The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-12-14
HORRORS NEAR THE POLE.
WHY THE BRITISH ARCTIC Ex-
PEDITION PROVED A FAILURE.

PEDlllON FhOP EO ~ r NG.
Apprehen;ions that Made Cowards of
Brave Seamen-Children's Cauls and
Inverted Ships-A Whirlpool that can
Suck the Navies Of the World into its
Vortex.
Great disappointment has naturally
been evinced at the dismal failure of the
two perfectly equipped English screw
steamers-Alert and Dscovery--to reach
the North Pole. 1t seems as if the secret
of that mysterious region defed all the
knight-errantry of navigators. For rea-
sons to be subsequently advanced, it is
improbable that the pole will be reached
if the efforts are to depend on ordinary
scamen. For it may as we'll be under
stood, once for all, that the failure to ac-
complish the mission of the late British
expedition arose not so much from the
obstacles presented by Nature as from the
weak -heartedness of the crews. 1t was
not the stupendous Aoebergs of the Pal@-
ocrystic Sea that baf1ed Captain Mares
it was ineradicable superstition and de-
moralizing fear that paralyzed his sea-
men. This view of the subject obtains
no recognition in the elaborate report of
the commander, but it is we'll understood
among intelligent seafaring men.
The crews of the Alert and Discovery
had been selected with great care by Cap
tain Mares subordinate officers long be-
fore the expedition sailed in 1874. The
experiences of Bafin, Ross, Parry, Col
linson and others poin ed to this impera-
tive precaution. The long months of un-
relieved darkness which make up the
Arctic winter, trying to the nerves of
educated men, are terrible ordeal to the
naturally superstitious seamen. Even
when the dense darkness is relieved by
the gorgeous pyrotechnics of the aurora
boreais, the ordinary seaman only sees
another evidence of some terrible and
occult cause which has its existence at
the pole, whittier he is tending. To him
the fierce, weird flashing which intermit-
tently light up the sky before him, are
fire CLEANS having their origin in some
horrible hell presided over by fire.
demon. When, therefore, Jack reaches
latitue beyond the eighties, he invaria-
bly, exhibits evidences of demoralza-
ton.
As far as practicable, therefore, none
but vigorous, intelligent men were
shipped on the last expedition, and ex-
traordinary means were employed, IN the
form of school masters and examiners, to
test the mental quaEhcations of the men !;
and when, amid the plaudits of thou
sands, the two ships steamed gracefully
up the channel past Beachy Head, the
sanguine commander no doubt congratu.
lated himself on possessing the most
trustworthy and completely equipped
ships, and the most intelligent and per.
fectly disciplined crews that ever essayed
to penetrate the mystery of the pole
Ere the two steamers had passed out of
the North Sea, however, or crossed the
Arctic circle, in latitude rs degrees, it
became known to the petty officers that
most of the forecastle talk at nights
turned upon
CHILDREN's CAULs
As an infallible preventative against
death by drowning. There were more
than score of cauls in the two ships,
and those tars who had their membra-
nous underclothes, felt tolerably secure,
while those who were without this birth
amulet began to feel correspondingly de-
pressed. BY imperceptible gradations,
This superstitious fear deepened, and pos.
sessers of cauls were offered ridiculously
large sums-amounting,, in some in
stances, to half a years pay-to part with
them. But what was money or the
promise of it under such circumstances ?
What is ten thousand dollars compared
to chunk of bread where starvation is
imminent? What were so many pounds
sterling compared to a caul and safety :?
The men stuck to the mystic fibre and
luck, the Others tried to joke but felt
uneasy. This uneasiness was not lessen.
ed when on the 30th of July, the ice pack
was sighted off Cape Sabine, and when
exactly week later the ships were
caught and encompassed by that drifting
pack, the caulless men were ready 10
curse their luck and give themselves up
for lost. Whistling on board was now
considered in the forecastle a criminal
offense-it might raise the wind, and the
ships would be dashed to pieces. The
struggle with The ice was necessarily
maintained for three weeks; and the
most obtuse seaman saw that once in
volved among those changing water
channels it was as hazardous to proceed
as 10 return. On the 25th of August
Captain Mares decided to leave the Dis
covery 10 winter, on. the west side OF
Halls Basin, in latitude 81 deg, A min,
while he pushed on in the Alert. The
two crews parted company with silence
that might be felt. The seamen of the
Discovery were filled with gladness to be
left behind; the seamen of the Alert
went forward as band of men who COM
pose a forlorn hope. As the Alert
steamed out Of sight of her companion
ship along the coast of Grant Land, and
was lost to view az she turned the north
east corner of that desolate and unex-
plored portion of terra 6rma, the crews of
both ships received paralyzing surprise.
From the deck and rigging of the Dis
lcovery the seamen and officers saw the
Alert suspended in the air in
AN INVERTED POSITION,
traced on the horizon in the clearest
colors, and with the most distinct and
perfect representation. The officers ex.
plained that this was common optical
deception attributable to certain condi-
ton of the atmosphere. But the fore
castle men regarded it,as the wrath OF
the ship, and in low voices wondered and
discussed the probabilities of the caul
men having survived the revealed catas.
trophe.
On board the Alert, meantime, an
equally demoralizing state of affairs ex-
listed. Instead of finding continuous
coast line leading one hundred miles
northward, as the commanders and every
one on board had been taught to expect
the ship was on the border of what was
unquesiionably very extensive sea will,
impenetrable ice in every direction
This was disheartening but when en-
c,,nuterin RI n an me- upcIlliur atmCSuherlC