National Republican., 1883-10-22

tcus. ltis of tho utmost Importance that sho
take advantage of every lead to get up to
Lady Franklin bay.
COMMANDER wmDEs' REPLY.
U. s. S. YANTIc, THIRD RATE, NAVY
YARD, N. Y, Oct. 16, 1SS3.-llON. w. L.
CHANDLER, SECRETARY or THE NAVY,
WASHINGTON, ID. C--Sir; have TO acknowl-
edge the receipt of the departments letter Of
the tenth instant requesting information on
certain points in connection with the late
cruise of this vessel to the Arctic seas.
My orders directed mo to proceed to tho
northward through Daviss straits, in com
pauy with the Proteug if practicable .
which ship, being fitted for cruising in the
ice, will probably take advantage of oppor
tunitics 60 reach her destination, which you
would not feel authorized in taking in the
Nantic. o 81 You will tako on
board mt st. Johns all tho coal that you can
safely carry, below and on deck, rs IL is very
desirable that you reach your destination
with an ample supply still remaining for use.
1t may be possible to obtain o small supply of
coal on the coast of Greenland, but this can
not be relied upon.'
sailed from st. Johns with 1D7 tons of
coal below and on deck; tho Protcus carried
between 500 and 600 tons. The Yantic, steam
ing with six fires, makes an average speed of
64 to knots per hour in smooth water. The
Proteus, stcaming at full speed (Which Capt.
Pike told me he used, made about 81 to .
knots per hour On the run to Godhaven,
under suil alone kept we'll to the eastward
to avoid the Labrador ice Tho Protous, some
sixty miles west of our track, under steam,
pushed through stream of ice for five hours,
which was of heavier nature than they are
accustomed to meet on that coast and which,
her officers stated, could not have been pene-
trated by the Yantic. The boilers of this ves-
sci were IN an unreliable condition when sho
was ordered to fit for the northern cruise.
Repairs were pushed night and day to hasten
her departure, but, not being finished on
sailing day, the material for completing the
work was put on board. Repairs were con-
tinued in st. Johns, but on rpassage to God
haven they were discontinued as it was desira-
bic to have steam power ready TO use in case
of necessity. Having arrived at Godhaven,
and knowing that from thence northward
our main dependence would be on the engines,
determined to get the boilers in fair Condi-
tion before leaving. This took six days.
One day was then taken to get coal from
brig Peru, which had just arrived; then thick
stormy weather set in, which delayed our de-
parture two days.
l arrived in Godhaven with 10 tons of coal
In these narrow seas 1 thought the ship able
to carry more than when she left st. John,
and deemed it prudent for future operations
to provide as much as possible. For this pur-
pose l went to Rittenbank, where twenty
tons were procured, and thence to Kudliset
whore the supply was completed. Our
bunkers and decks were then full, and being
now as we'll prepared as l was able, July %
we proceeded northward.
My instructions also stated that you will
rely to certain extent upon the information
which is given you by the Danish authori-
ties at Disco and Upernavik as to the proba-
bic movements of ice, &c, &C." | visited
Upernavik to obtain this information, arriv-
ing at 10 p. m. July25. BY morning u dense
fog had set in, and continued with slight in
termissions until the thrty-first, when it
cleared and ] proceeded to sea.
No time was lost, and no unnecessary delay
was made at any point. The Proteus, carry
ing large supply of coal and steaming at
full speed, had only to delay TO obtain the
stores left at Godhaven last year and n
native dog driver from Disco ford. She then
went north without stopping.
Had | sailed from Godhaven at the same
time rs the Protcus, besides being unable to !
keep up with her, l should have arrived at |
Littleton island, 1000 miles distant, with my |
coal supply reduced to about seventy-five |
tors, and tho boilers in lealty, precarious
condition. (This vessel burns with six fires |
economical steaming, thirteen tons per day, |
besides an average of one ton per day for con-
densing and galley.) This is without taking
into account any detention from thick weather
CT ice, which cannot be counted on, as the
norInal condition Of this region appears to be
fog.
The body of water known rs Melville bay
is so little understood generally that short
description may not be out of place here
From Cape Shackleton. which may be re-
garded as the southern point, the coast trends
northerly $50 miles to Cape Walker, thence
westerly 150 miles to Cape Dudley Digges |
The coast line is one vast glacier, the |
rocky headlands only projecting, which |
constantly discharges multitudes of ice |
beggs, many Of enormous size. These,
lpiI IN
ing in the shoal water south Of Cape |
York, frequently hang up for % whole season
the vast fields OF ice which accumulate during |
the winter. When not so hung up by bergs |
the main or " middle" pack, which is out
of tho influence of the current from Smiths |
sound to Davis's straits, drifts back and forth
with the prevailing winds, at times leaving
open water between it and the fast ice and
again closing.
Tho North Star was caught in August
1S4D, and luckily broke out after hair
breadth escapes on twenty-titth of Septem-
ber, and succeeded in getting into Wolsten-
holm sound, whore she wintered. The first
Grinnell expedition, in 1855, was caught in
the pack early in July and not released until
Aug Is. In 1857 the Fox was caught south
of Cape York and driitcd all winter in the
pack. In 1875 the Alert and Discovery met
the pack just outside the Brown islands, near
Upernavik, and were thirty-four hours
second Of july 1876, the Pandora was boset |
fer eight days in the pack and only sue
cceded by great cXcrtions in freeing herself |
having been in imminent danger of being |
crushed. Many whale ships have been lost in |
this bay. During one year the governor of |
Upernavik states that ho had 200 men thrown |
on his bounty whose ships had been crushed |
in the ice. (See proceedings U. S. naval ill.,
stitute, Dec, IL, 1879
Commander Markham, second in command
of the Alert, an Arctic navigator of no mean
Topute, says: "The dangers connected with u
passage through Melville bay are now so we'll
known to all who have taken any interest in
Arctic affairs, or who have devoted any time
to the perusal Of Arctic literature, that it is
needless for me either to explain or dwell
upon them at any length. Many we'll
equipped ship has been caught in the fatal
embrace of this bay What tales of woo and
disaster could its icy waters unfold, &C."
Capt. q. S. Mares, commanding the British
polar expedition Of 1896, having been
thirty-four hours in the middle pack, says
although we made SO successful voyage
through II locality justly dreaded by expert
enced ice nayigatoTs, the conclusion must not
be hastily arrived at that similar passage
can always bo commanded Had strong
breeze set in whiIe we We're among the ice
We should have been beset in the pack, and,
at the very least, delayed several days"
In view of these fucts | should have felt
justified in delaying TO u still later date tho
attempt TO cross Melville bay, or even not
making the attempt at all. But did not
delay one moment after considered my ship
prCparcd and the weather had cleared but