The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1894-03-30
An OPEN POLAR sen,

An VI IN i"hAi' 'T-''
That steamer can pass through the Arctic
Ocean in certain, wears is III. opioion Of Cap
fam 4 II. Mc;rreg2r. da,ed un3n his cN-
prrience in the poIu region. Cap. ain Ne
Grpo,r has seen twenty three wears service in
the Attic and comm auds the Il .amai Orea,
owned by the Pacific Whaling Company. of
san Fradcisco He was al tie Hotel Perkins
few DAYS last week. aud talked Of his OK
per;ence.
"last year. he said. nine of the Pacifc
Whaling Companys steamers and ships reach
ed Cape Bathhurst, the furlhcst point nor h
and east ever reached by vessel OF Any kind.
We had been whaling in 3ariu- Ssa. AID
having finished what is termed die outside
catch in JuIy, we started for the Alttic to
finish the season. We passed along the s.
shore rounded Point Barrow, and then made.
the ipurney to the cape which is near tne.
Mackenzie River. We cas- anchor and VIVA ed
there tie rest Of tie season The natives
were somewhat surprised al car appearance.
but as they had seen white men before, they
soon overCame whatever fear thay might have
felt and became very friendly The did rGl
differ in the least from other Esqui,naux.
We sounded The ocean rear the Mackenzie.
and found that beat drawing more than
four feet OF water could not approach within
thirty miles OF the river The ! ma on b Ill
sides was III >una;uous and coyeId with Snow.
| The oldest ua'iv: told u that il was many
winners since wnite men came by boat, which
led me to believe thai 10 bJ4t h.d reached
the cape since Cap. rolInson was tha.e IN
SO. Co. CrlI;n<pn and his p!rv visited
The place in sn.Il b4ao when 1h5Y were
making survey OF the Esij>h possessions.
but they We're compelled to remain there thrrc
years before hey could return. Sir john
Franklin passed the cape in small boats on his
famous expedition, AMI cam as ftr wet Is
Franklin, or Il t I'm Reef.
There evident Y became discouraged and
dishea1tened, and start ID on his return trip.
Had he known that he had a clear sea before
him, he doubtless would have continued on
his way and lived to tell future generations
OF the hardShlpS Connected with Arctic eA-
ploratlons. He could have III abe VIVA. Is call
ed the northeast passage anu come out on the
Racine ocean ana forever settled the question
whether Il vessel could reach Alaska from
Greenland through the Arctic. Bat lie saw
nothing but monotononS stretch OF land and
what appeared to be closed sea ahead OF
him. lie had kept IN sight OF shore dunuS
his entire expedition, aud seeing nothing
ahead but land probably thought it was end
less. When Return Reef was reached he
tnrned back, and that IS The last known Of
him.
eve could have made the trip nom The
Pacific to the Atlantic last year if we had So
desired, but our business was whaling, not
exploring. We found what is cal ed the
breeding ground of the whale which lies be-
tween Cane BathL l,rsl and the Mackenzie
River. We # four vessels. the Norwalk,
Balaeva. Grampus and Nevpart to winter
there while the others finished the season Oh
the Siberian coast. Those that w!utarea in
the Artir have Dapo Whaling al summer, bru
we have had no report from them and DO n,t
know if tla OCEAN !, oo,.n again this veal
Natives at the care, whom questioned. told
me that lie ocean was fairly open three years
out of four. and that there was a great BIZ
sea one wear In five. Las year was what
they termed great big sea- and they said that
the sam. condition eval ID in l>>y \ large
vessel could not pass through 4 faily open sea,
so the chances o: reaching Greenland th'oua
the Attic Sea are one in five. From this |
am inclined to the belief that both Franklin
and Colliuson entered the ocean when il "as
OPEN
Cat McGregor said The ESQ IimanN have
made no advances to ciyilizltiou An ageG
native told me that there is a tradition handed
down form fat Ter 10 son that the boats and
weapons of the hunt and chase are the same
to-day as they were oOJ years ago. Inc lire
arms anu APPS, 'o2acco ans. ca ito' were al
introduced by WhI.e men. Inc L>qaima"A
Is satisfied with every th'is as ne hhds II ana
makes no effort TO erect any improvements.
lie native popuiatloh IS rapidly uiinthl>hihg'