XVI. NANSEN CROSSES GREENLAND1888

Schwatka had explored the interior of Alaska, but the interior of Greenland remained as great a mystery as ever. The only man who had attempted to cross the inland region was NordenskjÃ¶ld, who had penetrated only a few miles.

In 1888 a young Norwegian named Fridtjof Nansen determined to cross the ice cap of Greenland.

Nansen was an expert in the use of the ski. Ski are Norwegian snowshoes. They consist of long, narrow strips of wood, which are fastened to the shoes in about the same way in which we fasten skates. The ski are about eight feet in length and three or four inches in breadth. In front they are slightly pointed and curved up; often the back is pointed also. A man who is skillful in the use of ski can travel over the snow by means of them at a rate of eight or nine miles an hour. In Norway and in some other cold countries, where the snow lies deep a larger part of the year, ski are much used for traveling.

The people of Norway love the sport of ski-lÃ¶bning. During the long winter the boys and the girls go to and from school on ski. At recess they take a run on their ski, and often the teacher goes with them.

A Man on Ski.

Nansen learned to use the ski when a boy, and after he was grown up he took great pleasure in strappingthese queer shoes to his feet and trying to climb the high mountains.

One day this question came suddenly into Nansenâ€™s mind: Why might not a party of good ski-lÃ¶bners cross Greenland from coast to coast? After thinking the matter over for a time, Nansen concluded that it could be done. From that moment he devoted all his time and energy to carrying out his idea. He decided that the best plan would be to start from the east coast and travel across to the west. The east coast was barren and uninhabited. Sometimes a few wandering Eskimo tribes found their way there, but no settlements had been made. On the western coast there were settlements.

Nansen knew that if his party landed on the east coast and traveled west, they would travel toward safety. If this route were reversed, they would leave comfort and safety behind at every step, and move continually toward unknown dangers. The men might become discouraged, give up the expedition, and return to the settlements. So Nansen coolly made his plans to land on the east coast and cross Greenland to the west coast. By this arrangement the men would perceive that they must reach the west coast or die.

Fridtjof Nansen.

The government of Norway would not assist Nansen. His plan was considered that of a madman. Many people said that he was attempting to do an impossible thing. Others said, â€œOf what use is this exploit, even if he does succeed?â€ These people did not know that a large portion of our earth was once ice-covered, as Greenland is to-day. If we would know the cause of many curious phenomena that now exist in our own land, we must study Greenland. As Greenland is now, so, probably, was a large part of the earth during the ice age, thousands of years ago.

Though Nansen met with discouragements on every side, he continued to plan for the trip. At length a wealthy Danish gentleman gave him enough money to equip an expedition. It was not easy for Nansen to findcompanions for this journey, but he at length succeeded in securing the services of three Norwegians and two Lapps. The Norwegians were Otto Sverdrup, a retired ship captain, Oluf Dietrichson, a lieutenant in the army, and Kristian Kristiansen Trana, a peasant. The Lapps were named Balto and Ravna. Balto was a good-looking young man, who spoke a little English; he was a sea Lapp and lived in a town. Ravna was a mountain Lapp, forty-five years of age. He was short, and had long, black hair hanging over his shoulders. Ravnaâ€™s home was on the mountains, where he lived in a skin tent and took care of herds of reindeer.

A Herd of Reindeer.

Nansen made sure that all these five men were skillful ski-lÃ¶bners, for he thought that, when they reached the inland ice of Greenland, the journey would be rapid and easy on ski.

Then Nansen arranged with the captain of a sealingvessel to carry him and his companions to the Arctic ocean. After collecting tents, clothing, food, sleeping bags, and scientific instruments, the party proceeded to Iceland, where the captain of the sealing vessel had promised to call for them. On June 3, 1888, the sealing vessel, theJason, arrived off the coast of Iceland, and Nansen and his companions were taken aboard. TheJasonheaded directly for Denmark strait, where seals abound, and in a short time the ship was among the ice floes. Every one on board was watching eagerly for seals, and at last a large number of the quiet creatures were seen lying like black dots on the floes.

On board theJasonthere was great excitement. The men flew about, making sure that rifles were clean and in good order and that cartridge boxes were filled. Then the hunters rushed to the boats and the capture began. One hundred and eighty-seven seals were shot that day. The sealers thought this a small number, but Nansen, who had never hunted seals before, thought it a very good dayâ€™s sport.

Sealing vessels, in their efforts to make large hauls, usually push steadily on through the ice, until they are in the midst of crowds of seals. The force of the ice against the ship is often so great as to throw the sailors off their feet. When the vessel is well in among the seals the engines are stopped, and the men are ordered to start out in the small boats. There are three or four oarsmen with one shooter in each boat. Away they go in different directions, each boat trying to secure the greatest number it can carry and to return first to the ship. The seals lie all around on the edges of the ice floes, and at first pay no attention to the boats. They lift their heads and see the boats coming from a long distance away; then, ignorantof their danger, they lower their heads again and lie quiet.

As the boats draw nearer, the seals sometimes slide off into the water. The hunters are quick to see any movement on the part of the seals. As soon as one moves toward the water, the men in the boat begin to shout as loudly as they can. The seal is so astonished by the unusual noise that he lies still awhile to think it over.

Then the hunter takes aim, and if he shoots the animal through the head, it drops down on the ice again and dies. The other seals near by are not disturbed. They seem to think that their companion has gone quietly to sleep again, and that there can be no danger. Often several seals are shot in this way before the rest become alarmed.

Sometimes the shooter misses his mark and wounds the seal instead of killing him instantly. The wounded seal in his pain splashes around on the ice and in the water, and the others take fright and plunge into the sea. A great deal, therefore, depends upon the skill of the shooters, most of whom are accurate marksmen.

When several seals have been shot, the men in the boat spring to the floes where they are lying and skin them. The skinning is done rapidly with long, sharp knives, and nothing is saved except the skin and the layer of blubber lying next it. The entire body of the seal is left on the ice. The Eskimos would think this practice very wasteful, for they make use of every part of the seal, including the bones.

As sealers sometimes return from a trip to Denmark strait with five thousand skins aboard, it is not surprising that seals are becoming scarce in that locality.

Nansen was glad when the haul of seals was over and theJasonsteamed away again toward Greenland. Several times the coast had been sighted, but the ship had neverdrawn near enough to make it possible to land. Balto was not very well pleased with his first glimpse of Greenland. In his account of his voyage, he said that the coast had no beauty nor charm to the eye, but was dismal and hideous to look upon; that the mountain peaks were very high and rose like church steeples into the clouds, which hid the summits.

But Nansen thought the coast beautiful. The snow-covered peaks glittered in the sunlight and extended as far as the eye could reach, while far to the west stretched the vast white plain of inland ice.

On July 17, 1888, as theJasonwas not more than ten or twelve miles from the coast of Greenland, Nansen made up his mind to leave the ship. All the baggage was brought on deck, farewells were said, and at seven oâ€™clock in the evening Nansen and his five companions climbed down the shipâ€™s ladder and embarked in two boats. TheJasonâ€™sguns saluted; theJasonâ€™screw cheered. But deep down in their hearts the sailors believed that Nansen and his men were going to certain death. No thought of fear, however, disturbed the brave band. With the exception of Balto and Ravna, they were all delighted to enter upon the perilous journey.

At first everything went well. There were channels of water between the floes, wide enough for the boats to pass through. But soon the ice began to pack, and the boats had to be pulled up upon the floes and dragged across to open water. It was hard to keep the light craft from being crushed between the ice masses. Then the current became so strong that the men were obliged to draw the boats up on a floe, in order to escape from it.

The ice which had collected around them threw the smaller floes upon the larger ones, making the ice unevenand difficult to traverse. After working all night, the men crawled into their sleeping bags, and were soon asleep.

For several days little progress was made toward land. Then a heavy swell arose and the breakers dashing over the floe where the tent had been pitched threatened to wash it away.

Nansenâ€™s Camp on the Drift Ice.

Suddenly the floe split through the middle, and the travelers were obliged to remove to a larger one and camp again. The tent stood now on a piece of drifting ice, about ten miles from land, with every prospect of being carried out to sea, where small boats could not live in the heavy waves. The outlook was certainly gloomy.

One morning Nansen missed Balto and Ravna. In searching for them he lifted the canvas covering of one of the boats, and saw the two Lapps lying in the bottom ofthe boat, side by side. Balto was reading to Ravna from his Lappish New Testament, for both had made up their minds that they must drown, and were preparing for death.

That day the ice tilted and rolled like a raft on the angry waves, so that it was almost impossible to cook the soup for their dinner. The poor frightened Lapps did not speak a word, but the rest of the men knew no fear, and laughed and joked as usual.

When night came, all the men, except Balto and Sverdrup, went to bed in the tent; Balto preferred to sleep in a boat, and Sverdrup was to keep watch.

Slowly and calmly, brave Otto Sverdrup paced up and down the ice. The floe rocked like a ship at sea, and the heavy waves dashed over it, threatening to wash away the entire camp. Several times Sverdrup was obliged to hold the boat in which Balto was sleeping, to keep it from being swept off the ice. Once it seemed that the tent must be washed off also, and Sverdrup stepped up to it and unfastened one of the hooks. He meant to call the men, so that they might get into the boats, and, if possible, escape with their lives. But Sverdrup paused a moment. The sea seemed to grow quieter, and a current arose which quieted the breakers and changed the course of the drifting ice, which, instead of sailing out to sea, now floated in the opposite direction.

When Nansen awoke in the morning, he was surprised to find the open sea far off, and the ice drifting calmly toward the land. All the party rejoiced that they had remained on the ice, which at one time seemed so dangerous. Their safety was due to the fearlessness and calm judgment of Sverdrup.

The work of launching the boats and dragging them over the ice continued for a week longer. One morningNansen was resting quietly in his tent, when Ravna, who was on watch without, pulled aside the canvas and peered in. He appeared so excited that Nansen asked him if he could see land. â€œYes, yes,â€ replied Ravna, â€œland too near!â€â€”meaning, â€œland very near.â€ Nansen sprang from his sleeping bag and looked out. Land was very near, and there was open water in front of them. The boats were quickly launched. After some hours of hard pulling the party found a harbor and landed.

The voyagers rejoiced to be on land once more. They walked over the stones and rocks, and picked moss and a stalk or two of grass. They had a good dinner to celebrate the landing: biscuit, cheese, and jam to eat, and hot chocolate to drink. When dinner was over, they started north again in boats along the coast, for Nansen wished to begin his journey across Greenland farther to the north than the place where he had landed.

The travelers picked their way on along the coast until a great glacier came in sight, which Nansen knew to be the famous Puisortok. Puisortok means the place where something shoots up, and the Eskimos regard the spot with fear. When they pass this dreadful place they will not speak, laugh, eat, nor smoke. They will not look toward the glacier, or even mention the name Puisortok. They believe that if they do any of these things the glacier will become angry and cause their death.

Balto was one day gazing through the telescope near this place, when he saw two small black spots in the distance which seemed to be moving rapidly toward him. As they grew more distinct, he shouted to Nansen that two men were coming. When they came nearer, the strangers proved to be two young East Greenland Eskimos traveling through the ice floes in their kayaks.

These Eskimos were short in stature and very good-looking. Their faces were broad and round, and their features regular. Their skin was chestnut-brown, and their hair long, black, and shiny. One wore a jacket and breeches of sealskin, with strings of beads in his hair, while the other wore sealskin trousers and a jacket of blue cotton. On their heads they wore large flat-brimmed hats, made of blue cotton stretched across a wooden ring. On the crown was a large red cross.

A Group of Greenland Eskimos.After photograph by Nansen.

A Group of Greenland Eskimos.

After photograph by Nansen.

The Eskimos showed great astonishment at the boats and other strange things that they saw, and when Nansen gave them some food, they seemed much pleased. Bygestures they warned Nansen about the dangerous Puisortok, and then set off northward again in their kayaks.

Nansen and his men passed Puisortok without any trouble, though they talked and laughed as usual. They looked at the dreaded glacier, and admired the beautiful color of the ice, which shaded from blue to a milky white. Yet old Puisortok showed no signs of anger. Soon the wayfarers came upon an Eskimo camp. High up among the rocks stood the skin tents, while the Eskimos themselves were gathered outside, running about in a highly excited manner, chattering and waving their arms. As the boats came nearer, the people on the land yelled and shrieked. Some ran to the shore, and some to high points on rocks, where they could get a better view of the strangers.

They welcomed the newcomers with smiles of delight, and helped them in every possible way. Nansen and his friends were invited into the Eskimo tents. They remained inside as long as possible, but the filth soon drove them out. When Nansen and his men went to bed in their own tent, the Eskimos stood around in crowds, gaping curiously to see them undress and crawl into their sleeping bags.

The Eskimos gave the white men pieces of sealskin, and in return their guests presented them with the empty tin cans in which their meat had been packed. These gifts pleased the natives very much. They contrived to make Nansen understand that two tribes, one traveling north and the other south, had met at this place, and that now they were preparing to separate and continue their journey. Nansen determined to accompany the tribe which was going north, because he thought that their knowledge of the coast might be of assistance to him.

The accomplished Eskimos were not long in preparingfor the journey. In a twinkling the tents were down and everything was packed. Before they parted, the members of the different tribes bade one another good-by, rubbing their noses together, instead of kissing. A few remained behind the others for a specially tender farewell. They drew up in a line like soldiers, and brought out snuff horns. One man would take snuff from a horn, and pass it on to the next. They spent several hours in this ceremony, each man taking snuff many times. Nansen thought they would sneeze themselves to death.

Only the Eskimos who had come from the south had their horns full of snuff. The tribe from the north was bound for the Danish colonies on the southern coast, to procure this important article. The journey takes about two years, one year to reach the Danish colonies, and one year to return. When the colonies are reached, the Eskimos spend an hour or two in trading. After they obtain the snuff, they start on their homeward journey. Their form of snuff is simply tobacco, ground to a powder between stones. In exchange for the tobacco, the Eskimos give large, fine bearskins, foxskins, and sealskins. They pay high prices for articles which cost the white men very little money.

When the farewell was over, the Eskimos parted, and Nansen tried to keep the north-bound travelers in sight, but he soon found that he must depend upon himself and break his own way through the ice. The journey grew harder and harder, and in camp the travelers were often tormented by swarms of mosquitoes. Clouds of the small insects swarmed around them and annoyed the men almost beyond endurance. Any amount of work in the ice was to be preferred to an attack by mosquitoes.

The party traveled through the water among huge icebergs;they plodded wearily over ice hummocks; finally, they drew up their boats for the last time at a place where Nansen thought they could climb the steep ascent from the coast, and reach the inland ice.

The boats were left in a cleft in the rocks, carefully blocked with stones to keep them steady. Then began the climb up the mountains to the plateau. The ascent was steep, and the men had hard work to drag up the sledges. Often one of the climbers would sink into a deep crevasse and have to be rescued by his companions.

A View in the Interior of Greenland.

The crevasses grew deeper and more dangerous as the party advanced, and soon a rain storm set in, which delayed the travelers three days. While they were lying in the tents, the men followed the wise example of the bears and did no work. They ate very little and only once a day, but slept a great deal.

When they took up the journey again, they found the ice hard. But a heavy snowstorm began, and it was difficult to drag the sledges through the deep drifts. At last, when they reached a point six thousand feet above the level of the sea, the wind was blowing fiercely and the temperature stood at zero.

Nansen decided to rig a sail for the sledges, hoping by this contrivance to make the wind serve as an aid. Old Ravna was disgusted with the plan, and Balto, too, thought it absurd to try to sail on the snow. But Nansen made the sails, and the two Lapps were soon forced to admit that their use made the load lighter to draw.

Sledging across Greenland.

The snow was still very deep, and when, on August 30, it was in condition for the men to use the ski, they joyfully strapped them on. In a short time they had attained theplateau, and then for days they toiled over a flat, wide expanse of snow. The highest elevation which Nansen reached during this journey was nine thousand two hundred and seventy-two feet, and the lowest temperature he experienced was 49Â° below zero.

The sledges were heavy, and the Lapps grumbled all the time, Ravna especially being very low-spirited. One day he said to Nansen: â€œI am an old Lapp, and a silly old fool, too. I donâ€™t believe we shall ever get to the coast.â€

Nansen answered: â€œThat is quite true, Ravna. You are a silly old fool.â€

Ravnaâ€™s spirits grew lighter when the party reached the highest part of the plateau and began to descend, for then they went along swiftly on their ski, or coasted down the slopes. Sometimes they encountered crevasses and had to pick their way carefully, and once Nansen fell into a deep chasm and had to scramble desperately to get out. When the bare rocks came in view, Ravna was so delighted that he insisted upon carrying a double load. He said that the mountain grasses and the reindeer moss reminded him of his own mountains at home.

At last the travelers reached the sea and encamped in a sheltered valley. Nansen and Sverdrup built a rude boat and embarked for Godthaab, the nearest town on the coast, whence they sent back natives to bring their comrades to town.

The Greenlanders took the two Lapps for women, because of their long tunics of reindeer skin. But Ravna and Balto did not resent this mistake; they were perfectly happy now and at ease. They told the natives about the wonderful things that they had seen during the journey over the inland ice.

Nansen was sadly disappointed when he heard that he could not sail for home until the spring, for the ship on which he had hoped to sail had already gone. He sent two swift kayak travelers with letters, to try to overtake the ship at another town where she was to stop.

Skating off the Coast of Greenland.

Nansen and his companions spent the winter comfortably at Godthaab. They found plenty to keep them busy. Nansen learned to use the kayak skillfully; he hunted and fished, and made two trips upon the inland ice.

In the spring, when the ship arrived which was to take them home, all the party felt sorry to part with the good friends they had made in Greenland. The farewells over, Nansen was soon homeward bound. On May 30, 1888, the ship entered Christiania fiord. The harbor was filledwith steamers and sailing vessels, all crowded with people, assembled to greet the man who had succeeded in crossing the inland ice of Greenland. Flags were waved, bells rung, and cheers were given with a will, to show the honor which Norway would pay her son, Fridtjof Nansen.

When Nansen had disembarked and entered a carriage to be driven home, the people were so excited that they dashed forward, unharnessed the horses from the carriage, and seizing the pole, drew him in triumph through the city.

The scientific and geographical results of this journey of Nansenâ€™s were very great. Much valuable knowledge was gained concerning the character of the interior of Greenland.

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