EXPLORING A CENTURY AGO.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7813, 4 June 1909, Page 1

EXPLORING A CENTURY AGO.

The recent exploit of lieutenant, Shackleton lends especial inter&S* . to; recollections of the first expediti6ii| which attempted to reach the North Pole. It was organised m Russia m> 1803 by Field-Marshal Itoomiantzeft, and headed by Baron Hedenstrom, the grandfather of the present Baron Hedenstrom, the GoHsiui for' Russia ny Melbourne: . . i . < . Barcii Hedonstrom on the ltrth inSt, gave some particulars' of the work accomplished by his gJ-'aitdfather .(reports the Argus), The principal result of the expedition was the discovery 6? theNew Siberian Islands m 1805. lhe expedition perforce made slow progress as it travelled only on foot over land and ice. When Hedenstrom discovered the new islands he found that a Kits.sian trader named Liakoff had been at. one of them before him, but had made do observations mid supplied t no records. Hedenstrom" and one other explorer, who followed his route. 30 or '.10 years later, are said.to be the only two mcii who luive seen. what, is believed to bo land iri tM immediate' region of the North Pole: It hri£ beert seen only- from a distance, ana .its Existence is not fully established, but Hedenstrom, convinced that what lie had seen was land, named it Sanikhon Island. It is possible that both Hedenstroiii and the explorer who followed him may hare been deceived by a milage, ' but it is. generally believed that land does exist at or 1 lieaV the Pole. ;-,., An incident wliich occurred within recent years showed that a stock of provisions laid down by Hedenstrom a hundred years before preserved the life of some French explorers, the survivors, of' Captain De Longue's expedition, which made a dash for the Polo m tho ship Janetta only a few years ago. The ship was wrecked m the Arctic Ocean, and the officers and crew took to the boats. One boat was lost, and two managed to reach the Siberian mainland after great peril and privation. Months afterwards, at St. Petersburg, a lieutenant of theex r pedition told the Russian Geographical Society how they had come across a small stone hut, which had been erected by Hedenstrom. On the wall they found an inscription, "Here is meat,'' and, eagerly searching _ they came across a quantity of provisions, which the intense cold had preserved m perfect condition. . The present Baron Hedenstrom himself spent several years exploring, not' polar, but tropical regions. From 1884 to 1891 he made several excursions into the interior of the northern portion of Sumatra. Tho region at that time was sorely troubled by the ceasej-*' less war between the Achinese savage's i and tho Dutch. If for a time this ceased the Achinese were at war with their inland neighbours, the Guyus. It was while Baron Hedenstrom was j m that region that the sensational I and cruel massacre, of the captain and crew of the Britishl ship Hock Canton took place. The sbii), under Captain, Hanson, anchored off Tenom, on the' west coast. The Rajah, Tuku Umah 1, had arranged, 'through a European, agent who accompanied Hanson, and who .know all the rajahs, to trade a cargo of penper to the British vessel. Tuku Umah and his men came on .board, carrying a number of bags, which Hanson and his crew naturally believed to be the pepper for which bo. was trading. Hardly had all the na--tives stepped on deck when Tuku Umah gave a- signal, and his warriors fell upon the hapless crew, and massacred every person aboard wrth the exception of Captain Hansen (who was. badly, wounded), Mrs Hansen, and the chief engineer. The agent was ashore at the time of the massacre, and he escaped. The three prisoners were taken ashore m a boat, but so badly was Hansen hurt that he died before the boat was beached. Before the eyes of his wife, his body was-thrown to the sharks. The engineer and Mrs Hansen were conveyed^by Tuku TJmah to his mountain, fastnesses, where he held them for ransom. The British Government demanded compensation for the outrage, and the restoration to freedom of Tuku Umah's prisoners. The Dutch Government had to pay Tuku Umah the ransom he demanded, and tho whole incident cost the Dutch Government, according to Baron Hedenstrom's recollections, some 1,800,000 dollars (Eastern currency). Baron Hedenstrom, m the course of one of his inland excursions, discovered rich alluvial gold about 50 miles inland from Malabu. He was the first European to penetrate tho interior of Achin, but his discovery Avas of no value to him, for the disturbed condition of the country effectively pre-| vented its exploitation. The dangers run by Baron Hedeiistrom may be gauged from the fact that only two years before his first excursion two French engineers, Vallon and Guil j laume, had been murdered by the natives before they had penetrated far inland. His peril was heightened by. the fact that he was the only Euro-pean-in his caravan, which comprised 120 Achinese. Baron Hedenstrom smiled as lie said, "I. did not have muchi trouble. It was the Dutch who were at war with them, and they knew I was not Dutch. . ; "There is a nominal Sultan of Achin," he continued, "but, though he calls himself the ruler, that country is! ruled by the.: man who can buy the* most rifles and pay the-most.followers. Tuku Umali was the most powerful rajah when I was there. The Achinese are descended from the old Malay pirates, and they are all brigands—all. I remember once, when I , had.,:been, away nineteen months from the Dutch settlement, I found, when I came back, that tho Dutch Government had concluded that I must have been killed, and the Dutch priest had held a mass for my soul. But you see that I have no.t been killed."