New-York tribune., 1876-10-28
THE POLAR EXPEDITION.

The Frozen Zone still holds its secret Again
band of hardy navigatOrs-ths time sup
ported by liberal means and with every apph-
ance that science or ingenuity could provide
have made an unsuccessful endeavOr to reach
the Pole. Doubtless they are laden with new
data for science. Of the observations made
in previous arctic expeditions very
large proportion yielded valuable results to
the students of the great problems of nature.
In the matter of determining ocean currents
alone these explorations have been of the high
est service. That is one of the innumerable
instances where theoretical science must
prove of great practical value. With
thorough knowledge of ocean currents
far greater accuracy could be attained
in navigation. An ignorance OF them
has been the cause of some of the most
calamitous shlpwrecls, such as that of the At
lantic, which drifted forty miles out of her
reckoning, and consequently struck on the rocks
of the Nova Scotia shore. The day will come
when the varying currents of the ocean will
be as perfectly known and tabulated as the
tides; but to attain that result vast number
of exact observations in different seas
are needed. The study of the habits
and peculiarities of animal life in the
sea has latterly afforded a special means of
determining those currents which is superior
in some respects to the direct record OF the
deep sea thermometer, since if, for instance,
arctic creatures are dredged from an ocean
bottom in temperate zone, it is prima tdcie
evidence that polar current is cOursing through
the lower depths. With facts of a like orderthe
whole modern science of meteOrOlOgy is closely
interviewer, and arctic expeditions have con-
tributed their share toward the present knOwl-
edge of the laws of storms.
No doubt the abundant material of this sort
which the Alert and the Discovery have
brought back with them will be accepted by
men of science as an ample return
for the risks and cost of the voy-
age But to the great world outside, there
will be feeling of disappointment because
the expedition has failed to reach the Pole.
If the figures are correctly reported by cable,
the approach made was within about
465 miles. What were the insuperabe
difficulties encountered in lat. $50 2l.
n, we are not yet informed. No land could
there be found to the northward. The return
of the British expedition, after proceeding
only seventy-fiye miles further north than did
the Poars, will shed fresh lustcr the efforts
made in 1871 to reach high latitude in that
vessel by the late Capt Hall and his companions.
The difficulties under which he labored, the
slenderncsS of his equipment, the weakness Of
his ship these things are yet fresh in the
recollection of most of our readers. With all
such facilities of the best. the Alert
and Discovery have hardly been more success
full, after following the beaten path. 1t be-
comes every year more doubtful whether any
of the men of the present generation will reach
the most northern point of the globe; whether
the Ice King may not for centuries yet be
entitled to the legend which decked the temple
of Egypts god =" Yesterday, to-day, forever;
I" and no mortal hath lifted my vail"