Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-10-10
THE PCLARls EXPEDITION.
Captain IsuddingfoD's story.

the crew of the Polaris, from which
we make the following extracts :
''On the oath of August Capt. Hall
returned, having reached bay which
he named Newman's Bay. Not long
after his return Captain Hallwas taken
seriously i'll, and DR.. Bessel said his
disease was apoplexy. For two weeks
he continued in bad health, but now
and again he would rally and appear
well, and then relapse suddenly. On
the morning Of the Sth he died, and on
the 10th we buried him half mile to
the south Of the Observatory. we
| were now III peculiarly embarrassing
condition, but considered 1t stu our
duty to press towards the North Pole.
In consequence of some little differ
| ences which had occurred before Capt;
Halls death, as well as from the novel
position in which we now found our
selves, the harmony which had Prev
| ously prevailed was now more than
once seriously broken. On the 18th OF
November De. Besscl drew up a paper,
and he asked me to sign it, which L
ia II was q repetition of the instruc
| tious given by the Naval Department
| 70 Csptain Hall, providing that 1
sIould continue as the sailing and ice
| master. and control and direct the
movements of the vessel, DIR. Bessel to
continue chief Of the scientific depart
| ment This paper concluded as fol-
| lows 1T is our honest intention to
| honor orr flag and 10 hoist it upon the
mo.t,n0rthcrn point OF the earth.
After describing the separation from
| Tvson's party, he continues
I've we're now III Il critical condl-
| ton. without boats, anchors or haw-
scrs, but there was no time 1Cr ret.ec-
| ton. as the water was gaming fast. and
| would soon reach the furnace fires, IN
| spite of the biIge-pump, which was all
| the time at work, assisted by the alley
way pump and if We could not start
! the deck pumps it was evident :hat the
! vessel would go down. The Ice around
us was fine broken aijish, which would
not bear the weight OF man. Ey
| This time The water III tic b"llcr vas
hot, ANA by pouring several bucket
| fuis down the pumps we th:lWet them
sufficiently 50 as 10 enable us to keep
| the water from gaining, and mover did
men use their strength with more ener-
ov than W.. ia oa fiat occasion. 1t
was evident We could not last long ut
!bat work. bat fortunately Just then
the engineers reported steam up by
which additional! all We we're enabled
To keep her atIoat. On the morning OF
tic 10th We found orr position few
niles north Of iittieton island, IN
Smiths Straits We had driftcd abreast
Of Sunderland Island, Gtt!c end Of Eaf-
fms Bay, drrin" the night ne gale
had then ellhs;lc.l, and It was shortly
afterwards quite calm. We looked
from the masthead OF our vessel for
! lint L
not see ANYTHING of them Whatever
The current must have taken them in
a different direction from the course
the wind took us About noon Z breeze
sprang mp from the north, and open
mo a lead shore 10 the east, the vessel
at this time began drifting ont OF the
straits AGAIN I:v the All Of steam and
sail ] took advantage OF the LEAD when
opened wide enough to admit me, and
ran the vessel as near shore rs; the ice
wouid admit. AMI made fast with lines
to heavy grounded Hunmocks. Here
we were aground ut low water, there
being nine feet rise OF tide al this
place. which happened to be Kane's
IifcJcat Gave, latitude IS degrees %!
\, Longitude 73 degrees u ". We
kept an anxious lookout all the time
from the masthead OF Cur vessel for
signs OF the party, bat the sLarpest
eyes or sIlipLoarti failed to see aUght
Of them. A., however, they had the
boats, even to tie little scow, We were
in hopes they won:d possibly be able
yet To make 1or us.
''On the 2Tth I surveyed. the ship
and found the stem entirely l'3iie-A =, Of
officers attention to it, who only won
dcrad she had kept afioat so long. [
therefore considered the Polaris a lost
vessel. and Immediately made prepar-
,.tions for leaving her and living on
shore during the winter, getting our
spare sails, Goals and provisions on
shore. We were assisted in this by
the E..sh I.5GuimaGX, WHO came to us
the day after we got ashore.
'sOn the 2ith at 6 p. IL We stopped
the steam pumps to let her ill, and bid
farewell! II the little Po!"ris, which
had 'panetrated through dangers and
hard knocks to q high latitude, but
which was destined not to return with
the honors she had gained. During
the remainder of the month We were
visited by natiyes-mcn, women and
children. [ sent q party to McGarrys
Island IN search OF DR.. Haycs's boat
and provisions, but could discover no
sign Of her / was afterwards i'll
, formed blythe natives that a party from
the west land found her five years ago,
and appropriated to their own use
what was seryiccabIo to them; the boat
they discovered to be worthless and
full Of holes. Vt high water the lower
decks Of tie Polaris were covered. the
water rising 10 within three feet of the
upper deck, the vessel being firm on
l n, / 10 Il
remain in that position, as we had to
get fuel from her and material for
making our boats for our summer
Journey south
Much interesting Information has
been obtained by Captain Markham,
If the British royal navy, who accom-
| panied Captain Adams to the whale
! fishing laat season in She steamer Are
tie, to mako observations in view Of
contemplated expedition 10 the North
Pole advocated by the leading mem
! be1s Of the Geographical Society Of
! Great Britain. The Arctic hunted in
the usual whaling grounds, when, nm
Ill about the middle Of JJiv, finding
! tlto whales scarce ard wild, Captain
| Adams steamed mp Lancaster Sound
and Barrow Straits to the Gulf of
Boothia. This is the first time a
wlraler has found its way TO the Calf
OF Boothia, and Captain Adams was re-
wartied for his enterprise by finding
the Guif full Of whales.
In the course Of The yum through
Barrow Straits and the Gu!f Captain
Markham landed ut Port leopold, at
the entrance to Prince Regent Inlet,
where Sir James Ross wintcrcd in
1873. Hero lie found tho dopots of
provisions left by Sir James in Il very
excellent state OF preservation. The
remmican and ported meats were in n
| good condition, and quite TT for being
nscd as food. In some Of the kegs
which had been damaged the meat was.
Of course, in n bad state. With this
exception the whole Of the stores were
in such a condition as life could be
sustained, SO far rs food IS concerned,
comfortably OF them. The life-boats
left by Sir James were also in tolera-
| bly, good order, and could easily be re