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HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



from Tessuisac, Greenland, in latitude 73° 30', from which the 

 following extracts are of interest. The dispatch was dated on 

 the 22d, and additions were made to it on the 24th. The dis- 

 patch begins: "The prospects of the expedition are fine; the 

 weather beautiful, clear, and exceptionally warm. Every prepa- 

 ration has been made to bid farewell to civilization for several 

 years, if need be, to accomplish our purpose. Our coal-bunkers 

 are not only full, but we have fully ten tons on deck, beside 

 wood, planks, tar, and rosin in considerable quantities, that can 

 be used for steaming purposes in case of any emergency. Never 

 was an Arctic expedition more completely fitted out than this. 

 The progress of the Polaris so far has been quite favorable, 

 making exceedingly good passages from port to port. The 

 actual steaming or sailing time from Washington to New York 

 was sixty hours; and from that place to this — the most north- 

 erly civilized settlement of the world, unless there be one for us 

 to discover at or near the North Pole — has been twenty days, 

 seven hours, and thirty minutes. There is every reason to 

 rejoice that everything pertaining to the expedition, under the 

 rulings of high Heaven, is in a far more prosperous condition 

 than I had hoped or prayed for. We are making every effort 

 to leave here to-morrow. 



"August 23d, evening. — We did not get under way to-day, 

 as expected, because a heavy, dark fog has prevailed all day, 

 and the same now continues. The venture of steaming out into 

 a sea of undefined reefs and sunken rocks, under the present 

 circumstances, could not be undertaken. 



"August 24th, 1 P. M. — The fog still continues, and I decide 

 that we cannot wait longer for its dispersion ; for a longer delay 

 will make it doubtful of the expedition securing the very high 

 latitude I desire to obtain before entering into winter quarters, 

 A good pilot has offered to do his very best in conducting the 

 Polaris outside of the most imminent danger of the reefs and 

 rocks. Now at half-past one P. m., the anchor of the Polaris 



