The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-10-12
POLAR EXPLORATION.

POLAR EXPLORATION.
Adventures OF tho Austrian Navigators
In the Arctic Regi0n-The Comma nder
OF tho Expedition Relates His ExPeri-
ences-Franz Joseph Land Described.
The London Times Of September 20 publishes the
following account OF the recent meeting of the
Geographical Society OF Hamburg, at which the
commander OF the Austrian Arctic Expedition and
one OF his Officers recounted their adventures In
the Polar Sea-
Captain Weyprecht, who was received with q
perfect storm Of cheers, then addressed the meet
Ing. He said :-"Much is told OF the fatgues
undergone oy sailors, but they are generally ior.
gotten when once they arrive on snOre. How much
more is this the case when they receive sucn
welcome as the one prepared for us All dangers
them Is recorded In the name OF ali those who
have taken part 10 tne expedition ! tnanS
so far as regards the condition Of the Ice,
was most unlav0rabie. Regions where nothing
but open water was formerly found were then luli
Islands, in places IN previous years perfectly ice
tree. we came upon tnln but firm ledge OF ice, so
way as far as Nova ZemDa. After we had lain
there some days in the Ice we came through with
the Joy OF greeting Wilczek and Sterneck on the
yacht Tsbj0rren. Until the following day we sailed
2 ne Was s ikea IN the ice the Of
small cape near Bear Island. Here we lay for
eight days; fresh breeze so drove the ice about
that at one time we were embedded IN Ice and
the 2st the wind shifted, and we said goodby to
the Tsbj0rren, and continued our course on in an
easterly direction. In the afternoon we came to
O clear tract OF water. but at midnight, an
Mna e again The Snip
intentionally, we remained In the Ice, since under
the unavorab,e conditions we were loaIn to lose
the twenty miles we had gained. and we hoped
that az easteriy wind would again open the ice;
added to which we did not want to winter at SO
cold part as Cape Nassau. Instead, however, OF
an easteriy wind, a calm, with heavy snowfall,
set IN; the temperature fell and the loose Ice be-
came compact mass, in which we lay for three
weeksn me speaker then went on TO say that 1t
was only on the 9Th OF september that the Ice
IN ne o one
the TegethofY, firmly frozen up, driited now to the
east and then to the west. Again the temperature
iell ana the pressure OIL the pack ice began 70 be
ielt. On the 18th OF OCTOBER the ice noes began TO
get smaller, and the ship was in danger OF being
other sinking down. For Ave months the explorers
lived in continual excitement and danger, ana TINS
hardest part to bear OF the whole VOYAGE. The
| boats, with provisions in them, were kept always
! ready on deck, so that the Tegethon might be
| abandoned at q moments notice. In January,
/ 1873, they reached Is degrees north latitude For
five months during the summer o. that year they
worked at the extricatlon OF the ship; but IN vain.
/ Everything was tried; but there was no getting
back. BY the end OF August there were thirty leet
OF ice under the vessel, so in september tue work
or extrlcatlon was reDqulsned. 1t was at the end
| OF August that the new land was nrst sighted, and
TINS greatly rej0iced the explorers. as II was felt
TO be the first positive result OF the expedition.
1 BY the MIDDLE OF October They were IN 81 degrees
north latitude. The ice noe in which the vessel
| was embedded diminished In size, and at last
reached the mainland, where 1t nxed on to firm Ice
and there the snip lay lmmovable Az this point u
was that the explorers were especially struck with
the extraordinary splendor OF the Northern Lights
and here 1t was that Lieutenant Payer made his
solved to abandon their vessel. The boats were
placed on rollers and provisioned, and at eight P
| Tegethor. The commencement Of the journey
| was fearful. Between huge ice blocks, deep snow
and pools 81 water the ooass proSeeded' every
| fortnight they had only succeeded in making seven
nautical miles. on the 18th OF June they came
labors were tremendous. After two months
Stronger r5 Winds and larger tracts Of water, 50
that they were able to get over greater distances
! 18TH OF August that they came to perfectly open
sea, and here It was decided that the crews should
| all row IN turns, which was accordingly done and
| progress made at the rate OF forty miles day.
4 Tue expedition steered toward Nova Zembla IN
the hope OF finding there some Norwegian vessels !;
but none were TO be found. The condition OF the
/ explorers was comiortless In the extreme. The
sea ran high, the temperature was low; often wet
Norwegian vessel being found, they determined
| TO see II they could IND Russian salmon fishing
craft n any o. the pays; On the M.a OF August
| they were taken on board and treated most kindly
They shared with the explorers all they had and
on the 81 OF September landed them In Norway.
LIEUTENANT PAYERS ACCOUNT OF FRANZ JOSEPH
| LAND
Lieutenant Payer who followed Captain Wey
precht, gave most In teresting description OF the
newly discovered Franz Joseph Land. He said 1t
was doubtful whether the new land was an Island
or q continent. At first they saw only a high
| white wall. Between the 9th OF March and the Atm
Of May the explorers made three Journeys to the
country on sleighs The slelgns carried
sixteen hundreaweight, and were dragged
BY himself, ave OF the crew and three
over 100 miles IN breadth, which divided the coun-
try into two parts. In this sound there were
many islands. The surface OF the country chiefly
monolethic. The general character OF the land
/ differs widely from other Arctic regions and pos
sesses none OF the Alpine formations met with IN
Is full Of plateaax, ampnItneatrical lorna.
lions and blunt cones, and it is posi-
bic that the country also possesses voca-
| ZOO to 5000 feet in height An immense glacier,
! fifteen German miles in length, Is found IN the
great sound All the sounds are full OF colossal
some 1siatIc sea passage. After journeytng for
twelve days the explorers arrived In latitude 81
deg. 35 Sec, and at that point the barometer rose
70 ten degrees; black clouds appeared upon the
| horizon, the ice became brittle, the BIRDS few
northward and every thing betokened that they
were In the vicinity OF an open sea. They saw
many foxes, and countless bros covered the
rocks along the coast. They concluded their
journey IN q northerly direction on the 18th OF
April. when they reached latitude 50 deg. sec.
Lieutenant Payer does not believe that this coun-
try Is accessible to ships, Tor II they came from the
north how could they return 7 In the south and
In the sound OF Franz Joseph Land there ls no
! reaching the north OF the land the return would
1 be too dangerous.
! Both the speeches OF Captain weyprecht and
| Lieutenant Payer were most enthusiastically re-
| ceived.