THE JEANNETTE—PROBABILITIIlS. 555 



Stalled by the summary shooting of Wilkes Booth in the barn where he was 

 brought to bay. 



It is, perhaps, worthy of note that not one of the men who have of late 

 murdered or attempted to murder, czars or emperors, has offered the plea of in- 

 sanity. In Great Britain and the United States it seems to be the assassin's in- 

 variable defense. And in both countries counsel for the accused start with the 

 advantage of being able to ask the jury, as Mr. Cockburn did in the cases both 

 of Pate and McNaughten, — Could they believe that any sane man could have 

 committed such an act ? And that is the question which the tragic event that 

 has recently shocked and saddened both hemispheres once more invests with 

 melancholy importance and presents for decision to an American jury. — Decem- 

 ber Atlantic. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



THE JEANNETTE— PROBABILITIES. 



BY P. A. TOWNE. 



It is very likely that the reader has occasionally stumbled upon the remark 

 that "history is constantly repeating itself." Whether true or not, it is often a 

 very convenient mode of introducing what one wishes to say. No one can have 

 followed the reports of the several expeditions sent out in search of the Jeannette 

 during the past summer without having been painfully reminded of similar reports 

 j-jn expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin after his last and fatal voyage in 

 ..j^iCtic exploration. It is to be hoped that the parallel between the two histories 

 will stop with the events of 1881. Let us see if the probabilities are not in favor 

 of the belief that such a wish will be realized. 



Lieut. DeLong was last seen in September, 1879, steering toward Wrangel 

 Land. During the past summer Wrangel Land has been visited twice, and Lieut. 

 Berry has not only circumnavigated it but has skirted the impenetrable ice some 

 sixty miles, or one degree, north of it. He saw no land between it and the North 

 Pole. Wrangel Land is at about 72° north latitude, and its distance from the 

 Pole is therefore about 1,260 miles. In July, 1827, Capt. Parry went in an ice- 

 boat to a point on the ice 82^° north latitude. This point is north of Spitz- 

 bergen. The three points, Wrangel Land, the Pole, and Spitzbergen are in al- 

 most a straight line, with the Pole between the two extremes. The land lying 

 nearest the North Pole, which has been seen, is called Petermann Land, and is 

 in latitude about 84° north of Greenland. If Petermann Land is not a myth 

 it is only about 420 miles from the Pole. Cape Joseph Henry is in its neighbor- 

 hood, and is in about latitude 83° north. The point of the Eastern Continent 



V— 35 



