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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1915)
STEFANSSON TELLS OWN STORYQFWORR Hundred Miles of New Coast and High Mountains Be yond Are Discovered. FORMAL POSSESSION TAKEN Explorer Plans Xow to Strike Xortli xrest In Continuing Work and to Cross Seas on Sleds In Spring of 1016. 'Continued from Klrst Paflre.) I. therefore, gave up further attempts of going west, and traveled parallel to the west coast of Prince Patrick Island. , Kerosene Supply Exhausted. Pome 75 miles off shore, near 76 de crees 40 minutes north, we were forced to realize that we could hope for no great northering so late a sea eon on broken ice drifting rapidly southwest. We, therefore, tried to make the shore-fast ice off Prince Pat rick Island in .that latitude, but were carried 50 miles south before we final ly made land about 10 miles south of the land which we had seen on June 1. 3efore this time our kerosene had given out and we were burning seal blubber, and the caribou meat, dried at Norway Island during the Summer of 1914 for Jog food, was also fin ished. For the men we had 20 days' rations, for we had lived partly en seals and bears. Proceeding northward, we finished that charting of the coast line be tween th.9 farther poiuts reached by McClintock and Mechas from their Winter base at Dealt Island on the south coast of Melville Island. Fogs and thick weather hampered us great ly in this work. On the afternoon of June 15 we reached the north tip of the island and found a record left there by McClintock dated June 15, 1853. Sen Land Is Discovered. On the morning of June 18i from a 40-foot high ice cake near the C8mp that we had just pitched. Storkensen Righted new land to the northeast. This camp was pitched at 77 degrees 66 minutes, and we landed next day on the land at a point distant about 14 miles, near 78 north and 117 west. The trend of the coast here was north westerly, but thick weather prevented us seeing far. On account of the late ness of the season we followed the coast east for three days only. Thick weather prevented sextant ob servations, except one day, which gave 77 degrees 43 minutes north and 115 degrees 43 minutes west. We actually saw only about 100 miles of coast line, running somewhat south of east from the landing place, but mountains were seen for at least 50 miles farther east nd from a height of 2000 feet 20 miles inland still higher hills were seen in all directions from north to east at a distance estimated at over 50 miles. liOXG JOUBXET MADE OX ICE Explorer Gives Detailed Account ol ( His Experiences. (Mr. Stefansson in the subjoined nar rative gives a detailed account of the experiences of himself and his com panions. He sfves a prefatory explana tion of the purposes of the Canadian ex pedition, tells how he took up the task f the ill-fated Karluk, and gives a com plete journal of his travels over the Ice.) BY VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON. Copyrieht, 1015, by The New York Times Company. Also copyright in Canada. Spe cial to the JCew York Timea Published hy arrangement. BANKS ISLAND. Feb. 8. via Nome. Alaska. Sept. 16.) The central plan and main purpose of the Canadian Arctic Expedition is the exploration of the hitherto untraversed area lying north of the American Continent and west of the known American arctic archi pelago. The direct attack on this un known area was assigned to the largest of . the expedition's three ships the .Karluk. The schooner Alaska was to undertake the subsidiary investigation of the Coronation Gulf region, and the schooner Sachs was to act as tender to whichever of the other vessels need ed her most, and to do oceanographic work. ' Meantime, when in September, 1914, the Karluk. best of the ice craft, was buried out of the field of endeavor and had to be struck from the list of avail able resources of the expedition, the problem arose of how the main pur pose could be accomplished with the resources left. Risk of Losing Schooner Taken. I at once decided to use the Sachs in Ilace of th Karluk, so far as compati ble, first landing sufficient freight in the Coronation Gulf region to make the success of the Alaska there assured so far as supplies were concerned. Later I developed the plan of pur chasing the small trading schooner North Star, of four-foot draught, to risk and, if need be, lose her in an at tempt to thread the shoal waters of the west coast of Banks Island, to es tablish a base on Prince Patrick Is land. If possible,' the first task in the pr'ia-rarame of the KarlulJ had been to sail north approximately along the meridian forming the boundary be tween Canada and Alaska, until unsur mountable obstructions should be found in TPs) fcrm of either ice or new land; turning then east to Banks Island or Prince Patrick Island and establishing a base for sled exploration. I now determined to attempt the Karluk's task by sled. If, as had been commonly believed, the drift in the ice north of Alaska proved to be to the west, we would go by sled as far north as it seemed safe, and then return . to our starting point or some other place on the mainland, going later north dur ing the Summer, along Banks Island, with the North Star and Sachs, but if we should find the drift in the ice either negligible or else to the north or east, we would not return to the main land, but would proceed, if no new land were discovered, to Banks Island or Prince Patrick Island. Arctic Animals Abundant. The land, therefore, is of consider able size. It is lew where we first landed, but becomes higher and more ruggei as one proceeds eastward. Caribou and other Arctic animals are abundant, except bears. As Summer was now coming on rapidly, we turned toward home. On June 22 geese and other birds had arrived, and the rivers were breaking out. We discovered some small islands between Melville Island and the new land, took formal possession of these lands, and left a record of discovery. We followed the west coast of Mel ville Island south, crossed to the Bay of Mercy and stayed there from July 14 to July 20, to rate pocket chronomo ters and provide new packs for the dogs. We caught the sled at Mc Olure's wintering place, and traveled diagonally across Bank's Island to Kel lett. arriving home on August 8 to find everything well. On this trip we had no accident more MAP SHOWING CROSS AJiD serious than the wetting of one sled load. We had no sickness and brought home in good flesh every dog we start ed with. We were all of us in our ordinary health and strength. We used the ordinary Eskimo beehive snow houses. Besides the provisions brought from home we used about 10,000 pounds of meat and fat for food and fuel. Seals furnished most of hls, but there were besides 17 caribou, four bears and two musk oxen, the last in Melville Island. Musk oxen in Bank's Island are extinct. We had no hard ships at any time and were never in imminent danger, so far as we know. Further Explorations Planned. On August 11 the schooner Polar Bear, Captain Louis Lane, came into Kellett. He reported the North Star long overdue at Baillie Island, and that the expedition supplies had ar rived at Herschel Island. - Fearing the" non-arrival of the North Star, I char tered the Polar Bear to get supplies from Herschel Island, and attempt by landing them to form a more northern base for next year's work either on Banks or Prince Patrick Island. I plan to make a further journey next year into Beaufort Sea and explore fur ther the new land already discovered. We sail for Banks Island tomorrow. Captain Sweeney wintered at Baillie Island with the Alaska, which last year failed to get farther east. He reports that Dr. Anderson went east by' sled to Point Cockburn, where the North Star wintered, and sent natives back with mail for Baillie Island this Spring. Last Winter Dr. Anderson attempted carrying the mall to Bear Island, but had to turn back before reaching the lake on account of his supplies giving out. The topographers worked this Spring.one east and the other west of Cockburn Point, as far as Darnley Bay. No illness was reported from Point Cockburn, but Engineer Blue of, Alas ka, died and Captain Sweeney was ill at Baillie Island from scurvy. There has been no illness at Kellett Winter quarters so far. VILHJALMUK STEFANSSON. Commander to Vne Discretion. To cover that event I gave definite instructions for the North Star to fol low as soon as she could to Norway Island, at which port her commander was to decide if he did not find us whether she should winter there or proceed to Prince Patrick Island. Be cause of her twin propellers the Sachs is not so well adapted to ice-filled wa ters as the North Star, and for that reason I directed that after she got through with her fre.ighting for the Alaska she should proceed to Banks Island to winter, preferably near Cape Kellett, to form there a base upon which we could retreat In case of the loss of the Star further north. But for some unfortunate misunder standing and consequent delays at Col lision Point, while I was absent en gaged on other work in the Mackenzie Delta, we should have left the Alaskan coast, going north over the ice, about March 5, 1914. On my arrival home from the delta I find, however, that some of the most important work of preparation for the ice exploration had not yet been commenced at a date when It should have been finished a week, and it was only on March 22 that I finally left the outfitting camp at Martin Point, intending to proceed north ap proximately along the 143d meridian at first, suiting our course later to the drift in the ice. We had on starting our sleds 25 dogs and 'seven men Andreasen, Beneard, Castel, Johansen, Storkensen, Wilkins and myself. On ' the second day out Captain Beneard suffered a fall from an ice pressure ridge by which his head was so seriously cut that the ac cident came near being fatal through loss of blood. It took a day to carry the Captain ashore, and another for the party who did so to return. Blizzard Shatters Ice. A blizzard on March 15 shattered the ice, which for two months previously to that had lain strong and compara tively level north of this portion of the coast. A spell of warm weather had followed and the -ice had there fore been cemented together- by frost. Beyond the seven-mile line from shore everything was a mass of small cakes of ice separated by intricate water channels from a few yards to several hundred in width. We had with us waterproof tarpaulin designed to con vert our sails into boats, and later in the year we crossed with this craft lanes over a mile wide when the wind blew the sea into whitecaps, but there was no use attempting those tactics now, for the rigging of this craft took two hours at a time, and the lanes were so numerous and the drift so rapid to the east that we could have made no headway. There was nothing to do but to camp on the uoter edge of the land, fast to ice, and wait for colder weather. By March 27 we were beginning to feel dubious over getting started. It must be either soon or never, for the sun was daily getting noticeably higher and warmer and the Summer was nearly upon us when ice exploration becomes so difficult and so dangerous for sleds as to be practically impossible. On that day I sent Wilkins and Castel ashore with a sled, carrying a kerosene THE SUNDAY OREGONIATi, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 26, 1915. NEW LAND FOUND IN ARCTIC BY ARROW MARK SCEXE OP NEW DISCOVERT. tank that had sprung a leak to have it replaced from our shore camp by a sound one. The team should have made the round trip over the beaten trail to camp and back in four, or at most six, hours. None of us thought it would be longer, till we saw them again, but within two hours a gale was blowing and I have learned since that when they got ashore the force of the wind was such that they were unable to walk against it and had to crawl. Return of Men Impossible. Return was impossible for them that evening, and when the gale lessened the next day we were encamped on a cake of ice a mile or two in arei which had been driven 50 miles to the east and were separated from the land-fasf ice by several miles of water, filled with ice fragments, so we lost two of our best men, seven of 'our best dogs, our best sled, and some equipment we needed badly. Half our fuel Intended originally for 60 days was gone. Our party now . consisted of Andreasen, Crawford. Johansen, McConnell, Stork ersen and myself. Crawford and Mc Connell had joined the party when Cap tain Beneard was disabled. The temper ature still continued from 28 above to four degrees below- zero Fahrenheit, and this was not enough to solidify the ice which was continually carried back and forth by the wind. For three or four days we had little ice motion, however, and on those days we were able to cross from ice cake to ice cake where their corners touched. Some of these cakes were only the size of a city block or less Others were a mile or two across, but all were three to six feet deep, so traveling over them was not particularly dangerous. By April 9 we were 50 miles from land, but we had made little northing, for the currents had carried us parallel to the land (which here runs well south of east), a distance of nearly 70 miles. Violent Gale Encountered. As we needed dogs badly ashore, for the scientific Work being done there, and as two of our sleds were too frag ile for the rough . ice and kept con tinually breaking, I now decided to send three of the men back. According ly on the evening of April 7 Crawford, Johansen ' and McConnell, with two teams, started for shore, which I have since learned they reached without serious trouble on April 17. The ice party now consisted of An dreasen. Storkersen and myself, with a 208-pound sail and 1326-pound load, consisting of food for men and dogs for about 49 days, permanent .equip ment and 360 cartridges for two rifles. Two days after the support party left we had "the most violent gale of the journey. Instead of separating into cakes with water lanes between the ice, this ice pressed up into huge ridges, buckling so that portions of our trail were made on ice, a mile in the camp in the evening and were only 300 yards in the morning. A pressure ridge 20 feet high had formed 20 feet away from our tent, made of blocks so large that had one of them happened to top ple over on the tent it would have ended the chapter. Early in tho even ing we tried to stand watch, but the man outside the tent could not keep his eyes open for the flying snow nor could he shout loud enough to be heard by the-others inside the tent, although the noise of ice pressing into ridges can be heard miles away. We did not this night hear anything but the flap ping of the tent and the whistle of the wind. Water Courses Become Boulevards. We were 'never in particular danger. After getting beyond 60 miles from shore we never had strong winds. The day after this gale the cold weather came at last, and we had Ideal travel ing for the remainder of April, with light breezes and clear skies, and temperature- ranging about 20 degrees be low zero Fahrenheit. The water lanes, which had in warm weather been im passable for boats, now became smooth boulevards, and instead of two miles a day we now frequently made more than 20. That we would probably meet a continual ice drift to the east had seemed likely when the support party started for shore,' and I had accord ingly sent with them letters emphasize ing the probability of our not return ing to the mainland and repeating the instructions for the North Star to fol low us to Northwest Banks Island. The easterly drift did really continue, and although we traveled each day from 10 to 30 degrees west of true north, our instrumental . observations showed that we were barely keeping a true north course. By April 27 we were near the intersection of the 73d paral lei and the 140th meridian. During the preceding ' fortnight we had crossed scores of miles of thin ice formed over what had been open water in the March gales. The daylight was now contin uous throughout the 24 hours and the sun was becoming more aggressive. It would be but a week or two till all this thin ice would become uncrossable. With the strong currents to the west which prevail on the Alaska coast in Spring it would have been unwise un der the circumstances to try to return the 240 miles or go south to land. Nei ther was there any knowledge to be STEFANSSON. gained by retracing the route we had Just come over. Safety Lies in North. Our work lay to the north, and safety lay there also, for then we should be traveling away from Summer. Besides we had already arranged for going to Banks Island for the information to be gained on the way there, and after landing, also to try for deer meat for dog feed on next year's sled trips, for nearly all our pemmican had gone with the Karluk. Accordingly on April 27 1 finally decided definitely not to at tempt to return to Alaska, but to pro ceed to Banks Island or Prince Patrick Island, according to circumstances. Be cause of the rapid approach of Sum mer we eventully headed for Cape Al fred, on the northwest corner of Banks Island. Our kerosene gave out on May a. for 10 days after that we melted a little ice morning and evening for drinking water, with the five pounds of lard we had along for reoiling our boat tarpaulin. For the latter part of these 10 days we were on half rations. We saw occasional bear tracks, and from this we knew that there must be seals in the sea about us. Two rea sons kept us "from stopping to hunt seals. We hoped we might meet a bear wnicn we could secure without delay ing our progress landward, and we were so worried by the rapidly increas ing temperature, and the consequent aetenorlatlon of ice that we preferred empty stomachs to much delay. By May 15 we were getting a bit hun gry and the dogs were not so fat as formerly. They had harder work than we to do on the same amount of food. aitnougn they ate our skin clothing, while we had malted milk and pem mican. It seemed that wisdom now dictated a halt rather than hurry, and so we stopped for sealing at a. lead across which we would have ordinarily ferried in our improvised boat in two hours. Not much more than the cor responding two hours had been spent in watching for seals when one came to the surface some 300 yards away and we got him with a lucky brain shot. Stock of Food Accumulated. This turned out to be 43 days before we eventually reached the Banks Is land coast, but for the whole of that time we had lived in abundance. For fuel we burned sea blubber, usincr the bones of seals and of bears for a wick, as it were, ror Diuober will not burn by itself in the manner of kerosene. During these 4 3 days we killed bears ana about 40 seals and accumulated stock of food against possible future reeds. iiiis we, oi course, naa to abandon when opportunity came for the ad vance. When we got within about 100 miles of the west coast of Banks Island we began to meet frequent easterly winds, and consequently drifted away from our goal. On May 24. a little north of the 74th- parallel. 45 miles from Banks Island, an easterly gale com menced. This wind varied in direction between southeast and northeast for 12 days and in force from a light breeze to a moderate gale. Immediately in front of us was a lead that varied on different days in width from half a mile to perhaps eight miles. As this lead was covered with whitecaps at periods or light wind or was covered with young ice, either of which con ditions prevented cruising by raft in the direction we wanted to go, we be gan to fear we should have to spend the Summer on the ice. which I feel sure we could have done safely, though. pernaps, not comrortaDiy. The ice itself was in floes, many of them over a hundred feet in thickness, so that there was no reason to fear their melting away. They were doubt less a decade or more old already. An ticipating a Summer on the ice we here accumulated some two tons of meat and blubber and four bear skins. Bears used to come right into camn undisturbed by the barking of dogs or shouting of men. which sounds they may have classed with the crying of gulls, the only noise of the sort with which they were familiar. Drift Proves Tantalising. During this period we drifted some 60 miles farther away from Banks Island, which was less than would have been expected from the force of the wind. This drift was the more tan talizing for the fact that when we were first stopped at this lead we got our first bottom sounding at 736 meters. In three days we were out of sound ings again. During the trip up, miles from the mainland, near meridian 140 west, the first bottom sounding west of Banks Island was about five miles north of the 74th parallel. It was 19 days before this lead stopped near meridian 128. Seven days after we were fully able to ferry across it and resume our travel east. We then again got into soundings, this time at 638 meters, a little south of the pre vious soundings. From this on we took soundings every two or three miles, till we reached land-fast ice. and often at ssorter intervals. These soundings seem to indicate that the sea bottom rises in at least three terraces, toward Banks Island. In some parts the bottom seems either hilly or cut by channels. In . June we encountered a strong drift to the south, and, in spite of XJ ERE are three of the many pat terns you'll find in my show ing of ready-tailored models for men. Handsome fabrics, all work manship that comprehends every essential of style and service. Clothes on which 1 place ' my own label a mark that stands always a sure guaranty of last ing satisfaction to the wearer. Let me impress that further: the garments you buy here must fully prove their worth to you otherwise, they're mine. Suits and Topcoats $20 to $35 BEN SELLING Morrison at Fourth Brewer Hats $3 Dunlap Hats $5 fair progress, favored by westerly and! southwesterly winds that held the broken pieces of ice tightly pressed against each other and against Banks Island, we made in fact a nearly south east course. although we traveled northeast. We had therefore to give up the attempt to land on the very northwest corner of Banks Island, the logical goal of such a journey as ours, and it was on northerly land some 30 miles south of Cape Alfred that we landed on the evening of June 26, 96 days out from Martin Point, Alaska. Warm Weather Makes Difficulties. The distance actually traveled was probably not much over 700 miles, and the route plotted on the chart measures even less than that, but the difficulties of the journey are to be measured not by the distance, but by the warmth of the weather and the force and direc tion of the winds and currents. Going north a month earlier, and our fortune in other respects .similar to what was actually the case, a Journey of twice the mileage would have had no more difficulty and' been much safer and more comfortable. Banks Island has not been visited by white men. although whalers sight it often, since McClure abandoned his ship here in 1854. At that time musk oxen were abundant, but we have seen none, and they may be extinct. They are much more scarce than near Col linson Point, where our schooners wintered last year, or on any part of the mainland known to me between the Colville and the copper mine. The Es kimo inhabitants of the west coast seem to have seen a few transients only, and that between 50 and 100 years ago. probably. Caribou are rare between Banks Island and King "Will iam Island. For a time we had to kill all the caribou we saw. but later we shot only old bucks, for they gave the most and the fattest meat. Our car tridges had to be husbanded. As I had directed the North Star to come to Norway Island to look for us we spent the Summer in the vicinity, drying meat, fat, and skins against a coming AVinter. We killed !n all 49 caribou, over 30 of which were old bucks. Besides keeping us and the six dogs thi3 gave us many valuable skins and a ton of dried meat and 500 pounds of suet, which gave us ample dog food for the ice exploration work in Febru ary. Clear I.Bne la Found. Toward the latter part of Bummer ice conditions of the west coast of Banks Island were excellent for a shallow draught vessel. The heavy ice was aground from a mile to 20 miles off shore in 15 to 20 fathoms of water. Inside the barrier warm streams from the land thawed the ice along shore and there was a clear line along the beach ample for the passage of the North Star. The coast is an- enbaved one. There are few five-mile stretches' without a harbor suitable for a vessel of four-foot draught. It was for just such conditions that I had bought the North Star, and the existence of these conditions Justified us in expecting the schooner to arrive any day after the 20th of August. When, however, the 1st of September arrived with con tinued fair weather and bpen snore water, we all agreed that something was wrong somewhere. Accordingly we covered our dried meat cache safe T luargest J. H. BOOTH, CA Or egoe S Salem, Sept. 27-Oct. 2, 1915 Campers Islighu Wf ednesday fe:"' M'2t! ly with stones and proceeded south along the coast with pack dogs. At Cape Kellett we found the Mary Sachs in Winter quarters, although the sea was absolutely clear of ice. There had been some ice about Cape Kellett when she arrived there late In August. Beaching and hauling the schooner up here was duo partly to her having lost one of her propellers and to the presence of Ice. but also and perhaps to several mistaken ideas. They seem to have thought that if we were on Banks Island we would be at Cape Kellett anxiously and probably hungrily watching for a sail on the horizon, and when they found no sign of us they concluded we were dead this in spite of the fact that the ap pointed rendezvous was a hundred miles farther north. Men of the Sachs are most of tliem new to the Arctic and had been thoroughly discouraged by this time. The amusing opinion ap parently was uniformly held by most of the whalers and others at Herschel Island last Summer that we were all dead because we failed to come back from a journey from which I had said we would probably not try to come back. The Sachs thought that Summer was We Give Green Trading Stamps IHanan Trte style that our patrons admire in our Han an Shoes is only the outward expression of fiieix inner quality. This quality is built-in by 2,000 highly paid, expert shoemakers working under ideal conditions with the world's finest materials. 129 Tenth Branch Store 308 Washington Oregon s Greatest JE in State's History Pres. W. A. What Doctors Use for Eczema A soothing combination of oil of Wintergrecn. Thymol and other heal ing ingredients called D. D. D. Pre scription is now a favorite remedy of skin specialists for all skin diseases. It penetrates the pores", gives instant relief from the most distressing itch. Its soothing oils quickly heal the in flamed tissues. Test its soothing effect. All drug gists have a generous trial bottle for only 25c. Come and -let us tell you about our money back guarantee offer to free you from your distress. Ask also about D. D. D. Soap. Huntley Drug Co., Washington at Fourth. The Owl Drug Co. over with August, whereas September is commonly enough a good month for navigation up here, and was so in this Summer. It was also thought that the west coast of Banks Island wa.s precipitous, devoid of harbors and driftwood, all i t'onrTiifird on paqf- fi. fo'iimn ?.) Exclusive Agency at the Jl tateFalr JONES, Sec