, 1877-11-16

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st uHfthsru Explorer. ou noe occasion.
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ils dead 49, 4 the u-.an wave driifri
the ships tuubris range ~ huge nee
hrfgs, against uhieh the ses broke With
appAlhng violence. Every eve NAs
iranshSed with she tremendous spectacle,
and destruction appeared inevitable. "
he ships we're thu, driven on for eight
aours, until within hsli mile from the
gigantic icelseTgs, when a gentle air he-
gan To stir, the ship, yielded t. the in.
iuence of the puh uf wind, which grad.
ually freshened into 4 gale, and before
dark, Ia tbe heartfelt satisfaction of all
on board, the ships emerged from their
I peril and gut uut into the wide ocean.
/ Ross had good means of knowing how
thoroughly Wilkes had been deceived
concerning the appearance of land at
particular spot, for he spent three days
in searching TOR land which Wilkes
had laid down on the chart, but six hun
tred isthoms' depth of water was found
in the very center of the position as
signed to the land on the chart. Ross
arrived at an opinion that the American
commanded had been deceived either by
ice islands or fog banks. We need not
go into much further details concerning
this expedition; but few words may be
quoted to show what kind of weather
had to be borne in the very middle of the
Antarctic summer, and in no higher lati-
tude than sixty-six degrees.
For nine days the crew we're alternate
\ ly drifting, hauling, making fast, mend
ing snapped hawsers, aud making efforts
to stem opposing currents. On the tenth
day, during thick fog, gale came on
from the north. "The sea quickly rose to
a fearful height, breaking over the loft.
est icebergs; we were unable any longer
to hold our ground, but were driven into
the heavy pack under our lee. Soon af-
ter midnight our ships were involved in
an ocean of floating fragments of ice,
hard as floating blocks of granite, which
were dashed against them by the waves
with 80 much violence that their masts
quivered as if they would fall at every
successive blow, and the destruction of
the ships seemed inevitable from the
tremendous shocks they received. BY
backing and filing the sails, we endeav-
Ored to avoid collision with the larger
masses, but this was not always possible.
In the early part of the storm the rudder
of the Erebas was so much damaged as
to be no longer of any use; and about
the same time was informed by signal
that the TeTr0rs was completely de-
stroyed and nearly torn away from the
stern-post. Hour passed away after hour
without the least mitigation of these
awful circumstances in which we were
placed. Indeed, there seemed to be but
little probability of our ships holding to-
gether much longer, 80 frequent and vio-
lent were the shocks they sustained.
The loud, crashing noise of the straining
and working of the timbers and decks
as she was driven against some of the
heavier pieces, which all the activity and
exertions of our people could not prevent,
was sufficient to fill the stoutest heart
that was not supported by trust in
him who controls all events-wilh dis
may"
Whenever the gallant commander got
south of go deg. or so, then the battling
with ice began again and again. He
once touched the 18th parallel of lati-
tude, and in all probability no human
being has ever made nearer approach
to the south pole--less by three or four
hundred miles than the approach which
has recently been made to the north pole.
What we know of the south pole, then, is
simply this, that nobody has got within
seven or eight hundred miles of it; that
icy barriers are met with quite eclpsing
anything known in the north frigid zone;
that mountains have been seen Zone
shooting forth volcanic Aames) lottier
than any discovered by northern explor-
ers; that all the land is covered with
snow at all seasons; that no human being
has been met with beyond SO deg. of
latitude; that no vegetable growth, ex-
cept lichens, has been seen beyond SO
deg. of latitude, and that NO land quad
ruped is known to exist beyond 6S deg.
of latitude.
THE CONFEDERATE FLAG.--During our
civil war, the several seeded States used
at first distinctive State flags. In March,
1861, the Confederate Congress adopted