The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-08-13
Tho North Pole

1t is a misrepresentation 10 suppose the chief
purpose Of Arctic exploration is to reach the
north pole The north pole has figured in the
schemes Of scientific explorers only as a dcs-
irable incident in the carrying out Of their
work. Geographers talk Of the north pole
quest pure and simple as an unscieuliic and a
puerile idea. What explorers arc really cx-
pected to do is to advance as far as practical
bic into the unknown region, to study its geo
graphy and make important scientific observa-
tions. Captain Mares, nine years ago, had to
halt 400 miles this side Of the pole But his
expedition was a brilliant success, because he
entered the great frozen sea north Of this con-
tinent, exploring the coast line for distance
of thiriy-fve degrees Of longitude and brought
home a great mass Of interesting scientific
data.
1t is impossible to form an idea Of a tempest
in the Polar seas. The icebergs are like float
ing rocks whirled along a rapid current. The
huge crystal mountains dash against each
other, backward and forward, bursting with
roar like thunder, and returning to the
charge until, losing their equilibrium, they
tumble over in a cloud Of spray, upheaying
the ice-felds, which fall aftcrward like tile
crack Of a whip-lash on the boiling sea. The
sea-gulls fly away screaming, and often a
black, shining whale comes for an instant
puffirg to the surface. When the midnight sun
grazes the horizon, the floating mountains and
the rocks seem immersed in a wave Of beauti-
full light. The cold Is by no means so insup-
portable as is supposed. We passed from a
heated cabin at 30 above zero to Il lelow
zero in the open air without inconvenience. y
much higher degree of cold becomes, however,
insufierabc if there is wind. At fifteen de
grees below zero a steam, as if from a boiling
kettle, rises from the water At once frozen
by the wind, it falls into fine powder. This
phenomenon is called sea-smokc. At forty
degrees the snow and human bodies also
smoke, which smoke at once changes into mil
lions Of tiny particles, like needles of ice,
which fill the air and make a light continuous
noise, like the rustic Of a stiff silk. At this
temperature the trunks Of trees burst with a
loud report, the rocks break up, and the earth
opens and vomits smoking water Knives
break in cutting butter. Cigars 20 out by
contract with the ice on the beard. To talk is
fatiguing. At night the eyclids are covered
with crust Of ice which must be carefully
removed before one can open them.
The leading geographcrs assert that Arctic
exploration is Of immense value to the world
both in its scientific and in its commercial as
poets. They say that winds, tides, terrestrial
magnetism, meteOrology and other important
phenomena cannot be thoroughly investigated
except under many different conditions Of
temperature and locality. Among many tn
umphs of Arctic research they mention the fix
ing Of the position Of the true magnetic pole
by Ross, the finding Of a simple means Of
keeping the needle pointing 10 the true north
in high ATTITUDES, the discovery Of the com
mercial mineral cryolito, aud Of the great
whaling and sealing grounds in the Spitz-
bergen and North Greenland seas. They as
sert also that. in spite Of the frghtful disasters
that have befallen some exploring parties, the
loss Of life has been small. About three per
cent. Of the Arctic explorers have died in the
course Of theiE work-not large proportion
when compared with the mortality among
African explorers.-L New York Sun.