THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO

Commander Robert Edwin Peary, U.S.N.

Who reached the Pole April 6, 1909

Copyright by Clinedinst, Washington, D.C.

THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

THE STORY OF
POLAR EXPLORATION
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE
DISCOVERY OF THE POLE

BY
HELEN S. WRIGHT

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1910

All rights reserved

Copyright, 1910,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1910.

Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

PREFACE

The material for this book has been gathered from the rich storehouse of Arctic Literature. The chief labour of its composition lay in elimination rather than construction. The great field I have endeavoured to present can hardly be brought with justice to the narrow bounds of a single cover, but I have conscientiously endeavoured to bring to the reader’s mind an accurate record of brilliant deeds that go to make the history of the far North, and have let the explorers themselves tell the story of how these deeds have been accomplished.

Between the lines of their simple language describing stern facts or desperate realities, one reads the character and temperament of the adventurer; one gathers lessons of patience, self-sacrifice, and endurance unsurpassed in the history of mankind, and perhaps appreciates, for the first time, the splendid fibre of which he is made. Stripped of the conventions and luxuries of civilized life, he plunges into the great unknown to fight a relentless war against the greatest foes to his existence,—Cold, Starvation, and Death. Though he may fall by the wayside a victim to the Cause, or crawl home on hands and knees over the rough fastnesses of the frozen wilderness, famishing,—perhaps dying,—the record of his work lives on; the fundamental principles of great character do not perish, but stand through the centuries, a star of hope to the weary traveller on his pilgrimage along the well-trodden pathway of everyday life, and stirs the layman to a better endurance of the burdens and perplexities of the common lot.

It is with pleasure I make grateful acknowledgment to the gentlemen who have accorded me their gracious permission to quote from their works, to Commander Robert E. Peary, to Major-General A. W. Greely, and Sir Allen Young, and to the following publishers and others who, by furnishing material or giving consent to use selected matter, or by kind assistance in other ways, have made my work possible: The American Publishing Company, Hartford, Conn., for selections from “Our Lost Explorers”; D. Appleton & Company for selections from Charles Lanman’s “Farthest North” and Payer’s “New Lands within the Arctic Circle”; The Century Company for selections from General Greely’s article on “The Northwest Passage”; to Clinedinst, Washington, D.C., for permission to reproduce the copyright portraits of Admirals Schley and Melville, General Greely, and Commander Peary; Constable & Company, and E. P. Dutton & Company, Ltd., London, for permission to reproduce the portrait of Amundsen in the latter’s work, “The Northwest Passage”; Doubleday, Page & Company for selections from Commander Peary’s “Nearest the Pole,” and for the portrait of Anthony Fiala and other illustrations from the latter’s work, “Fighting the Polar Ice”; The Encyclopædia Britannica Company for a selection from an article by Markham on “Polar Regions”; to J. Scott Keltie, Esq., editor of the Geographical Journal, for selections from that journal; Houghton; Mifflin Company for selections from “The Voyage of the Jeannette” and Melville’s “In the Lena Delta”; Dodd, Mead & Company for selections from the Duke of Abruzzi’s “On the Polar Star”; Benjamin B. Hampton, Esq., for permission to reproduce photographs of the Peary expedition of 1908 and Commander Peary’s map, and Mr. Hampton and the New York Times for permission to quote Commander Peary’s telegram announcing his discovery of the Pole; the editor of the Illustrated London News for permission to reproduce the portraits of Sir Edward Belcher, Captain Nares, and Commander Markham; Little, Brown & Company for selections from General Greely’s “Handbook of Polar Discoveries”; The London Agency for Ordnance Maps for selections from Sir Allen Young’s “Pandora Voyages”; Longmans, Green & Company for selections from Nansen’s “First Crossing of Greenland” and Sverdrup’s “New Land”; the editor of McClure’s Magazine for a selection from Mr. Baldwin’s article on “The Baldwin-Ziegler Arctic Expedition,” which appeared in that magazine in 1901-1902; Albert Operti, Esq., for permission to reproduce the portraits of W. H. Gilder, Lieutenant Schwatka, Colonel Brainard, Captain De Long, and Lieutenant Lockwood; C. Kegan Paul & Company for a selection from Markham’s “Great Frozen Sea”; G. P. Putnam’s Sons for a selection from Mr. Alger’s article on “Roald Amundsen,” which appeared in Putnam’s Monthly; the editor of the American Review of Reviews for a selection from Mr. McGrath’s article on “Polar Exploration,” which appeared in that magazine; Sampson, Low, Marston & Company, London, for a selection from “German Arctic Expeditions”; Charles Scribner’s Sons for a selection from Schwatka’s “Search,” Greely’s “Three Years’ Arctic Service,” and Schley’s “Rescue of Greely”; F. A. Stokes Company for permission to reproduce illustrations from Commander Peary’s work, “The North Pole,” and for the loan of photographs; and to the same company for selections from Andrée’s “Balloon Expedition” and Peary’s “Northward over the Great Ice.”

CONTENTS

PAGE
CHAPTER I
Early adventurers. Pytheas.—Dicuil.—Other.—Wulfstan.—The Norsemen.—Iva Bardsen.—The Cabots.—The Cortereals.—Willoughby and Chancellor.—Stephen Burrough.—Niccolò Zeno.—Frobisher.—Pet and Jackman.—Sir Humphrey Gilbert.—Davis.—Barentz[1]
CHAPTER II
Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Hudson.—Baffin.—Deshneff.—Behring.—Schalaroff.—Tchitschagof.—Anjou and Von Wrangell.—Phipps[18]
CHAPTER III
Early nineteenth century. Ross and Parry, May 3, 1818. Object of voyage, search for Northwest Passage through Davis Strait and explore bays and channels described by Baffin.—Met natives near Melville Bay.—The discovery by Ross of the famous Crimson Cliffs.—Enters Lancaster Sound.—Advance barred by imaginary Crocker Mountains.—Return of expedition to England.—Buchan and Franklin North Polar expedition via Greenland and Spitzbergen.—Dorothea and Trent in Magdalena Bay, June 3, 1818.—Reached high latitude of 80° 37´ N.—Course directed to east coast of Greenland.—Disastrous battle with the ice.—Dorothea disabled.—Hasty return to England[29]
CHAPTER IV
1819-1827. Parry’s first voyage.—Object, to survey Lancaster Sound and prove the non-existence of Crocker Mountains.—Discovery of new lands.—Parry Islands.—Attains longitude 110° W., thereby winning the bounty of five thousand pounds offered by Parliament.—Winters near Melville Island. Second voyage.—Ships Hecla and Fury.—Examines Duke of York Bay and Frozen Strait of Middleton.—Winters off Lyon Inlet.—Sledge journeys.—Object, to make Northwest Passage via Prince Regent Inlet.—Reached Port Bowen.—Ten months’ imprisonment.—Destruction of the Fury.—Hasty return to England. Fourth voyage.—Purpose to reach the Pole via Spitzbergen with sledge boats over ice.—Hecla as transport.—Parry’s farthest 82° 45´ N. reached, June 23, 1827[41]
CHAPTER V
Nineteenth century continued. Scoresby and Clavering.—Former visited Jan Mayen Island in 1817.—Later he visited east coast of Greenland.—Discovered Scoresby Sound. In 1824, Captain Lyon surveyed Melville Peninsula.—Adjoining straits and shores of Arctic America.—In 1825, Captain Beechey in the Blossom sailed through Behring Strait and passed beyond Icy Cape.—Surveyed the coast as far as Point Barrow, adding 126 miles of new shore.—Second voyage of Captain John Ross.—Undertaken in 1829.—Discovers Boothia.—Wintered in Felix Harbor.—Discovery of North Magnetic Pole by nephew of Captain John Ross.—Commander James Clark Ross.—Valuable observations.—Sledge journeys to mainland.—Four years spent in the Arctic.—Perilous retreat.—Safe return.—Land journey by Captain Back.—The Great Fish-Back River.—Point Ogle.—Point Richardson.—Back’s farthest point was 68° 13´ 57″ north latitude, 94° 58´ 1″ west longitude. Land journeys of Simpson and Dease, 1836.—Descend the Mackenzie River to the sea.—Surveyed west shore between Return Reef and Cape Barrow.—In 1839, they explored shores of Victoria Land as far as Cape Parry.—Crossed Coronation Gulf.—Descended the Coppermine.—Reached the Polar Sea. Overland journey in 1846 by Dr. John Rae confirmed Captain John Ross’s statement that Boothia was a peninsula[57]
CHAPTER VI
Sir John Franklin.—Early life.—First land expedition of 1819-1821.—Journey from York Factory to Cumberland House.—Reach Fort Providence.—Winter at Fort Enterprise.—Explorations.—5550 miles.—Hardship.—Starvation.—Return.—Second land journey.—1825.—Winter quarters at Great Bear Lake.—Descent of the Mackenzie River to the Polar Sea.—1200 miles of coast added to map.—The last journey of Sir John Franklin, 1845.—The Erebus and Terror.—Last seen in Melville Bay[79]
CHAPTER VII
Search for Sir John Franklin.—Captain Kellett.—Captain Moore.—Dr. Richardson.—Dr. Rae.—Sir J. C. Ross.—Mr. Parker.—Dr. Goodsir.—Collinson, M’Clure.—The Felix.—Prince Albert.—Commanded by Charles C. Forsyth.—Captain Austin’s squadron.—Captain Ommaney.—Lieutenant Sherard Osborn.—Commander Cator.—Grinnell expedition under De Haven[95]
CHAPTER VIII
Search for Sir John Franklin continued.—Sledge journey of Captain Austin’s squadron.—Return of Prince Albert under command of Captain Kennedy.—Bellot[120]
CHAPTER IX
Search for Sir John Franklin continued.—Sir Edward Belcher’s squadron.—Inglefield.—Rae’s journey.—Discovery of Northwest Passage by Captain M’Clure.—Death of Bellot[141]
CHAPTER X
Sledging parties of Sir Edward Belcher’s squadron.—Desertion of the ships.—Return to England.—Story of the Resolute.—Traces of Sir John Franklin discovered by Dr. Rae.—Anderson’s journey.—The voyage of the Fox under Commander M’Clintock.—Sledge journeys.—Record and relics of Franklin’s expedition.—Fox returns to England[174]
CHAPTER XI
The second Grinnell expedition.—Commanded by Dr. Elisha K. Kane.—Winter quarters in Rensseläer Harbor.—Sledging trips.—To the rescue.—Effects of exhaustion and cold.—Dr. Kane’s journey.—Great Glacier of Humboldt.—Return and illness of Dr. Kane. Second winter in the ice.—Privations and suffering.—Abandonment of the Advance.—Retreat and rescue[199]
CHAPTER XII
Dr. Hayes’s expedition. Winter quarters at Port Foulke, Greenland coast.—Death of Sonntag.—Dr. Hayes’s journey.—Attempt to cross Smith Sound.—Hayes’s farthest.—“Open Polar Sea.”—Homeward bound[235]
CHAPTER XIII
Charles Francis Hall.—Early life.—Interest in fate of Sir John Franklin.—First journey to Greenland.—Discovery of Frobisher relics.—Experiences and study of the Eskimos. Second journey.—Delays and disappointments.—Sledging trips.—King William Land at last.—Franklin relics.—Return of Hall to United States. Polaris expedition.—Reaches high northing.—Hall’s sledge journey.—Return and death.—Polaris winters.—No escape.—Polaris is wrecked.—Part of crew adrift on the ice-floe.—Remainder build winter hut.—Final rescue and return to United States[243]
CHAPTER XIV
Captain Thomas Long.—Discovery of Wrangell Land.—Captain Carlsen and Captain Palliser sail across the Sea of Kara.—Captain Johannesen circumnavigates Nova Zembla.—First German expedition.—Second German expedition.—Germania, Captain Koldewey commanding.—Hansa, Captain Hegemann.—Departure from Bremen.—Crossing the Arctic Circle.—Island of Jan Mayen.—The ice line.—Separation from the Hansa.—Adrift on the ice-floe.—Winter.—Final rescue.—Germania beset.—Winter.—Sledging parties.—Lieutenant Payer’s remarkable journey—77° 1´ north latitude.—Return of the Germania[268]
CHAPTER XV
Norwegian expedition, 1871. Payer and Weyprecht.—The Tegetthoff adrift in the Polar pack.—Discovery of Franz Josef Land.—Payer’s sledge journeys.—Payer’s farthest 82° 5´ north latitude.—Cape Fligely.—Abandonment of the Tegetthoff.—Retreat of officers and crew.—Picked up by Russian fishermen.—Home[286]
CHAPTER XVI
Baron A. E. von Nordenskjöld.—First voyage, 1858.—Accompanies succeeding Swedish expeditions.—Spitzbergen.—Voyage of Sofia.—1868.—Nordenskjöld’s journey to Greenland.—Voyage of the Polhem.—Attempt to reach the Pole by reindeer sledge.—Unexpected discouragements and disasters.—Voyage of the Proven.—1875.—The Kara Sea.—Journey repeated the following year.—In the Ymer.—Voyage of the Vega[298]
CHAPTER XVII
British expedition of 1875.—The Alert and Discovery.—Captain George S. Nares, F. R. S., Albert H. Markham, F. R. G. S.—Two voyages of the Pandora, 1875-1876.—Schwatka’s search for the Franklin records, 1878-1879[310]
CHAPTER XVIII
The Jeannette expedition, 1879-1881.—In command of Captain George W. De Long.—Leaves San Francisco.—Touches at Ounalaska, August 2.—Reaches Lawrence Bay, East Siberia, August 15.—Last seen by whale bark Sea Breeze near Herald Island, September 2.—The Jeannette beset in ice-pack September 6, never again released.—Daily routine of officers and crew.—Ship springs a leak.—A frozen summer.—Sight of new land.—A second winter in the pack.—The Jeannette crushed.—Abandonment.—The retreat.—The fate of the three boats.—Death of De Long’s party.—Melville’s search[345]
CHAPTER XIX
International circumpolar stations.—Failure of Dutch expedition.—Greely expedition reaches Lady Franklin Bay.—Life at Fort Conger.—Sledge journey of Brainard and Lockwood.—Farthest north.—Greely’s journey to interior of Grinnell Land.—Lake Hazen.—Failure of relief ship Neptune to reach Conger in 1882.—Official plans for Greely’s relief in 1883.—Proteus crushed in ice.—Garlington’s retreat.—Greely’s abandonment of Fort Conger.—Greely reaches Cape Sabine.—The beginning of a hard winter.—Death of members of the party from starvation and cold.—Schley’s brilliant rescue of the remnant of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition in 1884[369]
CHAPTER XX
Nansen.—The man.—First Arctic experience.—Plans the crossing of Greenland.—Carries out his great undertaking.—Voyage on the Fram.—Drifting with the current.—Life aboard.—Nansen and Johannesen start for the Pole.—Difficulties of travel.—The “Farthest North!”—The retreat.—A winter on the Franz Josef Land.—Attempt to reach Spitzbergen by kayak.—The meeting at Cape Flora with Frederick Jackson.—Home in the Windward[401]
CHAPTER XXI
Journeys of Dr. A. Bunge and Baron E. von Toll.—Exploration in Spitzbergen.—Sir Martin Conway.—Dr. A. G. Nathorst.—Professor J. H. Gore.—Andrée’s balloon expedition to the North Pole.—Search for Andrée by Theodor Lerner.—J. Stadling.—Dr. A. G. Nathorst.—Captain Bade.—Walter Wellman’s plan to reach the Pole from Spitzbergen.—Italian expedition under Duke of Abruzzi.—Loss of the Stella Polare.—Captain Umberto Cagni’s journey.—Breaks the record.—Retreat.—Home.—Baldwin-Ziegler expedition of 1900.—Complete equipment.—Return of expedition in autumn.—Ziegler expedition under Anthony Fiala.—The America reaches high northing.—Winters in Triplitz Bay.—Is destroyed.—Failure of sledge journeys.—Relief ship does not come.—Second winter.—Return of party by Terra Nova in 1903[417]
CHAPTER XXII
Otto Sverdrup.—Four years’ voyage of the Fram.—Journeys in Ellesmere Land.—Important exploration of Jones Sound.—Discovery of new lands.—Release of the Fram.—Captain Roald Amundsen.—The voyage of the Gjoa.—Reaches head of Petersen Bay (King William Land).—Two years’ stay.—Valuable scientific observations.—Visits from Eskimos.—Sledge journeys.—Release from the ice.—August 14, 1906.—Completion of the Northwest Passage.—Another Arctic winter.—Sledge journey of Amundsen to Eagle City.—Release of the Gjoa.—Reaches San Francisco, 1907[435]
CHAPTER XXIII
Robert E. Peary.—The man.—First visit to the Arctic, 1886.—Other journeys, 1891.—Independence Bay, Greenland.—Discovers Melville Land and Heilprin Land.—Subsequent journeys, 1893-1895.—Discovery of famous “Iron Mountain.”—Summer voyages, 1896-1897.—North Pole journey of 1898.—Peary seriously disabled by frost-bites.—Polar expedition in S.S. Roosevelt, 1905-1906.—Final dash for the Pole, 1908[455]
CHAPTER XXIV
Dr. Frederick A. Cook.—Claims discovery of the Pole.—His return from the Arctic.—Reception by the Danes.—Announcement of conquest of the Pole by Peary.—Denounces Dr. Cook.—Acceptance of Peary’s claims by the American Geographical Society.—Dr. Cook sends manuscript to Copenhagen.—Verdict.—Prior claim to the discovery of the North Pole.—Not proven[470]
Explanation of Terms[477]
Index[481]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Commander Robert Edwin Peary[Frontispiece]
Hondius his Map of the Arctike Pole, or Northerne World[xx]
FACING PAGE
Sebastian Cabot[3]
Sir Hugh Willoughby[7]
Martin Frobisher[10]
Sir Humphrey Gilbert[14]
Davis’s Ships Sunshine and Moonshine[17]
The Death of Henry Hudson[21]
Peter Feodorovitsch Anjou[28]
Ferdinand von Wrangell[28]
Captain John Ross, R.N.[32]
Entering Lancaster Sound[52]
John Franklin[80]
Upernavik[99]
Henry Grinnell[110]
The Graves on Beechey Island[113]
E. K. Kane[120]
The Rescue in Melville Bay[128]
Landing near Grinnell Cape[170]
Nipped in the Ice[180]
A Gale in the Arctic Sea[209]
The Outlook from Cape George Russell[215]
Humboldt Glacier[218]
I. I. Hayes[224]
Five Members of the Grinnell Expedition[231]
Tennyson’s Monument[234]
Frobisher’s Map of Meta Incognita[243]
Funeral of Captain Hall[254]
Jan Mayen Island[273]
A. E. Nordenskjöld[288]
Foul Bay[305]
The Vega in Konyam Bay[309]
The Crew of the Vega[316]
Disco Island[320]
Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, U.S.A.[337]
W. H. Gilder[344]
Captain G. W. De Long, U.S.N.[352]
Rear Admiral George W. Melville, U.S.N.[369]
Colonel David Legge Brainard, U.S.A.[373]
Lieutenant James B. Lockwood, U.S.A.[380]
General A. W. Greely, U.S.A.[384]
Rear Admiral Schley, U.S.N.[400]
The Retreat of 1904—Sledge Column leaving Cape Mellinbock[433]
Breaking Camp at Cape Richthope[433]
Anthony Fiala[437]
Roald Amundsen[444]
Cape Flora in Early July, 1904[448]
The Coal Mine at Cape Flora[448]
The Roosevelt drying her Sails[456]
Cairn erected over the Body of Marvin[460]
Camp Morris Jesup[462]
The Peary Sledge[464]
Christmas Dinner on the Roosevelt[464]
The Flag that Peary carried to the Pole[468]
Map of Arctic Explorations, 1860-1909[474]

Transcriber’s Note: There are nine additional illustrations not listed above:

Admiral Sir Edward Belcher[142]
Admiral Sir Edward Inglefield, R. N.[147]
Map of North America[173]
Sir John Franklin’s Record[192]
Captain Hall and Eskimos[247]
Captain G. S. Nares, F. R. S.[310]
Commander A. H. Markham[311]
Anniversary Lodge Cross Section[461]
The Route Taken by Commander Peary in 1908[469]

Transcriber’s Note: image is clickable for a larger version

HONDIUS HIS MAP OF THE ARCTIKE POLE, OR NORTHERNE WORLD