The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-12-19
NEW ORLEANS BULLETIN
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NEW ORLEANS, DECEMBER 10. 1874
NEW ORLEANS ACADEMY OFSCIENCES
Extracts from Paper Read by DIR. J. r.
Walker.
Sabiect: Present State OF knowledge
Regarding the North Polar Regions.

Regarding the NOrth ROAR Regions.
There are two great mysteries which have
hitherto baf1led the researches Of the mos
curious student of the physics of the globe
There remain two great geographical prob
LENS which present themselves approximately
to the scientific mind for solution.
Turning toward tho far north, we find the
icy blasts Of the frigid zone strangely modl'
fed by balmy breezes coming from still
higher attitudes, and breathing Of mysterl.
ous, unknown region surrounding the north
pole.
If we turn toward the south, the hot 81
moon of the desert, carrying death upon its
wings, whispers Of an equally mysterious re-
Rion, concealing the sources Of the Nile.
To the solution of these two problems the
nineteenth century is bending all her ener-
Ries. All the resources of commerce and nav.
ieation, all the accomplishments of science,
III the means at command of governments,
time without stint, money without count, nay,
even human life itself, has not been deemed
too precious an Offering to lay upon the altar
of scientific discovery.
And still the mysteries Of the ages remain
unsolved. Still the icy palm of the North
grasps her frozen treasures still the scorch-
ing sand of the African desert buries her
xsrest gem. "Ages have come and gone,
generations of heroic men have striven and
failed, wrestling with hope ON the one side,
and death on the other, yet still the invisible
sphinx protects the arcana OF her mysteries,
battling the reason, the skill and the courage
of man but the hope of final success
never has been, and never will be quenched,
until full fruition satisfies the questionings of
science, and the longings of adventure"
Of the superficial area of the earth, eleven
millions six hundred thousand miles, or one
seventeenth of the whole surface, is grouped
within the polar regions. Of this some five or
nix millions are yet unexplored. While scien-
lists are practically unacquainted with this
large proportion of the earth's surface it is
evident that many scientific problems
geographical only, but meteorological, tidal,
magnetic, etc.-must remain unsolved, and
hence the scientific interest felt in this polar
region, with its great focal problem, to the
solution of which SO much hazardous enter
prise, indomitable perseverance and enduring
labor have been brought into requisition.
1t must be admitted, however, that scien-
tifc problems have not been the only ones
sought to be solved in these expeditions. It
is, in fact, only in later years that this has
been other than a secondary consideration.
The objects had in view, aud the ends
sought to be attained by Arctic explorations,
have been as diverse in character and as
opposite in nature as were the minds of the
men engaged in organizing and executing
them. They have been prompted and in
spired by the prospects OF trade, the love Of
humanity, the pursuits of science. Their
motives have ranged from the ignoble greed
of gain to the pure and lofty ambition Of add
ing to the worlds knowledge.
The early Norwegian settlers Of Iceland and
Greenland, driven from their homes by in
testine wars, sought refuge in kindred cline,
allured by the rumors of vast forests, abund-
ant fish, and the hope Of political freedom.
It is related by an Irish monk, in an an
Gent chronicle, that some Irish hermits,
jealous anchorites Of an early age, sought
refuge in Iceland from the disturbing influ-
ences of the world" seeking to delight the
God Of Humanity by abjuring all knowledge
OF or sympathy with their brother men," The
English and the Russians, jealous of the
rapid strides OF Spain toward universal do
minion, to Offset her gains in Mexico and
Peru, took possession of the northermost
parts Of the American Continent.
For more than two centuries the un :easing
strife for gain was the motive power which
ruled and guided those hardy adventurer,
Who sought in the frozen waters of the North |
D shorter route to the treasure-hcuse Of the
East--the Spice Islands of the Orient.
The renowned Frobisher having collected
and carried back to England a quantity Of
black ore which he believed to contain gold,
great excitement ansued mining companies
were formed. and several expeditions sent out
nnder the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. The
Of that day must have been
deceived, however, for we do not
learn that the royal Golfers were replenished
BIZ the Arctic gold.
In many of the early expeditions, trade and
commerce were the prominent objects, the
Arctic foxes and polar bears, sables, sea-
ptters, and seals, affording an inexhaustible
supply Of the finest, densest and most valu-
able furs.
The English have valued their Arctic ex-
petitions, too, as training schools for their
naval heroes, the immortal Nelson, himself.
having served as a cadet aud distinguished
himself in the Phipps expedition, north of
This expedition was sent out in 1913 by the
British Admiralty, with orders to make
traight for the North Pole this object to
axe precedence of all o hers Meteorological,