Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-08-19
SEEING THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Congressman Cox's Adventure at the
North Cape Of Lapland.
Sunset no MOrs..-Arollo Scenes at the
Cape...The Rocky Sentinel Of
the North OF Europe.

Vll6 OOn8IeSSmdlli has oeCh W a SUN
mer trip to the north of Europe in
search Of a midnight sun. The first
week in July he was at North Cape,
Lapland, which locks out upon the
Arctic ocean, is thirty degrees north
of New York, and what is more to the
purpose, the sun don't go down on the
| North Cape for some weeks in mid
summer. He was not in search OF
sunsets, but of midnight sun, where
the circle girdles the earth with only
5000 miles. Mr.. Cox writes to the
| New York Sun from North Cape,
Lapland, July /, in his usual happy
way:
NORTH OF ICELAND AND GREENLAND.
1 At the North Cape we look out upon
| the Arctic Ocean; and but for dis
lance and Spitzbergen, not to speak
of another small isle between, which
lies due north, we could see the Polar
Sea, il not the polel Let us be con
tent with the prospect Besides, have
we not gone eastward as we'll as north
ward? We are over thirty degrees
north of New York and Chicago.
| Our longitude has moved us eastward;
and the time, as men reckon time. has
changed. Every FIVE degrees eastward
has made difference Of twenty min
utes. Our meals and clocks must
/, undergo their changes. We have
come TO meet the sun east as well as
north, and are adding something to
our lives, as some men count living.
Being extremely north, and the circle
of longitude being less, we mark time
more rapidly than in New York; and
certainly make more time" than |
have known to be made in Waghing-
ton! But whether the degrees be long
or short the real time is the same. A
degree here is twenty-five miles, while
at the equator it is four times as
much.
So accessible are these ultra north
ern places by steam voyaging on this
coast that we forget how far north we
are. Iceland is far south of US, Green
land is below our line drawn circularly
westward, and BehriDg Strait is not
within our magic Arctic circle. The
pole of the magnet would be fourd
attracting us by its marvellous energy,
somewhere on the same lines of lati-
tude where we now move, to the throb-
bing Of the engine and the motion Of
the sea.
How does this wild north rock ap-
pear? Its size is not great compared
with other mountains, but it is fit
ting end of great continent. 1t is
scanned with long lines of white and
black, as though marked by fire and
thunder. 1t has its caves washed by
epochs of oceanic tempest. AT its
base is a green fringe Of seaweeds,
which, on near inspection, we 6nd
very Shiny and dangerous to stand
upon. Below this is white line of
breakers, in snowy contrast with the
bleak mountain and green margin
Our vessel turns around the point and
enters into the shadows Of the noun
tain. The harbor, if it be one, is as
black as ink. When we stop the
screw stirs the dark food into flashes
of green and white, making it seem to
boil with unaecustomed noise, so deep
is the silence and solitude. The throb
of the engine and the song of the sea
cease, and we are comparatively quiet
in this lonely cove.
SUNSET NO MORE.
Midnight draws near, and all are
anxious. The anchors are lifted. The
usual clangor disturbs one solitary
bird, cormorant, which flies around
our boat as though inspecting the in
vaders Of his melancholy home. He
is used to sitting upon these rocks--a
lonely fsherman-from which, unlike
the noble gull, he dives for his prey.
Steam is up. The hour of IL APP
proaches. All are on the qui vive for
the midnight SUM- Twenty of us are
at the Prov with our watches out.
| The old orb is radiant. The Captain
calls. out. Five minutes of l2W
| Will the orb disappoint us? There is
a heavy cloud above in the zenith, but
il is lined with silver, and a mackerel
line of cirrus clouds lies just above his
majesty. Like a king of day he is
enthroned without observation be-
tween the long line Of clouds, sitting
on pearl and amber, orange and gold
all the hues Of the prism intensified
with soft, weird radiance by the strug
| gle between sunrise and sunset.
A minute to ~ He still remains,
round and radiant. Twelve? Hur-
rah! Hurrahl 1t is done, aud the
cheers 90 No from this solitude, arous-
ing its echoes. Fhe rim of the horizon,
far off to the north, where the pole is
supposed to be, is silyered with pale,
weird beauty. 1t grows pink, and this
Arctic desolation is made in living
splendOr.
Self withdrawn into WOndrous depth,
Far sinking into splendor without end!
| This is the wondrous phenomenon
which We have come SO far to witness.
The Captain is on the bridge. III
fat accOmpli, sing out to him from
below.
Give it to me in good English,
Moister Cox" | say, "We are all
happy. The great transaction is done. !"
/ We lad made many sacrifices to see
this remarkable performance of our
luminary. Not that either of us was
over anxious to find land where sun
set did not occur. We had hoped that
| there was no realm in this or the fu-
ture existence where Sunset" might
not come. But | may be allowed to
remark that | have borne the soubri-
quet OF Sunset" for many years, and
It has sounded with such sweet gibila.
ton, that | come to believe that | had
a sort Of fee simple in its faerie land
with its gorgeous palaces and cloud
capped towers.