POLAR REGIONS—THE CONQUEST OF THE ARCTIC
Excepting the arctic and the antarctic regions, with their fortifications of eternal ice and snow, intrepid explorers have made known nearly every part of the world. There Giant Frost guards his frozen secrets and defies man to wrest them from him. Many a hero has perished in endeavoring to solve the Sphinx-like riddle of northern lands and seas. Many a gallant ship has found its grave in northern ice-clad waters. Yet there has never been a lack of adventurous spirits to continue the work.
But one after another the strongholds of nature have gradually yielded to persistent attacks. Especially is this true of the arctic regions, of which not more than two million square miles of sea and land remain to be explored.
Buffeted by adverse winds and floating ice-fields, venturous explorers have drawn nearer and nearer to the north pole. Again and again, the attack has been renewed, until, after half a lifetime, Robert E. Peary, an officer of the United States navy, made a brilliant dash and planted the national ensign at the pole.
The story of arctic exploration and discovery is filled with interest. It is pathetic, tragical, and calculated to awaken the deepest emotions. Nevertheless, it is enlivened by brilliant exploits, deeds of daring, and acts of heroism.
For many years the search for a northern passage to India in the furtherance of commerce was the chief incentive to arctic exploration. Even more than a century before Columbus discovered America, two Venetian brothers named Zeno sought a northwest passage to the Orient, believing that the difficulties in navigating it would be offset by the shortening of the route.
The success achieved by Spain during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in discovery, conquest, and colonization incited England to find a northwest passage, in the hope that such a route, by shortening the distance to the East Indies, would extend her commerce.
After the discovery of the mainland of North America, Sebastian Cabot, under the patronage of Henry VII, planned a voyage to the north pole, thinking that would be the best route to ancient Cathay. He proceeded only as far as Davis Strait; then, becoming discouraged by the immense fields of ice, he turned the prow of his vessel homeward.
Soon afterward the Muscovy Company of London sent out an exploring expedition with instructions to find a northwest passage. This expedition, taking a different route from its predecessors, reached Nova Zembla. But the ice-fields forced the vessel back to the shores of Lapland, and the ship was never spoken of again. Years afterward the ship's company were found frozen in death.
Next in importance came the renowned Frobisher, a strong advocate of a northwest route. He made three voyages to the Arctic Ocean, the last two being under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. Frobisher believed that fabulously rich fields of gold existed in the north, and his expedition was organized for the purpose of discovering them. His search for precious metals was fruitless, but he added much to the world's knowledge of polar regions, and he has been remembered in the strait that bears his name.
The Muscovy Company again sent out an exploring vessel, this time under the able navigator Henry Hudson, with orders to go "direct to the north pole." He did his best to carry out his instructions and, sailing along the northern shore of Spitzbergen, reached latitude 81° 30' north. Finding the route utterly impracticable, he returned home. In all, Hudson sailed on four voyages of discovery, twice in the employ of English companies and twice in the employ of the Dutch East India Company.
In one of his voyages under the Dutch, after advancing as far north as he deemed prudent, he turned southward and cruised along the Atlantic coast. Entering New York Bay, he proceeded up the broad river that now bears his name, believing at first that he had found the coveted short route to India. Soon he was undeceived, for as he went farther up he found the seeming passage to be merely a large river. He gave his employers such a glowing account of the valley of the Hudson River that the merchants of Holland sent out ships to establish trading posts along the river and to trade with the Indians.
On his fourth voyage, while seeking a passage northwest, he discovered the strait and the bay both of which bear his name. Desiring to continue his explorations the next year, he sailed westward on the bay and wintered on the island of Southampton. In the spring he again tried to find the long-wished-for passage.
The long, cold winter and lack of suitable food told heavily on his men. They became badly demoralized and declared that they would not remain longer in such an inhospitable region. When Hudson insisted, the men mutinied. Seizing their commander, they placed him with his son and five sailors in an open boat and sailed away. After this cruel act of the mutineers, no trace of Hudson or those who were with him was ever found. But Hudson's fame will never die. Historians will ever laud his achievements, and his name is indelibly inscribed on the map of the world. The ringleader of the mutineers with five of his companions was afterward killed by the natives, and several of the others starved to death. The rest of the crew succeeded in getting the ship back to England; there they were tried, found guilty of mutiny, and sent to prison.
In 1616 the intrepid William Baffin took up the search. He penetrated the bay bearing his name and explored the passages of water westward to the mouth of Lancaster Sound.
Later the Russians became interested in exploration. Among the explorers Captain Veit Bering of the Russian navy was the most eminent. In the early part of the eighteenth century Bering was commanded by Peter the Great to take up the search for the long-sought passage. He explored the northeastern coast of Asia as far north as sixty-seven degrees latitude, discovering a fact hitherto unknown, that North America is separated from Asia by a narrow passage of water containing small islands. The passage received the name Bering Strait from its discoverer, and the same name was bestowed upon the sea leading to it.
About ten years afterward Bering determined to explore the northwest coast of North America. He landed twice upon the coast, but, being driven back by violent storms, was at length wrecked on an island, where he died. His crew, though suffering terrible hardships, lived through the winter. With the coming of spring, however, they rigged a craft from the stranded vessel in which a few survivors reached the coast of Asia.
In 1743 the British Government offered a reward of twenty thousand pounds for the discovery of a northwest passage by the way of Hudson Bay. Thirty-three years afterward a like reward was offered for the actual discovery of the north pole and the same amount for the exploration of any navigable passage. The sum of five thousand pounds was also offered to any one who should approach within one degree of the north pole. These standing rewards greatly stimulated arctic exploration.
Of the many voyages of exploration that followed, Sir John Franklin's last expedition was the most tragical. This expedition was fitted out by the British Government with the necessary supplies and scientific instruments for a three years' cruise. Two stanch vessels, the Erebus and the Terror, both of which had been previously employed in antarctic exploration, were selected to stem the ice-fields of the north, and a tender with extra supplies accompanied them as far as Davis Strait. The vessels were last seen in Lancaster Sound moored to an iceberg, where they were spoken to by a whaling ship homeward bound.
Three years having passed and no tidings having been received from the expedition, all England became extremely anxious concerning the safety of the explorers. The British Government then sent out two vessels to seek Franklin, but no trace of the missing commander or his men was found.
The government then redoubled its exertions, supplemented by private parties, and in 1850 no less than twelve vessels were vigorously searching the arctic lands and waters for their lost brothers. Lady Franklin spent her fortune in endeavoring to find trace of her noble husband.
The heart of humanity was touched with the deepest sympathy and moved by the noblest motives. The United States Government, aided also by private citizens, fitted out vessels to continue the search. At one time ten of the searching vessels met in the Arctic. The results of these expeditions were meagre in securing trace of the lost ones, but they greatly enriched our knowledge of northern lands and seas.
Not until five years after the Erebus and Terror left England was trace of the explorers found. Near the head of Franklin Strait, off the shore of King William Land, evidence of an encampment of some of the men was discovered, and at Beechey Island, near by, carpenters' tools, empty meat cans, and the graves of three of the men threw more light on the mystery of the ill-starred expedition. A few years later, at Victory Point, Lieutenant Hobson found a record of the death of Franklin, the date being July 11, 1847.
Charles F. Hall, a native of New Hampshire, but long a resident of Ohio, who had been a reader of arctic literature, became deeply interested in the search for Sir John Franklin. Obtaining financial aid from different sources, he made four voyages to the arctic, the first being devoted to searching for Franklin's men and in solving the mystery of their disappearance. His third voyage was the most fruitful one in securing results. Hall believed that the Eskimos knew more about the lost explorers than they were willing to tell, and that if he could but gain their confidence he could extract from them the story. In furtherance of his plan, he resolved on his third voyage to live with them several years. In 1864 he started on this voyage north. On his arrival in the arctic he sought out the natives and made himself one of them, adopting their mode of life and food.
He spent five years living and travelling with them. Having won them over, he obtained the story of the ill-fated explorers. He learned that one of Franklin's vessels had actually made the northwest passage to O'Reily Island, southwest of King William Land. Five men remained on board alive, but the vessel was abandoned by the crew. The next spring the Eskimos found it in good condition frozen fast in the ice.
The skeletons of Franklin's men were found scattered over King William Land, where they had perished one after another from starvation and cold. Some had engaged in conflict with the natives in endeavoring to secure food, but being weak from hunger were unsuccessful. Of the one hundred and five men who accompanied Franklin not one was ever found alive.
During the year 1850 the problem of the northwest passage was solved by Captains M'Clure, Collinson, and Killet. South of Melville Island, M'Clure, who had sailed through Bering Strait, met the ship of Killet which had come through Lancaster Sound. M'Clure, having wintered near the connecting waters, had really established the existence of the passage by observation before the meeting. Twenty days later Collinson came up in his ship. Finding the problem of the northwest passage solved, he turned to the southeast and completed the passage in another direction.
It thus became evident that so far as commercial purposes were concerned a northwest passage was impracticable and that further northern exploration must be considered in the light of scientific and geographic value only.
Hall's labors did not cease with his discovery of the Franklin expedition. He became an enthusiast concerning the arctic and seemed to enjoy its weird icy scenery and attendant perilous excitement. Believing that he could reach the north pole if he had a properly equipped expedition, he planned a fourth voyage and appealed to Congress for assistance.
A generous appropriation was made by Congress, and on July 3, 1871, the expedition set sail from New London, Conn., carrying a full crew and several scientists. The vessel, which was named the Polaris, touched at several places on the western coast of Greenland to secure additional dogs and skins suitable for arctic clothing, and then steamed north as far as seemed safe, to establish winter quarters preparatory to making a dash for the pole in the spring.
The vessel passed through Robeson Channel into the polar ocean, reaching 82° 11', then the highest point ever reached by a ship. Not finding a good harbor, Hall sailed south about fifty miles. He anchored near the Greenland shore to the lee of a stranded iceberg. Building material for a house and part of the stores were removed to the land in case anything happened to the ship. Then the ship was banked up with snow and part of the deck was covered with canvas to keep out the cold.
The weather being propitious, Captain Hall thought best to take a sledge journey to find the lay of the country. He ordered the dogs to be well fed, and accompanied by two other sledges advanced northward about fifty miles, making side trips to take observations. At the end of two weeks he returned seemingly perfectly well, but in a few hours complained of illness. Thirteen days afterward he died. The date of his death was November 8, 1871, just a little more than four months from the time he left the port of New London buoyant with hope.
The command of the expedition now devolved on Captain Buddington, a man of dissipated habits and lacking in discipline. During the winter and spring severe storms crashed the ice-pack against the sides of the vessel, causing it to leak. In the meantime exploring parties were sent out with sledges and boats, gathering not a little knowledge concerning the west coast of Greenland. Then the vessel began to leak badly, and Captain Buddington ordered all hands on board for return home.
Great fields of ice still covered the sea, and it was with extreme difficulty that the vessel made its way through them southward. A severe gale damaged the vessel still more, and as it seemed certain that it could not float much longer, preparations to abandon it and to move at once to the ice-floe were made.
At the dead of night, in the face of a fierce gale, a part of the ship's company and stores were transferred to the ice. Then the heaving billows broke the vessel loose from the floe, separating the men on the ice from those on the vessel. With eighteen companions Captain Tyson lived on the ice-floe which moved southward, breaking off piece after piece, for a period of six and one-half months, suffering incredible hardships from cold, hunger, and constant fear. Finally, they were sighted off the Labrador coast by the ship Tigress and rescued in a starving condition. The story of this ice-floe journey of one thousand three hundred miles is one of the most thrilling in maritime annals. Fortunately, there were two Eskimos on the ice-floe skilled in the capture of seals, else the entire company would have starved to death, since but a small portion of the provisions had been transferred to the floe when the vessel parted from it. The devices for sustaining their lives during the journey form interesting reading. Strange to relate, no one was seriously ill and no deaths occurred during this remarkable ice voyage.
After drifting a while the Polaris was purposely beached on the Greenland shore and the stores placed on land, where a house was built in which to spend the second winter. In the spring two boats were constructed in which the company started southward along the coast, where they were finally picked up by a whaling vessel.
The conquest of the northeast passage was not achieved until the latter part of the century. In 1878 Baron Nordenskjold, a Swedish explorer commanding the Vega, entered the Arctic and sailed eastward along the Russian and Siberian coast. Nordenskjold was the first navigator to double Cape Chelyuskin, the northern cape of Asia. The Vega reached Bering Strait where she was nipped by the ice-pack. In the following spring she reached Japan in safety.
In 1879-80 Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka set out on an overland expedition northwestward for Hudson Bay, to gather knowledge concerning the great Arctic Plain of North America. Schwatka's was probably the longest sledge journey ever made up to that time. With a small party of men, his dog sledges covered a distance of three thousand miles. Schwatka found the skeletons of several members of Sir John Franklin's party. These he buried on King William Land.
Peary's ship, the _Roosevelt_
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In 1881 the De Long expedition, in the steam cruiser Jeannette, met disaster off the Siberian coast. The Jeannette was sunk and her officers and crew in three boats abandoned her. One boat was never heard of afterward. De Long and his party starved in the delta swamps of the Lena River. Chief Engineer Melville and his party were rescued in the Lena River.
In 1881 also the International Polar Conference attempted to establish a chain of stations around the pole as far north as possible. The United States and several of the European nations were represented in the organization. Two expeditions were sent out by the United States; one at Point Barrow, under Lieutenant Ray, the other at Lady Franklin Bay, opposite the Greenland coast, in latitude 81° 40'. The latter was in charge of Lieutenant, now General Greely. In a sledge journey along the north coast of Greenland, Lockwood and Brainard reached the latitude of 83° 24'. The observations of Greely and Ray added not a little knowledge concerning the meteorology and tides of the arctic regions. The sledge journey of Lockwood and Brainard practically established the fact that Greenland is an island.
Of all attempts to reach the pole, the most daring was that adopted by S. A. Andree, a Swedish explorer. Andree had been to the polar regions before, and being something of an aeronaut, believed that he could reach or pass over the pole in a balloon. In carrying out his plan he had constructed a monster balloon capable of floating in the air thirty days, due allowance being made for the daily escape of gas by permeation through the envelope. This balloon, with necessary accessories, was shipped to Danes Island, one of the Spitzbergen group. Everything being ready July 11, 1897, Andree set forth on his perilous trip accompanied by two companions. The balloon carried a load of about five tons, including food, clothing, ballast, scientific instruments, and men.
On being let loose the balloon arose six hundred feet, and then descended to the surface of the sea owing to the entanglement of the guide ropes and ballast lines. Three heavy guide ropes nine hundred feet long were used, to which were attached eight ballast lines two hundred and fifty feet long. The ropes were cut and ballast was thrown out, when the balloon again rose and the wind bore it away over a mountainous island one thousand five hundred feet high. In an hour it had passed below the northeastern horizon. Three message buoys were dropped on the day of Andree's departure, reporting fine weather, all well, and altitude eight hundred and twenty feet; from that time on no traces of the daring unfortunates have ever been found.
Fridtjof Nansen, who had spent some time in the exploration of Greenland, had also reached the conclusion that a polar current sweeps across the Arctic Ocean from Bering Sea to the north coast of Greenland. He therefore set out with a picked crew in a small steamship, the Fram,1893, entering the Arctic at Bering Strait. After the Fram had been caught in the ice-pack, Nansen and his companion, Johansen, started toward the north pole with dog sledges. They reached latitude 86° 14'; finding that the ice was drifting southward, they made for Franz Josef Land, where they spent the winter, and then started for Spitzbergen. On their way they were found by members of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, by whom they were rescued. The Fram also returned safely. The existence of the polar current was not established.
In 1900 Captain Cagui, a member of the Abruzzi Polar Expedition, starting from Franz Josef Land, made a dash across the ice toward the pole. He succeeded in reaching latitude 86° 34', the nearest approach to the pole up to that time.
Only a few years afterward, 1905-6, Amundsen, in the steamer Gjoa, found a more southerly northwest passage from King William Land than that followed by Collinson. It was comparatively free from ice. Amundsen was the first to penetrate the northwest passage in a continuous voyage. The result showed plainly that as a commercial route the northwest passage was out of the question.
The man who finally succeeded in reaching the pole is the intrepid arctic explorer, Robert E. Peary, of the United States navy. In the first record-breaking trip Peary started in July, 1905. Sailing through Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Smith Sound, and Robeson Channel to Grant Island, which lies west of the northern part of Greenland, he went into winter quarters at Cape Sheridan.
In the early spring, when the daylight was an hour long, Peary set out for the north pole over the ice-clad ocean with sledges drawn by dogs. Delayed by storms and open water in some places, he succeeded after incredible hardships and suffering in reaching 87° 6', the highest point up to that time reached by man, a distance only two hundred miles from the north pole.
In previous trips Peary had crossed the northern part of Greenland twice at the risk of his life, each time bringing much knowledge of the north coast of Greenland. During one of his voyages Peary brought home three meteorites. The largest, weighing more than thirty-six tons, is now in the Museum of Natural History of New York City. These are among the largest meteorites ever found, and it is an interesting fact that so many were found in Greenland.[1]
Peary's last and successful trip began when the steamship Roosevelt, commanded by Captain Bartlett, sailed out of New York harbor, July 6, 1908. The vessel traversed Baffin Bay and reached Cape York August 1. At Etah, an Eskimo settlement, three weeks were consumed in storing supplies and selecting Eskimo guides and purchasing dog-trains. The Roosevelt then proceeded northward through the narrow strait that separates Greenland from Grant Land. The party went into winter quarters near Cape Sheridan at the head of the strait. The winter was spent in exploration and in preparation for the sledge journey. The necessary supplies for the journey were carried to Cape Columbia, the northerly point of Grant Land. The sledge party started northward from Cape Columbia February 28—seven members of the expedition, seventeen Eskimos, and nineteen sledges.
Commander Robert E. Peary and three of his Eskimo dogs on the Roosevelt
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When the expedition reached latitude eighty-eight degrees, Captain Bartlett and Professor Marvin, with most of the Eskimo guides, were ordered back; Peary with his companion, Hensen, and several Eskimos started on the final dash. Fortunately the ice was smooth, and but few breaks, or "leads," were encountered. It was not difficult to make twenty-five miles or more a day during several days of the journey. At last a temporary break in the clouds gave Peary an opportunity for observation, which showed his latitude to be 89° 57'. Ten miles more were made, and another observation showed that the party had actually gone several miles beyond the pole.
A cairn of ice blocks and snow bearing the American flag was erected approximately at the pole, April 7, 1909, and the party started on the return trip. There being a plain trail and smooth ice, the return trip was made in about half the time required for the outward trip. The reserve party was joined at Cape Columbia, and all hands returned to the Roosevelt, which was at anchor near Cape Sheridan. The only fatality of the expedition was the death of Professor Marvin, who was accidentally drowned while on his return to Cape Columbia.
The open polar sea which had been observed by Kane and several other explorers was closed by ice at the time of Peary's dash; indeed, the entire route lay over ice and snow that apparently was several years old. After leaving Cape Columbia no land sky was seen anywhere about the horizon. A single sounding was made about five miles from the pole, but no bottom was found at fifteen hundred feet, the length of the sounding wire.
For his services Peary received the medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and an admiral's commission from the United States Government.
In spite of the desolation that pervades polar regions, the resources are considerable and have attracted much commercial activity. For many years whale oil was about the only illuminating oil used by most of the world, and the chief supply was obtained from the whales slaughtered in north polar regions.
Holland sent whaling ships to the arctic as early as 1613, and for two centuries whaling fleets of different nations frequented these seas. During the early part of the seventeenth century—the most profitable period—upward of three hundred Dutch ships and fifteen thousand men annually visited Spitzbergen. It is estimated that in two centuries America, England, and Holland obtained from the arctic regions products amounting to one thousand million dollars, the greatest items by far being whale oil and whalebone. Great quantities of fossil ivory have been obtained from the New Siberian Island, the very soil of which seems in great part to be made up of the bones and tusks of the extinct mammoth.
Much valuable scientific information has been gained by meteorological and magnetic observations. The north magnetic pole, toward which the north-seeking end of the compass needle points, has been located on the west side of Boothia Peninsula. At this place the dipping needle stands vertical. It must be borne in mind that the north pole of the earth and the north magnetic pole are two entirely different points. As a matter of fact, if the mariner be in the arctic waters north of Boothia Peninsula his compass points south.
The arctic currents have been carefully studied with valuable results, and it has been found that the drift of the polar ice-floe is constantly to the eastward. Snow-white arctic reindeer in considerable numbers have been recently found; and Peary found seals within two hundred miles of the north pole. The Greenland seal seems to enjoy seas filled with ice, spending part of the time in the water and part on the ice-floe.
Musk ox
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It is now known that Greenland is an ice-capped island very sparsely inhabited along the coast by Eskimos. A few hundred of these hardy people live along the Greenland coast from Cape York up to latitude seventy-eight degrees, cut off by the surrounding ice-cap from the rest of the world. They are the most northern known inhabitants.
Peary found the northern coast of Greenland well stocked with both animal and vegetable life. Bears, wolves, hares, and musk oxen were seen in considerable numbers.
A most important fact discovered by Hall was that the most northerly part of Greenland is comparatively free from ice, the largest known area of bare ground of that continent. This fact accounts for the profusion of animal and vegetable life existing there.
One of the most interesting of land animals found in the north is the musk ox. When fully grown and in good condition this animal weighs five hundred pounds and upward. When the musk oxen are attacked by wolves or dogs they form themselves into a circle with their heads on the outside and conceal their calves under their bodies. Their hair, being long, reaches nearly to the ground and forms a curtain which completely conceals the calves from view. Their food is moss and lichens which grow on the rocks. This they obtain by scraping away the snow with their sharp hoofs. The flesh of the musk ox, though musk-like in flavor, is not repulsive to the taste, and several explorers have been saved from starving by using the flesh for food.
The chief obstacles to arctic exploration are the long winter night, during which all must remain idle, and the necessity for carrying all provisions. No one who has not wintered beyond the arctic circle can have a realization of the influence on the nerves of continual darkness for months, an influence that has driven many men insane. Combine the darkness with the weird scenery and the fierce storms that prevail during the long winter, and it requires a strong will and abiding faith not to be seriously influenced. The extreme cold is not hard to endure if one clothes himself in the manner of the Eskimos.
Provisions and supplies must be carried by dog sledges, and the management of the dog teams is very difficult for those who have not been trained to the work. Shetland ponies have been tried as draught animals. Captain Evelyn Baldwin was the first to use them in polar exploration; others have used them, but less successfully.
Good coal is found in abundance on many of the islands of the arctic. Its outcroppings are found on Disco Island, west of Greenland, and excellent coal is found in many places in Spitzbergen, where at the present time two companies are mining it, one American and the other English.
Spitzbergen is sometimes called No Man's Land, since Norway and Sweden have not been able to agree in regard to its possession. Lately the islands of this archipelago have become favorite resorts for summer excursionists who can here have the arctic scenery and experiences with but very few discomforts. Ptarmigan, geese, ducks, and many other kinds of birds are found on these islands. Large quantities of eider-down have been obtained annually from this section, but the rapid destruction of the ducks by hunters has lessened the industry and will probably annihilate it. There being no law to regulate hunting, sportsmen wantonly kill the wild animals, especially the reindeer and bears, in great numbers.
We owe much to dogs in arctic explorations. It would have been impossible to penetrate to the interior of arctic lands or to traverse the frozen seas but for the services of the faithful dogs trained to draw sledges. Many of these animals have suffered from overwork and have perished from starvation; others have been sacrificed for food in dire extremities to preserve the lives of their masters. Surely arctic service has proved as destructive to the poor dogs as to men.
[1] Isolated masses of native iron are usually of meteoric origin, but to determine whether or not the native iron fell from the sky a portion of the surface is ground off and polished; then the polished surface is etched with acid. If crystalline lines are plainly brought out, there can be no doubt of its being of meteoric origin.
The following excerpt from the American Museum Meteoric Guide will make the matter clear: "The iron of meteorites is always alloyed with from six to twenty per cent of nickel. This 'nickel-iron,' as it is commonly called, is usually crystalline in texture, and when it is cut, polished, and 'etched' a beautiful net-work of lines is brought out, indicating plates which lie in positions determined by the crystalline character of the mass. This net-work of lines constitutes what are called the Widmannstattian figures, from the name of their discoverer. When these figures are strongly developed the meteoric origin of the iron cannot be questioned, but their absence does not necessarily disprove such an origin. Native iron of terrestrial origin is extremely rare."