| Show written for this paper THE NEXT POLAR expedition copyrighted 1696 by bv prank frank G Ca carpenter menter washington april ath 1896 HAVE JUST had a talk with the great antarctic ant artic explorer e x p 1 0 r er his name is carsten E g b e rg gr evink and he is the first man who has ever landed on the great continent which is now believed to lie about the south pole the hemisphere of north and south america contains a little over square miles mr claims that the continent of which he is to some extent the discoverer contains square miles and says he is convinced it is quite as large as all europe his journey to this unknown land was through vast bodies of floating ice and at times he drifted between snow clad peaks some of which kissed the sky at an altitude of more than two miles above his little vessel his trip was over miles in length or longer than that made by columbus and the ship in which he made the voyage ee was a steam whaler of only tons we he had to sail before the mast in order to be able to make the trip and he submitted to all kinds of hardships that he might carry out his desire for exploration I 1 was introduced to mr by the jhon on gar gardiner iner hubbard the president president ident ot the national geographic gres society at washington and I 1 spent a morning with him not long ago during which he gave me some interesting information as to the expedition which he will make next year to explore this ne new continent belore before I 1 give the chit chat however let me tell you something about the man his name is which should be pronounced as though it were spelled bork re vink he is a swede and was born in christiana about thirty years ago he stands I 1 judge about five feet nine in his stockings weigh pounds and has a straight well wel rounded form his features are aim almost Os t germania german in their cast his eyes axe are blue his hair light brown and his mustache is of a sandy hue he has a high forehead a straight nose and lips rather thicker than ordinary in repose his face is rather stern but as he talks his eyes light up with a smile he appreciates a joke and he gave a hearty laugh now and then during his bis descriptions of some of the humorous incidents connected with his voyage mr bor c agre is a well educated man he went to college in sweden and continued his education at one of the german universities he speaks english fluently and our chat was in that language in talking about his first desire for polar exploration he said that he had for years aimed to go to the north pole and that adlof all of his bis studies had been with that in view he told me that he had worked together with nansen and that the two had often taken excursions together in norway to harden themselves for future work upon my asking as what he thought of the reports of hansens Nan sens hav ing reached the pole mr Borchgrevi ck replied 1 I doubt it the news from nansen comes to us at the wrong time of the year had he reached the north pole we should have heard from him in september instead of in the middle of the winter had he been successful I 1 do not see why he should have come back over the same road that he went in going to the pole his idea you know was to get intha into a certain stream which he thought flowed around the pole and to have floated or drifted right around it why he should have gone to the pole and then come back fighting against the current I 1 cannot see I 1 think there must be some mistake about the re ports what kind of a man is nansen I 1 asked he is a man of great force was the reply he is very enthusiastic is lull full of energy and at the same time is cool and calculating he is not a crazy en thusia st as many people suppose he lai I 1 out his plans on what he believed to be scientific grounds and it may be that he will succeed ft how about the balloonists voyage to the pole do you think there is is any chance of his success who can tell replied mr Borch gre vink 1 I met mr andree during the geographical congress at london last july and had a chat with him about his proposed trip he argues very plausibly as to his schemes you know king oscar of sweden is much interested in it king oscar is a man of extraordinary ability he is well up in science science and is quite an able writer I 1 mean by this that he can write things himself he is not like many other monarchs who have posed before the world as having literary ability who have had others do the writing for which they have gotten the credit king oscar is much interested in science he has paid much attention to arctic exploration and he has given quite a lot of money to further mr andrees expedition in connection with this mr went on 1 I heard a curious story about king oscar the other day which somewhat illustrates my idea of andree and his trip A well known geographer of philadelphia paid a visit to sweden a month or so ago and during his stay there he met his majesty the king his majesty talked with him at ae length nath about geographical su subjects and among other things asked the philadelphian what he thought of Andre andrees andreef ei expedition hereupon the philadelphian laughed and replied that tha t andree must be crazy and that hi his s whole scheme savored of lunacy the king answered the philadelphian that he might possibly be right but that V f the baloon expedition savored of lunacy it was a sublime lunacy I 1 dont think that the philadelphian knew that the king had contributed to the expedition how long will andrees baloon voy age probably be mr it is andrees idea was the reply that he will be able to fly over the north pole in about a week he will carry his balagon on a ship to the furthest possible point north and then by rising the currents of wind will carry him over the pole he expects to accomplish in the course of a few days that to which others have in vain devoted money and years the serious dangers in andrees ex tion mr went ON 08 6 41 are the winds when I 1 met him in iii asked me all kinds of questions as to 4 the winds of the south polar regions and their continuance he retold told me that bk bis great fear was that he would get in a calm someplace some place near the pole in this case his baloon might settle and he be would be almost entirely lost H he e tow told me that he hoped in such a case to be able to rise into a higher strata of 2 air jr where he would find a fresh current and thus go onward it seems to me that 1 I i this question of the wind currents is tho the most important one in his case the winds are I 1 judge less strong as yoa approach the poles another thing thine to be considered wilk be heat you know very well that the air gets colder as you rise above the sut satt a ce of the earth As you get into th the colder regions the difference in temper is great and it is a question how andree is is going to keep warm hey dare not have a fire in his baloon for AL a spark might ignite the gas and blow everything to pieces he will have to keep warm by clothing he knows knowse great deal cleal about aerial navigation however and has a very good idea of what he can do with a balloon the conversation here turned to mr trip to antarctica and he gave me a very interesting story ol of his voyage the most of which has never been published the expedition was organized as a whaling enterprise and in order to go Borchgrevi ok joined it as a seal shooter and sailor he slept na ia the forecastle of the little steamer and did all the worx woric ot of an ordinary seaman said he I 1 the trip was taken with the idea of ca crying whales and seals though I 1 went along for purely scientific purposes you know there are different kinds of whales that which is the most kalua ble is is called the right whale it is a black whale and is supposed to exist in ia large quantities in the waters about the south pole we did not find any how ever though I 1 still believe that they ex in those waters we also expected to catch some seals I 1 went along as seal shooter and with the understand understanding inz that I 1 should aid in curing the skins we found quite a number ot of fur seal and shot some there ate are many fur seal seab about the south pole though it is doubtful whether they exist in as large numbers there as they do in bering sea how long were you gone I 1 asked the trip took us just five months was the reply we started out from australia in september and returned on the of march how far was the point on which you vou landed on the antarctic continent frona from australia it was just about miles from new zealand replied mr what makes you think the place where you landed was not an island rather ather than a continent many things was the reply la in the he first place the waters water then the rocks the he mountains and their ds distance tance above the he sea these and numerous numerous other things lead to the almost positive contusion conclusion that there is a great continent down there about the south pole it is true rue that it may be an archipelago of isi lands ands united by thick sheets ot of ice but I 1 believe that it is a contin continent ent I 1 have made careful estimates of the lands which I 1 visited and of those discovered other explorers at different points aut t the pole and I 1 feel sure that there body of land there at least twice the beof of europe ti suppose the whole country is cover ill with h ice and snow ithac which I 1 saw was of that nare 11 replied mr we meled for days through the ice packs and then we passed great icebergs I 1 our ship was often by heavy es of f ice made it tremble and 0 tea sk ll 11 Is there any difference between the fe ke of the souta polar region and that ol of ise north feiga yes there seems to be a decided rence A part pan of the ice anich we saw was in great blocks rather than in mountains ot of ice such as you find at kace north I 1 dont think the icebergs of pobe tae south polar regions last as long as tab those of the north still they are ense some of the bergs which we passed sed rose to a height of three hundred K feet above the water aud and when you re member that as a rute rule from eight to ten buies as much ice of such a berg is sf i under tinder the water as above it QU ou can get naome some idea of their size Trav traveling eang among icebergs is not very safe and we had ai ae times to move very slowly suppose you had had a snip like r that chat of hansens Nan sens could you have made lay aay better pro progress grest 1 y yes was the reply hansens Nan sens I 1 ship would have been a great advantage 4 bui bat we had to take what we could gitt 1 I A the experience of landing on this pi k continent tor for the first time lime muse have s been a strange one was it not you know the land called victoria land had been discovered before I 1 went wini outa but our party was I 1 think the ant to ever set foot on what I 1 believe io 10 be e the mainland of the continent As we jfe came into the bay we could see on f ach side of us the coasts of victoria land and extending in both directions as leer as our eyes could reach everyone every one ot if the crew wanted to be first on shore and they crowded me back to the rear of id the boat As soon as we got near enough however so that I 1 could see the bottom through the waves I 1 jumped out and waded on shore and thus got there first 1 I cant describe the feeling that I 1 had there was a reverence mixed with it and indescribable pleasure I 1 realized that I 1 was on a new continent and nd upon land on which the feet of man had never before trod I 1 the conversation here turned to the commercial value of the discovery and mr told me that the ground around where we landed was covered arith ith guano there were millions ot of penguins len guins covering the rocks and these bh birds ds came about them by thousands y and they had to take their clubs in order to beat them away the penguins look ve very ry much like a small seal standing on it tre fl flippers p pers they waddle about the shore leeding feeding on fish and nesting in the rocks mr brought some back to sweden with him and one of these is now in the museum of the university of christiana he told me that he be found evidence of minerals on the mainland and that the fur seal ought to be of value he had bad no opportunity to make ex 4 cursione cur into the interior and he has re served this for his bis new expedition when he expects to find the south pole I 1 here asked some questions as to the expedition mr replied we expect to start next september we will sail irom from london for australia and thence will go to cape adare the expedition will be a commercial as well as a scientific one I 1 belong to the scientific part of it 11 how much will it cost between and 3 oooo was the reply ane scientific part of the expedition will be under my command I 1 snail have eleven men under me A number ot of these will be norwegians Norwegia ns sand and among them mr alme who was with mr wellman on his trip to the north pole we shall sail first for cape addre adare we shall take with us the material fur for building two huts and shall expect to 10 remain lor for a couple of years how do you expect to get into the interior my idea is that we will travel to the magnetic pole on sledges I 1 will take about fitly fifty dogs with me anat kind of bogs I 1 asked 1 am getting some russian dogs from Sio siberia eria replied mr they are very fine animals and are especially fitting for this work we snail have sledges made after the style ot of norwegian snow shoes and shall carry also a number ol of such shoes with us we shall probably use sails in connection witti with the sledges you kemem b br r nansen in ih his trip across greenland had a sail on his and by anis means he made as much as forty five miles a day in passing over the ice I 1 bhail take lake three men with me on the trip to the interior and shall leave the remainder to 10 slay at the huts huis and to make explorations from there as far as they can can in different directions the three whom I 1 tane with me will have to be norwegians Norwegia ns as I 1 want wane men who can use snow in returning from our ex sedition we expect to be materially material lv aided by th the e wind will you take any fuel with houi you yes we shall have coal and other concentrated luel fuel we shall have clothing ot of reindeer akins and outside ot of this we shall use canvas clothing canvas keeps out the wind holds bolas down the fur and is a great aid in retaining the warmth how about your food on we shall have all sorts of condensed foods we shall have extracts ot of beet and shall carry a large quantity of pemmican or powdered meat and dried vegetables will you be able to get any food on your new continent yes yei there is no doubt but that we can get fish and we shall have the seal and the penguin are the penguins fit to eat yes replied mr with a laugh they make a 91 very fair soup though I 1 must confess there is a little too much blubber in it to satisfy any one except an Esqui meaux how about pictures we shall of course take a full set of photographic instruments with us and lots ot of plates I 1 shall use films as well as plates this year I 1 had only plates in 1894 1894 the air however is not good for photographing down there there is too little contrast everything is dazzling white and you do ao not get the shadows that are necessary to make beautiful pictures I 1 made a number of paintings of the things I 1 saw I 1 sketched them while they were before me and afterward filled out the out outlines lints much of my work I 1 did with ordinary chips paint and this was the case with many of the illustrations which I 1 published in my articles in the century magazine how about balloons will you take acx any with you we shall not take any large balloons said he though we shall carry a large number of small ones we are going to take them in order to see if we cannot send messages to the civilized world with them we shall |
