The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1860-02-16
ABBHvlIIE THuKsDA 7loRNNes TTeTJARY le. 1890
scsars m THrt Akcr1c .srAs. { 3, :,

Captain McC lint oct, afH The British Navy
has published a narratiye.of hi5late 5yoyy;
age to the Arctic Seas and Of tho discor:
cry Of the fate Of Sir John Frankiin. aud
his companions, Of which the N ey YorI
Commercial Advertiser says s -; g;
Numerous, ths volumes of Arctic ex.
plorations have been during the past few few
years, the story Of these modern; SEA king,
is read with an ever ,fres!i interests. Tie
perils and hazards of slc voyage: :iheisuf,
fsrings and privatio,m. of officers and mefs,
the experience of the 1oag polar night ana
Of the short summer time, the pecuiiar;ties
OF the scattered tribes Chat drag out exis-
tence in these hypcrborean regions, ali
these and the thousand other incidents aud
accidents lend curious charm to narratives
of this class. They tel of herosm and
perseverance, struggles and failures, Of un--
tiring zeal in the solution of problems
whose development has been brought about
only by tho loss Of valuable life and by the
waste of many years cf LABOR. Possibly,
after all these sacrifices, the civilized world
will be content to regald the, problem as
solved, and 10 indulge il. thirst for adyen-5
ture and novelty in fields perhaps as dan
gerous, but more inviting. Tie narr"'' {,
of Captain McCintock is told in simple
language, and with sailors frankness.---
The story flows OH from beginning to end
with little attempt at fine writing, and with.
cut deviation from direct line. We sub.
join few extracts. 81
TIE ARCTIC SHARK. s8
Sept. 81, 1871 muctrwished to cap
ture one of these monsters (shark,) as
wonderful stories are told us of their dongss
IN Greenland; whether they are the white
shark or the baskng shark of natural his
tory, cannot find out. It is ouly of late
years that the shark fishery has been car
ried on TO any extent in Greenland; they
are captured for tho sake q their Iiyers.
which yield considerable quantity Of oil
1t has very recently been ascertained t!tst
a valuable substance resembling Spermaceti
may he expressed from the carcase, and
tor this purpose powerful screw presses arr
now employed. In early winter the sharks
are caught with hooks and lines though
holes in the ice. The Esquimaux asserts
that they are insensible to pain and Pc
tersen assures me lie has plunged long
knife several times into the head of one
whilst it continued to feed upon while
whale cntangled in his net! It is not saf.
hc'enl to drive them away with supdru
thrusts OF spears or knives but they, must
be towed away to some distance from :the &
nets, otherwise they will return 20 feed. II
must be remembered that the brain of 4
shark is extremely small in proportion to
the size of its huge head. / have seen en-
bullets fired through. them with very iIittle
apparent effect; but if these creatures can
feel' the devices practised upon them by
Inc tsquimaux must be cruel indeed. IL
is only in certain localities that sharks are
found, and in these places they are often
attracted to the nets by the animals en-.
tangled inthem. The dogs are not suffer
ed TO eat either the skin or the head, the
former in consequence of its extreme
roughness, and the latter because it causes
giddlness and makes them sick. 5;s.; 5;s.;
SNOW CRYSTALS. - -
October 8, l857.-The snow CRYSTALS 81
last night are extremely beautiful. The
largest kind is an inch in length; itssforml
exactly resembles the end of a ,nointed
leather. Stella crystals two-tentbs ofssaa
inch in diameter, hive also fallen; .t,liesss
have six points, and are the most exquisite
things when seen under microscope.. ...SxT
remember noticing them ut Melville IslaIa,
i ~ March, 1855, when the tenpera.ara ross
to:eight degrees. AS these wefe fined Siast
night between the temperetnrego 1T .siK dss
grees and twelve legrees; ,it wonid appssf
chat. tue form is due TO ascertain 6xsd siiis i;
peratnre IN the sun ngor essn: in MOI 81 IiS;
Eall these glisten most grsl lliaa &:
|anl ass oiis asta and eiSi,
dantly covered NTH them ss 4 81 Il oss Il asSas
gss 81 .galgs gsoaaI srt 81 aeNi W 3
81 ssss