Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-10-18
COMMANDER SCHLEY.
Fa.eination Of the Arctic Regions--BntiinR
m, IccIera.

4
au Iccbera.
! I,pry,cw In the Bo.ton Commonwealth
"Had YOU any unexpected experience,
when Won got into the higher attitudes
aside from the general one pertaining 10
the expcditioD?'
"Oh. yes. ono morning. for instance.
when the atmosphere was hay from a
| light fail Of SNOW. ia going a stiG ninc-knOt
/ gait. we ran plump into an iceberg that
| was in our way, and which no one could
see. For n moment ! thought every mat
wOnld 70 by the board, and that my hair
| and teeth had preceded them. ! never got
| quite such shock. vas nearly thrown
I out Of the crows nest. expected soon 10
! hear The Alert was leaking. Bur, strange
| a. il NAV seem, with Il rebound OF Of least
/ thirty feet. there was not sem
started. II waa almost miraculous that
we Lad no catastrophe. and sho -
how thoroughly that ship was built
for Just such encounters in those seas. Ca
another occasion, when over against thc
| Greenland coast. ! counted not less than
1890 icebcrgs that had been pushed from
the .glati a formation on the slOplng head
lands 81 the coast INTO the sea. We c9ult
occasionally bear the cracking that indi-
Gated the assure; but the sight OF these
majestic mOnarchs Of the sea sliling oil in
the morning sunlight, with all the c)l0rS
Of the prism, was something that cannot he
described. Fascinating rcglonI do you
ask. Never one more so. wanted to
stay there awhile. Even the men took at
New Bedford and New London jumped ut
Tie chance TO go, though some Of them said
they did not expect 10 come back again.
Why. after We got GreCly, and our mission
liSt I feif .,
oi DISAPPOINTMENT that, with seyenty.tw1
days Of summer weather before me, and an
open sea. was Obliged 10 turn my prov
lOmCward and abandon the chance 10 get a
higher latitude than any other explorer"
"no YOU think you would have had a
success bad You been Ut liberty 10 have en-
tered on such q trip"
&" Il seemed so: at least. just then. Aud
this leads me to sag that the remark have
quoted from Weyprecht was yindiclted In
my experience. The theory o. winter So
lourninS in the high latiiudes. in order to
be on The ground for another seasons con-
tiuuance, is. in my judgment, all mistake.
The men might as well come home and
have the advantages Of civilization. No.
thing Is gained 10y remaining within the /
Arctic circle that cannot he relliZtd the |
next season by starting early il the condi- !
tons are favorable. And these conditions /
rest upon an open sea. Now. some seasons |
al, the waters are filed with ice that il is /
impossible 10 penetrate. The very next |
season every strait, bay. and channel is /
likely to he open water. The winds, /
currents. and many unknown or nm /
influences alcc: The ice.
What should be done is to get |
everything in readiness early in lie !
year. and by May or carly June 1
be 1t the upper settlements. Then follow
the open water, and the occasion
VIII come. sooner or later. when the pole
will he reached. In my case ] could have
cot far to the northward. and, il caught in
The upper seas, had provisions that would
have lasted possibly two years, before
which time | shoad haze worked out Of
The trap. In this connection. let NE tell
IN ancedote. We were buitng pretty
.hectually ore day some ice that impcded
,uT progress, when one of the Dundee
Whaling captains said in admiration o. our
'rowets: 'Ye did that buitering IN ioinc
lyle. and ii l. tough ship that you have;
,It, If Won keep il mp, y0uwili rum your
hip for a second season. Second season =
I-'nOnc Tor ne, il you please
We shall lind Grcely and he back again
ong before we begin 10 divide the scaSOns'
4 nd so IL turucd niIf -