Abstract
THE fate of the Bjorling exploring expedition, concerning the safety of which much anxiety has been felt in Sweden, has now been ascertained. Messrs. Bjorling and Kalstennius, two young Swedish naturalists, hired a small schooner, the Ripple, at St. John's, in June, 1892, and set out for a collecting trip along the west Greenland coast, accompanied by a crew of three men. After leaving the Danish settlements on the west coast last summer, no further news was received from the expedition, and the captains of the whaling vessels at work in Davis Strait this summer were specially requested to look for traces of the Ripple and her party. Captain McKay, of the Dundee whaler Aurora, who returned last week, reports that he visited the Carey Islands at the entrance to Smith's Sound on June 17 this year, and found there the wreck of the Ripp.e, a number of documents, and the body of one of the ill-fated crew. One of the papers written by Bjorling on August 17, 1892, on which day he had visited the Carey Islands to get provisions from the cache left by Sir George Nares, stated that on leaving the schooner ran aground, and the party had to land. A later note, dated October 12, shows that they attempted to reach Foulke's fjord to winter there, but alter reaching Northumberland Island circumstances compelled their return. At the date of writing Bjorling intended to start immediately to endeavour to reach the Eskimo settlements at Cape Faraday or Clarence Head in Ellesmere Land, with the hope of reluming to Carey Islands by July 1, 1893, to meet any whaler. In case of not finding a vessel he intended to push on to the Danish settlement. On receiving this news Captain McKay at once headed for Ellesmere Land, but the ice closed in, and he had to turn back. As the provisions would only last until January I, it is to be feared that the whole party has perished, unless they were successful in reaching the Eskimo. If they did so, and were subsequently able to make their way to the Danish settlements, there may still be hope, but no news can be received until next summer.
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Geographical Notes. Nature 49, 85–86 (1893). https://doi.org/10.1038/049085a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/049085a0