PERILOUS ARCTIC JOURNEY

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15094, 10 September 1912, Page 9

PERILOUS ARCTIC JOURNEY

'MISSING EXPLORERS' RETURN. THREE YEARS' ABSENCE.. [FROM OUK OWN" COKRESrOXDEXT.j London, August 2. , The organising eommitVo of Captain Mikkclsen's expedition to North-cast Greenland, which set out in the summer of 1909 to discover the depot left by M. Mylius Erichsen and his two companions, "who perished in tlio expedition of 1907-8, received a telegram this week from Aalesimd, announcing Captain Mikkelsen's safe arrival there with Engineer Iversen. Great satisfaction was caused by tho news, for nothing had been heard of them for two years. It was presumed in Copenhagen that they had perished, and the explorers themselves had abandoned all hope. Captain Mikkelsen left Copenhagen on his present expedition on June 20. 1909, accompanied by six companions, Lieutenant Jor-ensen (Danish army), Lieutenant Laub (Danish navy), George Poulsen (mate), Hans Olsen (mate), Iversen (engineer), and Unger (carpenter). His little ship, the Alabama., was of only 38 ions, and was strengthened to resist ice-pressure and fitted with a motor. The main object of the expedition was to retrieve the diaries and observations of Mr. Mylius Erichsen, who with two comrades. Hagen and Bronlund, perished in tho inland sea in 1908. On the body of Bronlund, -which was afterwards discovered, was found tho following letter :—" I perished in latitude 79deg. N. 1 reached this place under a waning moon, and cannot go on because of the darkness and of my frozen feet. The bodies of my comrades are in the middle of the fjord. Hagen died on November 15, and Eiichsen ten days later." i Terrible Experiences. Captain MikkeJsen and Iversen left the i rest of the expedition in the summer of < 1910, and Ret out to cross the inland floo \ to Denmark Frith, where they discovered tome of Erichsen's records. They encountered terrible hardships. Several "dogs died one after the other, and they were obliged to kill the rest for food. They returned to Bass Hock Island in September, 1911, without having accomplished their second object of investigating the northern boundary of Greenland. The members of the crow of the Sjoeblomsten cay that when they found the two explorers they looked like wild animals. In fact, when the sailors first saw them some distance away, they thought, they were musk oxen, and were" going to shoot them.

The captain of the ship reports that the Erst trace of there being any human beings in the neighbourhood was a -wooden bar, ;. : -with the date 1912 cut upon it, and' set up apparently as a sign. He followed the direction in which it pointed, and so came to the cabin which Captain Mikkelsen and bis companion had built. He knocked at the door, and thereupon they both ran out nearly naked, with guns in their hands, as they thought that the knocking had been caused by a beast of prey. They had not expected to see men. Captain Mikkelsen had been very, ill on the journey and M. Irersen had dragged him on a eledge for 100 miles. Ther wintered and were found on Bass Rock Island. Half Starved for Two Years. Mikkelsen's narrative is the story of isemiEfarvation for two years, and" a grim struggle for life in ihe Arctic. "On April 29, 1910," he says, "we started northward ■with 100 days' provisions. Travel was very arduous owing to storms, and the country was full of abysses. We reached an altitude of 4000 ft. and passed several high mountains. After mapping the border of the land to the north and south of Danmark Fjord, we found, close to the north coast of the fjord, : Erihsen's first cairn" Mylius Erihsen left this place on September 12 to begin his return journey along the coast. He and his followers were all well, and they had seven dogs. At Summer Camp we found a second cairn, with : reports on the journey. Alvlius bad dis- ( covered that Peary Channel did not go through from sea to sea, and that Navy Cliff was not connected with Heilprih Island. He had left Summer Camp on August 25. He was short of provisions, tod carried everything with him." Starting on the return journev from Cape Rigsdagen on May .25, with "seven dogs and 50 days' provisions, they were soon attacked with scurvy, and became very weak. One day their sledge fell into the ■water, and they lost their instruments and ether valuable property, provisions were badly damaged. On Hovfaard Island they found the depot spoilt by water. _ There was no game, and they were famishing, having been on halfrations for seme time. "On August 6," he goes on. "hunger forced us southwards. We had only Tib of provisions and two dogs left. Deep ponds and rivers delayed us, and we bad to turn the sledge into a ferry boat, which could carry the dogs and one man. The dogs were quite worn out. and had to be earned on sledges. Poisoned by Dogs' Flesh.

On the north coast of Lambert. Land we knot 12 ptarmigan and a leveret. We made for the next depot, and this time had to eat both dogs. Iversen became seriously iU. The depot -was reached eoon after the last dog's flesh had been eaten. We had to stay here seven days, for wo were both suffering horribly from poisoning caused by eating doys' liver. "On September 10 open water compelled us to leave our sledge, tents, etc., at Bear Rocks. Here we landed, carrying diaries and 31b of pemmican. We took refuse from a storm on a rock in the fjord. We waited two days and ate our last provisions. We had no water and no food now, and were, therefore, forced to take the road again. Having struggled for ten hoars,, we reached land exhausted, and continued along the cost to Mario Valdemar. At this depot we found two boxes of meat extract."

After further hardships ther reached Winter Harbour, the last part of the journey being done in 40 hours of uninterrupted walking. Affcor wintering there they made for Shannon Island, where thev had plenty of shooting at bear?. During 'ho summer they shot, musk oxen, etc., and laid in a good stock of meat and fuel. With these they sledged to Bass Rock, and spent the winter there. On January 25 the explorers sledged to Shannon Island, and hoped to go southward, but had to refrain owing to weakness. 'On Bass Rock they recovered a. little, and visited Walms Island. It waa there that tho sealer Sjoenlomstcn found their traces, and came on to Bass Reck- finding the two intrepid men very weak, with few clothes and long hair »nd boards.