The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-12-27
Great Polar Continent.
AVALLEY OF MISUNDERSTANDING A
NINE OF IvoRY-A MOUNTAIN OF ICE ONE
THOUSAND FEET HIGH.

The ship Cadmus has arrived at San Fran
cisco on its return voyage from the Arctic
ocean,whither it had gone to collect the rem :
nants of the shipwrecked whaling fleet. On
the 28th of September the Cadmds received
from the captain of the whaler George Rob
bins certain disparches addressed to the
French Geographical Society by our country
ma, M. Pavy, now on an expedition to the
North Pole. These dispatches are dated the
10Th OF August, on the eastern coast of Wran-
gel Land. We present an analysis of the in
teIestlng documents which have been
brought by the Cadmus:
Inc expedition, composed of NJ. Octave Pa
vy,commander, Profs. Thomas Newcomb and
Henry Edwards, of San Francisco. M. Jean
Bruil and forty seaman, landed on the 18th
OF June ON the eastern coast of Holyuchin
Bay. On the 22d of June the explorers. rein
forced by eleven natives, started in the di-
rection OF the east, along the north bank of
the Siberia, having provided themselves with
sleds and dogs.
On the 18th of July they reached the
mouth of the river Petrolitz. Near the
mouth Of this river they encountered i'm
mense helds OF ice moving in a northeasterly
direction. They traversed one single plain
OF ice sixty miles in extent. Their bearings
Indicated deviation of eighteen miles from
their Intended course. This was caused by
the movement of the ice, this fact going to
confirm the theory of M. Pavy concerning
the concentration and augmentation of the
great Japanese current known as the Ku-Ra
Sirod, which flows through Behring Strait on
the right, and thence toward the east off The
coast of Siberia. The explorers reached the
shores of Wrangel Land near the mouth of a
great river, running from the northwest, and
which is not set down on any chart. This
M. Pavy considered as confirming another of
his theories that there exists a great polar
continent, and of which the temperature is
sufficiently warm to melt the snow. The cur
rent of this hitherto unknown stream flows
in an easterly direction along the coast, with
a rapidity of six knots an hour.
NJ. Pavy and his party followed the plain of
this river toward the north for about 250
miles. The plain is uniformly level, its width
varies from fifty to sixty miles, aud it is bor-
dered by mountains of great height, with
many perpendicular peaks. About eighty
miles from the mouth of the river the travel
er found upon the plains the remains ofmaste-
dons, and on clearing away the snow in a
place where tusks were visible they brought to
| light the enormous body of one of the ami
mails OF an extinct race, in perfect state of
| preservation. The skin was covered with
black and streaked hair, very long and thick
on the back The tusks measured eleven
| feet eight inches in length, and were curved
| up to level with the monsters eyes. The
animal was in kneeling posture, the front
| legs being bent, while the hind parts were
| deeply imbedded in the snow, indicating that
the mastodon had perished in struggling to
| get out of a mire hole or snow drift.
frof Ncwconab could not find any special
characteristics distinguishing the extinct mas
todon or the elephant of to-day. He took
from the stomach some specimens of bark
and herbs, the nature of which he could not
analyze on the spot. For the space of many
miles the plain was covered with the remains
OF many mastodons, indicating that nu-
merous drove of these gigantic animals had
there perished, owing to some change or con-
vulsion of nature. This region abounds in
polar bears, which devour the remains of the
mastodons
About 1z0 miles from the coast and half
league from the river, rises an ice mountain
about 200 feet in height, the base of which
is surrounded by gravel and rocks deeply i'm
bedded in the soil. The smoothness of the
rocks and their rounded form prove that they
were at one time in the bed of a river, from
which they had been cast up by some strange
i phenomenon Arctic animals are numerous
in the valley, and myriads Of arctic birds fly
about the river and its banks.
At the date OF these dispatches NJ. Pavy
was preparing to winter under the seventy
fifth degree of latitude, in the valley of the
great river polar continent. Both he and his
companions were in good health and courage,
and were confident of arriving, during the
coming season, at great polar sea of moder-
ate temperature, at the extreme north of the
continent