272 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS. 



Capt. Sverdrup, were Lieut. Isaachsen; Mr. Bay, 

 zoologist; Mr. Simmons, botanist; Mr. Schei, 

 geologist; Mr. Svendsen, surgeon. All on board 

 were prepared to put their hands to work of all 

 kinds. A good supply of dogs was taken on 

 board, and every preparation was made for sledge 

 expeditions. The Greenland settlements were 

 reached about the end of July, and an attempt 

 uus made to push the Fram northward through 

 Robesons channel, but she was caught in the 

 ice at Cape Sabine, off Ellesmere Land, about 

 79 north latitude. 



The following is taken from Capt. Sverdrup s 

 account : 



"On Aug. 17, 1898, we were stopped a little 

 north of Cape Sabine by masses of ice, which \ye 

 could not penetrate. The cold immediately set in 

 and the new ice rapidly increased. We were 

 therefore compelled to take up our winter quar- 

 ters at Rice strait. In the course of the autumn 

 we made a sledge journey on the inland ice of 

 Ellesmere Land. Exploring and mapping the in- 

 nermost part of the fiord at Hayes Sound was 

 commenced. In addition thereto we made hunt- 

 ing expeditions, chiefly to procure food for the 

 dogs. We shot about 25 walruses and 11 musk- 

 oxen. With such a large increase in the dogs' 

 food I saw no objection to wintering at this 

 place. Here was a good and large field of work. 

 In the course of the winter a hut was built, which 

 we intended to put up on Robesons channel or 

 farther north. 



" In the spring of 1899 two sledge journeys 

 were made across Ellesmere Land to the west 

 coast, the one across the glacier district, the 

 other farther north, across country free from ice. 

 The mapping at Hayes Sound was completed. 

 Scientific investigations were carried on until we 

 left our winter quarters. The summer of 1899 

 turned out unfavorable. I therefore decided to 

 go to Jones Sound, in consequence of which we 

 left Smith's Sound Aug. 22, 1899. On the way 

 we caught such a number of walruses that we 

 had food for the dogs to last through the win- 

 ter. We took up winter quarters on the south 

 side of Ellesmere Land, in latitude 76 29' north, 

 and longitude 84 24' west. Shortly afterward I 

 made a boating excursion with 3 men to explore 

 and lay down a depot. We were, however, shut 

 up by the ice and were compelled to remain one 

 month near the boat before we were able to go 

 on board. On the ice on the return journey we 

 met Baumann and 3 men, who had gone out in 

 search of us. We learned from them the sad 

 news that Braskerud had died. He had caught 

 cold while out hunting. After the arrival on 

 board we made preparations for mapping and 

 for laying down depots. Oct. 22 we were stopped 

 by open water, 68 miles from the vessel; the 

 fog was lying so heavy and thick westward that 

 we could form no decided opinion as to the extent 

 of the open water. The portion of the coast 

 which we had passed ran in a true westerly di- 

 rection, which we could see was the case farther 

 on. According to Inglefield's map, the country 

 ought to have curved northward. From our win- 

 ter quarters we laid down the depot, and then 

 entered a large fiord east of the depot, where we 

 shot 26 musk-oxen. 



"On Feb. 23, 1900, Isaachsen, Schei, Stoltz, 

 and Bay proceeded with four packs of dogs to 

 the depot. They returned on March 3 with the 

 information that there had been some heavy ice 

 scrapings at Jones Sound, which impeded the ad- 

 vance of the vessel. The depot was also de- 

 stroyed by bears, and almost nil the dogs' food 

 eaten up. On March 7 Bay, Fosheim, and I again 



set out on fresh explorations. Bay was left be- 

 hind at the depot on watch, while Fosheim and 

 I proceeded westward. The same day we left 

 Bjorneborg, which was the name we gave the 

 depot, we met with open water, where large floes 

 of ice were drifting backward and forward in the 

 rapid current in the sound between North Kent 

 and Ellesmere Land. The advance along the 

 sound proved very difficult. We returned and 

 came on board March 14. The main expedition 

 started in two parties with 9 men and dogs on 

 March 17 and 20. From Bjorneborg all proceeded 

 on the 23d, reaching the sound the following day. 

 The passage along the sound proved very difficult 

 on the rugged ice. In many places there were 

 pressure ridges right up to the side of the moun- 

 tain. These pressure ridges at several places had 

 to be worked through with pickaxes and spades. 

 At other places the ice would be quite smooth, 

 so that we, at steep inclines, ran the risk of 

 losing both loads and dogs in the sea. After 

 traveling three days, we passed the sound, which 

 is 20 miles broad, without other mishap than 

 losing a load in the sea. The rope connecting 

 the dog with the sledge parted, so that the dog 

 was saved. Northward we met with fairly 

 smooth ice. The 31st of March, 175 miles from 

 the vessel, the returning party, consisting of Bau- 

 mann, Raanas, Schei, Stoltz, and Henriksen, 

 turned back to Bjorneborg. At that period we 

 experienced a temperature of 42.5 of frost, and 

 great difficulty in advancing. Two sledge parties 

 proceeded farther northward for exploring the 

 unknown west coast of Ellesmere Land, each 

 Avith provisions for fifty days. The one party 

 consisted of Isaachsen and Hassel, and the other 

 of Fosheim and me. North of the sound, between 

 Ellesmere and North Kent, a large bay extends 

 eastward about 100 miles broad. On the north- 

 ern side of the same some large complicated fiords 

 are situated. The land extends about 50 miles 

 westward from these, after which it runs in a 

 north and northwesterly direction. In latitude 

 79 Isaachsen and I parted, Isaachsen receiving 

 instructions to explore some new land which we 

 sighted west of us. The land which Fosheim and 

 I traveled through is very hilly and intersected 

 by large fiords, of which several are from 15 to 

 20 miles broad at the mouth. On May 4 we 

 reached latitude 81 north. From here the land 

 extends in a northerly direction. We returned 

 to Bjorneborg on June 2. 



" During the whole time we experienced uncom- 

 monly severe weather, and what especially im- 

 peded the work was fog and thick weather. Bay, 

 after our departure, had an encounter with a 

 ferocious bear, which he at last killed. Fosheim 

 and I came on board on June 4, after an ab- 

 sence of seventy-six days. During the whole 

 journey we experienced almost daily snow- 

 storms, accompanied with severe cold, when the 

 snow and ice rendered it most difficult to proceed. 

 Isaachsen and Hassel came on board on June 19. 

 After reaching the new land in longitude 98 

 west, they turned back, according to agreement, 

 to the place where they separated, whereupon 

 they traveled southward and afterward eastward 

 to about longitude S9 west. Here they discov- 

 ered a large system of fiords, proceeding up some 

 of them. The blubber of bear formed a substitute 

 for fuel as the paraffin became exhausted. 



" A third party, consisting of Schei and Hen- 

 iik>cn, with provisions for forty days, chiefly on 



fsological investigations, came on board June 1. 

 hey had traversed two islands north of the 

 sound and been some distance into that fiord 

 win-re Isaachsen and Hassel were. On the return 



