AN EXPLORER’S DEATH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21733, 26 August 1932, Page 9

AN EXPLORER’S DEATH

MR H. G. WATKINS DROWNED KAYAK OVERTURNS ON LAKE (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, August 24. An Angmagsalik (Greenland) message states thatj Mr H. G. Watkins, leader of the Arctic expedition, was drowned in a kayak accident. Watkins went out alone on August 20 seal hunting. Rymill and Chapman later found his kayak in the middle of the lake filled with water, and a paddle drifting nearby. His rifle and throw stick were missing. A search revealed Watkins’s trousers in the kayak and his belt on a small ice floe close to a large active glacier half a mile from the nearest land. There was no trace of Watkins. It is presumed that the kayak overturned while he was hunting, or was upset by an ice fall from the glacier, and that Watkins was -unable to right the kayak. He probably swam clear, and reached the icq floe, undressed, and tried to swim ashore in the freezing water, and was drowned. Watkins, in an article written at Lake Fjord on August 9, outlining his plans, said he was establishing . his base this year at the lake owing to the absence of blizzards. He hoped to demonstrate that it was usable for flying practically every day. In the meantime the first step was to build a house from stones and earth, Eskimo style. “We shall hunt every day in the kayaks seeking sharks for dog food and seals and bears for our own food. All the nieat will be dried and smoked for the winter, the skins will be used for clothes, and the blubber for cooking and heat. It should take a month to gather the food, after which we will prepare for the journey to the ice cap in the interior. The nearest Eskimos are 60 miles away.” Flight-lieutenant D’Aeth, who flew with the expedition last year, said Watkins’s work at" Lake Fjord was intended to prove the feasibility of a northern transatlantic ait route., He paid a high tribute to his qualities and leadership. Watkins, before his departure for the Arctic, became engaged to Miss Margaret Graham, who is at present yachting with the Courtaulds on the Scottish coast. There is no means of communicating with Miss Graham,' who is unaware of the tragedy. Watkins’s father, Colonel H. G. Watkins, is abroad. His mother died in 1928, falling from Beachy Head. The body was not reebvered. It is recalled that Watkins, in i his former expedition, was very interested in the use of kayaks, and became proficient in the management of these hunting canoes.—Times Cable. World copyright.

Mr H. G. Watkins, who was educated at Cambridge University, organised with other undergraduates, in 1927, an expedition to Edge Island, in the Spitzbergen group. He went right across the island, a perilous feat, never performed before. In 1928, with two companions, Mr Watkins went exploring in Labrador. They spent a year there, experiencing hunger and other hardships. For months they were engaged in fighting their way back to the coast, and, after killing some of their dogs to feed the rest, had to drag one of the sledges for a long distance. Their hunger became so acute that they nearly decided to kill and eat one of the dogs. In July, 1930, Mr Watkins headed an expedition to Greenland to carry out a survey for the planning of an Arctic air route from England to Canada. It was desired to obtain records of winter conditions there, and Mr Augustine Courtauld volunteered for the task. Mr Watkins raised objections, but as Mr Courtauld insisted, he let him have his way, and, leaving him there in December, promised to relieve him in February, The news that Mr Watkins had been prevented by blizzards from doing this aroused great anxiety, and in May an aeroplane was sent from Sweden to make a search. Mr Watkins and his colleagues had already set out again with sledges, however, and, after a fort-, night’s arduous journey,' they rescued Mr Courtauld by digging him out of the snow-buried hut. In June last the Royal Geographical Society presented the Founders’ Medal to Mr Watkins for exploration and research work in the Arctic. It was stated that Watkins, who was the youngest man ever to receive the medal, would shortly lead a small expedition to Greenland. PRESS TRIBUTES TO DECEASED. LONDON, August 25. (Received August 25; at 9.30 p.m.) The newspapers editorially pay a tribute to Watkins. The Times says: “ Watkins was in the front rank of Arctic explorers. His country and family have lost one who, if spared, must have become famous for still greater achievements.”