The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-15 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER, 15, 1854:

OTICE OF SALE.--Any person desirous of
purchasing and removing from the Royal Arsenal forthwith
an accumulation of surplus Shavings, Sawdust, and small pieces of
Wood and Chips mixed therewith (being the excess which the present
contractor has failed to clear away) are requested immediately to
send in prepaid sealed Tenders fur the same to the Storekeeper's
Office in the Royal Arsenal, viz.,—
Nixed Shavings, Sawdust, at per cart load.
Small pieces of Wood and Chips, at per wagzon load.
To be remov. d by the contractor in his own cart and waggons or
barges, assistance being afforded by the Storekeeper's Department to
load the same, where inforu ation on the subject may be obtained.
By order of the Boar&.
C. rOIt.i.NAND, pro Secretary.
Office of Ordnance, 12th Sept., 1851.

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

Le following despatches have been received at
the Admiralty :
Her Majesty's steam-ship Phoenix, at Four
Island Point, July 9, 1854.
Sir,—Three days back I despatched by the Diligence
to England a letter, containii,g an account of our pro-
ceedings up to that date (a duplicate of which I now en-
close). The opportunity that will shortly offer of send-
ing by a Danish vessel a further statement enables me
to give their lordships some information with reference
to the coal deposits on the island of DUcO, which I think
will be found interesting as regards the utility, but doubly
so as geological data.
With the Talbot in tow, we parted company from the
Diligence at 6 p.m. of the sth inst., and last sighted
her standing, with a fresh wind from the eastward, down
the coast. We reached the harbour of Jacob's Haven
at 5.30 a.m. of the following day, but found it so thickly
beset with heavy ice from the neighbouring glacier that
it was with much difficulty we succeeded in getting suf-
ficiently near to the hospital to land the Esquimaux I
alluded to in my letter of the sth inst., and whose pre-
carious condition rendered it advisable he should be con-
veyed there. Ultimately the doctor came off in a whale-
boat, and thus was enabled to communicate with our
surgeon ; the necessity of our landing was, therefore,
avoided, and so we proceeded immediately to Skandsen
on the island of Disco, as shown i i Rink's chart, a trac-
ing of which I enclose. The principal officer of the
Danish Government in North Greenland, Mr. Obric, has
kindly accompanied me on this visit to these coal dis-
tricts, and through him I have been enabled to commu-
nicate freely with the natives along the coast, and thus
obtain much useful information. Skandseii was reached
at 3 p.m. on the 6th, and landing we soon found the spot
that had been previously worked by the Danes. A speci-
men of-the coal found here (and which_ is in a strata
cropping out of the bank on the beach, covered only by
light clayey sand), is forwarded through the courtesy of
Mr. Obric, in a box, addressed to the care of English
consul at Copenhagen—this is marked No. 1, Skandsen
—as well as some of those superincumbent soil. The
vein varied from 1 foot to 4 feet six inches in depth, but
AS a far superior specimen of coal for steaming purposes
has been since met with, I shall not trouble their lord-
ships with further particulars of this spot, excepting that
good holding ground in from eight to ten fathoms was
found off this coal strata, though exposed to the south-
erly winds, at which time a heavy sea sets right upon
the shore. A wooden-house was erected some years
ago, but it is now uninhabited. It would form, how-
ever, good shelter for a party collecting coal, which
could be shipped in fine weather, or during northerly
winds, when the sea is perfectly smooth.

Leaving Skandsen at 5.30 p.m., we then proceeded
towards Ritenbenk, for the purpose of communicating
with a Danisk barque that arrived the previous day, and
which afforded us European intelligence twelve days
later than our own.

The captain of the vessel, when acquainted by Mr.
Obric with the object of the expedition, gave me 781 b.
of potatoes, which I have added to our stock of vege-
tables for the Arctic squadron. We passed inside the
small islands, as seen in the track chart enclosed, and
observed an extensive loom and Rilliwake rookery,
where thousands of birds and eggs might readily be
obtained. I learn that a still larger rookery is situated
at Niakomak Nxs, an island a little to the northward.
I paid a visit to the governor of Ritenbenk, whom I had
previously known as governor at Lievely. The vessels
were kept under way in .the meantime, and by eight
a.m. of the 7th we were well clear of the small islands
that lie near the settlement.

A strong breeze from the northward prevented our
reaching Atanekerdluk before five p.m. Here we found
excellent sheltered harbours, the northmost one for ves-
sels during southerly winds, and the other affording
capital shelter with north winds, and with very good
stiff clay holding ground ; we came into 23 fathoms, and
rode out the gale, which was doubtless putting the Dili-
gence well through Davis' Straits. Shortly after
anchoring I landed with a party of officers from both
vessels, for the purpose of visiting a petrified forest,
reported by the Esquimaux, but which had never been
previously visited by any European excepting Mr. Rink.
Here, at a measured elevation of 1084 feet above the
level of the sea, we found extensive remains of petrified
trees, though nearly entirely embedded in sandstone
clay. The specimens collected were in all stages of petri-
faction; some charred into coal. That this has been a
forest of considerable extent, and that the species of
tree was, doubtless, what now only exists in a far more
temperate climate, is beautifully illustrated by the
widely-scattered specimens found of petrified leaves, iden-
tifying the lime, birch, fir, and some sorts of ferns. To
the geologist this cannot fail to be a source of the great-
est interest, and must be viewed by all as a matter for
great speculation.

A small piece of amber was found, and I succeeded,
though with much difficulty, in reaching a spot at the
edge of the cliff, where a portion of the semi•petrified
tree still stood at an angle of 45 deg., and sloping
towards the north—the hill upon which the forest is
situated facing the south.

This tree was about the size of a man's body in girth,
and , four feet of it stood exposed. A small portion is
sent, marked A. Some pieces of coal found in the
neighbourhood are also forwarded. I defer sending a
more detailed account of the geological formation of the
land at this spot, as being more suitable for a paper to
the geological societies than for an official letter to my
Lords Commissioners. I will, therefore, only add that
the commencement of what is known as greenstone,
sandstone, clay slate, and trap formation was clearly de-
fined at a spot a short distance from our anchorage,
and where it was met by the gneiss and granite of other
periods.

At seven o'clock on the following morning our anchor
was tripped, and we steamed across the Waigattet to-
wards Ritenbenk Rullud. On landing I soon found an
extensive strata, extending, as far as my own observa-
tion went, for more than a mile along the coast. This
vein is from three to six feet in depth, and of a species
known in England as "anthracite." Considering there
could be no better proof of its available position and
means of obtaining it, I ordered all the quarter boats of
the two vessels on shore for the purpose of taking a load,
and, though it had to be broken out from the bank and
put into the boats, which had then to pull off to the
ship, which was lying to under steam at a distance from
the shore varying from three-quarters to a mile, we
nevertheless got off upwards of 12 tons in four hours,
and this working only the boats' crews at the strata in
different spots, and themselves loading and carrying off
aquoaulgitsyid;e'it is spoken of by some of our
each making
bakeeinngustehdreseinocre,fsoundr
accustomed 4,0 the coal tr ade, as being
ti
sh
men,eir found ow wh no of
are good
boats
trips in that period. The coalea
worth 35s a ton. A copy of the engineer's report is in-
closed herewith.
There seems no limit to the quantity that might be
obtained, and at high-water it may positively be thrown
into the boat (a distance of four feet) from the bed in
which it is deposited. The shore ground gradually
slopes from 3 fathoms to 20 (about a mile distant), and a
ship can lie in fine weather within 200 yards of the beach,
A sample of this coal is forwarded, as well as a portion
of the clay upon which it is embedded. The superincum-
bent stratum is composed of a sort of black land (similar
to that we have in Scotland), immediately upon the coal
stratum, and a clayey sand above that ; this is perfectly
loose, and can be cleared away with the greatest facility,
leaving a table of coal running level with the shore, and
perhaps five feet above high-water mark. Large blocks
were broken out, more than three men could lift. The
coal stratum inclines to the north-east, at a very small
angle.

It is not to be supposed we have hit at first upon the
best kind to be found for steaming purposes, but it has
been proved to be very useful mixed with our quick
burning patent fuel ; and, when a jet of steam is applied,
as used now for many of the Mediterranean steamers,
which burn anthracite coal (and which this most resembles),
a great and more rapid combustion is obtained.

The two harbours on the northern shore of the Wai-
gattet are off Alanekerdluk, and within 15 miles,.and would
be always available for a ship coaling at this spot, as she
could find shelter from either a northerly or southerly
gale, the only winds that blow with any fury in this strait.
On Sunday, the 9th, at 10 a.m., we anchored at Four
Island Point, to await the clearing of the fog and the
cessation of a strong south wind, which prevented our
approaching the south-east coast of Hareten, or Ham
Island, a spot said to have much coal.
The harbour at Noursoak, or Four Island Point, is
small and dangerous for large vessels to enter. We
found, however, secure anchorage in a bight about a
mile to the southward of the settlement, with 15 to 20
fathoms of water, sand, and mud.
Since the &nye was written we wade an attempt oA

the morning of the 10th to get over to Hare Island, but
a heavy southerly gale prevented our reaching the point
at which the coal is said to exist. We bore up for our
previous anchorage at Four Island Point at noon, and
the wind still continuing, I shall probably proceed to
the northwward without further delay, though when
we sailed from Lievely we -were seven days in advance
of last year's date, and with 36 tons more coal on board.

Since the engineer's report was drawn up, they have
made further experiments with the Ritenbenk coal, and
have found it in specific gravity equal to Welsh ; for
four hours they kept one fire continually charged with
it, and finding its combustion was good for two hours
after employing the Disco coal unmixed for the whole
six fires, and report that it answered well, keeping
steam, and that the combustion was perfect, with com-
paratively no smoke, and without any cinders, a residue
of white ash and clinker only remaining. As far as the
last experiments have gone this coal is as economical
as the Welsh.

July 12.—Bad weather has detained the expedition
at this anchorage since our return from the attempt to
reach Hare Island. Ido not consider that any time
has been lost,• since we learn that a-fortnight ago all
was solid ice, as far as the eye could reach in all direc-
tions from this spot.

9 a.m.—We are now getting under way in a calm, to
proceed north, and expect to fall in with the ice in 24
hours. I intend, if possible, to communicate at Prooen
and Upernavik for the purpose of obtaining dogs and
an. Esquimaux driver.—l am, sir, your most obedient
humble servant, E. A. INGLZFIELD, Captain.

Her Majesty's steam-vessel Phoenix, off Hare Island,
Baffin Bay, July 10.

Sir,—ln accordance with your directions relative to
our report as to the qualities of the, coal supplied by
you to her Majesty's ship Phoenix, we respectfully beg
to state that, so far as we have bad an opportunity of
testing its capabilities for marine steam purposes, we
are of opinion it will, in well-proportioned boilers, when
mixed equally with Welsh coal or patent fuel, meet all
the demands of the marine steam-engine.
Further, from the slight trials we have made of it
burning alone, we believe it to be in every respect a
most useful fuel, and capable of generating sufficient
steam for at least a mild degree of expansion ; the pro-
portion of ash and clinker is greater than in Scotch
coals generally, but produces less smoke.—We have, &c.,
C. RENWICK, Chief Engineer.
P. G. LAMBERT, Assistant-Engineer, let class.
Captain Inglefield, R.N., her Majesty's ship Phoenix.