The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-24 00:00:00

EXPEDITION OF CAPTAIN ROSS.

Admiralty, Oct. 22.
Slr,---I am commanded by my Lords Commis-
sioners of the Admiralty to transmit you tin. copy
of a letter addressed to their Secretary by Captain
Ross, containing an outline of the proceedings of
that gallant officer and his brave companions, and
their providential deliverance from a situation of
peril unequalled in the annals of navigation, and I
am to express their Lordships' wishes that n docu-
ment so honourable to the parties, and to the naval
service of the cowry, may, through the commit-
tee for managing the affairs of Lloyd's, be made
public.

I am, Sir, your very humble Servant,
Mr. Bennett, Lloyd's. J. BARROW,

On board the Isabella, of Hul', Baffin's Bay,
Sept., 1833.
Sir,—Knowing how deeply my Lords Commis-
sioners of the Admiralty are interested in tie ad.
vancement of nautical knowledge, and particularly
in the improvement of geography, I have to ac-
quaint you, for the information of their Lordships,
that the expedition, the main object of which is to
solve, if possible, the question of a north-west pas-
sage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, parti-
cularly by Prince Regent's Inlet, and which sailed
from England in May, 1829, notwithstanding the
loss of the foremast and other untoward circum-
stances, which obliged the vessel to refit in Green-
land, reached the beach on which his Majesty's
late ship Fury's stores were landed on the 13th of
August.

We found the boats, provisions, &c., in excellent
c rn lition, Our no vestige of the wreck. After corn-
pletine in fuel and other necessaries, we sailed on
the 14 h, and on the following morning rounded
Cape Garry, where our new discoveries commenced,
and, keeping the western shore close on board, ran
down the coast in a S.W. and W. course, in from
10 to 20 fathoms, until we had passed the latitude
of 72 north in longitude 94. west ; here we found
a considerable inlet leading to the westward, the ex-
amination of which occupied two days; at th;s place
we were first seriously obstructed by ice, which was
now seen to extend from the south cape of the inlet,
in a solid mass, round by S. and E. to E.N.E.
owing to this circumstance, the shallowness of the
water, the rapidity of the tides, the tempestuous
weather, the irregularity of the coast, and the nu-
merous inlets and rocks for which it is remarkable,
our progress was no less dangerous than tedious, yet
we succeeded in penetrating below the latitude of
70. north in longitude 92. west, where the land
after having carried us as far east as 90., took a de-
cided westerly direction, while land at the distance
of 40 miles to southward was seen extending east
and west. At this extreme point our progress was
arrested on the Ist of October by an impenetrable
barrier of ice. We, however, found an excellent
wintering port, which we named Felix Harbour.
Early in January, 1830, we had the good fortune
to establish a friendly intercourse with a most inte-
resting consociation of natives, who, being insulated
by nature, had never before communicated with
strangers; from them we gradually obtained the
important information that we had already seen the
continent of America, that about 40 miles to the
S.W. there were two great seas, one to the west,
which was divided from that to the east by a narrow
strait or neck of land. The verification of this in-
telligence either way, on which our future operations
so materially depended, devolved on Commander
Ross, who volunteered this service early in April,
and, accompanied by one of the mates, and guided
by two of the natives, proceeded to the spot, and
found that the north land was connected to the
south by two ridges of high land, fifteen miles ie
breadth, but taking into account a chain of fresh-
water lakes, which occupied the valleys between,
the dry land which actually separates the two oceans
is only five miles. This extraordinary isthmus was sub-
sequently visited by myself, when Commander Ross
proceeded minutely to survey the sea-coast, to the
southward of the isthmus leading to the westward,
which he succeeded in tracing to the 99th deg. or to 150
miles of Cape Turnagain of Franklin, to which point
the land, after leading him into the 70th degree of
north latitude, trended directly: during the same
journey he also surveyed 30 miles of the adjacent
coast, or that to the north of the isthmus, which,
by also taking a westerly direction, formed the ter
mination of the western sea into a gulf. The rest
of this season was employed in tracing the sea-coast
south of the isthmus leading to the eastward, which
was done so as to leave no doubt that it joined, as
the natives had previously informed us, to Oektille, ,
and the land forming Repulse Bay. It was also
determined that there was no passage to the west-
ward for 30 miles to the northward of our position.
This summer, like that of 1818, was beautifully
fine, but extremely unfavourable for navigation, and
our object being now to try a more northern lati•
mile, we waited with anxiety for the disruption of
the ice, but in vain, and our utmost endeavours did
not succeed in retracing our steps more than four
miles, and it was not until the middle of November
that we succeeded in cotrieg the vessel into a place
of security, which we named " Sheriff's Harbour."
I may here mention that we named the newly-dis-
covered continent, to the southward, " Boothia,"
as also the isthmus, the peninsula to the north, and
the eastern sea, after my worthy friend Felix Booth,
E,q., the truly patriotic citizen of London, who, in
the most disinterested manner, enabled me to equip
this expedition in a superior style.
The last winter was in temperature nearly equal
to the means of what had been experienced on the
four preceding voyages, but the winters of 1830
and 1831 set in with a degree of violence hitherto
beyond record, the thermometer sunk to 92 degrees
below the freezing point, and the average of the
year was 10 degrees below the preceding; but, not-
withstanding the severity of the summer, we tra-
velled across the country to the west sea by a chain
of lakes, 31) miles north of the isthmus, when Com-
mander Ross succeeded in surveying 50 miles more
of the coast leading to the N.W., and, by tracing
the shore to the northward of our position, it was
also fully proved that there could be eo passage be-
low the 71st degree.
This autumn we *succeeded in getting the vessel
only 14 miles to the northward, and as we had not
doubled the Eastern Cape, all hope of saving the
• ship was at an end, arid put quite beyond possiblity
by another eery severe winter; and having only
provisions to last us to the Ist of June, 1833, dis-
positions were accordingly made to leave the ship
111 her present port, which (after her) was narrieki
Victory Harbour. Provisions and furl being tar-
ried forward in the spring, we left the ship on the
29 h of May, 1832, for Fury Beach, being the only
chance left of saving our lives : owing to the very
rugged nature of the ice, we were obliged to keep
either upon or close to the land, making the circu t
of every bay, thus increasing our distance of 200
miles by nearly one-half; and it was not until the
Ist of July that we reached the beach, completely
exhausted by hunger and fatigue.
A but was speedily construc;ed, and the boats,
three of which had been washed off the beach, but
providentially driven on shore again, were repaired
during this month ; but the unusual heavy appear-
ance of the ice afforded us no cheering prospect
until the Ist of August, when in three boats we
reached the ill fated spot where the Fury was first
thrived on shore, and it wfa not until the Ist of
September we reached Leopold South Island, now
e'tabl shed to be the N.E. point of America, le la-
titude 73. 56., and longitude 90. west. From the
summit of the lofty mountain on tho promontory we
could
aril
L as
ne ec a Princes ter so u Regent's
nd,‘vh Inlet,ich B
presented
a. Sra
nipteniet:
rrable mass of ice, just as I had seen it in 1818.
Here we remained in a state of anxiety and suspense
which may be easier imagined than described. All
our attempts to push through were in vain; at
length, being forced by want of provisions
and the approach of a very severe winter
to return to Fury Beach, where alone there
remained wherewith to sustain life, there we ar-
rived on the 7th of October, after a most fa-

tiguing and laborious match, haviog been obliged
7o leave our boats at Batty Bay. Our habita-
ion, which consisted of a frame of spars, 32 feet
by sixteen feet, covered with canvass, was during
the month of November enclosed, and the roof
covered with snow, from four feet to seven feet thick
which being saturated with water when the tern-
perature was fifteen degrees below zero, immediately
took the consistency of ice, and thus we actually
became the inhabitants of an iceberg during one of
the most severe winters hitherto recorded ; our suf-
ferings, aggravated by want of bidding, clothing,
and animal food, need not be dwelt upon. Mr. C.
Thomas, the carpenter, was the only man who pe-
rished at this be.lch, but three others, besides one
who had lost his foot, were reduced to the last
stage of debility, and only thirteen of our number
were able to carry provisions in seven journeys of 62
miles each to Batty Bay.
We left Fury Beach on the Bth of July, carrying
with us three sick men, who were unable to walk,
and in six days we reached the boats, where the
sick daily recovered. Although the spring was
mild, it was not until the 15th of August that we
had any cheering prospect. A gale from the west-
ward having suddenly opened a lane of water along
shore, in two days we reached our former position,
and from the mountain we had the satisfaction of
seeing clear water almost directly across Prince Re-
gent's Inlet, which we crossed on the 17th, and took
shelter from a worm 12 miles to the eastward
of Cape York. The next day, when the gale
abated, we crossed Admiralty Inlet, and were de-
tained six days on the coast by a strong north-east
wind. On the 25 hwe crossed Navy Board Inlet,
and on the following morning, to our inexpressible
joy, we descried a ship in the offing, becalmed,
which proved to be the .tabella, of Hull, the same
ship which I commanded in 1818. At noon we
reached her, when her enterprising commander, who
had in vain searchel for us in Prince Regent's Inlet,
after giving us three cheers, received us with every
demonstration of kindness and hospitality which
humanity could dictate. I ought to mention also
that Mr. Humphreys, by landing me at Possession
Bay, and subsequently on the west coast of Baffin's
Bay, afforded me an excellent opportunity of con-
cluding my survey, and of verifying my former chart
of that coast.

I now have the pleasing duty of calling the a'ten-
tion of their Lordships to the merits of Commander
Ross, who was second in the d'rection of this expe-
dition. Tlyt labours of this officer, who had the
departments of astrolomy, natural history, and sur.
veying, will speak for themselves in language be-
yond the ability of my pen; but they will be duly
appreciated by their Lordships, and the learned
bodies of which he is a member, and who are already
acquainted with his acquirements.
My steady and faithful friend, Mr. Wm. Thom,
of the Royal Navy, who was formerly with me in
the Isabella, bes.des his duty as third in command,
took charge of the meteorologicil journal, the di,tri-
bution and economy of provisions, and to his judi-
cious plans and suggestions must be attributed the
uncommon degree of health which our crew en-
joyed; and ai two out of the three who died in the
four years and a half were cut off early in the voy-
age, by diseases not peculiar to the clima'e, onlc
one man can be said to have perished. Mr. /1111-
armid, the surgeon, who had been several voyages
o these regions, did justice to the high recommen-
dation I received of him ; he was successful in every
amputation and operation which he performed, and
wonderfully so in his treatment of the sick; and
have no hesitation in adding, that he would be an
ornament to his Majesty's service.

Commander Ross, Mr. Thom, and myself, have,
indeed, been serving without pay ; but, in common
with the crew, have lost our all, which I regret the
more, because it puts it totally out of my power ade-
quately to remunerate my fdlow-sufferers, whose
vase I cannot but recommend for their Lordships'
recommendation. We have, however, the con-
solation, that the results of this expedition
have been conclusive, and to science highly
important, and may be briefly comprehended
in the following words :—The discovery of
the Gulf of Boothia, the continent and isthmus of
Boothia Felix, and a vast number of islands, rivers,
;Ind lakes; the undeniable establishment that the
north-east point of America extends to the 74th
degree of north latitude; valuable observations of
e very kind, but particularly on the magnet ; and, to
crown all, have had the honour of placing the illus-
trious name of our most gracious Sovereign William
IV., on the true position of the magnetic pole.
I cannot conclude this letter, Sir, without ac-
knowledging the important advantages we obtained
from the valu..ble publications of Sir Edward Parry
and Sir John Franklin, and the communications
kindly made to US by those distinguished officers
before our departure from England. But the glory
of this enterprise is entirely due to Him, whose di-
vine favour has been most especially manifested to-
wards us—who guided and directed all our steps;
‘vho mercifully provided, in what we had deemed a
calamity, his effectual means of our preservation ;
arid who, even after the devices and inventions of
man had utterly failed, crowned our humble endea-
vours with complete success. I have, &c.
JOHN ROSS, Captain 11,N.
To Captain the lion. George Elliot, &c.
Secretary, Admiralty.

Father Marie Joseph de Geramb, a monk o f
La Trappe, has just arrived at Marseilles, on hoard at,
English brig the Rapid, having completed his travels to
Jerusalem, Mount Sinai, and Thebais, which have occupied
him three years. This religionist is known to the world
as the Ex. General Baron Ferdinand de Gerarnl4, Own-
b rlain to the Emperor of Austria.

A German paper, speaking of the swiftness of
various birds, says, " A vulture can fly at the rate of 150
miles an hour." Observations made on the coast of
Librador convinced Major Cartwright that wild geese
could travel at the rate of 90 miles an hour. The common
erow cot fly 25 mile, and swallows, according to Spallan-
aain, 92 miles an hour. It is said that a falcon was
discovered at Malta 24 hours after the departure of lionry
IV. from Fontainebleau. If true, this bird mu,t have
flown for 24 hours at the rate of 57 miles an hour, not
allowing him to rest a moment during the whole time.

The public will be glad to hear that a new
novel,
Lire, tn,y, tl hse..andni
a p rpeeda ra. u t IT) of "A Marriage
The
name
a men
fthe
for, in
co
tHn High
tale is " Trevelyaii," the subject of which i., like 'hat of
the form-r work, connected with those infelicities woich
t.o often arise from Alliances wherein aggrandisement (.11
fortunes, rather than the sympathy of hearts, i. consulted.
It has been universally allowed by the first authorities in
literature, that this affecting thigne was never so i'npres.
a vely and deli adely touched as by the writer of "A Mar,
riage in Hith Life."
A RARA Avis.—At the Quarter Sessions
on Friday, the Court wits visited by one of the phenomena
of the present day,-1 gentleman wearing large red
kers and a long plaited tail, quite two feet long, of his own
natural hair. Being dressed in black, the effect was curious
and challenged much observation. The eccentric is, as
we hear, Mr. John Bridger of Mayfield, yeoman. lie
was the prosecutor in a case of assauo, whien wa,, how-
,ver, happily arranged without the assistance of toe Court.
—Brighton Guardian.

Lieutenant Breton's " Excursions in New
South Wales, Western Australia, and Van Diemen's
Land," give a description of the condition of these colonies
SO late as the present year. His narrative forms not only
a most amusing book of travels, but must prove of rate
value to such as propose to locate in so remote a region.
Oo this subject he observes, "I believe no persona have
written on the colonies, who have not been in some way
connected, it may be said identified, with one or other of
them. The only obj-et I have in view is to convey as
accurate an idea as pos,iiile of the nature and resources of
the different settlements ; an that, in the event of the
emigrant nndertaking a, voyage of nearly 16,000 miles, he
may not find on his arrival at his destination that he has
been rni,led by overdrawn accounts, or acinal
s teartsearly e nts
acknowledgedT he value
while of thisite r
well, l" dro
reader fo
merit will have his attention excited by the visit
tions of country —hy the strange anecdotes of the aholi.
metauttv' he uni
emus,
gines and tho stranger facts connected with the coneic's
and the white settlers, and by toe inures
ing arc .on s of
the animals of Australia and Tasmania, awl other state.
ments illustrative of Natural History in genera!, and the
History of Alan in 'Articular.

SPIRIT OF 711 E PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Happily, the States-General of Holland, since
its separation from Belgium, like those of the
United Provinces of the whole Dutch and
Belgic Netherlands, during the time of their
incorporation, are obliged, by their fundamental
law, to meet for the despatch of business on a
particular day about the middle of October. It
is owing, no doubt, to this necessity alone that
we have a speech from his Dutch Majesty to
their " High Mightinesses" on Monday last,
which, but for the said fundamental law, would
have been postponed to a more convenient sea-
son. His Dutch Majesty, with all his pro-
crastinating ingenuity, seems exceedingly puzzled
what to say on the present occasion. He cannot,
as in October, 1831, announce the rupture of
an armistice which he had himself engaged to
maintain, or the successful invasion of a terri-
tory which Europe had promised to protect.
He cannot, as in October, 1832, continue his
hypocritical professions of peace, while he flat-
tered his people with the idea of being able to
withstand the two most powerful nations of
Europe in a blockade of his ports and an at-
tack on one of the fortresses which he unjustly
withheld from its rightful owners. Neither can
he announce the welcome tidings that, grown
wise by experience, he has renounced his visions
of ambition, and has consented to a reasonable
accommodation with his neighbours. He is still
as obstinate as before, but wants the same excuse
for his obstinacy ; he is still as decidedly op-
posed to peace, but cannot pretend to have any
hopes from war. 'Without considering on whom
the whole blame must fall, his Dutch Majesty
has the assurance to avow to his States that he
opens, " for the fourth time," their ordinary
session amid political difficulties. And who
created these difficulties ? Who is it that mag-
nifies, multiplies, and prolongs them ? Nobody
but himself—by hoodwinking his people and
deceiving his allies. Had he been satisfied with
the glory (such as it was) of the unprovoked
inroad into Belgium in August, 1831, and
agreed to the treaty of the 15th of November
following, he might have saved a great deal of
unnecessary expense to his people for the support
of an useless army,—he would have prevented all
the commercial losses of the late embargo,—he
would have deprived the French of an opportu-
nity of acquiring fresh military renown, by the
destruction of his Antwerp garrison—and he
might have now been reaping, in peace and
tranquillity, the fruits of increasing trade, amid
a people happy to get rid of their Belgic con-
nexion, an.' in the enjoyment of respect from
all Europe He has, however, wantonly thrown
away these advantages—he has incurred an
overwhelming amount of new debt to add to the
old—he has oppressed his people with heavy
taxes and forced loans to no purpose—he has
broken in upon the ancient habits of a quiet,
peaceful, and frugal race, in order to convert
them into soldiers, idlers, and spendthrifts—he
has accustomed the Dutch to the sight of camps
instead of commerce, and laid up a plentiful
resource of misery and disturbance for his towns,
when he shall disband his huge, overgrown,
military force—and he has taught Europe to
speak more of Orange chicanery, than of Dutch
simplicity or honesty. The " new difficulties"
which have lately sprung up to interrupt the
negotiations of the London Conference are
solely to be ascribed to his Dutch Majesty. He
might have presented to his States-General a
ratified treaty, instead of an apology for delay,
had he attended either to the interests of his
people or to the advice of lois allies. But he has
done neither ; he has even had the duplicity to
convert into a cause of procrastination, an article
of the proposed treaty to which he had formerly
given his unreserved assent. As long as he
thought that he could suspend the London ne-
gotiations on the amount of duties to be levied
on the navigation of the Scheldt, he never
thought of objecting to the partition of Luxem-
burg, and it was only as a last resource of em-
broilment that he started the difficulty of obtain-
ing the consent of the Germanic Diet to that
arrangement,—a consent which only required to
be asked in order to be given, but which he was
resolved never to solicit. We request our
readers to give what credence they can to those
parts of the speech which indicate growing
prosperity, only desiring them to remember that
forced loans are not the usual resources of po-
pular Governments and prosperous common-
wealths.— Times.
We will not allow ourselves to be drawn into
any controversy on the subject of the various
libels circulated against Lot d Durham, because,
though we have a vague recollection cf a number
of the libels against him in certain weekly
journals, yet many have, no doubt, appeared in
provincial papers which we have never seen ; and
even in the cases which have received a contra-
diction in other journals, we are not authorized
to make any statements regarding them. Neither
our omission to notice these cases, nor our no-
tice of them, ought to warrant any inference
either for or against his Lordship. We have,
however, the utmost reliance on his Lordship's
honour ; and we are convinced that lie will never
be found prosecuting any individual for state-
ments which are not both false and malicious.
We protest, therefore, against our silence or
refusal to enter into the controversy opened by
the Standard, with regard to the libels against
his Lordship, being construed unfavourably to
his Lordship, who is no more answerable for our
observations than we are answerable for his de-
termination. The Standard has the following
observations on the law of libel :
" The importance of the subject will, we hope, be our
apology for pressing it upon the attention of the public.
It has been well said, that the liberty of the press is the
only security which the people have for the preservation
of all their liberties ; and yet the experience of the last
few yews has shown that there is no right which the
English people more readily consign to the faithless guar-
dianship of passion and caprice. After what we hare
seen of the dealings of the English Juries with the press,
the abject submission of the orientals, even the pride
which some slaves of the East are said to feel in acts of
tyrenny practised upon themselves, cease to be a paradox.
The truth is, when men once get drunk with faction they
cease to think like freemen, or to deserve to be free. The
spirit of faction is essentially a spirit of despotism, and
engenders a sympathy with every disposition of a tyrant.
It is easy to toast the liberty of the press,' with wbat•
ever additions, and to make speeches in panegyric of what
the Whigs have so often called the palladium of liberty •'
but this is not protecting the liberty of the press. When
it is considered that no public Journal was ever published
for three months, no matter with bow much care and cir-
cumspectness, that did nor, within those threemonths, give
ground for as many libel prosecutions as, captiously laid hold
would destroy any single establishment, it must be obvi-
ous upon bow frail
on, w •a threadthe
liberty of the press depends.
Zr7:7..Whie the law stands in the form in which the Whigs
i•Oritirue to make use of it, the ease is just such as we have
described ; but we frankly own that we. cannot anticipate
d • t of the law which will leave t.he press
any anten men
people, purging their
free from all like danger, unless the p
own hands.
.r•
ininds of faction, take the matter into their
Character is dear to man, and some laws for the protection
of character there always ought to be. Atter a reform of
the libel laws, the statutes for the protection of character
-a3gy Le abused for sardid or vindictive purposes, as the
\--...L..14.04W9 now are, and as laws for the protection of pro-