The Romance of Polar Exploration / Interesting Descriptions of Arctic and Antarctic Adventure from the Earliest Time to the Voyage of the "Discovery"

by G. Firth Scott

As there were indications that the ice would soon be setting along the coast, it was decided to sail to Teplitz Bay on Prinz Rudolf Island and establish quarters for the winter. This bay is open towards the south and west, while the land on the north is level but rocky. The ship forced her way through the thin coast ice and came to anchor near enough to the shore to permit the landing of stores to be easily carried out. A more experienced leader might have had some doubts as to the security of the situation as a place for a ship to remain during the winter movements of the ice. With the bay open on two sides, it was scarcely possible for it to escape from the pressure of moving floes outside; but the opinion was held that the ice along the shores was strong enough to withstand any pressure from the open sea, and so the Stella Polare was allowed to become fixed in the ice close to the shore.

Brief journeys along the coast and over the highest land which could be reached—Cape Habermann was found to be 2900 feet high—effectually disposed of the claims of Petermann Land and King Oscar Land. There was no sign of either, and there is little doubt but that the explorers who believed they had discovered these lands were deceived by massive bodies of ice. The rectification of the maps to this extent was a valuable service.

By September all their arrangements for spending the winter on the ship were completed, and with the material which would be required for the preliminary sledge expeditions to the north, and the establishment of food depôts, all on shore, the explorers made merry on the evening of the 7th in discussing the achievements which would result from the working out of their plans. The difficulties which beset other explorers, often from the very commencement of their journeys, had not been experienced by them, and now, with their vessel almost as high to the north as any vessel had yet been, with their complete outfit at one of the most northerly stations yet established, and with everything snug and secure for the winter, it is not surprising that they should have allowed their enthusiasm to run away with them. It was the first time that Italy had entered into the contest of winning fame from the mysteries of the Arctic, and the outlook was so rosy that it almost appeared as if they were going to signalise the fact by carrying the flag to the Pole itself and showing to the world that the all-conquering spirit of ancient Rome still animated the race. Men of colder temperaments, the sons of the cold-blooded North, would probably have postponed their rejoicings until the battle had been won, but the enthusiasm of the South needed more than the gloom of an approaching Arctic winter to subdue it. Wherefore the Arctic moved, and the children of the South learned in a few brief hours something of the power and might and majesty of the realms they had come to conquer.

An ice-floe, drifting in the sea beyond the bay, caught the edge of the shore ice, in which the Stella Polare lay at rest, as it passed. The shore ice groaned at the strain, and along its length there ran a ridge of hummock ice as the pressure sought relief. The line of the pressure passed through the spot where the Stella Polare was made fast. The hummock rose against her bows and forced her ninety feet away from where she had been, while, at the same moment, an increase in the pressure caught her by the sides, heeled her over, and cracked her timbers till those on board rushed to the deck under the belief that the vessel was about to collapse. The rigging of the foremast was torn away, the planks of the exposed side showed spaces of three inches between them, and water poured in so rapidly to the holds that it was feared the ship would go down. The hand-pumps were manned and worked, while the fires were lit so as to get up steam and set the steam-pumps going, every one else, who was not required for these jobs, working with might and main to get all stores and provisions out of the ship and on to the ice, lest she went down and left them stranded and foodless. The glamour of the evening before was as a dream; the gloom of the present was a stern reality to which they had awakened. The Arctic was giving a characteristic and rugged greeting to the visitors from the South.

The stores were landed with the greatest rapidity, the activity with which every one worked being still further stimulated by the news from below that the one hand-pump, which was being worked by four men, could not keep the water back, and that already it was almost touching the bars of the furnaces. At one time it looked as though there would be no chance of saving the fires, and had the water once reached them and so prevented steam being got up, the plight of the explorers would have been critical in the extreme. As it was, the Norwegian engineers worked like heroes, and managed to have enough steam to start the steam-pumps just as the water touched the fires in one of the boiler furnaces. The steam-pump, assisting the hand-pump, was sufficient to keep the water from rising further, but not enough to keep it back altogether. Neither the steam nor the hand pump, by itself, could prevent the water from rising. Both had to be kept going, therefore, although the number of men thus taken away from unloading stores and provisions made that work very much slower than was desired. But if the water reached to the fires and put them out, there seemed to be little chance of saving enough to keep the party alive during the winter. So they worked on with a brave persistence, Italian and Norwegian alike, until they had all the stores out on the ice, together with spars, ropes, sails, and all other things needed for the construction of a shelter in which to pass the winter. This was only completed after twenty-four hours of toil, and when it was finished the worn-out party sought a brief respite in sleep. As soon as the pumps ceased working the waters rose in the holds and over the furnace bars, putting out the fires. Contrary to expectations, the ship did not go down, the ice being sufficiently strong to sustain it from sinking, and the water stopped rising when it had covered the furnaces.

Although the ship was now secure from sinking, it was heeled over to such an extent that it was impossible to remain on board of it, so a hut was erected ashore, and the stores stacked round it for the winter. For ten days the entire party laboured at this work, and when it was finished it was realised that all the plans for the preliminary sledge trips must be abandoned. Instead of giving attention to reaching the Pole, it was first of all necessary to see what could be done in the way of repairing the ship so as to be able to get away before a second winter could come upon them. A close examination revealed the fact that the pressure of the ice had considerably affected the form of the ship. The crank shaft was bent out of the straight, and the heavy iron beams which had been put in to strengthen the vessel amidships were all bent and twisted. The planks at the sides were started and gaped in many places. The water, which had got in, had frozen, so that the furnaces were covered in by a sheet of solid ice, while the same thing existed in the hold. As the hand-pump could not lower the water alone, it was decided to use a boiler and pump which formed part of the balloon equipment. Although the use of these articles effectually terminated any hopes of balloon experiments, it enabled them to get the water down sufficiently to permit of repairs being effected. From the beginning of October to the middle of November, the repairs fully occupied them; but they succeeded in making the ship water-tight and available for departure when the winter had passed. The bay, by this time, was frozen over sufficiently to preclude any fears of further nips occurring.

ONE OF THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE STELLA POLARE.

On November 20 the last vestige of daylight went, and thenceforward the explorers were in all the gloom of the Arctic night. A heavy snow-storm entirely covered the dog kennels, so that the animals had to run loose for a time. This was not satisfactory, for those of the creatures which were unable to squeeze into shelter near the hut, were frozen to the ice as they slept. To overcome this, big holes were dug in the ground, and the dogs driven in, and the entrances walled up. But the Arctic dog is a creature of resource, and when the men in charge of them went in due time to feed them, they found that the dogs had made an outlet for themselves by burrowing through the snow, and were again at liberty. A wall of biscuit tins was then built round the inside of the holes, and the entire mass frozen by pouring water over the tins. But the dogs again burrowed their way out, and they were then left to their own devices, the holes being left open, so that there should be some shelter available for the dogs if they liked to use it. Mostly they did not like, preferring to squeeze in between the sides of the hut and the kitchen, and contribute their share to the entertainment by occasional howling choruses during the long dark hours of winter.