Chapter 8 The 1896 Conway Spitzbergen (Svalbard) Expedition and related polar work

Abstract

Gregory's reputation as an intrepid explorer had been confirmed by the publication of his book on his African expedition. Sometime during the spring of 1896 he was invited by Sir Martin Conway, later Lord Conway of Allington, to join a three-month expedition to explore the interior of Spitzbergen (Svalbard) (Gregory 1897). Although Conway had not read Gregory's book when he invited him (Conway 1897), he was familiar with Gregory and his exploits. The aim of the expedition was to explore and make a map of an island whose interior was almost completely unknown. Except for a journey along part of the west coast by G. Nordensk (?1869–1928) and a three-day excursion inland from Sassen Bay by M. C. Rabot, nothing much was known about the interior – it was a blank piece of map. A practical objective was to identify if there was a walkable land route to the west coast from the coast of the great ‘Stor Fjord’ in which whaling ships and whalers were regularly trapped by pack ice from the east and could not escape. If it were possible for the whalers to reach the west coast they could either be picked up by ship and saved, or survive the winter at one of the huts or food depots maintained by the Tromso Fisherman's Association. The NHMs interest, and the reason Gregory was released to participate, was revealed by Garwood & Gregory (1896). Although several European museums owned collections of rocks from Spitzbergen, the NHM did not have any such collection and Gregory was deputed to obtain representative sets of specimens. The departure of the party had to be delayed because Gregory could not leave in May ( Natural Science , 8 , p. 358), for unspecified reasons. Certainly, Gregory had agreed to exhibit his new geological …