New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-04-02
The News Arctic Expedition.


At the meeting of the New York Geographical
Expedition on the ed inst, Or. Hayes made the
following interesting remarks:
Mr.. President. Ladies and Gentlemen -It ii now
q little more than four years since Dr. Kane re-
turned from the North, reporting the discovery Of
an open Polar sea. Physicists had long before
been generally agreed that such sea probably
existed, and the northern coasts of Europe, Asia
and America having been determined with consid-
erabie accuracy, IT was assumed that the great
body of water which they invested was mainly free
nom land; and hence, being free from all centers
Of ice accumulation, must be mainly OPEN at least
during the summer. The iirstsubstantial confrma-
ton of this theory was obtained by the russians,
who, under Hedenstrom, in lsl0-ll, and again, un-
der Anlou and Urangel, in lS20-24, discovered an
extensive open area, or potgntG, 70 the nofthwafd
Of the New Siberian Islands. 1t was lett 70 our
countryman, DR.. Kane. to bring from an opposite
meridian more conclusive proof, and his researches
assume the dignity of great discovery. Dr. name,
whose first voyage as surgeon OF the expedition
under Lieut. DeHayen, in 1850, had given TO nm
some important information upon the currents ana
ice movements of Baffns Bay, carefully eolated
such accounts as had been published respecting
the various efforts to penetrate the icebarrier and
he thus arrived at the conclusion that the true
route lay up the heretofore UNEMPLOYED Smith
Strait @hich opens ut the head OF the Bay.
To America is due the credit of having reduced
the evidence to practical results. The second
Grinnel Expedition, begun IN 1893, added new
proofs to those previously known In favor OF the
route by Smith Strait; and at the present time
there Is sufficient warrant for asserting that it is by
this channel that the pole il to be reached. 1t IS
true that in this direction, the cebelt is broader
than at any other point but this fact gives to the
route peculiar advantages, since the polar current.
setting rapidly to the south through Baffn Bay,
loosens the ice, and opens passages through it,
such as are not found to the same extent in other
quarters, where the direction of the current is
northerly. Although ice is often met in the line
pas ftnR af 1oyva hp31I cpfN md
land, yet no serious obstruction to navigation is
presented until we have reached the latitude of
Upernayik, 100 40; and beyond this whale-ships
penetrate annually, and with little risk, as far as
latitude 76o in order to get to their fishing grounds
about the mouth of Lancaster Sound. Between
the highest latitude attained by the whalers and
Smith Strait the water is mainly free during the
summer, and the distance not exceeding 150 miles,
is readily traversed DR.. Kane's efforts in this di-
rection were experimental, and his winter harbor
was selected the eastern side of the channel in
latitude TSo 81.
His subsequent explorations proved his position
to have been an unfayorable one for he was ex-
posed to the full force of the Polar current which
comes down from the north through the newly dis
covered Channel of Kennedy. The ice carried
down by this current not only prevented his re-
lease, but in consequence Of the obstruction pre-
sented by the land It was broken into hnmmocks
TO the northward which rendered travelling in that
direction excessively laborious. The same cause
which operates to free the ice upon the Greenland
coast will free the coast Of Grinnell Land Upon
visiting this shore in the spring of 1854, found
smooth sheet of ice extending along the land as far
up as latitude 500. This ice was of but one win
ters freezing and hence, upon the closing in of the
winter of l653-54 there was open water as far as
that parallel. 1t il the knowledge Of this fact
which leads me to believe that much higher lati-
tude can be attained on the western side of the
strait than on the eastern. Beyond Cape Frazer,
lat. 1872 42, the coast trends almost due north and
the current, flowing through the channel without
obstruction, will no doubt leave the ice smooth and
favorable for siedge operations 1t is upon the
coast of Grinnell Land that will secure harbor;
and, as already observed, l have every confidence
that vessel can be taken along this shore with
ease and safety, nearly to the sOth parallel.
The first summer will be exhausted in making
this locality, and the winter will close around us
early IN September. From this time until the LIST
of the following month we will remain inactive
Upon the earliest return Of sunlight, the advance
parties will be sent forward, and by means of dog
sledges. provision depots will be established at
available points along the land. These parties will
be followed by the main expedition for the explo-
ration of the Polar Sea. A boat, mounted on run
ners, will be transported over the ice, until we
have reached the object Of our search, when, if
such fortune awaits us, we will launch our little
vessel upon the unknown waters, and bidding God
speed, will push off directly for the Pole. If the
season is backward, its southern margin may not
extend as far south as the point at which it was
discovered by DIR. Kane; but / do not anticipate
that in any case sledge travel will be extended
further north than lat. 50 deg. Beyond this lati-
tude there are, as already observed, conclusive
reasons for believing that an open sea exists. The
land does not, in all probability extend far beyond
the parallel mentioned, and all experience shows
that it is only near the land that we find the Arctic
waters completely closed. It is, indeed, not too
much to say that SO large a surface of water as
the Arctic Ocean cannot be frozen over, even dur
ing the winter; and with the advance of summer
the Ice rapidly dissolVes. come now to speak Of
the utility of the proposed effort Happily, on this
head am spared any reflections of my own.
The subject has been matnrely considered by
the leading scientific societies of the United States
by your own body, by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science by the American
Philosophical Society, by the American Academy
OF Arts and Sciences, by the Philadelphia Academy
OF Natural Sciences, by the Boston Society of
Natural History and by the New York Lyceum of
Natural History and these conclusions, expressed
by q large number of our most eminent citizens
are to the effect that the objects contemplated are
not only important to mankind, but are such as to
warrant q full sanction and hearty encouragement
to the project will merely state that, beside the
survey and exploration of the Polar Sea and its ad-
jacent lands the proposed line of exploration Gov
ers field in which the solution of important cues
tons OF magnetism and meteorology and of natural
history can certainly be effected. Indeed there is
no department Of science to which valuable results
will not be contributed. / am fully aware Of the
peculiar causes which have tended to mislead the
public mind, in relation to the dangers of Arctic
exploration. These causes Justify the hesitation
which was felt in former years !; but now that the
truth has been made known by SO many reliable
observers; now that the means Of travel have
been SO fully perfected and the facilities for pro-
noting health and comfort have become SO well
known, is it too sanguine disposition which leads
me to belive that | shall see again the little flag
which, IN 1854, planted upon the coast of Grinnell
Land or to hope that it may even be my fortune
to carry it thence to the point of extreme north
ness