ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2359, 11 May 1899, Page 27

ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Hitherto it has been the universal practice of Arctic explorers to pursue different routes, or else to seek their object at different times. But at present there is more or less rivalry (says the New York Tribune) between two well-known aspirants for glory in this department of research. Lieutenant R. E. Peary, TJ.S.N. , went up the western coast of Greenland in 1891, encamped for the winter on the shore of Whale Sound in latitude 77.40, and whan mild weather came he and his companion, Astrup, started over the ice crust in a northwesterly direction. The point reached by the two on the northern coast was just below the eighty-second parallel of latitude, which was not so far north as Brainerd and Lockwood, of Greely's party, went 10 years before. Since 1892 Peary had been up in tho Arctio several times, but he>has not beaten his earlier record. This he hopes to do, however, within the next 12 months.

When he sailed from home last summer he > intended to proceed up the western coast of Greenland again, go into winter quarters as j before, and make his grand push early next summer. When he was last heard from he had gone as far north as Cape York, in lati- ' tvido 76deg, and was then spending a few ' days in completing arrangements for his next step. From Cape York he sent letters back to his friends by the supply ship Hope, which . had accompanied him thus far. Some of these missives bore date of July 25. It was his , purpose a fortnight or so later to continue ! his voyage. It will be remembered that on i this occasion he sailed in the steam whaler i Windward, whioh had been kindly lent to him by Mr Harmsworth, of the London Mail. ' The vessel had been previously used by Jack- i son, an Englishman, in exploring Franz Josef I Land. j

Below the 76th parallel between Greenland and Continental America there is a broad passage known as Da^is Strait and Baffin's Bay, but above that line the waterway contracts. For about 50 miles diagonally across six parallels of latitude the work of pushing northward is very difficult. Smith Sound, Kennedy Channel, and Robeson Channel extend, one after the other, up from Baffin's Bay to the polar sea, but they are clogged with ice most of the time, and at some points have a width of only 15 or 20 miles What Peary wanted to do was to thread this difficult passage, and encamp on the shores of Sherard Fjord for the approaching winter. Sherard Fjord indents the northern coast — around the corner, co to speak, — and is fully as far north as Peary has ever been up to the present time. If all goes well, Peary will set out when the eun is far enough north to light his way, and push almost due northward over the ice for the Pole. He means to establish small stores of food at .intervals of 50 miles, so that when he returns he can find something to eat without depending on hunter's luck, or hauling his rations both ways. When Nansen committed himself to the Arctic currents in 1893 his ship was navigated by a Norwegian, Otto Sverdrup. For over two years the Fram was borne along by the icefloes to which it had been so boldly secured. Nansen left the vessel in March, 1895, jind Sverdrup remained in charge of it. Nansen has since remarked that Sverdrup' s skill in extricating the Fram from the icepack was " the greatest feat ever performed in the Arctic regions." Although Peary had announced to the world in 1896 his plans for this latest venture, Sverdrup bejjen that autumn to enlist the moral and pecuniary support necessary to an expedition of his own. Nansen encouraged him by giving the Fram. When Peary, returning in 1897 from a preliminary trip to certain stations in Greenland, learned what Sverdrup had undertaken to do, he' protested polit-ely but earnestly. With a dozen other routes open to him, the Norwegian had decided to adopt the same as that of the American. / At first it looked as jf Sverdrup meant to make a push for the Pole. This gave Peary special anxiety. He did not claim_ to have any mortgage on the Pole. But his success depended largely on his line of supply stations; and if Sverdrup would follow him, j?et into trouble, and then, acting on the principle that " self-preservation is the first law of nature," eat up Peary'B food, the American would probably starve to death on his return, provided, of course, that the latter should be so fortunate as to realise the main feature of his programme. Finally, however, Sverdrup disavowed any purpose of seeking the Pole. He said that after he had gone up through Smith Sound and Robeson Channel and had encamped on the north coast, he would try to circumnavigate Greenland, and come down on the other side next summer. At last accounts that was Mb plan. Even after this concession Peary did not altogether relish the outlook. He felt that he was being treated with discourtesy, and that there was danger that certain of his allies among the Esquimaux might b« alienated from him by the Norwegian. A good deal depended, therefore, -in Peary's judgment, on having the lead in the race up through BaffinV Bay and Smith Sound this summer.

Peary's letters to his friends in the United States from Cape York revealed the fact that Sverdrup had not yet appeared, or been heard from along the coast. But it was not clear at that time just where his rival was. Letters from Sverdrup were received in Chn'Btiania last November, however. He reported that he had turned the southern extremity of Greenland, Cape Farewell, on July 17, and reached Edgesminde, near Disco Island, on July 28. Two days later he arrived at Godhavn. Here he was 500 miles or more south of Peary. But after spending only a day or two in coaline, Sverdrup was to push on, while it was nearly, the middle of August when Peary started up through Smith Sound. In the intervening two weeks his rival no doubt gained on him. Sverdrup was not to sail direct for his winter camp, though, when he left Godhavn. He announced that he would stop at Upernavik. In course of a few months some further information regarding the voyage of the Fram may be received from Upernavik; but whether it catches up with the Windward, and whether either of the explorers succeeds in reaching the northern coast of Greenland this fall, the world will probably not know for a year or two. The situation is- one of great interest.

A hut at Taieri Mouth, occupied by a man named Muir, was burned down recently under curcumstances which lead the owner to suspect incendiarism. Muir was in Dunedin when the fire occurred. He lost everything, including some money that he had saved.