THE LOSS OF THE EIRA ARCTIC EXPLORER.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2688, 18 November 1882, Page 3

THE LOSS OF THE EIRA ARCTIC EXPLORER.

The steamer Hope, despatched, under the command of Sir Allen Young, in search of Mr Leigh Smith and the crew of the Eira, arrived in Aberdeen on August 19th with the missing explorer and his men safely on board. Mr Leigh Smith gives the following interesting narrative of the loss of the Eira and the experience of the commander and crew“ On June 14th, 1881, the Eira left Peterhead. The ice was very far south, and no opening could be found to enable her to get north until the middle of July. Pranz Josef Land was reached on July 23rd, and the Eira steamed along the coast to within fifteen miles of Cape Ludlow. The ice was closely packed to the north, and it was therefore decided to return to Gray Bay and wait for a more favorable opportunity to go north. On August 7th the Eira was made fast to the land floe near Bell Island, and a storehouse was erected of materials taken out in the Eira. On August loth the Eira left Bell Island, and being unable to pass to pass to the eastward of Barents’ Hook, she was made fast to a land floe off Cape Flora, The next few days were spent in collecting plants and fossils, which, unfortunately, were lost with the vessel. On August 21st the Eira was heavily nipped by the ice, and soon after a leak was discovered. All hands were sot to the pumps, and the donkey engine was also started, but was soon disconnected from the pumps, and by means of the steam winch six casks of flour and about three hundredweight of bread were saved from the main hold. By this time the leak had gained to such an extent that nothing more could be saved from the lower deck, and the engines were again started to pump, but were soon drowned out. All hands were then engaged saving the stores in the after cabin, which consisted chiefly of vegetables. Barely two hours elapsed when the vessel had to be abandoned. All the Jtoats and most of the men were saved, together with some clothes and bedding. Hardly had the last man left the ship when the ice eased, and the Eira rapidly sunk, nothing coming up except a few spars and a young polar bear in a cask. Some of the sails were cut away, and with them and some oars a tent was erected on the ice. A fire was lit and coffee made, which, with some bread and a part of a pudding that had been prepared for that day’s dinner, provided a somewhat spare meal for twenty-five men who had been working nearly the whole day without any food. No one grumbled, as everyone knew he would have to learn to govern his appetite. Next morning the tent was put up on Cape Flora. The crow went to bed next night with lighter hearts, as two bears had been shot diming the day. It was soon evident that the winter would have to be spent on Capo Flora ; so a house was built of stones and turf, and covered with sails. For sixteen nights all the crew slept in the tent, sometimes almost floated out by rain, sometimes spending most of the night in endeavoring to keep up the tent during heavy gales of wind. Before the winter set in sixteen walruses and several bears were shot. The principal food consisted of walrus and bear meat boiled with vegetables, and served out three times a day on twenty-five plates made out of old provision tins. The fire was mostly made by means of blubber and rope, as very little coal or wood had been saved from the ship. Many a time everybody was compelled to rush out of the house to avoid being suffocated *by the smoke which the fire emitted whenever an inexperienced hand took upon himself the duties of cook. Frequent visits from bears were the only source of excitement during the long dark days. They would often come to the porch mouth, and many a man got a scare on rushing out in the dark. The only safe plan was to send the dog out first, as he always gave good warning when a bear was near. One day, about the end of October, some men were walking on the ice in front of the lint when the dog rushed over to some hummocks and returned wagging his tail and barking furiously until some of them followed him. ' To their delight some walruses were seen lying on the ice. The men returned to the house, and every rifle was prepared to give the walruses a heavy volley. Several were shot, but nearly all fell into the water. A boat was then launched, and, after an hour’s exciting hunt, five were killed. In January, again, the dog aided in saving the lives of the Eira’s crew. He found out some walruses on the ice, and three very large animals were killed. Although there were seventy degrees of frost at the time, everybody worked with a will until all the meat and blubber were safely stowed alongside the hut. This piece of good fortune enabled an extra amount of meat to be cooked every day, and aided considerably in preventing that excessive cold of the next few weeks being so disastrous to the crew as it otherwise might have been. It was thought from this that food would be easy to obtain ; but at the middle of March there was scarcely two weeks’ meat remaining. Every bear now seen was eagerly -watched. However, before the end of March eight bears had been killed. At the end of April the birds came back, and every effort was made to climb the cliff where they sat. The land floe extended seven or eight miles, so that no walrus could be killed, and the birds were very scarce. But in June a strong gale cleared the ice away in twentyfour hours, and walruses were seen swimming on the water in hundreds. Five wore killed on one day, and for some days nothing was done but cooking large coppers full of meat, and turning it off for the boat journey. On June 21st, 1882, four boats started from Cape Flora with twenty-five men and provisions for two months. Eighty miles of water were crossed before they encountered the ice. Then the troubles began. Sometimes for days the boats were hauled up on a floe, and no water could be seen to enable them to proceed south, dragging the boats being out of the question, on account of their weight and the roughness of the ice. After six weeks of almost constant toil, the open water was reached, and a course was sot for Nova Zembla. After reaching the water a south-west breeze sprang up, and enabled the boats to sail about five knots, but soon it increased to a gale, and it was as much as the boats could stand to run before it. A heavy thunderstorm came on, and lasted for some hours, with heavy rain, drenching everyone to the skin. But no one thought of wet clothes, as they knew that Nova Zembla must soon be sighted, and within twenty-four hours of leaving the ice the four boats were safely hauled up on the beach at Matotchkin Straits, on the evening of August 2nd. Next morning, soon after breakfast, a schooner was seen coming out of the straits, and a boat wont off to her. The boat’s crew were most heartily welcomed with three ringing cheers long before they got alongside. The schooner turned out to be the Willem Barents, commanded by Captain Hoffman, who, with the officers, showed every possible kindness to the men. The boat’s crew said the Hope anchored within a mile of the place where the rest of the Eira’s crew were still encamped. Previous to their sailing shots had been heard by the Eira’s party early in the morning, which were afterwards found to have been fired by some Russians from a schooner anchored in the same bay as the Hope. The Russians had seen the hut in which the Eira’s crew were housed, and intended to report the matter to the commander of the Hope, but their information was anticipated by the crew of the Willem Barents. Mr Leigh Smith states that he intended to go up the straits, and must have of necessity have seen the Hope, having previously observed the staff marking the spot on which Sir Allen Young had left a record for him, and situated at the point of the bay in which the Hope was anchored. The Willem Barents’ crew had been in company with the Hope, and had just sailed ten minutes before seeing the Eira boat’s crew. A boat was sent on shore and took Mr Leigh Smith on board the Hope, where he and the remainder of his crew were joyfully welcomed by Sir Allen, who had sent all hands from the Hope to bring the rest of the party, with their boats and gear and clothing-, on board. Every effort was made by the commander of the Hope, and the naval officers under him, to render the condition of the men as comfortable as possible. Sir Allen Young started as soon as possible for England, and reached Aberdeen on the morning of August 20th, within a few hours of the anniversary of I

the day on which the Eira was lost. SirAllen Young states that the voyage of the Hope was comparatively uneventful. She reached Karmackula after a somewhat stormy voyage from Konnisvacq, on July 19th, and left a depot for Mr Leigh Smith’s party in charge of the officer in command of a Russian observing station there. The Hope kept as close as possible to the shore in order not to miss any party, but unfortunately she struck on a sunken reef, on which she remained, bumping heavily for twenty-four hours. By great exertions she was got off. She had sustained damage to the keel and rudder-post, but otherwise was perfectly tight. The Hope went back to Altglanbigen Bay, at the entrance to the Meloskin Straits, and the necessary repairs were effected on August 2nd. On the following day search was being carried on along the Nova Zembla coast when the crow of the Eira were found. The Hope sailed for home on the 6th.