A Polar Reconnaissance: being the Voyage of the “Isbjörn” to Novaya Zemlya in 1879

Abstract

A “RECONNAISSANCE” in military parlance is, we understand, a preliminary to a serious attack in full force; and in this sense Capt. Markham evidently uses it in the work before us. Had we any doubt of this, on a perusal of Capt. Markham's story of his summer cruise, the preface by Mr. C. R. Markham would set that doubt at rest. But indeed the whole tone of the volume bears on the resumption by Government of the search for the Pole, and Mr. Markham's preface is essentially a catalogue of the qualifications of the Captain for the command of an Arctic expedition. Apart from the questionable taste of this preface and the unpleasant feeling that the book as a whole has been written with a purpose, most of those who are competent to form an opinion will agree with us that in this direction Capt. Markham's work is premature. There is, we are glad to think, little chance of any Government Polar Expedition being sent out for a long time to come. No good could accrue to either science or navigation from an expedition similar to our last expensive failure, and even the additions to mere geography could be of the most trivial importance. While we should be glad enough to see the whole of the Polar area explored, and to know whether the “apex of the world” is land or water, we are content to wait until polar problems of much greater scientific importance are solved. The result of Sir George Nares's expedition has been to compel the enthusiasts on behalf of the Smith Sound Route to abandon it as hopeless, and seek for some other gateway to the Pole. In this it may be found they have been too hasty, for indeed our knowledge of the conditions of the Polar area is of the scantiest. The expedition sent out in the Jeannette by Mr. Gordon-Bennett has been given up by many for lost; though we are glad to learn that the U.S. Government have resolved to send out a search expedition. Within recent years the route by Franz-Josef Land has become a favourite with many, though why this should be so it is difficult to fathom, seeing that we know scarcely anything about it. It was discovered six years ago by the Payer-Weyprecht expedition, and since then it has been twice visited—by the Willem Barents in 1879, and by Mr. Leigh Smith in his yacht last year. Mr. Smith, as we showed at the time of his return, did some excellent work, having traced the land to a considerable distance to the north-west. He returns again next summer, and we trust he will be able to add still farther to our knowledge not only of the land itself, but of its physical and biological conditions, past and present. One or two enthusiasts who hail the discovery of a barren Arctic islet as if it were a new world, have rushed to the conclusion that Franz-Josef Land would form an excellent basis from which to storm the Pole. But we consider it useless to discuss the question. In a recent article we showed that in every country but our own scientific geographers have come to the conclusion that a mere search for the Pole is a wanton waste of resources, and that the only effective method of adding to our knowledge of the Polar area is by a series of observations continued over several years carried on at permanent observing stations all round the Arctic region. Preparations are now being actively made to begin this work next year, and before that time we trust our own Government will have seen it to be its duty to join the international scheme. If the Geographical Society really wishes to advance scientific geography, let it use its influence to promote this end; surely it has a higher connception of geography than that it consists of mere topography.

A Polar Reconnaissance: being the Voyage of the “Isbjörn” to Novaya Zemlya in 1879.

By Albert H. Markham, Captain R.N. Maps and Illustrations. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., 1881.)