In August the Falcon came to fetch the explorers, but Peary was by no means satisfied with his year’s work, and though prudence undoubtedly demanded that he should return at once, seeing that he was short of provisions and fuel and that he had no means of knowing whether or not a ship would be able to visit him during the following year, with characteristic determination he proclaimed his intention of staying at Bowdoin Bay for another year with two volunteers, Hugh Lee and his coloured servant Henson. So, sending the rest of his party home, he set about making preparations for the winter. The greater part of the autumn was spent in gaining Eskimo recruits, in hunting and in attempting to find the caches laid down by Astrup. In the last of these enterprises Peary failed completely, but the hunting was very fairly successful, with the result that he and his two companions were able to spend the winter in comparative comfort. The spring journey was begun on April 2, 1895, the party consisting of Peary himself, his two volunteers, four Eskimos, and sixty-three dogs, drawing four sledges. The Eskimos did not prove of much assistance as one of them deserted with his outfit on the third day, while, a little later, Peary had to send back the remaining three. With Lee and Henson he now pushed on in the face of appalling difficulties. Snow-storms raged around them, obliterating their landmarks and so concealing their cache of pemmican that it was nowhere to be found. Lee was frost-bitten, the dogs died one after another, and game was conspicuous by its absence, yet Peary persevered and, by dint of almost superhuman efforts, he arrived within a short distance of Independence Bay early in May. Here he was so fortunate as to kill ten musk-oxen, but no other game of any kind was to be found, and they now found themselves under the necessity of rushing back to the camp with all possible despatch. They had only nine dogs left and food for seventeen days, but by going on short rations and making forced marches they succeeded in winning their desperate race against starvation. They were only in the nick of time, however, for when they reached Bowdoin Bay, on June 25, they had eaten their last scrap of food, while only one dog remained to them out of the sixty-five with which they had started. The Kite calling for them later in the summer, they reached Newfoundland in September after one of the most hazardous journeys on record.

CHAPTER XXIX
THE JACKSON-HARMSWORTH EXPEDITION

It was, no doubt, the success which attended Mr Leigh Smith’s expedition that first directed the attention of another well-known English explorer, Mr F. G. Jackson, to Franz Josef Land, and led him to think seriously of undertaking an expedition thither, with a view partly to surveying that still almost unknown country and partly to pushing on, if possible, another step towards the Pole.

Mr Jackson first published the plans of his proposed journey in 1892, but, though they were very generally approved by those who were experienced in Arctic research, no one seemed particularly anxious to provide the necessary funds. Accordingly, in 1893, he determined to undertake an expedition to the Yugor Straits, with the double object of exploring Waigatz Island and of testing the equipment which he proposed to use on his voyage to Franz Josef Land. His trip was attended by complete success, and when he had accomplished the task which he had set himself, he determined to extend his journey round the White Sea and through Lapland, in order that he might become conversant with the ways of the Laps as well as with those of the Samoyads, with whom he had been travelling. We may mention incidentally that it was on this journey that he first learnt the value of the hardy Russian ponies which proved of such inestimable service to him on his later expedition.

It was while he was still far from home that he received a telegram conveying the welcome news that Mr Alfred Harmsworth (now Lord Northcliffe) had generously undertaken to provide the funds for the journey to Franz Josef Land of which he hoped such great things. He did not return to England immediately, thinking that the objects of his new expedition would be better served if he were to continue his investigations in Lapland. These completed, he hurried back and instantly set about his preparations for his forthcoming campaign.

His first care was, of course, to select a vessel suitable for the conveyance of his party and his stores to the unknown country which he was to explore, and his choice finally lit upon the Windward, a steam whaler of 461 tons. The expedition was to be provisioned for three years, and with such care and good sense was the equipment prepared, that nothing that the travellers could possibly need during their lengthy stay in the Arctic regions was omitted. Mr Jackson was no less fortunate in the selection of his staff, and much of the great success which attended his expedition was due to the work of his doctor, Reginald Hettlitz; his botanist, Mr Harry Fisher; and his mineralogist, Mr Child.

The Windward set sail down the Thames in July 1894, and early in August she reached Archangel, where she took on board a number of dogs, four ponies, and three portable houses. The passage across Barents Sea was not unattended by difficulties and occupied some eleven days, while another fortnight was spent in tacking about before Bell Island, a nearer approach to the land being made impossible by the girdle of ice which surrounded it. On September 10, however, the Windward cast anchor off Cape Flora, the westernmost point of Northbrook Island, and here the party erected their winter house, to which they gave the name of Elmwood.

Mr Jackson made it evident at once that he had at any rate one of the qualities essential to a successful Arctic explorer, in that he was a splendid disciplinarian. He was convinced that if good health was to be preserved, every member of his party must be kept constantly busy, so he saw to it that his men always had plenty of occupation. If they were not at work, they were sent out hunting, game being exceedingly plentiful on the island. If they were not hunting, they were made to play football or other games. The results triumphantly justified his methods, for during the three years that they spent on Franz Josef Land not a member of his party had an hour’s illness and not a single man had to knock off work through indisposition. The crew of the Windward, on the other hand, who were not under his immediate supervision, and who were allowed to please themselves as to how they occupied their time, became subject to scurvy, to which several of them succumbed.

The winter passed without incident, and as soon as spring came round they set about trying their sledges and making preparations for their first journey of exploration. This was begun on April 16, and in the course of it Jackson and his two companions, Lieutenant Armitage and Blonkvist, pushed north as far as Back Island, where Nansen and Johansen were destined to build their winter hut four months later. They were prevented from going much further, however, by the fact that their way led them through a mixture of snow and mud, which their ponies were quite unable to negotiate; accordingly there was nothing for them to do but to make their way home to Elmwood House.

In June the Windward got up steam and set sail for England, leaving the explorers behind. Her voyage proved to be one of the most trying description, for so dense was the pack that it took her sixty-five days to plough her way through it. No provision had been made for such an eventuality, and she soon found herself short of coal, with the result that she had to burn her masts, her bridge, and any other timber that she could spare in order to keep her engines going.