Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-07-04

.rRCTIC WONDERS.


AS there Is nothing so solemn in nature
as the vast desolalion that reigns about the
North Pole-virgin yet of the presence of
intruding foot or sail, or any evidence of
our human kind--so when we catch vague
gimpses of that land Of silence, or are en-
abed to lift the curtain of ignorance that
hangs about its outskirts, nothing can more
strike the mind with its impressiveness.
We all know that in some lonely, ice bound
spot lie the remains of brave explorers
Sir John Franklin and his company-nev-
er, perhaps, to be brought back to the
world of green fields and pleasant places.
But sometimes the secrets of the far North
are unlocked; sometimes the shadow of ig-
norance which envelopes ii from our sight
gives way TO the light of knowledge, and
the world reads curious story in the reve-
lation. 1t has been reserved for Captain
Carlsen, Norwegian navigator, to pierce
this vail of mystery, in one instance, at
least, and to make discovery which, in
the recital of it, seems more like a strange
fairy tale of the far North than a sober mar
rative of our prosaic day. While so many
brave men are exploring the Arctic re-
gions, searching for that North Pole, tho
geographical phantom which allures and
ever alludes, a curious interest will attach
TO his discovery. But in order to approach
this subject, we must follow q circuitous
route-we must go back nearly two hun.
dred and seventy-eight years, TO a period
late in the sixteenth century, about the
year 1896, when one William Barentz,
Dutch navigator, sailed away on his second
voyage of discovery 10 trace out if possible,
the Northwest passage-that famous imag-
ined highway TO Asia, by way of the Arctic
Ocean, the fact of the existence of which so
many other navgators have vainly endcav-
ored 10 realize.
Barentz failed in his search, but he dis
covered Spitzbergen, the vast archipelago
which lies in the heart of the Arctic Ocean,
He found it expedent TO land upon the
coast, and there he built huts for shelter
and for temporary residence for himself
and for his company. Here he tarried
during the dreary months of an Arctic
winter. and in due course of time abandon
ded the spot, leaving the huts and their
contents, and returned to his own country,
never to revisit his quaint settlement.
Three centuries nearly have passed away
since that event. The years have come
and gone over those silent witnesses 10 the
presence Of the ancient mariner and his
sturdy crew. In all that time, as we may
believe, no living thing has invaded the
sacred solitude of this spot haunted with
memories of that coming, long ago, of
Barentz and his men. Possibly, from a
distance, the walrus and the seal may have
gazed upon il, and from his rapid flight in
the ether some Arctic bird of passage may
have turned curious eye upon the scene.
But no dust has settled there no moth
has stolen in to bring decay. Even the ele-
ments seem to have abated their severity
and 10 have protected with n kindly hand
the legacy left TO their undivided keeping.
The sequel almost partakes of the character
of one of those tales wherewth the princess
in the Arabian Nights deferred her threat
led fate by Willing away the tedious eve
nings of her cruel Caliph. One day, in the
year ls7O Captain Carslen nore shoreward
in his ship to the icy coast of Spitzbergen.
He landed at the spot where Barentz had
landed before him, and TO his pcrplexed
eyes appeared the vision of the old en-
campment.
The huts we've still there, just as Mynheer
had left them nearly three hundred years
ago. In the rude hearth lay the relics of
the utterly dead and long extinguished fire.
Upon a shelf were books from the old
Dutchman's library-a work on navigation,
the latest edition published before he had
sailed, and history of China translated
into Dutch. Jugs and dishes, wherein had
b cen prepared the drink and food of the
Adventures, were scattered here and there,
and even a pair of shoes was found which
had belonged TO II little cabin boy, who, as
say he records, had died upon the voyage.
There were also quaint engravings and
curious mathematical instrument intended
to assist in obtaining longitude. All these
articles were carefully collected, and were
brought 10 Europe on Carlsen's return.
There is touch of the pathetic in this rev.
elaion of the long kept secret of the articles.
Ii is as pathetic, indeed, as that story of
another old Dutcbman, Mynheer Wander
decken, whose ship-we have it upon ex-
cellent authority of sailors who come TO
port, and who themselves have witnessed
the great spectacle-may be seen, at dawn
and twilight, in fair weather and foul, rush.
ing like the ghostly ship that it is, through
the startled sea, or beating aimlessly about
N. Y. World