The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-06-19
EXPLORATION OF GREENLAND.

Lieutenant Robert Peary OF the United |
States navy, with the assistance OF the |
Philadelphia Academy OF Sciences, the
American Geographical Society and the
National Academy Of Sciences, proposes
to explore part OF the world which, SO
far as is known, has never been trodden
by the foot of man-namely, the north
end of Greenland. Twice within few
wears Southern Greenland has been
crossed by daring travellers, who marched
on foot from point near Cape Hide
brandt, on the east coast, to the neigh
borhood of Frederikshaab, on the west.
They reported sea of ice of unknown
depth, which covered the face of the
land and never melted. Except as rec
ords of human endurance their journeys
were unfruitful of result. Southern
Greenland has often been circumnavl-
gated, and exploration of the interior
added nothing to the knowledge which
had been acquired by observations from
the decks of ships.
But the northern point OF the island,
or peninsula, or whatever it may be, Is
an unraveled mystery. From Cape Bis
Rsrcko Pr a tbe saRE 9aas IL e SoaRe ne
Rows of dots indicate an UNEMPLOYED
with north boundary about the eighty
third parallel. 1t may be peninsula
| jutting out from Siberia and embracing
| Franz Josef land as one of its promOn-
tories Or it may be an Arctic CONT
nent spreading up to and beyond the
Pole. Nothing but actual observation
can determine the question. To con-
tribute his share to the extension of
nh ln1n
| Lieutenant Peary proposes to take pas
sage on board Dundee whaler that will
land him at Whale Sound, few miles
south of the spot which was reached by
| Lockwood and Brainard of the Greedy
party, and to which they gave the name
| OF Cape Lincoln. There he will winter
| and accumulate such stores as he may
| find against his long tramp into the un-
known world. Early in the spring of
| 1892 he will start on foot, drawing
| sledge after him, along the north coast of
| Greenland. He says himself that he
| does not know how or when he will re-
| turn. If Greenland turns out to be an
island with north coast running along
| the line of SD deg. or Whereabouts, and
an east coast running along the line of
| goth deg. of longitude, he may find his
way to some settlement in King Will
| liams Land. But it is more likely that
| when he has determined the north coast
line for certain distance he will return
to his base of operations.
He will have the glory of being the
only man who ever willingly undertook
journey in the latitude of SD deg.
| north. DR.. Kane, and many others
since his day, reached the S0th deg. The
north coast OF Spitzbergen and the south
coast of Franz Josef Land are in that
meridian. The north beach of Grant
Land crosses the line of sd deg. Lock-
wood and Brainard just touched SD
| deg. But that has been the extreme
limit of Polar exploration. 1t evidently
may fall to the lot of Lieutenant Peary to
get nearer to the North Pole than any of
| his predecessors in Arctic adventure.
The Importance of geographical ex-
| ploratlon in Greenland arises from the
fact that some men of science regard it
as the last remaining vestige of the ice
age. At short distance from the shore
it Is one vast unbroken mass of ice. in
places, according to Lieutenant Peary, a
mile thick. This ice is covered in winter
| and spring with a coating of snow. In
summer the snow melts and forms lakes,
or, where the conformation of the ground
favors, streams, which flow down into
the lords and assist in launching ice
bergs. 1t presents the appearance which
the northern countries of the world must
have presented during the last great ice
drift. AS the coast is reached tn. eli
mate grows milder and patches of soil
are exposed, on which a few vegetables
are raised, and as the coast line is under
going process of depression-some
places which were once inhabited having
already sunk below the surface of the
seattle theory has been started that
the whole country will some day be SUBJ
merged, and so pass out of the ice age
This and other problems it will be the
privilege Of Lieutent Peary to help deter
mine. The civilized world will wish |
him good fortune on his daring voyage.
-TCall