THE POLE AND DEATH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20070, 6 October 1928, Page 17

THE POLE AND DEATH.

VALIANT RESCUE WORK. "WILLING SELF-SACRIFICE." SHIPS BLOCKED IN ICE. CAPTAIN SORA'S EXPEDITION. BV PR. FRANCIS r.KHOUNKK. (All Rights Reserved.) No. VII. As I sit in an idyllic corner of tho Bohemian Forest and review in my mind nil t>lo phases of our expedition, I realise more vividly than over before what a great sacrifice was made by those men * who left their families and tho beautiful springtime of tlioir native country and did not hesitate to risk their lives that tlirv might save us; did not shrink from tho prospect of themselves being' caught in tho grasp of tho polar ice. Much has been said and written about "humau'tv," many a charitable association has laker, it as its watchwordbut I know of no greater example of willing self-sacrifice than that given by thoso men who went out to look for us. And, although our rescue was in part duo to tho fortunate fact that our small wireless set by a miracle escaped destruction in tho crash, and oven though only a few of those men's efforts were crowned with success, nothing can detract from tho , greatness of their sacrifice. I write these lines to-day as a modest expression of the gratitude which 1 feel for them, and I wish I could giv« it a more eloquent expression. Waiting for News. The high-pitched whining tone of our lending station—the only sound that broke, tho dead polar silence —will always ring in my ears. There was no talking in our tent. Wo sat there and waited {or news. Biagi sat in his corner of the tent beside tho receiver, and wo waited to see whether he would reach out his hand for tho notebook in which he recorded t lie messages received, or whether with a look of disappointment ha would lay aside the earphones with a sad, "I hear nothing." And then the last message was read to us, and wo learned that tho world had not forgotten us, that from every people were coming to search for us. From the first days in June the little sealer Hobby tried to force its way forward to North Capo on Spitsbergen, and redoubled its efforts later when our position became known. Its work was seconded at the same time by the largo fishing cutter Lraganza, which even to-day, as I write -this, is still in Spitsbergen to continue the search for tho Alcssandrini and Amundsen groups. Luck in Polar Ice. ' Neither of these brave ships succeeded in its quest. The Hobby had to. turn back at North Cape; the Braganza was blocked repeatedly by ice and was later released by the Ivrassin, but it could not get farther than Cape Platen. But this does not diminish the tribute due to the crews of the two ships. In the 1 olai Sea, more than anywhere else, success is first of all dependent on luck; only in lesser degree on organisation. No less credit is due to De Longc, whose ship Jeanetta was crushed by the polar ice in the very first year, than to Nansen, whose Fram, after it had withstood several winters without great damage, was carried by a favourable current to the western coast of Spitzbergen. to th.» very door of civilisation and into the open sea. An unfavourable, winter —and this can never be foreseen—is alone enough to defeat the best organised expedition, whereas a favourable combination of circumstances can work wonders. On tho same icefield on whiclv. our group lived almost a month without weapons, boots, or medicine a splendidly organised German expedition came to grief soma years ago. Arid, on tho other hand, Worsley, with his sailing yacht, three years ago sailed blithely through the vciy waters where the Krassin, the biggest icebreaker in the world, this year smashed its way to us only by superhuman efforts. Search by Sea. The search lor us had already begun in the first days of May, in the days when no news was received from us. At first the search was devoted to Spitsbergen, to which, it was assumed, we had intended to return. This expedition was that headed by the young' Italian engineers Mat cola and Albertini, who, together with Norwegian fishermen, searched the packice between North Cape and Capo Platen and forced their way forward as far as the unknown foothills of Spitsbergen, ihey everi went on north-westwards to the icopo;ik Leigh Smith, which we could see at that time from our red tent, never imagining that our friends were there. 1 met tho two engineers later on board tha Krassin as they were on their way to tha "Wrede Bay to help Tschuclmovski. They were in best of spirits, despite their hardships They declared that they had come to love this dreary land, with it 3 mountains and cliffs of ice, and even the fearful pack-ice, and that they intended tf) remain on "board of the Citta di Milano in order to take part in the search for the Alcssandrini and Amundsen groups. March to Foyn Island. Later, when tho Citta di Milano had teceived word that our three companions, Malmgren, Mariano and Zappi, had left us, a rescue expedition was organised in command of Lieutenant Giovannini, and a second under Captain Sora. Giovannini was forced to turn back, but Sora, an experienced Alpinist, made his way forward in five days to Capo Brunn, the mountain whose grey outlines we could see from .our red tent, less than 40 kilometres away. It was his plan to march across the, Foyn Island, where he expected to find the Malmgren group, Our wireless gave us tho news of Sora's advance, and we had tho greatest hopes of him. A few days later, however, we heajd that Larson had warned Sora that tho ice between the 'mainland and tho Foyn Island was very bad, and had advised him to turn back. We believed that ho had taken this advice. But we did not know what Captain Sora was capable of. Not until* I had been rescued and was on board the Krassin did I learn that Sora had not heeded the warning. On the contrary, he had left behind in Capo Brunn with supplies and a tent one man who could go no farther, and had then himself, with thrj Dutchman van Dongen, after three futile attempts and after gieat efforts, reached tho Foyn Island, where ho and his companion were later picked up by a Swedish aeroplane.