The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-04-02

iAdO.-Ihe New York World is respon.
i n9iafor the following somewhat roman.
tic incident:
y As there 10 nothing 40 solemn in ma.
t9fe as thu vast. desolation that reiEhs>
about the, North Pole-virgin yet of the
Ipresehee ,ot. intr1ding feet or sail or any
HVWehEe ntsodf human kind-so when
! Me catch vaga gaeUlimpses of that land OF
nienceH ox ara enabled to lift the curtain,
Of. iguosanos. that hangs about it's ont.
fakitts, nethtng can more strike the mind
+ with IT'D imPrsssiveness We all know
THAT in some lonely, ice-bound spot lie
The remains OF brave explorers-Sir
John franklin and his company-neyer,
perhaps, to be brought back to the
world OF green fields aud pleasant places.
But sometimes the secrets of the fur
North are unlocked; sometimes the sha-
dow OF. Ignorance which Envelopes it
and hides it from our sight gives way to
tho light Of knowledge, and the.rwo orld
reads aourioue story ii The revelation.
! IL hae been reservad for Cantain Carl
sem q Norwegian NAVIGATOR to pierce
this veil Of mystery, in one instance, at
least. and to make discovery, Which, in
the recital ofAit, seems moro like a
! strange fairy tale of the far North than
sober narrative Of our prosaic day.
}%Wbile soEmany bravo men arc exploring
ft4e Arctic: regions, searching for that
North Pole, the geographical phantom
which eYsr. allures and ever eludes,
curious Interest will attach to his disco
very. But in order to approach this
f;shblect,! eve, must follow circuitous
ronte-wes must -go back nearly 279
years, to period late In the sixteenth
century, about the year 1896, when one
| 1,,k1
sailed away on his second voyage Of dis.
covery to trace out. il possible, the
Northwest passage-that famous ina
gined highway to Asia by way Of the
ArcticiO Ocean, the fact of the existence of
which 30 many other navigators have
valnly endenvored to realize Barentz
Jailed IN his search, but he discovered
Spitzenbergen, the vast archipelago
which lies in the heart Of the Arctic
Ocean. He found it expedient to land
upon the coast, and there he built .luts
Tor shelter and for temporary residence
for himself and for his company, Here
he tarrled during the dreary months of
nn Arctic winter, and in due oodrse of
time abandoned the spot, lea4ing the
huts and their contents, aud returned to
his own country, never TO revisit his
Quaint settlement. i5t h,s3fsEs
Three Centuries nearly have passed
away since that t-evept. Tie years have
o%e 90 fa a., And gons Is si!enAwtnes
and his sturdy crew. In all that time,
as we PAY; believe. sno living thing has
1nSadad; The sacred solitude of this spot,
haunted ETith memories of that,7coming,
long ago. OF Barents and his meh:: Pos
feibiy. from a distance,< tho -aalrns and
the senl may have sgaxednppHuSit and
from bis rapid flight ih:, tie eth eE, me
arctic bird Of passage may have tat1ed a
curious eye upon the acene. Z But no
dust has settled there; no moth has stolen
in to bring decay. Even the elements
seemed to have abated their severity,
and to have protected with q kindly
nand the legacy left to their undivided
keeping.
The sequel almost partakes of tho cha.
racter OF one Of those tales wherewith
the princess in tho Arabian Nights de-.
ferred her threatened and delayed fate
by Willing away the tedious evenings Of
her cruel caliph. Ono day, in tho year
1870, Captain Carlsen bore shoreward in
his ship to this icy coast of Spitzbergen.
he landed at the spot where Barentz had
landed before him, and to his perplexed
eyes appeared the vision Of the old en-.
campment.
The huts were still there, Just as Myn-
heer had left them, nearly three hundred
years ago. In the rude hearth lay the
relics of the utterly dead and long ex-
tinguished Gre. Upon shelf we're books
from the old Dutchman's g library-a work
on navigation. tho latest edition publish
ed before he had sailed. and history of
China, translated into Dutch. Jugsand
dishes, wherein had been prepared the
drink and food OF the adventurers, were
scattered here and there. and even O pair
OF shoes was found, which had belonged
to little cabin boy, who, as soy the re-
cords, had died upon the voyage. There
were also quaint cngravings. and q Gu
rious mathematical Instrument, intended
to assist in obtaining longitude. All
these articles were carefully collected,
and we're bronghtto Europe on Carlscn's
| return.
! There is touch Of tho pathetic in this
revelation OF tho long kept secret of the
arctics. 1t Is AS pathetic, indeed, as that
story OF another old Du oh seaman, Myn-
heer Vanderdecken, whose ship-we
havo it upon excellent authority OF sail
arg Ii f> Al