The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-03
value Of these researches is to be found the


| fringe the North American continent on
the north, are separated from the west
coast Of Greenland by n long channel, COM
| prisng Smiths sound. Kennedy channel,
Halls basin, and Robson strait, and ex-
tending from Bafin's bay toward the
Pole. The ships of the British expedition
under Capt. MARES, two steamers named
the Alert and the Discovery, went up this
channel beyond the point reached by Capt
| HALL In the Polars Ave years ago, and the
Alert made her way into the Great Polar
| sea, about which so much has been said by
various Arctic explorers.
Having thus before us the course of the
| ships, 1t should first be noted that the ex-
| petition attained the most nortberly point
ever reached by man. Why this fact was
not mentioned in the fret cable dispatches
| announcing the return of tho expedition,
has not been explained. A sledge party
| under Commander albert H. MARKHAM
and Lieut. Pam advanced over the ice OF
the Polar sea to lat. SO 20 %" N, being
| rather less than one degree beyond
PARRY's furthest. in 1877. Tnis was seven
ty-three miles in straight line from the
place whore the Alert passed tho winter
In lat. 81 - N, which is nearer the North
Pole than any other vessel ever wntered.
To make this direct distance of seventy
three miles, going and returning, FIVE hun
dred and twenty-one miles OF Ice had to
be traversed, so great were tho obstacles
encountered on the Palp 1crystic sea, as
| the officers named the ocean of ancient ice
| about the Pole. The Ice along the route
| was seldom smooth, the track being thick
ly studded with rounded hummocks, from
| ten TO twenty feet above the general sur
| face, which made travel excessively nrdu-
Gus No trace OF land was visible from the
highest latitude reached, but the depth of
| the sea there was only seventy fathoms.
Sledge parties were also sent out west
ward 30 miles along the North American
shore OF the Frozen ocean, aud eastward
| seventy miles along tho northern coast OF
| Greenland. Though the explorers were
| British, they named the northernmost
| point on the American side Cape Column
bia. The exploration OF the Greenland
coast tends strongly to show that Green
| land does not extend across the Pole 10 the
vicinity Of eastern Siberia, as some geogra-
pliers have supposed.
| In the domain of meteoroloyy and ply
steal science much important aud valuable
| Information was acquired. The thickness
of the zoe in the Pale 1crystlc sea. much OF
which Is supposed to be many years If not
a century old. was from 80 to 10 feet. and
IN some places 200 feet. The tidal obser-
vations indicate that a tide from the Pacific
comes through under the everlasting ice OF
this ocean and extends down the long
| IL.
northern part of Smiths sound. The cold
encountered by the expedition was the
greatest ever experienced. Mercury was
frozen forty-seven days in all, and twice
continuously during period of fifteen
days. On the Alert, the minimum tenn
perature for twenty-four hours was more
| than seventy degrees below zero, and on
| one occasion the thermometer fell three
| degrees lower. Fortunately there was very
| little wind. Such rs there was. however,
came from the west instead OF from the
east, as 1t did in the tune Of the Polaris
exp sditiou.
The excessive cold TO which il had been
exposed did not prevent the subseq uent
termination OF some wheat found in one
OF the Polaris cairus. nor had it injured
| Tue hlutllttu tIIOnOHtlfT ltli lntIt Nv
| Capt. II all. The magnetic and electrical
observations have not yet been tabulated
or discussed, but IL Is particularly worthy
OF note that the auroras in these furthest
regions OF the icy world are neither bril-
liant nor Of fr quent occurrence. Accord
| ing to Capt. MARES. these phenomena were
insignificant in the extreme, mono being OF
sufficient brilliancy 10 call for remark,
though we cannot doubt they would
have been most welcome in 1.-THE long
Arctic winter. with Ms unparalleled inten-
sity and duration of darkness y Oduced by
an absence of sunlight for AZ days"
The chief geological discoveries comprise
n workable seam OF good coal near the
| place on the American side OF the channel
where the Discovery wintered, about sew
enty miles south of the Alert; the fading
OF fossil corals IN the Arctic hills; aud evi-
deDce OF the former existence of an ever
green forest in lat 81 A north. Mr..
CLEMENTS X. MARKHAM. Secretary of the
Royal Geographical Society OF England,
thinks this last discovery alone is worth
all that has been expended on the exped-
| ton.
In botany, the field was hardly promis-
| ing, at least ms regards plants OF the pres
age and the list furnished II Incl ules only
saXfraSe, sOrrel. dwarf o lk4, an popoi es,
which are mentioned "a grOw wing in tn.
vicinity of the s!l parallel OF north llti =
tude Between twenty AMI thirly species
Of lowering plants were found in the same
region, but their nam X are nDt gwen.
As TO human life in these Isolate lands,
no traces OF E'quimauX could he fouul
north of lat. n 81, whore these people ap.
peared to have crossed the wAter-here
only about fifteen miles wide-into Green
land The northern limit OF the haunti of
wild animals was evidently almost rea ,hed.
AT the winter quarters of the Alert, SIX
musk oxen were shot, seven hlres, three
foxes, one seal, and eighty-eighty birds.
The naturalsts of the expedition thlnf
that birds do not migrate beyond CIpo
Joseph Henry, which Is on tho Amsric IN
coast Of thu Frozen Polar SCI, in lat. 81 81
north. The ermine and numerous owls
were met with in Greenland, near where
the Discovery wintered.
Capt MARES, who was called from the
command of the scientific surveying