Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-12-11

--LATEST DISCOVERIES is TUE POLAR
REGIoNs-AtlouEn the North Pole has
not yet been reached. notable progress has
recently been made in the exploration oi
The zone Of which 1t is she center. Dur
in5 the past summer. sovela voyages
. have been act m Ii-lcI ana OF the results
! thereby Determined. we are now beginning
/ TO learn the first particulars.
/ Dr Augustus Pe,Drm4nn, the eminent
/ German 4eoLlapner has received adriceS.
I via Norway, that the land AZ the east ~
| the Islands OF Sp0tzlcr-cu of which the
y position has frequently changed on the
charts during The past lwo centuries, has
at last been reached. and that. during the
month OF August last, it wa. thoroughly
! explored by Captain Nils johnson. Of
| Tromsoe. Another Norwegian capt ain.
| Altman Of Hammerlc-t although reaching
the same locality. laicd 70 make observa-
/ tiOus Of any Importance. 50 that it was re-
served Tor Captain Johuson to comp etc
the work lie left Trom>oe for the fisheries
/ Of Nova L-mbia in the yacht Lydanna,
with a crew Of nine men. At the beginning
OF June, says Dr.. Petermann, he shaped
his course toward the western part of the
vast sea which extends between the islands
Of SpItzbergeu and Nova Zambla. During
the latter part Of the same month he
arrived some eighty kil1meters to the
southeast Of the Ryk Is islands "a little
group eff the east coast Of Snitz5ergen)
and in the midst OF u great polar current
that transports enormous quantities of ice
toward the eastern shores OF the Spitzbergen
and Barren Islands In the following july
and August, the ice current turned more
to the eastward, leaving the western half
Of the sea comparatively clear. Captain
johnson, who meantime was making large
bauls Of fish on the Spitzbergen banks,
suddenly discovered, on the afternoon Of
the 10th OF August, that he had been
carried to over = degrees north latitude,
and shortly after perceived the land which
it is believed appears on the charts 1917
under the name of Wiche or ellis Land.
Finding the sea open at the east and south
east shores Of the island, johnson anchor
ed his vessel near the northeast point, at
latitude about 10 degrees north, and dis
embarked in order to explore the surround
ings, to ascend a mountain near the coast,
and also to obtain a supply Of the wood
which be saw in enormous quantities on
the DcdCus ! nc uldau lslduQ ne iOGIu 10
be accompanied by others small in extent
On no portion of the land could extended
snowfeds be seen. One glacier was visible
on the southeast coast, while numerous
streams Of clear water were apparent.
The length Of the island between its
furthest points was determined to be for
ty-four marine miles The driftwood had
accumulated in vast heaps, hundreds of
feet from the shore, and as high as twenty
feet above the sea level. The principal
animals inhabiting the polar regions were
observed, and especially the Greenland
seal. which appeared in immense numbers.
The explorers evince considerable surprise
at the reindeer, which they state are fatter
and larger in size than any they had ever
seen. On the back Of one of these animals
fat was found over three inches in thick
ness. Specimens of argillaceous and
ouartziferous rock were collected, and
with some fossil vegetation, forwarded to
museums in EurOPe for examination.