The Greater Republic Part 56

At such a terrible temperature pure brandy and glycerine freeze hard, and a man, though heavily clothed, will perish in a few minutes. The Eskemo dogs by choice slept in the snow outside rather than within the building.

THE GRAVE OF DR. HALL.

On the last day of February, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by Brainard, Jewell, Long, the two Eskemos, and a couple of dog teams, started on a journey to Thank G.o.d Harbor, seventy-five miles away. The journey was made without accident and the observatory was found still standing, while near at hand was the grave of the Arctic explorer, Captain C.F. Hall. The grave was marked by a metallic headboard, put up by the English and the other by Hall's comrades. On the British board are these words: "To Captain Hall, who sacrificed his life in the advancement of science, November 8, 1871. This tablet has been erected by the British Polar Expedition of 1875, which followed in his footsteps and profited by his experience." The American inscription is as follows:

IN MEMORY OF CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, LATE COMMANDER U.S. STEAMER POLARIS, NORTH POLE EXPEDITION, DIED NOVEMBER 8, 1871.

"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE."

The great ambition of Lieutenant Lockwood was to lead an expedition along the northern coast of Greenland, to which Arctic explorers. .h.i.therto had paid comparatively slight attention. His intelligence, daring, and skill caused Greely to give him his full confidence and to leave the entire arrangement of the venture in his hands.

Lockwood's intention was to start about the 1st of April. Sergeant Brainard was to go with the supporting parties in advance to Cape Sumner and leave supplies. Then when Lockwood's party reached the same point, with all the provisions they could carry with comfort, the explorers would be well supplied.

LOCKWOOD'S EXPEDITION TO THE FAR NORTH.

Amid the firing of pistols, waving of flags, and cheers, the start was made by Lockwood on the 2d of April. Three days later, the party dragging a sled laden with pemmican reached a snow-house, where they found Brainard and his friends returning. There were thirteen in all, and they were crowded in their close quarters, but the fact gave them additional warmth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FUNERAL IN THE ARTIC REGIONS.]

It will be remembered that the long Arctic night was about ended. In the misty light, a dark object was discerned on the top of a neighboring iceberg, which being scrutinized was recognized as an eagle. It was accepted as a good omen by the men, who cheered the n.o.ble bird that vividly reminded them of their distant home.

The direction was now to the northeast. They crossed the straits at Cape Beechy, pus.h.i.+ng to within a few miles of the eastern sh.o.r.e, whence they were to proceed directly to Fort Sumner. In order to follow the course of the party intelligently the reader needs to keep a reliable map of the Arctic regions before him.

Fort Conger stood close to the intersection of sixty-fifth meridian and the eighty-second parallel, being a little south of the latter and east of the former. From this starting-point, the route of Lockwood was slightly south of northeast to its termination. Almost from the beginning, the traveling was so difficult that the bravest explorers could not have been blamed for turning back.

The ice was tumbled together in irregular ma.s.ses many feet in thickness, through which they often had to cut the way with axes for their sledges.

The wind rose to a hurricane, and was of piercing coldness, and so filled with fine particles that they cut the face like bird-shot. Most of the time they could not see one another when separated by a few feet.

m.u.f.fled to their eyes, the brave explorers fought their-way onward, often compelled to stop and turn their backs to the gale, which almost swept them off their feet. Frequently they crouched behind the piles of ice to regain their breath while the furious wind roared above their heads.

Toughened, as were all the men, some of them succ.u.mbed under the fearful work. These returned to camp, and the party was reduced to nine. This occurred on the 10th of April, very near where the 82d parallel crosses the 60th meridian. There Lieutenant Lockwood came to a halt, and turned back with the dogs to Fort Conger. The round journey was a hundred miles, but it was necessary to get supplies that could be obtained in no other way, and to secure new runners for their sledges, which were battered by their rough usage.

Accompanied by the two Eskemos, Lockwood made a new start on the 14th of April, and averaged two miles an hour until he reached his new camp.

From that point the nine men had three sledges, which they dragged, and a fourth that was drawn by the dogs. With indomitable pluck they struggled onward, and all were thrilled on the 25th of the month by the knowledge that they had reached a point further north than had ever been attained by an American, and they hoped to surpa.s.s all others.

The heroic explorers had by no means finished their task. At regular points they cached their provisions against the return. If the reader will locate on his map the intersection of the 55th meridian with the parallel of 82 20', he will have a point close to Cape Bryant, where the supports of the party withdrew and started on their return to camp.

All who were now left were Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and the Eskemo Frederick.

Lockwood apportioned rations for twenty-five days among the three.

Consequently the northward journey and the return must be made within that time, since they believed it impossible to obtain food in that fearful region. Shaking hands with their companions, who wished them good-speed, the little party broke into two divisions, one tramping southward, while the other resumed its laborious journey toward the northeast.

Before Lockwood left Cape Sabine, Lieutenant Greely gave it as his belief that his brave a.s.sistant might succeed in reaching Cape Britannia, which lies about 40 east and 82 45' north. The explorer Beaumont saw this cape, but was unable to reach it. When Lockwood and Brainard arrived there, however, they had no thought of stopping. A cairn was built, a written account of their travels deposited, and five days' rations left. Then the heroes bent to their herculean task again.

The Eskemo was left with the dogs, while the two white men, wrapped in their furs, laboriously climbed an adjoining mountain, half a mile in height. From the crest they scanned the snowy landscape, the very picture of desolation. Twenty miles to the northeast, the direction they were traveling, they made out a dark promontory, terminating in a rocky headland and penetrating the Polar Ocean, while between it and them a number of islands reared their heads and were separated by fiords. Half of the remaining horizon was filled with the dismal ice of the Frozen Sea.

They had no expectation of meeting with animal life in this world of desolation, but they fired several times (and missed) at ptarmigan, and, having wounded a rabbit, succeeded in running it down. It was a mystery to them how this little animal found the means of sustaining life so near the Pole.

It may be wondered how far these three men would have gone had it been possible to travel. They became accustomed to the exhaustive work, but the end of the journey was reached on the 13th of May, when they paused on the edge of an immense fissure in the ice, extending indefinitely to the right and left, and too broad to be crossed. They searched for a long time, only to learn that it was utterly out of their power to go a foot further. Nothing remained but to learn their exact location.

While Lockwood was preparing to take an observation, the sun was obscured by fog. All the next day so furious a storm raged that they could do nothing but huddle in their tent and wait for it to pa.s.s.

Finally, the conditions became favorable and Lockwood made his observations with the utmost care. When they were completed the astounding truth was revealed that their lat.i.tude was 84 24-1/2' north and 40 46-1/2' west from Greenwich. This surpa.s.sed the achievement of the Nares expedition sent out by England, in 1875-76, for the sole purpose of reaching the furthest northern point possible. Lockwood and Brainard, therefore, had attained the highest point, which up to that time had never been reached by man. On the 7th of April, 1895, however, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, penetrated to 86 15', which surpa.s.sed that of Lockwood and Brainard by 200 miles and was within 225 miles of the Pole itself.

The return journey was as exhausting and trying as the outward one, but the little party never lost courage. Fort Conger was reached early in June, and, as may be supposed, the explorers received a royal welcome from their comrades. The three men were suffering from snow blindness, rheumatism, and various ills brought on by their exposure and terrific labors, but all were in high spirits, as they might well be, when they recalled the wonderful achievement they had made.

WEARY WAITING.

The brief summer was at hand. The snow melted during the middle of the day and the first rain they had seen fell. On the 4th of July they had shooting matches and engaged in a game of baseball. It can hardly be said, however, that the American game has gained much of a foothold north of the Arctic Circle.

All suffered from intense depression of spirits which could not be shaken off. Again hours would pa.s.s without a man speaking a word. They seemed mutually repellent and miserable. This sad condition resulted from purely physical causes and no one could be blamed for it.

The company were now waiting for the _Proteus_ which was due. Several reports that she was in sight threw all into pleasurable excitement, but it need not be said they were doomed to disappointment, since the relief s.h.i.+p was at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The little steam launch had been repaired and enabled the party to explore the neighboring coasts for a distance of several hundred miles. A number of musk oxen were shot, but, except at certain seasons, their flesh is so strongly impregnated with musk that it is unpalatable for food.

As the weary days pa.s.sed without bringing the wished-for steamer, hope sank. Many were sure some accident had befallen the s.h.i.+p and she would never be seen again. If so (and of course such was the fact), more months must pa.s.s before the news could be carried to the United States and a new relief expedition be sent. It was hard thus to be forgotten by their friends at home. As a last resort the party could retreat in their boats, but all dreaded the almost hopeless recourse. Gradually the summer drew to a close and once more they saw the low-sweeping sun dip below the horizon not to appear again for months. The long, horrible Arctic night again enveloped them in misery and gloom.

When the month of January came every member of the party, including Greely himself, were convinced that their country had abandoned them and they must look out for themselves. He announced that if no relief appeared they would start for home not later than the 8th of August.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FARTHEST NORTH REACHED BY LIEUT. LOCKWOOD ON THE GREELY EXPEDITION.]

Lieutenant Lockwood seems to have been about the only member of the party who for a time kept up his high spirits. He was not satisfied with what he had already done, and insisted upon another chance to push northward. He had fixed upon the eighty-fourth parallel as the point to reach, and he urged the matter so strongly that Greely, who greatly admired his courage, gave his consent, though confident that he would find it impossible to do as well as in the former instance.

A FAILURE.

Lockwood made his start on the morning of March 27, 1883, his companions being the same as before. Two weeks later, as Greely was lying in his tent, wondering how his friend was making out, Lockwood walked in with a smile:

"Too much water," he said; "if it had only been ice, we could have managed it, but we had no means of getting across the water. Better luck next time."

The next time, however, never came. Greely, Lockwood, and Brainard always remained on good terms, but it was not the case with some of the others. Companions.h.i.+p, under such conditions, is a bore, and many a time the three gentlemen named went off on explorations that occupied several days, with no other object than to get away from those whose company was distasteful beyond bearing.

THE START HOMEWARD.

Greely had given up all hope of receiving help from the United States and determined to start for home as soon as his surroundings would permit. His plan was to proceed to Littleton Island, where it was possible they might find a vessel that would take them to Newfoundland.

The explorers, twenty-five in all, made their start southward, August 9, 1883. Their boats were the steam launch referred to, a whale boat, an English boat, and a smaller one, which it was thought would prove useful in the event of an accident.

For a time the progress was encouraging. The water was quite open, but ice soon appeared. They saved their boats from being nipped by drawing them up on a floe. When open water again showed, they took to the boats and reached Sun Bay without mishap. Then they made their way to Cape Lieber, twenty miles south from Fort Conger, where they were almost overwhelmed in a blinding snowstorm. There they landed and waited for the ice to move and open the way for them along the western sh.o.r.e of the strait. A fog kept them there several days, and when they started again it was in the midst of another blinding snowstorm. One of the incidents of the struggle against ice and tempest was the falling overboard of Lieutenant Greely and an accident to the launch. Scoresby Bay was reached on the 22d of August, and found to be full of floating ice. It was necessary again to save the boats by drawing them up on the floe. By that time, too, the supply of coal had become so low that Greely held a consultation with his officers over their situation, which was not only dangerous but rapidly becoming more so. He proposed to abandon the launch, and use the other boats with which to push along the western sh.o.r.e, but the majority believed they had a chance of making Littleton Island. Ere long it was found necessary to leave behind the smallest boat, and when that was done most of the party believed all were doomed.

The elements and even the tides were against them.

The launch soon became useless and was abandoned. Resort was then had to sledge travel, two carrying a boat between them, and all pulled by the men. They had not gone far in this toilsome manner when another of the boats had to be left behind, giving them only one. Even the courageous Lockwood now expressed his belief that none of the party would escape alive. Still it was better to die struggling than to sit down and fold their hands.

Misfortunes crowded upon them. The current continued the wrong way and the floe upon which they were drifting carried them toward Baffin Bay.

Sludge ice, the most troublesome of all, abounded, and their poor rations grew scant. In the latter part of September enough of the floes came in contact to permit the men to pa.s.s over them to solid land, some twelve miles from Cape Sabine. A reconnoitering party in attempting to reach that point was turned back by the open water. Another company, however, got through and brought back important news. The _Proteus_ had been wrecked and a couple of caches, left by English s.h.i.+ps, together with the stores brought from the wreck of the _Proteus_, were discovered. As may be supposed, they formed a welcome addition to the meagre stock of food.

THE LAST EXTREMITY.

It being inevitable that another winter must be pa.s.sed in the land of desolation, preparations were made for doing so. The spot selected was between Cape Sabine and c.o.c.ked Hat Island. A hut was erected and the supplies moved thither. Greely informed the men that he had decided to reduce the rations so that they would last until the coming March. A cairn was built at Cape Sabine in which was placed a record of what had been done by the explorers.