no 
July 3 
POLAR EXPLOKATIOA. 
The object of the expedition tvhich has just left us 
is, if possible, to reach the Xorih Pole. But what is 
the Pole? A point without magnitude, one extremiiy 
of the axis on which the terrestrial sphere revolves, 
without length, breadth, or thickness. Tie interest 
which attaches to it is not so much geographical as sci- 
entific. A portion of the earth's surface, exceptionally 
situated, will, if the expedition should be successful, 
for the first time in the histoir of mankind be viewed 
under certain extreme and ver)' singular aspects. The 
phenomena which will be there observed must be of an 
altogether special character, and may possess an im- 
poi tant relation not only to the present condition but 
to the past history of our planet. Whether the area 
around the North Pole consists of an open sea, as some 
have plausibly conjectured, or of ‘-thrilling regions of 
thick-ribbed ice,” no one can, on any certain data, ven- 
to affirm. One thing onlj- is indisputable. The sun, 
in its apparent course through the heavens, will be seen 
to revolve with a uniform altitude above the horizon 
from the day on which it comes north of the equator 
until it returns: 
‘ Still round and round his spiral course he winds. 
And, as he nearly dips his flaming orb. 
Wheels up again and reascends the sky ” 
The sun at the Poles illumines a day of six months’ 
duration, to be succeeded by an equal period of total 
darkness — 
“When, for relentless months continued night 
Holds o'er the glittering waste her starry reign.’’ 
The problem to be solved, or at least to be attempted, 
possesses rare fascination for more than one class of 
minds. The great continents of the world, Europe, 
Asia, and America, which dilTer in so many respects, 
have each their northern boundary at about the 70th 
degree of latitude, penetrating the Arctic circle and 
there stopping, where the struggle for life becomes too 
severe. But man, as histor}- informs us, loves to tres- 
pass upon forbidden ground. That great circle which has 
the North Pole for its centre, and 1,20C miles of more 
or less icy sea for its radius, has for nearh' three cen- 
turies attracted the enterprising spirits of surrounding 
nations. Commerce and adventure have led their re- 
spective followers into its ice-bound interior from every 
portion of the circumference. The whale-fisheiy orig- 
inated in the discoveries of Barentz and Hudson, and 
familiarised the minds of sailors with the nature of the 
Arctic dangers and the means of overcomiug them. 
Holland, England, Norway, Russia, the E'nited States, 
and more recentlj- Austria, liave played their respective 
parts in the invasion of the unknown region. The 
islands of Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, and New 
Siberia, have been visited and mapped by the efforts of 
several nations. England, in th« search for a north- 
west passaste, has explored and survey'cd the great 
Arctic archipelago which lies t« the northward of North 
America, extends for lOCO miles from east to west, and 
reaches nearly half-way to the northern Pole. It has 
been established by numerous experiments that the SOtli 
degree of north latitude may be reached in a few weeks, 
in various directions, almost any year; and several ex- 
plorers, English and American, have managed, on 
aledges or afloat, to get still nearer the Pole by 100 or 
200 miles. British enterjirise longs to traver^ the in- 
termediate space ; and, after ten years of hesitation, the 
attempt is about to be made. As a matter of fact, no 
exploring expedition, in the strict sense of the term, 
has been despatched from England for 30 years; nor 
has any serious attempt been made to reach the Pole, 
with the exception of Parry’s from Spitzbergen His 
previous series of brilliant voyages, and that of Frank- 
lin in 1845, were merely revivals of the old furor for 
accomplishing the North West Pa-ssage. Had Frank- 
lin returned moderately successful, bis expedition would 
certainly have been followed by one in the direction of 
the Pole; but the unfortunate results of his voyage dis- 
couraged the nation, and, as far as this country is con- 
cerned, the spirit of Arctic enterprise became dormant; 
but, roused by the keen discussion of the subject in 
other countries, and excited by several bold attempts to 
solve the problem independently of her, England again 
takes her natural place in the van of discov^-, and has 
fitted out an expedition wi h a completeness and an effi- 
ciency such as have never before characterized an}' of 
her previous undertakings. 
The attempts hitherto made to reach the North Pole 
have been chiefly from the great northern sea between 
Greenland and NovaZembla; and the audacity of the 
earlier enterprizes, considering the inadequate means 
adopted for their success, may well excite astonishment 
and almost provoke a smile.' We find Hudson drop- 
ping down from Greenwich to Gravesend, in a vessel 
not larger than one of our modern collier brigs, bound 
for the North Pole; Sir Henri' Willoughby embark- 
ing fro n Ratcliffe in ’i5.53. for the same destination, in 
a craft of 1-20 tons, accompanied b)' two others of about 
the same capacity, and provisioned on!}' for eighteen 
months; Sir Marlin Frobisher commissioned to search 
for a north, west passage to the Indies in the “Gabriel” 
and “Michael,” of 20 and 25 tons, “with a joint crew of 
35 men; Captain John Davis leaving the Thames in the 
sloops ' “Sunshine” and “Moonshine,” wiih a united 
crew of 45 men — attaining, nevcriheless, the verge of 
the the Arctic circle, and discovering the Straits which 
now bear Ids name; and Hudson, again in 1(508. fitting 
out the “Searehthrift,” with a crew of 14 bands, with a 
view of attempting the pa.ssage between Spiizbergen 
and Nova Zerabla. To such ve.ssels the porials of the 
unknown regions were of course firmly closed; and the 
attempt to Wee them could only be made with any 
hope of success by ships of a very different calibre. 
The earlier voyages in the direction of the Pole had, 
however, one iiiipcVriant result. Ti ey led to an exam- 
ination of the edge of the great ice-pack extending 
from the ca.st coa't of Greenland to Nova Zcmlda: anil 
later expeditions have made no suiistautial additi. ns to 
our knowledge of ilie polar seas north of Spitzbergen. 
The intrepid navigators of the sixteenth century ascer- 
tained the fact that the ocean between Spiizbeigen and 
the North Pole is absolutely impenetrable to sailing ves- 
sels at every period of the year. Our great navigator 
Captain (.look, at the urgent entreaties of iHe scientific 
world, was induced to aUack the problem in another 
direction. He left his honorable retirement in Gteen 
wich Hospiialin 1770 to undertake the third and last 
of bis voyages, for the imrpose of exploring the seas to 
the northward of Behring’s Straits, and of ascertaining 
whether a pas^ige existed between the Northern Pacific 
and Atlantic Oceans. The expediiiou, after and ab- 
sence of four years, returned to England, but without 
its distinguished and lamented commander, and having 
been unable to get beyond ley Cape, where ii was stop- 
ped by impenetrable ice. 
From the time of Cook’s futile voyage until 1817, 
public enterprise in the direction of ihe^Arctic regions 
altogether ceased; bur the captain of a whaling shiji at- 
tained. in 180(i, the I'ighest latitude ever before reached 
in the Spitzbergen seas. Scoresby, whose name is lion- 
orably distinguished in the long list of private adven- 
tures, entered the ice at about the Spitzbergen merid- 
ian, in latitude 70 at the cud of .\pril, and found it 
of extraordinary thickne-.ss. Chanm Is were, however, 
cut with ice saws, and the ship was towed tiirough them 
by the crew, until an open sea .was readied in latitude 
80^ He sailed aero.ss this sea as far as 81 - 12' 42”, 
when be came upon the norilit-rn pack, which rffectu- 
ally arrested his further progress, scoresliy having 
published a higlilv interesting narrative of his voyage, 
the attention of England was again drawn to the possi- 
bility of reacliingfar higher la'i'udes than had been at- 
tained by this energetic explorer, if the shif.s employed 
were properly strengthened, and provided with the 
means of not only effectually resisting the pressuie of 
the ice, but for penetrating ns mass; and Sir John Har- 
row, the Secretaiy to the Admiralty, by his writings 
and personal influence, carried popular opinion with 
him, and succe-isfully inipres.sed his views upon the 
Government. The result w;is. that two ships, the “Dor- 
othea” and “Trent,” were fitted upon new principles, 
and were commissioned to proceed northwards by wav 
of Spiizbergen, aud io endeavor to cross the Polar Sea. 
They reached the latitude of 80 = , between Spiizber- 
gen and Greenland, where they were forced by a heavy 
storm to the dangerous expedient of “taking the ice” — 
in other words, of thrusting the ships into some open- 
ing in one of the many moving masses, and thus at least 
avoiding tlie danger of being crushed between tliem 
They were thus secured against one danger, but they 
were imprisoned. De.sperate exertions were made to 
cut through the ice and to proceed on iheir course. By 
unremiliing labor in warping and dragging, they at- 
tained the latitude of 80= 34', but the whole body of 
ice was founa to be drifting south, and in spite of 
every effort to advance, they found that twelve miles of 
northing w as lost every day. Une of the ships received 
so much injury that she was in danger of sinking, and 
with difficulty made her passage home. The ice at the 
latitude reached was found to be fifteen feet thick, and 
was often piled up by lateral pressure above the bul- 
warks. 
Captain Parry’s famous expedition in 1827, and his 
endeavors to reach the North Pole in two flat-bottomed 
boats, so constructed that they could be used as sledges 
and drawn on the ice, must be regarded as the most ait- 
vepturous ever recorded in the annals of Arctic explo- 
ration; and it posse.<ses a special interest at the present 
time, inasmuch as the plan he adopted is in many re- 
spects the same as that which is proposed in the case of 
the present expedition. Parry’s proposal to attempt to 
reach the Pole by travelling with sledge-boats over the 
ice was as novel as it was bold. He attained, by sailing 
alone, the very high latitude of 81 = 5'; »nd then com- 
menced that remarkable attempt to carry out his plans 
in the only way which he considered practicable. On 
a fine afternoon early ia July he started from his ship, 
safely moored in Hecla Cove, on the north coast of 
Spitzbergen, in two boats, each manned by ten blue- 
jackets and two marines, with provisions for seventy- 
one days. The thermometer stood at 36 = , and in two 
days be reached the close pack ; the boats were hauled 
upon a floe, and the party entered upon the most l-ibori- 
ous and disheartening journey probably ever undertaken 
by man. Tne season was of an exceptional character 
The floes were of small extent, and intersected Nvith 
ridges of ice, while frequent pools of water necessitated 
the constant launching and hauling up of the boats. 
The snow was soft and deep; and there were occasion- 
ally large patches of what the men called needle ice, 
composed of sbarp-poiiiied crystals, which made pro- 
gress alino.st impossible. These bummock.s, from 30 to 
-10 feet high, caused great delay in seaictiing for a prac- 
ticable passage. On the 22d of July, Parry came to 
floes three miles square and 15 or 20 feet thick, indi- 
cating the proximity ^^of the fixed Polar pack, upon 
' which, if he could have gained a footing, he might 
haxe prosecuted ids jouiney, and possibly have attained 
its object. But the southerly drift liad'incieased to such 
; a degree that the parly lost almost as much as they 
I gained by many hours of laborious and exhausting 
'work. It was useless to continue such fruitless exer- 
• lions. Parr}' therefore determined to retrace his steps, 
having reached tlie latitude of 82= 45’ on the 23 of 
July. He saw no signs of land from his most northern 
: point, but there was a strong yellow “ice-blink” in the 
I iiortherr horizon denoting the presence of field-ice, and 
the probability lhal the pack extended to the Pole. 
liifore turning back the pany had inivelled2&2 miles, 
bul iheir greaU■^t distai.ee Irom the ship was only 172 
miles, so imich Lad the set drifted them to the south, 
i Notwiiiisianding all the obstacles er.conniered, ar.d the 
enormiiiis weight which each man had to drag, the lati- 
tude attained by Party on this occasion has never be- 
f- re or since been reached by known man. The expe- 
rience gained by this e-nterprise is valuable, and It.is 
Ldiiublless been ulilizi d in the present expedilion. It 
■ pioved that Hie allowance of provisions for the amount 
j of work r(-(}uired anil fm the hardships endured was 
I insufficient; that the sledges were too cumbrous and 
heavy: that tlie season was too far advanced, the i. e 
I having become so rotten by lea.son of the mild temi>ci- 
atiire that the grcaterparl of the jouiney was performed 
I by Walking through water and sludge. 
This remarkable exploit of Parry raises an important 
question bearing upon the plan of the present expedi- 
lion. Is it probable tb.ai any portion of the area be- 
tween Spitzbergen and the Pole consists of a perma- 
nently open sea? There are several facts bearing upon 
this question which certainly deserve consideration. 
The curient which is said to set through Behring’s 
Strait from the Pacific Ocean must bear with it some of 
the warm water of ^liat sea, and must necessarily have 
a certain effect in raising the temperature of the Polar 
ba.sin. Commander Maguire, in the “Plovet,” while 
irak’ng his way eastward from Behring’s Strait to Point 
Barrow in search of a passage, found liis progress 
greatly a.ssisted by a strong curient which in calms car- 
' riedTiis ship past grounded ice at the late of two miles 
I an hour. On the other hand, it must be admitted as an 
. unquestionable fact that Behring’s Staait is singularly 
shallow, and always almost choked with ice borne into 
I it by tides or curients from the north; and that the sea 
' northward i.^ utterly impassable except along the shores 
; of America and Asia, in a lane of water caused by the 
melting of the ice of the rivers and beat of tlie land. 
I The uninlerrupied radiation from the sun during the 
■ six Polar summer mouths, which must iu a considera- 
: ble degree compensate for the obliquity of its rays, is 
an e ement to be considered in any attempt to estimate 
, the character of the Polar climate. Th.at the reflection 
I of the sun’s rays from a snow y surface in a clear atinos- 
! pitere lias a most powerful effect on the thermometer 
i lias been experimentally shown by the late Professor 
1 James Forbes; and Mr. 5V Jleecli, in a remarkable pa- 
! person the intensity of the light and beat of the sun at 
J different latitudes, states that while the intensity or 
1 thermal effect, at any one instant of lime, decreases 
from the equator to the Poles, and is proportioned to 
I the cosine of the latitude, f/ie eui/iulatice ivtensity dur- 
] ing 24 hours of PoUir day at the summer solsticejs one- 
]^faurth greater tluin on the equator. Scoresby stales that 
at the top of a mountain 3000 feet high in the north of 
Spitzbergen, the rays of the miduiglit sun caused copi- 
, ous streams of water to issue from the snow; and Capt. 
’ Beecby found, 5'n some sheltered situations in Spitz- 
I bergen, the radiation from the sun very powerful during 
, the two hours on eilaer side of noon, and often ob- 
i served the thermometer, when placed upon ice, rise to 
! 58, 62, 69, and even 73 degrees. 
In addition to these thermal effects produced by the 
sun’s radiation, tlie possible effect of the Gulf Stream in 
raising the temperature of the Polar Sea is to be taken 
into consideration. In Capt. JIaury’s chart that stream 
is shown deflected eastward from the great bank of 
NewfoundlanJ, and continuing its course thence to the 
northeast between Iceland and the northern extremity 
of Europe, with counter currents of less breadth as set- 
ting southwest down the coasts of Norway and Green- 
land. The same emisent hydrographer in bis work on 
the Physical Geography of the Sea, states, as the most 
probable cause of the flow of warm water to the Pole, 
its greater saltness as coming from the region of trade- 
winds, and the inferior saltness of the northern seas, the 
lighter waters of which are displaced by ihe more saline 
and heavier southern flood. 'The existence of a current 
setting north from Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen is, 
however, unquestionable, to whatever cause it may be 
attributed. 
The surface current of Baffin’s Bay and Davis Straits, 
on the contrary, is alleged to be from the north, and is 
said to be proved by the annual movement of the ice- 
pack southward Baer and Maury, while admitting 
tb s, argue that there must be a counter-current setting 
into the Polar basin to establish an i-quillibrium, and 
that the warmer and sailer water from the Atlantic con- 
stituting such under-current, i robubly rises to the sur- 
face in a more northern latitude, and there produces an 
open sea of greater or less extent. The existence of a 
surface current to the south is, however, doubted; and 
Sir Leopold McC’lintock affiims, that during the long 
and remarkable drift of his ship, the Fox, for a period 
* of eight months, from latitude 75 1-2 = down to the par- 
allel 65 = , be was unable to detect either a surface or an 
under current; and attributed the motion of the ice 
southward solely to the influence of the prevailing 
winds; and Parry states that he calculated the drift. of 
* Smithsonian Contributions to I^owledge. 1S36. 
