A MOTOR-BOAT IN THE ATLANTIC.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2928, 25 July 1911, Page 7

A MOTOR-BOAT IN THE ATLANTIC.

"NO CAMPING APPARATUS AND

LITTLE FOOD."

In the first account of the adventures of Dr. Charcot's Antarctic Kxpr dltion, Gourdon, g ologist, tells of a hazardous trip in a motor boat when Dr. Charcot and others nearly lost their lives. He says—"Charcot, Godfrey., and myself vet out in the petrol scout for the purpose of investigating the condition of the ice further south. At this period we had perpetual day, and so, looking upon the excursion as a sort of picnic, we had provided ourselves with no camping apparatus and little food. This was unfortunate. "Having landed on Cape Texen and perceived from that point a long channel among the floes, we could not resist the temptation of entering it. Several hours later, from the top of Berthelot Island, we saw the sea toward the south one mass of solid ice, while our own lead, toward the north, had contracted considerably- We hurried toward it: when we got there we found the gateway closed. "We ran toward the shore —there was no passage ; turned back to the offing, tried here and there and fur- | ther on, like mice in a cage. There was no way out: we were imprison- ! ed. Then we tried to hack our way 1 out, and, with spade and axe, cut a ; path In the ice and launched the boat in the opening at full speed. • ! "It was an exhausting task ; we , had to make our path inch by inch, gaining weak spots' in the ice, which 1 closed as soon as we reached them. * Moving icebergs pressed upon us on I either side, and our escape was mira- I culous. I

"After we had been thirty hours upon our journey we were desperately j sleepy and our stomachs ravening for food, for we had had but a light repast of cold fare, and we had to be sparing of the biscuit which re- ; mained to us. A penguin had come hopping to our feet, and with simultaneous accord we had spared him ; now we regretted our action. "We stretched ourselves out in the 1 bottom of the boat, but the cold awa'.ened us an hour later, and we took up our task again. Suddenly we. perceived a movement aroon? the floes. Was it deliverance for us ? On the contrary, everything closed up in front of us, and we were compelled to beat a retreat, to snatch . a little more sleep upon a rocky ! islet. Again to our work ? We were approaching Berthelot Island, whtn we were brusquely stopped. "We had run aground. The boat tilted, and we remained for seven ho'irs in this critical position until the rising tide floated us agiin. Further attempts to break through the ice proved futiie. Finally the motor broke down, and while Godfrey, with numbed fingers, tried to repair it, we sculled slowly toward the shore. Wc made her fast. It began to snow. On the following day it snowed all the lime. We were attempting to gain Cape Tuxen, when wg fancied that we heard a siren whistle some dustanee away. M "A quarter of an hour afterwards 1 wc beard the siren again. This time 1 there was no further doubt. Wc ' called and callrd. and all at once a 1 far-off cry replied : we had been heard. Soon afterward we went on ' board."—"Harper's Magazine." ; 1