“As we drew near,” writes Toll, “to the New Siberian archipelago in favorable weather till September 7th, a strong southeaster began to blow in our teeth, and against this we made very slow headway. I, therefore, changed the course to the northeast. On September 9th we reached the edge of the pack-ice in 77° 9´ N., and 14° E. Here we encountered a southern gale, which, acting in concert with the marine current, drove the Sarya 30 miles to the northwest. The storm veered round to the west-southwest, and I thought it better again to make the most of the wind and now direct our course southeastwards for Bennett Island, instead of trying under these circumstances to penetrate into the ice in search of land. On September 11th the imposing headland of Cape Emma at Bennett Island suddenly loomed up before us out of the fog, and presently became again wrapped in fog.
“We had approached to within 12 knots of the island, when our further advance towards it was barred by a belt fourteen feet thick of impenetrable ice. Here we remained two days in the hope that the ice might shift, but in vain!”
Disappointed in his hopes of reaching Sannikof Land in 1902, Baron Toll succeeded in sheltering the Sarya for a second winter at Nerpichi Bay, Kotelnoi Island, 75° 22´ N., 137° 16´ E. The sad disaster which overtook the brave scientists ends a chapter valuable to Arctic achievement.
On June 7, 1902, Baron Toll, accompanied by Seeberg, the astronomer, and two hunters, left for a geological excursion, and after arduous efforts landed on Bennett Island, August 3, which was found to be a plateau some fifteen hundred feet in height. Their researches disclosed Cambrian deposits.—They left the island to return to the ship on November 8, 1902, and were never seen again. Brunsneff and Koltshak, in a relief expedition in 1904, discovered a record containing the information just stated, but no other traces were found of these courageous men who sacrificed their lives in the cause of science.
SIR MARTIN CONWAY
Another scene of activity was centred in Spitzbergen, for crossing which in 1896 Sir Martin Conway and party received the applause of the world. The following year he again returned to continue his explorations. Dr. A. G. Nahorst circumnavigated Spitzbergen in 1898, surveying and mapping the irregular coast-line with admirable precision. The same year, Professor J. H. Gore of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey made pendulum observations in Spitzbergen for the determination of the force of gravity in that latitude. Prince Albert of Monaco and party cruised along the coast for the purpose of making scientific observations. So active had been the interest in this hitherto unclaimed archipelago that Russia began to assert her rights to ownership.
ANDRÉE’S BALLOON EXPEDITION TO THE POLE
The most unique venture for polar honours was undertaken in 1897 by Salamon August Andrée, a Swede, and two companions, Mr. Strindberg and Mr. Traenkel, from Dane Island north of Spitzbergen. Andrée was an ardent apostle of aërial conquest of the North Pole. His balloon, the Ornen, had a cubical contents of forty-five hundred metres, and the shape of a sphere terminating in a slightly conical appendage. The envelope was made of six hundred pieces of pongee silk, each being from seventeen to eighteen metres long by about forty-eight centimetres wide; these were sewn together by machine, then subjected to a process of “cementing” with a special varnish. A carefully made net composed of hemp cords encompassed the envelope. Special valves were devised by Andrée. The car was of cane basket-work, mounted on a frame of chestnut wood, the bottom being strengthened by wooden cross-beams, the whole covered with tarpaulin, with necessary openings.
Provisioned with tins of preserved food,—chocolate, compressed bread, condensed milk, champagne, claret, butter, fresh water, and alcohol, besides a cooking apparatus, and other necessary equipment,—this frail craft made its ascension with its human freight, July 11, 1897.
“The last farewells are brief and touching,” writes Alexis Machuron. “Few words are exchanged, but hearty handclasps between those whose hearts are in sympathy say more than words. Suddenly Andrée snatches himself away from the embraces of his friends and takes his place on the wicker bridge of the car, from whence he calls in a firm voice:—