The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-16 00:00:00

THE RECOVERY OF THE RESOLUTE.

A conversational meeting of the American Geographi•
cal Society was held last night in the small chapel of the
New York University. At the hour for the meeting,
the chapel was filled with an audience of both ladies and
gentlemen, assembled to bear Dr. Kane speak upon his
cruise to the Arctic regions.
At eight o'clock, Hon. Alexander W. Bradford, the
President of the Society, entered the room, with Dr.
Kane leaning upon his arm. Mr. Bradford called the
meeting to order ; after which the minutes of the last
meeting of the society was read and approved. Henri
Grinnell occupied the platform with the President, Dr.
Kane, and Bancroft, the historian.
The minutes having been read, Mr. BANCROFT arose
and said he had been request:d to state, by Dr. Kane,
that he came here unprepared to give any lecture. Ife
only came to present himself amoegtis old friends. 10
(Mr. Bancroft) thought that no preparation was Recce-
sarv. He himself was the best presentment he could
make. (Applause.) We came here to-night to take hid
by the hand, with " God be praised" for his safe deli-
Terence and return to us after a voyage which reflects
honour upon himself and upon his country; (Loud
applause.)
Dr. KANE then rose, and was greeted with applause.
He said—l should have came before you with much
embarrassment, except for the kind words of my friend,
Mr. Bancroft, and- I don't know hub those words
should make me more embarrassed. I feel honoured
by this reception from my old associates. I Came here
only to tell you, in an unostentatious manner, a simple
story of my cruise to the Arctic regions, both for your
interest and the interest of the great progenitor of
the expedition, now before you—(pointing to Henri
Grinnell). (Applause.) I have here a chart of Green'
land and the northern regions, upon which I will
bese my remarks—first, about the mountain ranges
of the North. hese ranges skirt the coast of Green-
land, and reach an altitude of 3,000 feet. From these
mountains we can expect that the lands of this coast
extend farther towards the north than generally
supposed. In was this idea in part that led Mr. Grinnell
and our government to make the search from which I
have just returned.
After leaving New York, we made the coast of Green'
land at its most southern point. We then continued ois
our voyage to Uppernaviek, and then to Smith Sound.
On reaching Smith Sound we expected to have en open
sea. The reverse was the case. A. boat was launched
and landed on the nearest great island, to lay a store of
provisions to fall back upon in case of a retreat, and then
we pushed on our ship farther to the northward. Frets
this point our vessel was forcedjup to our winter harbour.
I need not tell the members that in this voyage our veil'
sal encountered great hardships. It was her extreme
strength that gave us confidence of her safety. When
we reached this winter harbour the difficulties of going
farther north were so great that my officers addressed me
a letter requesting a return to the south. This was not
in accordance with my instructions, and I declined to
accede to the request. At this point we have a constant
glacier stretching out. With great difficulty here we were
enabled to travel by sledges, and in this way parties
set out for exploration, and in this way we reached the
latitude of 80 deg.—the most northern point which had
yet been reached. At this point our parties were coo'
pelled to return, and did so with the intention of renew'
ing the explorations when the winter was over. In our
winter harbour we established an observatory, by means
of a theodolite and a common pocket-glass. We estab•
lished a magnetic observatory and meteorological oleser•
vatory, the records of which are now deposited in the
office of the Coast Survey. Our alcoholic thermometer/
we found to be utterly unavailable ; and the only way
we could get at the temperature was by a comparison
of instruments, and this with great care. Our lowest
recorded temperature was between 70 and 80 degrees
below zero. At this temperature chloroform was almost
solid.
This was the temperature in which we made our ex.
plorations. Our first party was unfortunate. They set
nut in March. Storms overtook them, and they finally
got back to the vessel, when three of the number under-
went amputation, and two died. It was three weeks
before we were able to start out again, and when we did
so we found that the coast of Greenland did not, at this
point, run in a course represented on the maps, but A
presented a coast running almost east and west. Here
we discovered a'new land, which we named Washington.
This land was flanked by a range of lofty mountains,
2,800 feet in height, and these ranges stretched out ap'
parently far to the north. The latter portion of this
travel was most interesting. We found before us a field
of ice, and over this we found an open water, which has
since been called the open Polar Sea. This water ap-
peared iceless. It was apparently without ice. Not a
particle of ice lined its shores. At an altitude of 300 ft.
as far as we could see, an open sea met our eye. A gale
of long duration swept over this water, but brought no
drift along with it. All animal life resorted to these
waters. The seal was shot upon its shores, and the
duck resorted to it from every direction. We could not
tell the exact temperature of this water, but it wee
warmer than any water found below. In speaking
of this sea I can with propriety speak of tide streams.
This term is known to the Russians and_ Danes.
' The abrasures of the tides sometimes leave an
open space in the sea. The opposite side of Green'
land remained to be explored to complete the cize
cult of Smith Sound. We bad here gone over a route
of 2,000 miles. It is hardly within the province of a
geographical lecture to give the details of our cruise.
Upon getting back to our winter harbour it was quite
evident that our little vessel could not escape. She had
then nine feet of solid ice under her bows, the result of
ono winter's freezing. When we resolved to leave our
vessel in preference to starving or submitting to the
dangers from the natives, we found an unbroken bar-
rier of eighty miles to the south. Of the policy of leas'
ing our vessel I need not speak. Our sledges were cut
frem the vessel and our boats were placed upon these
sledges, and thus we commenced our voyage to the
south. The Esquimaux natives, I must say, at first our
enemies, were now our firm friends and gave us assist-
ance, helped to carry our sick, and lent or gave us their
dogs when ours gave out, or died from what appeared
to be the lockjaw. We had to depend much upon our
guns to provide us with food. At times during this
journey affairs looked extremely dreary. But there
was no portion of the time that we were oppressed
by hunger. We there were compelled to consume
more food than here. Eight ducks per diem there is an
ordinary allowance. But when approaching Melville
Bay we were threatened with want ; but before we grew
hungry a seal Was seen upon the ice, and, killing this,
we were supplied with all the food we wanted. We
finally again reached Uppernavick, and there first heard
of the kind action on the part of our Government for our
assistance. I shall never forget the manning of the rig-
ging, and the three hearty cheers that welcomed us back
to social life and love.

The illustrious navigator here sat down, amid loud
applause.

gentleman hero asked how far north the Esquimau%
were found.

Dr. KANE said he had found them at 71.20. The
Esquimaux were a migratory people. He had seen
their huts beyond that—at the highest point they
reached.

Q. How far north have you found the reindeer ?
Dr. KANE—As far as we went we found the reindeer.
Mr. BANCEOFT—How do you account for this open
water ?

Dr. KANE—We can only consider it incident to a -
greatopen area at the Pole, or at a. point farther north.

Alderman Cereurzczv—ls it possible, in your opinion,
to reach this open sea with boats and explore it !
Dr. KANE—That is coming rather near home. I
tried as hard as I could to reach it, but failed.
(Laughter.) I only got an India rubber boat there. I
think with a proper organisation, however, it might be
reached, and I have no doubt it will yet be readied and
be explored. (Applause.)
The thanks of the society were then tendered to Dr.
Kane for his lecture, after which the society adjourned.
Neeemensminommermmur
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