The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-02 00:00:00

THE ARCTIC REGIONS.

Dispatches of some length and apparent particu-
larity have just been received from the Arctic regions.
We wish we could add that the intelligence conveyed
is either satisfactory or conclusive, but even our sus-
pense receives, unfortunately, no relief from the
tidings now communicated. On the contrary, a re-
port of the most deplorable character has been put
into circulation, and although the concurrent impres-
sions of the officers employed are clearly, and, as we
think, reasenably, against its credibility, yet the whole
story is so loosely related in the dispatches before us
that the general reader would find it difficult to extract
sufficient evidence either for his information or his
judgment. We are sure, therefore, that we shall be
doing the public an acceptable service by placing before
them the facts and the obscurities of the case in a
somewhat more intelligible form.
About the middle of August last certain of the
vessels composing the several expeditions in search of
our lost voyagers appear to have encountered each
other somewhere to the head of the well-known
Arctic gulf called Baffin's Bay. Near the northern
extremity of this bay is a projecting headland of con-
:iderable extent, and such a mountainous aspect as
to have received the name of the Arctic
Highlands. It exhibits three conspicuous cape:
that to the west being called Cape White, that to the
east Cape York, and that in the centre Cape Dudley
Diggs. Between Cape Dudley Diggs and Cape
White an indentation of the coast forms a tolerably
capacious bay, which is called Wolstenholme Sound,
or as we now learn, " Ourinak," or " Otninak," in
the native tongue of the Dquiniaux. On the 13th
of August Captain Oannanney in the Assistance,
. .

and Sir John Ross in the Felix, being somewhere
off Cape York, observed three male E-quimaux on
the ice close by, and with these people it was pru
dently resolved to communicate. Accordingly,
Lieutenant Cator in the Intrepid steamer, tender to
the Assistance, and Commander Phillips in the whale-
boat of the Felix, put off on this service. The In-
trepid's people arrived first, but apparently without
any means of expressing their desires, so that when
the boat of the Felix, containing an Equimaux in-
terpreter, joined the party, the natives iinmediately
gave signs of recognition and satisfaction, came into
the boat without the least hesitation, and engaged
themselves presently in arlong and animated conver-
sation with their countryman, the interpreter. Half
an hour was devoted to this interchange of intelli-
gence, but with no immediate result, for the inter-
preter could only translate his native language into
Danish, and as no person in the boat understood
Danish, the information remained as inaccessible as
before.

In this predicament -the boats returned with the
intention of confronting the interpreter—whose
Christianized name is Adam Beek—with Sir John
Ross himself. As Sir John, however, was pushing
a-head in the Felix towards Cape Dudley Diggs,
and as Adam appeared anxious to disburden himself
of his newly-acquired information, the boats dropped
on board the Prince Albert, another of the exploring
vessels in the neighbourhood, and there put Adam in
communication with the captain's steward, John
Smith, who " understood a little of the language,"
as Sir John Ross says, or " a good deal," as CAptain
Phillips says, and who presently gave such an account
of the intelligence as startled everybody on board. Its
purport was as follows :—That in the winter of 1846,
when the snow was falling, two ships were broken by
the ice a good way off in the direction of Cape Dudley
Diggs, and afterwards burned by a fierce acd nu-
merous tribe of natives ; that the ships in question
were not whalers, and that epaulettes were worn by
some of the white men ; thA a part of the crews were
drowned, that the remainder were some time in huts
or tents apart from the natives, that they had guns but
no balls, and that being in a weak and exhausted
condition, they were subsequently killed by the na-
tives with darts or arrows. This was the form given
to the Esquimaux's story by John Smith, captain's
steward of the Prince Albert.

Impressed with the importance of these tidings
Captain Ommanney and Captain Phillips immediately
made their report to Captain Austin in the Resolute,
which was then in company with the Felix near
Cape Dudley Diggs. Captain Austin at once decided
upon investigating the credibility of the story, and
with this view dispatched a message to the Lady
Franklin, another of the exploring ships, which lay
a few miles off, and which had on board a regular
Danish interpreter. This interpreter duly arrived,
but proceeded forthwith to translate the story by
statement " totally at variance" with the interpreta-
tion of " the other," whom, as we are told, he called
a liar and intimidated into silence, though no sooner
was the latter left to himself than he again repeated
his version of the tale, and stoutly maintained its ac-
curacy. Meantime an additional piece of information
became known, namely, that a certain ship had
passed the winter safely housed in Wolstenholtne
Sound—a statement soon ascertained by actual in-
vestigation to be perfectly true, and since fully elu-
cidated by the return to this country last week of
the vessel in question—the North Star. Such are
the heads of the tale to be extracted from the dis-
patches.
Iu estimating the character of the report, we first
observe that Captain Penny, commanding the ship
Lady Franklin, roundly states in his offi.lial letter of
the 21st of August, that " having offered his services,
together with those of his interpreter (the Dane
above mentioned), he was happy to find the sole
foundation for the tidings to be that the North Star
had wintered in the place referred to." This plain
and unhesitating statement is exceedingly acceptable,
for Sir John Ross's communications either confuse
us or leave us in the dark on almost every point
which it is desirable to certify. We are not, in the
first place, explicitly informed what was the version
of the story given by the Dane in contradiction of
that given by " the other," nor is it even readily
discoverable who this "other" was, whether Adam
Beek or John Smith, or a native, with whom the Dane
was first confronted. From one of Sir John's com-
munications we should conclude the former, from
another the latter. In the next place it becomes of
especial importance to identify the source of the
only piece of information actually discovered to be
true, viz., the wintering of the North Star in Wol-
stenholme Sound, since such a verification of testi-
mony on one point gives a general credibility to the
whole. From Sir John's dispatch to the Hudson's
Bay Company it appears that this intelligence was
derived by his own agency from Adam Beek, but no
such conclusion would have been suggested by the
sister dispatch of the Gallant Captain of the Admi-
ralty. In fact, the communications are so loosely
worded that it is, as we have said, extremely difficult
to make them yield an intelligible and consistent nar-
rative.

The leading piece of evidence is that of Adam
Beek, and if the question turned solely on the
comparative accuracy of the interpretations given
to his story, first by John Smith, and next by the
Dane, we might hope that the depositions of the
Esquimaux himself, which we yesterday printed in
the original tongue for public edification, might bf 3
applied by some learned philologists to solve the pro-
blem ; and this, from one of Sir John's dispatches,
we should have imagined to be the real case; but, from
the other it would rather appear that the credibility
questioned was that of Adam Beck himself, and that
the Dane was confronted, not with John Smith, but
with Adam Bi,ek in person, before the face of the
original native informants, and that on this evidence
hp confirmed the story of the North Star, but charged
Adam with the pure invention of all the rest. Even
here, however, there is a possibility of Adam's justi-
fication, for the natives themselves might have varied
in their statements at their different interviews with
our officers. Captain Penny, we observe, speaks of
" the Esquimaux from whom the report was obtained"
as having been on board hie ship for several hours
without making any such communication, though
he was, doubtless, subjected to questions in abun-
dance.

On the whole there seems every reason to concur
in the clear opinion of the inquirers on the spot that
the circumstantial narrative of the two lost crews is
without any foundation in fact, though whe-
ther the fabrication or misconception be due to
the native informants, to the native interpre-
ter, to John Smith, or to the Dane, may be
points not readibly ascertainable. Perhaps the Arc-
tic experience of some of our readers may enable them
jto udge in some degree of the probability of a " fierce
and numerous tribe " having made such an attack as
that described at the point in question—Cape Dudley
Diggs. We own, however, to a disbelief in the story
from the evidence already furnished, and we think it
by no means improbable that the anxious and inces-
sant prosecution of our inquiries in these waters may
have suggested motives to the native tribes for invent-
ing or magnifying tales likely to arrest the attention
of their eager visitor,. Against such delusions we
must be well on our guard, though such information
may perhaps be the: best we can find in aid of the ex-
ertions we are now making with such indefatigable
vigour.—Times.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
BRISTQI„ OCT. 1.

STOCK E XCHANGE. —The share market was active to-day,
but not so much so as yesterday. The sales were—Great
Western, 72 Bristol and Exeter, 70—Midland, 423 x.
LA V 1 sPUUL.. OCT. 1.
•

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The transactions to-day were as
follow : Lancashire and Yorkshire, Consolidated, 473/4
Ditto, Fifths, 8 dis.—Leeds and Thirsk,ll% Great Northern,
141,4—Ditto (A), 4%—London and North-Western, 1151/2—
Ditto New Quarters, 214 p.—blidlaud, 43-.. Ditto, Halves,

213% dis.— South-Eastern and Dover, 20%—York, Newcastle,
and Berwick (Original N. and B), 16%—Ditto (G. N. E.),
6 per cent. till 150, dis.—York and North Midland,
c.

MANCHESTER, OCT. 1.
STUCK EXCIIANop.—The share market opened firmly
to-day, and continued so till the close. There was a fair
business done.

BIRMINGHAM, Ocr. 1.
STOCK EXCHANGE.-The only transactions reported to•day
were - London and North • Western, ►1512 Oxford and Wor-
cester, 91i.

THE COUNTRY MARKETS.
IPSWICIL OCT. 1.
The market was well supplied with wheat and barley
the quality of the latter so very vas ions that prices
ranged from 20s to 26s ter qr. Wheats were fully 2s
per qr. cheaper. Beans and peas as of late.
PER QUARTER. PER QUARTER.
Wheat, red 3Bs to 42s Beans 3ls to 32s
Do., new oos to OOs teas
Do., white 44s to 48s Oats oos to OOs
Do., new OOs to OOs Ry e.. ....... .. . 00s to 00s
Barley, malting 20s to 26s Malt . OO5 to 00s
Do., grinding OO5 to 00e flour, per sack.. 005 to 00*
AVERAGES FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPT 28.
Wheat 1,525 quarters at 44s Id.
Barley
Oats
Beans
Peas GS „ 31s Id.
BULL, OCT. 1.
Messrs. Taylor and BrighCs Ci, cular states :—There
has been less doiT'g in the wheat market during the past
week, and is decline was conceded to by holders. We
note no change in the vslue of spring corn. At to-day's
in,aket then., was a good supply of wheat from our
farmers, condition not quite co good as last week;
London and many ceunti-y markets reporting a decline
1, less money hail to be submitted to to-day, and on
foreign wM•at aie same redtc:ion was taken, with only a
limited busines doing. Nut o tite hi o much demand for
barley, hut tre re is but little afloat, and we do not hear
of much being on the passage. Less doing in beans, but
a good inquiry for peas, with very limited supply. Oats
are 6d to is dearer. There is choice of linseed in the
tuark,t, which, however, is well supported. Linseed
cakes arc again dearer, wi:h a good hale. But little doing
in rapeseed, but cakes are scarce and dear.
The following are the present prices of grain:—

Wheat, English, red 40 to 431 Peas, white and yel. 27 32
Do. white 44 46rDo. grey
Dant zic and Ko- Linseed, Black Sea. 46 48
nigsberg .. 42 47 Do. Petersburgh ... 40 44
Pomeranian and Do. Riga& Arctingl. 38 —42
Ilamburgh . ...... 40 44 Do. Konigsberg .... 38 —4()
Danish, Holstein, & Par ton.
Friesland ......... 36 40 Lins. c,Hull 7110 s Od to 00s Od
Russian and(Odessa 35 42 Do. fine foreign
Oats, English
Do. I)anish.... l6 18 Rapeseed
Do. Friesland l6 19 Rape cakes...9ss Od to 003 Od
Do. Russ. & Odessa 16 —lB Tares, English .403 003
Barley, malting 2l 26 Do. foreign 20s 268
Do. grinding.. 21 `,2 Guano 6/ to 10/ Oa
Beans 26 —3O Bones, do 90s 0,1 to 00s Od
Do. foreign
LIVERPOOL, OCT. I.—At our market this morning
there was a good attendance of the town and country
trade, whose purchases, however, were quite of a hand- •
to-mouth el aracter. Foreign wht at was only saleable 4
at a reduction of ld to 2d per 70Ibs, and new Irish was /
difficult td move, though offered at a decline of 2d to
31 per 701bs, 5i 9d being the extreme value of best
prepared parcels. New oats and oatmeal were hardly
inquired tor, and may be noted id per 4515., and 64 per
load lower. B,rley, beans, and peas were taken in small
quantities, at live rates. The quantity of French and
American II ,tir offering being very large, a concession of
64 per barrel and is per sack had to be made before
.buldne,s could be done; Irish was quite neglected. 1
There was not much activity in the demand for Indian
c,nai, and above 28s per quarter could not be made for
prim- round American yellow.
CORK, Sam.. 30.—Flour—First 12s 6d to 13s ; extra 14e 6d;
seconds, 12, Od to 12s 6d; households 9s to 108 6d; thirds, 6s to 83
per cwt. Oatmeal 108 to lOs 6d; Indian meal 6s 9d to ?sad; wheat-
meal, lOsto Ils Od per cwt. Indian corn 6/14s 6d to 611510 d per
ton. Bran 41 to 412 s rd per ton. Hay—Farmers 20s to 355; average
328; dealers 313 to 40s Od; average 36s per ton. Straw— Farmers
12s Od to 233 Od ; average 188; dealers 26s Od to 00s Od;
average 00s Od per ton. Bread—Wheaten loaf 6d to 6P;
household loaf 5d to 50 per 41b. Fresh butter, 8d to
10d per lb. Eggs-4s 10d to 5s Od per hundred. Coals--
Newport 14s; Lydney 15s Od; Smiths' 14s Od ; Culin 13, Od per ton. Tallow 38s Od to 00s per cwt. Whisky, 25 0. p., 5s 6d per imperial gallon. Meat
—Beef 4d to 4id ; mutton qd to 6d ; veal 441 to
54 ; pork 4d to Od ; bacon 7d to 8d ; sausages 5d per lb.
Hops 710 s to 01 Os per cwt. Bangor slates 3/ 2s 6d to 315 s per
ton. Bark—Barbary 7153 to 815 s; Valonia 151 to 0/; French
6l; Spanish 9/ to 101 per ton. Fleece Wool 155 to 00s per stone. Hemp 321 to 34/ per ton. Fish— Scotch herrings 13, to 14a ; red
ditto 15s to 20s per barrel ; Newfoundland 8/ 10s to 9/ 10s per
ton. Timber—Memel, 80s per ton ; red pine, 31 lOs • yellow
ditto, 2/ 15s per ton; deals, 13/ to 181 per 100. 'Hides-- Market 20s to 325; salted 21s to 32s per cwt ; calf skins
3d to 31c1 per lb. Potatoes, white 6d to 10d; Minions
Od to Od ; Guano— Peruvian, 11/; Ichaboe, 81 10s per ton ;
Tar—Archangel, 191 per barrel.

THE LONDON WEATHER.
TO TUE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—The past month of September opened" with
very high barometric elevation, which was sustained
with little variation for the first 18 days, averaging
diurnally by my record, taken at 9 o'clock A.m., 30.23
ino hes. On the 19th the mercury had dropped below
30 inches, and continued low to the end of the mouth,
so that the last 12 days averaged only 29.72, exhibit-
ing a diminution in the atmospheric pressure of more
than hail' an inch of the mercury daily, as compared
the first 18 days. On the 29th the mercury,
which stood 29.84 at nine o'clock A.m., fell rapidly,
and was, at the same hour on the 30th, 29.35, having
dropped nearly half an inch in 24 hours. The mercury
continued falling till this morning at six o'clock, whet,
I found it at 29.16, with a convex surface. At nine
o'clock it had risen to 29.24, and at six o'clock thii
evening was up to 29 49, still rising. The wind bas
been stormy and variable, with showers, which is not
unusual at the period of the year when the sun passes
the line. On the average of the whole month there
appears to have been a daily increase of 3-20ths of an
inch in the elevation of the mercury as compared with
last year. There has been but a slight difference in,
the temperature, averaging the
.30 days, from that of
the last two years • but to-day the heat has not ex*
seeded 57i in the shade.—l am, Sir, your subscriber,
Bermondsey-square, Oct. 1. H. P.

MONEY MARKET—The premium on gold at Paris
is 6 per mine, which, at the English Mint price of
31. 17s. 10id. pr r ounce for standard gold, gives an ea-
change of 25.30; and the exchange at Paris on London
at short' being 25.27 i, it follows that gold is 0.10 pet
cent. dearer in Paris than in London. By advicea from
Harnburgh the price of gold is 4331 per mark, which,
at the English Mint price of 31. 17s. 10id. per ounce for
standard gold, giies an exchange of 13.91; and the eV change at Hamburgh on -London at short being 13.8 s
it follows that gold is 0.58 per cent. dearer in Harry
burgh than in London. The course of exchange at
New York on London for bills at 60 days' sight is 1101
per cent., and the par of exchange between England and
America being 109 23-40 per cent., it follows that the
exchange is nominally 0.67 per cent. in favour of Eng; land, and after making allowance for difference 0'
interest and charges of transport, the present rate
leaves a small profit on the importation of gold from the
United Scates.

A CONTENTED IRISH LANDLORD.—The Earl o
Erne, at the exhibition of green crops of Lisnaskea, managh, last week, delivered an address to his tenantry 011
the result of a personal inspection of the farms on his estate:
—" I feel proud and happy," said the Noble Lord, " to have
it in my power to tell you that I found all the tenants who'll I visited comfortable and improving in their system of farts'
ing, and, as far as I could judge, better in their circumstances;
no running away ; not one acre of untenanted land, and no dig',
content ; but all vying with each other as to who
will
produce the best crops."
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