Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-16

Dr. Haye,s Dsseoveries-The Latest Arc.
tie Exploration.

THE OPEN POLAR SEA.
Dr. Hayes Diseoveries-The Latest Arc
tie Exploration.
In July, 1860, DIR. l. l. Hayes left BOs-
ton in the schooner United States, Ol
one hundred and thirty-three tons bur
then, to undertake an exploration in the
Arctic region, with the hope OF discover
ing the open Polar sea. Undergoing the
usual vicissiudes Of Arctic travel, he
arrived at UpeTnaVik in the middle Of
August, added Danish sailors and Esqui-
maux hunters and interpreters TO his
company, and after brief tarry at that
outpost Of civilization, resumed his
Journey toward the north. A week
after leaving Upernavik he sue
eeeded in the novel undertake
ing of obtaining Photographic views OF
Arctic scenery. A week later the
schooner entered Melville bay, where no
ice was in sight--all was clear; but after
passing the bay furious storms were
encountered, the little vessel was driven
I upon the icebergs and seriously crippled,
and by the beginning of September the
explorers had variety OF dangerous
/ adventures. Finally, winter quarters
were found In a snug barbOr in Harstene
] bay, which was named Port FOulke, In
/ honor Of a Philadelphia gentleman who
! had been tone of the most constant
! advocates of the expedition " and
at this point the crew aud vessel
prepared to endure the long season Of
I cold and darkness. An astronomical
: observatory was imprOvised, the larder
Of the ship was replenished with reindeer
| flesh, the lamps were lighted, amuse-
. nj hn Ia
party then saw themselves gradually
frozen i'm. The monotony Of this first
Z winter Ia the ice was broken by expl0ra-
tions of neighboring glaciers, sledge
journeys, hunts and surveys-all Of
which are pleasantly described by DR..
Hayes, with the addition of some Curl
Gus speeulations upon glacial phenomena.
On the 18th of February the sun reap
psared a reinforcement Of E5quimauX
came in, the dog teams were strength
ened, and a preliminary journey over
the ice was undertaken by DR.. Hayes in
person, in order to determine whether 10
was best to adhere to the Greenland
coast, following the route Of DR.. Kane,
or to strike directly across the sound
from above cape Hatherton, in the en-
deavor to touch on Grinnel land, the
point Of departure which the party had
yainly attempted TO reach the previous
autumn An idea of Arctic temper
ature may be gathered from an
entry i'm DR.. HAYES journal Of this
trip: az brought out the thermom-
eteT," he says, "and set it Up in the
shadow Of sa iceberg near by. / really
expected to see it rise; but no, down
sank the little red column, down, down,
almost to the very bulb, and it nEver
stopped until it had touched 6S@ degrees
below Zero-I00l degrees below the freez-
ing point of water" He adds 81 re-
call but two instances of equally low
temperature having been previously re-
corded, one Of which, By Niveroff, at
YakOutsk, in Siberia, was-72 degrees Of
the Fahrenheit scale. / am not, how
ever, aware that any traveller has ever
noted 50 low temperature while in the
field"
Arriving at the great Hunt boldt glacier,
Dr. Hayes found his route blocked by bad
ice and numerous beTgs, while bis dogs
were worn out, and il soon became ap.
parent that there was no way to the
Polar sea in that direction. His only
route was by the passage across Smith
Sound to Grinnell Land Returning TO
the schooner, he Immediately began
preparations for the summer jlurney, aud
the field party, consisting of twelve per-
sOns-every available officer and man
engaged in the eXpedition-set out
on the evening of April 3, 1861.
Three weeks of hard tOiiiug fur
nished " but one succession Of battling
Obstacles the boat with which
the party started was left behind, the
sledges broke down, the dogs gave cut,
the cold was intense, the ice bad aud the
men dispirited On the 2Sth of April,
the main party was sent back to the
schooner, DR.. Hayes himsel+ remaining,
with three picked meu, fourteen dogs
and a sledge, TO prosecute the search for
the open sea. From this point onward
the narrative Of the journey L5C0mes
painfully interesting.
On the 10th of April, DR.. Hayes and
his three companions again set forth
On the thirty-tirst day of the Journey
from the ship May IL they touched the
further shore Of the sound aud tS o DAYS
later reached Kennedy channel. On
the 10Th the strongest man of the little
party, Jensen, broke down. A comraCle
was left 10 watch him, and DR.. Hayes
pushed forward, with only one comp2n-
ion, to make his last throw He
writes, My purpose now was 10 make
the best Iush ! gould, and, travelling as
far as my provisions warranted, reach
the highest attGinahle latitude, and Sc
cure 8 point Of observation that would
enable me TO form q definite Opin-
ion respecting the sea before me, and
the prospectsOf reaching and navigating
it with 2 tG4t oe.6it4 Inc schooner
had already Teachl q position some
what to the northwGrd OF that attained
by Morton, of DR.. Kane's expedition, in
June, 1864, and was looking out upon the
same sea from n point probably about
sixty miles to the nOrthward aud west
ward of Cape Constitution, where, only
month later Ia the season, his further
progress was arrested by open water. 1t
only remained for ms now to extend the
survey s. iaF north as possible. BY the
judicious outstanding Of my resources I (
had still within my hands ample means
to guaranty successful termination to q
journey whilh the Increasing darkness
and extent oAuhe water-skV 10 the north
east seemed 10 warn Lle was approach
ing ITS ClimaL.H
On the Sth of May he climbed ragged (
cliff, when hs saw the Open sea and
the next day, advancing further, built
cairn and planted the American flag
upon the most northern point ever
reached by man. He tells tie story
thus.
THE OPEN POLAR SEA.
Standing against the dark sky at the /
north there was seen in dim outline the
white sloping summit of a noble head
land, the most northern known land
upon the globe. I judged it to be in lati-
tude eighty-twO degrees thirty minutes /
or four hundred and nifty miles from the
north pole.
Nearer, another bold cape stood forth /;
and nearer gtill the headland, for which I
had been steering my course the day !
before, rose majestically from the sea, sS
if pushing up into the very skies lofty /
mountain peak, upon which the winter /