Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-01-27
Stirnti6e.
From the New York Tribuue.l
An Oycm Polar Sea.

The statement puhlishclin the T'ib-
aRc of to-day that whale had been
captured n0ith Of bcririy Straits,
which had in lis body Il hapOon be-
longing to Il ship which wds own
to he cruising on the other side of the
continent, is another link in the long
chain of evidence that establishes the
fact of an open Polar Sea.
Many years ago similar incident
was discovered in Nantucket, when
that port vas the great whaling sta
ton OF the world. A harpOoner, who
had Just arrived from whaling Voy-
aye, discovered harpOOn III his board
ing-hoUSe, and recognized il as a wear-
on which he had lost i'll Il whale In
Batfin's Bay. TO his surprise, he
was informed that the whale had been
captured of the coast of Japan, i'll
which the harpOOn had been found by
its new owner, and on the men conf
pairing dates, it was found that not 80
! days had INTERVIEWED from the loss OF
the harpoon until the final capture of
the whale.
Of course it was impossible that the
animal could have gone around Cape
Horn in thirty days, but many belived
this to be the true solution of tie enig-
ma, and east doubts upon the state
ments of the harpOoiis. But these
sailors We're examined under oath, the
Gllicers of their respective vessels were
communicated VI ith, and dnOthiHg could
shake the correctness of their first
statements. The logs of hundreds OF
vessels Were compared, with view to
learn the habits of the right whale,
and TO try and discover some other cir
cunIStaHces which would strengthen
the now growing belief of Il Polar Sea.
Much important testimony WaH eilcl-
ted by these examinations. 1t was
discovered that the northern and
southern right whales We're distinct
species, the former never going further
south than the 30th parallel, while the
latter never advanced above the 10th
parallel Of south latitude the heated
9eds of>the tropics being apparently a
sea OF fire through which neither
cared to pass. 20 tAe Cape Horn die
DRY fell tothe ground. In cOrrUhoration
OF the Polar Sea theory were facts thut
the breeding q o'!n"s of the risht
whale of the north had never beer dis
cover, d.; that these animals visited
the Arctic regions periodically for that
purpose, and that an open sea, with
| temperature moderate enough to adj
init of The growth Cf the proper food
| for the sustenances of the young
whales, must exist in that region.
| Then, from the fact that currents oi
cold water reached the equator with an
incea of only seven degrees in tenn
perature, the deduction was made that
currents of waim water from the
| equator might reach the North Pole
with a corresponding decrease, OF tenn
perature which would make it about
| - degrees, or IL degree warmer than
| the mean temperature of the waters oi
| the known Arctic regions. The proba-
| bic effect of a body Of water of such
a temperature near the po e was, OF
| course, manifest to all. The waters oi
such a sea would he teeming with life,
| while its shores would be cevered with
verdure, even though it was shut of
| from the rest of the world, by an APP
| parrntly impenetiable barrier of ice
| Then arose the various exploring eX-
! peditiOns, one after the other proving
| unsuccessful, the most disastrous o
which was the unfortunate expedition
of Sir John Franklin. The lamenteC
DIR. Kane discovered an open body O
water, but whether II was the true Po'
| lar Sea or some smaller body of water
| living adjacent to it is a question fol
further expeditions to discover.