EXPLORER RELATES HIS ADVENTURES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 57, 4 September 1909, Page 5

EXPLORER RELATES HIS ADVENTURES.

INTENSE COLD EXPERIENCED. AMERICAN FLAG AT THE NORTH POLE. LONDON, 3rd September. Dr. Cook, continuing in tho Paris edition of the New York Herald his j narrative of his journey to the North i Pole, states that from Heibrin Island, which lies' directly north of Greenland, ho commenced, on 18th March, his "dash for the Pole," which was destined to be rewarded with success. "We felt the bite of the cold very keenly," Dr. Cook writes, "especially on the heights bordering on Ellesmere Sound, the temperature being recorded as low as 83deg. below zero, Centigrade. Several of our dogs were frozen to death, and the men suCered cruelly. "Along the game tracks from Nansen Sound to Land's End we killed 101 musk oxen, 7 bears, and 325 hares. CROSSING THE ICE PACK. "The crossing of the circum-polar icepack was commenced on 21st March, 1908, two Esquimaux and twenty-six dogs accompanying me. "We had experienced long marches during the first few days of our journey, and then persistent winds kept us cooped up in our snow houses, eating dried beef and tallow, and drinking hot tea. Observations taken on 13th March showed that we were in latitude 84.47 and longitude 86.36 west. "Here the last signs of solid earth were seen. We advanced over a monotonous moving sea of ice, with never a bear's footprints nor a seal's blow-hole. | The ice-fields became, beyond the 86th j parallel, more extensive, and the crevasses were fewer and less troublesome. There was little or no crushed ice to bar our passage. ILLUSIVE SIGNS OF LAND. "We were surprised to meet with indications of land ice from the 87th to the 88th parallels. We were now within 100 miles of the Pole, and the temperature was below 40 degrees below zero. Signs of land were still to be seen, but they were deceptive illusions —mirages of inverted mountains. AT THji POuE. "I was able to obtain daily good astronomical observations amidst all this depressing monotony of scene, but on 21st April we had reached 89deg 59min 46sec — and the Pole was in sight. "We advanced the fourteen seconds, made supplementary observations, and the flag of the United States was raised to the coveted breezes of the [ North Pole. The temperature was 38 deg. below zero Centigrade, and the barometer recorded 29.83. The compass pointed to the Magnetic Pole, and was useful as ever. Endless fields of purple snows were to be seen on every hand, but no life, no land, "no spot -to relieve the monotony. THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY. "We turned homewards on 23rd April. At first we covered long distances quickly, and watched closely the daily reduction in our food supply. We reached, on 24th May, the b"4th parallel, near the 97th meridian. The ice was much broken, and wo had on our sleds scarcely enough food to enable us to reach our caches on Nansen Sound. "We were hardly equal to ten, instead of the necessary fifteen, miles a day to accomplish this jouriey while provisions lasted, and a course was set for the musk ox lands. Here the temperature rose to zero, and we were enveloped in a persistent mist. For twenty days we struggled through the fog, and then found ourselves far down in the Crown Prince Gjistav Sea. HIBERNA-uNG IN JONES SOUND. "In a few days some bears came along, and they were veritable life-sav-ers. We crossed the Firth Devon into Jones Sound. The in early September now stopped our progress. "We had neither food, fuel, nor ammunition; so new implements were shaped. Cape Spar do was selected as a likely place for game, and the bow and arrow yielded meat, skins, and fat. An underground den was prepared, and there we remained until sunrise, 1909. We started on 18th February for Annatok, and reached Greenland shores on 15th April." CONFLICTING VIEWS. ' SOME AUTHORITIES SCEPTICAL. LONDON, 3rd September. Though Dr. Cook is a person of high reputation, some people are still sceptical in England, France and America. Lieutenant -Shackleton does not -think

the long time occupied by the return journey tells against Dr. Cook's statements, j The Daily Mail describes the narra- j tive as "bald and unconvincing." A New York telegram states that Rear-Admiral Melville, of the United States Navy, after reading Dr. Cook'a narrative, declared that ha is convinced the reported discovery is a farce.