The civilized world, which had been anxiously awaiting news of
the adventurous Norwegian explorer, Captain Amundsen, and his companions, was relieved by the news of their return to Spitzbergen on Thursday, June 18th, four weeks after he set out by air for the North Pole. They had reached a point of eighty-eight degrees North, and descended on water in an " ice lane " where the two machines were soon held fast by pack ice. After three weeks of observation taking and furious work to free the flying-boats, and level a starting place, they flew back in a single machine to North East Land, where they were picked up by a sealer and brought back to Spitzbergen. The main result of the expedition was a negative one, proving that there is no land in the hundred thousand square kilometres which they surveyed ; but the behaviour of the flying-boats, of the engines which are British, and the oil, will certainly be a stimulus to others to continue by air the exploration of those inhospitable fields. * * * *
Previous page
