Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/204

* POLAR RESEARCH. 168 POLAR RESEARCH. 'Land from Otter Island to Walilcnberg Bay; Leigh Smith (1871) traced and rounded North- east Land to Cape Smith on the oast coast, and reached 81° :iO' N., 18° E. ; Conway ( 18!)ti) crossed in several ways the main island, and surveyed (!(I0 sijuare miles of the icefree interior. Danes Island (18!I7) was the base of the tragic balloon voyage of Andrce (q.v.). Of easterly exten.sions of the archipelago, opin- ions widely diller as to Giles and Viclie Lands. Possibly Vhite and New Iceland islands, already mentioned, are the Giles Land of 1707. Wiche Land of Edge (1617) is probably Kinj; Cliarles Land, which, rediscovered from Jlounl Wliite by Nordenskjiild (18(34), was first visited by Nilsen (1872). JjAST GItEi:^LA^•D. Nor has this route to the far north been much more successful as regards East Greenland. After Hudson saw the <'oast in 1007, at 73° N., it was observed occasionally by whalers as follows: Hamke (1054), 74.5° N. ; Ruvs (1055), 7.'i.5° N.; Edam (l(i55). 70° N.; and Lambert (1070), 78.5° N. V. Scoresby, ,Tr. (1822 anil later), discovered Scoresby Soun<l and charti'd 800 miles of coast between (i!)° and 75° N., giving the first correct idea of the coast. Sabine and Clavering (1823) explored the coast from Pendulum Island to Shannon Island, 75° 12' N. Koldewey and Payer (1870) reached 77° 1' N., the higliest point attained by this route. What is more important, they discovered and explored Franz .Tosef Fiord, penetrating in- land live degrees of longitude to 73° IT N.. 20° W. The Danish sea captain Waiidel (1879) Burveved the coast from a distance of about six miles' between (iO° and 09° N. Graah (1829), Holm (1883-85), and Ryder (1902) did excellent work soutli of tlie Arctic Circle; I'eavy's crossing is elsewhere mentioned. Naei'o (IflOO) reached 75° 30' N., the highest by ship in modern times. Lancastkr Sound and the Noktiiwest Passage by Sea. The first great advance toward the Northwest Passage came tlirougli three voy- ages of .lohn Davis, who discovered tlie strait afterwards nanu'd for him in 1585, reaching the vicinity of what is now Godthaab, Greenland. Failing in 1580. Davis in 1588 by a voyage of reckless daring reached Sanderson's Hope, abimt 72° 12', and, turning westward in his tiny craft, passed through the dreaded middle ice of Baffin's Bay to the west shore. His discoveries covered West Greenland from Cape Farewell to Sander- son's Hope, and the American coasts from Labra- dor to Cumberlanil Island. He was followed by another great English sailor. William liallin, in the T)if!C(irri-!f, of only 55 tons, with which, reach- ing Ballin Islands, he crossed the bay of his name by the 'Middle Passage,' ))assed Cape York, and on .July 5, 1010, was in Smith Sound in sight of Cape Alexander. His latitude of 77° 45' N. re- mained unequaled in this .sea for 230 years. Baffin added to geographical knowledge Ellsmere and I'riidlioo lands, and the sounds of Smith, .Tones, and Lancaster. .lohn Ross in 1818 penetrated Lancaster Sound some fifty miles, but. meeting heavy ice, mistook it for a closed bay. He was followed in 1819 by one of the ablest of Arctic explorers, William E. Parry, who opened to the westw^anl a series of magnificent waterways: l^ancaster Sound, Bar- row Strait, Melville Sound, and Banks Strait, leading through the Parrv Archipelago to the Arctic Ocean. Parry's route, along the 74th parallel, was to the north of the magnetic pole, the compass variation changing gracluallv from 109° W. to 180° W.. and thence to 100° K." Land journeys of liis party in 1820 explored the vicin- ity of their winter (|uarlers at .Melville Island. Parry's second voyage, only important in relation to Franklin's land journeys, explored (1821-23) Ecpulse Bay and Melville Peninsula. In his third voyage (1825) the /■'iiri/ was lost in I'rince Regent Inlet. The expedition of John Ross, of unprecedented length (1829-34), explored B(K)thia Felix Peninsula, the northern extremity of the American continent, and King William Land, togetlier with adjacent waterways, Mijst important was the location by his nepliew, .lames Clark Ross, of the north magnetic ])ole in 70° 5' N., 90° 44' W. The voyages of the Englishman Lyon (1824) to Repulse Bay and of Back (1830) to Hudson Strait were fruitless, and it remained for the Franklin expedition to solve the problem of the Northwest I'assage, partly by its own etl'orts and largely through relief voyages. Siccessful Ant- arctic work hail renewed interest in the Arctic, and Sir .lohn Franklin was despatched from England with two ships and 129 men to make the Northwest Passage. Franklin, wintering in 1845 at Beechy Island, explored the adjacent regions to 77° N. Sailing south to the west of North Somerset and Boothia, his ships were beset in Seiitendier, 1840, near King William Land, in 70° 5' N., 98° 23' VV., within 90 miles of the known sea off the American continent. The only recovered record found by Hol)s(]n of McC'lintock's party in 1859 shows that tlii' sliips were abandoned April 22, 1848, Franklin and 23 others having previously died. Captain Crozier with 105 men perished in an attempt to reach Fish River, Their route, via King William Land, Todd and iMontreal islands, is marked l)y graves and skeletons. The party practically van- ished from human knowledge until Rac. in 1854, and MeClintock, in 1859, revealed its fate. Franklin's absence caused many search ex- peditions, which were romark.ably fruitful in the ex]doration of the American Arctic from the west co;isl of Greenland westward. The vo.vages from the Atlantic of .Tames C. Ross, W. Pennv. A. Stewart. .lohn Ross. E. J. Dellaven, C. Forsyth, and W. Kennedy discovered no trace of the ex- plorer, though they added something to geo- graphical knowledge. The efforts of T. E. L. Jloore and H. Kellett from Bering Strait were also fruitless, except for the discovery of Herald Island, ilore successful Avas the voyage (IS50- 53) of Captain Collinson. who navigated the Enterprise tlirfuigh ten degrees of longitude along the coast of America, and safely back to Bering Strait. Wintering in Cambridge Bay, Victoria Land, he explored its southern shore, looked across the sea where Franklin's ships had sunk, though that was unknown to him, and even picked up relics of the squadron. R, M'Clnre (18.50-54) from Bering Strait car- ried the Inrcxtuiiitor to Banks Land, which he explored, as well as Prince Albert Land to the east. Wintering three years, he finall.v abandoned Ids ship in Mercy Bay, Through a sledge party which was sent to seek him, lT'Clure learned of Belcher's squadron at Beechy Island, and this he joined by sledge, thus making the only north- west passage. H. Austin's squadron, via Lan- caster Sound from the Atlantic, first saw traces