Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-04-29
Polar Navigation.

The stories reported OF Captain Halls cruise
in the Polaris sound uncommonly like ro-
manciug, although the captain may be strictly
truthful, aud the strange things told prolessedy
on his authority may be the invention of the
person through whom the news comes. Captain
Hall was somewhat reticent, wishing to reserve
the story of his discoveries, which be intimated
were important, until he bad crowned them all
with the final achievement OF reaching the pole,
but What little be deigned to tell is more, we
susrcct, than will readily be believed. 1t is
difficult to he quite satisfied with that part of his
narrative which accounts for his presence at
Disco on the first of March. The latitude of
that island is 70 deas; yet somewhere about
one thousand miles north Of that CAPTAIN Hall
was navigating in open water early in Fcbrt ary,
when he struck the points Of sunken iceberg,
causing bis vessel to leak badly, and thereupon
put about and sailed for Disco for repairs, reach
ing that place on the 2Sth OF February, iVst~enty
days from The time of the acGahent. A thou
sand miles to the northwATd Of Disco must have
taken the Polaris. as far as the eghtieth parallel
OF latitude, aF6orthug never before reached i'll
that dissection by any vessel, and only nearly APP
: proachod by Dr.. Kane, and neither d. Kane
nor any other navigator ever found the seas in
that latitude open in February, so that it was
possible to make run of a thousand miles in
twenty days.
Captain Hall docs not say, as one report has
it, that he found a whale with a piece of the
northp lie sticking in him, bat he appears to
have said, what if not as incredible, is inele-
want, that whale, killed by his crew, carried
in one of lis fms harpoou such as is used in
the South Pacific. This is mentioned as evi.
dence OF the existence Of northwest passage.
A story, which perhaps suggested this, has been
told before on mach better authority, namely,
that OF Captain Scorcsty, if our memory serves
us; but in that case there was evidence that the
whale had been struck in the north Pacific
The importance of The fact, as evidence of a
northwest passage, depends upon the fur
ther fact that whales, at least of that
Species cannot live in the tropic seas,
and therefore could reach the north Atlantic
from the north Pacific only by passing 10 the
north of the western or ea.tern continent. But
Captain Hail whale could not have come from
the south Pacific at all, without crossing the
iiOPlCSt duu il iuab pdsoit-O NtIS pOSSlDlC, nc
might as well have gone round Cape Horn or
the Cape of Good Hope, and could cross the
equator in one ocean as easily as in the other
That is 10 say, if be had ever been in the south
Pacific, his presence in Batfin's Bay was either
impossible or it proved nothing and had no ten
dency 10 prove anything, in relation to the
northwest passage.
9TH vol I,,r I,1I
while not equally incredible, are not easy of be.
lief, and we are the more inclined to distrusi
them when they appear in so suspicious com.
pany. On tue 25th of December, the weather
he does not say in what latitude, but it was OF
course above the seventeen degree was "as
pleasant as an Italian spring day. On the 18th
OF January-he must have been near the eight
ieth parallel then, where, and for many degrees
south, the sea, SO far as other navigators have
known it, is continuously frozen solid,
except for a short time in summer
he found a large branch of birch
tree floating. Captain Halls specuations
about the open sea and the people and anl-
mails be expects TO find there are. of course,
entitled to no respect, and We fear that his pro.
fessed statements Of fact deserve no more. 1t is
not probable that he has been much beyond
Upernaylk. His start last year was too late for
any reasonable hope OF getting far to the north
that season, and these stories are told TO conceal
the fact that, so far, be has failed TO accomplish
what he confidently boosted that he would do
We shall hear from him again no doubt, but il
is extremely improbable that we shall learn that
he has reached the open polar sea.