MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 99, 23 November 1877, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

'■'.The Anyni(*_n Arctic e^oeditinn. which will endeavour to reach the pole by jnenns of a sygtr-nr*. of forming stations at regid,^ interval . nnd thus gradually getting nearer, the de-drcd goal, will start from New Yc\rk o^ the l-<t of July, wud?r lhe comtti'itrd of Captains 1-fowi.ite nnd Tvsnn. A p'oiiper. vessel, the Florence, lias grtn»* to establish thp first hs*\sis of Bupplies/'-rrWell, after tha Polar storm comr's a calm. When the Piiminer of 1875 wag young, the minds of men were buoyant with expectations of what was lo be accomplished by the Arctic Expedition tben leaving British shores. In theyiutumn of the next year oui* hopes vvej||igiiin.,rftviyed on the return of the AlSfif^ind. Discovery, but only to suffer ii!'!tpß^y-dam]\'n^ when we .learned the extent of tbeir discoveries. Still we worked ourselves up to a certain degrpe of enthusiasm, and declined that 20 or 30 wiles further thnn anybody cl<e was always something far tho money, if not a great rloal for »he £150.000 expended, and the labor of 121 men far eighteen months. '•' "What is proved is Hint it is possible to get a ship within 450 milos of tho Pole, and that from Whence the journey must be mi rie in extreme cold— =say SO below £'.ro — over immoveable ioe. through which a way ntnst be cut witb a pickaxe nt the rata of n mile and a quarter n. day. The *w. r'c too mtist be done within fanr ino-itbn of starting, or for want of heat and light it cannot be done afc all, The passage of those 450 miles catutot be an imr>o«*sibillty, for 70 of them \ypre, by terrible exertions, but no loss of life, successfully passed." On lhe whole, we ar<> disposed to. regard the f'xpedition of Ci\p^i"S Howgafe and Tyson as far more ratinnal and pro-, mining of pucces-* than ""v pneced'ng enterprise, of its Innd.T- Whilst on the subj *ct of Pillar exp'orations, wp may remark lint Mr foxweil and olh.r aj-^n • nts continue to di-rcuM Ihe practiciiijili'-j*; of eon« icting n In* Uoon over the Artir* -.ea lot'ie North P le. Captain Sir G. N>rea su " gested fhnr the billnnnis s should try aid sail tn It t^laiA*! and bark be 'ore attempting the journey io the North Pole, Mr ( fox* Veil, promising that " tho cironmstam.es and route bpars little resemblance." s<*t-* forth th'itofthe tworo'f-s thnto,vr*r a frozen gpa Is the n^ore prat.ti,*able. He thinks ihat "guide ro,po trailing o*ei*. the obstructions will ru»i-*c the aerosats to '.'rise ard fall with the respective in* equalities of the surface like a ship afc sea." Thia daring navigati j. of the air proposes to tako dogs, sledges, anrl boi ti With h'tn,, in case tho wind proved unfavorable or any ac. df-nt occurred to tho balloon. Mr Cox wel I, of course, is full (if prncautions, nnd the last sentence of a le' ter which ho has sent loan English contemporary shows the mcv. urea he will gdopt jn the event of bein; dropped i,uto the sea. " Even supposing a Polar Sen jtfW'esenlcd itself, a descent might be effected with thfl waterproof cars and cylinders ; but I should strongly ur#3 th.s aerqc..al a, bs pledged a^ains' the

*__>Mi^*»**»M*-***»»**«'iiiiiijw mxi im^Tmtammmmmtmmmmtmmtmmimt \ idea, of ultimate isolation. They must . be looked after as much as possible, and all bands must work together, and be J ready this time to do or die in the ' attempt.'" Ji spite of the heroic aenti- ' m e Ut °f i 0 concluding paragraph, wo j still expect to reap more solid advantage 5 from the American expedition iv search of the North Pole, . A oon tri bu tor to an English liorlicul 1 tural magazine wri'os to the Garden * as follows: — "While visiting ti.elvie . old garden at Foretell near luyerkeithing, the other day, I was delighted to see tq a 1 clump on the terrace lawn, Iji .tf to the ' soutli of tho old Castle, a fine specimen : of New g -aland fl tx in fl )«'er, It bus , produced two spikes U feet hifi". e «^ spike being furnished wiih about 18 ' clusters of reddish- brown flowers, lhe 3 leaves, which are upright, are about * s i feot loog. This plant has been growing , in ita present siuiat'oti for about 25 years, and this is the first time 't has ever shewn flower; ifi is, too, the first plant of the kind that T ever saw iv bloom in tbe opeu air iq Scotland."