THE 



National Geographic Magazine 



Vol. X DECEMBER, 1899 No. 12 



THE WELLMAN POLAR EXPEDITION 

 By Walter Wellman 



The Wellman Polar Expedition of 1898-'99 had two purposes 

 in view. One of these was to finish the exploration of Franz 

 Josef Land, and the other was to make an approach, by means 

 of what is known as " a dash," near or to the North Pole. In- 

 cidentally to both these efforts scientific work of the usual char- 

 acter was to be carried on by a competent corps of observers. 

 The expedition was aided in a financial way by the National 

 Geographic Society, by President Jesup of the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, by President McKinley, Secretary of 

 State Hay, J. Pierpont Morgan, W. K. Vanderbilt, William C. 

 Whitney, Richard Olney, and other well-known public men. 

 The cost of the expedition was about $27,000, of which sum 

 $12,000 was subscribed by the various contributors. 



June 26, 1898, the expedition sailed from Tromso, Norway, in 

 the ice-steamer Frithjof. Aboard were nine members of the ex- 

 peditionary party — four Americans and five Norwegians. Prof. 

 James H. Gore, of Washington, who had planned to accompany 

 the expedition to Franz Josef Land for a summer's work in 

 geodesy, was unable to go beyond Tromso on account of the 

 danger that the ship might not get back in time to enable him 

 to meet imperative engagements. Calling at Archangel, Russia, 

 the Frithjof took aboard a pack of 83 Siberian dogs which had 

 been brought from the Ob river by Alexander Trontheim, a trust- 

 worthy Russian, who has now supplied three Arctic expeditions 

 with draught dogs purchased from the Ostiak tribes. In order 

 to deliver his pack according to contract, Trontheim had to make 



