Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1872-03-27
PAWS ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

/
most people would be considered CHI
merical, yet Pavy means no nonsense,
but regular square business. He will
not be contentsd till he has outstripped
all competitors and solved the great
problem by going right straight to the
Pole. He thinks he knows where 1t Is,
and deliberately proposes to prove
both Its and his position in the matter.
We have never tried to throw any
more cold water on his undertaking
than he Is liable to meet with In his
attempt, yet felt a little incredulous
rs to his ability, fearing that he might
be a self-humbugger. The following
article Oil the subject, from the Phlla-
delphia Ledger of March 10Th, will be
found interesting to our readers:
The history Of Arctic exploration
shows how unwise 1t Is to pronounce
ANYTHING in this world final. As far
back as 1885 il was said chat the Arctic
hemisphere had been thoroughly X
plored, and every accessible spot Wis
tied aud examined. Since that time
the fate of Sir John Franklin has been
ascertained, Sir Leopold McClintock
has passed through the Arctic seas
from Behring's Strait to Baffin's Bay,
and DR.. kane's steward, Morton, rs
| also DR.. Hayes. and. last year, the
| Austrian explorers. Mayer and Wey-
precht, are reported to have seen the
omen Polar Sea. At this time there
arc several exploring expeditions un-
der way-Russian, German, Danish
and American. the latter (under Cap
tain HalD having, when last heard OF,
got beyond Greenland. America Il
now to have the credit OF being the
starting point Of another. under the
command Of a young gentleman who
Is called a Frenchpan, though he was
born in New Orleans and his mother
was an American lady. This young
gentleman (Mr. Octave Pavyl having,
during the last five years, diligently
studied the history of Arctic eXplora-
tion. has convinced himself that 1t Is
possible to reach the Polar basin, and
that the best way to do 1t Is through
Behring's Strait. He Is possessed OF
sufficient wealth to defray the OK
penses of such an enterprise, and has
made arrangements to start in May
next. His expedition will consist Of
five men besides himself, and Will pro.
coed from San Francisco in a chartered
ship to Petropaulovski, the principal
town aud military station In KANT
schatka. There no will procure the
reindeer, dogs and sledges needed for
his land journey. His outfit VIII DO
taken upon the ship, which will then
proceed through Behring's Strait to
Cane Yakan, OH the northeastern coast
of Siberia, where the expedition will
land. But prior to doing this, MIR.
Paw will take observations OF the
direction, swiftness and temperature
of the currents, and he will be guided
by these as to his future course. His
first object will DO 70 cross the sea
from Siberia to the land discovered by
Captain Long, lying between Il and
and so deg. latitude, and he expects 70
reach this unexplored country In Au-
gust. According to Mr.. Longs state
ment, there Is but little Ice about this
land, and the climate Is milder there
than OIL the Siberian coast. He will
cross 1t on sledges, taking with him a
raft, on which he will embark when he
has reached the Polar Sea, and run
straight across 1t to Spitzbergen or
Greenland. This raft Is the peculiar
feature of the expedition. 1t Is COM
posed of four keel-shaped rubber cyl
indors, fastened together on the decks
BY wooden stats, to which the neces-
sary masts and rigging are attached
1t Is sloop-rigged, and so small that II
occupies very little room. Mr. Pavy't
mack can be carried In a barrel, and
!, the raft Is capable Of carrying 10000
pounds of freight, besides the crew.
The idea of crossing the Polar Sea on
. a raft Is certainly daring enough. even
for the present daring age but, In the
5 papers from which the foregoing par
= %ticulars have been extracted, no infor-
!, nation is given as to the mode by
which Mr.. Pavy proposes to keep MIN
self and his comrades warm on the
aforesaid raft. This Is the most i'm.
: portant point of all to be considered In
!, Arctic exploration 1t Is essential that
= there should be heat enough In some
part of the ship to restore the chilled
blood to healthy circulation ; If this be
: not possible, there Il no escape from
{ drowslness. the precursor of death. 1t
Is to be presumed that Mr.. Pavy has
: made provision for this, and for the
possibility of his being damned In the
Ice, or frozen In for months, In which
case such a raft would not contain the
quantity Of animal food necessary to
Keep six men alive-meat or meat ex-
tracts being almost the only kind OF
= nourishment which will support the
human frame under intense cold.
Mr.. Pavy has a theory; very few ex-
plorers start without one. His Is, that
D there Is an open Polar Sea, and that II
G is open all the year round, but that II
Is surrounded by a belt Of ice, and thai
belt of ice Is i~mpregnable except In
ono place; which n place has not
; vet been found. When 1t Is, let a note
DO made of 1t. Seriously, however,
without any desire to damp the ardor
Of a brave and enthusiastic youth The
is 2Sl, there seems to be rather too
much of the mere adventurous element
In the scheme. From the Russian
headlands discovered by Capt. Long.
| to S~pitzbergen or Greenland, Is q dis
lance of twenty-five degrees Of lati'
tude, or l,40O miles, which Is rather
too great a distance to traverse on a
rubber raft without the fullest knowl-
} edge of its currents, winds, obstacles
and other features. One may say Of
this attempt what a French officer said
of the charge Of the six hundred at
Balaklava : "It Is splendid. but 1t Is
l not war;" The California papers COM
: pare the undertaking with that of the
: Nonpareil, which crossed thu Atlantic
|. in forty-three days in stormy weather
but the navigators Of that fragile YES
sci were we'll acquainted with the ma
ture OF the obstacles they would have
to encounter, and "thick-ribbed" ice
and an Arctic temperature were not
among them.
: San GIOVANNI 'DwYER Is the some
what peculiar name Of an English
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