POLAR EXPLORATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1388, 14 March 1912, Page 5

POLAR EXPLORATION.

FUNDS FOR AMUNDSEN,

NORWEGIAN GRANT,

By Teltjfraph—Press Association—Copyright tßcc. March 14, 11.20 p.m.) Christiania, March 13. The Budget Committee nf the Storthing is considering a proposal Hint n professorial chair lie- established for Captain AmmuUcn at the University of Christiania. M. Bralhlie, I lie Premier, announced that Ihe Government was proposing a grant to Captain Amundsen, to enable him to carry out his Arctic exploration. Tho Norwegian Geographical Society has appealed to (lie public to support its subscription to defray the costs of Captain Amundsen's South Polar expedition. MAWSON EXPEDITION. PACK-ICE EXTENDING NORTH. Hobart, March 13. The captain of tho Aurora, Dr. Mawson's ship, reports that tho extension of tho pack icc northward of Claircland and Capo Carr, discovered by previous explorers, lias disappeared. He sailed over the spot, and sounded oil a spot where land was shown on the chart. The termination of the land had also altered its position. Ho was satisfied of its recession. Tho Antarctic pack ice was being pushed farther seaward. It was apparent that very little was melting. In tlic summer the conditions wero generally much more severe than tliev used to be. Dr. Mawson's main base had been established. It had a good boat harbour. I)r. Mawson expected to send out parlies this year to reconnoitre before getting ready for more extended efforts in the summer. A second party, under Captain Wilde, has established a base more to tho westward. It expected only to fix up depots this season. The Aurora is due to reach Dr. Mawson's base again on January 15. Hair seals wore plentiful, but none of the fur species were seen. Lieutenant Prcsstriidc, lender of Captain Amundsen's party to King Edward Lans, confirmed previous discoveries by Captain Scott AN EARLY VOYAGE. THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. FIRST SHIP TO SAIL THROUGH. In his story of how he forced the North-West l'assago in the tiny sloop Gjoa (47 tons), Amundsen tells how he formed a boyish resolve to attempt the North-West Passage," and would have liked to have gono with Dr. Nansen when he left again in 1803. At that time Amundsen was barely 20; he was too young. "My mother," lie writes, "bade me stay at home, and go on with my lessons. And I stayed. Jly mother passed away, and for n time my affection for her memory i struggled to keep mo faithful to her wish, but at last it give way. No bond could | restrain my yearning to pursue the object of my old and ooily desire. I threw up my studies and decided to start the long training for the goal I had set More me, that of becoming an Arctic explorer. In 1891 I engaged as an ohlinarv seaman on board the old Magdalena, of 'Joasberg, and went out seal-hunting in tho Mar Sea. This wns my first encounter with the icc, and I liked it. Time passed, my training progressed, and from 1897 to 1899 1 took; part, ns mate, in the Belgian Antarctic expedition, under Adrion do Gerlache." "To Sir John Franklin," says Amundsen in his story of the voyage, published in the. "Geographical Journal" in 1907, "must b'o given the honour of having discovered the North-west Passage, and to Admiral Sir Robert M'Clure thnt of being the first to pass through it, partly in his vessel, the Investigator, and partly on foot. On tho foundations laid by tho splendid work done and the rich fund of experience gained by English navigators in these regions I succeeded—in the track of Sir James Ross, Dr. John Rae, Admiral Sir Leopold Jl'Clintock, Sir Allen Young, and many others—in making my way in tho Gjoa to the region around the earth's north magnetic pole, and, furthermore, in sailing through tho North-west Passago in its entirety. If I have thus been tlio first to sail through thn North-west Passage, it is with pleasure that I share tho honour with those bravo English seamen —tho seamen who here, as in most of tho other parts of the world, have taken the lead and shown us tho way. "It was the Norwegian minister to.England, Dr. Fn'dtjof Nansen, who, by his great experience mid his many good counsels, made the Gjoa expedition what it was—one in all respects well planned and excellently equipped. In oruer not. to tire my hearers I will givo ill as fewwords as possible the earlier history of tho expedition. • "Tho scheme of the Gjoa expedition I had a welcome opportunity of laying before the Norwegian Geographical Society on November 25, 1901. It was briefly ns follows:—With a small vessel and n few companions, to penetrate into the regions around the earth's north magnetic pole, and by a series of accurate observations, extending over a period of two years, to relocate the pole observed- by Sir James Ross in 1831. and also to make investigations in its immediate This was the chief object of the expedition. "The condition of the ice still, farther west allowing, it was furthermore my intention to attempt to sail through the North-west. Passage in its entire extent, this being a problem which for centuries / had defined the most persistent efforts. I chose a small vessel, with the view of being better able to pass through the sounds of these regions, which are narrow, shallow. and generally packed with ice. Tn preferring a small number of members to a larger party, it was—apart 1 from want cf ppace—because, in the event of such a misfortune occurring to us as the loss of our vessel, it would be easier to find means of subsistence for n small than for a greater number of men. "My undertaking, as soon 1 as it became known, awakened great interest in very wide circles, and several wealthy men canie forward and supported the enterprise with donations. It would take too long to name all the persons who gave the expedition pecuniary support, but I must in respectful gratitude mention the names of their Majesties King Haakon and King Oscar : 11. I "The vessel of tho Gjoa expedition was • built in Hardanger in 1872, and was the only vessel assigned to tho trip. She had originally been used in 'the herring fisheries along the Norwegian coast ; later she was sent to Tromso, whence she sailed for many years in tho arotic sealing trade. She had weathered many o storm, though not alv;avs scatlilcss. After my purchase of her I had a small petroleum motor, of 39 indicated horse-power, put into her. to help us along in calm weather. The ice sheathing, which beforo only reached a couple of planks under the water line, 1 had lengthened right down to the keel: stout crossbeams were put into the hold and connected with, massive joints to the deck and keelson, and the old hemne.u riggin? was rcolaccd by wire rigging." The Gioa's cabin measured only Oft. by lift.. Her company totalled six. She left Christiania on June 17. 190,1. and reached Behrin? Strait on August 30. 1900. the first shiD'to pass from Atlantic to Pacific north of Patagonia. STEERING BY THE STARS. THE FEEL OF THE OCEAN SWELL. An interesting description is given by Amundsen in his "North-west Passage, of his sensations ill discovering. that Franklin Strait, in which his little ship, the Gjoa, was sailing, was in reality n connection «;ith a virgin open sea. "By nine o'clock at night we were off PreH'ott Islniul in tho strait. This island became a landmark on our voyage. The needle of Die compass, which had lieen gradually losing its capacity for self-ad-justment, now ab-olutely declined to act. We were thus reduced tn steering by the stars.'like our forefathers, the. Vikings. Tl'if uindc of navigation of doubtful security, ""en in nrrtinnry waters, but it Ja jv.mw here, where tlio nkj, 101 t}Vov

thirds of thp lime, is veiled in impenetrable log. However, we were lucky enough to start in clear weather. Outside, tlie promontories, sumo pieces of ice had aiTUmululwl, otherwise, tin. , sea was free from ice. Next day \\o had a, good lesson in our new colli* of navigation, us clear weather alternated with lug all day long. . . . For tho .snke. of my comrades, I maintained n. calm demeanour os usual, lint inwardly 1 was Hindi agitated. Wo were now fast approaching the De. Iα lloquotle Islands; they were already in sight. This was Ihe point that Sir Allen Yniiitpr reached with tho Pandora in ISVS, but here he encountered an invincible barrier uf ice. Were wb anil the Gjoa to meet the fame tale? "Then, as I walked, I Ml something like an irregular lurching motion, <u\d 1 slopped in surprise. ... I \£onld not have sold this slight motion lor any amount of inniiey. It was a swell under the bunt, a swell—a message from (he open sea. The water to Iho south was open—the impenetrable wall of ieo was not there."