| PAGE | ||
| Sailing the Arctic Seas | Frontispiece | |
| From an old print | ||
| An Old Map of the Polar Regions | [1] | |
| From “Narborough’s Voyages,” 1694 | ||
| Stranded on Nova Zembla | [13] | |
| From an old print | ||
| The “Racehorse” and the “Carcase” in the Ice | [28] | |
| From a picture by J. Clively | ||
| Cutting a Passage into Winter Harbour | [42] | |
| From a sketch by Lieut. Beechey | ||
| Crossing the Barren Grounds | [56] | |
| From a drawing by Capt. Back | ||
| The Walrus as seen by Olaus Magnus | [68] | |
| The Disruption of the Ice round the “Terror” | [100] | |
| From a drawing by Capt. Smyth | ||
| Boats among the Ice | [134] | |
| From a drawing by Capt. Back | ||
| Fast in the Ice | [154] | |
| From a sketch by Lieut. Beechey | ||
| The Franklin Record | [174] | |
| Eskimo Architects | [192] | |
| From a drawing by Capt. Lyon | ||
| A Bear Hunt | [212] | |
| From an old print | ||
| Eskimos Sledging | [248] | |
| From a drawing by Capt. Lyon | ||
| Peary’s Travelling Equipment | [266] | |
| By kind permission of Messrs F. A. Stokes Co. | ||
| The Meeting between Jackson and Nansen | [274] | |
| By kind permission of Capt. Jackson and Messrs Harper Bros. | ||
| Map of Franz Josef Land | [277] | |
| Map of Spitzbergen | [286] | |
| In the Slush | [288] | |
| By kind permission of Sir Martin Conway and Messrs J. M. Dent & Co. | ||
| Andrée’s Balloon in its Shed | [292] | |
| From a photograph | ||
| The “Polar Star” under Ice Pressure | [304] | |
| By kind permission of Messrs Hutchinson & Co. | ||
| Chart of the North Polar Regions | [Attend] | |
ARCTIC EXPLORATION
CHAPTER I
EARLY VOYAGES
The story of the first few centuries of Arctic exploration can, of course, never be written. The early Norsemen, to whom must go the credit for most of the first discoveries, were a piratical race, and their many voyages were conducted, for the most part, in a strictly business-like spirit. Occasionally one of them would happen on a new country by accident, just as Naddod the Viking happened upon Iceland in 861 by being driven there by a gale while on his way to the Faroe Islands. Occasionally a curious adventurer would follow in the footsteps of one of these early discoverers, but no serious attempt was made to widen the field of knowledge thus opened up, unless the Norsemen saw their way to entering upon commercial relations with the natives, to the great disadvantage of the latter.
AN OLD MAP OF THE POLAR REGIONS
FROM NARBOROUGH’S “VOYAGES” (1694)
The erroneous intersection of Greenland by Frobisher’s Strait should be especially noted
Rumours of the existence of Iceland, or Thule as it was then called, were first brought home by Pytheas, while Irish monks are known to have stayed there early in the ninth century, but probably the first attempt to colonise it was made by Thorold about a hundred years after Naddod’s visit. This worthy Viking, feeling it advisable to leave his native land after a quarrel with a relative, during the course of which the latter had been killed, set his course for Iceland, and made himself a new home there. Shortly afterwards his son Erik, who seems to have inherited his father’s taste for murder, followed him to his new abode, and later on, when on a voyage of adventure, set foot upon Greenland. Erik’s son, Leif, who was also of a roving disposition, sailed far westward in 100 A.D., and landed either on Newfoundland or at the mouth of the St Lawrence, thus anticipating the discovery of America by Columbus by nearly five hundred years.
It was not until the end of the fifteenth century that the first serious attempts at Arctic exploration were made by John Cabot and his son Sebastian. John Cabot was a Venetian, who settled at Bristol probably about the year 1474, and to him belongs the honour of being the first to suggest the possibility of finding a north-west passage to India. In 1496 he received a commission from Henry VII. to sail out for the discovery of countries and islands unknown to Christian peoples, and though the real object of his voyage, discreetly veiled beneath these purposely vague terms, was not attained, he immortalised his name by the discovery of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. The history of the earlier Cabot voyages is sadly obscure, and was rendered more so by Sebastian himself, who in his later years seems to have claimed discoveries which properly belonged to his father. Sebastian is unquestionably the hero of his own account of the expedition of 1496, which is given by Hakluyt:—
“When news were brought that Don Christoval Colon (i.e. Christopher Columbus), the Genoese, had discovered the coasts of India, whereof was great talke in all the court of King Henry VII., who then reigned, insomuch that all men with great admiration affirmed it to be a thing more divine than humane to saile by the West into the East where spices growe, by a way that was never knowen before, by this fame and report there increased in my heart a great flame of desire to attempt some notable thing. And understanding by reason of the Sphere (i.e. globe) that if I should saile by way of the North-west I should by a shorter tract come into India, I thereupon caused the king to be advertised of my devise, who immediately commanded two Carvels to be furnished with all things appertayning to the voyage, which was as farre as I remember in the year 1496, in the beginning of Sommer. I began therefore to sail toward the North-west, not thinking to find any other land than that of Cathay and from thence to turn toward India; but after certaine days, I found that the land ranne towards the North, which was to me a great displeasure. Nevertheless, sayling along by the coast to see if I could finde any gulfe that turned, I found the lande still continent to the 58th degree under our Pole. And seeing that the coast turned toward the East, despairing to finde the passage, I turned backe againe, and sailed downe by the coast of that land toward the Equinoctiall (ever with intent to finde the saide passage to India) and came to that part of this firme lande which is nowe called Florida, where my victuals failing, I departed from thence and returned into England, where I found great tumults among the people, and preparation for warres in Scotland, by reason whereof there was no more consideration had to this voyage.”
John Cabot made a second expedition in 1498, and probably died soon after. Sebastian, who had accompanied his father on both his American voyages, finding the English Government little inclined to spend money on further exploration, transferred his services to the King of Spain, for whom he did excellent work by examining the coast of South America. In 1548, however, he returned to England, and Edward VI. did him the honour that was his just due, by settling on him the sum of 500 marks (£166, 13s. 4d.) a year for life, and, according to Hakluyt, creating him Grand Pilot. Never did a man deserve his honours more, for, by founding the company of Merchant Adventurers, of which he was the first governor, he did much to extend the foreign commerce of the nation, and, by fostering a spirit of enterprise, he paved the way for that immense success won by our sailors and merchants during the next century.