3. The exploration of the strange land having been resolved on, the greatest activity reigned in the ship. There was not a man on board the Tegetthoff who was not eager to prepare for the sledge-journeys, though all knew that besides the two Tyrolese only four men were to accompany me. Every one longed to take part in the exploration of the unknown land, and the monotony of our life was now exchanged for a state of great excitement; a great venture had been resolved on, and expectations rose with the possibility of discoveries. The comparatively short period for which our stores had now to last enabled us to indulge in what, under the circumstances, might be called luxury. We could thus dispose of more than two hundred bottles of wine, which had been reserved for the sick in the event of a third winter being passed in the ice. Three-and-twenty men now in three months drank two hundred bottles of wine and smoked like chimneys the superfluous stores of cigars and tobacco. Potatoes, preserved vegetables and fruit, were daily on our table. Our allowance of rum was increased; lights were freely burnt in every corner, and the novel sensation of luxury was universal.
4. While we were all living as if the oppressive load under which we had lain so long had suddenly been removed, in these days of general hilarity and amid the excitement of new plans, our comrade Krisch drew toward his sad and melancholy end. From the beginning of February his malady had made great progress. His body was covered with scorbutic spots; but in spite of all this the hope of speedy recovery constantly animated our afflicted companion, who set us a lofty example of the fulfilment of duty by his zealous activity. In the summer, though already under the influence of his mortal disease, he had been busy in the construction of new ice-saws and borers, in order that he might contribute something to the liberation of the ship, and when he heard of the projected expeditions to Franz-Josef Land, he gathered sufficient strength to extort from me the assurance that I would take him with me. But his end was surely though slowly drawing on; his nights were sleepless, and pain left him neither day nor night. At the beginning of March a state of unconsciousness supervened, and the action of his diseased lungs was now to be heard in an uninterrupted rattling in his throat. Moments of mental clearness became more infrequent in his delirium; help had become impossible; all the care of our physician and of the watchers, who never left him, was now directed merely to the alleviation of his sufferings. He lingered till we returned from our first sledge expedition on the 16th of March.
KRISCH, THE ENGINEER.
CHAPTER II.
OF SLEDGE TRAVELLING IN GENERAL.
1. The sledge is pre-eminently the means of geographical exploration in high latitudes, and as discovery now forms the main purpose of Polar expeditions, it may be important to describe clearly and precisely the system we followed, that others may either adopt or improve on our methods. Thus I will enter into many details, not in order to dwell on the inconveniences incident to this mode of travelling, but to show how the greatest amount of safety and protection may be secured to the sledge-party.
2. Sledge-journeys presuppose that the ship is safe and secure in a winter harbour. A ship which has not yet completed its summer voyage should avoid them as exceedingly hazardous; and as a principle such expeditions are to be absolutely declined by a ship which is beset in the ice; the success which may have attended some must by no means stimulate others to imitate them. Their object is the exploration of lands still unknown or imperfectly known. They presuppose also the existence of ice, closely adhering to a coast, on which the journeys are performed, and this coast-line must run in a northerly direction, if the North Pole be the goal of discovery. Though sledge-parties follow the coast-line they actually travel on the frozen sea; for it is never safe to abandon that line and make for pack-ice at a distance from it. The crossing of glaciers, however small may be their inclination, is always attended with danger; and if the route be stopped by a stretch of land whose extent forbids dragging, it is of course impossible to proceed. The roughness of the land and its insufficient covering of snow even in winter sufficiently explain this. A sledge cannot, for any considerable length of time, be dragged up an inclination exceeding two or three degrees.
3. The season of the year for sledging must depend on the climate of particular Arctic localities, and the capacity of the men to endure low temperatures during the night-camping, and driving snow during the march. It is advisable, when more than one year is to be spent in the ice, to begin the more extended sledge-journeys in the first year, because the capacities of Europeans to endure cold rather decrease than increase. Sir John Ross, for example, says that his people at the beginning of a third winter were incapable of bearing hardships, especially those of travelling on the ice. The best season for sledging must always be that time of the year when snow-storms are infrequent, for even a healthy and seasoned party will more easily confront a very low temperature than driving snow-storms. As a rule, these conditions are found most perfectly in autumn; and I do not understand the objection which Hayes makes to this season as being the most damp; whereas as a matter of fact it is the least so. Autumn journeys are preferable to those in spring, both with respect to climate and the state of the road; only they must be commenced early, on account of the rapidly decreasing length of the days.[27] The darkness of winter puts an end to all sledging, and the excessive cold of spring renders it difficult. Summer makes it impossible by breaking up the land-ice, or impedes it by transforming the snow into thaw-water and sludge. Next to autumn, therefore, the latter part of March, all April, and a part of May, are most adapted for this purpose. It must at the same time be remarked, that Captain Lyon (1822) and Dr. Kane regarded March as peculiarly dangerous on account of the prevalence of storms.