The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-12-14
a Sight at the Pole
\ L,ND C>TRoDDEN BY M,N-MorNTAr>s REs1
ING on Lex.

y LAND lNTRoDDEN BY MAN-MuCNTATNs kET-
ING on lCE.
CaPaiu Tyson's return, last week. 70 New
London from his long Imprisonment in the
ice OF the Greenland seas, with the conviction
that the belief IN an 81 open polar sea IL a de-
fusion seems 10 be sustained by the view Of
Captain Trip, a well-known whaling captain
OF san Francisco. who has made -cycral voy-
ages TO the Arctic ocean. on the Pacific side.
lie has no faith IN the open sea at the pole.
His trip 70 the world of ice the present year
has but confirmed his experiences in tie past.
No vessels have been able 10 get further than
63S north this year: captains and all report
heavy ice in the Arctic. In one Of ms vow
ages, while Captain Trip was master of the
bark Arctic, he reached as high as latitude
80. In 1870 Wrangels Land was clear Of
ice, and in 1871 his ship was within 4 mile Of
the shore Of that land, which no human being
has ever stepped upon, 50 far az history tells.
This desolate island lies to the northwest Of
Behring's straits, and nearly IN latitude T4S
and west longitude 1892. Ii may be as large
as Cuba, or larger; but, unlike that tropic
island. IL Is given over 70 icy desolaiion-and
possibly to seals and polar bears. Parry, in
1927, working norshward away TO the east OF
this unknown land, made his way about 50
farther north and Kane went up on the
Greenland side, to about 500; but, though the
Pacific side is evidently the right way for a
voyage to the pole, this latitude OF 500 has
w - AtAI IA Az NiAAbNAaNA0 VI
Wrangel's Land, unless by whalers, who could
not land.
OF this unknown land Captain Trip saw
something, IN that favorable ice season Of
1871. With the aid Of a splendid glass, he
got a good view Of the land, but he was uu-
able to see any human habltations, or evidence
thereof. No animal life was visible save sea-
birds. that fitted in mid-air along the shore.
The earth was green, no snow being visible
anywhere. \ coast range Is visible from the
ocean, which resembles the coast regions
along our Pacific coast. Shrubs were plainly
visible, but Captain Trip was unable to dis
cover any large trees or forests.
Wrangel's Land runs northwest. and, 50 far
as known, extends indefinitely into regions
never penetrated by man. unless il be the
EsquimaUx. The Indians inhabiting that por-
tiOn of Alaska bordering on the North pole
have no traditions that any people have ever
been seen on Wrangel's Land, though they state
that deer Of a variety unknown to Alaska have
been found on Herald Island, in the heart
of the Arctic, and from which the land named
can be distinctly seen. 1t is supposed that
the animals made their way across the ice
from the mainland Of Wrangel to the island.
No canoe, clothing or relics of any kind have
drifted from Wrapgei's Land to Alaska, as an
indication that another race of human beings
existed in the unexplored regions Of the
Arctic.
Still, it is believed by those sea captains
WIZ A"'S bNNSH NANS wv oANH' NhhN WV
mysterious country alluded to is habitable.
The fact that no snow was to be seen, that
vegetation looked green and vigorous, and
that mountains doomed up in the distance, as
sheltering fortresses for the valleys, are so
many proofs that humanity could find n foot
hold there. 1t seems that no whaling captains
have ever attempted to land on Wrangel's
Land, but it must be remembered that they
visit the Arctic regions as business men, and
not as explorers.
Captain Trip says that if the North Pole is
ever to be discovered, the discovery will be
made from the Pacific side, as navigators can
reach many degrees further north on the
Pacific without suffering the inconvenience from
climatic rigors that beset explorers on the Allan
tic. At Kotzebuc Sound, at the mouth of
Buckland river, Captain Trip saw land 700
feet high, beneath which a stratum Of ice was
distinctly visible. At Point Barrow the land
is only six feet above the ice, all beneath being
a stratum of CONCEALED water. How deep this
stratum is remains unknown, hut it lis certain
that the earth has gradually formed itself on the
ice. There is reason to believe that Wrangel's
Land is of the like formation, at least along the
shore. There is no telling how far the ice body
extends inland as a substratum.