The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-09 00:00:00

BURFORD'S PANORAMA.
(•:.iiis DAY.)

THE A RCTIC REGIO NS.
A Ri Very extraordinary rep,,?ntation of the Pier
trio t,
ns has this morning been examined by our-
selves o7i " private view," at that popubir plg.ce of
exhibition in Leicester-s.quare, Burt.,)rd's Panorama. Many brilliant suecest--s tiny been achieved in his
within o
Partit.ular department of art by the proprietor, but,
ur recollection, his efforts have never proved
so felicitous as on the present occasion. In the mere
selection of the subject, indeed, nothing could by nos-
scibility secure so large a pot tion of the public atten-
T,1.",, cr arouse a greater amount of curiosity than a
faith'riciire or a series of pictures, professing to be
a ul Portraiture of those regions of ever ice in which Sir John Franklin and Captain
"".er, with their enterprising companions, have bent
"N.
•chcw, during more than five years, einb,,ddcd. Twat
c exqui,ite paintings now on the Eve cf being
wild a °aPeced to general inn )ection are really what they
b L., and picturesque scenery,
to .1)1', namely,' correct resemblances of that
is sufficiently testified
an.' Ill' wondel fully natural animation of their appear-
siset:d":she views painted by Robert Burford, as-
Piee; e• Selon-, being in fact perfect master-
-11 'n tue shape of anorams In corroboration,
e%er, ot Our .
these , conviction as to the truthfulness Of
tied , remarliable productions, we were grati-
eei", ;°,, observe that the whole has been con-
Dro-c 'coin original drawings taken by Lieutenant
in swl'lc, (4. her
Mijesty's ship Enterprise, those draw-
ford
g ,I,c7ing beer, to this end, presented to Mr. Bur-
estbai,,ttoi°;;:eisrtmell:aineAdmiralty. A visit to the present exhi-
eulated to impress the mind of the speed-
ntly with a vivid idea of the nature and
hevrQct of the ice scenery in the Arctic regions. An
tit: it is but just that we should reiterate the asseri-
bin) eY emphatically made by the proprietor, a
those If the principal artist of the panorama, thattd
14:srl'tieular kind of views are not, as many erro-
ia diY„Hcagine, a species of scene painting, "coloured
that ',leclPer or other inferior manner," but.
the ‘oi'neY are, on the contrary, produced in
cured . est oil colour and varnish that can be pro-
',
The in the same manner as a gallery picture.
couraey of this declaration may be tested by
na almost
microscopic scrutiny, and the productions,
ol7tare b,old to say from our own experience, will
in bilrl °fly a fuller appreciation of their excellence
Ia rihacPortion to the closeness of their examination.
with e 11.1 Y tion we have this morning witnessed
Naar much real satisfaction at the Liecester-
give xen
Ice anorama, the artists have endeavoured to
advent notion of the snow scenes viewed by our
Pediti,uroua mariners on the occasion of the recent ex-
YR, S commanded by Capt. Sir James Clark Ross,
SelWith this intention Messrs. Burford and
LienTta cave here pourtrayed, from the drawings ot,
beanteifutiaict Browne, two very brilliant and most
'leder Panoramas—one showing the expedition
Cl,,idst r,,Winter sky, and the other revealing it in the
liOthof all the magnificence of an Arctic summer.
nary I;,,these singular pictures are of such extraord i-
Polln,.;ct.Y, that we are doubtful as to which, sup-
feretic " Were necessary, we should give the pre-
eleelieep,' Each, in its ay, has its own peculiar
invid"ce; and, therefore, without attempting any
brie4llo3 4 comparisons, we would here comment
each in succession.
kst rer in the Polar Regions, as pourtrayed in the
stiblikvisi°4 of this panorama, represents one of those
hate BPectaeles that almost defy the powers of the
tion • 1., seeming only capable of adequate transcrip-
- ft,
'Cinern '" golden colouring of poetry. The sense of
tioa 1,-„ess Produced by the vast expanse, the desola-
ebj ,-,vcsequent on the bleak sterility of surrounding
(14-tee.s'irwn the sharp outline of those in the imme-
giiroutr.ro lore
6 und to the indistinct and filmy
„theit,r;cg of those on the horizon—all pres.ent. to
lasein-aßination a picture of strange and astonishing
to „ that At the first glance, the memory recurs
suPerh and impassioned ejaculation of Sir
wer T.
korh -4Ytton in his epic poem of" King Arthur"—

11;11d the Polar Seas!—not violet crowned
kel di awY hours, nor to cerulean halls
,11°,r,°,118 hymn'd, yet Light itself around
„,,'ablin,":4,telY paths sheds starry coronals.set free,
'4E4 she comes, as when, from Dis
I,sh , 64.0' the flash of Joie, Persephone.
%e1131e3--that grand Aurora of the North!
trt„,•,Bteeds of fire her glorious chariot borne,
0' Boreal courts the meteors flaming forth,
Anrje beav'n on heav'n, before the mighty Morn.
On („rQuild the rebel giants of the Night, ,
last confine bursts the storm of light.'
th•
s-t..‘°ealitY selected for representation in the firstot
lataed"o7° great pictures at the Panorama, is thesp
1111It't,;',,laeler's Harbour, on the coast of Greenland,rd
pe.l-',4l'Ae 73 degrees, 42 min. N., longitude ~)5
e-
Min. W. ; the "Inve.Aigator and the
'tit,ljeelPriz`'" being visible in opposite directions..
1,7 (188.,t,i°r1 he, e reigns triumphant" according to
;11Ption, of the artist ; " all is wild disorder.
i"Iale;11; lied into solid mountains of ice, strangely
-4 a ''-n'ts whitepinnacles with the dark and frown-
-I,,lll!tit.t4Lits of rock that here and there rise to an
el)ll:ll.o4n:Tight ;and the earth, buried beneath its
th "re; load of frozen water, blends its dreary
tine Weekodistin,uishable by any boundaries, with
deserts of the ocean ; all seems one con-
"Ali,' and v„.: pack of ice in close array,—a
tbilr/ePttia-ZIZI.PICt-usruesqU scene, of which there exists
erin, icebergs of gigantic size and
me most
shapz'es ; immense hummocks ; huge
• tr, ice formed by pressure ; columns, pyramids,
k°ltetli rendless multitude of singular forms heaped
dent 41 the wildest disorder, threatening each
onricas they are driven in mighty strife by the
WYttilli,;,:de) to crush the ships to atoms. In somee
Om. stalactites are gracefully pendant from thd,
nesitilant.-188ea ; others present sparry crystals an
mieles exhibiting a thousand nameless effects rt n
,„-,lldsha,de, arising from proximity or distance,
ta:9 Itt• (),I"ent surfaces being tinged with vivid en:lE-
-17e') violet tints, whilst in clefts, crevices, and
Oltlilieesses lurk shades of the most intense blue,
contrasting with the alabaster-like fabrics
f
her lit 67 they are surrounded. At the distance o
,;tie -,;cree miles rites an immense and imposing
at otfc,' ice, a vast glacier, the supposed line of the•
zAti kArtenland, beyond which are again plains
itTtlatalned Wastes of ice, whilst. a remote. line of
ent .8 are seen along the horizon, in some. par.ts
4,44 tiderable length, on - in
without interrupt' ,
:;Itirti 4,lruPtly broken off for a short space, and again
;"ibiet,:' the whole forming a sublime and splendid
h• all of icy
tit
4araordinary scene the painters have roved
aUccessful, the view being invested with
i•
i4L interest and animation from the incidents
(ate',, lite thrown in, in various directions here
t Brir'al are battling with an enormous whitef
p;e eti -`ere is Captain Ross standing up in one o
L„,:iPtatittZtlogivingdirections.to the seamen who are
the 101. tow the Enterprise to a more convenient
141 u.verliead, the sky being suffused towards
b with
qqattlet of the many strange atmospheric pne-
Mtne •
itter messed in those climates.
th re sak, 14 the Polar Regions presents a spectacle
the and in some respects even more sublime
rose agreeable season. A gloomy, shadowy,
Wihtnelasv4eariPl,'ilight fills the air even at noonday.
saelariu being a deep unclouded blue, studded
t• p.l 41erable stars of uncommon brilliance,
the
1if5(1„4. ri4ter illumined by the large clear disc of t
tebattt I,;',:ere again we are reminded of the grandeur
'4lgl -aJeBtie description given by the poet-novelist
I, 444 „irict,
bbihsh trni, .
thr,,;•e, rse of Winter—there it lies
ho",ivtao mist, a spectral skeleton!
ttl/41111p ,(111 Verge of the solid skies
‘lotitiltawlv4l,,and night the phantom of a moon;
the cowing on the horizon's brink
ir
q(h
bird vast ice-field with its glassy blink.
,40
, beast lessens with visible
0ki,,11 eg,:rge awe of space without a sun;
`zhal-Ngld-.1 atom lifeunseen doth dwell,
-b.telitt-,,lvith gladness God the' Living One.
breathlessAt but hang .the
silences!
that freeze!
Ip°nel"u; noiseless list the
k,,.14141,,V4 :thiP---lone in the measureless sea,
4SyesitY et channel thro' the frczen Aeeps,
thought launched on infinity
agecomes glimmering up the deeps.

AN „'
N9' "und • • • • ' • I sweeps.
, ttil 0„
Alt, Whit, L'Q round the bark the name
Itticß thE,- uorn glistening thro' the sluggish.. deeps."
ttl R'erge of the horizon are visiblethefivaasrhioibugs
ttlfitt,? tßiletli:eel),t hues of the aurora borealis, _
the.leteßro'finth in vivid o ruscations ; while along
ble_64ilor, ."_nd, between the two ships, are several of tie.gt wititi t:_ra.i?.ping the white foxes, an amusement
t th:e!ve3
eo utility in so ingenious,_ a manner that if v 11144 t. ii.lrlaelnOriltioll. DFin g th“eawinter,'Hi'
many
t'kg •ative notes to the description, great .
e tWeri tae notes
in traps set for the purpose .
_theyub
1:
„e:ti,3 Alenl white • in size somewhat smaller then
11it'n, na-,'sb fox, with the fur thicker, and the
I), ntr,„. , Blf is
t.
°l' Igsr' A •
en. j tnese creatures traverse, they,
twh'eeresamilaudres
talled that;''er) °r twop n oAraen as
141 neck,.,having capper
the
' by - en
collars clenched round
utthide
Li. 4) t34,11,t)a which a notice was punched of
~. h Pr.,vi,i , and pubitions of tlJe :hips, and the depu,s
liberty, in the
~()Nthnicji's ; th„y were then set at
of con-
. tZvi tlaß it;t4elsllrni eof thfqn might he the means ,
theirs . of
thsolig:vnz, to the Erebus aud Terror! Jusstr
lib,r,eaPture, e s -,, ,
vent I biotenantuarrciallyobatilteod
his
Ivithil) 6 Beforegenerel3rilr!;tredred 7lie sailors a chas,e, °}l44titeetiththeer ":-'eldwe walk 'them surrounded the ships;'
of 'iliese groups of aquatic tux
soot Sher
are the two ves.els of the Arctic Expedition,
eted together with' a snow wall, and. protected,
loch °f th
Iltrio,.._ wtn, by
a similar barrier against cold and
Altoques'at ,Killian this remarkable exhibition is about the
144 ut success 111 r. Burford has yet had in
''•korktuft.