New-York tribune., 1868-05-08
ALASKA.

dienCe last evening. Gen IhVo L. haH0' piV'n0A VI
the lamented Arctic explorer, was introduced and
deIiyered lecture on Alaska and the Past and
Futpre of the Contiguous Polar RegiOns.p The fol-
lowing was the substance of hIs remarks:
believe a owe my invitation to address you this
eyeping 10 the interest evinced Ivy IN the question
before Congress making the appropriation called for
by the Treaty with Russia for the purchase Of the terri
tory on the Northwest coast Of the Pacific My brother
who was accustomed work Hp his subjects laborousy
collected an amount OF material relating 10 Russian
America on account Of its bearing Arctic Exploration
by way Of Behring's Straits. Having been his literary
executor, 1 was applied to for Information
at Washington and this circumstance leo luc
TO visit that city at time when tho rate OF tno ey
appeared doubtful There is reason why Ins SUITES e
OF ALASKA should not be discussed good es man
conflicting statements made about the country @ crs
Of them honest and may geneTaiy 70 10 snensb Dutoh
and Por 1ese 10 suppress information concerning ny
Sootial I Sricsn and Hudson's Bay Fur Companies
SISb had sway over Alaska and the Valley Oh tne
o5id attract ntruders out of circulation. From Port
land Shanne here to Alton, Alaska EXTENDS OYER over & %
s ~ ion gitude; from Portland channel 10 POINT d
Paw more than 10 degrees Of attude or as many as AZ
tween York aud tho most s9uneIiy PS t U Rprroy
Counting from Amchtka 6l:52 degrees, ~ az as many
s9O degrees it is nearly 20 degrees OF at9u9, or ~
Igs ~ H9 Nova scotia ON one hand IL lies low upon
warm sea- ON the other 10 s walled IN Dy maritime Alp
EWSot ss Far from Olympa IN Washington Territory.
In the nature OF things not possible that WnaG
SsSs over portions of ms text explaining how and why
Alaska at least three CCRtrios how the valley OF the
Yukon is one country, while south OF the Nevada ano
CheEmet ranges have another country ana nOIln an
he Yuk9q and RTGhPSF az , SS 1sfs tst Alaska
frOn Seaman by Prof Davidson, page 26l But IN Iuth
an AS SS4t to You frankly that the taking feature
of Alaska with me Is It's frontage the Creumpolar
ocean And II saw the truth myself perhaps won wS9ta %
confess that the that have gone through ognI Is
only my leader TO tins, subject nave th0lOughy a'
heart ALASKA base of Ciroumpolar ExPorsIIOn a
AloH me hero to invite your attention TO my large map
) around the world overland, and beg you 70 ionU%
together TO give YOU correct representation OF the pro
Of the rsGe5 g&OS Sf 5e Pfes p fv
Aca have cleared up the last mysteries OF that lana OF
round numbers unexplOred but from the accounts OF
natives and other sources we can form pretty eosoe %
times greater than the portion OF Africa naKeO uheA
plOred thisArcto Central Region as le @ Ui
known. Hardly one characteristic OF this region mas nOI
long been the subject Of controversy among geogaphers
and pToba6y scarcely one is not st as open
lecture another It's area s about as great as I OF
HerOdotus; and do not know even whether ~ Is
cold or warm there high ground or low ground land
Ss s fellow. S of tbS Royal Geographical Society sim
heard repeating OF it (5ee the ninth yoiumS me OF Ie
transactions for instance p 62 the SAYING 9i
FfObsh6r which my brother quoted to your society
whereby notable mind may be made famous anu anu
fortunate" Is not this scandal almost, TO be true
illustrate are theses Where the Great Northern Terra In
o0gnita lies its Dimensions and general contour lines
advanced furthest beyond the Arctic circle. Where
the average OF exploration extends furthest Holth
Patrick (which; is say 7l' nortng eestWerd5 you go
which Is inside the parallel Of SO9 then past north
point OF NOVala Zema and Cape SieyerO NOstochnl OF
tho NeWSIbefian group above latitude 76O. In con.
with this, contemplate the remaining fourth Of
fheOircle along similar parallel You viii see that all this
land s rOundy speaking 10 degrees below our American
Washington Land. II you except the dsooyenes OF our
WhaleTs near the place here OF Old Herald and Pl0yer
Island you drop down almost 10 0o for your average
Or, TO state it differently along nearly 800 Of onE-
tude--if you reckon your average north latitude,
you fall short Of the POE am average of OF & 2C3.
space which Is so near US Drawn In TINS natural nat
looking mannerwith the relations TO other regions per
that you would realize by the proportions OF this unber
tinted blank space the enormous extent Of the Northern
say that the nquirng gaze Of the geographc world Is
Gere Their disclosure win be Of knowledge
inestimabe value to mankind Osborne computes the
according TO Maury And see where 1t liosl Almost al
of it is in one sense North above COntnenNortl
tension North Amerieaas would have you look upoI
for our PS S S Or nd da'e much %s SSd fdT
aud learn the right to test Il GA the map 0f The
water what other continent would it iInpinge upon
What countries at least would adien North OF Green
laud you ours because Washington land Is ours
Greenland ITSELF " the way te you IN strict conn
dence il told 20 me, Wi be ours before We annex
tentOn to fact that we do not explore this region
others will Foreign Powers are ahead Of us. -Four
may Sec them in the field We have not much time TO lose
10 spare your patience lot me turn abruptly 70 an extract
from Capt SheraTd Osborn OF the Royal Navy frag
ment Of history already Of the Rast .,.,
TIE head Of Bafns Bay With his little brig tbe Advance st that
ns serving ytia Richards the PresH, Hylgnphr tie
k a e 4el MS q '5s e. s o's 5 & aStEs cs5u a5 si S
R'o in yeiora laHa nd B9oi9' p5d @ %sd one
than go BfS subjects within Arctic seas an Pc been
Sdna5 found Or the Of nation and great had been
Fifteen years have elapsed since the day when all these
those Arctic waters, and brought home information Of
such iuesmabc value to science and did many brave
read about. Now that the observations they made
have been cOlaed and the results compared aud
6ted by them, even with the knowledge which has
been thus acquired testifes its gratitude by demand
Typographical Geology asks 1t all its specuations are at
Taneesi Is All lie learning about the anaogcs Of phys.
teal geography without fOrndationl And regarding
the recent elevation Of the land OF Europe aud Aala
around the Pole, Geology asks further is II continued
north Of the known shores Of tbse continents If So how
far is it continued What contribution docs the CIR
eumpoar region furnish to average the Of
restria elevation and DEPRESSION Is there no glacier.
ia former day to send down drift ggpon
OF the eFTatics and medals Of creation left there
Is the geological structure on both sdes Of behring's
different periods Of time; or are the words ASA and
America mere human names gnoranty conferred on the
full stop secular semcOl0D or comma. perhaps
between the Straits Let ask that ammoth elephant
that his is not the structure Of Of
Anak There lsands-Ocean prOIn0ntOries OF what
called mammoth teeth and tnsks, which have been
quarried from for ages on Wrangens Polar Sea The
Chinese believed 10 have drawn supplies from them
from remote time, and st the annual product 10 the
Russian trade Is stated at 1900 lbs. Of ivory nett.
These banks OF fossil ivory are known 70 extend along
the north coast Of Siberia almost to the Straits DO they
extend fuTher What then, IL the significance Of this
fact and Others Like rs How win the crcumpOar polar
fOsSiis generally compare with the existing
forms Of Bfef VIII they attest that at the ex-
tSeme5t North too, there climate
formerly than now preyalsi Did the mud banks the
5auTaD delighted In there support palms and tree ferns
IA the aRtodluvial day Was coal, WAS petroleum once