Part 7

So much for Lieutenant Peary's time-table; now for what he hopes to accomplish.

To begin with, the party expect to attain the highest north ever reached by any Arctic expedition. The present record is held by the Greely expedition, two members of which reached 83 deg. 24' north latitude. The farthest north reached by Lieutenant Peary in his last expedition was 82 deg. north latitude, which is some eighty-four geographical miles south of the point reached by Lieutenant Lockwood of the Greely party. Then, as already mentioned, a complete survey will be made of Inglefield Gulf, and also of the entirely unknown stretch of land on the northeastern coast of Greenland, between Independence Bay and Cape Bismarck.

In addition to this, the main object of the expedition is to make a complete map of the land lying to the north of Greenland, or, rather, the Archipelago, for it is believed that this region is occupied by an extensive group of islands. Unfortunately there is reason for thinking that the lofty ice-cap which will allow the explorers to reach the northernmost point of Greenland by sledging over the inland ice does not continue in the same way over the islands to the north of Greenland. Both Lieutenant Peary in his observations on the east, and Lieutenant Lockwood on the west, remarked that the land stretching away to the north was in many places bare of ice and snow, and rugged in its character. One reason for this absence of an inland ice-cap here is the fact that these islands to the north lie low in the ocean compared with mountainous Greenland. Hence, in the summer, which is the only season when an advance would be possible, the ice and snow melt to a great extent and leave the land bare. Now in case Lieutenant Peary finds that there is no continuous ice on this northern land, he will skirt around the shore on the ice of the open sea, for this is present winter and summer alike. It is likely that such an advance over the ice-pack will be attended by very serious difficulties, the ice being heaped up in broken and uneven surfaces, with mountains and chasms to baffle the party. There may also be spaces of open water where boats or rafts will have to be used instead of sledges. At any rate, the advance will be made as far as possible, and the land to the north of Greenland studied and mapped as far as may be.

It is not the purpose of the expedition to seek the North Pole itself. They may and very probably will get nearer to the Pole than anyone has hitherto done. Lieutenant Peary is confident that he will make the farthest north, and General Greely is inclined to admit this, and told me some days ago in Washington that he should not be surprised if Lieutenant Peary reached 85 deg. north latitude. In any event, an approach to the North Pole will be an incident in the expedition, and not its main object.

Several important considerations make it probable that Lieutenant Peary's present expedition will attain a considerable measure of success. In the first place, in starting from Bowdoin Bay instead of from Redcliffe House, there will be a gain of forty miles rough hauling, which meant in the recent expedition two weeks' valuable time. From Bowdoin Bay, the party will be able to climb to the inland ice-cap by the shortest and easiest possible route. The fact that an abundant supply of provisions will be sent ahead during the present summer will be a great advantage, and will do away with the necessity of a supporting party such as was employed on the last expedition. To save the carrying of a ton or so of provisions for even a hundred miles is a matter of great importance. Lieutenant Peary expects to make a further saving in time by choosing a course midway between the one taken on his last journey to Independence Bay and the one taken on his return journey. These two courses, it will be remembered, were unsatisfactory, because in the advance to Independence Bay he went too far to the west and was caught in immense fissures and depressions leading to the glaciers, while on the return journey he went so far to the east that the great elevation above the sea level, often eight thousand feet or more, made it difficult to find the way or take observations on account of perpetual fogs. Now he proposes to avoid the two extremes, and to search for an easier course in a happy medium. A still greater gain in time will be made by starting the expedition early in March, 1894, instead of waiting until May, as was the case before.

A novel feature of the expedition, and one that will be of great service, it is believed, in hauling the loads, will be the use of pack horses in addition to the dog teams. Lieutenant Peary, during his recent western trip, secured a number of hardy burros in Colorado, which he believes will be able to endure the Arctic winter. At any rate, they will be very valuable in carrying the advance provisions this present season, and on a pinch they can be turned into steaks. It has been found possible to fit snow shoes to the hoofs of these pack horses, so as to allow them to advance as rapidly as the dogs. An experiment similar to this has been tried in Norway, where ponies have been used successfully on snow, and also in Alaska.

As to the size of the exploring party, it will be small, comprising not more than ten men in all, and several of these will be left behind at the winter quarters. Lieutenant Peary fully realizes that an exploring party is no stronger than the weakest of its members, and will take along with him only men whose endurance and loyalty have been fully demonstrated. From the winter camp the line of advance will be Independence Bay, where the party will divide, Lieutenant Peary pushing on to the north, and his other men exploring southward to Cape Bismarck. From that point the latter party will be instructed to return to the winter camp directly across Greenland. There is no human way of knowing how Lieutenant Peary will return.

One question which will occur to anxious friends of the explorer is, how Lieutenant Peary and his two companions will live during the winter of '94 and '95, at the northernmost point of Greenland, where the foot of man has never trod, and where no supplies could reach them. The answer to this question is, that the party will take with them a very large supply of dried meat and other necessaries, and that they count on finding musk oxen in the region where they will camp. In his previous expedition, Lieutenant Peary killed five of these musk oxen near Independence Bay, and he saw many others. With such a supply of fresh meat, and with abundant means of protecting themselves against the cold, there is no reason why the party may not live through the winter without serious danger or even extraordinary discomfort. Leigh Smith was able to pass a winter on Franz-Josef Land under much less favorable conditions.

In a general way it may be said, in conclusion, that the present Peary expedition starts out with bright prospects. Advantage has been taken of errors and oversights made by others in the past. Dangers and difficulties have been foreseen, and will be guarded against. A sensible, and to a great extent feasible, plan of advance has been adopted. In a word, everything would seem to have been done to prevent the recurrence of one of those wretched tragedies which have stained and saddened the records of Arctic exploration.

EDITOR'S NOTE.--The expedition of Lieutenant Peary is undertaken at his own expense, with the aid of voluntary subscriptions.

Contributions from one dollar up may be sent to Professor Angelo Heilprin, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

AN EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH MAGNETIC POLE.

BY W. H. GILDER. Author of "Schwatka's Search," "Ice Pack and Tundra," etc.

On the Fourth of July, 1879, after a long and tedious journey over territory never before crossed by man, I stood with Lieutenant Schwatka on Cape Felix, the most northern point of King William's Land.

Looking in the direction of the Isthmus of Boothia, not more than twenty miles to the eastward, across the frozen surface of McClintock Channel, we could see the snow-covered hills of Cape Adelaide, radiant with all the tints of the rainbow, in the light of the midnight sun. It was there that, nearly half a century before, Sir James Ross had located the North Magnetic Pole. The place is invested with deep interest to all explorers, but, with us, the pleasure was mitigated by the knowledge that we were entirely devoid of instruments with which to improve the opportunity of either verifying the work already done or continuing it upon the same line of research.

Ever since that time I have been strongly imbued with the desire to return to that field of labor with a party of observers properly equipped to make an exhaustive search through that storehouse of hidden knowledge.

About three years ago I brought the subject uppermost in my mind to the attention of Professor T. C. Mendenhall, Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, in Washington, and to that of his assistant, Professor Charles A. Schott, in charge of the computing division of that bureau. From the first both of these gentlemen have been strong advocates of such an expedition.

"The importance of a redetermination of the geographical position of the North Magnetic Pole," said Professor Mendenhall, in a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury written at that time, "has long been recognized by all interested in the theory of the earth's magnetism or its application. The point as determined by Ross in the early part of this century was not located with that degree of accuracy which modern science demands and permits, and, besides, it is altogether likely that its position is not a fixed one. Our knowledge of the secular variation of the magnetic needle would be greatly increased by better information concerning this Magnetic Pole, and, in my judgment, it would be the duty of the Government to offer all possible encouragement to any suitably organized exploring expedition which might undertake to seek for this information."

Acting upon a further recommendation in this letter, the Secretary of the Treasury requested the President of the National Academy of Sciences to appoint a committee of its members, or others familiar with the difficult problems involved, "to formulate a plan or scheme for carrying out a systematic search for the North Magnetic Pole, and kindred work," and such a committee was subsequently appointed, with Professor S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as chairman.

The work proposed by this expedition has attracted the attention and held the interest of scientists everywhere, and material aid from several scientific bodies has already been pledged toward the securing of the necessary funds for transporting the party to the field of its labors, and its maintenance while at work there.

The observers will be selected from among the officers of the United States Navy attached to the Coast Survey, who have had special training in magnetic field work. That bureau will also provide the necessary instruments, but, in the absence of any appropriation that could be applied to the transportation and maintenance of the party in the field, the funds for that purpose have to be obtained by the voluntary contribution of those with means and inclination to aid so important an enterprise.

Said the late Professor Trowbridge of Columbia College, in a lecture upon the data to be obtained by this expedition for subsequent expert discussion, "We are living in an epoch in the world's history when man is struggling for a higher and more perfect life, not only against the degrading tendencies of his inherited nature, but to make the forces of nature subservient to his advancement and well being. Among these forces there are none which seem to affect or control the conditions of animal life on the earth more than heat, light, electricity, and magnetism, all, perhaps, the manifestations of one cosmical agent. As the variations of the magnetic force appear to follow lesser and greater cycles, it is not impossible that nearly all terrestrial phenomena, which depend on causes allied to magnetism, follow similar cycles. We can now predict the course of storms; may we not hope to determine their origin and predict their recurrence, as far as they depend upon the forces which have been mentioned? A knowledge of the laws of the cycles through which these forces pass is the first and only step in this direction to be taken, and this step must be made by patient, long-continued observations."

An immediate practical use of the observations to be made is their application to the correction of compass errors. Every one can see that such work as tends to render the mariner's compass a more reliable instrument must be of immediate and direct benefit, not only to the sailor, but to the surveyor on land.

Admitting that the observations of such an expedition as that to the North Magnetic Pole will be of scientific and general value, it remains to explain something of the personnel of the party, how the work is to be conducted, and by what route it will reach the field of its labor.

Besides the two observers of terrestrial magnetism to be supplied by the Coast Survey, there will be a physician fitted by education and habits of study to take charge of some scientific portion of the work, in which he will be specially instructed by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey or his assistant. There will also be three sailors selected from the whaling fleet, who will have charge of the three whale boats belonging to the outfit, and act as assistants to the several observers. The writer of this article, by reason of his experience in Arctic travel, will have charge of the expedition in all except the scientific work, the reports on which will be turned over directly to the officers of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for reduction and discussion upon the return of the party from the field.

The scheme of work has already been prepared by Professor Charles A. Schott, who is looked upon as probably the best informed on all the details of terrestrial magnetism of all men in this or any other country. In the course of his exhaustive report upon this subject he says: "The magnetic observations proper will comprise the measure of the three elements, the declination, the dip, and the intensity, which fully define the magnetic force at a place. The measures will be partly absolute and partly differential, and will be considered under two heads; those to be taken while travelling, and those to be attended to at winter quarters." Detailed instructions for this work are given which are too technical to be interesting except to the specialist. He recommends that a single cocoon thread carrying a sewing needle shall be used to observe the declination where by proximity to the Magnetic Pole the horizontal force is weak. For it must be borne in mind that the Magnetic Pole is the point where the vertical force, called "dip," is greatest--represented by 90 deg.--while the horizontal force, called "declination," is 0 deg.

The observations for dip, naturally the most important of the survey, will be made with a Kew Dip Circle employing two needles; the usual reversals of circle, face, and polarity should be attended to at each station, to place the instrument in the plane of the magnetic meridian. The usual method of finding the plane of the meridian will probably not answer in that part of the world for want of sufficient accuracy; the direction of the magnetic meridian should, therefore, be taken as indicated by the delicately suspended needle of the declination instrument, and, where this method fails, dip observations should be made in any two planes 90 deg. apart, of which the first plane is preferably that of the meridian as guessed at.

It is proposed to charter a steam whaler to take the party from St. John's, Newfoundland, to the northern part of Repulse Bay, which, being directly connected with Hudson's Bay, is the nearest point to the pole-containing area that is accessible any year. There a permanent station is to be erected where regular observations will be continued all the time and from which each spring a field party (perhaps two) will start to locate the geographical position of the pole.

It may be well to repeat that the Magnetic Pole is that point where the needle of the dip circle is absolutely vertical--where it stands at exactly 90 deg. to the plane of the horizon.

To find this unknown spot the observer follows as nearly as possible the direction indicated by the delicately poised needle of the declinometer. The magnetic meridian is not always a straight line, and may therefore indicate a very circuitous route, but by a system something like the regular approaches to a besieged fort one may be certain of arriving there eventually.

For instance, when the needle indicates a dip of 89 deg. the stations should be nearer together--say not farther apart than twenty miles, if possible, and these intervals should be less as the dip increases.

Suppose the observer to have reached a point where the dip is found to be 89 deg. 30', and at the next station he has 89 deg. 35', at the next 89 deg. 40'. At the next he may find only 89 deg. 37'; he then returns to where he found the greatest dip and starts off at right angles, one way or the other, to that course. As long as the dip continues to increase, he knows he is travelling in the right direction. When it again decreases he returns to the point of his last greatest dip and travels at right angles to his last course as long as the dip increases. In this way he will eventually see the absolute verticity of the suspended needle marked and know he has reached the North Magnetic Pole at last. Sir James Ross did not succeed so well, the needle marking only 89 deg. 59' of verticity. But as this would indicate that he was within one and a quarter to two miles of the point sought, he was justified in feeling elated at his success.

It is believed, however, that with the improved instruments of the present day, and in the light of our increased knowledge of terrestrial magnetism, absolute accuracy is now demanded. These observations will have to be repeated from time to time until at last we shall know with certainty whether or not the North Magnetic Pole is a fixed or movable point, and if it is found to move, the direction and rate of that motion shall be positively determined.

THE MERCHANTMEN.

BY RUDYARD KIPLING.

King Solomon drew merchantmen Because of his desire For peacocks, apes, and ivory From Tarshish unto Tyre: And Drake he sacked La Guayra, So stout of heart was he; But we be only sailormen That use upon the sea.

_Coastwise--cross-seas--round the world and back again, Where the flaw shall head us or the full trade suits! Plain-sail--storm-sail--lay your board and tack again-- And that's the way we pay Paddy Doyle for his boots!_

Now we have come to youward To walk beneath the trees, And see the folk that live on land And ride in carriages. Oh, sure they must be silly gulls That do with pains desire To build a house that cannot move Of stones and sticks and mire.

We bring no store of ingots, Of gold or precious stones, But that we have we gathered With sweat and aching bones: In flame beneath the tropics, In frost upon the floe, And jeopardy of every wind That does between them go.

And some we got by purchase, And some we had by trade, And some we took by courtesy Of pike and carronade, At midnight, 'mid sea meetings For charity to keep, And light the rolling homeward bound That rode a foot too deep.

By sport of bitter weather We're walty, strained, and scarred From the kentledge of the kelson To the slings upon the yard. Six oceans had their will of us To carry all away-- Our galley's in the Baltic, And our boom's in Mossel Bay!

We've floundered off the Texel, Awash with sodden deals, We've slipped from Valparaiso With the Norther at our heels: We've ratched beyond the Crossets That tusk the Southern Pole, And dipped our gunnels under To the dread Agulhas' roll.

Beyond all outer chartings We sailed where none have sailed, And saw the land-lights burning On islands none have hailed. Our hair stood up for wonder, But when the night was done There rolled the deep to windward Blue-empty 'neath the sun!

Strange consorts rode beside us And brought us evil luck; The witch-fire climbed our channels, And danced on vane and truck: Till, through the red tornado, That lashed us nigh to blind, We saw The Dutchman plunging, Full canvas, head to wind!

We've heard the Midnight Leadsman That calls the black deeps down-- Ay, thrice we heard The Swimmer, The soul that may not drown. On frozen bunt and gasket The sleet-cloud drave her hosts, When, manned by more than signed with us, We passed the Isle o' Ghosts!

And north, among the hummocks, A biscuit-toss below, We met the silent shallop That frighted whalers know; For down a bitter ice-lane, That opened as he sped, We saw dead Henry Hudson Steer, North by West, his dead.

So dealt God's waters with us Beneath the roaring skies, So walked His signs and marvels All naked to our eyes: But we were heading homeward With trade to lose or make-- Good Lord, they slipped behind us In the tailing of our wake!

Let go, let go the anchors; Now shamed at heart are we To bring so poor a cargo home That had for gift the sea! Let go--let go the anchors-- Ah, fools were we and blind-- The worst we saved with bitter toil, The best we left behind!

_Coastwise--cross-seas--round the world and back again, Where the flaw shall fail us or the trades drive down: Plain-sail--storm-sail--lay your board and tack again-- And all to bring a cargo into London Town!_

MONSIEUR DE BLOWITZ.

BY W. MORTON FULLERTON.

When Taine died, people whom his books had interested felt a sudden longing to say all that they had been thinking about his famous theory of the "_milieu_." Taine had been, with Renan, the chief literary medium of thought in France; but while Renan was altogether useful, caring as he did more for his method than for its results, Taine, with his imperative and beautiful consistency, imposed on the younger generation a habit of applying the principle of environment which was somewhat lacking in criticism. No one but an artist of his surprising agility and perceptions could have made such a method so universal. The French wilfully attain clearness by defect of vision, but this is the same thing as saying that they attain plausibility at the expense of truth. Taine died, and the thing we lacked courage to say to his face we have all been saying now that he is safe and irresponsible, as well as unresponsive, in the earth.