1875 - 
111 
✓ 
bis boats in latitude 82= at 12 miles a day wben the 
wind blew from the nortli, thus intimating Ins opinion 
of the cause of th^ movement and direction of the 
ice over wliicli he was fruitlessly iravellmg. Dr. 
Kane, dwellinu upon the fact that the (lulf Stream can 
be traced far beyond Xovn Zembla, asks wliy it ma}' 
not be deflected into regions further north, and what 
reason can be tissigned for limiting its influence to 
an}' specific latitude, more especially as Parry found 
the sea increase enormously in depth the further north 
he got. The steady drift of pack-ice to the south in the 
seas to the North of Nova Zembla ^id Spit'/.hergen, 
under the intiuence of the prevailing winds, seems 
clearly to indicate the jiresence of on oixm sea beyond; 
for if the ice-fl' es had, as seems inevitable, been broken 
olt from the land or from permanently grounded ice, 
they must, as they floated oH, have left a space of open 
water behind them. 
'Whatever may be the probability of the existence of 
an iceless Polar'sea about the meridian of Spitzbergeii or 
Nova Zembla, in which so many theorists have believed, 
the Admirality and its scieniifle advisers have, we 
think, decided wisely, considering the previous fail- 
ures, in resolving that an effort should be made to reach 
the Pole in another direction. That dirpction is by 
Davis’ Straits and Baffin’s Bay. This is a route new to 
British exploring expeditions. Those which had for 
their object the discovery of a Northwest Passage, 
passed up the Straits only us far as Lancaster Sound, 
whence they proceeded westwaid to explore that intri- 
cate North American archipelago in which the long- 
sougbt-for passage was ultimately found. 
Baffin, in his voyage of KIIG, sailed up Davis’ Straits 
as far as latitude 74°, where he was temporarily 
stopped by a barrier of ice; but continuing his northern 
course, he came in view of a great sound extending 
north from the 78th parallel. This great water he 
named Smith’s Sound, after Sir Thomas Smith, then 
CTOvernoi of the East India Company. It was found to 
abound with whales; but its exploration was rendered 
impossible liy a violent northerly gale, which drove his 
ship out of it, and compelled him to return. 
Since the discovery of Smith’s Sound by Ballin, no 
one had attempted to explore it, or land upon its .shores, 
until 1853, when Dr. Kane, in a small brig filled out bv 
American enterprise, entered it with the intention of 
forcing his way, if possible, to the North Pole. Dr. 
Kane left the United States in bisliille brig the Advance, 
and after many escapes from shipwreck, moored it 
safely in Rensslaer Bay. latitude 70 = 38', from which it 
was destined never to emerge. According to Dr. 
Kane’s survey, the coast of Greenland terminates at 
Cape Agassiz, in latitude 70= 14'. North of this, the 
coast-line is formed by the stupendous Humboldt gla- 
cier, which presents an unbroken precipitous wall of 
ice for nearly CO geographical mile.s. North of Smith’s 
Sound is Kennedy’s Channel. !Much grass was ob- 
served on the sloping shores of this water, which is 
described as thirty-five miles across at its broadest part, 
and open sea is said to have been visible from an ele- 
vated point in the northern horizon. After thg lapse of 
two winters. Dr. Kane was obliged to abandon his ves- 
sel, being unable to extricate her from the ice. 
The reason for deciding upon Smith’s Sound as the 
starting point for the present Polar expedition is the 
fact that the coast line has been traced on either hand 
to 81 = 30' north, and observed here and there to a still 
higher latitude, perhaps as far as 82= 30'. Should the 
• existence of this coat t line be confirmed, the progress 
of the present expedition will be greatly facilitated, as 
the sledges, by skirting its shores, will not only be able 
to place depots of provisions upon it for use in the fol- 
lowing year, but will make more rapid and assured pro- 
gress than they could if relying solely upon boat naviga- 
tion in an open sea, supposing one to exist to the north 
of the land observed. 
The remarkable expedition of Capt. Hall in 1871 in 
the Polaris, a small gunboat placed at his service by the 
Government of the United States, in a great degree con- 
firms the observations made by Dr Kane and his party. 
Capt. Hall attained the highest latitude ever attained by 
a ship — viz. ,82= 10". Here he was beset by ice, and 
his further progress arrested. It is an encouraging fact 
for the present expediton that the climate of Dr. Kane’s 
winter quarters in Thank-God Bay, latitude 81 = 38’ N., 
was found to be decidedly milder than it had proved to 
be considerably to the south. The land near the har- 
bor was free from snow in June, a vivid herbage covered 
the ground, and herds of musk oxen roamed over the 
hills. 
The first obstruction which the expedition is likely to 
experience will be caused by the great iee-pack which 
annually forms in Baffin’s Bay. 'This is known as the 
great central pack, and consists of ancient floe-ice, and 
of more recent ice varying from 0 to 8 feet in thickness. 
Much of this is broken up every year by the swell from 
the south, or dissolved by the warm current which sets 
into the bay; but the great middle pack, as it is termed, 
always presents a formidable barrier to the whaling fleets 
which frequent Baffin’s Bay — although they rarely fail 
in breaking through it sooner or later, according to the 
season and strength and compactness of the ice, which ex- 
tends from side to side of the bay fora distance of from 
180 to 200 miles. To the north of this formidable ob- 
1 siruciion is that open sea called the North Water, and 
( which it is the object of the whalers to reach as early as 
t' possible; for there the whales of which they are in 
|j|search abound, and the sooner they come upon their 
' haunts the greater is their success. The ice of Baffin’s 
Bay is not to be compared with that which forms in the 
] seas north of Nova Zembla and Spilzbergen, where the 
' ' edge of the pack has been found 24 feet thick, and 
sheets of from 30 to 40 feet thick are not uncommon. 
Baffin’s Baybas been the scene of frcipieiil disasters 
to whalers. In 1830 occurred a very terrible cafas- 
trophe. A gale from the S. S. IV. drove a whole fleet 
into Melville Biy, nipping the ships against the land- 
floe. As the gale increased, the floes overlapped each 
other, and bore down with accumulated force upon the 
devoted fleet, when a scene of indescribable horror en- 
sued. In the space of a (piarier of an hour many fine 
vessels were shattered to p'-cccs — the ice tearing open 
their sides, many were squeezed flat, others literally 
turned inside out. The few which e.scajied did so only 
by cutting docks in the land-lioc for their protection. 
The total loss to the owners was estimated at £142,000. 
The scenery and perils of this region, in which the 
courage and prow css of Arctic voyagers arc first put to 
the test in their northward cour.se, are well described 
by Bear- Admiral Slicrard Osborn, whose appointment 
as one of the members of the Arctic Committee was but 
a just recognition of his services, special knowledge, 
and high scientific attainuients. In his “Stray Leaves 
from an Arctic .lournal,” describing the- progress of the 
ships despatched for the discovery and rescue of Sir 
•lolin Franklin and bis crews, be says: “The squadron 
flying north in an open sea, over which bergs of every 
shape and size floated in wild magnificence. The ex- 
citement as we dashed through t.he storm in steering 
flea- of them, was delightful from its novelty; and as 
we flew past some huge mass over which the green seas 
were fruitlessly trying to dash themselves, it was impos- 
sible not to call to mind the char.acterislic lines in Cole- 
ridge : 
“ ‘And now there came both mist and snow. 
Amt it grew wondrous cold. 
And ice. mast hiKli, came lloating by 
-\s green as emerald. 
And through the drifts, the snowy cliffs 
Did send a dismal slieen: 
Xo shapes of men nor beasts we ken, 
And ice was all between. 
******* 
With sloping masts and dr'iiping prow. 
As who, pursued witli yell and blow, 
Still trettds the sliadow of his foe, 
.\nd forward bends his head. 
The stiips drove past, loud roared the blast. 
And XoKTiiWAitu aye we fled.’ ” 
In breaking through the ice-floes of the middle pack 
of Battiii’s Bay, the discovery sliips will be aided by an 
amount of steam-power far beyond what tvas ever ap- 
plied to such a purpose. In the expedition of 1850 it 
was necessarily limited by thesize of the vessels — merely 
steam tenders to larger sailing ships; but the little 
steamers nevertheless did tlieir work well. 
“They seemed,” writes Admiral Osboi ii, “to feel and 
know their work, and exceeded even our sanguine ex- 
pectations, 811(1 each was allowed to carry out a system 
of ice-hreaking which will doubtless, in future Arctic 
vo}ages, be carried out with great success. For in- 
stance, a piece of a floe two or three liundred yards 
broad, and three feet thick, prevented our progress. 
Tlie weakest and narrowest jiai t being ascertained, the 
ships were secured as fast as possible, without obstruct- 
ing tlic steam-vessels. The Pioneer and Intrepid (ten- 
ders) then by turns ntsehd at the floe, breaking their 
way through it, until the impetus gained in the open 
water was lost by the resistance of the ice, and the 
screw went astern, carrying with her tons of ice by 
means of numerous lines wiiich the blue-jackats, who 
attended on the forecastle, and others on broken pieces 
of the floe, held on by. As the one vessel went astern, 
the other flew ahead to her work. The operation was, 
moreover, aided by the ex[>Iosionsof iiowder, and alto- 
gether the scene was highly interesting and insiructive. 
The gallant Intrepid gave a coup (V grace lo the mass, 
and we were next morning in tlie tin;* lead, and all our 
troubles in -Melville Bay were at an end.” 
Having successfully passed the great middle pack of 
Baffin’s B;iy, which the discovery-ships, being very 
strongly constructed, and specially adapted and strength- 
ened for charging the ice, will 'doubtless get tlirough 
without any considerable delay, and the navigatibn will 
for a considerable distance he free from obstruction. 
Smith’s Sound, of which one of tlie conspicuous land- 
marks is Cape Alexander, in latitude 78= 10’, is skirted 
by precipices of from 800 to 1400 feet in lieight, and the 
scenery assumes a character of great sublimity from the 
glacier formations. These glaciers, of width the 
higlier portions are generally concave, are covered with 
perpetual snow ; but in summer tlieii- .sides are converted 
liy the sun into translucent ice. They are traversed by 
vast fissures; and their ends, which (jften protrude into 
the sea like headlands, are constantly being detached, 
and become iceliergs of various and oflen vast magni- 
tude. A very slight concussion of the air is often sutli- 
cient to separate one of these mas.ses from the clills, 
when they float oil to sea, and, becoming tinged with 
prismatic hues, they resemble huge fragments of opal, 
sapphire, or emerald. 
[to be coxtixded.] 
llE.1IIMSciT\CES. 
It is pleasant after the shooting season is over to look 
back and recall incidents of sport, which happened not 
only during the ceason just past, but previous ones, 
perhaps years ago; and it is not displeasing to recall 
events which happened when you were a boy (omitting 
of course all mention of the numerous floggings you re- 
ceived at school), aud could only listen with wide- 
open mouth and big round eyes while men told of their 
exploits by land aud water, and wish with all your 
heart for the day to come when you too could be en- 
tire master of a eiiii? As I write iiicnioiies of days long 
gone by pass through my mind, and I wish w'ith all my 
heart that I were a boy again. Boyhood’s days are the 
brightest and pleasantest in a human being’s life, and 
like all joys they fade away and vanish in the past. 
I remember my first attempt at duck shooting as 
vividly as though it were yesterday, but instead of only 
twenty-four liours having elapsed eight long years have 
passed. It bappeiiod in this way. I went with a friend 
(Clare) and his father in their yacht “.Iciiuie” one 
windy day to have a sail, aud take a shot at a few ducks, 
which were lingering in Boston Harbor ou their way to 
the South. Clare and I took the tender and rowed 
nearly a mile to some flats, wtierc, amid a lot of gulls, a 
few ducks were feeding. "We pulled asnear as possible, 
and then fired away at anything and everything, gulls 
or ducks, and we succeeded in getting — nix! However, 
we enjoyed ourselves, and I believe that is the princi 
pal advantage a true sportsman has over one who pre- 
tends to be a sportsman. The former can enjoy himself 
if he does not bring a bird to bag, while the latter must 
beat every one else in tlie field or he is miserable. 
Every fall Clare and I used to go to the marshes near 
his house, where the gunners almo.st outnumbered the 
biid.s, and range over them again, getting perhaps a 
sandpiper or a ringneck for our trouble, but oftener get- 
ting nothing; but I eiijcycd myself as well as I ever 
have since wlieh getting a good bag of game. It was 
fun to see the gunners on that marsh around with every 
description of gun, from the flint-lock to the modern 
breech-loader, aud wherever a flock of birds came in 
sight the whistling was — not quite deafening, but pretty 
near it. How often have I tramped mile after mile and 
got nothing for my pains, but a single poor squirrel. 
Nothing did I say? Are rosy cheeks, a good appetite 
and health to be counted notliing? And again, looking 
back to when I was a boy, how often have i tramped 
through the woods of Maine to carry the game my uncle 
shot; and how often have I come home at night tired 
out carrying tliree or four rabbits and grouse over miles 
of woodland; tired but happy, and have gone to sleep 
to dream that I was old enough to be trusted with a gun. 
I had often teased my uncle to let me fire at something 
just once, and finally one day on our way home he said 
I might; but first he sent me out of sight on some pre- 
text or other, and while I was gone he drew out the 
charge of shot. When I came the gun was all ready, and 
after a long aim I fired at a robin which was perched on 
a fence a few rods away. I didn’t kill the robin. Again 
in later years, when I was first beginning to use the 
“ rod and gun,” I remember taking a long walk with 
my grandfather, and of landing my first six speckled 
trout. I doubt if I should feel as proud to be elected 
President, as I was when I displayed those trout at 
home. 
I remember the week of camping out in the woods of 
JIaiue, how many grouse, and quail were shot, and 
liow many trout were caught, to be offered as sacrifice 
to our sharpened appetites. I recollect how Ned in his 
eagerness to land “a six pounder, boys,” fell into the 
water and lost his fish, besides being wet through; and 
how we were all upset in the lake one day, and got a 
good ducking, and how another lime — but I might con- 
tinue in the same strain page after page, and then not 
tell half of the incidents which hapiiened to me. If 1 
could wield the pen of a Frank Forester or a J. Cy- 
press, .Ir., I might do justice to the subject. As it is I 
must leave tliat to .some better sportsman and writer 
than I am. I have told my thoughts, or part of them, 
as well as I could, and hope that others will follow in 
my wake, and give the readers of the sportsmen’s paper 
the pleasure of reading reminiscences from all of them; 
for all sportsmen do have memories of sport which is 
past, aud they like to linger over them. 'Why will they 
not let others share that pleasure with them? 
In a recent paper I saw an article on Frank Forester 
by Mr. ilcLellan. It pleased me very much, as lam 
sure it did many others, and I wish the sportsmen 
would unite in asking those gentlemen who were per- 
sonally acquainted with Frank to write all they can 
about liim, consistent ivith his dying request of silence. 
Brother sportsmen, let us sec you in the columns of the 
paper which is specially devoted to your departments of 
sport in support of this request. T. Umbellcs. 
A Nu.vnEn of vvt'll'bud field dogs, including pointers, setters and 
retrievers, from tlie kennels of .Mr. LI. 1{, Price and .Mr. \V. K. Bay- 
ley, were sold at public auction in London. Some of these animats 
realized good prices, being of the best blood procurable, many of 
licm were big field trial winners. 
