The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-06-02
I'm THE ICY NORTHERN SEA. |
speculations as to the Whereabouts OF the Eng
lish Exploration Party IN the Arctic Region.
flrro,h thI, lalndnn llniIu InlarraIlh

lish exploration Party IN tne Arctic hcgtoh.
fFrolh the london Daily Telegraph
When the Two vessels were last seen,l
open water lay befofe- them, aid they.
were bearing straight up nortbward Tor
Prudhoe Land and cape Isabella. The
season was in all respects eminently
favorable, and there Was every reason
Tor hoping that very high latitude
would be reached. Unfortunately, as
the recent voyage OF the pandofa abtln-
dainty demonstrates, there Is nothing
more treacherOuS Jnan arctic seas ana
arcGic skies. An The morning there may
be a lresh rolling sea, without CLINT OF
ICE, and o watery sky stretching round
the whoIe circle Of The HORIZON. By the
afternoon the wind with spring up, great
fipes will drIit steadily in, and betoneI
aiyht closes the vessel will be hopeiessly
beset. 1t Is consequently possible tnat
the Alert may have been stopped at
Cape Barrow, in latitude 80 degrees, or
even as far south AS Cape Isabella aud
Cadogan Inlet. 0n the other hand, when
we remember how Hall, in the little
Potafis u mere river steamer OF small
power and III ada pied ior ice navigation,
with a company, all told, OF tnirty men,
women aud children, including eight
Eseuimaux, steamed up Smith SOUND aud
kenneay CDaunel in one Woi king sea-
son, distance Of go miles, we can not
but venture ~ hope that Capt. Mares
may nave been able to push the Alert
through the hitherto uneXplored waters
OF Lincoln sea up'to the shadowy and
far-0ff Presidents Land, OF even, it may
lie, TO the 10. h parallel. Tue Polaus,
without the s,lguLest letor lmpeulment,
reached as hign q latitude as 81 degrees
| l6 minutes north, and at this point saw
| nortnward OF her a nayigabe sea with
Il watery sky. She was II mere wooden
gunboat OF 3S7 tons, and had been in no
way Strengthened or specially filled out
| for her work; while the Aert was origl-
jnally powerful vessel Of lU45 tons, and
thas been overhauied and iOrt1ied Tor her
encounters with The ice, and furnished
with new and powerful engines anu
boilers. We know from Mr.. Lomoncs
| experience how steamer, II her bows
iare properly ironed for The work, can
charge and crush her way through ice
whicn would nopelessly stop the prog
ress OF another vessel, and there is
consequently some reason Tor beiieylng
4 that the sledging party, which must now
be we'll on It's Way, has possibly not got
more Than tour, or at the outside five,
degrees to cover before it reaches That
| extreme apex of the earth which is, to
use Mr.. Markham's words, "a spot
where the SUMS altitude Is equal to its
clination, and Wnere beari hgs nave to
be taken by reference to time ana MOI
to the magnet," but which yet is the
Ultima Thule Of all arctic discovery and
une express goal OF the present expedl'
ton. Remembering the achleYuments
OF Parry i'll 1927, when he lett his vessel
on the Spltzbergen coast and made his
: way over the great polar pack as lar as
81 degrees 40 minutes north, we can see
no cause tu despair OF the success OF the
sledglng parties which at tnls IN jmenL
should be pressing northward. Parry
1T may be recolIected, found that the
, vast sea of ice over which he was
travelling dritted to the south faster than
his sledges were able to move toWart
the norm. He travelled, as lar as actua
distance went, IT, miles from his vessel
but near the end OF his journey he per
ceived that he was losing more by thu
, southerly movement than he was gain
ing by the days work. 70 this difficulty
tae present sledge company are no
likely to be exposed. In all probabilit.
The ice between LiRroln sea and tn
pole is no portion Of the polar pack, ant
, Its southwark drift, even ii perceptible
l will not prove "a serious hin drance.