Amundsen overland to North Magnetic Pole extracts:
First overland attempt: pp 156-7
March 1 1904
“One sledge was to carry a load of 7 cwt., and was to be driven by Hansen with our seven dogs. The second was to carry a load of 5 cwt, and was to be drawn by us three.”
[Near Mt Matheson] “As no change occurred in the temperature either on the second or third day, after consulting my companions, I decided to turn back and wait for milder weather. Early on the third day we brought part of our things into the igloo, as a depot, and walled it up again … The result was that we did the journey of seven miles in four hours, though in coming out it had taken us two and a-half days. But our sledge load was now considerably lighter.”
Second attempt:
“On March 16th I resolved to go out again and try to carry the depot a little further. We took with us from the vessel one sledge with ten dogs. The effect of the sun on the snow was immediately noticeable. For long stretches the sledge went at a furious rate over the most brilliant snow-crust, so that we had difficulty in following. In about three hours we now accomplished the whole of our former toilsome journey. The igloo, with its depot, was in very good order, and we at once began to divide the load between our two sledges; there was an additional sledge in the igloo. The weight on each sledge was about 4 cwt., and to each we harnessed five dogs. Allured by the many signs of spring I had taken a tent with me this time. We were now only two men, and the building of a snow hut would take us a long time. Meanwhile we slept that first night very snugly in our good old igloo. Early the next morning we were on the road.” [158]
“We set our course north to reach Matty Island. I had proposed establishing the depot on Cape Christian Frederik … {meet Inuit and return to their igloo community to socialize] … [depart] At 4 o’clock in the afternoon we came into high pack ice, and Poieta halted. As it cleared for a moment we caught sight of Matty Island.
It was a sheer delight to build an igloo, when one had Eskimo help, and – the whole was done in an hour … [next day] At noon we hit upon a little Eskimo camp of six huts. And now Poieta refused in the most decisive manner to go further, for which we could not blame him, as the weather was so abominable …
we lashed our sledge 173
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load with extra care; and in this we were right, as the next day we missed a saw, a knife and an axe. After a whole lot of bickering and unpleasantnesses we at last succeeded in getting these things back again. But there could be no question of leaving any depot in the neighbourhood of these people. The first thing they would do when we were out of sight would obviously be to plunder the whole depot. I, therefore, found, it advisable to return to our friends the Nechilli and place the depot under their charge. One day more or less to the North would not be of great consequence. On the evening previous, when the snowstorm at last ceased, we had seen land on both sides. To the west, lay Cape Hardy on Matty Island, and to the north-east, probably Cape Christian Frederik on Boothia Felix.
… At half-past seven in the morning all was ready for starting [back to Gjoa]. In all there were nine sledges, to which both men and dogs were harnessed.
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we carried house and provisions for three months, while the Eskimo had with them barely enough food for the day. All the sledges drove in a line, so that each smoothed the way for the next.
…
I prevailed upon the Eskimo to remain with us and go with us to the ship on the following day. But next day they wanted to stay another day and try seal catching, and I remained to accompany them in their sport. We
176 Towards the Pole.
started with a company of twenty men … They knew their way, and, as the sky was clear, they knew their bearings, which lay towards the south-east, away from the wind … On the next day, March 25th, we continued our journey together. We laid down our depot a little way inland, erected a high snow pillar over it, and told the
177 Chapter V.
Eskimo to look after it. Then Hansen and I bade them good-bye, as, with our lighter sledges, we ought to get along much faster than they. I drew the stretch of coast from King William Land in the snow, and indicated the position of Gjoahavn. They knew it well, and, like the Ogluli, called it “Ogchoktu,” a name in common use amongst ourselves … We were on board again at 8 o’clock on the morning of the ’26th. Circumstances had once more prevented me from getting as far as I wished, but still it was satisfactory to have laid down a depot so far ahead.”
[178]
Third and final attempt:
Meanwhile the moment came for our final start with
179 Chapter V.
the sledge expedition, which we, had fixed for after Easter … On April 6th we were ready. We went with Teraiu and Kachkochnelli, who were going with their families to Abva (Mount Matheson) to catch seals …
180 Towards the Pole.
At half-past six in the evening we bade farewell to the Eskimo near our depot. … With some anxiety we examined the depot, and found it untouched and in order, to the great credit of our friends the Nechilli, to whom the wood and iron materials stowed away would have been immensely valuable. And it would not have been difficult for them to steal the whole of it, hide it till we were clear away, and then enjoy the benefit of
181
At 8 o’clock next morning we went on ahead. We had loaded 600 Ibs. on each sledge; with strong, well- grown animals, five dogs for each would have been ample; as it was, the loads were too heavy and our progress was slow accordingly. We also felt the want of the Eskimo, who on the day before had driven in front and smoothed the way for us. From Abva, where the depot lay, we shaped our course towards the ice and then southwards (?) to Matty Island, where I wished to place my first magnetic station. … In the evening of April 6th we reached Cape Hardy, on Matty Island, after a hard struggle over the pack ice, which blocked the coast; we had to leave one sledge behind and harness all the dogs to the other. Next morning, at half-past six, we took the dogs with us in leashes and fetched the sledge we had left behind. The whole distance was nine miles. Later in the day I took our latitude and longitude, and by the time Ristvedt, who
182 Towards the Pole.
was an excellent cook for such a journey as this, had served dinner, the observatory was built. It was simply a round wall, just high enough to shelter me and the instrument.
…
On the 15th we went on further … There was a thick fog, and, just as we halted, two Eskimo emerged from the gloom. They belonged to the same gang [of plunderers] that Hansen and I had met in March. But, under present circumstances, we had to be on friendly terms with the two gentlemen, Kaumallo and Kalakchie. They found their way easily through the dense fog and we were soon at their camp. Their hut was the only one left, and these two, with an old woman and two children, were the only occupants left in the bandits’ camp. They had evidently repented of their previous
183
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behaviour and were now very courteous. We put up our tent near their hut. A storm from the north with thick snow prevented us from journeying further the following day. Meanwhile Ristvedt harnessed all our dogs to one sledge and went south to the vessel with Kalakchie to get the watch mended or changed so as not to waste time. The distance there and back was 108 miles, and on the 20th at half-past seven in the evening he returned having satisfactorily accomplished his task.
To remain four or five days in idleness, with an old Eskimo woman, a man, and two children, was not diverting, and it was therefore refreshing to get away again the next morning. The ice off Matty Island was awkward, and to get ahead we had to leave one of the sledges behind. We, therefore, drove ashore on to Boothia Felix and laid down a depot a little northward of Cape Christian Frederick and left the other sledge there. We then went back to the first sledge and passed the night there. We had done twenty-four miles that day. Next day we proceeded through the hummock ice with all the ten dogs put to the sledge, carrying a load of 660 Ib. On the north side of Matty Island we came upon an Eskimo camp of three huts and pitched our tent with them.
184 Towards the Pole.
… The journey up along the coast of Boothia did not present any interesting feature. We were very near the Magnetic Poles, both the old and the new, and probably passed over them both. We took up our northernmost station a little to the south of Tasmania Islands and turned back on May 7th. My intention was to go back, fetch our dep6t, and with it make for Victoria
185 Chapter V.
Harbour, where the two Rosses had wintered with the “Victory” in the thirties of last century. A series of magnetic observations here would be very interesting, possibly even more interesting than at the Pole itself. However, I was not to succeed in carrying out this plan. When on the trip south we passed the old winterquarters, my left foot, which had been troubling me for some time, probably as the result of tight lacing on the ankle, became so utterly useless that I had to lie up. I was in this condition from the I2th till the evening of the 18th when we were able to go on …
On May 21st we reached our depot, but found it entirely plundered by our friends Kaumallo and Kalakchie. Eleven pounds of pemmican lay scattered around, that was all. We had no choice but to set our course back to the “Gjoa” as fast as we could, as ‘these ten cakes of pemmican, with a couple of packets of chocolate and a little bread, represented our entire stock of provisions.
186 – Towards the Pole.
… on the evening of May 27th we were on board.