As has already been indicated, the results of this expedition might have been far greater than was actually the case. The Polaris, it is true, penetrated further north than ever ship had penetrated before. Dr Bessels made many valuable researches into animal and vegetable life in those regions, and it was conclusively shown that Kane’s open Polar Sea and the coast-line laid down by Hayes were quite fictitious. But more might easily have been achieved had the expedition been better conducted.
CHAPTER XXI
THE “GERMANIA” AND THE “HANSA”
As has been seen in the last chapter, Hall was first inspired to enter upon the field of Arctic exploration by the loss of the Franklin expedition, and we have, in consequence, abandoned the true chronological order of events and dealt with his expedition out of its place. We must now hark back to the year 1868, when Dr Petermann, the famous German geographer, fitted out a small ship called the Germania for a voyage of discovery along the east coast of Greenland, thus earning for himself the distinction of being the first of his race to send out an expedition to the Polar regions. Dr Petermann himself took no active part in the work, but entrusted the command to Captain Karl Koldewey, an expert in maritime matters, who had studied navigation at the Polytechnic school in Hanover, and physics and astronomy at the University of Göttingen.
His first trip in the Germania, in which he was accompanied by a small crew of only eleven men, was not attended by any very remarkable results. Pack-ice frustrated his attempt to coast northward along the shores of Greenland, and compelled him to set his course eastward to the Spitzbergen seas, where he succeeded in reaching the latitude of 81° 5′. He then turned back down the Hinlopen Strait, and made his way to Bergen, where he arrived on the last day of September.
His second expedition, which sailed in the following year, was much more fully equipped, and on this occasion the Germania, a screw-steamer of 140 tons, which was manned by a crew of seventeen officers and men, was accompanied by the Hansa, a schooner of 76¾ tons, commanded by Captain Hegemann, and having fourteen officers and men on board. As it was intended that this expedition should spend a winter within the Arctic circle especial pains were expended upon the commissariat department, and no better provisioned ships had ever set out on a voyage of adventure.
For a while progress was slow, owing to the heavy gales which prevailed during the latter half of the month. They pressed steadily on, however, keeping well in company with one another, and at the beginning of July the knowledge that they were now reaching the higher latitudes was brought home to them by the fact that the sun did not set until 10.15, and that it was possible to read the smallest print at midnight without the aid of artificial light. A few days later, when they were off the coast of Jan Mayen Island, they saw the midnight sun for the first time, and Dr Borgen and Dr Copeland—the latter an Englishman who had studied and worked in Germany—embarked with increased ardour on that series of scientific observations which was the most valuable result of the expedition.
It was soon after this that a misunderstanding occurred which resulted in the two ships being separated for ever. They were sailing along in company, searching for a passage through the ice which would, it was hoped, extend far away to the north. Koldewey, wishing to consult with Hegemann, signalled to him to come within hail, but he, unfortunately, misunderstood the signal, and, setting more sail, disappeared into the fog before Koldewey could follow him.
Separated from his consort, Hegemann did all that lay in his power to reach Sabine Island, the appointed rendezvous in the event of any accident of this nature. The weather, however, was against him, and, try as he would, he could not succeed in approaching within thirty-five nautical miles of his destination. The Hansa now found herself in serious difficulties. For many weeks she had been fighting against the ice, which was rapidly hemming her in on every side, but lack of steam power made it impossible for her either to reach Sabine Island or to force her way through to the landward water which lay along the coast. On September 6 her captain had no choice but to lay her up between two promontories of a large ice-field, and on the following day she was completely frozen in.
It was now, of course, obvious that the crew would have to spend the winter where they were, and they instantly set about building a house of coal bricks, of which they had an ample supply on board. These formed an excellent building material, since they absorbed the damp and kept the warmth in the room, while water and snow made a perfect substitute for mortar. “We only needed,” says Hegemann, “to strew finely-powdered snow between the grooves and cracks, pour water upon it, and in ten minutes all was frozen into a strong compact mass.” So well did the men work that the house was finished and provisioned for two months in little more than a week.
They were not much too soon, for before the month was over the fate of the unfortunate Hansa was sealed. On October 8 a gale arose which blew violently for several days. On the 18th, the ice began to make itself conspicuous by “thrusting and pressing against the ship. This unpleasant noise lasted until the afternoon. At regular intervals underneath, the ice, like a succession of waves, groaned and cracked, squashed and puffed; now sounding like the banging of doors, now like many human voices raised against one another; and lastly, like a drag on the wheel of a railway engine. The evident immediate cause of this crushing was that our field had turned in drifting, and was now pressed closer to the coast ice.... For a time the Hansa was spared, though trembling violently. The masts often swayed so much that it seemed as though someone was climbing them.” Worse, however, was to follow, for on the next day the pressure of the ice became so terrible that the deck seams sprang and the bow of the ship was forced upwards seventeen feet. “The rising of the ship,” says Hegemann, “was an extraordinary and awful, yet splendid spectacle, of which the whole crew were witnesses from the ice. In all haste the clothing, nautical instruments, journals, and cards were taken over to the landing bridge. The after part of the ship, unfortunately, would not rise, and therefore the stern post had to bear the most frightful pressure, and the conviction that the ship must soon break up forced itself upon our minds.... The first thing to be done was to bring all necessary and useful things from the tween decks on to the ice—bedding, clothing, more provisions and coal. Silently were all the heavy chests and barrels pushed over the hatchway. First comes the weighty iron galley, then the two stoves are happily hoisted over; their possession ensures us the enjoyment of warm food, the heating of our coal house, and other matters indispensable for a wintering on the floe. At three o’clock the water in the cabin had reached the table, and all movable articles were floating. The fear that we should not have enough fuel made us grasp at every loose piece of wood and throw it on the ice. The sinking of the ship was now almost imperceptible, it must have found support on a tongue of ice or some promontory of our field. There was still a small medicine chest and a few other things, which, in our future position, would be great treasures, such as the cabin-lamp, books, cigars, boxes of games, etc. The snow roof (with which the Hansa had been equipped for the winter) and the sails were brought on to the ice; but still all necessary work was not yet accomplished. Round about the ship lay a chaotic mass of heterogeneous articles, and groups of feeble rats struggling with death and trembling with the cold!”