The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1868-12-30
The Recent ExPediIionsto the
North Pole. and ConrenPlaf-
ed French Expedition
[FrOn La Revue des Deur Modes ]

and different days-of the year. In exam
lining the course and infections Of this
line, he has ascertained thatat the time
Of the solstice, June d. theNorth Pole
receives, in "a hours, a quality of heat
supererior by one-ffth to thatreceived by
spot situated in the Tropi of Cancer.
In that calculation he dOeshot even in
clude the atmospheric ABSORPTION, the in
fluence of which is so much stronger at
the Pole, where the sun is vry low, than
at the Tropics, where it risesvery high at
noon, and the loss experi1ced by the
suns rays in traversing the iferior layers
of the atmosphere, necessarily modi6es
the result arrived at by merelyeonsideriDg
the position Of the sun with rgard to the
polar horizon. 1t may. howeyr, be safely
affirmed that the summer het is, by far,
more considerable at the Pie than is
commonly believed, and that is, at any
rate, more than sufficient to case the dis
solution of the ice above the 6th or s5th
parallel of latitude. The exisbnce of an
open basin is also rendered potable by
the presence Of the currents tina naviga-
tors have met with in those regbns. On
the western side of Greenland one cur
rent, having southeast direction collects
the ice in the Straits of Banks, McClin-
took, and Queen Victoria. The direction
of that considerable mass of waer is, be-
sides, proved beyond the possibility of a
doubt, to those who remember that the
ship ReSol,te, abandoned in MAY 1854, in
Dayis's Straits, was found in the next
year 1000 miles off to the nrth, near
Cape Cockburn.
In Behring Straits, another swift cur
rent, sweeping along the coas of Asia,
seems to offer semi-yearly Character, as
it runs, alternately. south and nrth.
A third current moves from north to
south, between Spitzbergen md Nova
Zembla, and the impetus of it waters is
sometimes so irresistible that it breaks the
icebergs and facilitates navigation in those
regions. The vast expanse Of sea extend
ing between the western coast Of Spitz-
bergen and Greenland is likewise traversed
by strong current which batisrs the ice
but does not melt it. 1t is the same cur
rent which, in 1927, dragged the icebergs
under Parry's feet. and did not allow him to
go beyond the SD degree Of latitude, not
withstanding his almost superhuman ef-
forts. All these polar streams seem to
issue directly from a vast reservoir-a sea
or 6asin surrounding the North Pole. In
the Antarctic regions. on the contrary. the
currents seem to follow circular directions,
and to run alongside Of the ieebergs, from
which fact We might suppose that there
is continent at the Antarctic Pole.
Some other proofs may be addueed in
favor of this hypothesis by observation
of the appearance presented by the ice
bergs at the Poles. In the South can be
observed all the phenomena characteristic
of the glaciers, or heaps Of ice, rising from
a fixed basis-land or rock. One can no
tice there, every year, in gigantic proper
tiOns, the progress of that work of nature
which geologists have discovered in the
Alps, the Himalayas, and the Andes. As
soon as the bitter cold Of winter begins,
the vapor. by which the air had been satu-
rated at the time of the summer evapora-
tions, are condensed into snow, which
uninterruptedly falls in thick, heavy fakes,
accumulating during the mournfnl season
of six months night. When, in the
spring time, the sun sheds its genial rays
upon those terrible countries, the ice be-
gins TO melt and the water to run between
the issures of the ice and in the crevices
Of the rocks, where it freezes again and
repels, with incredible force, on account
of its increase of volume, all the obstacles
with which it comes in contact On the
approach Of winter, this force Of impulsion
is mastered by the cold, and gradually d.
minishes till it is lost in the long sleep of
winter. The glaciers are one of the great
est dangers to be met with by navigators
to the Antarctic regions When the sea-
son has been very warm, and the breaking
up considerable, enormous blocks CON-
posed Of rocks and earth, are thrown into
the sea, and the ships have to make
their way as well as they can, through
floating mountains and huge masses de-
tached from formidable icy walls, which
seem to preclude any further advance II
the confguration of the icelands of the
Antarctic Ocean-the immense glaciers of
which must have been placed on fixed
bases, in the most remote times of the icy
period-makes US believe that they are
part of continent, the study Of the phys
ical nature of those ice-blocks gives an
additional proof Of their terrestrial origin.
In the water they look black, while in the
light, they are transparent and of ceru-
Ian hue.
But very different are the phenomena
taking place in the regions Of the North
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