ARCTIC EXPLORATION. (Times.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1859, 5 June 1884, Page 4

ARCTIC EXPLORA TION. (Times.)

In &s&>» tfays' h&f> Majesty^ slfijtf Alert will sail once more for those inhospitable rations* tyliere years' ago she Mid' memorable service. It is a matter for satisfaction that oar Government has pliicetl'this well-tried vessel at 'the disposal of the United State* for the relief of 'the Arctic party tinier Lieutenant t&reely, which took up its quaiters at Lady Franklin Bay, in Robcson Channel, in August 1881. The offer has been accepted and the authmities of Sheerness Dockyard are making all haste to have the vessel equipped with masts, sails, and yards. Mr Leigh Smith is taking an active interest in the prepaia tions. A United States naval officer, Lieutenant Goodrich, who is at present in • this country, will take possession of the Aleit as soon as she is ready, and navigate her across the Atlantic. Besides the Alert, three other vessels— the Tlietis, Bear and Hope — ■will form part of the search expedition. Of these the Thetis is a Dundee , whaler and the Bear a Newfoundland .ship, which have been purchased by the United States Government. All will be specially prepared for the severe woi k they will have to peifoun. The leader of the expedition will be Commander Winfield S. Schley, under whom will be Lieutenant Calwell, and it is expected that all four vessels will be ready to sail in the beginning of April. This action on the part ot the British Government is to be commended on various grounds besides that of common humanity. On several occasions our own expeditions to the Smith Sound region have been indebted to the United States for important services. Moreover the Gieely expedition foims one of the parties which were sent out under the auspices of the International Aictic Commitcee, and is now the only one about m hose fate we are in doubt. As we have said, the expedition went out in ISSI, and, in pursuance of previous arrangements, a relief ship was sent up the Sound in the summer of ISB2. But the Neptune, under Lieutenant Beeby, after incurring I'onsidciablc nsks, being beset in the ice near Cape Yoik, Mas compelled to lotuin without getting much further. Lieutenant Beeby, however, landed stores and boats on Capo Sabino and Littleton Island, and a whale boat was left at Cape Isabella. A second attempt Mas made last summei toiescue the party, in the Proteus and Yantic, but with an equally unsuccecfaful result. The Proteus was ciushed in the ice, the ciew escaping with difficulty to Cape Yoik, Mheie they Meie rescued in the Yantic. Baron NordenskjoM has since repoited that the Esquimaux between Waigattel and Cape Yoik informed Dr Nathorst that the members of the (lively expedition, except two who had died, had succeeded in escaping to Littleton Island. It is to be hoped that this lias been the case, for then they ■would doubtless have discovered the previsions and boats left by Lieutenant Beeby in 1882. Tho expedition consists of twenty-five men. In his last annual address to the Royal Geographical Society Loid Abcrdare said there Mas much reason to fear that some disaster had befallen these, gallant men, and that some of them had perished dining their prolonged detention in that most rigorous poition of the Polar legioiio — 81° N. lat. " Such a fate," he sud, " happening to any people would be ceitain to evoke our warm lcgiets ; but the feeling is heightened m hen we lemetnber with how keen sympathy tho Amcucau people have e\ci followed the disastets of British adventurers in the Arctic seas, and how geneious and untiling ha\e been their effoits to uny lehet to the suffereis, as long as the slightest chance remained ot their being still in the land of the living. ' Evcijonc, we aie sure, will (sympathise with Loid Abei dare's statement, and with the cxpicssion of anxiety on behalf of the Gcogiaphical Society which he tiansmitted to the United States Government in Dccembci List. Itisevident that the United States authorities are themselves alive to tho seiiousness ot the situation. We have before us the lcpoit of a Board of Officei s appointed to consider the question of a lelicf expedition. The lepoi t is dated Januaiy 22nd, and is signed by Geneial Hazen, the Chief of the Signal Sen ice, tv\o naval officers, and one auny officer. Nothing could be more thorough than this repoit, which gi\es a history of the Gieely expedition from the beginning and of the two attempts made to succour it, and discusses, besides, the most effective methods of l caching it this year. It is evident fiom this report that there was little or no danger of the expedition being shoi t of piovisions, unless some disaster happened. Subsistence stoics on the basis of the aimy ration Meie tuinished for tluee years, whilst additional stoics weie supplied, some of winch would last for four yeais and a half. Eveiy thing, including 140 tons of coal, was «afely landed at Discoveiy Harbour, Lady Franklin Bay, by August loth, ISSI, and by the 18th of that month Lieutenant Greely had succeeded in collecting "thieo full months' lations of musk cattle." For purposes of exploiation and retreat, the expedition v\as furnished with a navy steam launtli and three other boats adapted to the nay igation of Smith Sound. Moicovei, Lieutenant Gieely knew that at Thank God Harbour, twenty-eight miles distant, at Newman Bay, thhty-eight miles distant, at Cape Collinson, Capo Hawks, Cape Noiton, Littleton Island, the Caiy Islands, and seveial other points along the loute to the .south v\cie cmJifs of piovisions left by piev ions expeditions and hy his own in tho passage not thw aids ; while at the two nc nest stations a couple of sei viceable boats Men; available. It would thus seem that theie was little likelihood of disaster happening to the expedition fiom want of piovisions. Lieutenant Greely's nisti nations were to abandon hi& station not later than September 188!), if no lelief had reached him by that time ; and as we have said above, Nordcnslvjold's paity bi ought home an Esquimaux liimoui that the members of the expedition had succeeded in reaching Littleton Island ; while the official report bofoie us states it io possible, but very impiobable, that they aic in Upernivik ■waiting for the bieak-up of the ice. But in a case of this kind nothing must be taken for gi anted, and the lepoit urges that the relief expedition must be adequate to reach Lady Franklin Bay, and be pi epared to spend two years on the ice. Ihe navigation of Smith Sound is extremely uncertain. The season of 1881 was a very open one, and the Proteus, which took out the expedition, reached her destination in eight days from the date of leav ing Littleton Island, w hereas the Naies expedition in 1875, with two powerful steamers, took twenty-eight days to cover the distance ; while in ISB2 and ISB3 the two relief expeditions were completely baflled and baiely escaped destruction. Hence the propiiety of sending so many vessels, and furnishing the expedition for tw o years' absence. It is proposed to send an advance ship to the Danish settlements previous to the time fixed for the assembling of the expedition at Upernivik ; should a favorable opportunity present itself, the vessel will push northwards and rescue the Greely party. The relief ships will arrive at Upernivik not later than May' 15th, and will push northwards as soon as the ice permits towards Littlelton Island, the natives will be "communicated with and all possible information obtained as to the whereabouts of the expedition. When the ice is reached, oife of the vessels will push its way through it while the other will maintain such a position in. the rear as to be able to rescue tjie 'party on No. 1 should that ship cpme to greif. Should neither -Vessel. ( ' be crushed, and should succeed in communicating with Lady Franklin Sound, one, it is recomrinencled, should winter in Franklin Bay and the other in the vicinity C/jJb Ifitf^ftqn,-, Island. O«i' the route gnorthwatds various points are to be ex|Sjrnifled and .depots of , provisions left at' 'speciflea qubrfeWt The fullest:

, equipment as to boats, sledges,' clothing, tent% iJtifeodHU. 'J»W«9>»MRWSi«J!»9 B A'*o-» is recommended, every precaution !isto be taken, tfpfeeoj^q jßuccoss. The addition of the Alert to the rescue fleet will .undoubtedly * jftfUU.gVPfttlyi : fa: tjU&; chances of >acqompU?bing .thefobjecjts of the oxpelition. v l,t.is { rucommQttded {hat. the pci boiuwl of , «'avh vesa.el'-*, be kept Uo>vn to a minimum, so .is Wgiye ampi? fapace should the expedition, be , absent two years, to diminish the risk of shorfcne33 of provUiona. It is calculated that the total expence will be about 420,000c10k