Part 15 (1/2)
The detailed plan was to leave Sweden as early as possible in the autumn of 1901 for the South Shetlands, whence the vessel was to go to the east coast of the land known to lie to the south of those islands.
Penetrating as far to the south as possible, a station was to be established at any convenient point and a party of six left there, with the necessary stores, apparatus, and equipment, to spend the winter, while the s.h.i.+p was to return north to the Falkland Islands and spend the winter with the remainder of the expedition carrying out scientific investigations at Tierra del Fuego and South Georgia. On the arrival of spring the _Antarctica_ was to pick up the members of the expedition who might be in Tierra del Fuego and South Georgia and proceed south to the winter station, take on board the members who had pa.s.sed the winter there, and return at once to Sweden.
Unfortunately for the successful carrying out of the plans, the summer of 1902-3, in the Antarctic regions, was the coldest and the worst for ice conditions that has ever been recorded, and the expedition, instead of being able to carry out the plans laid down, experienced, instead, a series of unexpected happenings which was fatal to the exact working out of detail, but was rich in exciting and romantic episode. The Frozen South, like the Frozen North, will not yield its secrets to the first comer who demands them. The resources of the ice world, at either pole, are too vast to be overcome without a fierce and prolonged struggle.
Instead of one winter, the Swedish expedition spent two in the ice region, while, during the second, all the members of it were living on the ice, though as three separate parties, each within a few miles of the other, and all, more or less, ignorant of the proximity of their comrades. The peculiar circ.u.mstances under which they became separated, their experiences during that time, and the dramatic manner in which they were reunited and rescued, will form the chief incidents of the following pages.
Leaving Sweden on October 17, 1901, the _Antarctica_ proceeded to South America, where, at the request of the Argentine Government, a representative of that country, in the person of Lieutenant Sobral, of the Navy, joined the expedition. In return for this courtesy the Argentine Government offered to do all it could to a.s.sist the expedition. How magnificently it carried out its promise will be seen later.
Early in January the s.h.i.+p was amongst the ice, making her way as fast as she could to the neighbourhood of Erebus and Terror Gulf, where it was hoped a suitable site would be found for the winter station. The state of the ice, however, was not favourable to this scheme, and, by the time Seymour Island was sighted, it was evident there was little chance of working into more southern lat.i.tudes. Nearly ten years before Captain La.r.s.en had visited this island, and had taken from it specimens of fossil wood and molluscs, the first fossils ever discovered in the Antarctic.
Before landing on it and seeking for more geological specimens, the leader determined to try whether there was any chance of penetrating to the South from a more westerly longitude. The s.h.i.+p was turned on to a westerly course and kept on it until the beginning of February, but as no opening was to be seen through the ice to the south, her head was turned to the east once more, and she returned to the neighbourhood of Seymour Island. On February 10 the vessel was in Sydney Herbert Bay, which formed the hitherto unvisited part of Erebus and Terror Gulf. As it was obviously impossible to get farther to the south, Nordenskjold decided to establish the winter station on one of the islands in this vicinity.
A brief visit to Seymour Island did not reveal the wealth of fossil-bearing strata that was expected. Paulet Island was visited and an interesting circular lake was discovered, lying in a circular range of hills. The banks of the lake bore ample evidences that at one time there had been great volcanic activity at the place, and the lake was evidently formed in the hollow of the extinct crater. The place did not appeal to them as a site for the winter station, and, as further journeys revealed another island on the other side of Seymour Island, where there was a beach which appeared to be sheltered from the southward, the point whence the most violent winds blew, it was decided to build the hut there.
The _Antarctica_ anch.o.r.ed in the bay opposite the beach and rapidly unloaded the camp equipment. When everything was almost landed, a movement in the ice at the mouth of the bay compelled the s.h.i.+p to stand out into open water, so the party of six, who were to spend the winter on the island, hastened ash.o.r.e, where they had their hut to build and all preparations to make without the help, which had been counted upon, of the crew of the vessel. But this did not weigh heavily upon them, and they set to work with a will. In the course of a week, the _Antarctica_ was able to get into the bay again and to land the remaining stores; but by that time the hut was up and the adventurous six were almost settled down to their routine work.
A day or so after landing, Nordenskjold discovered that the island they were on--named Snow Hill Island--was peculiarly interesting from a geological point of view, for he found fossils of ammonites, a token of ancient life of the region which alone would have made the expedition memorable.
During the first month of their sojourn, the party were fully occupied in organising their scientific work and in taking preliminary trips through the island. At an early date they satisfied themselves that Admiralty Bay is a Sound, and that the portion of the continent extending to the vicinity was more in the nature of a group of scattered islands, with deep sounds pa.s.sing between them, than a continuous stretch of mainland. The microscopical examination of the soil revealed the presence of numerous bacteria, while the examination of the waters showed that the lower forms of life were well represented. On the land there were abundance of penguins, seals, and migratory birds; but otherwise there was an absence of the animals found throughout the Arctic regions.
On one point they had reason to be dissatisfied with the position selected for the station. At the time the site was chosen it was believed that they would be well sheltered from the force of the gales.
The reverse was found to be the case. Gales came from the south-west for days together and blew with a velocity that was astounding. On one occasion a large bag of fossils, left on the steps of the hut, was blown yards away; while on another, a barrel of bread was carried off, and a whale-boat was lifted over a second boat and flung against a ma.s.s of ice, a distance of twenty-one yards. When the boat was found, after the storm had abated, it was lying keel upwards, with the greater part of one side smashed in. The oars, thwarts, and inside planks were scattered and broken, even the zinc plating being stripped off and blown away.
A curious phenomenon was observed during the progress of these gales.
The air became saturated with electricity to such an extent that the metal parts of the instruments gave shocks to the fingers when touched, while the tips of a man's fingers glowed with luminosity when outside the hut in the dark. As a similar thing occurs in the Sahara during the progress of a simoon or sand-storm, it was considered that the amount of electricity was caused by the friction set up by the particles of snow carried along in a never-ending cloud by the gale. The rate at which the dry particles of snow moved was tremendous. An extra severe gale carrying away the wind-gauge, it was not possible to keep a complete record of the velocity of the gales, but from the records secured, it was demonstrated that, during the first half of June, if the hut had travelled with the same velocity as the wind rushed past it, a distance of 14,900 miles would have been covered, or as far as from the hut to Sweden and half-way back.
As winter approached, the storms obscured the sky and the sun was not often seen. They were not far enough south to lose it altogether, and all through the winter they had the benefit of its presence, though not for many hours at a time. When it did come, however, it came with great magnificence. After a series of storms they saw it rise one morning, and the spectacle is described as gorgeous and beautiful. ”The morning was so clear and bright that I absolutely do not know with what to compare it,” Nordenskjold wrote. ”A faint violet light lay along the horizon and over c.o.c.kburn Island, which forms the central point of view from the station. The sky gleams with a darker blue, and across it float long streamers of ribbon-like clouds, which s.h.i.+ne and flame in red. But ever in the colours there is something pale, a paleness which predominates with indescribable delicateness of tone in the tints of the horizon, and in the blue and white shades of the stretches of land, which contrast so strongly with the dull brown of our immediate neighbourhood, and even with the sharply defined ice wall of Snow Hill. At about ten o'clock a glowing spot begins to be visible on the horizon, and, presaged by a perpendicular pillar of fire, there rises what would be the orb of the sun, but which, in consequence of refraction, appears to us to be a broad flaming moving belt of fire. On each side of the sun there are two s.h.i.+ning, intensely rainbow-coloured belts, forming parts of a ring, which, however, can be seen but imperfectly. The sun rises higher in the heavens and a.s.sumes by degrees his ordinary appearance, whereupon these accessory phenomena disappear, together with the moon, whose crescent has been visible in the sky until the last possible moment.”
The winter pa.s.sed without misfortune, and with the approach of spring preparations were made for the first long sledge journey. On this, and other journeys, they succeeded in travelling long distances over what was often heavy ice, on two meals a day. The first, which was the more substantial of the two, consisted of pemmican made into a thick porridge-like soup, the nutritious qualities of which were felt even as it was being eaten. This was followed by coffee, meat, biscuits, b.u.t.ter and sugar. On such a meal the men existed and travelled all day, making no stop until the evening, when they had their dinner, consisting merely of pease or lentil soup, meat, chocolate, bread, b.u.t.ter, and, sometimes, bacon. Immediately they had eaten this frugal repast they were in their sleeping-bags and asleep.
After climbing the ice ridges, which rose along the sh.o.r.es of the mainland, they succeeded in reaching the land itself on October 18, though the only evidence of it was the appearance of some dark-coloured rocks which showed above the ice. They were then in 56 48' S. and 62 11' W. This was as far as they penetrated, and the rapidity of their movements is shown by the record they set of thirty-eight and a half miles in one day. Other shorter trips taken over the islands in the vicinity of Snow Hill Island resulted in the discovery of important fossils, including the bones of an unknown vertebrate animal, some mammoth penguins, as well as the leaves of different kinds of pine trees and several ferns. These were all regarded as belonging to the Tertiary period.
With the New Year of 1903 they indulged in festivities, not only on account of the season, but also in antic.i.p.ation of the early arrival of the _Antarctica_. As they had no idea of spending two winters in succession in the station, they had not been rigidly economical with their stores. There was no shortage in anything, but there was not enough to last them during a second winter on the same scale that they had lived during the first. When the days went by and grew into weeks, and no s.h.i.+p appeared, they began to take note of these things. For a time they kept on the lookout, and, at night, would conjecture at what hour on the following day the _Antarctica_ would appear, and by whom she would first be seen, but as the month slipped by and no s.h.i.+p appeared, they dropped the subject, with one accord, and, instead of discussing when the vessel would arrive, they talked about the best way of spending their second winter at the station. The penguin roosts were visited and large numbers of the birds were killed and stored away for winter food, while seals were slaughtered to provide food for the dogs and clothing for the men. Although they never discussed it, the idea each man had about the non-arrival of the _Antarctica_ was that she had become caught in the ice, and so prevented from reaching them until it was too late in the season. What had actually occurred never suggested itself.
After pa.s.sing the winter as was arranged, the _Antarctica_ had proceeded to Tierra del Fuego and South Georgia, had picked up all the members of the expedition, and had steamed away to the South so as to reach the winter station early in January. As she advanced, however, she found the sea so blocked with ice that she could not follow the course she had sailed the previous year. When she arrived at Hope Bay, some miles to the north of the station, Professor Andersson and two companions landed with sledges and sufficient provisions to last nine men for two months.
It was their intention to proceed over the ice to the station, while the _Antarctica_ steamed away to the west, in the hopes of finding an opening through the ice which would enable her to reach the station. If, on the arrival of the relief party at the station, the _Antarctica_ had not appeared, they were to return, with the other six, and wait for the s.h.i.+p at Hope Bay.
Before proceeding over the ice to the station the three built a small stone hut, where they stored the greater portion of the stores, and with the remainder on their sledge they started on their march. But the ice, which had been too compact for the s.h.i.+p to penetrate, was not compact enough for them to traverse. Delay after delay was caused by leads and channels, until it was forced upon them that they would not be able to reach the station until the summer was over and the ice formed solid over the sea. As by that time the _Antarctica_ ought to have arrived at the station, they decided their best course was to return to the depot at Hope Bay and await her advent. They did so, but no s.h.i.+p appeared, and, with the end of summer, it was clear to them that something had happened either to the s.h.i.+p or at the station, and that the only thing left for them to do was to make themselves as comfortable as they could.
With the limited store of provisions they had with them it was necessary to go on short rations at once, though the capture of some penguins, the shooting of seals, and the catching of fish by means of a hook made from a strap buckle and a line of sealskin torn into strips, augmented their stock of food and gave them, also, in the blubber of the seals, fuel and light. Cooped up in their little stone hut, which was only built large enough, in the first instance, as a place to hold their stores, they went through the dreary months of winter with a contentment which was the very acme of heroism.
Meanwhile the _Antarctica_ had steamed away to the west, and then, a chance offering itself, had stood to the south until she was in the lat.i.tude of Paulet Island. She turned to the east, heading in the direction of the station on Snow Hill Island, when the ice caught her.
For days she remained in the pack, those on board chafing at the delay and trying every device to get her free. But the ice was too strong, and at last they were forced to admit that they were caught for the winter.
This was bad enough, but there was worse to follow. A movement began in the pack, and a pressure-ridge started directly for the s.h.i.+p. It was upon them almost before they realised it, and the crash with which she heeled over told its own tale. The ice had torn a length of her keel away, and had made a hole in her which it was impossible to repair.
Everything that could be got out was thrown on to the ice, and the s.h.i.+p's company formed themselves into sledge parties to convey as much as they could to the nearest land. This was Paulet Island, where they arrived after an arduous march and at once set to work to construct a shelter for the winter, which was now upon them. There they stayed, within a few miles of the station, and of the other party at Hope Bay, but all in ignorance of the proximity of one another, and quite unable to communicate.
With the first sign of approaching spring the men at the station made arrangements to resume their expeditions and complete the survey of the islands in their immediate vicinity. The first trip was in the direction of Hope Bay, and the party had been out some days when, in the dim light, one thought he saw an unusual dark patch on the ice in the distance. He drew his companion's attention to it, but neither cared to trust their eyes. As they approached nearer, the dark patch resolved itself into the figures of men, and a still nearer view revealed two such extraordinary creatures that one of the men from the station thought it would be as well to have a revolver ready in case of emergencies. The two figures were in black garments, with black caps on their heads, and their hands and faces were as black as their clothes, while the upper parts of their faces were hidden by curious-looking masks. Beside them was a sledge.