The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-27 00:00:00

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

The following is an extract of a letter from an
officer of tl.e Erebus, begun on the Ist July, let. 68 N.,
and finished at Whale Fish Islands, 10th July, 1845:
" The fair wind which blew us from our friends the
steamers did not lust lone-, and we had one continued
succession of westerly and north-westerly winds (re-
lieved now and then by a fair wind), till the 21st
June, when we found ourselves 134 miles due east of
Cape Farewell. Here we had a calm, with a most
tremendous heavy swell, in which we did roll.
" During our journey thus far, we went within 60 or
70 miles of Ice!and, but it was too cloudy to see Mount
Hecla. We did not go within 70 miles of Cape Farewell,
but rounded it with a gale right aft, which followed us
in our course with a heavy sea. We kept close-reefed
topsails and reefed foresail, and made the old craft go
eight knots through it. The only difficulty we had was
to get our gallant chief, Sir John Franklin, to shorten
sail when it was wanted. He is full of life and energy,
and of all men the most fitted for the command of an
enterprise requiring sound sense and great perseverence ;
and lie is full of benevolence and kindness withal.
"On the 22d we were north of Farewell. The ther-
mometer had scarcely ever varied three degrees for
three weeks, being about 43.
"On the 25th we saw our first iceberg in shore, and
the beautiful sharp, craggy, snowy coast of Greenland in
sight, an immense distance of. Since then we have had
delightful smooth teas ; sometimes a calm, sometimes a
foul wind, light, and much fair wind. For the last few
days we have been nearer the land, and yesterday we
were catching cod near the most glorious assemblage of
ice, rock, snow, and clouds, being about thirty miles
from the coast about Lichtenfiels. To-day we have had
a splendid breeze right aft, vi ith a strong current in our
favour. A most splendid semicircle of icebergs appear
a-head and under the land— we count 65 from the crow's
nest ; I have just been on deck looking at one above 200
feet high, which came down with a crash and raised a
mist like an avalanche. It is now twelve o'clock, though
the sun is up, so I shall go to bed and finish this to-
morrow, though it is a pity to sleep on such a fine, clear,
sun shining night.
" Disco, JULY 2.—The scenery of Disco is grand in
the extreme, and the beautiful icebergs in bold relief
against the dark, almost black looking coast, present a
curious appearance. We have the most heavenly
weather here, clear, calm, with a hot sun, and icebergs
glistening in all directions, I counted 280 icebergs from
the top of a hill the other night, big mosquitos biting our
party all the time.
" JULY 10.—We shall sail for the Lancaster Sound
on the 12th with three years' provisions. You have no
conception how happy and comfortable we are ; in fact
there is incessant mirth from morning to night. We
hear that this is supposed to be a remarkably clear
season, but we have no authentic information."

RICHMOND ROYAL REGATTA• --Eighteen free
watermen of Richmond contended yesterday for a purse of
sovereigns, subscribed by the ladies and gentlemen residing in
the vicinity. The match was in honour of Prince Albert's
natal day, and the exceeding fineness of the weather and the
prospect of good sport induced a very large assemblage of
highly respectable rrsons both on the shore and river. The
race was won by Richard Messam and Thomas Ellard. • •