The Difficult Crossing
The Danish merchant steamer S/S Hans Egede came into harbor in West Greenland, taking on cargo and preparing to depart in late June/early July 1910, just as Inspector Jens Daugaard-Jensen had promised Roald Amundsen during the explorer’s visit to Copenhagen in September of the previous year.
The Hans Egede’s special cargo on this second trip of the year was living, breathing, and furry. Per the arrangements of the Greenland Trading Company, the 100 young, and perhaps bewildered, Greenland dogs were brought on board and secured for travel. The dogs were each between 2 and 3 years of age, most of them male, with a small percentage of female. They came from the three west coast districts of Egedesminde, Godhavn, and Jakobshavn – known today by their Greenlandic names as Aasiaat, Qeqertarsuaq, and Ilulissat.
The massive sheet of ice that is Greenland was framed by snow-covered and glacier-covered mountains in the distance extending off to the horizon. It was the height of summer and snow-melt and ice-melt along the coast allowed sea vessel traffic and foot traffic. The commercial steam ship stood anchored at the coast, surrounded by Inuit adults and children with dog teams, sleds, and boats.
Scattered about on the ground, between the ship and the sleds, were more items waiting to be loaded: boxes, crates, barrels, bags, wood, large sacks, and the remainder of the special living cargo – the dogs.
These canines had lived their lives thus far in their native homes, among the Inuit, prior to being purchased for Amundsen’s expedition. They included the dogs we have already met: the small twins and sledge team leaders, Mylius and Ring; the large, dark red runner, Obersten; the gray wolflike agitator, Fix; the strong, pure-black beauty, Lasse; the agile red fox, Snuppesen; and the gentle, kind Camilla. They also included other dogs we have yet to meet: best friends and powerhouses, Uroa and Rotta; the “Three Musketeers,” Jens, Ola, and Rasmus; and the redhead, Maren; and many others.
The dogs were lifted onto the ship and made ready to embark on their adventure. They were 100 beings full of strength and energy, and they were about to make history.
The Hans Egede itself had already seen much history. The year prior, in August–September 1909, it had brought Dr. Frederick Cook back from the Arctic following his North Pole conquest claim and had delivered him to his fate in Copenhagen, Denmark – a fate that would later turn from victory to ignominy and that is still vigorously debated today.
On this day in 1910, as a vessel who had thus far been in service for over 5 years, the Hans Egede was witnessing a history of another sort – the steamer was about to deliver to Amundsen that which Amundsen had commissioned for his South Pole expedition – a canine cargo of 100 living souls.
If one were to imagine a 2-week voyage of the Hans Egede from Greenland to Southern Norway, with the ship steaming its way to Kristiansand, one might hear the high-pitched whining and fearful barking of 100 captive dogs, rolling with the motion of the high waves, not sure of their destinations or the reason for their sudden confinement. Add to this the fact that the ship’s voyage proved to be very long and very difficult, as later reported by Amundsen (1912), and one would probably have sympathy for these dogs. This, their first trip from their native home, was a turbulent one indeed.
As the Hans Egede traveled toward its destination, two of the 100 dogs perished, leaving 98 dogs to arrive at the Christianssand (Kristiansand) Harbor, to be brought on shore at Flekkerö (Flekkerøy) Island. It is not known exactly how these two had perished along the way. But 98 of the original 100 dogs arrived in the early hours of the day.
That day was July 18, 1910. At Inner Flekkerö Island (Flekkerøy), just southwest of Christianssand (Kristiansand), in a ship most likely filled with sounds of indignant barking, and perhaps painful whimpers, 98 dogs arrived to meet their destiny.
A third dog perished soon after arrival at the island. It is possible that the dog was killed while attempting to escape. Or he/she may have died of other causes. Amundsen, Oscar Wisting, and Hjalmar Johansen all recorded a final number of 97 dogs who had arrived at Flekkerö in mid-July on the Hans Egede (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 100–101; Wisting 1930, 16–17; Johansen Expedition Diary 1 ), with Amundsen commenting that they were not in particularly good shape upon arriving.
And, so, 97 dogs – weary, wary, and worse for the wear – were offloaded from the Hans Egede. As soon as they had set foot on Flekkerö (Flekkerøy) Island, these strong and resilient 97 dogs were housed in Fredriksholm, the medieval fortress whose ruins remained as an attraction on the island and whose grounds would now serve as the holding penitentiary for the sled dogs.
The dogs, as they relate to the expedition, were deemed by Amundsen to be “perhaps the most important of all – the passengers, the ninety-seven Eskimo dogs” (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 100). They had arrived to help Amundsen fulfill his own destiny and make human history.
Dog Chart: The Names of the 97 Greenland Dogs Who Boarded the Fram in August 1910
One hundred dogs were taken from West Greenland in late June/early July 1910 via the S/S Hans Egede steam ship, to be delivered to Roald Amundsen in Norway for his Polar expedition.
The 97 Greenland dogs who arrived at Flekkerö Island (Flekkerøy) near Christianssand (Kristiansand) in July 1910, later to be boarded onto the Fram and given their names, are:
Fix (also Fiks)
Lasse (also Lassesen)
Snuppesen (also Fru Snuppesen – “Mrs. Snuppesen,” and Snuppa; also nicknamed Amalie med kula – “Amalie with the ball”)
Rasmus
Jens
Ola
Tor (also Thor)
Odin
Uranus
Neptune
Maren
Katinka (also Tinka and Cathinka; formerly known as Afrodite – after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess)
Mylius
Ring
Zanko
Hök
Togo (also Tago)
Hai (also Haika)
Rap
Helge
Bone (also Bona)
Lolla (also Lola)
Obersten (“The Colonel”)
Majoren (“The Major”)
Suggen
Arne
Adam
Brun (“Brown”)
Lurven (also Lurvaroff)
Per
Hans
Bella (also Bolla)
Tomm (also Tom)
Mikkel
Ræven (“The Fox,” also Reven and Ravn)
Mas-Mas (also Masmas and Mass-Mass)
Else (also Elisa)
Balder
Svartflekken (“The Black Spot”)
Peary (after the American explorer Robert Peary)
Svarten (“Blackie”)
Suvarow (also Suvarov and Suvaron)
Ajax
Karenius
Sauen (“The Sheep”)
Schwartz
Lucy (also Lussi and Lussie)
Sara (also Sarikken)
Skøiern (also Skøieren)
Mons
Ulven (“The Wolf”, also Ulv)
Camilla (also Kamilla)
Liket (“The Corpse”)
Vulcanus (“Vulcan,” also Vulkanus)
Gråen (also Graaen and Gråenon)
Klöverknegt/Knegten (“Jack of Clubs”/“The Jack,” also Klöverknekt/Knekten, and Knægten)
Tigeren (“The Tiger”)
Uroa (“Always Moving”)
Rotta (“The Rat”)
Maxim Gorki (after the Russian writer Maxim Gorky)
Emil
Skalpen (“The Scalp,” also Skalperert; also known as Skelettet – “The Skeleton”)
Hellik
Dæljen
Grim (“Ugly,” formerly known as Sundbäck after the Fram ’s engineer Sundbeck – with Sund meaning “Healthy,” then USundbäck – with a play on the name implying “Unhealthy,” and then Skallagrimsen – the Icelandic name, with Skalla meaning “Bald,” then finally named Grim – although he was not really so ugly)
Cook (also Kock, after the American explorer Frederick Cook)
Lazarus
Samson
Kvæn (also Kvajn and Kven, a Finnish/Sami name)
Lap (also Lapp, a Sami name)
Pan
Gorki (after a Russian)
Pus (“Kitty,” also Puss)
Jaala (“Heart,” also Jåla)
Olava
Frithjof (also Fridtjof)
Idioten (“The Idiot,” also Ideal)
Knut
Fisken (“The Fish”)
Finn (also Fin)
Dødsengelen (“The Angel of Death”)
Knud
Ulrik
Kaisa (also Kajsa, formerly Ingeborg, Gjeita)
Jakob (also Jacob and Jakop)
Isak (also Isaac)
Nigger [sic] (also Niger)
Jeppe
Busaren (also Beiseren)
Bjørn (“The Bear”)
Fuchs
Rex
Hviten (“The White”)
Ester (also Esther)
Eva
Klokkeren (“The Bell Ringer”)
Aja
These were the dogs who accompanied Amundsen on the journey toward Antarctica and toward the discovery of the South Pole.
(Figure 5.1).
The S/S Hans Egede at Godhavn (Qeqertarsuaq), Greenland, in July 1912. Exactly 2 years prior, as arranged by Roald Amundsen and the Greenland Trading Company, the ship had visited here to bring sled dogs from the western coast of Greenland to southern Norway for Amundsen’s supposed North Pole drift, which in actuality was his South Pole expedition. The sled dogs had come from this location in Godhavn (Qeqertarsuaq), as well as from Egedesminde (Aasiaat) and Jakobshavn (Ilulissat). (Photographer: unknown; Owner: M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark)
Notes on Unpublished Sources
- 1.
F.H. Johansen Antarctic expedition diary, 15 August 1910, NB Ms.4° 2775:C:2, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo