Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1856-11-07
Scene In the Arctic Ocean.


about three years was not certain that he not
lost himself He has published outline OF his
exclusion and we take the following interesting
sketches:
TIE first j. a scene with the moon and both
shining The econd is description of one of the
many exigencies of that most periIous adventure
"'rhe moon is nearly full, and the dawnlng sun
light; mingling with hers, invests everything with an
atmosphere of ashy gray. |. clothes the gnared
hills that make the horizon of our bay shadows out
the terraces in dull definition, grows darker and col
der as it sinks in the fords and broods sad and drea
~ upon the ridges and measureess plains of ice that
make up the rest of our field of view Rising up
above ali this and shading down into it in strange
combinations is the intense moonlight ghtterlng on
every crag and spire, bracing the outline of the
background with contrasted ghtness, and printing
il. fantastic pro6es the snow-held. 1t Is land
scape such Milton or Dante mIght lmagine-lnor-
ganc, desolste, and mysterious! have come down
from the deck with The feelings of who has
looked upon world unfinished by the hand of its
Creator"
Here is a thrilling narrative in a different vein:
-. fastened 1t last 10 the great foe near the
shore, ms king harbor in a crack which opened
with the changes OF The tide
"The imperfect diet of the party showing It.
self more and more in the decline OF their muscular
power They seemed scarcely aware of it them
selves and referred the difficulty they found in drag
xing AID pushing to something uncommon about the
ice or sludge, rather than to their Weakness
But, as we tndeavored TO labors through
the morning fog beltej on all sides by ice fields
distorted and rugged to defy our efforts 10 cross
them, the truth seemed to burst upon every one
We had lost the feeling of hunger, and were almost
satisfied with pasy broth and the large draughts
of tea which accompanied it. was anxious to send
our small boat, the E'ic across to the lumme hill at
Aprah where knew from the Esquimaux We should
find plenty of birds; but the strength of the party
y as insufficient TO drag her
1--WE were sorely dsheartened, and could only
wait for the fog rise in the hope of smoother
platform than that which about US, some lead
that might save US .he painful labor of tracking. !
had climbed the iceberg and there was nothing in
view except the Darymle rock: with its red brassy
face towering in the unknown distance. But | hard.
ly got back to my boat before gale struck from
the northwest, and foe, taking upon Il tongue of ice
about mile 20 tile north of u.s. began to swing upon
it like pivot and close slowly in upon narrow
resting, place
cat first our own foe vas also driven before the
wind but in little while it encountered the sta
onary ice at the foot of the very rock itself. On
The instant the widest mag nabe ruin around us.
The sprang mechanically ach to his sta
ton, bearing back the boats and stores but gave
up Tor the moment all hope of our escape. 1t was
not nip such as are familiar to Arctic navigators
hut the whole platform where s.ood, and for hun
dreds OF yards every side OF us, crumbled and
crushed and piled and tossed itself mady under the
: pressure. | do not believe that our little body of
: men, all of them disciplined in trials, able to mea-
sure danger while combating i'll do not believe
: there is one who this day explain how why
naIdly when, in fac-we found ourselves afoat.-
d. We only know that in the midst of camor utterly
Understandable, through which the braying of thou
e sand trumpels could more have been heard thar
the voice OF man, we were shaken and raised an,
n whirled ard let down again in swelling waste o.
= broken ham mocks, and the grasped the
boat hooks in The stiffness that followed the boat;
edd ID away in tumultous skreed of ice and snow
e and water
]. 1--WE were borne along iii this manner as long as
the unbroken remnant Of the in shore foe continued
n revolving, utterly powerless, and catching glmps
d every and then of the br-zed headland tina
Is looked down on through the snowy sky At las
e, the foe brought mp g4ins the rock the ooser fag
r ments that hung round it begun to SEPARATE and WI
were able by and boahooks TO force our batter
ed little fotlla clear of them. 10 joyful surpris
E. we soon found ourselves in stretch OF the land wa
= ter wide enough to give rowing loom, and witt
y the assured promise of land close ahead.
10 " As we neared It, the same forbidden wal
= of belt-ice as at Sutherland and Hakluyt. We pull
r, ed along its margin, aeekng in either open
al ing or access, nook of shelter The gale rose
'd and the ice began to drive again; but there wa
d nothing to be done but get grapnel to the bel
m and hold on tor the rising tide. The Hope stove he
ID bottom, and lost part of her weather boarding, an
I'd the boats were badly chafed. 1t awtu
n storm and not without constant exertion tina
nd we kept afoa baling out the scud that broke owe
H. US, and warding off the ice with boat. hooks
TO AT O'Clock the tide was high enough for Us !
la scale the ice-cllf. One by pulled up tn
l" Ooats upon narrow smell, the whole sixteen OF
on uniting ct each pull We were too much worn dow
er to unload bul deep and narrow gorge opened j
tn the cliffs almost at the spot where clambered up
In and, pushed the boa's it on an even kee
'e- the rocks seemed close above heads, until a
es abrupt in the of the ravne placed pre-
IT. tcctlng cliff between and the gale. We con
TO- pelely encaved,"
ma THE CENSUS OF RUssIA.-The Moniteur de PArme
'fe gives The following as the results of the
las the Russian Empire, taken by order of the Emrer
nd at The time of his accession to the throne The
gS tai number of the population amounts to 63, 900
OK 00O The principal elements of which give results III
Ia known 10 the rest of Europe.
- The clergy Of the Russian church stands for tt
enormous number of $4,000; that of the tolerate
or- creeds, $4,000 the hereditary nobility, 1885, OC
the the petty bougeose, including discharged soldier
rs 425O00 foreigners residing temporarily ZOO