The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole — John Shaqi
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
Cape Alexander, at the entrance to Smith Sound, was reached without any
special difficulty. Standing over towards Cape Isabella on the opposite
side of the sound, there seemed a good prospect of being able to reach
it, but soon a heavy pack was met with, and a furious gale coming on
compelled Hayes to run back to the coast for shelter. On the 31st
August, during this gale, the schooner dragged its anchors. What
followed is thus described by Hayes: “McCormick managed to save the
bower, but the kedge was lost. It caught a rock at a critical moment,
and, the hawser parting, we were driven upon the bergs, which, as before
stated, had grounded astern of us. The collision was a perfect crash.
The stern boat flew into splinters, the bulwarks over the
starboard-quarter were stove in, and, the schooner’s head swinging round
with great violence, the jib-boom was carried away, and the bowsprit and
foretopmast were both sprung. In this crippled condition we at length
escaped most miraculously, and under bare poles scudded before the wind.
A vast number of icebergs and the ‘pack’ coming in view, we were forced
to make sail. The mainsail went to pieces as soon as it was set, and we
were once more in great jeopardy; but fortunately the storm abated, and
we have since been threshing to windward, and are once more within Smith
Sound.”
Hayes again attempted to reach Cape Isabella, but the pack was again
met. He then attempted to pass up the Greenland coast so as to try to
cross farther north. However, another gale set in, and he was forced to
take shelter behind Cape Alexander. When the gale subsided he again
entered the sound, but was soon beset in the ice, and the schooner was
seriously damaged. Even after this, another attempt was made to pass up
the coast, but it ended in failure, and Hayes was forced to put into
Hartstene Bay for the winter. The harbour was named Port Foulke, in
honour of William Parker Foulke, of Philadelphia, who was one of the
earliest, and continued to be throughout one of the most constant
advocates of the expedition. Port Foulke is situated about 8 nautical
miles in a north-easterly direction from Cape Alexander. An abundance of
game was found in the neighbourhood, and consisted of deer, hares,
foxes, and birds.
During October, Hayes made a journey inland, ascending a glacier, named
by Kane after his brother John, with five men, and taking with him a
sledge loaded with eight days’ provisions, a small canvas tent, two
buffalo-skins for bedding, and a cooking-lamp. The party reached a point
70 miles from the coast, at an elevation of 5000 feet. Hayes describes
it as a vast frozen Sahara, immeasurable to the human eye. He goes on to
compare the river systems of the Temperate and Equatorial Zones with the
glacier systems of the Arctic and Antarctic, and draws a delightful
picture of the great law of Circulation and Change:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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