The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-11-20 00:00:00

Ifov• 20, 1849

- JAMES ROSS'S EXPEDITION.-FURTHER

INTERESTING DETAILS.

a4...t Port Leopold the crews commenced building a wall
itat:* ow seven feet high from one ship to the other to facil-
ofemurnunication, and the next thing was the erecting
au observatory for each ship for magnetic observations.
forlYbwere composed entirely of snow, with plates of ice
Laiit e windows. They were six feet high inside, and
otit ~11,1.,5u0w bricks one foot thick and two feet long, cut
se a a cutlass, and well-squared and trimmed,
148,_ little houses displaying tasteful, varied, and in some
411ces fantastic forms of architecture. The wall of
toitlaenication required great attention, from the accu-
ation of snow. The sun was not seen from the 9th of
frootrivernher until the 9th of February from the ship, but
elo,ile top of a hill, N.E. Cape Leopold, a sight was
f him so early as the 26th January.
tre4;3l'Eß WORK AND AMUSEMENT.—During the long
g10,41g8, from October till May, schools were formed
a.eCig the midship part of the lower deck, which were
kad•attended by the young men, who were instructed in
by the Clerk
writing and arithmetic, on board the Enterprise,
ea.ot'e clerk ; and a youngster' from Greenwich school,
htiansell, second-class volunteer, taught the pupils navi-
thei_n• Many of the scholars made great progress in
alio' studies during the six months. Ample time was
koiwed for the crews of both ships to meet each other,
keh games of football and other exercises relieved the
table
which surrounded them.—The crews during
tabiwinter were also employed in making tools and per-
/hate aPParatus for travelling in the spring, and some
to were employed in laying down gravel on the ice,
frahTeilitate the cutting of the passage out of the ships
higmstbe harbour at the proper season. The gravel,
to was tak -n from the shore on sledges, was laid so as
ausorb the sun's rays which, acting upon the ice, pre-
essli)°,Bed it to rot and Melt away. This work very much
lattlrd the arduous task of cutting a canal out of the
11.2ur of 50 feet wide, and two miles and a-half long.
toat.A"" and other exercises during winter somewhat accli-
tioo—' the men, and inured them to sustain the priva-
k 8 which they subsequently encountered in the search-
tv4exPeditions. All around Leopold Harbour nothing
ti seen but snow, rocks 1,100 feet high bounded on each
Rand a narrow low ridge enclosed the harbour north-
VQ• There were very few icebergs seen from this point.
of,fstulas-dav and New Year's-day were kept as seasons
„
tilt,,"4 and jollity. Double allowance of spirits and pro-
-117:118 were served out, and every one fared sumptuously.
1,7 health of the Queen was drunk with devoted loyalty
enthusiasm by the gallant little band; "absent
teZds," and " sweethearts and wives," were not forgot-
? ; and the dance and song enlivened the festivities.
, or a
loy few hours the outward world was forgotten in the
c°1,1..s realisation of the comforts and happiness of home.
WholikEGE BY BEAR.—In the course of our journey the
Ivaihe Party were charged by an immense bear.
.Brulr.
.ed boldly up to them, and was only checked in his
~valre by an attempt to fire at him. Of the entire num-
off e.l guns levelled, however, the only fire arm that went
lieu Lieut. M'Clintocks. The ball took effect, but the
6o gentleman did not seem to care much about it ; he
treelY scratched his head with his paw, stopped within
italirl yards, and then turned his back upon them, and
1)1 ft:4 off, 'with a most contemptuous air. The track of
tll-I,ie which marked his retirement in the snow showed
w s wounded.
*it BEAR'S MODE OF DESCENT.—Another party
oio.;tessed a very natural, and at the same time an easy
agQa" of descent from a heieht of about 700 feet. A bear
totn teed himself down on his hams, slid from top to bot-
to,,,tt railway speed. steadying himself with great judg-
-6,t by his paws in his rapid descent.
th,vrriNG THE
ie ICE.—The process of cutting through
e was a most arduous one. The line having been
marked out by the officers, 15 feet and 18 feet ice saws
2or set to work with triangles, and cut on an average
wet feetk in a day ; four saws, and sometimes six saws,
t e emPloyed at once, the ice being from three to five
eet thic.
P,ETTING OUT OF HARBOUR.—These ships first moved
wete, L'tle diagown
and seizing the canal
evb aerut o
opportunity,u the 6th of Agust, and then,
toy they gradually
open "ewn to the entrance. On the 28th the ships got in
water, and stood out to the northward, with the in-
ln,'lsten of going to Melville Island, till the Ist of Sep-
w—uer, when, on the morning watch of that day, thick
tteatber prevailing, and the wind blowing hard, the ice
ednally filled in all round, and finally encircled both
offirst the Enterprise, then the Investigator, in spite
41411 her efforts to keep out. She at last took up a berth
eo hear as she could to her consort, at about a mile. All
ft,seltnimication was here cut off, except by signal, and
Pre this time the ships drifted perfectly helpless until
Ire 25th of September, when they cleared the pack off
w°"'s Bay, having drifted about 240 miles. The aspect
ails indeed cheerless, as they gradually approached the
bredshore of Baffin's Bay, a coast which has proved
441 to so many whalers. On the 24th they had a strong
:2e, and on the 25th open water was observed at a
1111m-ice of about five or six miles, and as soon as the ice
it up sail was made upon both ships, and on the fore-
hC of the 25th, after crashing through the ice for about
'X'CY-six hours, they succeeded in getting quite clear.
tiUsbips now stood right across to the eastern shore of
tialTu's Bay for the purpose of clearing the middle ice,
efu first saw tcalled Sandehe land, October 3rd, which was the coast
WPeenland, rson's Hope, near lippernavick.
~,L° baffling winds and thick weather, the ships now
sue the best of their way southward, passing an immense
r tit
lude of gigantic icebergs, varying from 100 to 300
Alet in height, and from a quarter to half a mile in length.
n'e tremendous bergs often came between and threat-
e„hrg the ships with destruction, and were a source of
irpetual harrass, often exciting much apprehension from
tor colour, or rather colourless appearance. It was,
o Steer
to eed, a task Of no ordinary skill and ability sometimes
clear of them. On the 25th the two ships first
e,tujounicted since they began to drift, and now joyfully
cum-leda cheers of congratulation at their narrow escape.

'ne Daily News has discovered that great
at this
thoroughly liberal art in England have at this
'24ent amost difficult partp toY play," that " the present
hba roost critical and dangerous moment to the ca-nse.ot
pr„e,rtY, Tolitical and commercial."
_What with "
Hand,
hilretionist -and aristocratic. efforts" on the one hand,
" the political inertness of that great lower stra-
tc th -English society which extends from the labourer
e industrious and comfortable middle class," the
ftelenite organ is in a sad. state. of despondency, pain-
% ,LtY sensible that " English liberals have to row against
ual°ng.ourrent, which sets against them in the upper
low*" et ?life, whilst there is but-little movement in
atte_
Ner to counteract it." Its distress is consid bly
re-
gards •bv-the issue of the Cork election, which it re-
itii" as a Significant fact, forasmuch as, " out of a con-
tql-"iicY of considerably more than two thousand, nearly
e-third nave contemptuously-refused to vote, as between
gp?rnorter of the Whigs and an undisguised Tory, they.
4 ~shsolutely indifferent." That rest. " absolute"
vierred an " undisguised Tory" isth e,
we fancy, still more
significant."
1114_1VRIIFOOL PATRONAGE OF ART.—I have before al-
trd to this being a time peculiarly fitted for
thehnr
ttaerts, both in patronage and painting. One ofstate-i-
-t4llees vhich can be brought forward to prove this
hittfe' is the great difference we find in the amountof t e
• and the character of the pictures sol.l, in our annual
te,'nhition. A few years back (when our Exiiibitiont.
1/44ii'e held in this building) the sales were. small in amount,
Diet..." the pictures generally sold, low
aiinidctaurtac•mitnhe
&I".7,_ees now sold are generally good, few 'good
ti the close of the
Zii`;Tlitsior
the am
ed
amount of sales at first never exceeded
tha~while for the last few.years we have never sold less
lita-t'ct2ooo worth even in poor-years, while in.good times
111C,,P'Y 4000 worth were purchased in one season. I
is i these facts prove-to demonstration that good taste
etP th us - that weave lerned to despis
judge
th
14 le efforts which first arrested oura uncultivated
44'; that we stand in the posit'on of a man
.who, on
t
te, seeing a barber's block, admired it from its slight
-vn.
1,4 bulanee to the human form, •but when introduced._has
?sec-',Rher efforts of a cultivated and refined mind,
'lhi taught to look on his early associations in their true
kinci,and to see the difference between the first rude_in aagnid_
,Ilaentess effort° and those which have enriched his i
qy."4 and confirmed his taste. The patronage
London
tdoinn
011,,e'Dnul is greater than any town in England, L
to;, excepted.—From a Paper read by Mr.. Barberise .7.1.bev..-
4 the Liverpool Literary and Philosophsc_a. owair,ited
I'l4 :1,-,"T ARCHITECTURE OF LIVERPOOL.—If I
'4Sel;"4ll3le of a street in which every precept of nature
a
‘veli:Leen unheeded, I could not do better than. instaie
l'etli:4°Nvn one of this town—Shaw-street,—than which,
archPs, nothing more monotonous, within the range of
I•
iitectnre, cou!d be found. Formed on level ground,
!tnt:arlY so, of oxie straight line, and what is the most
qs.seoe, though the houses are not enlisted under one
ieecr,n the shape of a terrace, with the usual arr.ange-
-0111."°' centre. and wings, yet theho.uses. as if cast in onl
40• , are from end to end fae-similes of each other..
• to any entleman who has made the obse.vation,
kq.lier he ever experienced in that street any of those
akakeiOns of pleasure which a fine street is calculated to
in every cultivated mind. With the exception of
it°m"'e of lonic columns as a door-case to each house,
"e dead, merely perforated wall, or series of walls,
lade to end ; devoid of all provision for light and
d e; innocent of every thing that can relieve the wea-
nect9Ye, or awaken a spark of interest in the mind.l
tkelthis street because it is one of those m the design
k, if we are to have beauty in street architecture,
N),,itae cost and size of the houses, we have a right to
some acknowledgments of the influence, and some
;444 to the laws of the beautiful. But it is the
h,"t'd 4).'di greater or less degree, of many other streets,
b'sa from the predominance, in point of wealth, of
bleftif 40 consider the beautiful incompatible with the
eh a aped have no idea of the moral agency of art. On
Cned st'those et, as far as all testhetical qualities are con-
Luk ' of London of the fourteenth century might
709/.71,1"diF down !—From a Paper read by M. r. Sand.
i 8 before the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical
4 etY•
thst4'4l°Loo qi the
of !CAI, PREDICTION.—Tradition will have it
kt,estiti Id lady herself was not without the hope of
tiee death altogether, on the strength of an assur-
'll4 give
ner early in her career by a certain a!trologer,
L.tise,e
,should never die so long as she continuedht her
741, tending, It was perhaps the same phop e whom.
fit!'s 'lll4t speaks of in one of her lettars. In a strict
certainly, she could never die without ceasing to
Iklli'y n
and this may have been all that the ingenious am-
ttanee4 the cunning oracle actually expressed. It so
"IC °Wevsr,
ioter
that the prediction received a more
Nitißt that arlrl!ittaon or solution. There came so severe
theo ricklaying and meson-work was stopped ;
Ned to too the blood of the arkcient Countess at last
et •• that "ovr, stagnated probably by the same intense
destroyed the adhesiveness of thp- mortar. She
4748, lit her native Hardwick, on the 13th of February,
4,,ttied tf tshe was fourteen, as is stated, when she was
th2tltyil ner first usband, whose dath had takian place
" Years agho, she must have at least crossed the
her ninetieth year.—B9PiOrict Pomo,