had just filled the last one, and had given it to a sailor to take over the side, telling him that he need not return, when a shout rose from the men on the outside, "The ice is opening!" The Engineer re- appeared to tell me that he and I were alone on the ship and to say that I had better go if I did not want a bath. A view from the ship's deserted deck con- vinced me that if the ice fields relaxed their pressure but a moment, her water-logged hull would go to the bottom and that to remain aboard longer would be both unnecessary and foolhardy, and together we passed by the Jacob's ladder from the forecastle down to the ice. But fate postponed the complete destruction of the 3 W 05 5 PS o to Q -1 is < o > » ALL THAT REMAINED IN 19C3 OF THE WINTER QUARTERS OCCUPIED BY THE DUKE OF THE ABRUZZI AND HIS COMPANIONS IN 1899-1900 THE DUKE'S STEEL GAS GENERATOR THE SHELTER USED BY THE ITALIANS FOR THEIR WEATHER INSTRUMENTS THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 57 America. Another pressure raised her high in the ice crib and in that position she froze, the storms drifting her in until she seemed immovable — a black, giant skeleton marooned in the icy waste of Teplitz Bay. Subsequent inspection revealed that the ship had been forced some distance northwest, dragging with her a 1,400 pound mooring anchor, which had torn its way through the ice. The America was terribly wrenched and strained. The timbers on the port side were crushed from the coal bunkers to a point thirty feet forward and about five feet below the lower deck, tremendous ice splinters still sticking through in places. Most of the upright stanchioning between the main- mast and the fore-hatch were displaced, some of it falling into the hold. The mainmast sagged to port, and the starboard rigging was loose and ragged. The ship was virtually a wreck and it brought a lump into my throat, as we clambered over the coal heaps in the hold or picked our way across the disordered decks, to view the devastation wrought in that one awful night. A lake of water in the engine room had begun to freeze and the desolation of the scene was accentu- ated by the incessant moaning of the wind. The night of disaster was tinged with some flashes of humour, stories of which reached me later. While the crew were passing the bags over the side of the ship, the cook, who was of an excitable nature, suddenly appeared at the rail with a large bag which he heaved over with all his strength. It struck the ice below with a resounding crash ; causing several of the sailors to ex- claim, "Hello, Cook, what was that?" "Oh that's all right," he answered; " it's lamp chimneys and flatirons! " 58 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE But it was hardly all right, for during the winter we were obliged to cut the bottoms out of pickle bottles and use them in lieu of chimneys that had been broken. With the disablement of the ship arose the necessity of sledging ashore all the coal possible and of dis- mantling the interior for the wood work that would be invaluable for enlarging our house, and all that afternoon, in a wind registering forty-eight miles an hour, men and ponies laboured, moving coal and stores from the ship to camp. The galley range was hoisted out with its 1,500 pounds or more of steel, placed on a sledge and hauled to the house on shore, where a little kitchen was built. The darkness and wind added to the distress of that memorable after- noon and evening — and at nightfall, when twenty- four homeless men had to be given a place to sleep, the cheapest, meanest Bowery lodging house would have seemed a palace compared to our little hut. Men slept on tables and underneath them, on benches, on piles of wet baggage. In the few intervals of calm that followed the great storm, we made sledge journeys in the darkness over the mile of bay ice between the America and camp. Over two hundred bags of coal were thus sledged ashore as well as all the interior woodwork, sails, light spars, machine tools, dynamos, a lathe, and a small engine. A machine shop was built by our Commissary and Carpenter, under the shelter of which a boiler was con- structed by the Engineer and his men, from an old gas generating tank left by the Duke of the Abruzzi. The boiler and engine were to serve with the dynamos SLEDGING THE CARGO ASHORE BY HELP OF THE PONIES OVER THE ROUGH ICE OF TEPLITZ BAY WE START TO BUILD OUR WINTER QUARTERS "A LARGE TENT WAS ERECTED, AND IN IT THE PONIES AND DOGS WERE SHELTERED * INTERIOR OF PONY AND DOG TENT Photograph was taken in the summer of 1904 during the absence of the ponies on the retreat south. At no other time was there light enough in the tent for photography. THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 59 in the production of electric light at camp, a steam launch to be improvised from one of the whaleboats in the summer by use of this same machinery. The store house in which we kept some of our food supplies was cleared out, and in it bunks were erected and a stove was set up, It was banked in by a snow drift and this proved warm and comfortable. It was oc- cupied by the crew of the lost ship, and was called " the forecastle." The work of enlarging the house to accomodate the entire company of thirty-nine men began at once but it was far into December before we were free from the noise of nailing and hammering. Preparations for the advance north were not neglected and on Thanksgiving Day, after divine service, I gave to the assembled members of the expedition the fol- lowing provisional plan for the spring sledge trip; An outline of the Provisional Plan for the Spring Sledge Trip North is presented herewith to the members of the Expedition. All wishing to take part in the march North should apply to the Oommanding Officer before the end of November, 1903, and receive their allotment of skins for clothing, with the understanding that after preparation — should a member be unable to go on the Sledge Trip — his furs are to be turned over to 0. O. for use on the trail. ORGANIZATION OF THE SLEDGE PARTY 24 Men 20 Pony Sledges 12 Dog Sledges Sledge Party to be divided into three Divisions as follows : No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. First Support Second Support Final Advance First Support. Five Pony Sledges — One Dog Sledge — Carrying Seven Days' Rations for entire column, and Ten Days' Rations for the return of Ten Men. Return Transport — One Pony Sledge — Two Dog Sledges — Five Dogs to Team — Four Ponies to be used for dog food. Second Support. Ten Pony Sledges — Five Dog [Sledges — Carrying Rations for entire column for Twenty-seven Days' advance after the return 6o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE of the First Support, and forty-nine Days' Rations for return of Eight Men. Return Transport — One Pony Sledge — Five Dog Sledges — Nine Ponies to be used for Dog food when sledge loads are consumed and Nine Sledges to be abandoned in the advance by Second Support. Final Advance. Six Men — Five Pony Sledges — Six Dog Sledges — Rations for Six Men for ninety-two days. — The Five Ponies to be used for Dog food when Sledge loads are consumed and Sledges abandoned and Dogs to be killed off as Sledge loads become lighter. Transportation facilities provided for One hundred and Twenty-five days from Camp. Dogs to be killed not figured in calculation as Rations, but will serve as an extra food allowance. In the choice of men for the different detachments the Commanding Officer reserves decision until in the field and all members of Field, Deck, Engine, and Steward Departments taking part in the Sledge Trip may feel that they have a chance for the highest honours, and that the choice will only be made after experience has proved each member of the Sledge Party. The evident fact that only the few can go on the Final Advance, will necessitate the return of many possibly well qualified to continue to the end. As the success of the Sledge Trip will depend upon the suc- cessful work of the Supports, and on the efficiency, endurance, and loyalty of those forming the Supports as well as in the Final Advance — every man who takes part in the Sledge work should be prepared to take his place in any detachment, heroically accepting anything that may be expected of him that may help toward the ultimate attainment of the object of the Expedition. Equipment should be completed and sledges loaded by February First, 1904. Preliminary training in practice marches of entire column to start with the return of light, and sledge party to be under marching orders Feb- ruary 8th, 1904, every Man and Team ready to start at one hour's notice on the march North. Each man will be provided with one sleeping bag, a pair of sleeping socks and will be allowed to carry in the sleeping bag one blanket not to weigh over seven pounds. Each man will be allowed about twenty-five pounds of baggage to consist of spare clothing, the clothing in each case to be on the list and weight finally decided upon, and exactly the same for each member of the party. No extra weights to be allowed. Each two men to be provided with a silk pyramid tent that is to contain the two sleeping bags and an allowance of hay as bedding, the weight of hay to be decided later and to be the same for each tent. Anthony Fiala. BUILDING A HOUSE AT CAMP ABRUZZ1 LAYING THE FLOOR Rear view, showing warehouse <5J" " ON SEPT. 24TH, THE HOUSE WAS COMPLETED " Front of our new home with view of the storage and stable tent. The two were connected later by a long covered passage. CHAPTER IX THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION TAECEMBER was a dark month, there being no - L ^ difference between day and night. We missed the cheerful illumination of the electric arc and under the light of numerous little oil lamps we laboured making harness and sewing our fur clothing for the sledge trip. Because of our limited space I found it necessary to divide the workers into a day and a night force. In the carpenter shop, improvised from part of our storehouse, Quartermaster Rilliet, who had the assembling of the sledges in charge, toiled with the members of the crew. A light sectional boat was constructed and over a thousand rations weighed and packed for the trip north. In addition to the hard task of providing food for so large a party, Steward Spencer baked over six hundred pounds of pork and bean biscuit for use on the trail. It proved to be one of our most valued foods and was preferred on the trail to anything else. The Christmas and the New Year holidays passed happily. We celebrated them with banquets, to which our hard working steward contributed many delicacies. A Christmas edition of the Arctic Eagle our camp newspaper, was printed, Assistant Com.' missary Stewart making up the forms and running the press, and Seaman Montrose, who had once been 61 62 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE a printer, acting as compositor. Nearly all the mem- bers of the party contributed to its columns and much amusement at its quips and personals was the re- sult.* Storms were frequent and drifts fierce, and it be- came quite a problem how to preserve the large num- ber of sledges intended for the advance north from being buried under the snow. I finally had a large store house dug in the deep drift near the house and covered it with spars of the ship and old topsails, and under its grateful shelter the twenty-nine sledges were loaded as fast as the rations and stores were weighed out. I had planned to shelter the party when in the field in little two- and three-man tents of pongee silk with a floor of khaki or light canvas upon which to place a layer of hay; each man to have a separate sleeping bag, the hay to act as a non-conducting mattress, to prevent the absorbtion of heat from the sleeper by the cold surface of the ice or snow, when out on the floating Polar pack. The hay was also to serve as food for the ponies, while fresh hay was to be had on the trail from the bales carried as forage. The hay proved very useful as camp bedding and the second year, when there were no ponies in the column, I had some of the sleeping bags covered with a bag of pongee *On Sunday evenings the men were called together for a short devo- tional service, and a chapter or two read from the Scriptures out of an old Bible that had been the property of the Captain of the yacht Amer- ica during her victorious cruise in the International races of 1851. Little packages of sweet milk chocolate were distributed every Sunday, and after the meeting a number of the men would gather around the long table in the living room and play poker for the little disks of chocolate! " i *-~ >■'- ~-- ** OUR WEATHER INSTRUMENT SHELTER The Astronomical Observatory is seen on the brow of the hill in the right centre of the view ? THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY THE MAGNETIC OBSERVATORY EXERCISING THE PONIES AT CAMP ABRUZZI •WE MOUNTED THE TOUGH LITTLE EQUINES' THE PONIES PROVED INVALUABLE IN SLEDGING THE STORES FROM THE SHIP TO OUR CAMP SITE Photographed in the waning light of the sun only a few degrees above the horizon THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 63 silk and senne grass or hay stuffed in between bag and cover, thus keeping the hay or grass clean. Storms were many and the members of the Scientific Staff, in their walks to and from the observatories, often had to face winds of high velocity with driving snow and low temperature. Observer Long was often obliged to crawl on his hands and knees through the drifted passage from the hut, and in the whirling blast of frigid, wind-driven snow particles find his way to the " chicken coop " where he kept his thermometers. No matter how bad the storm, every evening he brought me the little slip of paper signed "Obs.," containing the weather instrument reading for the day. In going to the Magnetic Observatory it was gen- erally necessary for an observer to carry a shovel and dig his way into the hut so as to free the man he re- lieved on watch. At midnight of December nth Mr. Peters and John Vedoe went down to the magnetic hut together in a 52-mile-an-hour wind to dig out Mr. Tafel who was on observation duty. They were forced to walk back- ward the entire distance, guided by the electric wire. At half-past one I became worried about them and was getting ready to go out and show a light to guide them back, when they came in covered with snow and ice. I helped Mr. Peters out of his frozen garments while others assisted Tafel and Vedoe. The snow had penetrated through their boots to their stockings and through their jackets and sweaters, which were worn under heavy wind coats. A full moon on the evening of January 2d, without a wind, gave me a long wished for opportunity to 64 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE photograph the wreck of the America, and with camera, tripod, and lantern, I made my way over the wind furrowed surface of the frozen bay. Winds of high velocity had cut the snowy surface into ridges that looked as if a giant harrow had been dragged across them. The edges of the furrows were turned over where the eddies had tunnelled underneath, and they snapped under foot in the low temperature of 30 de- grees below zero with a sharp tinkle like breaking glass. The great pressure ridge which had caused the loss of the ship was drifted over with a concealing mask of snow and the winds had eddied around the America's massive hulk leaving a deep hole — down to the origi- nal level — on the port side toward the direction of the prevailing winds. After setting up the camera and opening the lens I went back to camp, returning to the ship again in about an hour and a half to end the ex- posure. On my way over I witnessed one of the most beautiful auroras of the year. It started in a bank of clouds on the southern horizon with a faint golden glow. Then the cirrus clouds that were floating in the sky seemed to become electrified and stretched in long parallel rays across the zenith from the cloud bank in the south to the north where the brilliant star Arcturus was shining. A corona of swift moving lacy folds, highly coloured in pinks and greens, actively scintillated directly overhead, and from it shot a long snake-like ribbon of auroral fire terminating in a hook in the clear western sky. The stars gleamed bright through the luminous veil, but the moon, at full, was shining at the time and with its own light obscured some of the glory of the radiant northern fire. Later THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 65 the clouds moved slowly toward the zenith, spreading out and crossing the moon, the aurora changing in form and playing across the grating of light filaments at right angles, forming curves within curves from the corona to the west, and then moving in rapid darts toward the east, a subsidiary smaller band forming parallel further north. The display was over at nine p. m., on my return to the hut, so I did not get an oppor- tunity of recording it permanently by means of sketches. I made many attempts to photograph the aurora on the Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition, but always failed. By long exposure, I could get some small effect of the light with that of the stars on the sensitive plate, valueless however as a matter of record, for the swift moving aurora, to be correctly depicted, would have to be photographed instantaneously, and, for that purpose, it does not give enough light. In connection with Mr. Peters 's work in the Mag- netic Observatory I made a number of sketches of the auroras using for that purpose a board upon which' was a compass for orienting, and a number of black sheets of paper upon the surface of which I had drawn a circle representing the horizon. The sheets were so placed together, and pinned at the corners, that they could be torn off as the sketches were completed. A pin at the centre represented the zenith point. Op- portunities were few for its use on account of the pre- valent bad weather, and sketching in the open air when the temperature was from 30 to 40 degrees below zero was anything but pleasant. However, some interest- ing sketches were secured. 66 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE January was a wild month, noted for its variable and high temperature. The maximum thermometer registered 31 degrees above zero on the 21st, during a storm in which the wind reached a hurricane veloc- ity. This storm continued until the morning of the 23 d, when we found that the bay ice had been broken up. The great frozen mass, the accumulation of years which we thought nothing could move had been crushed and blown away, and we could see where monster waves had washed on the shore almost to the rocks of the ridge on which our house was built. We thought at first of a tidal wave, but in the dim glow of noon-time — for the sun was on its return to us — we discovered that the glacier had calved for miles along its face. In the bay near us we could see the ghostly forms of the icebergs that had been born during the wild hurricane. At our feet lapped the inky waters of the bay in which floated a number of small ice fields. We could not see far enough, on account of the dark- ness, to know whether the ship was in the bay or not. Several of the party explored the questionable harbour by jumping from cake to cake, but no sign of the ship or the provision cache could be found, not even a case, barrel, or spar. The America had disappeared in the darkness of the Arctic night, and shrouded her doom in mystery! Whether she went to the bottom under the blast of that awful gale or whether she was blown toward the northern axis of the earth, where now she floats in unheralded victory, no man knows. By January 23d our little lighting plant was com- plete and our Engineer ready to illuminate the camp with electricity, but with the disappearance of the CL > X -5 us 3 N < t 3 3 3 •X *-• SS o < <£ ° a. w - £ J -F < C5 ll o W V a z < b ►4 O o E> d SI H w H < w H u b 2 "A THICK GLOOM SETTLED OVER THE ICE OF LAND AND SEA ' "WE CLIMBED THE GLACIER NORTH OF THE CAMP' THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 67 America vanished the large store of coal in her hold, and we could not afford to keep up steam by using the coal pile ashore. So we economically continued our work under the light of oil lamps and candles. January was a busy month. Rations for men, ponies, and dogs were weighed and packed and pre- parations made for an early start; but the month of February, with its dimly lighted and very short days, was a period of storms and our departure was delayed. The returning light revealed a vast body of open sea to the west and northwest of the island, which made it imperative for me to plan to leave from the north- east, at Cape Fligely. Ziegler Polar Expedition camp "abruzzi" g. o. no. 32. Thursday, Jan. 14, 1904. 1. The consolidation of the entire Expedition party ashore since the twenty-first of November, 1903, consequent upon the loss of ship, re- sulted in considerable extra labour for the members of the Expedition, in the necessary hauling, sledging, excavating, and constructing to provide larger quarters. 2. Since the America experienced the crush in the ice, a brief summary of work accomplished is as follows : — 3. Cache of ship's provisions moved from line of ice pressure to place of safety. 4. Ship dismantled for lumber, and storehouse at camp converted into sleeping quarters for crew, kitchen built, galley stove brought from ship and set up, and house enlarged. 5. New storehouse for Quartermaster stores excavated and constructed. 6. New storehouse for Commissary stores excavated and constructed. 7. Sledges brought ashore and completed in workshop improvised from part of storehouse. 8. Two hundred and twenty-two bags of coal filled aboard ship and sledged to camp, and ship's boats sledged ashore. 9. Magnetometer completed. 10. New magnetic hut erected. 11. Silk tents completed for sledge trip. 68 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 12. Machine shop constructed, and dynamo engine and generators with machine stores brought ashore. Lathe set up and machine work started. 13. Seal boots completed for sledge party. 14. Pony blankets completed for sledge party. 15. Forage for ponies weighed out and packed ready for trail. 16. Storehouse for sledges 65 x 15 excavated and constructed from sails and spars. 17. Dogs arranged in teams and teams assigned. 18. First section of sectional boat framed. 19. Over 600 lbs. of pork and bean biscuit baked for sledge trip. 20. Fur clothing nearing completion. 31. Weighing and packing of dog rations now in progress. 22. We have not forgotten to celebrate the festivals of Christmas and New Year with enjoyable banquets and perpetuated the memory of the time by the publication of a six page newspaper. 23. The Commanding Officer takes this opportunity to compliment officers and men of all departments, on the splendid results achieved thus far under the difficult conditions of darkness and cold, in an Arctic night of unprecedented record for high and continued wind storms. 24. The contemplated training of dogs and ponies during the past period of moonlight has been unavoidably delayed. Those who have their dogs can be prepared for the next opportunity by daily practice with their teams, two men taking a team at a time. This is very im- portant. The dogs require considerable training and members must become acquainted with them. 25. Members of expedition who are to remain at camp should render assistance at every opportunity to their comrades intending to go north, remembering that the success of the expedition depends upon the triumph of the sledge trip. 26. The storehouse is now in use as a place to pack sledge rations. Loose dogs must be kept out. Doors are to be kept closed. 27. Clothing bags issued for trail use should be filled with the following articles of clothing : — combination suit, Jaegersuit, sweater, guernsey, knit- ted drawers, three pairs Jaeger socks, two pairs long stockings, three pairs woolen mittens, one pair seal mittens, silk overalls, one pair seal boots, one pair moccasins, one pair fur boots (to be issued later), Jaeger camel's hair cap covered with silk. Icelander can replace sweater if desired. 28. Instructions in detail for sledge party will be issued later. 29. Camp routine until further orders: — Reveille 7-3° A.M. Luncheon 1 P.M. First call for breakfast 7.50 First call for dinner 5.50 Breakfast 8 Dinner 6 First call for luncheon 12 . 50 P. M. Call to quarters 10 Taps 10.30 P. M. a, ■£. < § P. u s - < ■- 5 u H S < c > V- % ° O -a < ■£ > -e a I ° u J £ < -a P „ o -a O " U? o < fu w -s h .1 2 [/) THE "AMERICA" IN WINTER QUARTERS IN TEPLITZ BAY EARLY IN NOVEMBER, 19C3 Photographed by moonlight THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN BY MOONLIGHT AFTER THE " AMERICA'S " DISAPPEARANCE IN JANUARY, 1904. IT IS THE SAME SPOT AS PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE UPPER PICTURE THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 69 Coffee served at n A. M. and at 3 P. M. Chocolate at 10 P. M. Coffee for night force at 6 A. M. 30. Members of the Expedition not on night duty are expected to be in their quarters after taps. 31. As work is proceeding day and night, a consideration for those who are obliged to sleep while others are awake, will tend to prevent unnecessary noise. 32. The sun is on its way toward us and soon darkness will give place to light. Let us salute the return of the sun with a spirit of enthusiastic activity, ready for the task that is before us, rejoicing in the opportunity to attempt the discovery of that which has been sought for centuries. Anthony Fiala, Commanding Expedition. CHAPTER X PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK T)Y EARLY February the preparations for the ■*-* sledge trip were complete, and twenty-five sledges, loaded with rations all carefully weighed, were ready under the shelter of the great snow storehouse. With the return of the twilight the men started to train their dog teams and ponies — running a trail from the camp over the glacier to Cape Saulen and back. The ponies had their advocates and the dogs had theirs. Old Pierre contended that since the dogs could eat the ponies and the ponies could not eat the dogs, the dogs were naturally the key to the situation. I planned for a party of twenty-six men, sixteen ponies and sledges, and nine dog teams and sledges. The column was to be divided into three supporting parties and one advance. Each supporting party was to carry provisions for the support and advance march of the whole column for a certain number of days, and food for its own return to Camp Abruzzi. The sledges were all numbered and coloured according to the detachment in which they belonged, as were also the rations. The choice of the men to be made in the field, the weaker ones to be placed in the sup- ports first to be detached and sent back to land. The First Support of four men, one pony sledge, and one dog sledge, was to carry two days' rations for the ad- 7 o "A BLACK, GIANT SKELETON MAROONED IN THE ICY WASTE OF TEPLITZ BAY " Photograph by moonlight, January 2, 1904 — ii hours' exposure H ►J a < a < [d B H 7. o PS a o w B H o g g 5 0. PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 71 vance march of the entire column of men, dogs, and ponies, and, five days' rations for their own return to the land. A Second Support of eight men, four pony sledges, and one dog sledge, carried food for the advance of the column six days more, and rations for ten days' return march of the support to Rudolph Island. Two of the ponies of this support were to be used on the outward march as food for the dogs. The Third Sup- port, consisting of eight men, six pony sledges and five dog sledges, was to continue on the march north sixteen days longer and provide food for the entire column from the time the Second Support left on its return march. The six ponies were to be considered as dog food on the advance. This supporting de- tachment was provided with twenty-six days' rations, packed on their five dog sledges, for their return to Camp Abruzzi. On the departure of the Third Support the final party (the "Advance") of six men was to continue on the march provided with eighty-two days' rations on six dog sledges and five pony sledges. The dogs were not considered as food in the calculations, and would have (in the latter part of the journey) meant so many extra rations. With the transportation facilities of the column, there was ample food to allow the Advance party to stay in the field 135 days — and if about seven miles a day could be averaged, the pole could be reached and the party brought safely back. It was expected that the supporting parties would return at least part of the way back to camp over a made trail, but there 72 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE were the possibilities of delay from storms and bad ice, and to insure a sufficient food supply, and as an allowance for delay, each detachment was provided with several days' extra rations. During the winter and spring we found the pre- vailing winds to be from the southeast and east. They broke up the ice and caused a great hole of water to extend off the western and northwestern shores of Rudolph Island, sometimes stretching so far north that from the top of the glacier, which commanded a view of about thirty miles, we could see nothing but open sea. When the wind ceased, the water would freeze over and sometimes stay smooth for several days. Then a pressure would come in from the west, and what had been a fairly smooth road — became an im- passable mass of ridges of young, thin ice, mixed with great cakes that came in from the west, and numerous water holes. It was on such smooth ice lanes that Captain Cagni made his best marches north, and it explains his rapid run from the island, so rapid that, before the first detachment was sent back, they had reached something like forty miles from land. To me the loss of the first detachment seems due to their inability to find any of these smooth lanes on their return. While they were marching north, the pressure must have come in from the west and destroyed them all, the men starving to death, struggling over impossible ice. The safe return of the second detach- ment was helped by the southeast winds which in early summer clear out all that broken ice, the heavy ice then coming in from the north thus helping the second detachment on their homeward march. H W o a < a y 3 a - O X 2 - - - o h O 2 - : j u « c O z a a --. o y. a - s H SB - PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 73 When they reached the edge of the pack they were close in to the island, and could send a man ashore in a kayak to communicate with their comrades on land. Winds and storms! Only three hours of calm were recorded on the self-registering instrument during the month of February. On the twelfth we had the first let up from wind and Mr. Peters utilised the few hours of light that day by going over the glacier to Cape Auk where he erected a signal pole to serve as a meridian mark for the astronomical observatory at camp. He was accompanied by Assistant Engineer Vedoe and Assistant Surgeon Seitz, with two dog sledges and camping outfit. We communicated with him with prearranged signals of red and white lights and the marking of the meridian by the firing of a rocket. A storm raged all of the 13th and the 14th, the party not returning to camp until the afternoon of the 15th. Mr. Peters reported a very cold experience, the tem- perature falling so low that the cooking oil froze to the consistency of cream and became full of clots. The temperature at Camp Abruzzi went down to 44 degrees below zero and it must have been lower still on the glacier at the elevation where, exposed to the violence of the storm, the party was encamped. The prevailing southeasterly winds kept an open channel of water off the western and northwestern coast and I early realised that our descent to the sea ice would have to be made from Cape Fligely, the northeastern extremity of the island, to accomplish which, we would be obliged to cross the high wind-swept glacier. For the purpose of marking a safe trail, on February 25th, I sent Dr. Vaughn in charge of an advance 74 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE party with dogs and sledges to cross the glacier. He was provided with signal flags on bamboo poles to mark a trail free from crevasses on which the column was to follow later. He was also to cache some food at Cape Fligely. The party returned two days later, Dr. Vaughn reporting that they could not reach their destination on account of bad weather. Three flags had been placed and the provisions and forage cached on the glacier at the third flag, which was about half the distance to the Cape. On return of this unsuccessful party Mr. Peters volunteered to make the journey. On the morning of March 2d, accompanied by Steward Spencer with his dog team and sledge, he left camp. I was anxious to leave soon on the poleward quest and before Mr. Peters left I gave him instructions not to remain away from camp longer than three days, but to return should storms delay his progress. On the morning of the day after their start Mr. Peters and Spencer returned, having reached a point on the glacier near the third flag planted by the previous party. A storm had arisen and Peters had returned in obedience to his instructions. The continuance of the bad weather gave me the impression that most of it was local and that if we could get away from the influence of the ice-capped islands and open bodies of water we would be com- paratively free from storms and squalls. At noon on March 3d our eyes were gladdened by the first appearance of His Majesty the Sun breaking through a bank of clouds to the south, bringing new life in his shining rays. On the morning of the 5 th of BY JANUARY 23D, OUR LITTLE LIGHTING PLANT WAS COMPLETE AND OUR ENGINEER WAS READY TO ILLUMINATE THE CAMP WITH ELECTRICITY Electrician and Asst. Eng. A. Vedoe Engineer H. P. Hartt Asst. Eng. C. Hudgins Fireman Hovlick Seaman Perry A STEAM BOILER WAS CONSTRUCTED OUT OF THE STEEL OF THE DUKE'S GAS GENERA- TORS BY OUR ENTERPRISING ENGINEER AND HIS ASSISTANTS PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 75 March I had all the loaded sledges dragged out of the storehouse and placed in line on the snow, and ordered the men to lash on the toploads of tents, sleeping bags, clothing bags, and extras. The interior of the hut that day presented a busy scene. The men getting ready for the sledge trip taking out their sets of dog harness, clothing, and ration bags, and packing their little silk tents with sleeping bags and hay. Ten pounds of hay were allowed each tent for bedding, and on this the sleeping bags were placed, the small space in the interior of the house not allowing more than one tent to be packed and lashed at a time. At last all was ready. But that moment, as if called forth by the Imp of the Perverse, a wind began to blow with great violence and we were obliged to unlash the top- loads as a protective measure against bears and dogs and place them under the shelter of the storehouse roof. The following day, Sunday, was still stormy but, dreading a further delay, I resolved to begin the march and gave my last instructions to Commissary Truden whom I left in charge of Camp Abruzzi to await my return from the ice. I also gave instructions to Captain Coffin who, after the return of the support- ing detachments from the field, was to conduct the party south to Cape Flora where the Relief Ship was expected in the coming summer. Three bears visited us that day, causing great excitement in camp, the men with guns in hand falling over each other in their anxiety to get out of the house through the long dark passage to the exterior. One bear was killed out on the bay ice and triumphantly dragged to camp. In the evening a bear chased the Steward and Cook up 7 6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE to the house. They had fired all their ammunition away, and on nearing the camp they called lustily for help. Assistant Commissary Stewart came to their rescue and made bruin retreat under heavy fire. I wrote my last letters on the evening of the 6th. It was Sunday. After the usual divine service I gave instructions to the men in regard to the care of themselves and the animals when in the field, and told them that I and my party would begin the journey north the next day. instructions for sledge party north camp "abruzzi," Feb. 16, 1904. 1. Follow the trail, unless ordered to leave it. 2. You may think some other way an easier one but it is your duty to- follow the trail and to train your teams to obey you in that particular. 3. Be careful and do not allow your team to run up on the sledge in front of you. 4. Do not fall behind; train your team to keep the required distance from team ahead. 5. Do not leave the last man too far behind, particularly in rough ice and thick weather. Pass word to front of column when some one is missing. 6. Keep snow out of interior of tent. Take off overalls when turning in and all damp clothing. You will be more comfortable by doing so. 7. To take care of the feet is of the utmost importance. Wear a pair of wool socks that can be changed when dirty and one or two pair of long Jaeger stockings over them. Take off the outside stocking and put it in the sleeping bag at night to dry and put your feet in sleeping socks. Sleeping socks should not be used to walk out in snow with. Feet should not be bound tightly; they should have room to move in shoe or boot. 8. Snow should be brushed from felt boots and the boots put under or in sleeping bag at night to dry out ; one on each side of the head would be advised. 9. Hot utensils containing food should not be placed on sleeping bags; remember that water and moisture make the sleeping bag anything but comfortable. Wet spots tear easily, the hair falling out, and burned spots break off. Repair any holes at first opportunity. 10. When fur boots or moccasins are worn with senne grass, take the grass out at night, pulling it apart and spreading it to allow moisture to escape and solidify. The frost crystals can be shaken out in the morning.. EXCAVATING THE GREAT SNOW STOREHOUSE LOADING THE SLEDGES IN THE SHELTER OF THE STOREHOUSE \ PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 77 11. There is no provision of spare articles of any description to allow for carelessness in the sledge column, so if you lose parts of your equipment you will be obliged to go without. 12. Take care of your team, being particular at camping to consider the comfort and well being of your ponies or dogs before turning into your sleeping bag. 13. Any part of harness broken should be repaired at night before turning in so that the column will not be delayed by one team's disability. 14. It is advised in the matter of clothing to wear just as little as possible while working, so that perspiration will not be induced ; if too warm take off coat and simply travel in shirt and wind coat. A man cannot keep warm in damp clothing no matter how much he puts on, and skins are easily ruined when they become wet. Be particular and keep your skin coat dry to keep you warm at halts. 15. Should an accident occur and a sledge or pony break through the ice keep your place in line unless in position to assist and be sure your own team is not in danger. 16. Reveille will be sounded in the morning from the cook tent and breakfast will be served about ten minutes later. On the sounding of the assembly tents will be taken down, sledges loaded with camp equipage, and teams harnessed ready for the advance. 17. Each man before leaving Oamp Abruzzi will receive 7 days tent rations of bread, butter, pemmican and sugar, and two weeks' rations of milk. No issue of tent rations will be made for seven days, so use accord- ingly. 18. Do not shout unauthorized orders to any member of party, but be helpful and considerate, ready to assist a comrade when in need. 19. No riding on sledges to be allowed without permission. Anthony Fiala. CHAPTER XI THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH TN a twenty-mile wind, on the morning of March 7th, we left Camp Abruzzi. The party com- prised twenty-six men, sixteen pony sledges, and thirteen dog sledges. We reached the summit of the glacier the same afternoon, after a hard pull up the steep slope in the face of the drift and wind. Here we were obliged to camp since everything ahead was obscured by the flying drift. On the order to camp the ponies were unharnessed and blanketed and chained to the picket line out on the face of the cold wind- swept glacier. The dogs were also unharnessed and attached to the steel ropes that each man carried — ropes just long enough for the nine dogs of a single team. Tents were raised after the animals were at- tended to. The camp was an interesting place, though the howl- ing wind and flying drift brought discomfort in their train. There were eleven silk pyramid tents flapping in the wind, each one numbered in flaming red on all sides of its peak ; the cook tent with its bold insignia, "Cook Tent No. 1," breathing the vapour of the evening's pemmican stew; the sixteen ponies huddled together in a line overlooking the impenetrable mist- enshrouded distance of glacier and sea. Meanwhile the dogs barked and fought as the men went about 78 B O I X O Z 3 < w ft <~ t« < a w> o a J E u ,i &• x ° g < a z w Q Q o z a = o id g a z < a, Q g 3 o E a Ki E- o Q a a - a a Q a O J a = H io X o b O o o H z o THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 79 their duties in their white silk wind-coats, looking like so many Bedouins or Crusaders. The cook tent was a great convenience. It was attached permanently to the sledge with cookers, food, and oil inside. On camping the tent had only to be set up and everything necessary was found with- in. Cooking in a low temperature is one of the trouble- some features of Polar work. Moisture collects on everything under cover and forms a coating of thick hoar frost, which rapidly increases the weight of tent and clothing. Thus, by having a separate place in which to prepare food, the tents occupied by the men y were kept comparatively free from moisture, and in consequence were lighter and warmer. My intention had been to have the men take daily turns in the cook tent, but I found that economy would result if two of the party only undertook the task. Accordingly Steward Spencer and myself did the cooking on all the sledge trips in which we took part. The wind went down during the night and in the early morning we broke camp and marched for Cape Fligely. We reached there the same afternoon in a drifting wind, one man disabled by a rupture from over exertion, another with a strained back, and three others not in condition to go forward. While getting supper two of the cookers gave out, and in the fierce gale it was a difficult and unpleasant task to provide for twenty- six men with a disabled apparatus. The wind in- creased in velocity the following day and the flapping tents made a sound like many machine guns of heavy calibre in close action, and to be heard by a companion 8o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE in a tent it was necessary to shout. Our last cooking machine gave out just as we were preparing breakfast. I spent several hours in an attempt to solder the joints of the oil-tanks that had opened, but the grease and cold for a time precluded success. Ultimately they were made air and oil tight by the use of some cement I had taken along for the purpose of repairing kayaks, and with joy we completed the meal for the hungry party of storm-bound men. The storm raged all of the ninth and the tenth, drifting over the sledges and partially burying the small tents. We were held prisoners with a tempera- ture outside of 38 degrees below zero. The injured men suffered considerably, and their condition caused me much anxiety. The only comfortable ones were the dogs, they curled themselves into little fur balls, and, covering up their noses with their tails, were soon blanketed over with the snow, and slept through all the raging storm. But the poor ponies, with tails to the wind and heads down, shivered in the freezing blast. As long as the wind blew it was impossible to give them hay to eat and even the nose bags of oats were blown away unless closely watched. The poor condition of five men, the leaky cookers, and the fact that one man had torn his sleeping bag and that two others complained that theirs were too small, decided me to return to camp, to refit and to reduce the number of men for another attempt North. The wind subsided the morning of March nth, and after digging our sledges and tents out of the snow drifts, with one man lashed in his sleeping bag on the THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 8f top of a sledge, we tramped back over the glacier — reaching the camp at 4 p. m. the same day. On the return to camp and after the cold experience on the glacier there was much disappointment expressed, some of the men criticising the dogs, the equipment, and the ponies, stating that the last named were not adapted for Polar work and would fail us when we reached rough ice. The enthusiasm which before the short journey had blazed so warm, dropped to the cold of an Arctic night. The discussions were many, the men of the Field Department talking as they worked at night sitting around the stove in the large living room. Many a revelation of character was made during our sojourn in the land of ice. To really know a man you must live with him away from the distractions and conven- iences of civilisation; live with him in a house where there are no other houses; have him for a neighbour where there are no other neighbours. And then if you obey the divine command and love him as yourself, and if the love is returned in the same spirit, your com- panionship is a happy, helpful one. I entered into some of the discussions and will never forget a little talk with several of the members. Cour- age was the topic. In illustration, I told an incident of the Civil War of 1861-65. During the battle of Chancellorsville the nth Corps, which had occupied the plank road in front of Hazel Grove was in full re- treat, and General Jackson's Division was coming through the woods in pursuit. If something were not done, and at once, the Army of the Potomac was doomed. General Pleasonton, Chief of Artillery of 82 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE the Union Army, surveyed the scene of disaster, and attempted to place a line of guns on the plank road to stay the advance of the victorious host. To do it he must have fifteen minutes. General Jackson's Division must be stopped. A squadron of cavalry was there in the saddle which had not joined in with the rush to the rear of the panic-stricken Eleventh Corps. General Pleasonton galloped up to Major Keenan, in command of the squadron, and ordered him to charge the woods with his handful of men, and engage the Confederate army just long enough for him to get his guns in posi- tion. It was a more perilous charge than that of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. But — to their glory — they went. They were, of course, routed, and many saddles were emptied. — But the charge made Jackson halt and form his line to receive cavalry, and that halt saved the army of the Potomac. I said to my men, "Would you not have done the same? Would you not have obeyed the order and followed the flag, risking your lives for the ultimate good, and for a principle?" One of them answered — "The h — 1 we would! Self preservation is the first law of nature. As for me I would follow any old rag as long as there was something in it for me!" And I realised that the spirit of " Graft " had penetrated even to the regions of ice and snow. Some of the men though were anxious for another attempt to capture the Pole and Assistant Scientist Porter made my heart glad with his enthusiastic expressions of belief in victory on our next march North. The Chief Engineer, though he could not accompany me, also cheered me with his strong words of hope and belief K o < ►J w o w < u O » o & w u w O P O « g !* H <; w a a w Id I u £> : K THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 83 in success. A number of the men came to me wishing to be added to the next sledge force, the members of the crew evincing a strong desire to take part and do their best. \ CHAPTER XII THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH HpHERE was much to do before we could start again. -*■ The cookers, which through faulty workmanship had failed us, were taken apart by our Engineer and his assistants and thoroughly overhauled. Important joints, which the manufacturer had carelessly neglected, were brazed and the tanks were made tight. With the necessary preparations and the revising of weights and equipment, with the reloading of the sledges, and with the delay caused by storms, it was not until March 25th that we could leave Camp Abruzzi. On the morning of that date we left, climbing the glacier once again, a party of fourteen men, nine dog sledges, and seven pony sledges. The weather was cold and beautiful and we ascended the steep slope of the glacier with little trouble. Cape Fligely was reached the same evening and, after supper, Mr. Peters and I descended to the sea ice for the purpose of picking out a path for the sledge column down the slope. The sea ice itself was in very bad condition, nothing but a rubble of ice cakes in one confused mass, piled, ridge upon ridge, as far as the eye could see from the highest point of the Cape. The following morning, after an early breakfast, the sledge party descended the glacier and forced a way 84 [ THE POOR PONTES, WITH TAILS TO THE WIND AND HEADS DOWN, SHIVERED IN THE FREEZING BLAST " THE PONIES WERE SURPRISING IN THEIR ABILITY TO CLIMB AND GET OVER ROUGH ICE' S3 c THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 85 north about one and a half miles over very bad ice, until progress was barred by a partially frozen lead over which the ponies could not travel. The ice seemed to be of very recent formation and was in slight motion, a mass of jagged, broken pieces on end, covered with salt crystals and almost bare of snow. It was difficult to discover sufficient snow for a halting place where our numerous animals might find the means of quenching their thirst. I was obliged to keep from six to eight men in the advance with picks and axes to clear a path for the party. The dogs were in splendid condition and the ponies were surprising in their ability to climb and get over rough ice. At no time was it necessary to extricate a pony from a hole in the ice. There was a man to drive each dog team, and in get- ting over the worst places two, three, and, sometimes four men were necessary to one sledge. Four men took care of the seven pony sledges; the ponies exert- ing their strength when most needed. The greatest difficulty was caused by the continual capsizing of the unattended sledges, the ponies dragging them (in their frantic efforts to keep up with the column) until the sledges were solidly wedged in ice, requiring the united efforts of their drivers and others to extricate them. That day's experience convinced me that the ponies were valuable auxiliaries to Arctic work, but that the sledges would have to be built with five or more runners around a central load, with swivel bar in front, the loads to be placed inside the sledges from the rear. The ponies would then hardly require attendance. They did not need urging like the dogs; on the contrary, they exerted their utmost to keep up with the column. 86 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE As the sun was sinking and the temperature falling I decided to halt at the lead until the semi-frozen mass should become solid. Should it not be possible to advance the ponies I resolved to continue the march with the dogs, the sledge loads having been arranged to provide for that contingency. On inspection of the column during the halt I found that the sledges were in a deplorable condition. Bows were smashed, top-rails broken, and the front curves of the runners splintered and divided in two. Practically, all the injuries were in the forward ends of the sledges for, unfortunately, they had been loaded too heavily in the forward ends. With the sad realisation that there was not even the possibility of breaking the record under the conditions, and wishing to save the equipment, for another assault I gave orders to return. It was too late to think of making another march north that year. I could only plan for another winter in the Arctic and another sledge journey toward the Pole in the spring of 1905. I would have abundant opportunity to strengthen the dog sledges and to build new pony sledges after a model described before. To my men the set-back should prove a valuable experience — a help in future work. It was the test through which all who had the real fibre of the ex- plorer would pass triumphant to belief in and effort toward ultimate success. I felt that the true American spirit would answer the check with the words of John Paul Jones — " / have not begun to fight yet! " Previous to beginning the second march north I had arranged for Mr. Porter to conduct one of the sup- . >-> s 3 & < M J | « S o a < p 5s Q | Ll) o 13 w Pi w 1 I si u S g 3 THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 87 porting parties back to camp and on his return to Camp Abruzzi to head a small party south on an ex- ploring and mapping expedition in the direction of Cape Flora. Before our return to Cape Fligely, from which point we had but lately made our second attempt north, he had asked leave to attempt a passage toward White Land in company with Assistant Engineer Anton Vedoe. I was pleased at his request and gave him the required permission but told him if the ice did not improve to go south toward Kane Lodge, to visit the boat cache at the southern entrance of Col- linson's channel, and, if time allowed, to return by the way of Cape Hugh Mill examining ice conditions toward the British Channel and bringing a full report of what he discovered. This I thought would be of value to me in preparing for the retreat of a party to Cape Flora. I said I would expect him at Camp Abruzzi by April 20th, or at the latest by April 30th, 1904. Porter's sledge was one of the few that had es- caped injury, and as it was already loaded with sup- plies for two men for thirty days and one dog team for twenty-five days it was only necessary to provide dog food for Vedoe's team from the sledges in the column. We said "auf wiedersehen" to the adventurers out on the ice and struck tents for the march back to Cape Fligely. We returned to land over our outward bound trail climbing the glacier slope and camping on the summit of the cape. The slope was steep and it was midnight before the last sledge reached the top. On the following morning the sledge loads were rear- ranged and one loaded sledge with broken runners was left at Cape Fligely to be sent for later. Camp Abruzzi, 88 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE the home site, was reached at six p. m. March the 27th, from which place but two days before we had begun a march which I hoped would advance America's prestige in the field of exploration. The returning column travelled against a cold, drift- ing wind that increased in violence through the after- noon and made the trip one to be remembered. It soon destroyed the trail we had made on our outward journey, but we could see the sun, a very indistinct disk, shining at times through a shower of cold snow particles that cut our faces like a sand blast, and it served as a guiding light. The red signal flags that had been placed on the glacier to mark the trail were spots of joy that afternoon, for they indicated to us that we were travelling in the right direction. Before evening we arrived at Camp Abruzzi filled with the pain of a second failure, the only balm the thought of the future and the hope that through the bitter lesson just ex- perienced Victory might yet be wrested from Defeat. After the failure of the second sledge journey many of the men lost interest in the northern campaign and openly expressed their deep felt desire to go home. I called for volunteers to stay with me for another at- tempt in 1905. Quite a large party offered at first, but as the time of leaving drew near a number weakened and the little band of true explorers grew smaller and smaller. I now set about preparations for a sledge journey to Cape Flora where the Relief Ship was expected to ar- rive in July or August of that year — 1904. There were two routes by which Cape Flora might be reached. The shorter one led across the glacier to o u -I fcfl < I a a * 1 SB ° B % o 2 w H O H Pi w < o u w B H O < P En o ij w > w ►J w a E- > O < W w fa A o < u < ►4 < o w a E- SIXTEEN WALRUSES WERE CAPTURED AT CAPE FLORA DURING THE SUMMER OF 11104 THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 117 reach the former rocky promontory for two days. When we gained the summit of the cape we were dis- appointed to find nothing but ice off to the horizon, the only open water, the hole over which we had paddled our canoe to reach the shore. We erected a signal pole on the highest point and cached a message at its foot in a cairn of rocks. We turned our faces in the direction of Cape Flora with very little hope in our hearts that relief would reach us that year. The ice bound condition of the sea at that late date pre- cluding the possibility of a ship's arrival. When we were not engaged together in hauling the sledge out of a water hole or in helping the dogs drag it across a high ridge, I ran ahead to pick out a way and Duffy followed with the dogs and sledge often singing some popular song. His favourite was "My Sweetheart Lives in Tennessee." Near Cape Barentz we found a number of loons swimming in a water hole and with four shots from my Mannlicher carbine I knocked over nine of the birds, Duffy launching the canoe and picking them up, killing the wounded ones with his paddle. In attempting to cross a water lane, I leaped for what I took to be a cake of ice floating in its centre, intending to jump from that on to the solid ice beyond. It promptly let me through as it was only a mass of snow. The dogs, close behind, seeing my plight, jumped for what looked like a solid cake off to my right, and the whole team went in. The ice on each side of the lane was high and rounded off on the edges by the action of sun and water and I could not grasp its slippery surface. The dogs incumbered by their harness floundered around in danger of drowning. n8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE Duffy made a flying leap and succeeded in getting upon solid ice. He helped me out and together we got the team on to the floe. Poor dogs ! They had been in the water so much on the trip that we could not blame them for refusing to cross when we reached the next water hole, and we were obliged to drag them through the freezing sea. I will never forget how they trembled with fear, when we embarked on a small cake of ice — Duffy, myself, the sledge, and the team of dogs. It was a heavy load on a cranky craft with the sea awash, but we ferried across the lead in safety. The dog food gave out on our return. Two bears crossed our path several days before, but we did not need the meat then, and our load was heavy enough for our little team. Two dogs had followed us from camp running loose. It was one of these free rovers, Monkey by name, who came to our help in this hour of need. His keen eye sighted a bear and he immediately gave chase. One wee dog seemed but a good mouthful and bruin stopped to make a meal. But by this time Monkey had re- inforcements — his late comrade and a man with a gun. When I came up Ursus Polaris was circling about in a water hole growling and hissing at the two dogs which prevented his getting out on the ice. He would draw himself half way out and drive at the dogs with his claws only to be forced back into the pool. A bullet from the Mannlicher ended the contest. A cold drizzle was falling and I felt for Duffy holding the team and waiting for me somewhere out on the ice. It was sometime later that together we trudged be- side an empty sledge to where the dead bear lay. The THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 119 team knew what was in store for them and pulled like mad. If the road had been smooth we could have sat upon the sledge and have enjoyed a ride. The bear was heavy and it was all we could do to haul him to the tent. While we were removing the pelt and cut- ting up the carcass two bears approached to within twenty yards of us and watched proceedings. For- tunately the team was chained or there would have been a chase pell mell over water holes and ridges. I succeeded at last in driving the beasts away with- out harming them. Believing in the preservation of game, especially in a barren land where little food is I had early instructed the members of the ex- pedition that, except in defence, no bear must be killed unless needed for food. The temperature on the trip varied between twenty- six and 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Our clothing was soaked at times by rains, and we did not enjoy the luxury of a dry pair of stockings until our return to "Elmwood." Pressure ridges were high, the pools of water many and treacherous, the snow deep and troublesome, but, notwithstanding, the trip was to me a sort of pleasure excursion. After the toil of the day we raised the tent and prepared our simple meal of pemmican stew and tea. While the pot was steaming we sat on our sleeping bags, Duffy contentedly puffing his pipe and telling me sailor yarns in a rich brogue. He always enjoyed his meals and complimented the cook. He was good company and I was sorry when our week's outing came to an end. On my return to camp, Assistant Engineer Vedoe 120 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE showed me samples of coal that he had found in a vein about 600 feet up the talus not far from " Elm- wood." The coal burned freely and its discovery relieved us from much anxiety, as the failure of the Relief Ship to appear indicated that the larger part of the party would have to remain for the winter at Cape Flora. Only a small amount of coal remained from the supply left by Jackson and the Duke of the Abruzzi but over twenty tons of it were mined out of the frozen clay and carried down the steep talus on the backs of the men. Thus the problem of keeping warm during the winter of 1904-05 was solved for the Cape Flora party. Chief Scientist Peters joined us on the last day of August, accompanied by Assistant Scientist Tafel and John Vedoe. The party had left Camp Abruzzi July 8th, in a canoe, and arrived at Eaton Island August 4th after a trying passage down the British Channel by water and ice. Scientific instruments and records weighing about 200 pounds were brought down to Eaton Island where they were cached. Mr. Peters 's party found DeBruyne Sound filled with broken field ice in motion, and they waited at Eaton Island for the sound to clear, subsisting on a cache of food that I had placed there in 1903. The ice remaining fast, and the sound showing no signs of clearing, Mr. Peters and his companions pushed their loaded canoe over the rough surface to Camp Point, the passage occupying five days. There the canoe and camp outfit were cached and they proceeded in a fog over the glacier of Northbrook Island to our camp. Mr. Peters brought the sad news that the Nor- THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 121 wegian Fireman, Sigurd Myhre, had died at Camp Abruzzi on May 16th, after an illness of several weeks. He had been laid to rest in a frozen grave on the sum- mit of the rocky plateau toward Cape Saulen, the most northern tomb, I believe, in the world. The birds left us in the latter part of August and we missed their cheerful chatter. As the sun sank lower the temperature fell and cold freezing winds and driv- ing flurries of snow assailed us. Our brief summer was over all too soon and the darkness and frigidity of another winter drew on apace. Duffy, said to me, "Shure this is a great counthry! The summer commences on the 26th day of July at noon, and, begob, at half pasht one of the same day, we are in the middle of winter!" In the early days of September fierce winds and storms broke the solid sea ice into huge blocks and we saw open water southward for the first time. With the failure of the Relief Ship to arrive by September 10th, I made preparations to winter the large party remaining there and to return myself to the men at Teplitz Bay, to engage once again in the work of the expedition at its Northern Station. I could no longer depend upon the Relief Ship to assist me in my march north or lift from my shoulders the care of the body of men at Cape Flora whose stay would mean a tax on our resources. Autumn is the worst time of the year in which to travel. The channels freeze over in thin sheets of salt ice that hold the sledge runners like glue, and which without warning, break up under influence of the winds into impassable currents of churning water and broken 122 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE ice. The sun disappears below the horizon, and land and sea are wrapped in the blackness of Arctic Night. Under the hard conditions of sledge work in the fall I could only hope to take a small party of chosen men with me, and about twenty -five men would be ob- liged to remain at Cape Flora for the winter. Thanks to the large caches of the Duke of the Ab- ruzzi and Jackson, in addition to our own supplies and the game, there was sufficient food at Cape Flora for the party remaining there during the winter. The two ponies left over from the slaughter of spring, were shot for food, and thousands of pounds of walrus meat were hauled to the camp from the caches that had been made along the shore and placed out of reach of the dogs, to augment the winter supply of meat and blubber. During the summer the party had secured seventeen bears, sixteen walruses, eight brant, about 250 birds' eggs, and about sixteen seals. The large supply of fresh meat placed the men in splendid condition phy- sically and also prevented the exhaustive use of the canned provisions in the caches. I had hopes from the experience of Jackson that the party would be able to secure bears during the winter. I instructed the party, as soon as the sun should reappear in Feb- ruary, to send men and sledges to Camp Ziegler on Alger Island, about seventy miles distant, to where a large supply of provisions had been cached in 1902. The distance from camp Abruzzi (from which place I was to make the third start north) to Camp Ziegler was about 140 miles, or nearly twice the distance THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 123 intervening between Camp Ziegler and Cape Flora where the men were awaiting the Relief Ship. Notwithstanding this fact I promised that just as soon as my supporting parties should return from accom- panying me part of the way north they should carry supplies from Camp Abruzzi to Camp Ziegler, and keep at it (in the field) all summer until the dissolution of the ice rendered sledge work impossible. In the meantime the Cape Flora party could work continuously at hauling supplies from the Camp Ziegler cache to their camp at the Cape. Thus an abundance of food was assured. To assist the Cape Flora party in the work of hauling supplies I gave them about twenty-five dogs. Northbrook Island is isolated from the rest of the group by DeBruyne Sound, and as long as that water- way remained open, it offered a serious obstacle to the advance north. The temperature was too changeable in early September for me to think of leav- ing Cape Flora. The canoe and kayaks that I would be obliged to take along to insure the safety of my party formed such a large part of the total weight we were able to carry that not more than twenty days' rations could be taken on the sledges for men and dogs, and a delay at any point on the march might prove serious. On the other hand, there was the fast approaching season of darkness and the danger of its overtaking us on the way if we delayed our departure too long. The men I had chosen to accompany me north could hardly wait for a cold snap to lock up the waters, and wished for an early start. i2 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE Mr. Peters was anxious for an early return to his scientific work at Camp Abruzzi, and so I instructed him to prepare to leave as soon as he thought prac- ticable. I gave him two good men, Assistant Engineer Vedoe and Seaman Mackiernan, and two fine teams of dogs with sledges, a tent, and twenty days' rations. For a boat, on his arrival at Camp Point, he intended to pick up the canoe he had cached there in August. There was a cold snap on the night of the 18th and on the morning of the following day Peters and his party left for Camp Abruzzi. Those days of September were troublesome ones for me. The spirit of the men who were to remain at the Cape bent under the disappoint- ment. None of the anticipations of success of the first winter had been realised; there was no word from home; no hope of escape until the cold, six months' night had passed — no relief from the deaden- ing monotony of camp life. All these things had com- bined to discourage them and hard words were often used to bewail their sad lot. Almost every assembly of men has its Epicureans and its Stoics. There were representatives of each class at Cape Flora. I learned in those days the saddening truth that a large proportion of humanity is governed by fear and selfishness and that many a man's actions are inspired by the thought of self- aggrandisement rather than by the sense of principle or the love of his neighbour. The unlettered and uncultured man is coarse in his selfishness, while the man of education has learned to conceal his baser instincts under a mask of seeming modesty and virtue; but in the end it is a toss up as to which is the worse. THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 125 On one of those days of reflection and sadness I wrote in my diary: "Sometimes, I think I would like to write just as I feel, but the thought comes to me that in the changing atmosphere of Time there is much that would be put down in unchanging black and white for which some one would suffer later on, whose spirit by that time had passed through trials and become chastened and humble. So much I could write at times in bitterness of spirit, but I know all shall be well and that Time shall be the great proofreader and correct the careless work and thoughtless haste, and bring harmony out of this orchestra at last, though there seem to be a few who play as if they had no soul for music." CHAPTER XVII THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI T7IGHT days after the departure of Peters and his ■*"^ companions for the north I bade good-bye to the men at Cape Flora. Before leaving I placed good, faithful Francis Long in charge of the party in the Roundhouse and all expedition property, and Captain Coffin in charge of the ship's company in "Elmwood." I turned over to each house one of the two whaleboats for use the following summer in the securing of game, and also assigned a team of dogs to each party to be employed when the light returned in 1905 in the haul- ing of food from Camp Ziegler, On the morning of September 27th, accompanied by Assistant Scientist Porter, Assistant Surgeon Seitz, Steward Spencer, Quartermaster Rilliet, Seaman Duffy, and Cabin Boy Dean, I left Camp Jackson on the march north to Camp Abruzzi. We carried our camping equipment and seventeen days' food for men and dogs on four sledges drawn by thirty-two dogs. A canoe was also carried and two canvas kayaks. We arrived at Camp Point, the north- ern extremity of Northbrook Island, the same evening and camped in the darkness. A heavy storm from the southwest arose at night and continued through the following day. The wind was so violent that we were obliged to take the pole out of the tent and tie 126 THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 127 the collapsed fabric together in a great knot to pre- vent its being torn to pieces. We spent an uncom- fortable time in the restricted space in our sleeping bags, the drifting snow walling us in. At Camp Point a message was found from Mr. Peters stating that he had been delayed by the impassable condition of the channel, but that he had left to cross DeBruyne Sound the morning of the 27th, the day we arrived at the Point. The storm gave me reason to be anxious for his safety. DeBruyne Sound had been opened in a number of places by the high wind of the 28th. On the morning of the 29th, we at- tempted to cross the sound but were forced to return to land by a wide stream of broken ice and mush in a rapid current — impassable either by boats or sledges. Two other attempts were made to cross the sound, one on September 30th, the other on October nth, but we were obliged to return both times to Camp Point. Each attempt to cross was followed by a rise in temperature and high southerly winds, accom- panied by the breaking up of the ice and the opening of the Sound. As the days passed by our food stores dwindled, and the poor dogs chained out in the snow gave vent to their craving for food in long drawn howls. We built two little igloos of snow blocks in the side of the glacier. They were connected by a passage and for a time all of us lived together in the "Tombs," as the igloos were called, but later the Steward and I preferred to live in the tent, considering our chances to be better there in an outlook for game. On Sunday, October 9th, we held a service in the " Tombs " where 128 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE I read from the Sixth Chapter of Matthew the words which at the time seemed to be particularly suited to us: "Take no thought of the morrow, of what ye shall eat or drink." The Steward and I had just returned to our tent when, sitting together in the cold, I expressed the wish for a bear, as it would mean food and fuel. At that moment a quick, short bark sounded outside, followed by a chorus of savage, frantic yelps from all our chained canines. Looking through the flap of the tent, the Steward exclaimed, "A bear! A bear!" We both ran out to behold a bear making up the glacier. Our best bear dog, Little Wyckoff , was loose and worried Bruin by biting his heels, so delaying the beast that I was enabled to get within about 150 yards. With an anxiety that cannot be expressed, I fired, bringing down the animal. He was sledged in triumph to the "Tombs," and that day, and many days after, we had the luxury of fried bear steak. Our hungry dogs, too, got a full meal of fresh meat. As the bear was very fat, all the blubber was carefully cut and preserved for cooking fuel. To wait often takes more courage, more effort of soul, than to perform. As the days went by and the period of light shortened some of my good comrades became restless. The active, little Steward would look over toward Hooker Island and wistfully say, "If we were only there! All our troubles would be over, for then we could proceed easily over the frozen channels to Camp Ziegler and from there to Teplitz Bay. This awful channel! This horrible island! " As I looked at the dark water clouds hanging over THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 129 the glacier on that island which indicated to me that the channels beyond were open, I was filled with anxiety for the safety of Mr. Peters and his party and for our own escape. The sun was rapidly sinking. After considering the rough and treacherous character of the ice in De- Bruyne Sound, I realised the impossibility of crossing the wide channel in one march, and saw that at least one of the long October nights would have to be spent on the ice in the sound. With every storm, the ice would break up and drift, and as storms came often and without warning we would have to be prepared to take to the boats in an emergency. The frail kayaks could not be depended upon in the current of the chan- nel when it was filled with grinding ice fragments. The canoe alone was deemed reliable. But as the canoe was not large enough to hold the entire party, I determined to send two members back to Cape Flora with one sledge to obtain a supply of provisions suf- ficient for us to reach Camp Ziegler where we could replenish. The poor dogs had been living on quarter and half rations, but for them I could ask no food, their salvation depending upon our reaching Camp Ziegler in time, for I did not intend to return to Cape Flora no matter what came. On the 17 th Mr. Porter expressed his willingness to return to Cape Flora with one man to stay there through the winter. On the return of the light in the following spring (1905) he would make a sledge trip to Camp Abruzzi to accompany me on my final march north. So I gave him instructions to return to Cape Flora, i 3 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE placing him as Third in Command of the expedition and in charge of the party at Cape Flora and in com- mand of the whole expedition should I and Mr. Peters, my Second in Command, both be lost. I detailed Jimmy Dean, our cabin boy, to accompany him. Jimmy almost wept in his disappointment. He wanted to stay with my party and share our adventures in the march north. I gave Mr. Porter five of our best dogs, a sledge, and a kayak and he and Jimmy set out for Cape Flora. They were accompanied by Steward Spencer and Seaman Duffy, with a dog team and sledge, who were to return to me with a small supply of food. On the 17 th the temperature was 31 degrees F. above zero, five degrees above the freezing point of sea water. The Sound was filled with an impassable mass of ice fragments grinding their way in a rapid current out to sea. The roofs of our igloos had been dripping during the long siege of abnormally high temperature and we were obliged to prop them up to prevent their caving in. Our sleeping bags were soaked with water. It looked as if the cold weather would never come, and as if we would be imprisoned by darkness without an opportunity to cross the eighteen miles that separated us from Hooker Island. But after Porter's departure the column of the ther- mometer slowly dropped until on the night of the 21st it reached one degree below zero. Spencer and Duffy returned on the 21st, and on the 2 2d, the day the sun disappeared for the winter, we made our fourth attempt to cross the channel. The party comprised Asst. Surgeon Seitz, Quarter- THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 131 master Rilliet, Steward Spencer, and Seaman Duffy with three dog teams of nine dogs each and three sledges, a canoe, and a two-man kayak. We left land at nine o'clock in the morning in a very dim twilight and made our way over much rough ice. I directed the path of the column toward the north as I noted that there was a pressure on the ice fields from that direction and reasoned that the ice would jam in the narrow part of the sound between Old Depot on Hooker Island and Camp Point on North- brook Island, but would open into lanes and drift sea- ward south of these two points. So instead of direct- ing our way in as nearly straight a line as we could, across the Sound to Old Depot (our objective), our trail curved up the channel, above the danger zone of opening leads, and fast moving fields. We crossed one open lead by means of canoe and kayak at the cost of an hour and one dog. While picking a path through moving ice cakes, I climbed to the top of a small pres- sure ridge which suddenly gave way beneath me. I was in the water some minutes surrounded by a muddle of small ice fragments which prevented my reaching the heavy floe before my absence was noted. Then I had the rather unpleasant experience of disrobing on an ice cake to put on a complete change of dry clothing. Fortunately the temperature was not low — only 4 degrees below zero! After crossing much broken ice, mixed with rubble and thin sheets, we reached a large old cake that seemed to be fixed. As it was difficult to see ahead in the gathering darkness, and being uncertain of reaching another large cake before night, I gave orders to en- 1 32 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE camp. The following day we reached Old Depot on Hooker Island, crossing rough places and wide stretches of young salt ice just thick enough to bear the men and sledges, the moving caravan causing the thin stratum to roll in waves and move under the feet like jelly, one sledge — the one bearing the heavy canoe — breaking partially through. We helped the dogs drag the heavy sledges up the slope of the glacier on Hooker Island to a level spot near some protruding rocks, and then turned our eyes toward DeBruyne Sound. In the gloom we could see great black stretches of water in which floated dark looking masses of ice, and open lanes steaming in the cold air. The rising moon il- luminated the scene and intensified the gloom of the shadowy Stygian expanse. Our hearts beat thank- fully in the realisation that we had crossed just in time, and that after the long wait of twenty-six days we were able at last to proceed. Storms and rolling clouds of the past were forgotten as, above the massed vapours of the waters, we hap- pily raised our tents, a full moon giving us light, and revealing in glittering splendour the mountainous glacier above us, whose cold, high crest was to be our next battlefield. Dr. Seitz, Rilliet, and Duffy occupied one tent and Steward Spencer and myself the other. While we cooked our evening meal above the hum of the blaz- ing khotals in both tents, I could hear Duffy sing- ing and catch snatches of the animated conver- sation of the others, denoting their happy condition. In our own little tepee Spencer fairly beamed with happiness, and talked enthusiastically of next year's THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 133 opportunities north, expressing the hope that we would break the record. Camp Abruzzi seemed near to us that night and Camp Ziegler only a short way off. The temperature dropped to 12 degrees below zero while we slept and, in the gloom of the returning twi- light of another day, it was cold work harnessing dogs and breaking camp. But we were glad that the tem- perature was low for it meant as a rule good weather and a long march. Before leaving me at Camp Point, Porter had told me that on his spring trip he had been obliged to cross the Hooker Island glacier — that he had found a high glacier face on the north shore of the island and that there was only one little place where it was possible for a sledge to leave the island with safety. Rilliet had accompanied Porter on his trip and stated to me that he knew the trail across the ice-capped island and the place of descent mentioned by Porter where the glacier sloped down to the level of Young Sound. So I asked Rilliet to act as guide while I helped Duffy with his heavily loaded sledge in our long haul up the slope. After surmounting the dome, over 1 ,400 feet high, we made a rapid descent down a steep de- clivity at the bottom of which our guide expected to find a short cut to the sea level. But distances are deceptive on a glacier and five hours were spent in a reconnoitre, which was made possible by moonlight. We were stormbound the following day. The tem- perature rose to 6 degrees above zero, dropping to 19 below on the morning of the 26th. This colder weather generally meant a respite from the howling winds. It calmed near noon and we lashed our icy tents and i 3 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE sleeping bags and stirred up the protesting dogs from the holes they had dug in the snow drifts, and put on their stiff harness. We could not afford to feed them the night before, but they seemed to have accepted the situation stoically. Poor things! they may have wondered but could not know what it meant — this continual hauling and suffering. Despite their snarl- ing and fighting they were hard workers and faithful helpers, and I often thought we did not appreciate their worth as we should. There was a haze in the air that obscured vision. Under foot, fortunately, the wind had packed the deep snow so that the sledges did not haul as badly as we expected. I did not like the looks of the glacier and suggested to Rilliet that we rope together and go ahead, thinking particularly of his safety as he was to be the guide. He told me the precaution was unnecessary as he had gone all over the place and did not believe there were any crevasses in it. <: O w < (J < 2 O O 2 04 as a. I O z > o o bfl < _ sl til Cfi W 2 5- C 7 e- en CHAPTER XVIII "he brought me up also out of an hor- rible pit." — Psalms ■\I7E HAD travelled on the glaciers so often that we had grown free of care in regard to the hid- den danger of crevasses. These deep chasms were arched over by the drifting snows and levelled with the surrounding surface of the glacier, and it was impossible to detect them. On the Rudolph Island glacier I had broken through on three or four different occasions, but had always been successful in scrambling out, not having fallen deeper than to my armpits. Frequent halts delayed our progress. Because of the thick weather I often went ahead to assist Rilliet in pick- ing out the shadowy nunatucks that guided us toward the slope where we wished to go from our present ele- vation to Young Sound. It was at one of these halts that I walked out ahead of the sledges when the snow gave way beneath my feet and I hung over a deep crevasse. Steward Spen- cer ran from his sledge in an attempt to help me. He had but just touched my hand with his fingers when I began a frightful descent and knew no more. In the semiconscious state which followed, came a chill of hor- ror, for I thought I had been buried alive. But return- ing memory helped me to realise that I was entombed in ice. I found myself wedged between two curves in the *3S i 3 6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE walls of the crevasse, the convex surfaces near enough together to hold me between my breast and back, my left arm bent over my breast and jamming having prevented me from falling through the neck of the funnel. Beneath me was a great black void in which I could move my legs without touching the walls, and to my right a cavern that made me think of the bot- tomless pit. The darkness was intense. Away above me shone a luminous spot, a faint halo of blue iridescence which showed where I had broken through, and a few straight pencil-like rays of light penetrated the chasm exposing the black surface of the walls of ice and also revealing the fact that had I fallen but a little farther to the right I would have gone to depths beyond the reach of human aid. I heard voices calling from above and I answered, asking for a rope, and requesting haste, as I thought I would slip through. Up to that time I was not aware that Spencer was in the chasm. While the rope was being lowered, I heard most awful groans beneath me in the crevasse. My first thought was that a team of dogs had fallen in with me. Soon the noise became articulate speech, and I realised with horror that another man was in that prison, and like myself was wedged in between walls of ice. It was the Steward who in trying to save me had fallen in too. I could not see him in that black pit, but thought that his voice, with its awful echoes came from somewhere beneath me. He called out, " Commander, are you in this place too?" He was lying on his side and felt the unspeakable torture of his position and begged me Draivn :