HOW THE FRAM FARED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2237, 14 January 1897, Page 54

HOW THE FRAM FARED.

SVERDRUP'S STORY. SViSRDKUP'S INSTRUCTIONS. When I left the Fram, I gave inßtruotions to Sverdrup. Among other things it ran thus :—": — " The chief aim of the expedition is to push through the unknown Polar Sea from the district; around New Siberia north of Franz Josef's Land out to the Atlantic Ocean near Spitzbergen or Greenland. The principal part of this task I consider we have already accomplished ; the rest will be accomplished little by little as the expedition goes farther west. In order to make the expedition yet more productive, I will make an attempt to push on farther to the north with dogs. Your duty will then be to bring the lives hereby entrusted to you home by the safest way, and not to expose them to needless danger either out of regard to the ship, cargo, or results of the expedition. IN CASE OF ABANDONMENT. "How long it may be before the Fram drifts out into open water no one can tail. You have provisions for several years ; but should it, for some unknown reason, take too long, or should the crew begin to suffer in health, or you for any other reason consider it best to abandon the vessel, this should unquestionably be done. At what time it should take place, as also the way that ought to be chosen, you yourself will be best able to judge. Should it be necessary, I consider Franz Josef's Land and Spitzbergen to be the beet lands to make for. If search is made for the expedition after Johansen's and my arrival home, it will first be made there. When you come to land you should as often as possible erect conspicuous cairns on promontories and projecting headlands, and within the cairn ptaoo a short statement of what has been done and whither you are going. In order to make these oairns distinguishable from others, a very small cairn should be erected four metres from the large one in a northward direction by tbe magnet. What outfit will be the best in case of tbe abandoning of the Fram is a question we have so often discussed that I consider it superfluous to dwell on'it here. I know that you ; will take care the needful number of kayaks I for all tbe men, sledges, ski, snow shoes, and other articles of outfit, are put in order as soon as possible and kept in readiness, so that such a journey over the ice could be undertaken with the greatest possible ease. Information as to the provisions I consider most suitable for a journey of this kind, and the quantity necesßary for each man, I give elsewhere. IN EMERGENCIES. " I know, too, that you will hold everything in readiness to abandon the Fram in the shortest possible time in the event of a sudden misfortune befalling her in the shape of fire or pressure. If the ice permits, I consider ie advisable that thore should always ba a depot with sufficient provisions, &c, upon a safe place on tbe ice, &uch as we have lately had. All necessary things which cannot be upon the ice ought to be so placed on board that they are easy to get at under any circumstances. As you know, there are only concentrated sledge provisions now in the ' depot, but as it is not impossible that the expedition might have to remain quiet for some time before setting off it would be ex1 tremely desirable to save as much tinned

meat, fish, and vegetables as possible. Should disturbed times come, I would even consider it advisable to have a supply of these articles also ready on the ice. " Should the Fram, in drifting, bear far to the north of Spitzbergen and get into the current under the east ooast of Greenland, many possibilities oonld be imagined, which now it is not easy to form any opinion about ) but should you be obliged to abandon the Fram, and make for the land, it would be best for you to erect cairns, as mentioned above, there, too, as searoh might possibly be made for the expedition there. In that case, whether you ought to make for Iceland (which is the nearest land, and whither you would be able to go in the spring by following the edge of the ice) or for the Danish colonies west of Oape Farewell, you will be better able to judge when ycu see the circumstances. OUTFIT. "The things that ought to be taken with you, if the Fram be abandoned, after the necessary provisions, are weapons, ammunition, and outfit, all scientific and other journal?; observations, all scientific collections that are not too heavy (in the latter case small samples of them), photograph! — the original plates by preference, or, if they axe too hetfvy, then copies of them, — the areometer, with which most of the observations on the specifio'gravity of sea water are made, besides of course all journals and memoranda which are of any interest. I leave behind two or three journals and letters, which I will request you to take especial care of, and deliver to my wife, if I should not come home, or you, contrary to expectation, should get home before us. " Hanson and Blessing will, as you know, take charge of the -various scientific observations and collections, you yourself will see to the soundings, and that they are taken as often as opportunity permits. . ... As the crew was small before, and will now be still further reduced by two men, some work may fall to each man's lot ; but I know that as far as possible you will spare men to assist in the scientific observations, and make these as complete as possible " In conclusion, I wish all possible sucoess to you, and those for whom you are now responsible, and may we meet again in Norway, whether it be on board this vessel, or without her." A FAITHFUL LIEUTENANT. The reports I bad here set down Sverdrup made it a matter of conscience to comply with, and the summer after Johansen and I had left the Fram was employed, not only in the work necessary for the safety of the vessa), but in making the outfit required for a sledge journey over tbe ice as perfeot and complete as could well be. And never, perhaps, has an expedition been better prepared for leaving their vessel than this, although the probabilities were that the necessity for {ro doing would not occur. Light canvas kayak;, each to hold two men, bad 'already been partly completed oh board before I left, and sledges, ski, snow-shoes, cooking apparatus, dog harness, &0., wero all tested and put in good order, and, as will be seen from the orders given, provisions were kept in readiness. Before wa lef c the ship some time had been spent in carting away the piled-up masses of ice whioh had been foroed against the Fram 'a sides during the pressure of January, 1895, and the carting away of this ice was continued after we left. BUEAK-UP OF THE 108. At the end of March, just as the last of j this mass had been removed, the ice cracked j in all directions round the ship, and a broad i crack was formed which passed at tbe dis- { tance of a few feet from the stern of the vessel. Subsequently in this crack there was great pressure, and the ice qaite split up, so that the greater pait of the Fram lay in open water by the end of July. The stern, however, was stii frczen fast in a great block of ice. An attempt was made to break this up by blasting, which seemed, however, at the time, to have bad very little effect, only a small crack in the ice appearing ; and Sverdrup was standing on the ice talking with some of his companions as to what more should be done to get the vessel afloat, when they suddenly noticed that she wan slowly beginning to move, and before they were aware of it the vessel glided from her icy slip into the water with a deafening noise, while the spray was thrown from her bows in every direction. It was like the launching of a ship, and 'her return to open water was welcomed by the crew with ringing cheers. That year, 1 however, the Fram's freedom did not last long. By warning and sawing she was again brought "into a safe haveu, and in August was again frozen fast. IN THE DBTFT AGAIN. At first, after we had left the Bhip, tbe drift was not of much importance; but towards the end of April it became somewhat stronger in a westerly direotion. On July 22, 1895, the Fram waa in 84deg 50min N. lafc., 73deg E. long. At this time there eeemed to be a great deal of movement in the ice, and strong pressure on all sides in the vicinity. After this south-westerly and westerly winds set in, which during the latter part of the summer stopped the Fram's drifting, and even drove her back in an easterly and northerly direction. Not until October did she again bear to the west, and during the remainder of the autumn and the winter the drift was better than ever. On October 16, 1895, the Fram was in her highest observed latitude— viz., 85deg 57min N. lat. and 66deg E. long. Some days later she was still farther north; but on those days it was cloudy, so that no observations could be taken. By the middle of February, 1896, the Fram bad come in a southwesterly direction to 84deg 20min N. lafc. and 24deg E. long. Bat here, quite unexpectedly, long - continued south winds stopped the drift until May, when it again began to go soutb, until on July 19 they were in 83deg Hmin N. lat. and 14deg E. long., where the work of getting the Fram out of the ice began. Had she not got loose here, but had been obliged to continue drifting, she would of course have come south with the polar ice along the east coast of Greenland, towards which the direotion of her drift pointed directly ; and had she not got loose before, she would have been driven south right to Oape Farewell, a drift which has already been accomplished several times, and whioh would therefore not have been so well worth repeating^

THE ICE LIFT. Throughout her drift through the unknown Polar Sea from New Siberia to the north ,o£ Spitzbergen, the Fram was constantly exposed to pressure, none, however, being so serions as that already described in January, 1895. During this last summer, especially now in June, 1896, the pressure ■was particularly great, and of a peculiar nature. Tbe Fram at tbat time lay in a channel, whioh, with the changing tidal current, alternately opened and closed twice daring the 24 hours. Throughout one week in Jane, at the spring tides, the pressure in this channel was particularly great, and the Fram was rognlarly lifted up once or twice a day so high tbat her bottom conld often be seen above the ice. But, broad and safe as she is, she rose quietly, without letting a sound be heard within, either in timber or woodwork. No one en board was even wakened by tbe pressure, even when at its height; and it even often happened tbat Sverdrup himself, who is a very light sleeper, awoke in the morning without an idea of what had taken place in the night. Only when he came on deck and looked over the bulwarks did he observe how high the vessel was raised above the surface of the ice. This qaiet raising wae of course due to the well-adapted lines on which the Fram was built. This too is the reason why, even when raised highest, Bhe did not beel over to any great extent ; as a rule she lay almost horizontal. Sometime* she heeled over a j few degrees, bat the greatest heeling over that the Fram did in the ice amounted to Bdeg. TBMPEEA.TOKB OF THE POLA.E SEA. " I have already mentioned the temperatures of tbe first winter. I will only add here that the two subsequent winters on board the Fram weie not colder than tbat one. It is well-known that the districts sooth of the delta of tbe Lena in Siberia form one of the poles of maximum cold of the northern hemisphere. It was therefore not to be expected tbat tbe winters in the northern part of the unknown Polar Sea, , which we were going to explore, would be found colder than those to the north of the j Siberian coast This, too, proved to be the i Case. Of course the temperatures in all j three winters were rather low on board the j Fram, while we too, who were on Franz j Josef'n Land, had s oantiderably milder winter; but as a set-off we had tho more violent storm*, from which the interior of the Polar basin U to a great extent exempt. The summers in the Polar basin were also rather cool,, the temperature generally remaining at about freezing point, and only occasionally rising a few degrees above it. The highest temperature obseived during the journey was, as far as I remember, - 7deg or Bdsg (Fahrenheit) above freezing. The fall of moisture in the inner regions osthe Polar basin was very small, as the cold air carries vary little moisture with it. All the winter and tpring, therefore, we had, as a rule, unusunlly settled, clear weather; while, on the other hand, in the latter part of tbe summer, ko ftraall amount of fog might often be seen lying low down on the surface of the ice. Bain, was, cf course, a great rarity. THE AURORA BOREALIB. Daring the whole voyage the aurora borealis was of exceedingly common occurrence, and scarcely a day passed in which it waa not observed, provided the sky allowed at all of its being -seen. We thus had exceptional opportunities of studying this wonderful natural phenomenon, which often rose to a grand intensity, setting tbe entire iky in flames. Northern lights of various colours were very frequent, and at times the colours were surprisingly intense. On the other hand, no sonnd was ever heard from them, nor did we ever see tbem quite low. Atmospherical electricity was also a sub' ject of investigation,- and sometimes the electricity was fairly strong. The result of these investigations, however, cannot be discussed until later. Daring the whole journey, samples of the &ir ware taken la glass tubes, and will be analysed at home. THE WABM CTJBRENT. The depth we bad foand during the earlier part of our drift continued after I had left the* Fram, and the lead showed between 1800 ' and 1900 fathoms, until the water. began to grow shallow, as the Fram worked her way south towards Spilzbergen. The water temperatures, too, continued almost unchanged ; but the layer of warm watex below the cold, fresher water, which I have already mentioned, became somewhat deepex towards the west, the nearer tbey cams to the North AtUntio Ocean between Spitsbergen and Greenland. HEALTH. I have already said that tbe -health en board was unusually good, and bo it continued to be the last year also. The only cases of illness were one or two slight attacks of gastric catarrh, a short attack of rheumatism, and two or three other trifles There was no sign of scurvy daring tbf whole journey, and in my opinion thit disease cannot appear if proper attention and care is given to the provision department ie fitting out an expedition; and it is there' fore a disease which ought to be for ever banished from Arctic expeditions — this disease which has hitherto been the one tc claim the greatest number of victims knowt to Polar exploration. BLASTING THE ICE. When in Jane and July of this year th< expedition began to see some prospect o: being able to force its way south with the Fram, much labour was spent in gettiDg hei out of the ice, a task which was not eaey ir the great packed masses. The only way wai to try to blow np these pieces of ice b; blasting, in which process both gun cottoi and ordinary gunpowder were employed The former of these proved to be the mos effectual; but charges of up to 50kg gun powder might also, if judiciously placed, bav< * capital effect. Daring these blasting experiments an acci dent happened, which might easily have ba< the most aerious .consequences. Sverdrup with one man as helper, had just laid a trail In a crack in the ice, and set light to th fuse, when suddenly the pieoe on which the; stood gave way, and they fell into the wate with the charge and the burning f nse clos to them. The situation was anything bu agreeable, and tbey made the most desperat exertions to get on to the ice again and oa nfxeaoh of the charge before it exDloded

but the edge of the ice was high, and it was c only after two or three unsucce* sf al attempts i that they succeeded in getting to a place of r safety. The charse exploded soon after. * THE I?EAH FREE. * After several days o£ exhausting labour at \ this ice-blasting they at last succeeded in g setting the Fram fre6, and on July 19 the , work of forcing her southwards through the c closely-packed ice began in earnest. The t ice here was tremendous throughout, the j noes sometimes being so large that the end j of them could not be seen even with a glass, t No opsn water was visible, and the situation * often looked hopeless. But it is a capital I thing not to have any way of retreat; in ' other words, to have no choice but to go on. So on they went, acd they had a capital j vessel, by whose means the impossible ( became possible. By steaming and warping j they forced their way, bit by bit, through ] ics which would have made most men give f themselves up to despair ; and when it was t too bad for this, a way was made by t blasting. i PLOUGHING THROUGH 150 MILEB. * For about a month they kept on with this * work, and during that time broke their way i through 150 geographical miles of iee — ice c perhaps vaster than any other vessel has | ever yet ventured upon — and on August 13, j the vety day on which Johanserr and I j arrived at Yard 6, they got out of the ice into c open water. t NO NEWS OF NANSEN. i At the time of their coming out of the ice I tbere was a fog, which, however, soon « lifted, aad close by was seen a small i vessel, the Sisters (Soatrene), a schooner > from Tromf 6, which greeted the" Fram with * hearty cheers, Captain Bottolfaen coming on ' board. The firbt question put to him was j whether Nanien and Johamen had arrived j in Norway. The negative answer to this • t acted like an uncomfortable damper on tfae i j joy th»y had experienced in getting out of , the ice ; and few on board the Fram had auy « hope now of ever seeing ub again. Supposing, » however, that people on SpitzbeTgen might « bo better informed, they went there to meet ] Andree, wno ought, Bottoifaen said, to be 3 there. There, however, the intelligence was J no more reassuring, and their fearn for vs — * their two comrades— grew more and more ' serious. Captain Sverdrnp was, perhaps, ! the oaly man on board who still believed i that we were alJve. He thought thni. weiad ' arrived at Franz Josef's Land so late last I autumn that, we had been obliged to winter I there with Jackson's expedition, and all on i board were agreed to go at once to Franz ! Josefs Land to look for v*. The Fram was, ' Indeed, fully equipped for starting on a new ( 1 P-jlar expedition shou'd it be necessary. To t : mske quite certain, however, it was decided' i i to go home to Norway to see if there might be any later intelligence of u«s there. "MY NAME IS SVERDUUP." It was during the night of August 20 that the Frara cast aechor in the lihtle baven ot Skjservo, in Finmark^ Sverdrup immediately rowed ashore to despatch some telegramo. After he had hammered for some time in vain upon the various door* of the telegraph office, a head was put out of ft window and 1 aa angry voice called out : — "It's too bad that one can't even b"s allowed a quiet night's r«6t I What do you i want, and who are you ? " j " My name is Sverdrup, and I Bin captain ' of the Fr*m," came tho quiet answer. At tbia tbe tone of voice in the window immediately changed. "I'll come directly, 1 ' ' it shouted, and the window was closed »gain. Sverfirup went round the house to the ; entrance, and there, to bio *urpri»e, found I tbe person whom be had seen at the > window in the simplest deshabille standing fully dressed before him. No human being had ever dressed more quickly, be thought ; and his astonishment was not lessened by the first words that tbe head of the telegraph office said to him, "Nansen and Johansen hare come back." all's well. S?erdrnp hardly gave himself time to anßwer, but rnshed down ihe island to tha shore to shout out the glad news to his ' comrades, who fell on one another's neck 3 ' in mad delight. The news waa immedi- i ately Bent out over tbe waters to the ; ' Fram, which soon after greeted it with a j j salute of two guns, which echoed far oat j into the still summer night, proclaiming : tho retain of th« Norwegian Polar Expedition to its native land, Fridjof Nansen.