POLAR EXPLORATIOA. 
[COSCLTOED.] 
Kennedy’s Channel is the northern continuation of 
Smith’s Sound. In its southern portion Dr. Kane was 
beset for two }'ears with his ill-adapted bark in a cul-d&- 
s-tc formed by an elbow in the Sound. From this point 
the real exploratory work of the expedition will com- 
mence. How far it may be possible or prudent to push 
the Alert up Kenned}’'s Channel will, of course, depend 
upon the state in which it is found, whether ice-bound 
or wholly or partially open. If the former, blasting the 
ice with gunpowder or gun-cotton will be freely resorted 
to; for the success of the sledge journey in the direction 
of the Pole will greath' depend upon the latitude wnich 
the advanced ship is able to attain. 
On the existence or absence of continuous land to the 
north of Smith’s Sound, or of an archipelaso, must de- 
pend the operations of the advanced ship. If navi- 
gable water, or partially navigable water, is found high 
up Kennedy’s Channel, short work may be made in 
reaching the Pole; if continuous land, is found, along 
the shores of which sledges can travel, a very high lati- 
tude, and probably the Pole, may be reached in that 
manner; but if continuous, or nearly continuous, land 
is not met’with, all Arctic travelers know that the dis- 
tance to be accomplished by sledges and boats com- 
bined is very limited indeed . 
It has been assumed by some we think, on very insuf- 
ficient data, that Kennedy’s Channel has no communi- 
catiou with a Polar sea, that it is merely a cul-de-ioc, the 
tide rushing up and increasing as it advances, thus ac- 
countinj; for the fact that the rise of the tide at Mel- 
ville is only o or 6 feet, while in Kennedy’s Chan- 
nel it is 18 feet. According to Captain Hall, however, 
the tides in Kennedy’s Channel come from the north, 
and not from Baffin’s Bay, in which case there is no 
difficulty in believing Kennedy’s Channel to be a mere 
continuation of Smith’s Sound, the tidal wave of the 
Atlantic causing the flood and ebb at its entrance, and 
that from the Polar basin producing similar effects fur- 
ther north. This view derives support from the contin- 
uous flow of ice which is said to take place both in 
winter and summer through the strait in a southerly di- 
rection, and b}’ the wonderful escape of one-half of the 
crew of the Polaris on field- ice, which carried them by. 
its drift for 1.500 miles down to the coast of Labrador. 
It is generally supposed that the success of the expedi- 
tion will depend mainly on sledging; but the success of 
sledge-travelling depends upon the distance which the 
advanced ship can be navigated. If Captain Hall suc- 
ceeded in forcing his little craft, inadequately provided 
as she was with appliances for battling with ice, up to 
the latitude of 83 deg. 16 m. X., surely Captain Xares 
will be able to put his powerful screw steamer, suppos- 
ing his course is not ai rested by land into a winter har- 
bor in a much higher latitude before the grand experi- 
ment of sledging in the drrection of the Pole is at- 
tempted. But, again, it must be borne in mind that it 
is not smooth ice that may have t» be traversed. In 
that portion of the Polar basin north of Behring’s 
Strait the surface of the ice has been found to be a mass 
of hillocks from -40 to 100 feet high; and that encoun- 
tered by Parry to the north of Spitzbergen was of a 
most trying character, requiring immense exertions in 
alternately drawing up and launching the boats as ice 
or water predominated; and LieuL Payer, in the recent 
Austrian Polar expedition, when attempting to make 
progress in boats, found the sea so encumbered with 
ice, that thej' had, he says, to be hauled up many hun- 
dred times and dragged over it. 
The distance from the furthest land seen by Captain 
Hall to the Pole would be only -484 miles, and a sledge 
party, led by Sir Leopold M’Clintock, accomplished 
1310 miles in 105 days, or nearly 13 miles a day. At 
that rate of sledge travelling it is assumed that the Pole 
might be reached in 40 da 3 's; but it is in the highest de- 
gree improbable that it would be possible to travel in 
sledges in a straight line. It is more likely that a gla- 
cier encumbered coast would have to be traversed, with 
all its irregularities of outline, bj' which the distance to 
the Pole might be practically doubled. 
As the success of the expedition will depend upon 
the prosecution of a sledge-journey, it maj’ be interest- 
ing to know the kind of vehicles which have been speci- 
ally constructed for the purpose. They are made of 
American elm, and the runners are shod with steel. 
Each sledge will contain eight men, and will carrj’ 
seven week’s provisions. With an eight man sledge 
detached for an extended journey of seven weeks, the 
total weight of the laden sledge will be 1646 lb. The 
plan of travelling will be the same that was adopted on 
former occasions. One sledge is to be advanced 35 days’ 
distance from the ship, and depots of provisions placed 
on the line for the return journey. This is to be effected 
in the following manner. Supposing a party of six 
sledges to start together, after travelling in company 
for a week, Xo. 6 will proceed to the full amount of 50 
days’ provisions and return, the remaining five pro- 
ceeding on their way. When six more days have 
elapsed, Xo. 5 sledge is left to proceed by itself. In 
the meantime the sledges that have returned will imme- 
diately reprovision, and lay out depots for the use of 
the returning sledges, and be prepared to render them 
any assistance they may requii a. 
The daily allowance of provisions for those engaged 
in sledge-travelling is as follows; For each man 1 lb. of 
pemmican, 1-4 lb. of boiled pork, 14 oz. of biscuit, 3 oz. 
of preserved potatoes, 1 1-3 oz. of prepared chocolate, 
1-3 oz. of tea and sugar, 1 oz. of concentrated rum — 4 
oz. of cooking fuel, being used daily for each individ- 
ual ; also a weekly allowance per man of 1 3-4 oz. of 
salt, 1-4 oz. of pepper, 1 oz. of curry or onion powder. 
and 3 oz. of tobacco — making a weekly allowance per 
man of 19 lb. 3 oz., certain!}- a very liberal one even for 
a journey within the Arctic circle, where the appetite 
must be unusually keen. In fact, at first starting the 
men have not in former expeditions been able to con- 
sume their full rations, although on a much more re- 
stricted scale, — a little difficulty which, if found to ex- 
ist will, after a few days of hard work and exposure, 
doubtless be easily overcome. 
In addition to the sledges drawn by the men, the ex- 
pedition will be furnislied with five or six sledges to be 
drawn by dogs, of which sixty are to be taken on board 
the ships at the Danish settlement of L’ppernavik, on 
the coast of Greenland to be used when sledging opera- 
tions commence. Sir Leopold !M'Clintock states, as the 
result of his experience, that two dogs can drag as 
much as one man. Several tons of the choicest dog- 
biscuit have been provided for their use, although some 
doubts are entertained whether they will be duly appre- 
ciated, experience having proved that the Greenland _ 
dogs prefer devouring each other to any food which can' 
be offered them. 
“Xothing,” says Admiral Osborn, can be more e.xhil- 
arating than dog-sledging in the Arctic regions on a 
fine day. The rattling pace of the dogs; their intelli- 
gence in choosing the road through the broken ice; the 
strict obedience paid by the team to one powerful dog 
whom they elect as leader, iho arbitrar}- exercise of au- 
thority by the master-dog; the constant use of the whip 
and the running conversation kept up by the driver 
with the different dogs, who well know their names, af- 
ford constant enjoyment.” 
However useful they may be, these Arctic dogs seem 
to be defficient in that affectionate disposition which en- 
dears their species so much to man. Capt. Vesey Ham- 
ilton staled, at a recent meeting of the Royal Geograph- 
ical Society, that he believed the Esquimaux dogs to be 
the most ungrateful creatures in creation. He had trav- 
eled for several hundred miles by sledge; and for six 
weeks it was his duty regularly to feed the dogs; but 
after only a week’s absence, on the conciusiou of the 
journey they would not recognize him in the slightest 
degree. Sir Leopold M'Clintock, who may be said to 
have originated this mode of Arctic travelling, states 
that it would be a nffstake to attempt to house the dogs, 
as they can live near the ships during a whole winter, 
and if treated differently would sicken and die. 
The highest latitude which has been reached within 
the Antarctic circle is only 78- 11’, which was at- 
tained by Sir James Ross on his southern exploring ex- 
pedition between ]8:?9 and 1843, and which fidls short, 
by more than four degrees, of that which was attfiined 
by Captain Hall in the Polaris, within the Arctic circle, 
in 1873. In all proliability the southern Pole will for 
ever be inaccessible by the utmost efforts of man Sir 
James Ross was stopped by au apparently b lundless 
field of ice, the thickness of which he estimated bv 
soundings taken at its edge, to be upwards of a thou- 
sand feet, and the surface presented the appearance of 
a vast plain of frosted silver. The severer climate of 
the southern hemisphere must be attributed to the small 
amount of its land compared with the northern con- 
tinent, which extends beyond the arctic circle. In 
the opinion of Humboldt, the northern hemisphere may 
be regarded as the great terraqueous steam engine, and 
the southern hemisphere as its water reservoir. The 
quantity of rain which falls in the northern is consider- 
ably larger than that which falls in the southern hemi- 
sphere; and the higher temperature existing in the 
north polar region may be attributed to the fact that a 
large pcrlion of heat which becomes latent in the 
southern hemisphere in the formation of aqueous 
vapor, is set free in the northern hemisphere during 
great falls of rain and snow. 
A doubt which has been expressed whether any con- 
siderable extent of land exists in the north polar area 
derives confirmation from the paucity of icebergs met 
with in high latitudes as compared with those found in 
the Antarctic regions. On evbry side of the southern 
Pole, on every meridian of the great South Sea, ships 
fall in with icebergs, whereas they are only found 
within the northern Arctic circle in or about Baffin's 
Bay — a fact which points strongly to the probability 
that no extensive land exists at or near our northern 
pole — a supposition borne out of the fact that the vast 
ice-fields off Spitzbergen and Xova Zembla show’ no 
traces of ever having been in contact with gravel or 
land. 
There can be no doubt that the expedition which has 
been prepared with so much care, and on which so 
much cost has been lavished, is one of great uncertainty, 
hazard, and difficulty. And what, it may be asked, 
shall we learn or gain from it? Snail w’e find, accord- 
ing to Esquimaux tradition, an island in an iceless sea, 
where musk-oxen roam, and some secluded family of 
the human race leads an isolated life under conditions 
of which mankind in its advanced state is unable to 
form even a conception? TVill the elements be found in 
a state of repose or in tumultuous agitation? Will the 
ocean, if there is one, be found 
“ still as the seas ere winds were tanzht to blow, * 
Or moving spirits bade the waters flow;” 
Or will land and water be commingled and consoli- 
dated in sublime confusion — 
“Where nndissolvins. from the first of time, 
Snows swell on snows amazing to the sty . 
And icy monntains high on monniains piled;’’ 
Shall we find a solution of the mystery of the ocean 
currents; where tlie Gulf Stream spends its final force, 
and whence the Arctic stream fii^t starts on its course 
down the coast of Greenland? Shall we learn why 
Arctic ice differs in its characteristics, being in some , 
: places of enormous thickness, and in others perilous to 
■ travel over? To such questions the answ’ers cannot be 
foretold; but it maybe confidently asserted that the 
I scientific results of reaching the Xorth Pole cannot fail 
to be of the highest interest, and will throw light upon 
] some of the most perplexing of physical problems. 
: The icy pole, for example, or the pole of greatest cold, 
I has yet to be delermined; and there is considerable rea- 
1 son to doubt whether it corresponds with the terrestrial 
, pole; for we know that the thermal equator does not 
correspond with the geographical equator, nor the mag- 
netic pole with the geographical pole. The lowest tem- 
peniture, so far as is known by actual observation on 
the earth, is that reached by Xeveroff, at Jakutsk in Si- 
. beria, in latitude 113 - 3', on Ihe31si of Jauuar}’ 1838, 
when the quicksilver ma’.ked 76 - below the zero of 
Fahrenheit. The determin:ition, by the swinging of the 
pendulum, of the intensity and direction of the force of 
gravity at the Pole, is necessary in order to form a 
: strictly reliable theory of the figure and physical con- 
^ -stitution of the earth; and the XorlhPole isfupwards of 
600 miles from the nearest point at which the pendulum 
was last swung by Sir Edward Sab ne. The state of 
the atmosphere, and its pressure at a portion of the 
■earth's surface where Ihere is no rotation, will be of 
high scientific interest, ilagnetism and electricity may 
he expected to manifest new and striking eff’ects. Au Anal- 
ysis of the aurora borealis, of which t:ie intensity of the 
light is so great in high latitudes that its coruscations 
have been observed even in bright sunshine, may throw 
■ a flood of light upon the causes of that wondeiiul phe- 
nomenon. Solar physics will also benefit by the oppor- 
I tunity afforded of continuously observing the sun at low 
‘altitudes above the horizon; and other meteorological 
j phenomena (such as have never before been seen by 
; mortal eye may possibly pre.sent themselves to the gal- 
: lant explorers who, to their immortal renown, shall first 
I place themselves on the northern axis of our globe. 
. Captain Nares is well known as one of the most accom- 
j plished and scientific officers of his profession; what- 
I ever man cau dare he w ill dare; and no effort of skill or 
i courage will be wanting to bring the expedition which 
■ he commands to a successful termination. 
THE .ROAS I.\ (Sr.uT PARK .IIISEI.II. 
j We have already called attention to the skeletons of 
; the gigantic extinct Kew Zealand birds in the Central 
Park Museum. A story came from Xew Auckland 
' some time since of the discovery of two live birds. 
1 This agrees with the belief of the natives that the 
' animals are still in existence, but w’e discredited the 
I report as one of the unscrupulous canards, in which 
.'Oiue papers find profit, and we have received no confirm 
! ation of the reported discovery, llarjjer's gives an arti- 
cle on the Museum skeletons w’hioh is full of interest: 
Dr. Haasl has given to the woild a detailed account 
of the discovery of these birds through the pages of the 
PfiilosophiMl Inxtitute, of Canterbury, Xew Zealand. In 
the spring of 1873, in company with several others, he 
employed a gang of men to explore the region called 
tho Moa-bone Point Here are severa.l large caverns 
which have been produced by the action of the sea upon 
a ragged, volcanic formation, and w’hich have been at 
some remote period on a level with the ocean, but are 
now elev.ated considerably above. This is inferred 
from the fact that the ragged bottoms of the caverns 
are covered with a deep bed of marine sand. On ex- 
■ amiiiing the contents of the caverns he found that the 
' native races more or less recently had occupied them, 
■ ana left heaps of refuse matter, called in the language 
[ of archa’ologists Intelien-middriix, that is, the natural 
. waste or refuse of a camp. There are traces of Euro- 
pean occupants, relics found on the surface indicating 
an occupation by the later settlers, and deeper in the 
I strata are rude stone implements, and the polisiied 
stones of the pre-historic man. The latter are found in 
. the lowest beds, and are mingled w’ith bones of the 
‘ huge birds, all having been buried beneath the sands of 
. the neighboring sea evidently at a time when the waves 
' of the Pacific rolled into them. 
It is interesting to notice that in numerous instances, 
■ bones were found by Dr. H:iast that had evidently been 
broken for the purpose of extracting the marrow; this 
and the fact that stone implements are found mingled 
with the bones show conclusively that the birds were 
coeval with man, though they may be very ancient. 
Dr. Haasl maintains that the moas have been extinct 
many hundreds of years. On the other hand. Dr. Hec- 
tor, of the Colonial Museum, believes that their extinc- 
tion is very much more recent — within a century or 
thereabouts. And he even expri sse 1 a belief that a ftw 
moas might yet exist on the gnissy slopes of some of the 
southern Alpine hills, betw’een the limits of the bush 
and snow line. Reports are constantly occurring of the 
discovery- of live moas, but thus far none have been 
seen or recognized by science. Two living examples of 
this group, birds not over a foot in height, were killed 
by some sealers in the middle Islands of Xew Zealand. 
!^Ir. Mantel was fortunate in securing the bones of these 
; and the skins, which are now in the British Museum. 
' With the exception of one other, in the Vienna 3Iu- 
i seum, these are the only ones know’n at present. 
I The natives assured him that the great moas were 
also living, but tvere confined to the precincts of Jou- 
jgarizo; but this locality proved to be too difficult of 
J penetration, and theiefore we must at present rest satis- 
fied, until some reliable examination has been made of 
. this undiscovered region. The subject is fraught with 
j unusual interest from the fact that there were found 
