Connecticut western news., 1873-05-09
Above the Arctic Circle.

ss Above the Arctic Circle. -;
 The Marvels of the Frigid Zone--Inter-
 fse finS Spea poinr in the ss.Ss for lrs Icebergs. 4-e- st,sfl ; 'e.-.-r7ge1
 Dr. Isaac J. Hayes, in one of his lec-
 lures descriptive of his search of the
 open polar sea, described the glaciers
 and icebergs of Greenland vividly.v All
 the interior of Greenland, the lecturer
 said, is one vast field of ice, which grad
 ually and imperceptibly moves idowti-
 ward toward the sea, the centre moving
 somewhat more rapidly than the sides,
 and by the fractures thus created giving l to the ice those fantastic. shapes which l from time immemorial have been at
 once the marvel and admiration of ex- plorers. When the glacier reaches the sea 1t passes on as before over the in-
 clined plain beneath the surfaee,, until
 so much of 1t Is immersed that it is no
 longer able to resist the buoyancy of
 the water, and breaking from the gla-
 cler, with roar that can be heard for
 miles, the iceberg rises to the surface,
 and floats away sometimes as far as the
 coast of Newfoundland, while the gla.j
 cler continues its ceaseless movement
 downward to form new icebergs from
 age to age. The masses of ice thus de-
 tached of course vary, in size, but in, a1l
 of them there is seven times as much
 ice under water as appears above the
 surface. From the deck of his vessel
 Dr. Hayes once counted as many as 800,
 some as large as the hall in which he stood; others as large as Trinity church,
 still others as large as the city of New
 York, and yet others twelve times the,
 size of New York. One in especial
 arose 317 feet above surface, and he
 computed it's weight to have; been not
 less than twenty seven millions of tons.
 With regard to the midnight sun, Dr.
 Hayes related" an incident which, had
 he not actually witnessed it himself,
 might possibly have been received with
 incredulity by his audience. As he travelled northward the days gradually
 heightened until darkness ceased alto
 gether, ,and the sun was never out of sight The passengers on board the ship were
 much incomnoded, and were obliged Ito create artificial darkness by drawing
 curtains around them when they desired
 to sleep. The dumb animals on board
 were in a pitiful state of consternation the dogs hewled unceasingly,h and
 evinced desire to bay the sum- But the most remarkable effect was created; upon an old rooster, the last of their stock of fowl, whose life had been spared in consideration of his age and conse- squent toughness. This venerable bird, day after day, watched the heavens, but found no opportunity of heralding the approach of dawn by his wonted crow. His mind at last gave. way, and one morning, in full view of the astounded voyagers, the unhappy bird flew upon the rail of the ship, stretched his neck toward the sun, and giving the merest apology for a crow, sprang into the ocean and was seen no more. -~sa Er4 ,
 In 1859 -Dr. Hayes first, expedition sailed northward, and breaking through the ice in Bafin's Bay, penetrated as far as latitude 75o, this, up to that time, being the furthest point ever attained by explorers. On the icebergs which he encountered polar bears were very numerous. These animals, he said, are far from being the ferocious monsters which voyagers are so fond of depicting. They are, in fact, very timid creatures. As an instance of their cowardice, he related an account of his suddenly l one in the middle of an arctic night, thatsis to say, broad daylight. Without moments hesitation the doc tor turned and ran, never stopping until 1 his breath was utterly exhausted; he then looked behind him to see, as he l said, how long lease of life remained | for him, and to his unspeakable relief l saw the bear was running also, but in | the opposite direction. , A very perilous adventure through | which he passed during this voyage was | to with breathless attention. | The ship was lying in g. large natural | bay or harbor, close to a glacier; one day a terrific roaring startled every one on board. An immense iceberg had | parted from the glacier, and risen to the surface so near the ship that the first of 8 succession of waves which it created carried the vessel, dragging her anchory entirely across the bay, leaving her within 8 few feet of the rocks on the opposite side, The wave recoiling, threw oyer the deck volume of water. that swept before it everything not made fast, and forced the crew to hold on for their lives. gvs4 sI zz5l'z,5 si8 .ll
 Two of the finest glaciers the lecturer saw he christened after Prof. Tyndall in compliment to the great scientist for his Alpine researches. Among the in Geresting features of the lecture was the exhibition of some exquisite photo graphs of Arctic scenes reflected upon B curtain on the stage. One of these was a gigantic. rock on the coast of which was in all respects similar to that on which the ,ill-fated Atlantic had struck, and it was matter of surprise to Dr. Hayes, in view of the nature of the coast, that so many of the passengers had been saved. Melville Bay was the highest point reached in this expedition. In conclu- ling his lecture ,Dr. Hayes said that ,his trip might be made by any gentle man during the summer months in his oVn yacht. Is Noble sport could be found in shooting polar bears, and the trip would be no more dangerous than crossing the Atlantic. At the. first blush 1t might seem that sailing among these tremendous glaciers and icebergs was oerilous navigation, but it should be borne in mind that at the proper season darkness never hides them, and hence danger from this source need scarcely oe apprehended. .ssrsss vass. ,s srs s4sIiI !, THAT CA11.--A pair of fashionable overs met on Main street on Monday \, evening. .i1sGood ebening, sweed, said he. ''1oV' "Good ebening, lub,. said she. snj'i l | She takes out herr handlerchiaf andil (