Sailing at midnight, June 16, 1903, from Christiania, Cape Farewell, Greenland was sighted five weeks later. Securing ten fine dogs at Godhaven from Herr Dongaad Jensen, Inspector for North Greenland, they entered Melville Bay, August 8. On August 15, they came in sight of Dalrymple Rock; at this point two Scotch whaling captains—Milne and Adams—had deposited certain stores for Amundsen. The Gjoa was unexpectedly met in kayaks by members of the Danish Literary Greenland expedition, Herr Mylius Eriksen and Herr Knut Rasmussen. An exchange of courtesies was followed by the loading of the Gjoa with the packages from Dalrymple Rock. Pushing through the lanes, at full steam, they emerged into open water in Baffin Bay, and later entered Lancaster Sound, anchoring at Beechey, August 22. On August 24, they pushed into Peel Sound. The efficiency of the compass now ceased, and they were compelled to navigate by the stars whenever they appeared through the fog, which prevailed most of the time. Passing along the west coast of Boothia Felix, they came to grief by grounding on September 1 and were obliged to “lighten the ship by throwing overboard the greater part of the deck cargo. On Saturday, September 12, entered Gjoa Harbor”—a small landlocked cove at the head of Petersen Bay (King William Land), and here they remained for nearly two years.
SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS
Immediate preparations were made for wintering, provisions landed, observatories erected, and Amundsen at once began his valuable scientific observations.
“In order to ensure accuracy,” writes General Greely in the Century, 1907, “the magnetic instruments were installed in temporary wooden buildings, built with copper nails, and entirely free of any iron, heat, or even light, except the lamp behind the reflector. Here day and night, for twenty months, were made photograph records, and these were supplemented by personal eye-readings to serve as needful checks on those photographically obtained. The observers in this work were clothed entirely in deerskin garments, and before entering the building where the magnetometres were installed, carefully divested themselves of watches, keys, knives, and other metallic objects. The observations were made in winter under such conditions of cold, monotony, and darkness as to merit the highest commendation for endurance and constancy.” And he continues, “The value of the continuous observations at Gjoa Harbor was largely increased by similar observations in the field, which necessarily entailed severe exposure and consequent hardships on the sledging parties. In March, 1904, a preliminary journey, made for the purpose of establishing food depots, involved much suffering owing to excessive cold, the temperature falling to 79° below zero, Fahr. The sledge journey to the Magnetic Pole itself was made by Amundsen and Ristvedt, starting April 2, 1904, with ten dogs and two sledges, much difficulty resulting from rough ice.
“Five observation stations were occupied between Gjoa Harbor and Tasmania Islands, which are about eighty miles directly north of Ross’s magnetic pole. This field work occupied about two months, being summarily finished at the end of May, owing to loss of food through the thieving Itchnachtorviks of eastern Boothia. While no definite result of the field observations can yet be given, it is not thought that there has been any decided change from the magnetic conditions observed by Ross in 1831, when the pole of declination was in the neighborhood of Cape Adelaide, 70° 05´ N., 96° 44´ W.”
On April 1, 1905, Lieutenant Hansen and Ristvedt, with two sledges, twelve dogs, and provisions for three months, visited Victoria, and after charting half of the missing coastline returned June 24.
Neighbours were not lacking these isolated white men. Frequent visits from Eskimos, and the news of American fishermen to the south, permitted of letters being forwarded by Eskimos.
AUGUST 14, 1906
On August 14, 1906, all conditions being favourable, the Gjoa weighed anchor and proceeded westward in open water, and within a few hours had successfully passed through Etta Sound, the narrowest place in the Northwest Passage, a tortuous channel between Etta Island and the mainland. The following day they threaded their way through a group of newly discovered islands in shallows that constantly necessitated the use of the lead.