DETAILS OF TRAGEDY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 311, 26 August 1932, Page 5

DETAILS OF TRAGEDY

(Press. Assn.-

CANOE FILLED WITH WATER

— By Telegraph — Copyright).

London, August 24. Mr. Watkins went out alone on August 20, seal hunting and Mr. Rymill Chapman later found his kayak in the middle of the lake filled with water. The paddle was drifting nearby, but Watkins' rifle and throw-stick were missing. A search revealed Watkins' trousers in ths kayak and his belt on a small ice floe close to a large actiye glacier half a mile from the nearest land, but there was no trace of Watkins. It is presumed the kayak overturned while he was hunting or was upset by an ice fall from the glacier and Mr. Watkins, being unable to right the kayak, swam clear and reached the ice floe where he undressed and tried to swim ash'ore in the freezing water and was drowned. Mr. Watkins in an article written at Lake Fjord on August 9, in outlining his plans, said he was establishing a base this year at the lake. Owing to the absence of blizzards he hoped to demonstrate that it was usable for flying praetically daily. Flight Lieutenant Daeth, who flew in the expedition last year, said that Mr. Watkins' work at Lake Fjord was intended to prove the feasibility of the Northern Trans-atlantic air route. He paid high tribute to the explorer's qualities of leadership.

Mr. Watkins, before his departure for the Arctic became engaged to Miss Maragaret Graham, who is at present yachting with Mr and Mrs Courtauld on the Scottish Coast. There is no means of communication with Miss Graham, who is unaware of the tragedy. It is recalled that Watkins in a former expedition was very interested in the use of kayaks and became proficient in their management, and adept at hunting in canoes. Newspapers editorially pay tribute to Mr. Watkins. The Times says that he was in the front rank of Arctic explorers. His country and his family have lost one, who, if spared, must have become famous for still greater achievements.