April 3, 1913] 



NATURE 



i 1 



The two explorers therefore started back from 

 the mouth of Independence Fiord around the 

 north-eastern peninsula of Greenland in order to 



reach their base on Shannon Island, 7 to the 

 south. They were delayed by the rotten condition 

 of the thawing ice and the difficulty of crossing 

 the numerous water-leads. They were compelled 

 'to wait until the 

 return of colder 

 weather improved 

 the conditions of ' 

 travel. During 



-most of the re- 

 turn march the 

 two t r a v e 1 1 ers 

 were on v e r y 

 short rations, and 

 the conditions of 

 the season were so 

 unfavourable that 

 there was very 

 little fresh food 

 to be obtained. 

 The seals were so 

 thin that the y 

 sank when shot, 

 so seal-meat was 

 not procurable. 

 Both men were 

 attacked by 

 scurvy, from 

 which they were 

 once cured by 



killing a few Fig. 2.— 1 



birds. Without 



dog transport their position would have been 

 hopeless; but by eating the last of their dogs 

 they managed to reach some of the depots that 

 NO. 2266, VOL. 91] 



had been laid for Erichsen. When at length they 

 arrived at Shannon Island, they found that the 

 Alabama had been wrecked and their companions 

 had left. They 

 had to spend two 

 further winters at 

 their base before 

 their rescue in the 

 spring of 1912. 



The main geo- 

 graphical result of 

 the expedition was 

 the di scovery 

 from Erichsen 's 

 notes that the 

 Peary canal is not 

 a continuous strait 

 but two fiords, so 

 that the northern 

 end of Greenland 

 is not a separate 

 island. Captain 

 Mikkelsen's own 

 work has added 

 to the topography 

 of this most in- 

 accessible part of 

 the Greenland 

 coast. His book 

 he Arctic' is most graphic- 



ally written ; it 

 tells the story of perhaps the most adventurous 

 arctic journey from which the explorers returned 

 to narrate their experiences. The two men suc- 

 ceeded in their errand owing to the same sound 



judgment and geographical insight which enabled 

 them to survive the terrible hardships of their 

 return journey. 



