154 



NA rURE 



[June i6, 1904 



sheltered bay, which they appropriately named Fram's 

 Haven. 



The winter passed pleasantly. They were fortunate 

 in securing; abundance of fresh meat in the shape of 

 musk oxen, hares and ptarmigan, while they were also 

 lucky enough to kill several walruses, which afforded 

 them an excellent opportunity of laying in a large 

 stock of food for their dogs, of which they had about 

 seventy on board. 



It is a pity that Captain Sverdrup in his narrative 

 should have considered it desirable to alter the nomen- 

 clature of that animal which has so long, and so uni- 

 versally, been known as the musk ox. Its scientific 

 name is the Ovibos moscliatus, and it was so called in 

 consequence of the muskj' odour which has always been 

 associated with its flesh. Captain Sverdrup, simply 

 because he failed to detect this strong scent in 

 any of the beasts killed in his expedition, somewhat 

 arbitrarily alters the name by which they have hitherto 

 been known to that of "polar ox." This is a mis- 

 nomer, for although the animals have been found in a 

 fairly high northern latitude, they are also inhabitants 

 of sub-Arctic climes, and are frequently seen as far 

 south as latitude 54° in North America. 



It is an established fact, although not, apparently, 

 ■coming under the personal cognisance of Captain 

 Sverdrup, that unmistakable traces of the odour of 

 musk, which have had most unpleasant effects on those 

 who have partaken of the meat sp tainted, have on 

 many occasions been observed by travellers and 

 explorers, who, however, also report that their flesh 

 when not tainted is excellent eating. 



It is therefore to be regretted that Captain Sverdrup 

 should have so completely ignored the experience of 

 others, and substituted another name for an animal 

 that is so well known, and one which has been in 

 general use for so many years. 



During the winter and following spring, several 

 sledging expeditions were undertaken, having for their 

 object the exploration of Ellesmere Land. 



On one of these excursions Captain Sverdrup was 

 unlucky enough to break one of his teeth, which 

 incident is thus somewhat facetiously alluded to. 



" When dinner was at last served, I fell to on a biscuit 

 ■with such ardour that I managed to break off a front tooth. 

 Fosheim (his companion) thought we ought not to waste 

 our teeth so far away from people, and implored me not 

 to go on in that way. I followed his advice, and was 

 about to throw away the tooth, when he again observed, 

 that there was no knowing how useful it might be ; so 

 I put it in my pocket to serve as a remembrance and a 

 warning. I have since had it put in again." 



Fosheim was evidently a man of a practical turn of 

 mind, thoughtful, sensible, and of great perspicacity! 



Although the Eskimos have never yet been found 

 living on the western side of Smith Sound, vestiges 

 of a previous occupation of the country by these 

 nomadic tribes were discovered. They consisted 

 chiefly of little heaps of stones and the ribs of whales 

 placed in circular formations, presumably so arranged 

 as to form their summer encampments. Similar 

 traces, it may be remembered, were found by Sir 

 George Nares's expedition on the west side of Smith 

 Sound. 



During one of his sledging expeditions in the late 

 autumn, Sverdrup was startled by the altogether un- 

 expected arrival at his camp of a sledge with two men 

 on it. They proved to be the American explorer. 

 Commander Peary, with an Eskimo dog driver. They 

 had driven over from the ship Windward, which was 

 •beset in the ice about a mile from the shore in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Hawks. 



This meeting on the silent shores of the xArctic Ocean 

 NO. 1807, VOL. 70] 



seems to have been as surprising and as unexpected as 

 the equally stran|^e one between Nansen and Jackson 

 in Franz Josef Land only a couple of years earlier. At 

 that time they were probably the only two expeditions 

 in the Arctic regions engaged on geographical dis- 

 covery. They had been absent from home for a long 

 period ; they were several miles from their respective 

 ships, yet we read, with something akin to surprise, 

 that Peary only remained in their company for a few 

 minutes, and would not even wait while a cup of 

 coffee was being prepared for him, or, as Captain 

 Sverdrup tersely puts it, " his visit was so short that 

 we had hardly time to pull off our mittens "! 



In the spring of iSqg the From was visited by several 

 Eskimos from the cast side of the Sound who were 

 on their way to Peary's ship. They were so pleased 

 with the warm reception that was accorded thein, and 

 with the kindness they received at the hands of the 

 Norwegians, that they appear to have overstayed their 

 welcome, for we read that : — 



" We began to be heartily sick of them all. They spread 

 all over the vessel a peculiar rank odour of blubber and 

 train oil with indefinable additions. We tumbled over 

 them wherever we went, while their shock heads of hair 

 looked as if they might accommodate a legion of animals 

 of which we stood in far greater fear than of either the 

 polar o.K or the bear " ! 



The wandering Eskimo is not altogether the most 

 agreeable or the most savoury companion to associate 

 with for an indefinite period. 



It was not until the end of July that the Fratn 

 succeeded in extricating herself from the icy bondage 

 in which she had been held for eleven long months. 

 Attempts were at once made to work to the northward, 

 but the ice was found so tightly packed that Captain 

 Sverdrup abandoned all further efforts to proceed in 

 that direction, and turned his attention to Jones Sound, 

 a route that had always been regarded by Arctic 

 authorities as one very favourable for exploration. On 

 September i the Fram, having reached a position (in 

 this sound) in the neighbourhood of Admiral Ingle- 

 field's furthest in 1852, was secured in her second 

 winter quarters, in a small and almost land-locked 

 harbour which was named Havnefjord. 



From this position much useful and important geo- 

 graphical work was accomplished by boat in the 

 autumn, and by sledges during the following winter 

 and spring. Many musk oxen were fallen in with, 

 and a large number of seals also were shot. The cold 

 during the winter was so great that the brandy in a 

 flask was frozen solid. The following little episode 

 will show that inconveniences arising from intense cold 

 were not regarded in a very serious manner by the 

 travellers : — 



" While Fosheim was taking his turn at running, being 

 as warm as possible, he forgot all about his nose, which 

 took this opportunity of freezing. He knew nothing about 

 it, until it was frozen so stiff that it looked like a piece 

 of white bone in the middle of his face, and he might easily 

 have broken it off. Had it gone on freezing a little longer, 

 he would have been noseless. 



" However with general assistance and careful treat- 

 ment that member was saved at the last moment, but it 

 wore mourning for a long time afterwards, and looked 

 more like a dab of pitch which had got into the wrong 

 place than anything else in the world." 



When released in the summer of 1900, the Fram 

 steamed to the west and went up Cardigan Strait ; after 

 being beset in the ice for some weeks they succeeded 

 in reaching the head of Goose Fjord, where they passed 

 their third winter. They confidently expected that 

 this would be their last winter from home ; but, alas ! 

 the Fates ordained otherwise, and they were compelled 

 to pass a fourth one, having only succeeded in 



