The Siege and Conquest of the North PoleBryce, George
History
The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole
Bryce, George
Arctic regions; North Pole; Scientific expeditions
Scientific observations were conducted regularly and very carefully at
Conger during the whole stay of the expedition. Some idea of the amount
of labour involved may be conveyed by the statement that the number of
observations recorded daily was as follows: Meteorological, 234; tidal,
28; magnetical, 264—aggregating 526 daily. On what were called
term-days the number of magnetical observations was increased to over
1200. Pendulum, time, and sound experiments were also made.
As regards food-supply, the expedition was fortunate in being able to
obtain sufficient musk-meat to enable each man to have 1 lb. daily
during two years at Conger. Condensed milk, butter, and oatmeal had been
taken in large quantities, and there was a liberal supply of cheese,
macaroni, and condensed eggs. They had also a large amount of fruits and
vegetables. Tomatoes were found to be the best vegetable, and apples and
peaches were considered the best fruits. One ounce of limejuice was
issued to each man daily.
Even after the disappearance of the sun, it was decided to continue
sledging work. On 23rd October, Lockwood and three men were sent to
Dépôt “B,” at Cape Beechy, to construct a large commodious snow-house
for the use of the sledge-parties. About 4 cwt. of coal from Watercourse
Mine was taken as fuel to be used in a small stove. At Dépôt “A,” at
Cape Murchison, about 3000 lb. of coal, also from the mine, was
accumulated.
On 3rd November, Lockwood with seven men left the station to attempt to
cross Robeson Channel from Cape Beechy. Next day Dr. Pavy, Lieutenant
Kislingbury, Sergeant Rice, and Eskimo Jens, with two dog-sledges, left
to add stores to the dépôt in Wrangel Bay. This latter party succeeded
in adding a small quantity of stores to the dépôt, but Lockwood was
unsuccessful in his attempt to cross Robeson Channel, owing to the open
condition of the straits.
The results of these winter journeys satisfied Greely that it was not
advisable to send sledge-parties to any considerable distance after the
sun has left or before its return. The sun was last seen at the station
on 14th October, and again reappeared on 28th February, 137 days later.
Very dark nights were, however, uncommon, and except on a few cloudy and
stormy days they were never prevented by darkness from taking their
regular exercise.
During October a wall of ice, 6 feet high, was constructed some 3 feet
from the house, and was rendered windproof by a coating of wet snow. The
space between the house and the wall was later filled in with loose, dry
snow, which formed an excellent protection.
As regards clothing, Greely came to the conclusion that for ordinary use
first-class woollen under-garments, with heavy woollen clothing, are all
that is essential in Arctic service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account