ARCTIC EXPLORATION

Southland Times, Issue 19859, 3 May 1926, Page 7

ARCTIC EXPLORATION

COMMANDER BYRD’S ATTEMPT. Washington, Apr. 29. The Secretary of the Navy (Mr Wilbur) has received a personal radio from Commander Byrd to-day, saying that the Arctic Expedition ship Chantier will reach Spitzbergen by Friday.—Reuter. ARRIVAL AT KING’S BAY. Oslo, April 29. The Byrd Polar expedition arrived at King’s Bay, Spitzbergen. The ship ’Chantier carries two aeroplanes with which it is intended to fly to the Pole from a base 400 miles away.—Reuter. Commander William Byrd, of the United States Navy, was in charge of the aeroplanes which Commander Donald B Macmillan took north with him on his expedition last year. Their flight to the Pole from Etah, Greenland, on that occasion was prevented owing to the seaplanes being damaged by heavy seas. Many of the lands that are marked on the up-to-date maps of the Arctic are regarded as mythical. The existence of these lands has not been definitely proved. Such a land is Crocker Land, which Peary thought he saw in 1906. Another was Keenan’s Land, a mythical island, which was formerly thought to lie off the Alaskan coast. Yet another was the Bradley Land reported by Dr Cook. The fourth is the so-called “Glacier island” which Dr Cook said he saw just north of Bradley Land. When Stefansson fell ill, during his expedition, Storkeson, who carried on his work, made a sledge trip to the supposed location of Keenan’s Land, and reported that it did not exist. The drift of their ice floe was right through the position on the map occupied by Keenan’s Land. Instead of land, they found a depth of 1600 fathoms, without touching bottom. The American Geographical Society, on the return of Storkerson, took off their map “Keenan’s Land” that they had put there in 1912.

While Peary was trying to reach the mathematical pole in 1906, he observed, through his glasses on Cape Thomas Hubbard, land in this sector, and for a time this “Crocker Land” was a fixture also on the maps. When Macmillan returned from his expedition, he reported that he had journeyed far out on the ice towards Peary’s Island, without sighting any land. But he saw what looked like land while he was at Cape Hubbard. Many believed, as a consequence, that “Crocker Land” was and is a mirage. Dr Cook reported haring discovered two new bodies of land, one of which he named Bradley Land, the other he described as a glacial island. Most of the living explorers agree that it is exceedingly difficult to see land from the surface of the polar ice, and that aviators will have the advantage of vision from a height. It is contended that if land is on their route, it will offer jagged ridges, free from snow, and will be easily discernible from the air.