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

Instead of one winter, the Swedish expedition spent two in the ice region, while, during the second, all the members of it were living on the ice, though as three separate parties, each within a few miles of the other, and all, more or less, ignorant of the proximity of their comrades. The peculiar circumstances under which they became separated, their experiences during that time, and the dramatic manner in which they were reunited and rescued, will form the chief incidents of the following pages.

Leaving Sweden on October 17, 1901, the Antarctica proceeded to South America, where, at the request of the Argentine Government, a representative of that country, in the person of Lieutenant Sobral, of the Navy, joined the expedition. In return for this courtesy the Argentine Government offered to do all it could to assist the expedition. How magnificently it carried out its promise will be seen later.

Early in January the ship was amongst the ice, making her way as fast as she could to the neighbourhood of Erebus and Terror Gulf, where it was hoped a suitable site would be found for the winter station. The state of the ice, however, was not favourable to this scheme, and, by the time Seymour Island was sighted, it was evident there was little chance of working into more southern latitudes. Nearly ten years before Captain Larsen had visited this island, and had taken from it specimens of fossil wood and molluscs, the first fossils ever discovered in the Antarctic.

Before landing on it and seeking for more geological specimens, the leader determined to try whether there was any chance of penetrating to the South from a more westerly longitude. The ship was turned on to a westerly course and kept on it until the beginning of February, but as no opening was to be seen through the ice to the south, her head was turned to the east once more, and she returned to the neighbourhood of Seymour Island. On February 10 the vessel was in Sydney Herbert Bay, which formed the hitherto unvisited part of Erebus and Terror Gulf. As it was obviously impossible to get farther to the south, Nordenskjold decided to establish the winter station on one of the islands in this vicinity.

A brief visit to Seymour Island did not reveal the wealth of fossil-bearing strata that was expected. Paulet Island was visited and an interesting circular lake was discovered, lying in a circular range of hills. The banks of the lake bore ample evidences that at one time there had been great volcanic activity at the place, and the lake was evidently formed in the hollow of the extinct crater. The place did not appeal to them as a site for the winter station, and, as further journeys revealed another island on the other side of Seymour Island, where there was a beach which appeared to be sheltered from the southward, the point whence the most violent winds blew, it was decided to build the hut there.

The Antarctica anchored in the bay opposite the beach and rapidly unloaded the camp equipment. When everything was almost landed, a movement in the ice at the mouth of the bay compelled the ship to stand out into open water, so the party of six, who were to spend the winter on the island, hastened ashore, where they had their hut to build and all preparations to make without the help, which had been counted upon, of the crew of the vessel. But this did not weigh heavily upon them, and they set to work with a will. In the course of a week, the Antarctica was able to get into the bay again and to land the remaining stores; but by that time the hut was up and the adventurous six were almost settled down to their routine work.

A day or so after landing, Nordenskjold discovered that the island they were on—named Snow Hill Island—was peculiarly interesting from a geological point of view, for he found fossils of ammonites, a token of ancient life of the region which alone would have made the expedition memorable.

During the first month of their sojourn, the party were fully occupied in organising their scientific work and in taking preliminary trips through the island. At an early date they satisfied themselves that Admiralty Bay is a Sound, and that the portion of the continent extending to the vicinity was more in the nature of a group of scattered islands, with deep sounds passing between them, than a continuous stretch of mainland. The microscopical examination of the soil revealed the presence of numerous bacteria, while the examination of the waters showed that the lower forms of life were well represented. On the land there were abundance of penguins, seals, and migratory birds; but otherwise there was an absence of the animals found throughout the Arctic regions.

On one point they had reason to be dissatisfied with the position selected for the station. At the time the site was chosen it was believed that they would be well sheltered from the force of the gales. The reverse was found to be the case. Gales came from the south-west for days together and blew with a velocity that was astounding. On one occasion a large bag of fossils, left on the steps of the hut, was blown yards away; while on another, a barrel of bread was carried off, and a whale-boat was lifted over a second boat and flung against a mass of ice, a distance of twenty-one yards. When the boat was found, after the storm had abated, it was lying keel upwards, with the greater part of one side smashed in. The oars, thwarts, and inside planks were scattered and broken, even the zinc plating being stripped off and blown away.

A curious phenomenon was observed during the progress of these gales. The air became saturated with electricity to such an extent that the metal parts of the instruments gave shocks to the fingers when touched, while the tips of a man's fingers glowed with luminosity when outside the hut in the dark. As a similar thing occurs in the Sahara during the progress of a simoon or sand-storm, it was considered that the amount of electricity was caused by the friction set up by the particles of snow carried along in a never-ending cloud by the gale. The rate at which the dry particles of snow moved was tremendous. An extra severe gale carrying away the wind-gauge, it was not possible to keep a complete record of the velocity of the gales, but from the records secured, it was demonstrated that, during the first half of June, if the hut had travelled with the same velocity as the wind rushed past it, a distance of 14,900 miles would have been covered, or as far as from the hut to Sweden and half-way back.