, 1877-01-26

.,-.s e.. fn.ifatar o. rfss,h tha Tsf.r aud
90 Narrs rrtssrts "a ivu uaf,i- ihs r,-
srh e this part of The un.isria akiur
.p,la imprsrtirahlc = his summing up
81 the pasIiian. The neat s1utsncr on
The telsrraui. No lanl g. northsarl.
explains the rcasou Wy the pole = hcld
10 l., impractirahlr II sas never
hopc,i that either Of the ship, could sail
% the mysterious ccnteT where q would
l.s south all around thc horizon. The
plan 10 he acie,l upon was that the tuo
vessels should GO together 81 the highest
latitude which conld be attained before
last winter. which It was hoped would
be somewhere on the north shore OF
Lady Franklin strait, in latitude 81 de-
grees north, or thereabout. Here the
Discovery was TO remain while the Alert
pushed forward alone. 1t was hoped
that several degrees further north
would thus be made, and chain of pro-
vision depots was TO be established at
every sixty miles Of the line between
the two vessels. The Alert would Win
ter in this advanced position, and, if
there was land ahead would dispatch
six sledge parties, of fifty-two men al
together, as early in April as possible.
By these sledges another chain oS COM
munication, if it may be so termed, was
to be established over the 500 miles be-
tween the Alert and the pole, only one
of the sledges reaching that desired
spot, and the rest forming line of safe
retreat back to the ship. The scheme
was, of course, frustrated by the discov-
cry that there was "no land to the
northward," and when that fact had
been satisfactorily established the ships
had nothing to do but return. Capt.
Mares was known to be of the opinion
that to push away from the land, and
get involved in the pack Of ice, was to
risk failure. No land to northward,
therefore, means no pathway this way
to the pole.
The details given in the telegram from
our correspondent at Valentia, ex-
plain the shorter dispatch of Capt.
Mares. It viii be remembered that the
last news from the Arctic ships was
brought by Capt. Allen Young last
Autumn. He had found cairn on one
of the Cary islands, which contained
letters up to July 26, 1875, These let
ters described the voyage northSard
from Upernavik, while letters of earlier
date, butreceived later, give an account
Of the doings of the ships between the
time of parting from the Valorous at
Ritenbeck and the arrival at Upernavik.
We had, therefore, a full account of
their doings up to July 26, 1875, when
they were standing northward in an al
most clear sea with the water at tenn
perature of 40 degrees, and nearly six
weeks Of open sea before them. From
that time till the receipt Of Capt.
Mares telegram nothing has been, heard
Of them, but now the Telegram from our
Valentia correspondent continues the
story. Very soon after setting out from
the Cary Islands with such bright pros
poets they met with ice, and the strug-
gle began. After severe and continu-
Gus efforts, the side of Lady Franklin
bay was reached, and here the Discov-
cry went into winter quarters, while the
Alert pushed on and reached the limit
Of navigation, on the shore Of the polar
sea. Here they wintered, and were 142
days without sun. In the early spring,
in accordance with the scheme laid
down, sledge travelling was attempted,
not over the land, which apparently
does not exist, but over the ice foes Of
the polar sea; This expedition was alb,
sent seventy days, and reached the lati.
tude of SO degrees 20 minutes, as stated
in Capt. Mares dispatch. In the course
Of this toilsome journey, Cape Colum-
bia, the northernmost point Of the
American continent, wasrounded, and 6
large portion of the coast of Greenland
explored. It was found that no sucl
land as that called Presidents land ex
listed. The polar region seems, in fact
as approached from the direction o
Smiths sound, to be vast frozen sea
After terrible struggle, in which thu
sledges could onlyadyance smile'a day
they reached the extreme latitude ye
attained on any part of the Arctic re
glon, and were then within four hun
dred miles Of the pole. It is quite OBJ
vious that at such a rate Of travel ther,
was no possibility Of passing over -th
intervening space. The obstacles were
in fact, Fins0rmountable, sIce1 som
hundreds of feet in thickness covere'
the sea- and il may probably be con
ssldered as finally settled BY the expedi
ton that the pole is guarded at least O.
that side by thrilling regions of thick
ribbed ice," as terrible as those whic
Shakespeare's Imagination conceived q
giving new terror TO the fear Of death
The report whish the expeditio
brings back from these frightful region
Is very discouraging to the friends {
Arctic exploration. It was felt whe
the two ships went out that they wel
somewhat undermanned, and some prt
dictons of failure were based on this a,
sumed defect. But il is now eyide1
that nothing in the equipment of th
expedition nor in the character of ii
officers could possibly have made Ii