National Republican., 1873-06-20
OUR POLAR SUCCESS
fConinncI yrvm FlrI Ili1c.J

oil. The land thetO waa entirely clear OF snow.
II was plain Tue soil on that plain absorhs
NOT not Sd'S md any g .pne arrow All ' innt we we
ISSna o. bone The psssnesS, ,nsSs We're We're
possession. II he has not lost them they are
on board the Polaris. When We went In there
In the latter part Of August, all the land was
All the iand AROUND The plain was hare Of snow
at that tlme. There ls an elevation OF l,s00 feet
entirely destitute nf snow. There were hills on
ns ss.t S sSs% Se % so Se S
very rapidly, 40 that Il dried very fast. We could
not see any inland submits, but Rs far as we
were All clear of snow. The temperature In
summer Ia very hot on the land. On the top Of
the elevations u was warm. crossed them In
ers and willows. They have any quantity Of
specimens Of these on board the ship. There Is
but very little grass, but there are these little
flowers aud Willows and mosaes IN spots. The
prevailing hne Of the landscape is dark gray.
The highest elevation that saw clear Of snow
should judge was 5000 TO 1850 feet high In
the distance l think saw some $500 10 1900.
The willows run along the ground like a vine.
nllcrs or ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE IIFE
The musk OK Ia up there; W. Killed them; !
Killed twelve In one hunting curslon, IN two
deg. We only Killed twenty-slx, all told; that
was in the spring, on the north side NJ Newmans
Bay. a musk OK weighs about ave OF slN hun
not taste Of musk at all In that .atiude they are
ha good a. beef. do not know where they 20
In the winter time. All the tracks that saw In
the spring were coming from the southeast. In
the Interior, Newnians hay runs southeast and
northwest, and the oxen were coming from the
head OF the hay, from southeast direction from
on some Feeding ground they had they were not
afraid of US. The dogs that we had would check
them on; A. soon As the dogs approached they
formed a solid body, sterns together. We saw
no wolves, but q few white foxes. When the
oxen form thus In body, looking at the dogs,
all that the hunter has 10 dQ Is 10 walk up and
shoot them. do not know whether they would
be afraid Of man; l know that In Hudson's
Straits they viii sometimes turn upon . hunter.
They did not appear to be inclined TO run for the
dogs, although the men were in sight. SKINS
skeletons and horns were collected, and they are
on board the snip. did not see any relndeer.
Joe and Dr. Bessela were on to the southward a
llttle ways, and they shot q white bear; you
seals. The white bears up there are not as large
a. those farther south. The glaciers are 80 large
south that ! think they keep the snow on tie
land longer than where we were.
CLEANED At LAST.
went right out where the land looked covered
with snow and Ice, and found IL entirely clear
Of The temperature OF the water waa very
low, hut the land was clear OF snow. We came
upon lana coveted with snow aud Ice as we en-.
tered kanes Polar sea; but the northeInmost
point Of land We saw was bare; attribute 1t TO the
suns shining continually there through the sum.
mer; II Is very warm, and takes the SNOW oii saw
hut lew mosquitoes up there; there weTe nics,
bumble bees, and butterflies. did not sec any
frogs up there, nor snakes. They collected /
good many birds: there are some Iand-hlrtia;
think they shot some ptArmigAns up at the win.
ter quarters; some were shot when the plumage
were ducks aud brown geese, gulls, and Ivory
Rills; did not see any penRuins up north;
saw no whales there, or signs Of any; we did not
meet any whales on our cruise.
TIiE roLARis ~ GOOD SHIP,
well-ntted, and she was supplied aDundantly.
having large superruliy Of almost everything,
IN every way, excepting skin clothing, which
capt. Han relled upon getting on the Greenland
coast; but he could not purchase any. she is a
strong vessel; stronger than the Tigress, which
ysscsed Ts & rs; saw saw her Tried she . powerful
got mp higher than any other vessel ever did
and got out again, although she was badly han.
a,sd; isi , she hee1ed nothing that could be sup.
sho had an abundance OF everything. And the
quality OF what she had was good. a. far as |
Know; some OF y was very good, indeed. some
OF II extra good; as, for instance, our potatoes,
dried apples, onions and pemmloan, which was
hNendlh. All the preserved meats were good,
and the weeyils did not get In the bread; II Is
100 cold Tor that. The brown bread was good; the
white was not 80 good. The nour was good. No
tAult was TO be found either with the ship Itself
ntllngs OF It's provisions, OF the northern lgnts
AN IN the highest lAtitudes nothing bat FAINT
streaks, and those only Occasionally; not so dis
tinct as have seen them IN New York. Tue
hgnu were northeast OF us. We saw them most,
and most brilliant, when further down. IN about
latitude 30 deg, though I think we saw them
most distinct IN latitude o. or 90 deg. Then, As
we got 10 the latitude we wintered IN, they were
lndistinct, and seemed to he northeast OF us. II
was matter of discussion with the scientific
people, aud they did not know whether to call
lhe sireaks the aurora or not. saw nothing IN
ine direction OF the magnetic pole resembling
the aurora. We had very stormy, heavy weather,
indeed; more thick nights than starlight IL
bl0wed 80 heavy as to clean the Ice Tignt out.
Another tning they did not know before is, that
SMITHS sorSp Is oFES ALL wIsTER LoSG.
what mean Il, that the Ice Is drifting all win
ter long. IL IA not sOlld TIL the latter part OF
February or March. The water here Is very
deep ! think; very deep In POlaTts bay. The
winds drive the Ice with great force; anu have
seen many gales clean the Ice entirely out. The
whole Oi ths bays were clear OF Ice excepting a
little that would hang In by the land. But In The
dark. In the winter, we would not want To Ateam
there much. There are shrimps there, hut
never saw any ish there al any time. | be-
lleVe some OF them tried fishing with the hook
and line; but IdO pat III sthIdfps; these arS very
plenty, and they were quite large a. long as tb,,
nnger. saw no crabs; there are Jelly -hsh; we
ar na, , tneH rs iar as We went to tho North. do
not thlnk saw rainbow there. I heard some
lunar ror solar bow.
WHEN CAPTAIN HALL WAS BURIED
Mr: Bryan read service, acting as chaplain, We
mau IengiOus services on Sundays in Captain
lAls time, and some little time alter his ueaIh h,
not long. however. In my statements may
omit hOme things that would be Interesting
Everything In that country, no doubt, seems
more commonplace to me than TO others aud
pefnaps 20 not think things Interesting that
are So Whlls Captain Hall was sick, saw him
every day: He was under medical treatment;
br' Bessels was attending him. The
DOCTOR SAID THAT 1T WAS AfOFLENY:
thAt was what he called IT, lie said he was par-
alyzed on one side; he said he ran a needle into
MS ley, and that there was no feeling In il, Bnt
M MteI mat Captain Hall somewhat recovered,
~ NJ HOunu' IN anu was taken down suddenly and
uled. lie appeared 10 have the use Of his side
when he recovered. lie appeared rather strong,
ne walked around the cabin, and I think did
some writing. He did not say anything about
being numb On one side. lie took medicine,
believe; but at times he strongly objected 10
taking IT, and TO having anything done for him,
~ other times he would be quite dOcile. Those
mat were around aim at the time can tell more
about u; Mr. Chester aud Mr.. Morton were his
principal attendants. Perhaps Joe and Hannah
may have been with him. While he was sick was
peAred 10 be the deslre OF Chester and Morton 10
watch with him every night, l Kept one side,
ihe doctor gave him his medicine, believe; |
else. '''''' "''''
y. Have Jon any opinion Of your own as to the
cause OF his death? A. thought at the time
that the man came to his death naturally. IL has
been talked on board ship that ID waa foni. bnt
nave no proof OF It, and could not say much
RBoICED IN ms DEATH
e. Who reJoiced In his dealhf A. Capt. Bud.
q. DID anybody else? A. Thought 1t relieved
Tnn s9,ne 0i the scientific party OF some anxiety.
=
buddington 80 expressed himself, that he was
Hall. N"P'
q. Why7 A. I DO not know; never asked
HIN. lie was too strict for him, suppose.
q. Did Capt. Hall do anything TO interfere with
the work OF the scientific menf A. | believe
capt. Hall was not allowing them TO take all the
advantages they thought he should.
Y. In what way? A. They could tell better
lhAn ! can. lie wanted them 10 do as he said;
and they wanted to do as they pleased, lie
wanted them 10 do their work In his yay, and
they wanted 10 do IL In their own way. IL re.
TERED TO what they were doing, and not TO alb |
sence from the ship. | do not think Mr. Bryan
was Included In this; know that Mr. Myers hal |
some trouble with HIM on that score. HeWIshed |
10 do this work In his own way, and probably Il |
was the best; and Capt. Hal wished 10 have MIN
10 II In his. lt was settled, believe, SO that |
Myers did II In his own way.
GAIT. HALL AND TlIR sCIENTIFTS
2. DID you know any difficulty between Capt
HAL and DR.. Bessels7 A. Nothing serious; no.
thing serious between any OF tho scientific de-
partment and the captain that know Of
u DO you Know OF any request that any OF
them made OF HIN that he positively refused TO
allow them to do7 A. No, sir; believe not,
Ihese are things am not very well posted 10,
Y. Win whom were you most intimate on
board the ship9 A. Not with many; the most
Intimate ones were Mr.. Bryan and the mate
hester. ! have already given my opinion OF
Mr.. Chester. think him good man under a
good commander. Mr.. Bryan was very nne
Young man; he was 4 general fayOrlte-et least
thought so; he was my fayOrite.
Y. Dld he have any difficulty about the way he
y AH .N aNaa.aaH q