ARCTIC PASSAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22950, 31 January 1938, Page 8

ARCTIC PASSAGE

SUCCESSFUL VOYAGE

HUDSON'S BAY SCHOONER DEATH OF CAPTAIN'S. WIFE [FROM OUR OWX CORRESPONDENT] VANCOUVER, Jar,. 5 Another historic stage has been reached in extending civilisation in the Arctic to the point that makes the North-West Passage an accomplishmeat —subject to the vagaries of Nature. The Hudson's Bay Company's vessel Nascopie, out of -Montreal "on her annual voyage to the Eastern Arctic, established a fur trading post at Fort Ross, 011 Bel lot Strait, 100 miles north of the Magnetic Pole. Before she left, the company's schooner Aklavik arrived at the new post from the western Arctic. The new depot will utilise, at long last, the North-West Passage for bringing in supplies and sending out furs from either direction. Eskimo Settlement The Nascopie steamed cautiously be. tween the midsummer icefloes to her new landing, just beyond Possession Point, where Sir John Ross had set up a cairn in 1829 and taken possession of the region for Great Britain. Three Eskimo families picked up at Arctic Bay, Baffin Island, with their dozens of dogs, were put ashore to start the new settlement. "Schooner in sight!" From behind Brown's Island came the Aklavik. so frail in the immensity of sea, ice and rugged terrain, yet so resolute, a'white barrel perched jauntiiv on her foremast. Passengers, thrilled by the romance of the occasion, cheered wildly over a spot where, 79 years before, MoClintock was turned back by the barrier ice after five attempts to get through in bis search for Sir John Franklin. Scotty Gaul, master of the Aklavik, company officials and traders came aboard the Nascopie as a bottle of champagne was dashed over the bow of each ship to mark a new triumph of exploration. Death of Wife

For Gaul it proved an empty triumph. His wife was to accompany him through the Passage. Together, 'after years in the remotest North, the.v had planned a trip "outside" on the Nascopie. Consummately feminine, a skilful seamstress, she was yet versatile enough to run a Diesel engine. On the eastward "leg." as they were preparing to leave Cambridge Bay, she was standing by in the engine room, when they sighted the Audrey 8., bringing supplies from the Mackenzie Delta to be relayed by the Aklavik. Gaul rang the bell for "slow ahead." There was no response. Her husband went below and found her dead. The shock of the approaching trip was too great for a heart weakened by long years in ti» Arctic.