ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 207, 9 February 1915, Page 7

ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

THRILLING EXPERIENCE. A STRUGGLE FOR FOOD. Among tlie survivors of the ill-fated Canaifan expedition to (lie Arctic regions, organised to explore a hitherto untraversed continent which had been spoken of by Captain I'earey alter bis return from tlie North Pole, is a Newcastle engineer, Mr. Bert W' illiamson. In an interview he gave a clear account of what must have been a very thrilling experience. Tlie expedition was financed by the Canadian Government, and the members of it started for the Arctic Circle from Victoria, British Columbia, on dune 17, 1013, in the schooner-rigged steamer Karluk . It was under tile command of Mr. Vilhjalnmr Stefansson, and Captain Bartlett was the navigating master. HEMMED IN BY ICE. On August Ist the vessel entered the ice a little north of Point Hope, and by the I:sth of the month she was com- 1 plctelv hemmed in. By the latter part . of August the. Karluk was fixed in a solid mass drifting westward, assisted | by an easterly wind. They were still well in sight of land, and at the end of ; the month Commander Stefansson went ashore in the vicinity of Colville river, his idea being to hunt reindeer. (After he li ft the vessel a ffale of wind sprang up, and lie was compelled to remain on the land. Commander Stefansson had a supplv of food sufficient to last fourteen'days with him, and the last the party on the ship heard of him he was at a spot about iOO miles off Banks t Land. TTe bad fallen in with a southern | section of tlie expedition, but had after- | wards left them to make investigations in the frozen latitudes. CARRIED AAV AY IN THE ICE FIELD. In the meantime the Karluk (irmly embedded in her Arctic prison, was carried in a field of ice for hundreds of ; miles in a westerly direction. On -Tan- | nary 10, 1014. she was severely nipped in the ice. Tlie predicament for all on board was so perilous that Captain Bartlett ordered stores to be got oil the shin, and a camp established, mat ni"ht Captain Bartlett alone remained on" the vessel. The others slept m the snow houses they had made near by the ship. Next day the Karluk sank, having been badly holed in her sides by the ice. It was a pathetic, sight to all , of them. Captain Bartlett, with tne j who!., company around him, stood and i watched the. ship gradually disappear. ; Tlie Canadian flag was hoisted by t.ic mate, and thus she went down with ; colors living. Next morning the vessel ; hud gone from view entirely. ATTEMPTS TO REACH LAND. j Willi their vessel at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, and themselves on a j floating field of ice, the expedition \.a. | doomed, so far as any | was concerned, and the next thing . them to do was to trv and reach and. Their objective was Wrangel Island, .-0 miles awav, and the way was difficult and verv hazardous, as there were big broken gaps in the ice to be negotiated every now and then. It was decided not to travel together, but to go in small parties, for, as Mr Williamson said, a few can get along in the ice-bound regions better than a lot. The first party included the mate, Mr Anderson, the second mate, Mr Barker, and two sailors, and they wen- given a good send oil' by the rest of their comrades, who went with them for the first five miles of their journey. The quartette were believed to have got as far as Herald Island, which is 38 miles east of \\ laurel island, and they either died of exhaustion or had been drowned. It was supposed that they bad probably mistaken Herald Island for the Wrangel Island. However, they were never heard of again. . Fourteen days after the mate and Ins party had gone, Dr Forbes Mackay, two scientists, and a sailor departed on a journey to reach Wrangel Island, and they also were heard of no more. A third party, of which Mr Williamson was one, started for Wrangel Island, and they followed for a while the trail of their former comrades, but found it broken up. as they got on their journey, in many places. This was in February. There were five dogs to each pledge, and they carried what provisions were nossible. ' After they had been travelling for five davs they were overtaken by Captain Bartlett, who hail come, along with the remainder of the partv from the spot they had christened Shipwreck Camp. V. hen they vacated the camp, the Canadian flag was flying above it. At the pud of the twenty-third day from the tim» the Karluk was lost tliev reached Wrangel Island. Til that period the icefield had drifted 30 miles to the westward. ON WRANGEL ISLAND. | Tlie party endured the hardships well, and except for one or two of them having suffered from frost-bite they were in frood health and spirits. Wrangel Island. however, was a long way from civilisation, and the party were destined to stay there for months. As a matter of fact, had it not been for the snlendiil bravery and pluck of Captain Bartlett not one of the party might have survived to tell the story of his adventures. Cantain Bartlett, accompanied by an Eskimo and seven dogs, and with SO days' provisions, walked 500 miles through Siberia to Emma Harbour, where lie was picked up bv (he whaler Hermione and taken to St. ■Michael's. Alaska, there giving the first news of the expedition.

"While Captain Bartlett was on, 1)«* lonj* tramp through tlie ice and until their delivery on Sppt<«ml>or 7. the stranded explorers on "Wrangel Tsland experienced jrreat hardships. They had 70 davp' provisions with sheltered in Shipwreck Camp, Imt hv .Tune this food had all gone, and they afterwards existed on seal meat. l>lnV her. walrus, and polar bear. As the days wore on and no assistance name to the explorers, broke op* amon l : lh"tn. and three of tTi-m died---~Ur Malliek a geologist: Mr Manuui, h>s assistant; and a firema n named Brcddv. The feet of .some of the men were badly alToeted bv frost-bite, and the only way thev* eouhl thawt their feet wa« by placing tbein under the vests on tinstomach of a comrade.

I LITTLE fiROUTS. j When Captain Bartlett left them he : told them to separate into little groups' as there would then be a better chance of finding provender. One day "MY Wil-. liamson set off on a 25. miles trudge to( see bow the other four of the band Avere farim/. Tie found them Iving asleep and scarcely strong enough to got up Mr; Williamson offered them some of the food he had with him. but thev declined to take if because they said it would b" rebbini: him. Tfe tramped back to his i'v:n si;r:W hut. and afterwards was plejwi'tl fo hear that on the dav af'ev he left them thev Ind a stroke of luck; tbev shot two or three white foxes, which kept them in f->od for a- week or more. Mr Williamson and his companions brought down a 0001b bear, and its flesh was fine, the nearest in flavour to beef that could be mentioned.