The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-04-29
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THE ARCTIC ExPEDITIoN.
captaiaHall's PrOgrsss Towards The
lfI ai ff10Fth polasia h 0I - 7

Captain Hall'S Progress Towards thl
VIA q. North Poles g g. W.
The receipt Of intelligence Of Captain
Halls expedition In the PolarlS toward
the discovery Of the North Pole and thl
open Arctic Sea IL interesting, and show
him to have made considerable progresa
A Newfoundland correspondent OF thI
Tines writes as follows: - &
The log of, the Polaris contained many
strange discoveries, which led to the con
viction that In the extreme and Hndls
covered North there Is Rt times genia
atmosphere and open seas. Plants werG
detected In the Ice which are indigenous
southern climates, and the examination
OF floating stick Of wood, found on Sat
urday, January 10, proved II 70 be- . limt
OF some huge BIRCH. Oh the night ol
Sunday, February IL Captain Hall cat OF
deckg oil night, reading, writing and
making lunar and astral observations
Throughout the whole month Of Janu
ary very littlelice was seen, and each
night the sky on al sides gllttered with
meteors OF tho most gorgeous description
which flashed so brightly and wildly
across the armament % 70 bedIzzen the
strongest eyesight. On the LIST OF Feb.
ruary the PolaEis encountered o field oi
ice which obstructed her headway foI
several hours, and Captain Hall proposed
to run back into clear water until the
middle Of February, when he expected
Q breaking up and drifting Of the fields
OF ice and icebergs which infested the
quarter be had abandoned. To this de.
termination Captain Hall now owes the
safety Of his ships company, for, had he
not put back over / 900 miles, the Polaris
would have been too far from Greenland
to reach Il before the water had gained
headway through the leak made By the
ice. a-.t3, ~ -l.5la a..rais [
Christmas Day was agala, day onboard
the Polaris. The good Rhip was hemmed
inby heavy field ice, hut the weather was
as pleasant 50 en- Italian spring day., The
Esquimaux and dogs which Captain Hall
procured OF St.. Johns were brought into
reputation, and q seal hunt was proposed
as the object Of the day. The dogs were
lowered to the ice In q boat from the
davits, and were tackled to low sledges
by, the Esquimaux. Captain Hall says
that the gagacity and tractablenessi oi
these animals was remarkable. After hall
an hours stretch gallop over the heavy
Ice the painting dogs suddenly drew up
and yelled and paved the surface. One
Of the Esquimau1-the oldest OF the lot
at once interpreted the warning Of the
dogs, and quick as lightning he bounded
from his seat and, turned the, dogs heads
towards the ship. In half the time 1t
took to reach the distance they had travel.
ed from the PolariS the eager dogs pulled
up beside the hull. Around the horizon
then there were murky clouds assembling
and heatmoSphere~ felt misty and bleak.
Within an hour atter. the warning OF the
sagacious animals the Ice had been broken
up and the Polaris was separated from II
by . stormy channel nearly hall mile In
width. Had the seal.hunting party ful.
filed their intention Of urging on the doga
and keeping up the sport until moonlight,
lew Of them would have survived tho ex.
cursion. Upon another occasion, these
valuable dogs acted as setters in scenting
out large number Of seals which would
have probably passed the notice Of Indi.
ans themselves. On'that day they sho,
over forty seals and brought back to the
ship the flippers" or paws of several old
harps, which were given to the cooks
charge, and proved to be q rare and pala.
table relish.
The most important clue 10 the exist.
ence Of polar passage Is the fact OF the
crew OF the Polaris having seen, followed
and killed whale having In, one Of itl
fms 0 harpoon similar 70 those used in
the South Pacific; and this happened III q
region where, as Capt. Hall says, 1.-THE sail
Of an American or European vessel he'd
never been given TO the wind before" In
May Capt Hall hopes to make q clear
passage 70 the undiscovered Pole, and to
learn all the necessary information con.
corning that region, about which somuch
has been conlectured, and for which 90
many noble lives has been sacrificed. he
also assured the Captain Of the Meerbek
that II the future role Of the expedition,
then conceived by him, and strongly be.
lieved to be easily practicable, would not
be interrupted by unforeseen accidents, the
Polaris would be at home in next Sep.
tember, alter having achieved the re-
nowned object other adventurous voyage.
Apart from the leak oecasioned By q
sharp berg Of Ice beneath the surface Of
the water, the Polaris looked trim and
sound. Since her departure from New
York she has not lost q ropeP q spar nor
an inch of canvas. The health Of all on
beard has been considerably improved by
the trip. and those who were Of meagre
build have grown as shapely as they dc.
sire, Capt. hall asserts that II there be
any habitable land In the vicinity Of the
North Pole 1t will BE- the ne plus ultra d
salubrlous climates, and his only tear d
that he and his men may have TO encoun,
ter before landing new and formidable
20 m nf h,IN1aS, hntnma 100 r