The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1850-02-05

ictc IAPsoitohi as gwen IN the pidln ana sslloi
IKE language oi ils gallant commander, conveys but
faint notion Of the nature Of the bardshps actually
endured. We are much mistaken or his real trial | {
was when the heavy masses Of ice we're striking
against the ships sides IN Mevllie Bay, and threat
ening every momeht 10 stave the tnheFs in not |
when the crews were employed ia literally saving
the ships' way out Of the harbor Of Port Leopold
nor even when Sir James Ross with his little party
was painfully making MS way over the heavy I
hummoeky" ice to the extreme point Of hls opera
tions. In a word the real trial not when there
was anything to be doNs. Ii was not IN the midst
Of Stiffness and inaction, and failing hope, that the
sharpest pinch was felt To all who would form i
seine faint idea of the real suerngs Of The crews,
we recommend personal visit to the Enterprise |
and investigator they are finally land up u re-
quires no very lively imagination conceive the te-
diuin endured in the close and confined space be-
tween decks-a space which he'd been Purposely |
shorn Of its due proportions partly TO admit OF m
serting double timbers preserve the ship secure
against the breaking Of the ice, partly for the sake
OF the hot-wateT apparatus which was carried round
tie interior Of the ship 70 keep up such tempera-
ture below as was consonant with existence, partly
| to make for the Immense amount Of stores
which each ship carried, well 70 supply the ne
cessiiies OF Sir John Franklins expedition as those
| Of its own crew. In alterations between the clear
| pinching air above and the cammy atmosphere be-
low one day scarcely distin gushed from the other,
save by extra tediousness discomfort the crews Of
the Enterprise and Investigator called upon to
| wear out existence. What prison could have been
| more dreary? What banishment more complete
We can picture to ourselves the alacrty with which
| men would rouse themselves from the heavy Ian
guor of the confinement between decks at The call
| OF even the most hazardous duty, and esteem any
change benefit, II reused them from the tor
por their spirits and the stagnation OF their blood
The actual perils are not the worst part OF an arc
tic voyage
Ffdm The lllh Of July, 1913, when tie two ex-
porng ships quilted The Danish selaement oi Dfer
navik to stand aero 70 the westward OF Baiila's
Bay, Until tic 4lh of October, iS49 when, alter
| fOuudlug the nOrth end OF iho midale ies ~ Tue
same bay they sirnck the coast OF GteenIand N et
143o n, cng hened account OF the Ceedings OF
he expedition would form most Interesting nara
tive ol dangers braeed without hesitation, and sur
| mounted with courage. lhe three words enpfeyeu
by Sir James Ross pfUb 4biy give trns picture Vi
the feelings Of tie commanders and oi lheit crews
: throughout the whole course OF the eXpediilon-
f Perplexy, anxiety snG success" From The very
first tie course OF the ships appears 10 have been
. attended with unuzual d.tiicuEles even In Melville
/ Bay. SIX days after Sir James had sailed from
Upsrnavik a heavy breeze fortunately sprang up
from the north east, and the ships, under ali saul,
- bored for hours through PACK Ol ICE u iaNaef-
ate thickness, bul having amongst II heavy nea5es
mingled wiki The ngler ice that covered the larger
surface through Which It was necessary 10 ofiVe
the ships at all hazards The shocks sustained
| were great, huL ilEtunaIeiy no damage was uepe'
The sups got into clear water and steered iof
> | Ponds Ray, and there it was deeIuiined--so we
read Sir James ss's uarra,iye-Io institute lno'
/ q
" | and so proceed through L4ucisjsF Sound 80 fpIt
4 Leopold, where it nEs his determination 20 ~iief-
u Ia this expectation lie was 81 first disappointed
'' So great a quantity Of ice, writes Sir James,
IS was never bsiue seen IN Baru"s straits al ti's
z, season OF tte yElr." The weather was stormy Rnu
+ ioggy, bui s lhs SLIPS pus-A on, dssPitt OF
z all obstacles, and finsily ihe llth OF Sepsmbsi
the expedition entered Port Leopold. FeftuGats q
I'd was they CLOSE the right momen. tor 10 the nigh
le ihe main pack closed IA and completely sealed vi
tn | The mouth Of the harbOr.
i'd Our limits win moi permit to follow the opera
IT. tions OF Sir james Ross and his comp2nions durin
The confinement Of the ships bstSeen tils lile :
September, 1913, and The 10Th CT August, iS3s
Suffice It to say, tlsat nothing was eit unatiemp p
IA. ed which anxiety could suggest or ioEesisi
Drt conuivs. Parties were sent out IN van1us duet
., tons; depots of provisions We're formed uiets att
: Il indenaliOns ois the coast were EXAMINED; ant
be finally, in the middle OF May Sir james Ross nm
IA, self ut the head OF considerable party, made n
he way far to the westward without discovering SD
,vs traces Of the missing men. The EuitsrIng no
= sn0w-blDdness, spralned aucies, aHu oeuilsy, vi
iio extreme, bus still the men psrseversd Witnaut
nd murmur. Afer the completion Of all these n
tn Searches the opinion Of SIR James Ross appears
,as be that Sir John franklin and his parry had pushe
, on SO far beyUund Melville Island, tliO0 W. long
that they had preferred making iuf ths cJhiiilei
of America TO returning ia an eas'srlY direction
he and seeking assistance from the Blflin's Bay "hf
OF ers Nor is it unlikely that such couTss shuui
raj Rve suggested itself TO Sir John Frankiin, trol
en- his former experience of the northern shores oi q
on | American continent almost al the very point h
so must have reached-if this hypothesis be The tfu
IN one
to We said that on the 18th of August the ship
led were finally cleared out of Leopold Harbor, an
ar sailing to the norhward, endeavored TO reach We
ga lington Channel, with the hope that they might a
ne forwards push their researches so far Yves
lis ward as hIelve Island. But all in vain The fxe
on and-ice reached twelve miles from the shore, an
III for that season all hope at end. At lhi
point OF the narrative OF Sir james Ross, we me-
us with the recital OF adventure which appears
'1S us almost unparalleled even in the " Romance
the Arctic Regions"
we'd ave kept the ships near that which appeared
ugh be the most probable spot, watching for any opel
and ing that might present Itself, when strong wlr
tba suddenly arising the Is OF September, broug
a,b the loose pack through which we had been stru
T Cling down upon, and it closely beset the ships
ue times during two three days, they sustained 5
we're pressure and ridges ofhunmocks were throw
ssd up all around us, but after that time the temper
ing ture falling TO Zero 1t formed the whole boo
ing oil the ice into solid mass. Wewere so cireur
d. stanced that for some days could not unshp Il
IOO rudder, and when, by the laborous operation
lais saving and removing the hummoeks from und
hco the STERN we were able to do SO, found it twist
nan and damaged, and the ship much strained
rms to increase the leakage from three inches in fo
u,. night to fourteen inches daily, which, though of
WIZ rihing importance at present, served to conUn
. US that she was not, as we had hitherto beileve
o invulnerable The ice was stationary for few day
ne' each other, and they so nteraced to fol
ill., one entire sheet, extending from shore to shore
~ Barrow's Strait, as far to the east and west
o6 eye could discern from the masthead, while the
J treme severity of the temperature had cemented
of whole firmly together that it appeared highly
An probable that it could break up again this seas
iin, In the space which had been cleared away for
,r = shipping the rudder the newly formed ice
,ory teen inches thick, and in some places along
ships side, the 13-feet were too short to wor
who We have read of ships being frozen up before,
f its the history of similar expeditions, but that sh
the should be imbedded in field of ice than Ii
a,e. miles in circumference-that this huge field Of
Ding should move for tweny-three days at the rate
lheI eight to miles daily, carrying with it the
api prsoned shirs and when at last their destruct
pro- and the death of their gallant seemed inc
table, that it should OF itself rend into fragmer
and melt away, having conveyed the ships in saf
an so far on their voyage homewards does indeed
sud pear to be wonderful passage in mariti
/, on adventure to merit particular notice and rema
tree We will leave Sir James Ross to describe in
tln- own words what heell;
sud "We had now fully made up minds that
lent ships were fixed for the winter, and, dismal as
nan prospect appeared, it far preferable to be
head carried along the west coast of Bains Bay, wh
tSs) the grounded bergs m such numbers upon
shallow banks oil that shore as to render it mex
= impossible for ships involved in pack to csc
hae destruction. 1t was, therefore, with mixture