THE 



National Geographic Magazine 



Vol. VIII APRIL, 18<)7 N... 4 



A SUMMER VOYAGE TO THE ARCTIC 



By G. R. Putnam, 



United Stales Coast and Geodetic Survey 



Among the scientific i>arties that assenihlcd at Sy(hie\', Ca|)e 

 Breton, in July hist, for the purpose of paying a brief visit to 

 the Arctic under the leadership of Lieutenant Robert E. Pear}', 

 U. S. N., was one organized by Professor A. E. Burton, of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Institute of Technology. Of this [»arty I became a 

 member, having been granted leave of absence by the Superin- 

 tendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, with the use of the 

 necessary instruments to carry on magnetic and pendulum ob- 

 servations. The destination of our party was Umanak fiord, in 

 the northern [)art of Danisli Greenland and several hundred 

 miles within the Arctic circle. This fiord, although of consider- 

 able interest, has seldom been visited by exi)loring expeditions. 

 It is one of the largest on the Greenland coast and contains some 

 of the finest mountain scenery, being the outlet of a group of 

 glaciers of unusual magnitude. It is also the home of the most 

 prosperous of the Greenland Eskimo communities. 



Our voyage was but a summer trip to moderate latitudes, de- 

 void of the conventional Arctic har(lshii)s; and yet such a trip 

 to Greenland has the peculiar advantage tliat many of the most 

 striking of Arctic phenomena are either actually encountered or 

 are easily accessible. We sailed from Sydney on July IG on the 

 steamer Hope, under the command ()fl'a|)tain John Bartlett, an 

 experienced Arctic navigator. The Hope is one of the best of the 

 Newfoundland sealing and whaling fleet, which is composed of 

 strongly built ships, heavily timbered and sheathed for work in 



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