New Land Four Years in the Arctic Regions

This well-illustrated account of polar exploration was originally published in Norway in 1903, and in this two-volume English translation in 1904. It tells the story of the four years spent by Otto Sverdrup (1854–1930) and his crew in surveying and charting the seas and coastlines of the Arctic. Sverdrup had qualified as a ship's master when he first met Fridtjof Nansen, whose Greenland expedition of 1888 he accompanied. He advised on the construction of Nansen's wooden ship, the Fram, and became its master in 1895. Both with Nansen and under his own leadership, he undertook many expeditions. In June 1898, he took the Fram and a crew including several scientists to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, where they overwintered for four years. Volume 1 describes the life and work of the first two years, including extensive trips away from the Fram, both on land and on the ice.

Preface; Translator's note; 1. Introduction; 2. In the drift-ice across the coast of Greenland; 3. In Foulke Fjord; 4. Walrus-catching in Rice Strait; 5. Our first meeting with the polar ox; 6. A deserted country; 7. Our life on board; 8. Greely's camping-ground; 9. An unsuccessful shooting-trip; 10. Eskimo visits on board the Fram; 11. Across Ellesmere Land; 12. Constitution Day on board the Fram; 13. Summer journeys; 14. Bears and polar oxen; 15. Dr Svendsen's fate; 16. Summer work; 17. Sledge-journeys ashore and afloat; 18. In summer waters; 19. Walrus-catching; 20. The Fram's second winter harbour; 21. Boating expeditions in Havnefjord; 22. Captivity in Baadsfjord; 23. A sad home-coming; 24. Arduous journeys; 25. An awkward bear-hunt; 26. Stormkap; 27. Happy hunting grounds; 28. Home to the Fram; 29. Carrying meat in the polar night; 30. The polar dog and its ailments; 31. In winter quarters; 32. A merry Christmas and a happy new year; 33. Björneborg; 34. The great expedition; 35. Through Hell Gate; 36. Store and Lille Björnekap; 37. Towards Cape South-West; 38. A toilsome journey; 39. Easter in Heiberg Land; 40. Through drift and scud; 41. Bad-weather camp; 42. Towards the north!; 43. The return journey; 44. A journey of peril; 45. Back to Björneborg; 46. The commandant's hermit life; 47. Fire on board the Fram; 48. Schie's narrative; 49. The returning party's experiences.