The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-14

o5oiilSt WlllClb TIE sea broke eXC6eullS
I ly high" This berg must have been
from barrier not very far south, for
: the further such barrier is from the
pole the thinner the ice becomes,
In regard to this point it may be
mentioned that in 1893 Larson found in
Graham's Land a barrier which, being
IN a comparatively low latitude, was
only from twenty feet to sixty feet high,
while that discovered by Ross in lati-
/ tude seventy-elght degrees south was
very much higher DUrville, the gal
liant French explorer, met with bergs
IN latitude fifty-nine degrees south. 1t
would appear from this that their place
OF origin was an ice barrier even fur
Their south than that found by Sir James
Ross The Dundee whalers in 1929
also saw bergs over two hundred feet
nigh these, too, in all probability came
from barrier which DR.. Murray is of
opinion faces an open sea for some dis
tance south of Ross Ultima Thule.
And, If there be an ice coast still fur
Their south, it Is vaguely limited at by
Mr.. Bulls measurements in 1896 of a
berg six hundred feet high, which at
Hlot lie llllSlOOk Tor an lSldllQ.
thaw among Antarctic bergs Is not
often met with even in the height of
summer; but to show that such thing
does occur occasionally the experience
of Ross may be mentioned. On one &C.
casion when he was considerably with
in the Antarctic circle the thermometer
stood at twelve degrees, but in the
bergs all around there were evidences
that they had suffered a partial thaw
some time previously, for great ioicles
hung from their sides On another oc-
casion outside the circle he saw COM
pete thaw attended by sounds like the
discharge of heavy artillery, as the
huge masses split and fell apart. But.
although the bergs are seldom melted
in high ATTITUDES they have another
way Of disposing of themselves they
run into one another and break up into
small junks, which strew the sea for
miles around. The dense icepack thus
formed is one Of the greatest dangers to
navigation In those regions indeed the
struggles Of men; with the everlasting
icepacks form the main part of the his
tory of South Polar exploration.
In his first voyage Ross forced his
way through pack two hundred miles
In breadth, and In the following year
he found this same pack increased to
elght hundred miles, On this occasion
II cost him just eight weeks of the
snort southern summer to force his way
through Part Of the way, he proceed
ed in novel fashion. with the Erebus
tn ~ re i
the Terror to the other. This method
succeeded well, for the berg caught
both the wind and the deeper currents,
ana forced way among the lesser
1unks of ice, but when a storm arose
some time later this method of pro-
cedure had to be abandoned Then the
fragments of ice in ceaseless commo-
ton carried away the rudders of both
SHIPS, but, after innumerable dangers
and hardships. including being con-
stantly butted about by the floating ice
like football in scrimmage, he even
'tually gained the other side, where he
found a clear sea- 1t was on this same
voyage that the Erebus and the Terror
collided in the night while trying to
avoid berg Immediately ahead The
Erebus, being disabled, was for some
time,in great danger of being altogeth-
er wrecked upon the cliffs of the berg,
but at least succeeded in drawing off.
D'Urville's gallant battles with the
icepack were worthy of that heroic
Frenchman. On his first voyage he en-
tered a dense pack In latitude sixty
three degrees south, the whole field
glistening like alabaster in the bright
sunlight. He tried to force his ship
through, but got hemmed in during the
night, when, to make matters worse, a
gale arose, and he describes his ships
as being like two stays In high walled
park, pursued by relentless dogs in the
shape of fragments Of ice. The snow
came on, and the ships were butted and
shaken by the battery of floating ice
blocks till he had to choose between be-
ing 1ammed and showed up in the thick
or 1t or making a dash for the open sea.
Choosing the latter course, he cut his
way out with levers ana saws at the
rate of mile in ten hours. The Ameri-
can Wilkes also suffered severely in the
icepacks, one of his ships, the Peacock,
being completely icebound in latitude
sixty-six degrees south. 1t was at this
time that he found some powders on
the top of berg and guessed they had
come direct from the great Antarctic
continent. In the same latitude Svend
Foyns expedition in 1896 was complete
y icebound for fortnight in a pack
i've hundred miles in breadth.
The dangers Of these belts of ice,
coupled with the terrible risk of run
hing into bergs in the heavy fogs which
frequently obscure the southern seas,
make the conditions of South Polar ex-