Part 56 (1/2)
At such a terrible temperature pure brandy and glycerine freeze hard, and a man, though heavily clothed, will perish in a few minutes. The Eskemo dogs by choice slept in the snow outside rather than within the building.
THE GRAVE OF DR. HALL.
On the last day of February, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by Brainard, Jewell, Long, the two Eskemos, and a couple of dog teams, started on a journey to Thank G.o.d Harbor, seventy-five miles away. The journey was made without accident and the observatory was found still standing, while near at hand was the grave of the Arctic explorer, Captain C.F. Hall. The grave was marked by a metallic headboard, put up by the English and the other by Hall's comrades. On the British board are these words: ”To Captain Hall, who sacrificed his life in the advancement of science, November 8, 1871. This tablet has been erected by the British Polar Expedition of 1875, which followed in his footsteps and profited by his experience.” The American inscription is as follows:
IN MEMORY OF CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, LATE COMMANDER U.S. STEAMER POLARIS, NORTH POLE EXPEDITION, DIED NOVEMBER 8, 1871.
”I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE.”
The great ambition of Lieutenant Lockwood was to lead an expedition along the northern coast of Greenland, to which Arctic explorers. .h.i.therto had paid comparatively slight attention. His intelligence, daring, and skill caused Greely to give him his full confidence and to leave the entire arrangement of the venture in his hands.
Lockwood's intention was to start about the 1st of April. Sergeant Brainard was to go with the supporting parties in advance to Cape Sumner and leave supplies. Then when Lockwood's party reached the same point, with all the provisions they could carry with comfort, the explorers would be well supplied.
LOCKWOOD'S EXPEDITION TO THE FAR NORTH.
Amid the firing of pistols, waving of flags, and cheers, the start was made by Lockwood on the 2d of April. Three days later, the party dragging a sled laden with pemmican reached a snow-house, where they found Brainard and his friends returning. There were thirteen in all, and they were crowded in their close quarters, but the fact gave them additional warmth.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A FUNERAL IN THE ARTIC REGIONS.]
It will be remembered that the long Arctic night was about ended. In the misty light, a dark object was discerned on the top of a neighboring iceberg, which being scrutinized was recognized as an eagle. It was accepted as a good omen by the men, who cheered the n.o.ble bird that vividly reminded them of their distant home.
The direction was now to the northeast. They crossed the straits at Cape Beechy, pus.h.i.+ng to within a few miles of the eastern sh.o.r.e, whence they were to proceed directly to Fort Sumner. In order to follow the course of the party intelligently the reader needs to keep a reliable map of the Arctic regions before him.
Fort Conger stood close to the intersection of sixty-fifth meridian and the eighty-second parallel, being a little south of the latter and east of the former. From this starting-point, the route of Lockwood was slightly south of northeast to its termination. Almost from the beginning, the traveling was so difficult that the bravest explorers could not have been blamed for turning back.
The ice was tumbled together in irregular ma.s.ses many feet in thickness, through which they often had to cut the way with axes for their sledges.
The wind rose to a hurricane, and was of piercing coldness, and so filled with fine particles that they cut the face like bird-shot. Most of the time they could not see one another when separated by a few feet.
m.u.f.fled to their eyes, the brave explorers fought their-way onward, often compelled to stop and turn their backs to the gale, which almost swept them off their feet. Frequently they crouched behind the piles of ice to regain their breath while the furious wind roared above their heads.
Toughened, as were all the men, some of them succ.u.mbed under the fearful work. These returned to camp, and the party was reduced to nine. This occurred on the 10th of April, very near where the 82d parallel crosses the 60th meridian. There Lieutenant Lockwood came to a halt, and turned back with the dogs to Fort Conger. The round journey was a hundred miles, but it was necessary to get supplies that could be obtained in no other way, and to secure new runners for their sledges, which were battered by their rough usage.
Accompanied by the two Eskemos, Lockwood made a new start on the 14th of April, and averaged two miles an hour until he reached his new camp.
From that point the nine men had three sledges, which they dragged, and a fourth that was drawn by the dogs. With indomitable pluck they struggled onward, and all were thrilled on the 25th of the month by the knowledge that they had reached a point further north than had ever been attained by an American, and they hoped to surpa.s.s all others.
The heroic explorers had by no means finished their task. At regular points they cached their provisions against the return. If the reader will locate on his map the intersection of the 55th meridian with the parallel of 82 20', he will have a point close to Cape Bryant, where the supports of the party withdrew and started on their return to camp.
All who were now left were Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and the Eskemo Frederick.
Lockwood apportioned rations for twenty-five days among the three.
Consequently the northward journey and the return must be made within that time, since they believed it impossible to obtain food in that fearful region. Shaking hands with their companions, who wished them good-speed, the little party broke into two divisions, one tramping southward, while the other resumed its laborious journey toward the northeast.
Before Lockwood left Cape Sabine, Lieutenant Greely gave it as his belief that his brave a.s.sistant might succeed in reaching Cape Britannia, which lies about 40 east and 82 45' north. The explorer Beaumont saw this cape, but was unable to reach it. When Lockwood and Brainard arrived there, however, they had no thought of stopping. A cairn was built, a written account of their travels deposited, and five days' rations left. Then the heroes bent to their herculean task again.
The Eskemo was left with the dogs, while the two white men, wrapped in their furs, laboriously climbed an adjoining mountain, half a mile in height. From the crest they scanned the snowy landscape, the very picture of desolation. Twenty miles to the northeast, the direction they were traveling, they made out a dark promontory, terminating in a rocky headland and penetrating the Polar Ocean, while between it and them a number of islands reared their heads and were separated by fiords. Half of the remaining horizon was filled with the dismal ice of the Frozen Sea.
They had no expectation of meeting with animal life in this world of desolation, but they fired several times (and missed) at ptarmigan, and, having wounded a rabbit, succeeded in running it down. It was a mystery to them how this little animal found the means of sustaining life so near the Pole.
It may be wondered how far these three men would have gone had it been possible to travel. They became accustomed to the exhaustive work, but the end of the journey was reached on the 13th of May, when they paused on the edge of an immense fissure in the ice, extending indefinitely to the right and left, and too broad to be crossed. They searched for a long time, only to learn that it was utterly out of their power to go a foot further. Nothing remained but to learn their exact location.