The Financial Rescue of the Expedition
While the human and canine residents of Framheim had been dealing with the real darkness of the first 2 months of winter in Antarctica, their dear departed Fram and its intrepid crew were dealing with a metaphorical darkness – one that had enshrouded the ship and its sailors. For word had continued to spread regarding Roald Amundsen’s secret passage to the Bay of Whales and his unannounced challenge to race Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole. Some saw the Norwegian explorer as a villain, others as a potential victor. As either incarnation, the contemporary Viking had cast a long shadow over the Fram, and it was up to the ship’s new captain, Thorvald Nilsen, to seek out the light (Amundsen 1912, vol. 2: 328–329).
Upon its arrival from Antarctica, the Fram had headed straight to Argentina, where the ship sought a safe harbor in the good airs and fine breezes of Buenos Aires. The vessel’s crew envisioned a welcoming with open arms from their native Norway, a virtual embrace conjured in the form of Norwegian ambassadors and messages sent from the homeland to Buenos Aires to receive them. But instead of a warm embrace, they were greeted with a cold shoulder. The news about Amundsen had not sat so well with some of the top brass from the world’s geographical and naval institutions – especially England’s. And the secretive activities of the homeland’s prodigal son had turned some of the patrons and politicians in Norway away from Amundsen, his men, and his ship. The Fram was lost in a sea of chilly ambivalence toward its commander’s conduct and the ship’s actual destination, and the newly appointed Captain Nilsen felt quite left out in the cold (Amundsen Expedition Diary).
Fortunately, there was a point of light for the Polar ship and its crew, and it existed in the form of a benevolent expatriate from Norway who now resided in the port city of Buenos Aires.
The Fram and its nine-member crew, under the command of the tenth-man Captain Nilsen, had arrived in Buenos Aires on April 17, 1911, Easter Monday, in the evening. The ship had arrived at the same time that the land party back in Antarctica was settling down in their warm new home for a good long winter. The Fram had left the iceberg-laden Ross Sea and traveled north up the South Pacific Ocean, past Cape Horn and the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas or Islas Malvinas), and up the River La Plata to anchor in the roads of the Buenos Aires harbor. After a 2-month voyage from the Antarctic, where they had left the Great Ice Barrier on February 15, the men were looking forward to briefly basking in this South American city’s warm sun and temperate winter climate, before proceeding on to their oceanographic journey (Amundsen 1912, vol. 2: 294–316).
At first, the reception in Buenos Aires was pleasant. As the ship sailed into port, the men were greeted by the Argentines, who were friendly and generally kind, not to mention extremely curious about the Fram and her lore.
Nilsen next carried out his special assignment which Amundsen had given to him on February 9 – on that day when, anxious to lay down the first depot, Amundsen had left the Bay of Whales to head southward. At that time, Amundsen had been so eager to embark upon his first depot tour that he had left the camp prior to the Fram’s departure from Antarctica for the winter. The unwritten assignment he had given to Nilsen was to seek out Don Pedro Christophersen immediately upon arriving in Buenos Aires. Christophersen was the man who had offered Amundsen and the Fram financial support for their expedition during the days when they were still in Kristiansand gathering up the dogs from Flekkerøy Island. At that time, Amundsen had determined that he would take Christophersen up on his offer – after the ship had reached the Antarctic. Once safely on the ice with his men and his dogs, he would then send the Fram to call on the Buenos Aires port and on Christophersen’s generosity (Amundsen 1912, vol. 2: 329–330). Perhaps Amundsen had a premonition that the potential benefactor’s assistance would be sorely needed by this time.
In your letters, you state that you are not going to go with “Fram” as you had initially planned, but the “Fram” will first come here in June 1911 under the command of Thv. Nielsen [Thorvald Nilsen], since you will be put ashore in the Antarctic area to try to reach the South Pole. That means that you are not coming to Montevideo or Buenos Aires at this time, even if you pass there now. If you later come to Punta Arenas/Sandy Point to obtain support, food and supplies, I am willing to pay the amount needed to equip “Fram”. The same applies to all your countrymen.
I will continue to follow you and your brave men – with sincerest empathy – and send all my best wishes that you will succeed and gain much honor – even more than you already have – for your ground expedition. 1
The kind letter, with the generous offer, was dated November 3, 1910 – while Amundsen was at sea, heading south – and was addressed in reference to Punta Arenas, so most likely was not seen by Amundsen until after his arrival in Antarctica and return from the South Pole. (Punta Arenas, in the southernmost region of Chile, was a last resupply stop for some of the ships proceeding further south to the Antarctic. This may possibly indicate that Don Pedro Christophersen, like others, may have thought that Amundsen would take the route toward the peninsula of Antarctica, rather than the actual route that he took toward the Ross Sea section of Antarctica. Although Amundsen had previously visited the Antarctic Peninsula region with the Belgica expedition, his decision to anchor his ship at the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, virtually next door to Scott’s McMurdo Sound, presented a further element of surprise.)
And so, upon the Fram’s arrival in Buenos Aires in April 1911, Captain Nilsen, per his orders, immediately sought out Don Pedro Christophersen. He found the esteemed and respected elder gentleman, and, upon introducing himself, was promptly asked if he had a letter of introduction or request from Amundsen. Nilsen did not, and he stated as much to the gentleman. Christophersen received him, but did not offer him any assistance. The Captain had not exactly held out his hat during the meeting, and he exited with no currency in it 2 (Amundsen Letters of Correspondence; Amundsen 1912, vol. 2: 329–330).
So, it seemed that Don Pedro Christophersen had been expecting a letter from Amundsen but had received none. Amundsen had sent Nilsen on his way from Antarctica to Buenos Aires with encouraging words but no formal letter with which to greet his potential patron.
Nilsen had to think quickly on his feet. He approached the banks, but there was no money in the Fram Expedition account provided from Norway and nothing on the way. Nilsen’s ship sat at dock and would need to be re-supplied and refurbished, requiring at least 2 weeks. His men were on the ship and needed to be accommodated on shore. He himself had only a few pesos – not enough for any purchase or accommodation. Hence, Nilsen ended up borrowing money from the bank to tide him over for one night and gave his predicament some serious thought. 3
The next day, Nilsen returned to Christophersen. And this time, he had quite a story to tell. He did not hold anything back. Nilsen told Christophersen of the long voyage and of how Amundsen had added the South Pole to the North Pole expedition; how the men – and, most likely, he must have mentioned the dogs – had worked hard; and how Amundsen, at this very moment, in the dark of winter, was preparing the way to the South Pole. Nilsen told Christophersen how he, himself, the acting captain of the Fram, had not more than 10 kroner to his name; how the government and statesmen of Norway had not thought to send a single note of currency or to replenish the expedition funds; and how there were no supplies awaiting him from back home when he had come to port in Buenos Aires 4 (Amundsen letters of correspondence; Amundsen 1912, vol. 2: 329–330).
The elder Norwegian, according to Nilsen, listened with genuine interest and kindness and immediately bestowed upon the young captain the funds, provisions, and accommodations necessary to keep him, his men, and his ship – indeed the entire expedition – afloat. Without a beat of hesitation, without a term or condition, Don Pedro Christophersen gave Captain Nilsen everything he needed and more. It would seem that the Norwegian-Argentine expatriate exhibited the generosity that his letters had promised and that the tone of his words had reflected. In doing so, he saved the status and viability of the Fram expedition, making it possible for the ship and the men to complete their mission, and, very importantly, to return to the Antarctic to retrieve Amundsen and the wintering party – the men and the remaining dogs. Christophersen saved the Norwegians’ reputation, and, in regard to Amundsen, he helped the explorer save face.
A Norwegian businessman and member of an influential family, with high echelon diplomatic ties, Peter “Don Pedro” Christophersen now lived in Buenos Aires. He had married into an important Argentine family and by this time had two children – Carmen and Peter (Pedro) – with his wife Carmen de Alvear. Earlier in the century, in 1904, he had helped fund and co-found the Compañia Argentina de Pesca – the Argentine Fishing Company – with Carl Anton Larsen, captain of the ill-fated ship Antarctic during Otto Nordenskjöld’s ultimately successful Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903. Larsen’s Pesca whaling company became the first such commercial enterprise to operate in the Antarctic region, which triggered increased industrial whaling in southern waters with all its consequences, and led to the construction of the first land-based whaling station – Grytviken – on South Georgia Island (Tahan [2017] 2018). Already twice wealthy from his lucrative business ventures and his spouse’s family money, Don Pedro Christophersen also happened to be lucky and had just struck it rich again by winning a lottery. He had already offered Amundsen financial support just on the face of the “North Pole” expedition nearly a year prior, and now he opened up a bright new world to Amundsen’s Captain Nilsen, who would be able to take care of his ship, look after his men, fulfill the scientific mission he had been handed by his commander, and return to pick up the land party from Antarctica – all this while Amundsen was pursuing the South Pole.
Nilsen left from his meeting with Christophersen a happy man. After tending to the business of docking and getting his men situated, Nilsen promptly submitted a report back to Norway, posting a letter to Roald Amundsen’s brother Leon within a few days of his arrival.
Dated April 21, 1911, and handwritten on official “Fram Expedition” letterhead, the letter gave a summary report of the expedition’s current state and progress, omitting, however, the news about Don Pedro Christophersen. The letter did not omit, however, information about the dogs. In fact, Nilsen wrote of them quite proudly. “The people and the animals were all well as of the time we left for Buenos Aires,” reported Nilsen. “There were 115 animals [who went] on the ice when we reached Antarctica. During the last part of the voyage, they were extremely fat, the animals.” The trip to Buenos Aires, according to Nilsen, had completed a near circumnavigation of the globe for the Fram. “Have been almost around the world one time since left Madeira,” calculated Nilsen. “Everyone here [in Buenos Aires] interested in Fram and, as far as I can tell, everyone here has sympathy for the Norwegian expedition. We have been very anxious about how people would look at us.” Thus, so far so good. “Fram is a good ship,” Nilsen went on to say. “The dogs were running around on deck. They had a nice time. After a while, everyone wanted to take care of them and to pet them. They were so kind, the whole day through.” 5 Captain Nilsen, guardian to the mothers and puppies on board, had a soft spot for the dogs, and it is felt through his words in this first letter to Leon Amundsen. The captain signed off with a request for Leon to send any letters to him from Norway to the attention of the Norwegian Consulate in Buenos Aires before the 1st of September, at which time he would set sail for Antarctica, taking the letters back with him on the Fram.
When I left Amundsen, he had said to me that everything would be okay when we came to Buenos Aires, that it would all be sorted out in Buenos Aires. When we arrived, there were one hundred things to be done with the ship and with many other things. Upon arrival I immediately went to the Norwegian minister and to Don Pedro Christophersen. They asked if I had a letter from Amundsen to Don Pedro, but I didn’t have any letter. They didn’t offer me anything – not five øre [i.e., pennies]. I had to borrow money from a Norwegian shipping merchant banker to buy a hotel [room] for the night. Fram was outside the town for 2 weeks. I had very little money. The next day, I had dinner with Don Pedro and I spoke to him for three hours, and I told him then how everything was, and I only had 10 kroner, 10 boxes of food supply on board, and so on. I told him this was so, because Amundsen had to expand his plan. But when I finished, Don Pedro said ‘I’m very happy to hear that you have told me all of this.’ He immediately gave me 500 pesos, and offered for me to stay on shore; and ever since, he has shown me kindness and has been very friendly. He also said that he was going to supply us with food and everything we need. And that he was going to pay all the bills. 6
Along with this happy news, Nilsen sent back to Leon a photo of the Fram crew and the bird specimens.
Now, Christophersen’s act of generosity, and his altruistic deed, would be known to Amundsen’s brother Leon and, much later, to Roald Amundsen himself. It would also determine the return destination for the Polar vessel Fram – and the final destination for some of the sled dogs.
Ten days later, on May 19, 1911, Nilsen sent another letter to Leon announcing the Fram’s upcoming departure from Buenos Aires, on its way to conduct a major oceanographic study along the South Atlantic Ocean between the two continents of South America and Africa. Written on official Fram-Expeditionen letterhead, the letter named the crew members on board at Buenos Aires and assured Amundsen’s sibling that all was well. 7 Nilsen would now fulfill a significant part of the scientific studies that Roald Amundsen had promised to his mentor Professor Fridtjof Nansen and to the world.
If we were to be at all able to go down and take off the shore party money must be found. We had come to the end of sail-cloth and ropes, we had too little food and a minimum of oil; all this would have to be provided… . then, as our comrades could not very well be left to perish on the ice, enough would have to be sent us from Norway to enable us to go down there … Mr. Christophersen promised me, on hearing what straits we were in, to pay all our expenses in Buenos Aires, and to supply us with provisions and fuel. That brought us out of our difficulties at a bound, and we had no more need to take thought for the morrow.
Upon hearing the story of Don Pedro Christophersen’s rushing to his aid, as told to him by Thorvald Nilsen upon the Fram’s return to Antarctica on January 26, 1912, Amundsen would later write of Christophersen, in his diary (Amundsen Expedition Diary): “[To] That man’s financial [assistance] is due, therefore, the 3rd Fr. [Fram] journey’s continued existence.” 8
Four months later, in May of 1912, following Amundsen’s return from Antarctica, Don Pedro Christophersen would be rewarded by Amundsen in a special way (special, that is, to Amundsen) that would involve, and affect, the sled dogs significantly.
Now, on June 8, 1911, the Fram was fully repaired and stocked, with four additional hired seamen and a floating “farmyard” of livestock and food provisions on board – all courtesy of Don Pedro Christophersen (Amundsen 1912, vol. 2: 316–317). The ship left the balmy waters of Buenos Aires and sailed into the light.
The Buenos Aires original port near La Boca, where the Fram anchored after sailing along the Rio de la Plata river. Here the expedition received financial aid and support from Peter “Don Pedro” Christophersen (Photograph by Mary R. Tahan)
Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources
Roald Amundsen’s expedition diary, quoted in this chapter, is in the Manuscripts Collection at the National Library of Norway (NB) in Oslo. (The excerpt quoted is translated from the original Norwegian.)
- 1.
P. Christophersen to R. Amundsen, letter, 3 November 1910, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 2.
T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter, 9 May 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 3.
T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter, 9 May 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 4.
T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter, 9 May 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 5.
T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter, 21 April 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 6.
T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter, 9 May 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 7.
T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter, 19 May 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 8.
R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, 27 January 1912, NB Ms.4° 1549