stefansson-wrangel-09-32-101v

402 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

U. S. S. Vincennes ran through the position as indicated on the
Admiralty chart and anchored in 42 fathoms in latitude 72° 5'
N., longitude 174° 37' W., where Plover Land should have been, and
reported that for thirty miles in every direction there was no land
though the weather was so clear that the horizon was apparently
without limit.² A little doubt, however, is cast on this testimony
by the fact that on the same voyage Commander Rodgers failed
to see Wrangel Island although, according to his reported astro-
nomical observations and our present knowledge, he was only a few
miles from it. After all, the position assigned to Plover Land by
Kellett was only approximate; there may also conceivably have
been an error of position in Rodger’s reckoning.

Later the ship Rodgers, commanded by Lieutenant Berry,³
reported reaching latitude 73° 44' N. in longitude 171° 48' W.
without seeing land. If we consult the standard charts we find
the whole vicinity of Plover Land sounded. But the figures show
shallow water, as if the facts were determined so to balance them-
selves as still to leave a possibility of land. We may also remember
that, if it be supposed that Kellett was nearer to the land than
he thought, he may have overestimated its extent.⁴

We come now to the reason for the writing of this paper.
Plover Land has again been seen.

Plover Land and Borden Land

In the spring of 1914, after the wreck of the Karluk a short
distance to the northeastward, several members of our expedition
remained encamped at Waring Point, Wrangel Island, for several
months. During that time a land other than Herald Island was
seen one day to the eastward and was repeatedly seen thereafter.
The two most important witnesses are John Hadley and William
McKinlay.

The Testimony of Hadley

John Hadley, a native of Canterbury, England, had spent most
of his life in the Arctic since he went thither in 1889 as petty

² Rept. of the Secretary of the Navy, Dec. 3, 1881, Reconnaissance of
Behring's straits, pp. 7-9.

³ Rept. of the Secretary of the Navy, Nov. 28, 1881, pp. 6-9, 755-763.

⁴ The author of the Royal Geographical Society paper on Wrangel Island,
printed as Appendix V, ante, concludes that Plover Land was a headland on
the present Wrangel Island.