THE ARCTIC REGIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15298, 10 May 1913, Page 4

THE ARCTIC REGIONS.

AIMS OF N.EW EXPEDITION: DR. ' STEFANSSON'S PROJECT. [FROM our own correspondent.] \ . • London, April 2. The Daily Chronicle gives some interesting details of the new British expedition to the Arctic regions, in which Dr. Jen* ness, the New Zealander, will take part. The object of the expedition, which is being financed by the Canadian Government, is to explore the vast uncharted regions between the North of Canada and Siberia and the North Pole. It may result in the addition of large tracts of land to the British Empire. < Mr. V. Stefansson and his companions will leave Victoria (8.C.) early in June, in the Karluk, an old whaler of 247 tons, and the second vessel, the Teddy Bear, of only 13 tons, will be used for establishing a secondary base in Victoria Island.^ " Of unexplored regions in the North, writes the Chronicle, " there are two of the first importance: the inland ice-cap of Greenland and the area represented by the large blank space on the map bounded by Behring Strait and the Pole, the western border of the Arctic Archipelago, and the known open sea north of . Siberia. Theories differ as to whether there is or is not land there. Dr. Nansen, for instance, believed that a deep and unobstructed Polar ocean occupies this vast space. , " On the other hand, other experts, of whom Professor R. A. Harris, of the United States Coast and Goedetic Survey, is the most prominent, hold that within this region lies an undiscovered Arctic continent or a series of large islands separated by narrow channels, the whole not greatly distant from Banks Island, Prince Patrick Island, and Grant Land. Tradition among the Esquimaux and indefinite reports of whalers strengthen the theories fixing the southern edge of the unknown liind not far north of Point Barrow arid the northern shores of America. ' I must believe in the existence of such land,' Peary has said, ' because I have seen it.' This was in 1906, when land was sighted from Cape Thomas Hubbard, at an altitude of about 2000 ft. It is the one place in the whole world where geographical discoveries may possibly be made, in the sense in which Columbus discovered America—unknown land rising out of the sea., ■ ' V Canadian Born. "Extraordinary interest and importance attach, therefore, to the expedition which Mr. Stefansson is about to lead into those uncharted regions. In fact, so important does the Government of Canada regard it that the whole of the funds necessary for its equipment have been voted by the Dominion. Mr. Stefansson is particularly well fitted by training, experience, and previous accomplishment for this work. The son of Icelandic parents who emigrated to Canada, he himself was born in Winnipeg in 1878. While he was still a child his parents removed to the United States: He graduated at' the University of lowa, and subsequently became a professor of anthropology at Harvard University. 1 , Wintered With Esquimaux. " After two visits to Iceland, for the purpose of ethnological investigations, Mr. Stefansson began his career as 'an explorer in 1906 by journeying overland to the Arctic shores of Canada, by way of the Mackenzie River. He was to have joined the E'inar Mikkelsen expedition at Herschel Island, but the ship did not arrive, and he spent the winter among the Esquimaux. He lived with tbcm and hunted with them, and adopted the Esquimaux diet. More important still, he learned to speak their tongue, an acquisition - which has been invaluable, to him since. After making journeys in Flaxman Island in the spring of 1907, Mr. Stefansson returned overland to Canada. The Blonde Esquimaux. , "•The following > vear he set out again in company with t)r." Anderson, a wellknown biologist. , Together they _spent [our years in the Arctic, accompanied only by Esquimaux. Their journeys embraced a large extent of country north of the -Great Bear Lake and the southern portion of Victoria Island. There he found copper, the first discovery of metal in the Arctic Islands. There also he found the famous blonde Esquimaux with European-like characteristics. The discovery of this new race has given rise to a great deal of controversy, and it will be one of the purposes of the coming expedition to make a scientific study of these people." Spartan Life. Dr. Anderson will be the second-in-command. To assist him in zoology there will be Fritz Johansen, a Dane, who was a member of the 'Erichsen East Greenland expedition. When he was in England Mr. Stefansson made two additions to his staff Mr. James Murray, who was biologist on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, and who now goes as oeean'ograplier, and Dr. H. Beuchat, a Frenchman, who has made a profound study of the Esquimaux and their distribution in the Arctic area. The expedition will be conducted on Spartan lines. It wilt take no luxuries with it, and not a great quantity of what in the work of exploration have hitherto been regarded as the necessaries of life. During the six years which Mr. Stefansson has spent in Arctic investigations he has been driven more and more to the conclusion that the best hope of success for an exploring party is to adapt itself to the conditions of . the country, and to live as the Esquimaux do. Baribou and seal supply all the food, and not only food, but clothing, which is necessary for life and' health, even comfort, when the white man has accustomed himself to the change. No Superfluous Stores. It is obvious that an expedition not overburdened with stores must stand a better chance of surviving and accomplishing its task if it can live on the country, and this is an asset which has belonged to no previous expedition of the Same proportions. Though the details of the programme may be altered as circumstances demand, its broad outlines contemplate a voyage due north from Herschell Island in the Karluk., Should'land be discovered before the ice closes in, a base will be formal there, and the ship will return to .Victoria. If no land is found the expedition will, if possible, make its way to Prince Patrick Island, and winter there with the idea of making sledge journeys north and west. Meanwhile the smaller party will be exploring Victoria Island, and prosecuting studies- among the hybrid Esquimaux tribes who live there. It will also try to discover what economic possibilities, in the . way of minerals the country possesses. • In the four years which will elapse before Mr. Stefansson and his comrades return to civilisation an "enormous amount of valuable scientific work will be performed, and it is within the bounds of possibility that the expedition mav add new territory larger than Alaska to the outskirts of the Empire. ■■■ , v ;