The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-23 00:00:00

THE RETURN OF THE "PANDORA,"

The Pandora, commanded by Captain Allen Young,
arrived unexpectedly at Portsmouth on Saturday
from Disco, and brought a report of the proceeaiugs
of the Arctic ships up to the 27th of July. The re-
port was left by Captain Nares at the. Carey Islands,
and is as follows :
" H.M.S. Alert, at Carey Islands, 3 a.m., July 27, 1875.
" AlarP and Discovery arrived here at midnight,
and will leave at 6 a.m. for Smith's Sound,. after
depositing a depOt of provisions and a boat. We
left Upernavik on the evening of the 22nd inst.,
and Brown Islands on the evening of the 23rd.
Passing through the middle ice during a calm,
we arrived at Cape York on the 25th inst. The
season is a very open one, and we have every prospect
of attaining a high latitude. All are well ou board
each ship.'
-

The Pandora, it will be remembered, was purchased
from the Admiralty and thoroughly reitted at the
expense of Captain Allen Young, the late Lady
Franklin, Lieutenant Lillingston, and Mr. James
Bennett, for a cruise in Arctic waters, the purpose of
he explorers being, after taking out a mail for the
Alert and the Discovery, to make another search in the
neighbourhood of King William Land for the missing
papers of Sir John Franklin, and any further traces of
his expedition. The expedition was unsuccessful in
its main purpose in consequence of the closing in of the
ice, and as nothing could be gained by their wintering
in so well-explored a region, the explorers resolved to
return to England to prepare for another attempt next
year to push their way through Peel Sound.

The following sunanaary of the work accompliked by
ti-ie Pandora is by the Correspondent of the Standard,
writing from Portsmouth :

The -Pandora arrived off the North-West Island on August
18th, and found three cairns on the island,' neither of which,
however, contained any communications from Captain
Nares. These cairns had doubtless been built by whalers
who had landed there, and it was concluded that Captain
Nares had been prevented touching here either by tempes-
tuous weather, ice, or fog, perhaps a combination of these.
Captain Young sailed the same evening for Lancaster
Sound, reaching the entrance on the 20:11 of August. The
Pandora met some pack ice off Cape Warender, ex-
tending across the south, which she had great difficulty in
passing. Some people say that with a strengthened
stem the ice may be charged, but those having any experience
know that one might as well think of charging a rock as a
mass of floe ice. The only course to be taken is to wait and
watch for an opening. This was an anxious time on board
the Pandora, as the pack was about 60 miles in width.
gob Idliavuolx %Imo pa...A,
and started for Beachy Island, which was reached on the
evening of the 26th of August. The object of' the visit was
to examine the state of the stores deposited there by former
expeditions, with the double object of using them in case of
need, and reporting upon their condition to the Admiralty.
Upon landing, Captain Young and his officers found
Northumberland House, erected in 1849, still standing,
but it had been broken into by the grizzly bears
of this inhospitable clime, and a large quantity of
stores, left there by the gallant Sir James Ross, had been
destroyed. An exit had been obtained by a window, and
some of the side boarding had been torn away. Part of the
things which had been hoarded up itipt,rong solid barrels had
remained uninjured by the bears, bet some had sustained
considerable damage from the wet. The Mary, yacht, and
two lifeboats, which were left by Ross at the same time as
the supplies, were in a fair state of preservation, and would
be capable of going to sea after undergoing comparatively
trifling repairs. It would be easily understood how anxious
the party were to put everything in order, and Northumber-
land House was also repaired. The weather was fine and
clear, but cold, and the sea remarkably open for the time of
year. The lowest record of the thermometer at
Beachy Island was 30, and the highest 40. Leaving
the island on the same day as the arrival, the
Pandora started for Peel Strait, arriving at its
mouth on the evening of the 28th of August, when progress
was stayed by the pack, and the ship had to be moored to
the ice to await events. The crow went out on the ice to
get water, and some amusement was afforded during the stay
by shooting seals. After cruising up and down for some
time the ice opened slightly along the southern shore, taking
advantage of which the Pandora ran as far as Limestone
Island, where a cairn was built, and a record deposited. , It
was with considerable difficulty that Captain Young
managed to work through the pack and get to the south of
Limestone Island. 'where more open water was found. In
these seas fogs generally accompany the ice, rendering
navigation difficult ; the fog enshrouding and preventing
observations being taken, while, on account of the proximity
of the pole, a compass is almost useless. Under such
circumstances a craft has to "learn • to labour and
to wait, and literally to grope her way along, with
the possibility at any moment of encountering serious danger.
Sustaining an ugly bump,, the Pandora csme in for a good
share of nips and scrapings, but without receiving any mate-
rial damage, lor she is a very strong ship, with an outer skin
cf four and a half inch American elm added expressly for her
jactic trip. On the 29th of August the Pandora passed the
farthest point reached by the Fox when trying to get to King
William's Land, and here the Pandora found open water.
On the 30th of August Captain Young reached La Roque,
the island near Beliot's Strait, where he was stopped
by pack, which unfortunately this time proved impossible
to pass. This rough hummock of ice, from ten to twenty-
five feet in thickness offered as effectual an opposition
as a mountain of granite. Captain Young did not
relish the idea of giving up his venture, and he cruised about
the pack for three days, when, finding that there was no
break and no hope of getting through such heavy ice, and it
being now the 3rd of September, it became absolutely neces-
sary to determine whether he would winter or return, and
as the ship was too far from King William's Land to at-
tempt anything there, no object could be serstd by re-
maining Captain Young, therefore, determinse e • storm.
This was the same pack which stopped the Fox on the
other side of Bellot'a Strait, and which no ship has as
yet been able to penetrate. After leaving Peel Sound
the Pandora proceeded northward to Carey Islands,
Captain Young having determined to make another
search. This time he was more successful than before,
having discovered a cairn with a recora from Captain
Nares on the South-east Island. The Pandora arrived off
the island in the midst of a gale and snow storm. Mr.
Lillingston went ashore and speedily returned with the
record which had been left by Captain Nares, from which it
appeared that he had got safely through Melville Bay on the
27th of July. Captain Young is of opinion that Captain
Nares had a very favourable season, and would in all proba-
.bility reach a very high latitude. The Pandora reached
Carey Islands the second time on the 10th of September,
passed Cape Farewell the 3rd of October, and was soon
after overtaken by a terrible north-westerly gale, which
lasted with scarcely any intermission until she got to
the ChanneL The Panda? a had to come along with
almost bare poles. She was pooped once, and the
deck was covered with water from stem to stern. During
the voyage four bears were killed, and a young cub, which
was lasooed by Mr. Pierrie, has been brought home. It has
suffered from the weather, and evidently does not like its
place on deck. The Pandora's crew have enjoyed excellent
health. She has been visited by Admiral Elliot, commander-
in-chief, and Rear Admiral M'Clintock, superintendent of the
dockyard, who being an old Arctic navigator has heard with
Interest all she has done.

The 2 ImeB of Tuesday narrates the following interesting
Incident :

The Pandora having touched at Somerset, where
Sir James Ross and INl'Clintock erected a cairn in 1849,
Captain Allen Young went ashore and succeeded in
findin4 Ross's record, which he brought away with
him, leaving a notice of his own visit in its place. The
following is the copy of the record :

"June 1, 1549.—The cylinder which contains this papeg
was left here by a party detached from her Majesty's ships
Enterpt Isand Investigator, under the conimand of Captain
Sir Jame, C. Ross, It N. in search of the Expedition of Sir
John Franklin, and to Ir:form any of his party that may find
it that those two ships, having wintered at Port Leopold, have
formed a depOt of provisions for the use of Sir John Frank-
lin's party, sufficient for six mouths. The party are now
about t ) return to the ships, which, as early as possible in
the Spring, will push forward to Melville Island and search
then rth coast of llarrow's Straits, and, failing to meet the
party they are seeking, will touch at Port Leopold on their
way back, and then return to England before the Winter
shall set in.—JAS. C. Itqs, Captain."
This simple paper, given as the record of a mere
visit to the spot, really shows what a remarkable
journey Ross and M'Clintock made when they
travelled on foot from Port Leopold around this un-
known coast, in days when sledge travelling was in
its infancy. It also shows how strange are the
chances of Arctic navigation, for Ross was in the
exact track of the Erebus and Terror, and but one
season in arrear of Franklin's party having abandoned
their ships, and Ross's impression must have been
strongly against the probability of Franklin having
passed down these straits, otherwise he would have
expressed his intention to follow this route with his
ships the ensuing summer rather than the north shore
of Barrow's Straits.