New-York tribune., 1886-02-14
GREELY'S RECORD.
r1,ppr WEARS OF ARCTIC SERVICE.

lSSi-'Si and the Attainment OF THO f"r1heSt H',tn M
nv hdouhns ". Greedy. VOLS, large 0No" PIP
st2. New-Yofk: Charles scribners Sons
This work is the most important in its department
since the publication of the Voyage OF the ' eea
Jtmay be approached from three points OF VIC"
first AS contrbutio to the general stock OF h'hai
knowledge: secondly as a thrilling harla'No Va
Arctic eporaton, adventure and disaster anu
tbirllv, as a defence of the management ana CON
dnct of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. IL Is
difficult to decide in which respect 1t eXccis' hS "
record of the physical conditions oil the at NoI'"
aa of ov,o-otons of ice-bound lands. it is admir-
lle alike for the body of information II contains
d Cor tbo scientific spirit which it dlscloses AS II
,ecta uf the experiences of the gallant garrison vi
Fort Conger in field and in camp IN the snccesSlCi
nrosecuton of its abOrs and in peIlous retreat anu
final disaster it will thrill the pulse oil every
reader who has in his veins anything warnel
than iced d-water As a defence OF the cohuucV Di
the expedition it is complete and unanswcrapIe' III
q General wav il may DO said that the merits OF
inc work. both in matter and manner, are many ana
conspcnOus and the blemishes few and unmport-
.rt The arrangement is ORDERLY the literary
workmanship excellent and the style direct clear
simn,e and vigorous, albeit unpretentlous anu
sinqularly modest and sclf-restra:ned. Ihe booh
makers have been remarkably successful lor tno''
mart Handsomer volumes than these IN letter-
press and binding seldom seen; ana inc l'i"S'"
tions nearly a hundred in number and made from
photographs taken by the party, are most Vl'lu anu
spirited reproductions of Arctic scenes.
II is en- inently proper that these Voiuhles Suo"i
bear in nearly every chapter the stamp OF q Hun u
sc,ence The only ground on which Arctic eXpiora
49, ~ Tho neesent dav can be justified is that OF
nbvscal research conducted for the high enu oil
nromotjng human knowledge The Lady trankHh
Raw Fxpedition was organized on a sclentluc OASIS
md not as a scheme Of haphaZard exploration an"
adventure like the voyage OF the Jeahhe'to' ~
occupied the northernmOst station IN polar ring o
simultaneous observation established on hNeu Prln
oiples and for definite purposes lis scieh'lhc WotN
began when the Proteus left Newfoundland July l.
,se, and terminated June 81, 1854, forty hours
before the rescue of the survivors at camp C"'S'
At Fort Congcr for two years there were oZo op-
oryotions made and recorded every day and on
snccifed term-days the number of maGnetlcal oo-
sorvations was increased to over l,2oO. OhIy
single chapter is devoted 10 the primary OBJECT lo
which the expedition was organized O"t I'm
,oories of the technical information are furnlsheu
in an admirable series of appendices and references
are MADE in the body of the narrative TO all IaVIs Vi
striking Importance. This service was most coh-
scientiously rendered and the recOrds anu lnSu"-
,ne,,ts were carried 500 miles during the perllous
and agonizing retreat No finer Illustration ol He"i
ond fidelity in the pur1uit of scientific interests
has ever been afforded than the persistent refusal
of these soldiers to abandon the great penduiuh
when they were striving to reach land from tnc
foes in Smith Sound
The amount of field work done by the parl! was
extraordinary On 262 of the 453 days Wheh
the sun shone from one to three sedge parties were
employed in journeys entaiing from two TO SiA'y
days' absence and 5000 miles OF travel Inc eA-
plorations covered IL degrees of latitude ana 10
degrees of longitude, embracing one-eight of the
Il - nh i.
Northward a latitude never before attained on lahd
ar eaa was reached. The coast of Greenland was
extended and accurately charted for 100 niles be-
yond limits previously known. The surprising re-
sults of Lieutenant Lockwoods sledge Journey ID
1882 would have been surpassed the next year II
the dsintegratiOn of the polar pack on Black horns
Cliffs had not compelled HIM 10 turn back lie h'd
reached that point twenty-five days Garner lhah IL
tbe nrevous season had forty one days ration and
with good reason expecting to reach either the
northernmost point of Greenland or else the o1th
narallel Even if he could have travelled no more
rapidlv than before he wOuld yet have had seven
teen davs for new discoveries after reaching MS
furthest point at LOcE Island II the Iaieo-
crystIc Sea- which Mares and Markham had pro
nounced immovable, had not opened both there ana
in the west. where Dr. Pavy was following closely
in the track of the Engshmen, magnificent results
wOuld have been secured. 10 the westward the
Polar Ocean
Gr,nneu Land. while the interior OF that country
had been surveyed its extra )-dil ~ physical
geography determined, and thJ oC'l nes of It's
northwestern coast fixed with tOcrc bic certainty,
Iieutenant Greelys personal explorations IN Grin
nell Land. exclusive OF the subsequent journey OF
Lieutenant Lockwood IN the same quarter EN-
braced 1000 square miles of neWly discovered land,
or an area conciding with that of the entire land
discoveries of the English expedition. lhe lake
region and the numerous valleys covered with com
paratvely luxuriant vegetation, which affords srl-
cent pasturage for large droves OF musk oxen con-
vinced the author that similar conditions prevail in
Northern Greenland and that Nordenskjold might
have found the fertile valleys OF which he was IN
ouest if he had looked for them hundred
miles TO the north. Lieutenant Greely believes
that from Thank God HarbOr, where Captain Hall
died. one may travel to St. George Fiord and prob
ably thence through inlets and connecting valleys
70 the east coast of Greenland. Such trip be had
planned buI he forced to abandon it for want
of dogs His view OF the state ot ice at the Pole IS
succnctly stated;
doubt not that in the vicinity of the North and
Sonth Poles are glacial lands entirely covered by
ice-cops of enormous thickness, which throw of the
hinge hoebergs of the north and he yet moro remark
able hat-tOpped lcebergs OF the south. he nOrt1
nolar land is | believe of limited extent. and It's
shores or the edges Of its glaciers, are washed by
sea which from its size and consequent high tenn
ITS ceasecsS tldeS ana StOn8 currents can
never be entirely ice-cad. Nordenskj0ld believes
in the open convinced by the polar pack setting
northward from Mussel Bay in ls72. Mares even
would seem to be uncertain on this point, else he
never would have equipped Commander Markham
with the heavy boats hanled by his party in 1875
The wise discretion Of Mares is evidenced by Pavyt
eyperience in $50. and this OF Lockwood IN 1883
That the TegctthOd and Jeannettc drifted north
ward winter as well as summer is cOnfrmatorv evi
aence of an open polar sea- Far be IT from me t
advocate "A navigable polar sea. On the contrary
am firmly possessed with the idea that ice-be
from tifty To a hundred miles wide borders the land
10 the sOuthward, aud that the water space to tht
northwald can only be entered IN extremely favor
able years by the Sptzbergen route
Lieutenant Greely believes that Greenland doe
not extend beyond the S5th parallel, but is con