416 ABRUZZI, THE ROYAL ITALIAN EXPLORER 



the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, and in his purpose of making 

 sledge dashes northward he was following the plan laid down by 

 Peary and Nansen. 



Reaching Archangel, in Northern Russia, the "Stella Polare" 

 was headed northward for Franz Josef Land, and in August, 1899, 

 reached Cape Flora, Jackson's headquarters, in latitude 80 degrees 

 north. It was here that Nansen had been rescued and entertained. 

 The huts of the former occupants were found standing intact, and 

 Abruzzi stocked them with provisions for a food depot and pushed 

 northward through the British Channel. 



On reaching latitude 80 degrees 30 minutes the "Stella Polare" 

 was met by the "Capella," Walter Wellman's ship, then sailing 

 southward after an unsuccessful voyage north. Wellman, how- 

 ever, had done some good work in exploring and mapping the Franz 

 Josef archipelago. The two exploring parties exchanged visits, 

 after which each set out on its special course, the one southward to 

 civilization, the other northward to desolation. The British Channel 

 and the waters north of it proving unusually free from ice, the 

 "Stella Polare" was enabled to steam beyond the eighty-second 

 degree of latitude to a position near the shores of Crown Prince 

 Rudolph Land, the western coast of which had been visited by Payer 

 in 1883 and the eastern coast by Wellman in 1899. 



The ship was now at or near the northern extremity of land 

 in that region, and as the plan of the expedition was to establish 

 headquarters on some suitable coast, making this the base for sledge 

 journeys northward, Teplitz Bay, on Prince Rudolph Island, in 

 latitude 81 degrees 53 minutes, was selected as a suitable place for 

 wintering, and the ship was taken in and anchored near enough to 

 the shore to permit the easy landing of stores. 



Teplitz Bay is open towards the south and west, the land on the 

 north being level but rocky. A leader of more experience in Arctic 

 navigation would have had doubts as to the security of the situation 

 as a place for a ship to lie exposed to the winter movements of the 



