The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1884-09-26

POLAR LIFE.
Two Trips to Cap IIeechy---A Big
Wolf Killrd---iicautifuI Arctic
Phenomena.

"OlI htllrh---ib'autfIul arctic
PhrnOmena.
While the first exploring party sent
out by Liru'. Greedy was on the way to
Lincoln bay, he was encouraged by
the open water in Halls basin TO send
boat party, under Sergt. Brainard, to
Cape Bcechy. The story that follows
of their trip. and of camp life in the
polar regions, is taken from Sergt.
Rce'S diary:
This expedition TO Cape Beechy en-
countered the greatest difficulties and
experienced remarkable escapes from
being crushed between the ever mov-
ing and changing ice-floes that threat
ened to close in on the party. When
Mount Beaufort, few miles short of
our destination, was reached, it was
found impossible TO return by water
because of the crowding ice. Conse-
quently tho boat in which the party
had como was hauled upon the ice
foot. where it remained until August of
next wear, and so the return TO the sta
ton was made by land. The time in
which the round trip was made was
from August 81. TO September 8, in
elusive. On September ID party met
n pack Of nineteen wolves, but the ami
mails, although apparently hungry,
would not come within rifle shot. BY
September 20 it was concluded that, rs
the temperature was but 10 degrees be-
low zero. the party was in the midst of
an Indian summer. The increasing
cold, however, soon drove the members
of the party indoors, although the out
door work was still prosecuted yigor-
ously. The working party were bank
ing the house and piling and covering
up the provisions and commissary
stores. The scientific corps were
hourly observing barometers, ther-
mometers, and tide gauge, watching
the vagaries of the magnet, and max
ing photographs. BY September %,
wolves had located themselves near
the station, their prey being musk
oxen. A wolf weighing eighty-one
pounds. and having .'long white fur,
sparscly intermingled on The back with
black hair" was shot almost from tho
door of the station, where it had doubt
less been attracted by the pangs of
hunger. The animal measured five
feet nine inches from nose to tip of tail,
and stood thirty-three inches high.
1--WE were" writes Sergt. Rice,
"struck with the great resemblance to
our dogs, and could readily accept the
theory that the Esquimaux dog is only
domesticated wolf. The tracks of
both are similar, and the only differ
ence that we could detect was in size"
On September "a Lieut.. Lockwood,
with four men, went with provisions to
department "B." near Cape Beechy,
and three days later returned with
section of n large and wcll-preserved
piece of driftwood, thirty feet long and
ten inches in diameter. that had been
found in St. Patrick's bay. The
Fahrenheit scale showed the following
thcrmomctric scale for September:
Mean temperature, 1919; maximum 80,
,nd minimum l0.4 October opened
with cloudy, drcary weather. and on
the second day Of the month the ther-
mometer showed the remarkable
change in temperature of % degrees,
from 9 degrees above to 1873 below.
On October ~ beautiful halo accom-
panied the sun all day, and in the
evening mock moons were observed.
These Arctic phenomena were of fire.
quent occurrence during the autumn"
During this time the temperature out
side WAS "a and 20 degrees, and during
October considerable snow fell, though
thi. did not prevent small parties from
being on the hunt almost ali the time
10 Cape Baird and the Bellows for
musk-ox meat. Mount Oyitus was
also asccnded, though this was attend
ed with much difficulty. as it rises
above the snow valleys and cliffs 1900
feet. There was," writes Sergt.
Rice, something awful in the inn
pressivc scene OF desolation spread
around. No sign OF animal or vege-
table life-bare, desOlate, and chaotic;
n world unfinished by the hand of its
CREATOR and such silence! ] am sure
that ordinary quiet would have been
an uproar compared to that which sur.
rounded us. Eugene Aram should
have been transported by tho poet to
such place to give full play to his.
study of guilty conscience. All this:
while the sun had been gradually cur
failing its light. and on October IA it.
disappeared for 1856 days. and in de-
scribing this change the diary reads:
1--WE all rushed out ut noon, and, sure
enough, Old Sol only showed part OF
his disk for few moments, sprinkling
the ice and snow with silver and Grys-::
tails, and then sank laZily back in q
beautiful glow of warm, rosy colors.
1t was ono of the few glorious pictures!
vouchsafed the Arctic sojourner, but;
one which carried with it too many
shadows as we thought of the night of
months when even the recreant sun
leaves and is away with our absent
friends at home. Then succeeded a,
soft. musty. pearly twilight, merginga q
few hours later into darkness, and
each day the twilight decreased until,
q week later, Jupiter. Arcturus, Ca.
pella, and Alpha Geminorum twinkled
dimly at midday. In few days they.
were joined by Mars, Polaris, Vega.
Castor and Pollux, and the Cygni. "
The light was still sufficient to enable
short trips to be made. One party had
gone to Beechy and built n commodious
snow-house for the accommodation of
prospective sledge parties. Others.
had mined Goals and taken them to-
Cape Murchison. Fourteen days after
the sun had disappeared Sergt. Rice
tested the active power of the solar
light by exposing a sensitive photo
graphic plate-one of Carbutt's dry
plates-for an hour at noon, and got q
very distinct impression of landscape.
The same experiment was repeated
with almost as good result the next
spring. seventeen days before the re-
appearance of tho sun. The mimi
mum temperature for October was
81 l, with mean range of-9.2. Those
figures were noted from hourly obser-
vations, and were duly corrected SO as
10 show accuracy.-M y Herald
A few days ago, says the Grass Val