Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1855-11-24
The Polar Sea.

Dr. kanes statements respecting the discovery
If the Polar Sea hcighten the public curiosity to
know more As we now understand it, the open
sea was approached by q new channel, completely
frozen up and almost impossible, even on foot
leading from the bay lying at the point where the
immense glacier unites the coast OF Greenland TO
the new land of Washington. The glacier itself
appears to be in longitude sixty degrees west, a
considerable distance from the old part OF Smith $
Sound, and the channel which led to the sea was
in the western part of the bay. extending noru
ward Our conjecture that the Polar Sea boriered
Greenland was, therefore, an error But the niost
interesting item is the description now given OF TINS
last wonder. The Polar Sea, discovered by Dr.
Kane, was entirely free of ice in all its visible ex-
tent about three thousand square miles OF 1t beng
ssen, and a north wind of fiftytwo hours IN dura-
tion failed to bring in any ice from it. More than
this. it abounded in animal life. BY what phenom-
enon of nature we are to account tor such con-
dton of thing in the highest known ATTITUDES, Is
mystery 1t would be curious to ascertain why the
vatcr which freezes into such immense masses in
the channel and bay from which Dr. Kane approach
cd this sea does not CONCEAL at all in the latter ly
;ne as it does further north. Is it caused by the
vast depth, or tempestuous character of the Polar
Sea, or is there some undiscovered quality in the
intensity of cold, as we near the pole, which pre-
vents congelation or has the water OF the sea an
Ingredient not found elsewhere? 1t has been pre-
sumed by all previous Arctic explorers, that be-
vond certain latitude animal life could not exist
near the poles Here is a fact which conflicts
strangely with the theory In the highest known
ATTITUDES polar sea has been found where animal
life is abundant, and the water is perfectly free of
ice.
In that remote and inaccessible region, what
wealth of whale oil must exist if the whalers could
get at it, There safe from the harpoon which has
merclessIy pursued them all around the globe, the
flgitiFes from Spitz5ergen and Greenland Sea, and
Bat!iin's Bay and the North Pacific, have been for
years disportng in safety, bidding defiance to all
the efforts of the adventurous whalers. The ques-
tion what has become of all the whales is at length
approaching solution. The hiding place has been
found, and though DR.. Kane does not mention the
fact it is Of course presumable that the animal life
found in the Polar Sea, must include whales for
they exist every where in the Arctic Sea. The
importance of this discovery is limited only by the
extent and accessibility of the sea itself, and though
at present the prospect is not the most promising
for its utility yet future revelations and discoveries
may resolve the difficulty. There is ample room
about the pole and in the Arctic circle for sea of
very large area. The extent northwad of the Arc
tic ocean, lying above Europe and Asia and the
western part of the northern face of America, has
never yet been defined. The eastern part of the
northern face of this continent is bordered by per-
feet labyrinth of islands, great and small, reaching
far north as discovery had gone, until at last Dr.
kaue, has found the limit Of the system in the
open Polar Sea The question now to be solved, is
whether this sea Is connected with the Arctic
ocean,, before alluded to, and thus stretches clear
acrosr the pole, or whether new islands remain to
be dicovered, which separate it from that ocean.
The probability seems to be that the Polar Sea
must be of great extent and depth, or it could not
remainfre of ice. An approach northward from
reality. Unless it be more accessible than by the
opening at the present discortred, it must continue
an unknow realm, where the whales may luxuriate
unmolested, and the seals and walrusses multiply
at their leisure hik0delphia American.