The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1860-02-18
Gbr Arltir Regions.
The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic
Seas,

|
We copy the following extracts from a
Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate Of
| Sir John Franklin and his companions, by
Capt. McC.intock of the Royal Navy,
who was commander of the expedition in
search Of the fate of the lost explorer, and
which lately returned. The narrative is told
in simple language, and with a sailors frank
ness. The story flows on from beginning to
end. with little attempt at fine writing, and
without deviation from direct line.
TIE ARCTIC SHARK.
Sept. 81, 1857. i much wish to capture
one of these monsters (sharks) as wonderful
stories are told us of their doings in G"eenland:
whether they are the white shark or the
basking shark of natural history, cannot
find out. 1t is only Of late years that the
shark fishery has been carried on to any
extent in Greenland they are captured for
the sake of their livers, which yield con-
siderable quantity of oil. 1t has been very
recently asccrta in, tina a va liable substance
resembling spermaceti may be expressed from
the carcase, and for this purpose powerful
screw presses are now employed. In early
| winter the sharks are caught with hook and
| line through holes in the ice.
| The ESquimauX assert that they are in
sensible to pain, and Pc terson assures he has
| plunged long knife several times into the
| head of one whilst it cont inucd to feed upon
Il white whale entanglcd in his net 1t is not
sufficient to drive them away with sundry
thruSs of spears or knives, but they must ne
lowed away to some distance from the nets.
otherw Use they will return to feed. 1t must
Le remembered that The brain ola shark is
extremely small in proportion to the size Of
It's huge head. have seen bullets fired
through them with very little apparent effect.
But if these creatures can feal the de- 'cs
practiccd upon them by the Esquimaux must
be cruel indeed.
1t is only in certain localities that sharks
are found, and IN these places they are often
attracted to the nets by the animals entan.
sled in them. TIE dogs are not suffered to
eat either the skin or the head, the former in
consequence OF its extreme roughncSs, and
the latter because it causes giddiness and
makes them sick.
SNOW CRYSTALS.
October 8, 1857. The snow CRYSTALS of
last night are extremely beautiful; the largest
kind is an inch in length; It's form exactly
resembles the end of = pointed feather. Stel.
lar crystals two-tenhs of an inch in diameter
have also fallen; these have six points, and
are the most exquisite thing when seen under
a microscope | remember noticing them at
Melville Island, in March, 1853, when the
temperature rose to deg; as these were
formed last night between the temperature OF
q deg. and II deg, it would appear that the
form is due to u certain fixed temperature
| In the sun, or even in moonlight, all these
crystals ghston most brilliantly, and as our
masts and rigging are abundantly covered
with them, the Fox never was So gorgeously
alraytd as she now appears.
| A BEAR HUNT.
Nov. 2, lS57.-1hcre was very sudden
call " to arms tonight. Whether sleeping
| prosins. or schooling, every one flew out upon
the ice on the instant, as if the magazine OF
the boiler was on the point Of explosion
The alarm OF " bear close to fighting with
the dogs" was the cause. The luck less
beast had approached within 25 yards of the
| ship ere the quartermaScr S eye detected his
lndlstnct outline against the snow so silently
! had he crcpt up that he WAS within 10 yards
of some of the dogs. \ shot started them up
and they at once flew around the bear anG
embarrassed his retreat. In crossing some
very thin ice he broke through, and there
found him, surrounded by yelping dogs
Poor fellow. Hobson, Young and Peterson
had each lodged u bullet in him but these
only seemed to increase his rage. lie sue
ceeded in getting out of the water, when
fearing harm to the numerous bystandcrs and
dogs, Or that he might escape. | fired, and
luckily the bullet passed through his brain
lie proved to be a full grown male, ! feet
inches in length. AS we all aided in tn,
capture. i. was decided that the skin SHOULD
be offered to Lady franklin
The carcase will feed our dogs for nearly G
month; they were rewarded on the spot with
ollal. Ali of them, however, had not shown
equal pluck some ran off in evident fright
but Others showed no symptom of fral
punging or falling into the water with Brun
Poor Old Sophy was amongst the latter, ant
received deep cut in the shoulder from ont
ofhis claws. The authorities have prescribed
double allowance of food for her, and say sht
will soon recover.
For few moments of its duration the chase
and death were exciting. And how strang,
and novel the scene! A misty moon afford
ns but scanty light-dark figures gliding
singly about, not daring to approach eacl
other, for the ice trcmbled under their feet
the enraged bear, the wolsh bowling dogs
and the bright flashes of the deadly rifles.
AN ARCTIC BURIAL.
December 4, lS57.-l have just returned
on board from the performance of the mos
solemn duty a commander can be called upor
to fulfil. A funeral at SEA is always peculia
impressive: but this evening at seven o'clock
as we gathered around the sad remains O
poor Scott, reposng under an Union Jack
and read the Burial Service by the light o
lanterns, the effect could not fail to awakei
very serious emotions.
The greater part of the Church Service wa
read on board, under shelter of the housing
the body was placed upoE sledse. an,
drawn by the mesSmates of the deceased to
short distance from the ship, where a hol
through the ice had been cut; it was thel
committed to the deep" and the servic
completed. What scene it was! | shall
never forget it. The lone Fox" almos
buried in snow, completely isolated from tn
habitable world. hor colors ha!fmast high
and bell mournfully tolng: our little pro
cession slowly marching over the rough sur
face OF the frozen sea, guided by the lanterT
and direction posts, amid the dark and drearJ
depth of Arctic Winter the death-like still
ness, the intense cold, and threatening aspec
of a murky, overcast sky and all this heigh
tened by one Of these STANCE lunar phenomena
which are but seldom seen even here-a com
plete halo encicling the moon, through which
passed a horizontal band Of pale light tia
encompassed the heavens; above the moo,
appeared the segmcnts oftwo other ha,os, ant
Ia, uprn lon ,nnr, ,nOonS ar I'm IA sol on 4,