*. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A ^ z ^ . Tffi GOVfiBNMENT. l,5> :' O. Sifei c^ mmmmf — i \ 1.PP The New Arctic Expedition. COEEESPONDENCE liliTW-EEN THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY AND THE GOVERNMENT. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHABING CKOSS. 1873. ■MP \AbJp CONTENTS. I. Lkttkk from the Puksidknt of the Koyai, Gkoguaphical SociKTY to the Chaxckllor of thk Exchkquku and the First Lord OF THK Admiualty 5 II. Kkply of the Chancellor pF TiiK Exchkquku 8 III. Lktter of AcKXowLEDGMKNT from the Prksident .. .. 9 Enclosures to Lftte'! 1. 1. Report of the Arctic Committee appointed by the Council of tlio KoYAL Geographical Society, April 29th, 1872 ]o 2. Papers on the Exploration of the North Polar Pegion, read by Captain Sherard Osborn, c.b., r.n., on the 23rd of January, 18G5, and the 22nd of April, 1872 ; with the subsequent Discus- sions jg 3. Opinion of Dr. Hooker, c.b., on the Importance of Arctic Ex- ploration. Speech delivered at a Meeting of the Poyal Geogra- phical Society, on April 22nd, 1872 51 4. Opinion of Dr. Carpenter, r.B.8. on the Importance of Arctic Exploration. Speech delivered at a Meeting of the Royal Geo- graphical Society, on April 22nd, 1872 54 5. Letter to the Royal Society, dated May 31st, 1872, and Reply, dated June 21 st, 1872 5g 6. Letter from the President of the Geological Society, dated July 17th, 1872 59 7. Letters from the Secretaries op the Linn^an Society, dated April 6th, 1865, and June 22nd, 1872 ; with Memorandum by Mr. J. GWYN Jeffreys, dated June lOtb, 1872 qi 8. Letter from the Secretary of the Scottish Meteobologiqal Society, dated June 20th, 1872 gg 9. Letter from the Director op the Meteorological Office, dated June 18th, 1872 ' _^ gy 10, Report of the Arctic Committee of the Anthropological Institute co '^"087 PROVINC.AI- UBRARV VICTOR! Ai B.C. '"'^mmrnm A.4 it^^mm ( 5 ) I. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, AND THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY. I , Savile Row, W. Dec. niber H)th, 1872. On behalf of the Royal Geographical Soniet/, I have the honour vespectfuUy to request that you will bilrg to the notice of Her Majesty's Government the reasons wliich make it desirable to despatch, next year, a naval expedition -wiLli the object of exploring the unknown region around the North Pole. I herewith submit the opinion of a Committer of Arctic officers appointed this year by our Council to consider the subject of an Arctic Expedition, as well as the views expressed by the Eoyal Society, the Geological Society, the Linnasan Society, the Scottish Meteorological Society, tlie Meteorological Department, and the Anthropological Institiite ; including the valuable remarks of Dr. J. D. Hooker, c.b., f.u.s., and of Dr. Carpenter, f.r.s., the President of the British Association. The collective evidence of these seamen and men of science will, I trust, leave no doubt with regard to the value and importance of the results which a well-appointed expedition must yield, in exploring nearly two million square miles of unknown ground within the 80th parallel of north latitude. Such an expedition ought to lead to the solution of the numerous important scientific 6 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT questions in physical geography, geology, natural history, terrestrial magnetism, anthropology, and meteorology, which are referred to in the accompanying letters from the above-named scientific Societies. This Society, after a careful consideration of the sub- ject, is convinced that its geographical results would be of great value. In 1865 our late President, Sir Roderick Murchison, took steps to bring the subject of Arctic exploration before Her Majesty's Government ; but his application was put on one side, and a decision was postponed until the question of the most advisable route could be decided by the expeditions then about to be despatched by the Swedish and German Governments by way of Spitzbergen. Seven years of unsuccessful labour in that direction have led to the collec- tion of further pr-'^fs, by the leaders of both the Swedish and Ger- man expeditions, that the experience of all previous navigators was not at fault as to the impracticability of penetrating the ice in that direction. Arctic authorities are now, therefore, unanimovs in the opinion that the loute by Baffin's Bay and Smith Sound promises the largest amount of valuable scientific results combined with the best assurance of safety. The American expedition, commanded by Captain Hall, has gone in an entirely different direction up Jones Sound, and must return in 1873. It consists only of one small vessel, and the results that can be obtained by it must necessarily be limited. Apart from the purely scientific point of view, the variout) explorations of the Arctic Regions, by British navigators, have, since 1818, redounded to the national honour and repute, and have, m no small degree, contributed to keep alive, through a long period of peace, that spirit of courage, enterprise, and self-denial which is so essential to the character of the seamen of a gieat maritime nation. Neither I nor those who are acting with me would submit this proposal if its adoption involved any undue risk of life, such as existed in former days. The experience acquired between 1860 and 1872, during which period expeditions commanded by British, American, Sweiish, and (ievman officers have safely, and at many points, gone to and fro within the Arctic Circle, has proved that, with the helji of steam ami other mudorn appliances, and of the knowledge gained concerning the proper organization of travelling M OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. parties, Arctic exploration, under judicious leadership, is not unduly dangerous. Universal interest continues to be felt in the examination of the unknown North Polar Region. Every first-class power of Europe and America, except England, has sent forth expeditions for Arctic discover}' during the last twelve years. These attempts have been watched with the deepest interest, and not without some feeling of shame, by the press and the people of Great Britain ; and there is now a very general feeling, in this country, that the time has come for us again to assert our old pre-eminence in the field of Arctic discovery. I have the honour to be your obedient Servant, H. C. Eawlinson, President. To the BifjM Hon. Bohert Lowe, M.P., Chancellor of the Exchequer, -• . and the Biijht Hon. G. J. Goschen, M.P., First Lord of the Admiralty. ( 8 ) II. REPLY OF THE CHANCELLOR OF THE I<:XC[1EQUER, 11, Downing Street.* Dear Sir Henry Kawlinson, Mr. Goschen and I have carefully considered the documents which you have laid before us with regard to the proposed Arctic Expedition. We do not find in them anything which shows that there is any pressing reason why the Expedition should be sent this year. We give no opinion as to the expediency of such an Expedition at a future time ; but we are clearly of opinion that it would not be right to send out a second Scientific Expedition precisely at the moment when the public revenue has to bear the main burden of the expenses of the operations entrusted to the Challenger. I believe it has been erroneously stated that the Challenger Expedition involves very little expense. That is not so : the cost has already been considerable, and nothing has been spared to ensure success. There will further be an additional annual outlay for three years. Under these circumstances, we regret that wo cannot recommend the sending an Exploring party to the Arctic Ocean as a Govern- mont Enterprise this year. Believe me, Yours very truly, (Signed) Robidrt Lowe. Sir Henry 0. llawUnson, K.C.B. * Received Junuary Ist, 1873. r 0 ; «l III. LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT PROM THE PEESIDENT. Royal Gkographical Society, 1, Savile Row, Burlington Gardens, Dear Mr. Lowe, January 13, 1873. I have this day, at the First Meeting of the Council of the Royal Geographical Society since the Christmas recess, laid before them your letter of the Slst ult., communicating the decision of Mr. Goschen and yourself that the documents submitted to you by our deputation of December 16 th, do not show any pressing reason for sending out an Arctic Expedition this year. The Council are glad to see that you do not express an opinion as to the expediency of sending such an Expedition at a future time. This does not, of course, involve any promise upon your part to reconsider our application ; but it, nevertheless, emboldens us to hope that the additional arguments in favour of Arctic Ex- ploration, with which we expect to be soon fortified, may prevail on Mr. Goschen and yourself to sanction, later in the year, the prepa- ration of an Expedition which may leave England for Smith Sound in the Spring of 1874, and thus furnish a fitting and much needed complement to the Scientific voyage of the Challenger. I remain, Yours most faithfully, (Signed) H. C. Rawlinson, President r.g.s. liifj/U lion. Robert Lowe, M.P., Chancellor of the Exchequer. ( 10 ) Enclosure No. 1. REPORT OF THE ARCTIC COMMITTEE,* Adopted hy the President and Council of the Royal deographical Socitty, April 2dth, 1872. 1. Since 1865 several Swedish and German expeditions have attempted to explore the unknown Polar Region, by jienetrating the ice between Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Novaya Zemlya. 2. The leaders of these expeditions, Captain Koldewey, and MM. Nordens- k'iold and Von Otter, are convinced of the impracticability of the routes they attempted. Their work has been reviewed by Captain Sherard Osborn, in the accompanying Paper [Enclosure No. 2], which was read at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, on the 22ncl of April, 1872. 3. This conclusion, strengthening the deductions from all previous experience, will enable those who advocate Arctic exploration to point out a definite course to be now pursued. 4. The unknown region covers an area of more than a million of square miles. It is obvious that a single expedition cannot undertake to explore the whole of this space. It is, therefore, necessary to select that portion of it for exploration which offers the three advantages that are considered essential. These are : 1st, the certainty of exploring a previously unknown area of considerable extent ; 2nd, the prospect of the most valuable discoveries in various branches of science ; 3rd, the best security for a safe return, 5. These advantages can only be secured in tliat portion where a coast line of great extent is known to exist, because the most valuable discoveries must be made on or near the land. 6. The unknown coast of Greenland intervenes between a point in about 82° N. lat., "n the west side, and a point in 77° n. lat. on the east side ; and at both points the land trends north. The following considerations lead to the inference that the land of Greenland extends far to the northward. The cur- rent flowing down the east side of Greenland has been observed by Dr. Forch- hammer to be composed, not of Polar water, but of Atlantic water. A strong current flows through the channels between the Parry Islands down Baffin's Bay. If Greenland extended no further to the northward, this current would also sweep round it, and flow down its eastern shore. Observation has shown that this is not the case. The width of Greenland, at its most northern known points, is more than 600 miles. There is no other land, offering similar con- ditions, on the verge of the unknown area. 7. The object of an Arctic expedition of discovery should, therefore, be to explore the unknown yliores to the north of Greenland. 8. In order to reach the point whence discovery would commence, an Arctic expedition must, therefore, proceed up the west coast of Greenland, in Baffin's Bay and Smith Sound. This route is preferable to one by the east coast of Greenland, because of the facilities for retreat to the Danish settlements. y. Such an exi^edition should consist of two mcHlei'ate-sized screw-steamers, one to be stationed at some distance withiii the entrance of Smith Sound, the other to advance, as far as possible, to the northward (preserving connnunica- * Composed of the followinj; f^tntleincn : — Sir Gtorgo Buck, Admiral C lliuson, Admiral OiDhiauney, Admiral JJiohanls, Sir TjcoiKild McClintock, Captain Sherard O&born. ]>r. Kac, 3ir, Findlay. Mr. CleiiR'ntf- Jlaikliani (Sct,). IIEPOUT OK THE AKCTIC COMMITTEE. 11 tion with the deiiut vessel), Irom which point sledge parties would start iu the early spring, and explore the unknown region in various directions. 10. The advanced parties would be in such a position as to be able to fall back upon the consort at her station near the entrance of Smith Sound. 1'hence, in the event of accidents, the whole expedition could retreat to the Danisli settlements in Greenland, as has before been done. Thus two advantages — namely, the discovery of a wide extent of coast-line, and the certainty of a safe i-eturn —are ensured by adopting this course. They could not be secured by adopting any other course. 11. The discovery of the northern side of Greenland also ofl'ers the third advantage — the prospect of securing the most valuable results in the various branches of scientific research. I. Oeoyraphy. — A geographical problem of great importance and interest will be solved by completing the circuit of Greenland, ascertaining the extent and nature of its northern point, and discovering the conditions of land and sea in that portion of the unknown area. II. Hydrography. — An Arctic expedition, as a supplement to the exjjedition now preparing to investigate the ocean-bottom in the middle and south- ern latitudes of the globe, is, in the opinions of Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Hooker, a scientific necessity ; and Dr. Hooker C( insiders that there is no betttir sphere for its labours than the northern Greenland seas. IIL Botany. — Kecent botanical investigations, on both coasts of Greenland have tended to complicate, rather than to unravel, the problem involved in the remarkable differences between the existing floras on the two coasts. Its solution probably depends on the physical and biological conditions of much higher latitudes than have hitherto been explored. Other questions of surpassing interest have suggested themselves; foremost amongst which are the results of the investigations made within the last few years into the fossil flora of Greenland. These have indis- putably proved that a vigorous forest-vegetation of many kinds of trees once flourished on what is now the Greenland coast, and extended far beyond the Arctic circle. There is a probability of this forest- vegetation having extended over the Pole itself; thus confounding all previous geological reasoning as to the climate and conditions of the globe during the Tertiary period. Recent expeditions have traced these fossiliferous beds to a much higher latitude than that of Disco, Avhere they were first detected. To determine their extension to a point which would leave no doubt of this forest having clothed the Northern Pole would be a most important contribution to the history of palaioutology, botany, and terrestrial physics. IV. Zoology. — The Arctic Ocean teems with life, and the multitude of kinds of minute organised beings is prodigious. These play a most important part in the formation of sedimentary deposits, which, in future geological periods, will become incorporated with those rock- formations wliose structure has only lately been explained. The kinds of tl'-so animals, the relation they bear to one another and to larger animals, the conditions under which they live, their distribution ac- cording to warm and cold cuirents and geographical areas, arc all sub- jects on which very little is known. As regards larger organisms, the conditions of life in the unknown area may be such as to sustain rare and solitary species, such as the Rhytlna IStdlcri, and other animals unknown elsewhere. A more complete knowledge of the habits and habitats of the larger animals, fish, shells, corals, and yponiics of the Arctic zone is much needed, as well as good specimens for museums; and more valuable still would be anatomical and physiological expcri- iiu'iilts and uksci'vaUuna nn thcbi' aniniaJL, under their natural conditions. 12 UEPOUT OV THIi ARCTIC COMMITTEE. V. Ethnology. — The discovery of a sledge-runner north of the Humboldt glacier in Smith Sound, on the west side ; and of jjcople by Clavering and Sabine, on tlic east side, who had disapixjared when the Germans visited the same spot last year; prove that human beings have wandered into the unknown area. The traditions of the Arctic High- landers, the most northern known people, furnish evidence that they have no intercourse with the people further north. The dwellers in the unknown area have, therefore, probably been isolated for centuries. Under these circumstances their condition will offer a most important object of study for the prBchistoric archax)logi8t. Their customs and mode of life will, in themselves, be subjects of deep interest ; and their language, traditions, and methods of making dwellings, clothes, arms, tools, and utensils, may throw light upon one of the most interesting problems in the history of the spread of mankind over the earth. VI. Geology. — The microscopic vegetables, which swarm in the Polar seas, contribute to the sedimentary deposits by the siliceous coating of their cells. These siliceous coats are indestructible, and being of irregular geometric forms, and the different kinds having differently and ex- quisitely sculptured surfaces, they may be recognised wherever found, and at all future epochs of our globe. A knowledge of the species inhabiting the northern Greenland seas would throw great light on investigations into the age of the rocks of our own island, and on the later changes of the climate of the northern hemisphere. The exami- nation of a long extent of coast-line will yield other geological results of great value, from the collection of rocks and fossils, and the observa- tions on glacial action. VII. Geodesy. — An expedition could do much useful preliminary work in geodesy, in making a series of pendulum observations, and in register- ing the dip and intensity of the needle. VIIL Meteorology. — Observations of the temperature of the sea at various depths ; of temperature and pressure of the atmosphere ; and of pre- vailing winds, with reference to currents, in very high latitudes, will fonn valuable contributions to meteorological science. It may be added that, thcuigh all previous observations for temperature at great dei)ths have proved to be valueless, in consequence of the imperfection of the instruments, this defect has now been provided against. IX. — In the enumeration of some of the scientific results which must cer- tainly be secured by the discovery of the northern coast of Greenland, it should be remembered that the exploration of an unknown region will necessarily bring to light a vast number of important facts in every branch of science which cannot possibly be foreseen. 12. In addition to the harvest of results with which Arctic discovery will enrich science, and thus extend the sum of human knowledge, there are other considerations to which great weight must be attached. Another generation of naval officers will be trained in ice-navigation, a much needed field will bo opened for individual enterprise, opix>rtunities will be offered for distinction, and a great benefit will thus be conferred on the Navj^, and through the Navy on the country generally. All classes of the people, it is believed, will unite with men of science in the desire that the tradition of Arctic discovery should be preserved and handed down to posterity ; and that Englishmen should not abandon that career of noble adventure which has done so much to form the national character, and to give our country the rank she still main- tains. An interest onro vcy keenly sliown in such enterprises may, it is believed, be easily revived. ( 13 ) Knolosube No. 2. ' ON THE EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN; With a Resume op kecent Swedish, Geuman, and Austkian ATTEiuns to BEAo'ii THE Polar Oiuci-e fkom the Atlantic Ocean. By Cafiain ShEUAUD OsBOHN, R.N., C.B. A Pamper read before the Royal GeograpJdcal kiociety on the 22n(l April, 1872. TO WHICH IS APPENDED A PAPER ON THE EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION, Bead by the same Author, before the Royal Geographical Society, on the 2Zril January, 1865. At the Tenth Evening Meeting of the Session 1871-2 of the Royal Geographical Society, held on the 22nd April, 1872, after the routine business had been transacted, the following Paper ' On the Exploration of the North Polar Basin,' was read by Capt. Sherard Osborn : — Our able and indefatigable secretary, Mr. Clements Markham, has recently, in a valuable Memorandum, called the attention of the President and Council of the Eoyal Geographical Society to the necessity of public interest, in this country, being again directed to a scientific exploration of the 1,131,000 square miles of the globe's surface, which still lie unexplored around the northern pole of our earth. It will be in the recollection of the members of this Society that, in 1865, I read a paper on this subject, and therein to the best of my ability, urged the necessity, on many grounds, for an exploration of the Polar basin, and set forth the arguments in favour of reaching that unknown area by way of P.affin Bay and Smith Sound. That route, it is maintained, is the one which two hundred and odd years of experience have given to British navigators and ex- plorers the best assurance of reaching the 80th degree of north latitude, with the greatest certainty, and smallest amount of risk, to ship and life. u EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR bAsIN. Backed by all the scientific bodies of this country, our late dis- tinguished President and Council took immediate steps for a revival of English Arctic enterprise, and wrote to, as well as had an interview with, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, His Grace the Duke of Somerset, with a view to obtaining that assistance from the Navy, which we believed would give the best guarantee for a successful geographical exploration of the area under con- sideration. Unfortunately for the purpose we had in view, an eminent German geographer renewed a theory which he had first started at a still more inopportune time, during the search for Franklin, — and had English navigators then listened to it, that search would have been a failure, the North-west Passage would not have been discovered, and the geography of the lands between BaflSn and Behring Straits would still have remained unknown ; his theory being that the true way to reach this unknown area, was by following in a very ditferent direction what he believed to be a (lurrent of warm water, flowing to the north-east from the tropical regions of the Atlantic towards the shores of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. He maintained, in the face of three centuries of experience, that a route cc"ld be found into the area round our pole in that direction, and that a navigable sea existed there. His arguments and opinions caused a division amongst Arctic authorities in this country ; and the First Lord of the Admiralty, though apparently sufficiently enlightened to entertain the general proposal, very naturally declined verbally to assume the responsi- bility of deciding which route was the right one, until geographers and Arctic authorities could themselves agree on so important a point. Disappointed though I and others naturally felt at this first result of our efforts, still we could not but acknowledge the justice of the course taken by the Admiralty ; and, as a matter of policy and common sense, I advised Sir Roderick Murchison to bb patient, and wait till time had proved the fallacy of theories based upon the existence of an imaginary open Polar ocean, and upon the possi- bility of ice-navigation late in the autumn. Seven years have now elapsed, and though I am prepared to do justice to the zeal, enterprise, and courage, with which the German explorers have endeavoured to give effect to the theories of their speculative geographer, and to the noble fortitude with which they have faced severe hardships in trying to reach the Polar basin, between the east coast of Greenland and the meridian of Nova Zembla, yet I maintain that the result proves the learned but purely theoretical German geographer to bo wrong, and the ex- EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 15 perienced Arctic voyagers, who thought with mo, to be right. J do not propose, in a short paper adapted for our evening discussion, to attempt to give full details of the two German Expeditions of 1868 and 1869, which sailed from Bergen and Bremen respectively ; and there is the less need to do so, as our distinguished Associate, Admiral Sir Leopold M'Clintock, in January, 1871, gave us a paper containing an excellent resume of the last expedition. The result of those two German efforts was, in my estimation, calcu- lated only to confirm our opinion that between Spitzbergen and the coast of Greenland there was no navigable passage through the ice- drift from the Pole, either for steamer or sailing-ship, to the northward of points reached by Hudson two centuries, by Phippa one century, and by Scoresby, Buchan, Parry, Clavering, and Sabine, half a century ago. The Pendulum Islands and adjacent coast of Green- land were the furthest point northward of the German, as it had been fifty years before of the English navigators. Captain Karl Koldewey, who commanded both expeditions, happily relieves me from the pain of feeling that I diifer, in this respect, from one who so gallantly endeavoured to test Dr. Petermann's theory. In May, 1871, after his experiences of Petermann's route to the Polar basin, he writes as follows : — " One can hardly resist the conviction that the hope of attaining the North Pole by ship, or of finding an open sea around the Pole, are alike among the most improbable of things. I " I confess that I myself was misled by representations in Dr. Petermann's ' Geographische Mittheilungen,' and held it to be at least possible, by following a line of coast, to penetrate by ship far into the central Arctic Regions, and then certainly to make one's way to the Pole. A winter in East Greenland, the most careful observation of those mightj' masses of ice, thoir movements and formation, and of the whole conditions of temperature, and finally the careful study of Arctic literature in its original form, and not by means of one-sided extracts, have radically cured me and all my companions of this idea. " If its principal object is to be the nearest possible approach to the Pole, I am quite of Osborn's opinion that the best way appears to be through Smith Sound. Here one can penetrate by ship every year to the 78th parallel, and then one has a continuous line of coast running north, which has been sighted as far as the 82nd 10 EXPLORATION OF THK NORTH POLAR BASIN. parallel. Along tluH coast ono would have to work one's way, in spring, with dog-slcdges. 1 " / consider it a icild undertaking to penetrate towards the Pole by ship, between Spitzbergen and Nova Zenibla." Comment on this honest seaman's opinion is unnecessary, and no amount of specious reasoning, spread over any amount of pages, by any mere theorist, bo he German or English, can undo the effect of evidence so strong and conclusive. Before touching on the voyage undertaken last year by Lieut. Payor, I must refer to the results of the Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen; and it is the more incumbent upon me to do so, because the Duke of Somerset rested his decision (to delay further action with respect to the representation that was made to him) upon the importance of first being furnished with the conclusions arrived at by the Swedish explorers. Nordenskiold, Von Otter, and other intrepid Scandinavian men of science, have led no less than four expeditions to the verge of the unknown Polar Region, on the Spitzbergen meridian, between the years 1858 and 1868, with the object of making researches into natural history, and achieving such discoveries as might prove to be feasible. The opinions of Nordenskiold and Von Otter are most valuable, and they fully confirm the experience of centuries, that in the summer or actual sailing season in the Polar Seas, it is not possible to penetrate through the pack. They observe, however, that at the season when, in consequence of the heat of the summer and the influence of ocean waves and streams, the ice-masses have been reduced to their minimum — that is to say, in the autumn — theorists had thought it possible to advance further than in summer. They therefore made the attempt, and are most emphatic in its condemnation. Their conclusion is, that during the autumn a vessel might possibly reach a latitude considerably higher than that which has been obtained by the early summer expeditions. But they further point out that progress would soon bo rendered impossible by the cold and darkness, the winds accompanied by isnow-storms, the heavy seas covered with drifting floes, and the young ice. They also record their opinion that an open Polar Sea is a mere hypothesis, destitute of all foundation in the experience which has been gained, and that the only way to approach the Pole, which can be attempted Avith any probability of succeeding, is that proposed by English authorities of exploring on sledges in the spring. Here, then, are KXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. w the reports for which the Duke of Somerset desired to wait, and by them wo find that tlio Swedish and German Commanders of Arctic Expeditions, after gaining actual experience in ice-navigation, fully agree witli their brother-explorers of England in the route that should bo taken, and in the means by which success must be achieved. Such were the results of the German and Swedish Arctic Expe- ditions up to the year 1871. I now proceed to give you a precis of a very interesting voyage, made under Austrian auspices last year, into the sea between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. Lieutenant'^ A. Weyprecht and Julius Payer, of the Austrian Navy — the latter of whom was associated with Captain Koldewey in his voyages to the North — appear to have very ingeniously thought of following the supposed Gulf Stream into the Polar Basin, by keeping more to the eastward of Spitzbergen, and towards Nova Zembla, than Koldewey had done, and especiall}' directed their attention towards Gillies Land.* After many delays, Payer and his associate, LieutenRnt ^Veyprecht, put forth from Tromso, in Norway, on the 21st June, 1871, in a small hired native vessel of 70 tons, and a crew, all included, of eight souls. Finding they could not reach Gillies Land in a direct course, they endeavoured to work their way up the Stor Fiord. Here they were met by southerly cuiTents and heavily drifting ice, against which they struggled fruitlessly until the 19th August, when, fur good and sufficient reasons, they abandoned the Stor Fiord route towards Gillies Land, and attempted then to reach it by following the eastern coast of the outermost islands of the Spitzbergen group. On the 1 C h August they reached Hope Island. It was free from ice, and they anchored there, and logged a current running past the ship W.S.W. three knots per hour. Leaving Hope Island on the 21st August, they had reached lat. 77*17° n., and between the 28th and 36th degree of long. e. found much lighter ice than had hitherto been met with. On the evening of the 22nd the Report says : — " Of King Charles's Land we saw nothing, although only 40 to 50 miles distant. In the evening, for a short time, we had a clear sky towards the northward ; otherwise we were enveloped in eternal fog. " The vicinity of the land, however, was proclaimed by the de- creasing depth of the sea, and numerous bear-tracks on the ice." Between that date and the 29th they appear, on the parallel * 'Tlic Polar Expedition of A. Weyprecht and Julin,«i Payer in the year 1871,' Goosjruphical Society, Vitmna, 1872. C ■ 18 EXPLORATION OK THE NOUTII POLAR IN. of TT'SO", to have been beating aboiit in perfectly navigable ice, but the fogs were bo extensive they could not see far. On the 20th August thoy had renchod 42° k. long., and were much astonitshed to bo able on the 30th, to puss 78th degree lat. and 4r30^ K. long, without encountering ice ; but that night thoy struck against the ice-edge. The ico, however, was moving to the north instead of to the east. On the ;{lst, at mid-day, the Report states the}' were in 78*25° n. lat., 42° e. long; at eight o'clock in the evening, in 78*41° N. lat., amongst ice, which seemed to bo moving north-east. To the west the ico lay dense, with strong ice-glare and detached icebergs, but to the north it was loose or open. On the 1st September, midnight, they reached tlieir liiglicst latitude, 78*48° N., dead reckoning, and by indifferent observations at noon, on the 2nd, they were in 78*37° n., 4232^ k. I now particularly call your attention to the two following para- graphs of the Report : — *' Very thick fog, with a stiff, contrary wind, prevented our getting forward in a northerly diioction. The condition of the ice would have been no obstacle. The 79th parallel we could, without very great effort, have passed, only, with the stiff north wind, it would have taken at least a day's cruising, and the short time which still stood at our disposal was too precious for us to be willing to sacrifice a whole day for a few miles. " Many signs led us here to infer the near neighbourhood of land. We saw much drift-wood, which, further south, we had hardly ever met with ; and at one spot, where we weie fishing, there was fresh mud, also sea- weeds, and much fresh-water ice, which is easily known by its transparency. An almost infallible sign was six southward-flying eider-ducks, which never go fur away from the land. Unfortunately, however, the fog was always so thick that we never got a wide prospect. These thick fogs with a north wind are very remarkable in such high latitudes. "A further energetic northerly advance was no longer to be thought of: the obstacles being our scanty provisions, the disin- clination, already mentioned, of the crew, and, lastly, the condition of our prow. " The quality of the ice in these high latitudes was by no means diffi- cult. Except ( itached and small icebergs, and one solitary larger old slice, wesf, nothing implying heavy pack-ice in the north. All these si is, read by the light of Arctic experience, point, in my opinion, i the existence of land not very far north of the position reache( on the 42nd Meridian by the Austrian Expedition, and by no meai < towards an opening into the Polar Sea. . EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 10 To gratify their curiosity, and to allay the fears of the Norwegian seamen, the Hhip now stood towards the coast of Nova Zembla, to ascerliiin whether they had been merely steering np a bight in the ice. The result proved that, from their furthest, on the Ist Sep- tember, to the coast of Nova Zembla, the sea was free from ice. 1'hey then appear, owing to the nouth-west winds, to havo been forced back on the 6th September in a northerly direction to 78'5° N. lat., and 5(5° K. long., where, it is worthy of remark, they met ice, in an east and west direction, with a heavy sea beating against it. The expedition now struggled homeward through heavy continual storms from the south-west, and anchored in Tromso on the 4th October ; and the Austrian navigators do not fail to remark that the increasing length of the nights and heavy snow-stonns would have rendered the navigation highly perilous, had they had the misfortune to have fallen amongst ice. A contingency which was avoided by the heavy south-west gales, and consequent warm- water drift pressing the pack-ice away to the northward and west- ward, and northward and eastward. Lieutenants Weyprecht and Payer, having been unable to trace this open water on the north shore of Nova Zembla to its furthest limit, appear to jump at the conclusion that they have discovered a key, to use their own words, " to the mystic Polynia, the open sea to the north of Siberia." This iiiay be so : the word Polynia means spaces of open water in a frozen ocean ; and there may be many such spaces, if not a con- tinuous channel of open water, late in the autumn, say October, extending from Nova Zembla, along the shores of Asia, to Behring Straits ; and I do not deny that an exploration of this open water may yield most valuable results in a geographical and generally soientific point of view. But, with all kindness and sympathy for them, I appeal to their own Keport, and the results obtained, whether in observations of ice, water, depths, and temperatures, in proof of the fact that, at their furthest north, they were merely approaching those lands which previous visitors to Spitzbergen have frequently reported were seen to the east and north-east, and generally known under the term " Gillies Land," or, more recently, King Charles's Land ; and I only regret to learn from Sir Leopold McClintock that the gallant Austrians, who are again about to put forth on a voyage of discovery, do not intend to return there, and explore a region so likely to yield such interesting results in a geographical point of view; though I feel confident 'hat the Polar basin will not be explored by any expedition in that direction. To sum up, another iseven years' labour only goes to confirm old 0 2 20 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. Arctic experience, that the outpour of Polar ice is too heavy and continuous, from Gillies Land to Greenland for any ships to penetrate through it. I believe that outpour to be incessant, both summer and winter, and that sledging expeditions at any season of the year, northward from Spitzbergen, would encounter to-dfcy the same difficulties Parry did in the summer of 1827. With respect to the Nova Zembla Sea, there is evidently land to the northward, and the south-west gales of the Atlantic force up a body of warm water in the autumn, by which a route may be found round Nova Zembla into the open water on the Siberian coast. Indeed this is already proved to be possible by a Norwe- gian, Captain Mack. On these grounds, and on those already stated in my previous paper, I would again appeal to the President, Council, and Members of the Royal Geographical Society, to turn their earnest attention during this summer and autumn towards a resumption of the exploration of the Polar area, by way of Baffin Bay and Smith Sound, and by means of sledge travelling parties, such as explored so many hundreds of miles of coast-line in former years. This route recommends itself on the three following grounds : — First, ^hat it is the most advanced known position towards the Polar area, with almost continuous land extending to the 82^" lat. N. Secondly. That from it, to the north-east and west, important geographical discoveries and scientific results await us. Thirdly. That this route offers the best guarantee for the safety of the people employed in the exploration of a vast unknown area. If the Arctic Committee now sitting under the able presidency of our distinguished and veteran Associate, Admiral Sir George Back, can show on these grounds, that Polar exploration can and ought to be carried out, I trust, for the sake of my country and profession, that our Admiralty may be induced to open to the Royal Navy, this field for glorious enterprise and national renown. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Goschen, in a recent speech to the House of Commons, speaking of our Navy Estimates, justly said : " It must not be supposed that all this money was spent on war, but that a great portion was spent on duties, which, notwith- standing the reputation this country had most unjustly prot of pursuing a selfish policy, redounded to the benefit of the world at large as much as of our own country." The cheers with which such a statesmanlike view of the duties of the Royal Navy was received, would, I am sure, be re-eohoed throughout the length and breadth of our land ; and knowing as I EXPLORATION OP THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 21 do that there never was a time in the history of our Navy, when a finer body of seamen and gallant officers, highly trained in scien- tific acquirements, could be better made available, or moie earnestly rejoice at such a field for individual enterprise being thrown open to them, I think it would be a crying disgrace if the accomplish- ment of Polar discovery, a labour uudertaken by English seamen and explorers in the time of Queen Elizabeth and continued to that of Queen Victoria, should be achieved by the sailors or explorers of any other nation. Eather than see those laurels wrung from us, I would, much as I believe in the advantage and certainty of a Govern- ment Expedition, advocate an appeal, on the part of this Society, to send forth a private expedition, in the spring of the year 1873. The President, before calling for any remarks on Captain Sherard Osbom's paper, wished to remind the Society that the Arctic Kegions had been for a long period the proudest field of triumph, not only of the Royal Geogra]5hical Society, but of the British navy and the British nation. He was glad the subject of an expedition to the North Pole was again brou''n they partly vanish in making the attempt. It would be most mortifying to reflect, that the very prize for which our country had been contending more or less for over t!.ree centuries, should, through an ■nwonted and unnatural apathy on our part, glide away from us into the hands of a younger and more energetic nation. There had been Swedes, Danes, Germans, Norwegians, Russians, Americans, and, prior to their great calamity, even the French were fitting out an expedition to Behring Straits ; while we, whose birthright it was, were left ingloriously in the eddy. Captain Osborn had given the most convincing reasons for our making another attempt ; and he was certain that, when the time came for carrying it out, they would have the active co-operation of every memV'jr of the Royal Geographical Society. Dr. Hook Ell said, as a botanist he took great interest in Arctic exploration, for the vegetation of the Arctic Regions threw as much light upon the geo- graphical distribution of plants on the surface of the globe jis any that he 22 EXPLOliATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. knew of. On the return of Sir Edward Belcher's expedition from those regions, a series of rocks collected in the neighbourhood of Disco, by his former fellow voyager. Dr. Lyall, were placed in his hands, containing an accumulation of fossil leaves of plants, totally different from any now growing in that latitude. These fossils he forwarded to Professor 0. Heer, of Zurich, for investigation, who had brought forward the most convincing proofs that that latitude was once inhabited by extensive forests, presenting fifty or sixty different species of arborescent trees, most of them with deciduous leaves, some 3 or 4 inches in diameter, — the elm, pine, oak, maple, plane, &c. ; and, what was more remarkable still, evidences of apparently evergreen trees, showing that these regions must have had jjerennial light. It seemed extremely probable that the vegetation, which belonged to the miocene period, extended over a large portion of the Northern Arctic Kegions. It would be of great interest to ascertain whether such vegetation extended even to the Pole ; and he knew of nothing that would give greater assistance in solving this problem than the proposed expedition along Smith Sound. Turning to the existing flora of Greenland, he pointed out that, though one of the most poverty-stricken in the globe, it was possessed of unusual interest. It con- sisted of some 300 kinds of flowering plants (besides a very large number of mosses, algse, lichens, «&c.), and presented the following peculiarities : — 1. The flowering plants were, almost without exception, natives of the Scandi- navian peninsula ; 2. Therfe was in the Greenland flora scarcely any admixture of American types, which nevertheless were found on the oi)posite coast of Labrador and the Polar Islands ; 3. A considerable proportion of the common Greenland plants were nowhere found in Labrador and the Polar Islands, nor, indeed, elsewhere in the New World ; 4. The parts of Greenland south of the Arctic circle, though warmer than those north of it, and presenting a coast 400 miles long, contained scarcely any plants not found to the north of that circle ; 5. A considerable number of Scandinavian plants which are not natives of Greenland, are never»-heles3 natives of Labrador and the Polar Islands ; 6. Certain Greenland and Scandinavian plants, which are nowhere found in the Polar plains, Labrador, or Canada, re-appear at considerable eleva- tions on the White and the Alleghany and other mountains of the United States. No other flora known to naturahsts presents such a remarkable combination of peculiar features as this, and the only solution hitherto offered is not yet fully accepted. It is, that the Scandinavian flora — which he (Dr. Hooker) had shown evidence of being one of the oldest on the globe — did, during the warm period preceding the glacial — a period warmer than the presc ut — extend in force over the Polar regions, including Greenland, the Polar American Islands, and, probably, much now submerged land in places connecting or lying between Greenland and Scandinavia, at which time Greenland no doubt presented a much richer Scandinavian flora than it now does. On the accession of the glacial period, this flora would be driven slowly southward, down to the ex- tremity of the Greenland peninsula in its longitude, and down to the latitude of the AUeghanies and White Mountains in their longitudes. The effect in Greenland would be to leave there only the more Arctic forms of vegetation, unchanged in habits or features ; the rest being, as it were, driven into the sea. But the efl'ect on the American continent would be to bring the Scandinavian flora into competition with an American flora that pre-occupied the lands into which it was driven. On the decline of the glacial epoch, Greenland, being a peninsula, could be re-peopled with plants only by the northward migration of the purelyScandinavian species that had been previously driven into its southern extremity ; and the result would be a uniform Scandinavian flora throughout its length, and this an Arctic one, from north to south. But in America a very different state of things would supervene: the Scandinavian plants would not only migrate north, but ascend the AUeghanies, White Mountains, &c. ; I EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAP BASIN. 23 and the result would be, that on the one hand, many Scandinavian plants which had been driven out of Greenland but were i)reserved in the United States, would re-ap|)ear on the Polar Isla ;ls and Labrador, accompanied with sundry American monntain-types, and, on the other, that a few Greenland- Scandinavian types, which had been lost m the struggle with the American types during their northward migration, and which hence do not re-appear in Labrador and the Polar Islands, might well be preserved in the AUeghanies and White Mountains. And, lastly, that a number of Scandinavian plants, which had changed their form or habit during the migration in America in conflict witi the American types, would appear in the Polar Islands as Ame- rican varieties or representative species of Scandinavian plants. Whether or no this be a true hypothesis, it enibrcaces all the facts ; and botanists look anxiously to further explorations in the northern parts of Greenland for more light on the subject, and especially for evidence of rising or sinking of the land in Smith Sound and the countries north and east of it, and for evidence of ancient connection between Greenland and Scandinavia ; for observations on the temperature, direction, and depth of transporting currents in these seas, and on the habits of its ruminant migrating animals that may have influenced the distribution of the vegetation by transporting the seeds. Sucli facts as those of the existence of ancient forests in what are now Arctic regions, and of the migration of existing flora? over lands now bound fast in perf»etual ice, apijear to some naturalist to call for vaster changes than can be brought about by a re-disposition of the geographical limits of land and sea, and to afford evidence of changes in the direction of the earth's axis to the plane of its orbit, and perhaps of variations in the ellipticity of the orbit itself. Admiral G. H. Kichakds said he had always looked upon Greenland as a country that had reason to complain of the way in which it had been treated. It was a body without head, tail, or limb. Although Greenland was no child of ours, he had felt that, geographically, we had adopted it. It was our duty, he thought, to complete the symmetry of Greenland, by exploring the northern end, and in doing so we should probably find the North Pole. He did not attach much importance to finding the North Pole ; if it was found incidentally, well and good. He would call attention to the fact, that for the last twenty-five years this country had made small progress in the way of Arctic Exiiloration, except in the searching for Sir John Franklin ; and although we had made many discoveries during that time, they had been incidental discoveries. Had we been purely exploring for only one-tenth part of that period, there would be nothing left to discover. Therefore, he hoped the Government would send out an expedition. He was not himself in favour of private enterprise. Private enterprise laboured under many disadvantages. He did not know of any private expedition that had suc- ceeded except one, and that was the expedition under Sir Leopold McClintock. The chief was an experienced Arctic navigator, he was supported by officers of his own profession, and the crew was composed principally of British seamen who had just returned from a Government Arctic Expedition, many of them under his own command. Although they were bound by no ties or laws of hard discipline, it was a point of honour with them to conduct themselves in every way as if they were on board a ship of war. To that he attributed its success, and it was for that reason he was in favour of a Government expedition. Ho fully appreciated the efforts of the Swedes, Prussians, and others, — they had accomplished much to the advantage of science ; but he maintained that they had been productive of little in the way of new disco- very. He would as soon undertake an Arctic expedition in a penny river- boat. If any expedition succeeded, it would be one sent by this country. And he trusted it would be eftectually carried out. The Pbehident was sure the meeting had been much gratified at hearing 24 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. the observations of Admiral Richards, the more especially as he was the pro- fessional adviser of the Admiralty. He trusted Admiral Richards would imbue the Admiralty with the sentiments he had expressed to the meeting. Captain Sir Leopold McClintock said, as a navail officer and an Arctic explorer, he was sorry to say that our experienced Arctic men were passing away. It was now twenty years since Government had sent an expedition to the Arctic Regions, and at the present moment we could find but lew officers or men competent to undertake another expedition. A few years hence we should probably have to fit out an Antarctic Extiedition, to observe the transit of Venus. We should have to entrust that costly and difficult expedition to unskilful persons, unless we kept up our practice in the mean time, Thirty-three years ago, tie only Antarctic expedition ever sent out by the British Uovern- ment, waf -^ laced under the command of that most experienced Arctic navigator. Sir Jamett Ross, and nothing could have been more complete and triumphant than his success. Therefore, he was for Arctic exploration in any direction even ; the attempt to reach the North Pole was the highest object remaining for the exercise of geographical and maritime enterprise. An expedition by Smith Sound would give us as much practical experience in ice-navigation as would suffice for the next ten or fifteen years. He believed that route afforded the best chance for reaching the North Pole, and also the safest retreat in the event of a reverse. Of all the suggested routes, it was the least dependent upon the accidents of season. We had heard lately of the n.e. route as a favourable one, because open water had been seen off Siberia by Wrangel and others. Yet it was remarkable that, in 1847, Wrangel himself proposed that an attempt should be made by Smith Sound, in dog-sledges, showing that, in his opinion, there was no open Polar sea. In connection with what Dr. Hooker had said, he might state that, in Banks Land and Prince Patrick's Land, there were hill-sides covered with semi-fossilized wood, much of it still fit to be used as firewood ; from this he inferred that the time when those lands were covered with trees was not very remote. The proposed expedition did not contem- plate any commercial advantages, such as were derived from the expedition to Baffin Bay in 1818, which opened up a whale-fishery ; and from Beechey's voyage to Behring Straits, which opened up the whale-fishery now carried en there ; nor were we to expect the discovery of vast deposits of fossil ivory, such as had ':)een found in the Liakhov Islands off the coast of Siberia. The President called upon Dr. Carpenter to explain the prospective advan- tages to physical geography, tc be derived from this expedition to the North Pole. Dr. Carpenter looked upon the proposal as of peculiar interest, as it would be the complement of another expedition which Government had undertaken to send out for the prosecution of scientific inquiry into the physical and biological condition of the deep sea in various parts of the globe, ranging, he hoped, to the edge of the southern ice-field. But he apprehended it would not be able to reach the North Polar basin, and it was extremely important that a North Polar expedition should be carried out in connection with the other. Last year he explained his views on the general oceanic circula- tion, as dependent upon difference of temperature purely — difference of tem- perature giving a difterent specific gravity, therefore difference of pressure; which would necessarily produce a continued outflow of cold water along the floors of the ocean-basins from the Polar areas towards the equator ; and, on the other hand, a continual movement of a more sui)erficial stratum of warm water towards each Polar area. The inquiries that had been made during the last twelve months had only confirmed that view. When these researches were commenced, the general notion in this country, and among German physical geographers, was the prevalence of a temperature of 89° m the deep sea. That had been completely exploded, at least so far as the Atlantic was i EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 25 i concerned ; and it was now well known that salt water at 28° (just on the point of freezing) was heavier than water at 39°, which was formerly sup- posed to be the temperature of the greatest density of salt water, as it is of fresh. The igncrance which still exists on this subject is shown by the fact that, in a recent pajier, Dr. MUhry spoke of cold water overflowing warmer water. This can only be in exceptionul cases ; as when the surface-water, chilled by the melting of icebergs, is at the same time rendered lighter by the reduction of its salinity. Taking the temperatures obtained by Lieutenant Payer between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, he observed that they corre- sponded exactly with the temperatures he should have expected to find in that region; and, so far from becoming warmer as the thermometer went down to greater depths, the water became colder. The warm stratum at the suri'ace was about 4(P ; at 300 or 400 feet down, the temperature was about 32° ; and at 800 feet, the thermometer sank to 29°*7. Farther north, at 77i° N., they found that the warm stratum had cooled down on the surface to 36°, and became much thinner : for, at 40 or 50 feet down, they came at once to a temperature of 32° and at 120 feet to 29°. Of course, if there should be land beyond the northernmost point of Payer, the inflow of warm water in that direction would cease; and if Smith Sound had a tolerably deep channel, extending continuously northward, while there would be an outflow of cold Polar water at the bottom, there would be a tendency to inflow of warm water along the surface of that channel, as far as it extended. He merely threw out that hint with reference to the particular route chosen. But, with regard to the general question, the Society would see how important this exploration of the Northern Polar area must be, in connection with the expedition to the Antarctic seas ; because, while the southern circle of open Polar water was sending out in every direction its deep outflow of glacial water, the land-locked Polar basin of the north possessed but few, and compai'atively narrow, communications with the great oceans of the northern hemisphere. These phenomena were of great interest geologically, since there could be no doubt that the temperature and biological conditions of distant oceanic areas were influenced by the outflow of glacial water from the Polar llegions. Mr. R. H. Scott, Director of the Meteorological Office, said he had recently received letters from Swedes and Germans, who had actually been on these expe- ditions ; and it would be a satisfaction to Captain Osborn to know, that Captain Koldewey had arrived at the conclusion that an open Polar Sea did not exist. With regard to the Swedish expedition. Professor Nordenskiold intended starting in the course of a few months with three officers and scientific men, and a crew of twenty. He proposed to start from the Seven Islands, a little to the east of Spitzbergen ; and before the winter he hoped to reach Gillies Land by the ice. But the main object of the expedition was to get to the Pole by means of rein-deer sledges. Admiral Ommanney said all Arctic navigators were not in favour of Smith Sound. He adhered to his former view that the right direction to take was by way of Spitzbergen. It was sometimes difficult to reach Smith Sound, but they could always get to Spitzbergen. The President said, the Council of the Society had appointed a Committee of the most experienced and practical members of their body, to report their opinions upon the subject ; and they were unanimously in favour of Smith Sound. The Council, having discovered on a previous occasion that the whole matter broke down, through want of unanimity in the application to the Admiralty, thought they were now justified in proceeding, on the assumption that the Council were at any rate of one mind. When the time came, and the subject had been sufficiently ventilated, and public opinion pronounced in its favour, they purposed to go to the Admiralty with a direct proposal. Con- 26 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. sidering the enlightened views which had been expressed' by the First Lord and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with regard to the Deep-sea explora- tion, about to leave our shores in the course of the summer, he thoucrht they had a right to anticipate a favourable consideration of their application espe- cially when it was supported by the prolessional approval of an officer so thoroughly competent to give nn opinion as Admiral Richards. No one could have heard the stirring appeal of Captain Osborn, without seeing that in a national point of view, independently of all scientific considerations it was an object of great importance to keep up the high spirit of the navy In these piping times of peace, sailors and officers were apt to ^et . usty • and an expedition of this sort would have i good effect in rubbing them up keeping the men up to their work, and stimulating the officers to that career ot exertion, emulation, and competition, which was really tlic soul of the service. On that ground, and on the ground of the progress of geo<^raphy and the acquisitions of science, he hoped the members of the Society°would cordially support the Council in their application to the Government ( 27 ) ON THE EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. A Paper read by Captain Shebabd Osborn on the 2Zrd of January^ 1865. The ordinary Evening Meeting (the fifth of the Session) of the Royal Geographical Society, held on the 23rd of January, 1865, was attended by a large concourse of members and their friends ; the Paper of the evening being * On the Exploration of the North Polar Eegion,' by Capt. Sherard Osborn, r.n. Amongst the audience were M. le Comte de Paris, Count Strzelecki, the Earl of Donoughmore, the Earl of Sheffield, Lord Dufferin, Lord Colchester, Capt. Sir John Dalrymple Hay, Bart., E.N., m.p.. Admiral C. R. Drinkwater Bethune, c.b., Sir Henry Rawlinson, k.c.b., Sir Charles Nicholson, Bart., Admiral Fanshawe, Capt. Sir F. W. Nicolson, Bart., b.n., Capt. the Hon. A. Cochrane, r.n., c.b., Capt. G. A. Bedford, k.n., Capt. E. A. Porcher, r.n., John Barrow, Esq., f.e.s., John Lubbock, Esq., f.b.s. (President of the Ethnological Society), John Crawfurd, Esq., F. Galton, Esq., f.b.s., W. Spottiswoode, Esq., f.e.8., &c., &c., and the following gentlemen who have served in the Arctic Regions : — General Sabine (President of the Royal Society), Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, c.b., Admiral R. CoUinson, c.b., Capt. G. H. Richards, b.n. (Hydrographer to the Admiralty), Capt. Inglefield, b.n., Capt. R. V. Hamilton, e.n., Capt. W. W. May, b.n., Capt. Aldrich, r.n.. Staff Com- mander J. E. Davis, R.N., Capt. Allen Young, r.n.r.. Dr. Rae, Dr. Domville, B.N., Dr. Donnet, r.n., Clements R. Markham, Esq., Mr. Dean, b.n., &c. The ordinary routine business having been gone through, Capt. Sherard Osbobn read as follows : — Arctic discovery, however imperfectly treated, must always, I feel sure, claim the attention of all true lovers of geography and physical science, espe- cially that of a Society which, in its present prosperity, represents the deep interest recently exliibited by all grades of the public in the solution of the problem of a communication between the Paci"^c and Atlantic, and the world- wide sympathy in the noble devotion by which that mystery was solved. I need not, therefore, offer an apology to the members of the Royal Geogra- phical Society for any effort upon my part to show the perfect practicability of an exploration of the blank space around our Northern Pole, and to place before you opinions entertained by myself, and those of my brother Arctic explorers who do not belong to the new school of "rest and be thankful" men, either in science or naval achievement, and who are no more prepared to turn their backs upon the Arctic Regions because Franklin died off King William's Land, than you would wish them to do bo to an enemy's fleet, because Nelson fell at Trafalgar. In the year 1818, Baffin's discoveries upon the one hand, and those of Behring 28 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAli REGION. upon the other, with dots for the mouths of the Mackenzie and Heam Rivers, was all we knew of the strange labyrinth of lands and waters now accurately delineated uix)n our charts of the Arctic Zone. Sailors and tra- vellers, in thirty-six years, have accomplished ali this : not always, he it remembered, in well-stored ships, sailinj; rapidly from point to point, but for the most part by patiently toiling on foot, or coasting in open boats round every bay and fiord. Sir Leopold McCliutock tells the Royal Dublin Society that he estimates the foot explorations accomplished in the search for Franklin alone at about 40,000 miles, let during those thirty-six years of glorious enterprise by ship, by boat, and by sledge, England only fairly lost one expe- dition, and 128 souls, out of forty-two successive expeditions, and has never lost a sledge-party out of about one hundred that have toiled within the Arctic Circle. Show me upon the globe's surface an equal amount of geographical discovery, or in history as arduous an achievement, with a smaller amount of human sacrifice, and then I will concede that Arctic exploration has entailed more than its due proportion of suifering. They who assert that our labours and researches have merely added so many miles of unprofitable coast-line to our charts, had better comparo our knowledge of Arctic phenomena to-day with the theories enunciated by men of learning and repute a century ago. They sliould confront our knowledge of 1864 with that of 1800 upon the natural history, meteorology, climate, and winds of the Arctic Regions. They must remember thai, it was there we obtained the clue, still unravelled, of the laws of those mysterious currents which flow through the wastes of the ocean like two mighty rivers — the Gulf Stream, and the Ice Stream ; they must remember that it was there — in Boothia — that the two Rosses first reached the Magnetic Pole, that mysterious point round which revolves the mariner's compass over one-half the Northern hemisphere ; and let the world say whether the mass of observations coRpcted by our explorers on all sides of that Magnetic Pole have added nothing to the knowledge of the laws of magnetic declination and dip. They should remember ho".v, a few years ago, it was gravely debated whether man could exist through the rigours and darkness of a Polar winter, and how we have only recently discovered that Providence has peopled that region to the extreme latitude yet reached, and that the animals upon which they subsist are there likewise, in winter as well as in summer. All this, and much more, should be borne in mind by those cynics who would have you believe we have toiled in vain ; and 1 hold, with .,^d late Admiral Beechey, " that every voyage to the North has tended to remove that veil of obscurity which previously hung over the geograpliy and all the phenomena of the Arctic Regions. Before those voyages all was darkness and terror, all beyond the North Cape a blank ; but, since then, each successive voyage has swept away some gloomy superstition, has brought to light some new phenomenon, and tended to the advancement of human knowledge." I will not dwell upon the personal hardships or risks incurred — they can be easily discounted at any Insurance Company in the City of London, and the privations are best appreciated by those who have been sledging over the barren ground of 76° N., and are not scared by the recollection of cold fingers and banian days. Men do not volunteer for certain death or starvation, and EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. 29 I can only say that so popular is Arctic service with our sailors, that 1 am frequently asked by old shipmates, " Arc we going up that way again, sir ? riease don't forget I am a volunteer ! " The fact is, more sailors have been thrown to the sharks from tlie diseases incident to the service in China and the coast of Africa, within the last four years, than ever fell in thirty years of Arctic service, and our seamen and officers know it. And, after all, the dangers of exploration in the north are those common to like undertakings in all unknown regions — Speke and Grant seeking for the sources of the Nile, Burton at Harar, Fremont in the Sierra Nevada, Livingstone on the Zam- besi, or Burke and Wills in the hungry wilds of Central Australia, have all moments of as great peril as Kane ever endured in Smith Sound, or McClure passed through in Banks's Land. I will, therefore, without further preamble, deal with the points which are the most important for our consideration. First. The direction from which a Polar exploration should be imdertaken with the least risk and greatest probability of success. Secmid. The mode in which such an exjtloration should be executed, and the scientific results likely to accrue. We have before us a circumpolar chart. Mark the nearest known points to the Pole — the extremes of Spitzbergen and North Greenland. Let us first deal with Spitzbergen. Hakluyt Head is about 600 miles from the Pole : in the last century the whale fishery was situated off that Cape, and we have the concurrent testimony of all those ancient fishermen to prove that the sea was often found clear of ice for another hundred miles further north. I say, therefore, that sailing-ships have been in that direction within 500 miles of the Pole. For the information of those more sanguine than myself of the existence of open water at the Pole through the action of the Gulf Stream, I annex a table collated, by my kind friend Mr. Markham,* from the data furnished to the Royal Society by the Hon. Daines Barrington, Colonel Beaufoy, and others. You will there find that stout old Dutch and English skippers vowed they had been as far north as the 88°, some to 83° N., and m' y into the 82° parallel : indeed one old sailor declared to Master Moxon, hydrographer to Charles II. of glorious memory, that " he had sailed two degrees beyond the Pole ! " but it is only fair to add that this was said in dreamy Amster- dam, over strong Dutch beer. I am content, however, to point to the position reached by the late Sir Edward Parry, in his boat expedition from Spitzbergen in 1827. There, at any rate, he stood upon a floating sea of ice on the night of July 22, 1827, being then in lat. 82° 45' n., exactly 435 geographical miles from the Pole. He was constrained to give up the attempt simply because the ice v/as being swept faster to the south than his men could drag their boats to the north. It was the height of the Arctic summer, and all the ice-fields were in motion. The experience of the last twenty years tells us that instead of starting on such a journey in June, Parry ought to have wintered in Spitzbergen, and started for the noith in February ; and such is the perfection to which Arctic sijdge-equipment is now brought, that the weights would be infinitely less * See p. 4G. 30 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. to drag, whilst the provisions would last months instead of for the men weeks. But there are great objections to any efibrt to reach the Polar area by sledges from Spitzbergen. You will observe as yet no known lands exist upon its meridian and to ihe north of the island ; consequently no fixed points for dep6ts of provisions : whereas, in Smith Sound, we have a starting-point 120 miles nearer to the Pole, and there is good ground for believing (as I will show) in a further extension of continents or islands upon the meridian of the American and Greenland continents, which is not the case in Spitzbergen. For instance, the floes which drift down upon Spitzbergen from the north contain in their embrace no icebergs proper. This tells us that uo extensive lands lie upon that meridian ; for the iceberg is the creation of the land, born of a glacier, and not of the sea : whereas these icebergs abound in Smith Sound ; and the glaciers, as Kane advanced northward, appeared to increase rather than diminish in extent, which would not be the case if the land ended abruptly near the Humboldt Glacier, in 80° n. latitude. Those vast accumulations of snow and fresh-water ice, and their beautiful creations the iceberg, tell us of great lands with lofty mountains and deep valleys retaining the moisture and snow-drift of ages, and promise that con- tinuity of coast-line, and that frozen seaboard, which is only needed to enable our explorers to reach the Pole in safety. Greenland, therefore, and not Spitz- bergen, is the direction I advocate. At the same time, do not jump to the conclusion that there is nothing to reward the explorer in the direction of Spitzbergen or Nova Zembla, for there is much yet to be seen and done there in scientific research. The bugbear of Arctic navigation is being gradually dis^jelled. ' A Cruise in High Latitudes,' and * A Season among the Wal- ruses,' encourage us to hope, that where yachtsmen have not hesitated to go for pleasure, and where poor Norwegian fishermen yearly sail in almost open boats for hides, ivory, and the more precious livers of Arctic sharks, which produce, as you know, "pure cod-liver oil! " it is possible others will yet wend their way for love of science, and add to our knowledge of the laws of electricity, light, magnetism, temperature, and winds. From Spitzbergen let us turn to Greenland. In the year 1853 my lamented friend Dr. Kane entered Smith Sound, at the head of Baffin Bay, with his little brig, the Advance. At that time I was serving with Capt. Richards, the present Hydrographer of the Navy, in an expedition in Wellington Channel, under Sir Edward Belcher ; Kellett and McClintock were in Bar- row's Straits, McClure had just reached the waters of the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean.. CoUinson and Eae were in Victoria Land and Boothia, and Inglefield had just made one of his summer trips to Beechey Island. There could not have been less than four hundred British subjects within the Arctic seas. All our ships had been admirably found, and our crews lived in com- parative comfort, for the resources of a nation and a great navy had been placed at our disposal. Dr. Kane's expedition was rather the result of private munificence, and a generous impulse of individuals ; and it is only fair to Dr. Kane to say, that never in our times has a navigator entered the ice so indif- ferently pre]iared for a Polar winter. With only seventeen followers, two of EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. 31 i.hem mutineers, without a steam-power for his solitary vessel, without proper sledge-equipment, without any preserved fresh meat, and a great insufficiency of preserved vegetables, and with cnly coals enough for twelve months' fuel, the only marvel to me is, that he ever returned to relate his sufferings. They are only to be equalled by those of the navigator *' James," in Hudson's Bay, two centuries earlier. God forbid that I should be thought to cast one reflec- tion upon those warm-hearted A mericans wlio came nobly forward, and said, " We too will aid in Arctic enterprise ; " but the fact is, that enthusiasm and high courage without ])roper knowledge and equipment must, on such service, infallibly lead to the suffering which Dr. Kane's followers endured ; and it is tJuit which best explains how it was, that whilst our sailors, far beyond the present haunts of Esquimaux, waxed fat and fastidious, Kane's poor followers had to eat the raw flesh of animals to avert the ravages of scurvy brought on by a poisonous dietary of salt-meat. This much to meet the objections of those who point to Dr. Kane's thrilling narrative, with a view to frighten us from Arctic exploration ; and I may add, that I know well that chivalrous man never jxinned those touching episodes to frighten men from high enter- prise, bat rather to caution us to avoid his mistakes, and to show us how nobly the worst evils may be borne when the cause is a good one. The brig Advance entered Smith Sound, but departed from an Arctic canon by keeping upon the eastern or lee-slioie instead of the western or weather- shore : she was quickly beset, and fell into a bay sixty miles further on, out of which she never again sailed. In the spring of 1854 a further exploration was accomplished, of about 160 miles of the Greenland coast, and the western land was observed for a still greater distance. The extreme of Greenland visited was a point beyond a stupendous tongue of the great glacier, and named Cape Constitution by the only man (Mr. Morton) who reached it. This sailor could not get round the Cape because of water existing at the base of the cliffs ; he could not scale the cliff, because it was too steep ; what more there is, therefore, beyond Cape Constitution none of us know. Kane thought it the termination of Greenland. I entirely dissent from so hasty a conclusion, because I cannot believe that such a glacier as that of Humboldt, bearing the hundreds of icebergs, which Kane tells us of, into the waters of Smith Sound, was ever fed otherwise than by some extensive parent glacier spread over a very great area; and this proclaims, in my opinion, a continuity of the Greenland shore, as there was, undoubtedly, land on the opposite side as far as Morton could see. Scrambling up the face of Cape Constitution, to the height of either 300 or 500 feet, Mr. Morton could see no ice to the westward : to which I attach small importance, never having myself seen floe-ice from any altitude at a greater distance than 12 miles ; but he did see land rolling away to the north- ward, a bold but indented coast, he thinks, with a fine range of mountains looming in the interior. This land is appropriately named Grinnell Land. English and American hydrographers are at variance as to the assigned latitudes of Cape Constit''*'::: and Cape Parry, the two extremes discovered by Kane. I sincerely trust the American computation will prove correct. Cape 39 EXrLOIfATlON OF THE NOKTH POLAR REGION. Constitntion will then bo in 81° 22' n., and tho point seen on the west land would be in about 82° 30' n., or just 450 miles from our Pole, a distance c(iual to thii.t of the Land's End from Balmoral. But in order that we may deal with the subject from its worst point of view, I am prepared to accept tho more southern positions assigned to the extremes by Admiral Collinson, Captain George, and Mr. Arrowsmith. They, as you will observe, place Capo Constitution in lat. 80^ 5G' N., and credit Morton's vision with a range of 60 miles ; fixing Cape Parry in lat. 81° 56' only, or a distance of 484 miles from the Pole. I accept this as the distance we have to deal with, and declare that Capo and Grinnell Land as my assurance of the perfect possibility of reaching the Pole. Cape Parry is, as you see, a fixed point, more than a degree and a half nearer to the Pole than Hakluyt Head, in Spitzbergen, and therefore the best point of departure for the exploration of the great unknown space before us. The distance of Cai^e Parry to the Pole and back is just 968 miles ; a distance which has been repeatedly exceeded by our Arctic sledge and boat parties since tho year 1850, and far short of what we subsequently accom- plished, as I will presently show. But, apart from mere proximity to the Pole, there are other conditions which recommend this route to our consideration. It will be remembered that at Cape Constitution a considerable extent of water was found to exist in the early summer. Recent Arctic explorations have taught us that this is no great novelty. Dr. Kane, however, believes it to be very extensive ; but, as I have good reasons for being sceptical upon this point, and as the Pole is within our reach whether Kane's Polynia be great or small, 1 shall not urge the facilities which open water offers to a boat-navigation. The future explorer might hail open water if it were found to exist along the shores of Grinnell Land; but, if not, he would be well satisfied with plenty of ice, and merely pray that the mainland or off-lying islands should be found to exist as far as the 87th parallel. And there is, I hold, more chance— far more chance — of that being the case, than of any open sea round our Arctic Pole. But Kane's Polynia evidently exists where there is a far greater abundance of animal and vegetable life than we have found to exist round the water-holes of Regent's Inlet, Wellington Channel, or Lancaster Sound. The possibility, therefore, of future explorers of Smith Sound being able to vary their dietary with the flesh of deer, bear, seal, or wild-fowl, is an important recommenda- tion to the route in question. In this n^ridian, too, we find human life extending to a higher latitude than in any other known direction. A iu\i: tribe of Arctic savages was first discovered by Sir John Ross in lat. 75" 35' >^ , long. 65° 32' w., in his voyag»» of 1818. Ross christened this isolated 'r'ction of the great Esquimaux race, " Arctic Highlanders." Through his iucei. prefer, Sackense, he learnt that their tribe dwelt to the northward of the great glacier of Melville Bay, by it they were entirely cut off from all knowledge of anything in that direction, and when Ross told them that his ship had come from the south, they replied — "It was not true ; there was nothing hut ice there!" Subseauent Arr.tir. expeditions, as well as whale-ships, have had intercourse with these people, and so far conciliated them, that instead of olfpriiig to kill Europeans, as EXPF.OItATION OF THE NOllTH I'OLAU HKCJION. 88 they threatened in 1818, we find them in 1854 positively saving Kane and his followers from starvation, and carefully sharing food and lodgement with the poor sailors. Of this iwolatcd group of the human family Dr. Kane gives us a very interesting account. Having no boats, nor a knowledge of how to construct them out of bones and seal-skins, aa other Esquimaux do, afraid to cross the two great ice-streams of Melville and of Humboldt, these poor creatures inhabit a region, between thn prongs of the Greenland Glacier, which embraces about COO miles of coast-line, and they cannot penetrate far into the interior, for there they said was the " Scrnik Soak," or Great Ice Wall ! Without any drift-wood, except a fragment of wreck at rare intervals, the Arctic Highlander is compelled to use bones alone in the construction of hig sledge and weai^ns. The latter consist simply of knife, harpoon, and lance, bones lashed together with an iron point or edge ingeniously fitted from frag- ments of meteoric iron found in the country, or from scraps of iron hoops which reach the coast upon the casks of wrecked whalers. Without a bow or arrow they are unable to kill reindeer or musk-oxen ; the former range unmolested over the barren uplands at the base of the glaciers ; and the art of fishing is likewise unknown, for Kane saw lakes full of salmon-trout which the Arctic Highlander could not catch. With his spear ind harpoon, however, he slays the bear, seal, and powerful walrus ; and in summer time nets vast quantities of the little auk, a delicious moreel, well appreciated by all of us who have visited those Crimson Cliffs of Beverley, as Ross poetically named their haunts. These people are thus dependent for subsistence upon the flesh of marine creatures, and consequently upon the existence of broken ice, or open watoj' near the coast, throughout every season of the year. Without it they would all perish in a single winter. But a Beneficent Providence has so arranged it that from the action of oceanic currents, and the destruction of the ice-fields by the large icebergs thrown off from the glaciers constantly sailing through them, there is always, even in the depth of a Polar winter, some " North Water " to be found, and in it walrus and bear. The land, as I have said, yields these Arctic fishermen no animal food, neither can I dis- cover an instance of their ever having been seen to partake of a single herb, grass, or berry grown upon the shore ; of vegetables or cereals they have, of course, no conception, and I know of no other people on the earth's surf^cfj who are thus entirely carnivorous. Kane says that they must be an expiring- race. I can find no proof of it, though no doubt, like all savage races, they are doomed to pass away or merge into those of a superior organisation. Where Ross found the Arctic Highlanders in 1818 they exist in 1864, and from occa- sional contact with Europeans have rather improved than deteriorated. All who have seen them, and I am one, describe the men as square-built, hearty fellows, deep chested, bass-voiced, and merry-hearted. Ready to fasten on with their harpoon to a fierce walrus, and, line in hand, struggle for life with it upon the weak ice ; or, aided by their dogs, bring the Polar bear to bay, and close in upon it with lance and knife ; yet these poor savj^es showed in their kindness to the starving and not always rational crew of the Advance, that they were not deficient in the nobler attributes of our common nature. Their women, good souls, were tender and sympathetic in their quaint way, for it ia not every European mother who would lend a nice warm babe to D 34 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. make a soft pillow for a weary travelle'*, as the ladies of Etah did ; and the spinsters of Smith Sound were fair enough to win the hearts of some on board the Advance. Indeed more than one little scandal related leads me to believe that, in spite of the struggle for existence in 80° N., the unwashed, sealskin-clad beauties of Murchison Sound have their little flirtations, as well as their sisters of ampler robes in more southern climes. " One touch of nature makes the whole world kin ; " and I know nothing more strange in all Arctic adventure than when Kane was escaping southward, to find his faithful hunter, Hans, voluntarily abandoning him, and turning Arctic High- lander all for the love of Shanghu's pretty daughter — she had gently tended him when injured in a walrus-hunt. The elopement of the fond pair upon a bone-sledge, drawn by wild dogs, is perfect as an Arctic love-scene ; but, un- fortunately, Hans was already a married-man. " Alas for Hans ! " Dr. Kane pathetically observes. I say, " Alas for Miss Shanghu ! " It has not been without a purpose that I have thus touched upon the habits of the Arctic Highlanders. I have endeavoured to show you that, though carnivorous creatures, they are, after all, much as we are in other respects : it tells you that there, in Smith Sound, inhabitants exist who have helped the Euroi^ean and can do so again ; and, above all, their existence is an incon- testable proof of an amount of animal life being found in that latitude throughout the year and in all seasons. Kane says that his Arctic friends would not carry him beyond the Hum- boldt Glacier, and seemed to have no knowledge of lands to the north. Yet Morton found a fragment of an Esquimaux sledge on shore between that glacier and Cape Constitution. May it not be that other Esquimaux eiist there? and does not the question occur to you, How far does human life extend in Smith Sound ? May it not reach much nearer to the Pole than even where Kane found it in 80° N. ? So far as we know, the Arctic High- landers are confined to the Greenland shore ; and for our purposes of explora- tion it would be well it were so. They would then be near enough to aid as hunters and sledge-drivers, and not so close as to endanger good order and discipline amongst a crew in hours of trial or suffering. There is one more reason for preferring this route to any other, viz., that the Danish settlements extend along the coast of Greenland as high as 72° n. Kane in open boats carried off his men in safety to Upernavik, when it became imperative to do so ; other navigators could do likewise, if any acci- dent occuiTed to their ships in Smith Sound. Trusting I have shown the right direction in which the proposed exploration should be attempted, I will now sketch out the mode in which it should be carried out ; for the details would be too technical and voluminous to interest all geographers. An exploration of the Polar area should always be sent under naval auspices and naval discipline. I have no faith in purely private expeditions on such a service as this I advocate. We need all the resources of a naval dockyard, all the especial knowledge collected in various departments — whether in the pre- paration of vessels, food, raiment, sledges, or equipment — to insure the work being well and safely done. Wooden ships-of-war are now rotting and sinking at their anchors in our arsenals ; all the old ladies romd our seaports are cooking their tea with heart-of-oak from poor chopped up f.unboats. We don't EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. 35 1 f. ■ I I want three-deckers, but you might have them for the asking : you can be more modest, and ask for something much smaller than wooden line-of-battle ships. Of course you will not expect the Admiralty to take the initiative in such matters. Columbus would never have reached the new continent ; the immortal Cook would never have made his voyages round the world ; the illus- trious uames of Franklin, Eoss, and Parry would not have been added to the roil a of fame ; if you had waited for past Admiralties to originate scientific research and geographical exploration. But I have no doubt men of science — men who think the Navy and its officers and sailors exist for nobler purposes than to slay or be slain — will find His Grace the Duke of Somerset just as amenable to reason and healthy pressure as former First Lords have been. The Board, like other Boards, will, as good servants of the public, do whatever the public calls upon them to do ; and it is by the action of public opinion, directed by the men of science in this country, that I hope to see a Polar expedition sent forth in this generation tinder naval auspices. The Navy needs some action to wake it up from the sloth of routine, and save it from the canker of prolonged peace. Arctic exploration is more wholesome for it, in a moral as well as a sanitary point of view, than any more Ashantee or Japanese wars. You are not going to educate us, work us up to the point of nautical per- fection, awaken hopes and ambition, and then give us oakum to pick, or run us over the mast-head after-top-gallant yards, to keep down the spirit which intellectual progress has evoked. The navy of England cries not for mere war to gratify its desire for honourable employment or fame. There are other achievements, it knows well, as glorious as victorious battle ; and a wise ruler and a wise people will, I hold, be careful to satisfy a craving which is the life-blood of a profession — indeed, I hold that it ought to be fostered and encouraged. Upon these grounds, as well as those of scientific results, would it be too much to ask for a fraction of the vast sum yearly sunk in naval expenditure, for two small screw-vessels and 120 officers and men, out of the 50,000 men annually placed at the disposal of the Admiralty ? Let us suppose it granted, and two vessels like the Pioneer and Intrepid ready by the spring of 1866. They would sail for Baffin Bay, reach Cape York in August, and one vessel would be secured in or about Cape Isabella, leaving only twenty-five persons in charge of her ; the other vessel, with ninety-five souls, would be pressed up the Western shove, either as far as Cape Parry or in that direction, taking care not to exceed a distance of 300 miles from lier contort. That autumn the southern ship would connect herself by dep6ts with the northern vessel, and the northern vessel would place out depots to'vards the Pole ready for spring operations. In 1867 and 1868 sledge and boat operations should be directed towards the Pole and ovev the unknown area, and in 1869, either in ships or by boat to Upernavik, our expedition would retire from Smith Sound. They would thus only have two winters and three summers to encounter ; a jieriod which expe- rience has taught us hoalthy men, with proper care, can well spend at a time in those rcgious. , , 1) 2 86 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. With respect to the distance to be traversed by sledge, we have ample data to show that it has been exceeded by our sailors and marines in the most sterile land yet visited within the Frigid Zone. For instance, in 1853, Commander McClintock's party did 1220 geographical miles in 105 days; Lieutenant Mecham did 1203 miles ; and Captain Richards and I did 1093 miles. Mark, that all these distances are in excess of the 968 miles between Cape Parry and the Pole. Lieutenant Hamilton did 1150 miles with a dog- sledge and one man. Yet, in subsequent expeditions to those of 1853, still longer marches have been accomplished, and the men suffered still less. In 1854 Mecham marched 1157 miles in only seventy days, a gain of a month in time, equal to a distance of 300 miles more had it been necessary ; and in 1859 Captain McClintock actually accomplished 1330 miles and Young 1150, and that distinguished officer. Sir Leopold McClintock, agrees with me in thinking that it is quite possible with proper management to extend a journey over a distance of 1500 miles, or just 500 miles more than are required to take a sledge from Cape Parry to the Pole and back. Thanks to hard-earned experience, we have learnt in ten years to double the period a sledge- party may support itself away from the ship, and trebled the length of the journeys to be accomplished; yet at the same time reduced the labour of the seamen and the personal risk to its minimum. I am not vain enough to suppose my unsupported opinion of the prac- ticability and safety of a sledge-exploration of the Polar area would suffice to convince you all ; but I can confidently appeal to an officer of far greater ex^.^^- rience, Captain Sir Leopold McClintock. He, writing to me in December lart, says : " I am glad you are poking up the embers of Arctic discovery. I wish I were now preparing for a trip to the North Pole. I regard it as being within the reach of this generation ; for knowledge, as you know, is power in sledge- travelling." Can you doubt the practicability of such .in exploration, I say after such a declaration from an officer who has spent seven winters and ten summers in these seas ? I am sure you will not ; and that you will say with me, that of all men he is the best fitted to head such an expedition. 3rd Point. We have now to consider the final portion of my argument :— The advantages to be derived from an exploration of the Polar area. In the first place, you as a scientific body have before you an unknown farea of 1,131,000 square miles of the globe's surface a sheer blank. Within that area you are profoundly ignorant whether there be lands or waters; whether, as some say, it is a silent frozen solitude, or an open sea teeming with animal life. So far as you as yet have explored in that direction, you have found the land capable of supporting not only animal, but human life. Moreover, as connected with physical geography, you have in 80° of North latitude reached the only known spot where Nature yields to man no plant, herb, or grass, which he uses for food or nutriment. Yet, imperfect as the botanical exploration of that spot has been, we learn from the report of the able American botanist, Mr. Durand, that, although Dr. Kane lost the major portion of his collection, the remainder " was yet the richest and most interesting ever brought by Arctic or Polar explorer;" and Kane added no les* than twenty-seven species of plants to the list rec jyal Society and ask the learned Council whether there is anything likely to repay the explorer of the Pole for his labours ? I can confidently appeal to its President, General Sa'oine. He is to-day the senior living officer of those who accompanied Koss ard Parry in their early explorations of the Arctic Zone. In Spitzbergen, Melville Island, and East Greenland, he collected those valuable data in ter- restrial magnetism which have subsequently led to the construction of those beautiful charts exhibiting the declination, inclination, and intensity of the magnetic force over the globe's surface — a wonderful reduction of scientific data to good, useful purposes, which every sailor can appreciate and be grateful for. And does he tell us that there is nothing more to be done in the Arctic Zone ? On the contrary, in General Sabine's Address to the Royal Society, on Nov. 30th, 1863, he divells especially on the pleasure with which he learns that the Swedish G ■ ? •"■ iit are about to carry out in Spitzbergen that measurement of an arc o '3 meridian, the value and importance of which the learned General had urg , forty years ago upon the attention of the British public, and which, he says, " I had planned the means of executing, and which I ardently desired to be permitted to carry out personally." General Sabine's original interesting paper ujMjn the measurement of this arc was addressed to Mr. Gilbert, M.P., Vice-President of the Eoyal Society in 1826, In it he pointed out the facility offered by Spitzbergen for a measure- ment of an arc of the meridian extending over nearly 4i degrees of latitude, stating that the value of this measurement, in the latitude of Spitzbergen, towards deducing the proportion of the polar and equatorial diameters by its combination with an arc near the equator, " was most important;'' and adding that its value would be " equivalent to an arc in Lapland of six times the extent of the arc measured by the French Academicians " Now the hope of the Royal Society of this measurement being at last obtained depends upon the scientific energy of the Swedish Government ; but it so happens that in the exjxidition I urge upon your attention there might be every arrangement made for a measurement of four degrees of the meridian upon the shores of Smith Sound. I have told you that one of the ships should be left about Cape Isabella, and the other pushed on to Cape Parry, or that that point is to be considered our main station for a Polar expedition. The intervening space is rather more than four degrees; and during the summer season, whilst the Northern Expedition was absent, there could be no more profitable way of occupying those left in the charge of the ships than in doing such a work as meajjuring an arc; the ice of the strait, 1 would submit, aifording considerable facilities for such an undertaking ; and especial provision in the expedition might be made for such persons as were veil qualified to execute it. As late, too, as November, 1861, we find General Sabine, in his Address to EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. 39 the Royal Society, calling the attention of that scientific body to some recent discoveries which attest the continuation of the tropical Gulf Stream to the shores of Nova Zembla, and to a communication from Professor Forchhammer, of Copenhagen, *' a valuable contribution to a great subject — the History of the Sea" — in which, by careful analysis, it is shown that, in the Atlantic Ocean, the saline ingredients in the sea-water decrease with increasing depth. This is found to hold good even to extreme depths ; and the existence of a Polar current in the depths of the Atlantic is hence inferred, since it is a well- established fact that the Equatorial seas are richer, and the Polar seas poorer in saline ingredients. Again, by analysis it has been proved that the current flowing down the east coast of Greenland has an Equatorial and not a Polar origin — a mere recurring of the Gulf Stream after rounding Spitzbergen ; and the learned President fairly argued — " May it not be possible that the iceless sea teeming with animal life, described by Kane as viewed from the northern limit of his research, is, as he himself surmised, but an extension of the same Equatorial stream which produces corresponding abnormal effects at every point to which its course has been traced?" and adds, "when physical researches shall be resumed within the circle which surrounds the Pole, this, perhaps, will be one of the earliest problems to receive solution." In a recent letter to me he eloquently and justly adds, " to reach the Pole is the greatest geogra^-hical achievement which can be attempted, and I own I should grieve if it shculj" be first accomplished by any other than an Englishman; it will be the crowning enterprise of those Arctic researches in which our country has hitherto had the pre-eminence." I will not add one word to such testimony ; but place this Papier in your hands. Sir Koderick Murchison, confident that you will give the cause I have feebly advocated the same enlightened support that geographical exploration has ever found at your hands. To you. Sir, since the death of Sir John Bariow, Arctic discovery owes everything, especially from the time that the search for your lamented friend, Sir John Franklin, was undertaken ; but for your aid and counsel his resolute widow would never have brought to light the glorious achievement of her husband ; but for you. Sir, and the judicious pressure brought to bear by men of influence in this country upon official inertness, Sir Robert McClure would have perished in Banks's Land, and the honour of a North- West Passage have been left to another generation ; but for you, and the Royal Geographical Society, that Chart to-day would have been left the blank it was in 1826, and that page of naval glory would never have been written, of which Great Britain has such just reason to be proud. Let me, as a sailor, thank you for those services to my profession, and urge you to per- severe to the end, in order that your long services to science may be crowned with the addition of Polar discovery to the domain of human knowledge. After the conclusion of the paper, the President spoke as follows : — The subject brought under our consideration this evening, by our distinguished Associate, Captuin Osborn, is one deeply interesting to all cultivators of science, and to geographers in particuliir ; whilst it gratifies mc to know that the sentiments of this gaUant officer are warmly espoused by that enlightened class of our Society, to whose labours we owe so much — the Naval Surveyors of Britain. As one of them, Captain Osborn has satisfied us of the small umount of exploration, com- paratively speaking, which remains to be accomplished to solve the desired 40 EXPLOKATION OF THK NORTH POLAR REGION. M h I problem. He Las shown 'm, not by guess or theory, but by an actual appeal to facts, that in the Arctic Circle his associates and himself have travelled, by sledges and on foot upon the ice, far longer distances than those which are required to reach the North Pole from stations which have been already reached. He has even pointed out the well-known Arctic officers, headed by M'Clintock, who are ready to serve in this proposed expedition. From his own experience, and by a reference to the statistics of former expeditions, he removes an erroneous opinion which many of our coimtrymen have laboured under, that there is much danger in Buch enterprises, whilst ho convinces us, that there is in them just that amount of adventurous risk which is the heart and soul of a British sailor's life. He further assures ua, that among our best seamen many volunteers will be found who much prefer an Arctic voyage to service in many other seas, and lie cites the testimony of naval medical men as to the healthiness of the far northern climate. Now if (as I expect) the fate of my illustrious friend Franklin be thrown in cnr teeth when we advocate this project, let our opponents remember that that great navi- gator sailed for the express purpose of finding a North- West passage by unknown seas, aud that, in forcing through his ships by water, he perished in gloriously realising his object. In the proposed expedition no such calamity can be dreaded, for it has no analogy to the case of Franklin. According to the plan of Captain Osborn, the two ships he asks for would be so stationed, at point? beyond Baffin Bay whence other ships have returned, as to ensure their safety ; and, as to the danger of sledge-surveys, not one life, he tells us, has been lost in them during the many years of active Arctic service. Captain Osborn has dwelt so effectively upon the importance of the various scientific results to be derived from this enter- prise that I need not revert to all of them, though it is my duty, as your President, to express my own sense of the great desirableness of measuring, for the first time, an arc of the meridian in so high a latitude ; and the President of the Royal Society, General Sabine, himself an Arctic explorer and the companion of Parry, is here to testify his approbation of the project, particularly in reference to those phenomena of terrestrial magnetism which he has done so much to illustrate. Eejoicing that other men of science, including the President of the Ethnologif il Society, are also favourable to the scheme, I say that it is on these broad groui. Js of scientific research that we have to thank Captain Osborn cordially for bringing forward the proposal in so hearty and perspicuous a manner. On our part, let us not weaken the dignity of our calling by any endeavour to show the cui bojio of such a survey by the hope of obtaining profitable commercial results, since it is quite enough for us to be assured that the scientific objects to be attained are well worthy of the effort. I trust therefore, that, as British geographers, you will feel with me that it specially pertains to our nation, which, by the conduct of its bold and skilful voyagers, has delineated on the Map of the World the outlines of land and water over so large an area of the Arctic regions, to complete this grand survey, by an endeavour to hoist tbe Union Jack at the North Pole itself. The President concluded his remai-ks by reading the following extract from the writings of Sir John Barrow, so many years Secretary of the Admiralty, and a mainspring of all Arctic enterprises : — " The physical power of the navy of England has long been duly appreciated at home ; also by most foreign nations, and is matter of public record ; its moral influence, though less the object of publicity, requires only to be more extensively known to be equally felt and esteemed ; and nothing can be more conducive to this end than the results to be derived from voyages of discovery, whose great aim has been the acquisition of knowledge, not for England alone, but for the general benefit of mankind. " But it may be asked, ' Cui bono are these northern voyages undertaken ? * If they were merely to be prosecuted for the sake of making a passage from England to China, and for no other purpose, their utility might fairly be questioned. But when the acquisition of knowledge is the groundwork of all the i^istructions under which they are sent forth, when the commanding officer is diructed to cause con- stant observations to be made for the advancement of every branch of science, — astronomy, navigation, hydrography, meteorology, including electricity and mag- netism, and to make collections of subjects of natural history, — in short, to lose no opportunity of acquiring new and important information and discovery ; and when it IS considered that these voyages give employment to officers and men in time of peace, and produce officers and men not to be surpassed, perhaps not equalled in EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. 41 ■« any other branch of the service, the question ' Cut bono f ' is readily answered in the words of the Minister of Queen Elizabeth, ' Knowledge u power.' " General Sabine, President of the Royal Society, said it was almost unnecessary to say that he most heartily concurred in the project so ably proposed by Captain Sherard Osborn. He was particularly impressed by what that gallant officer hud said with regard to affording to the officers of the navy an opportunity of enter- prise and distinction in a time of peace, and he knew no better field for their exertions than explorations in the Arctic regions. Ilany of our most distinguished officers in the navy had been trained in that school, among them Captain Osborn himself. Sir Leopold McClintock, Captain Rochfort Maguire, and many gentlemen n that room whom he might name if they were not present. It was not to be supposed that in the present day, when the interest in geographical and in all the {jhysical sciences has so much increased, that so large a portion of the globe, ying almost at our hands, sliould remain unexplored. And could this task be achieved at a more suitable time than this, when we have amongst us so many men trained in that school competent and willing to undertake it ? He held it to be a great honour to Sir Leopold McClintock, and an honour to his profession, that he was willing to give up the command of one of the finest frigates in the service in order to conduct the expedition. On the part of the Royal Society, he might say that there were many subjects of the highest importance which they could suggest as requiring investigation by such an expedition ; and they would be ready to co-operate in the recommendation by furnishing, at a suitable time, a statement of the objects in physical science which could be prosecuted without impeding the main or geographical purpose. Admiral Sir Edward Belcher was happy indeed to find this subject taken up by Captain Osborn, and should be glad to see it carried out. The only difficulty he apprehended was the probability that the floo to the north would be found in a movable condition, the same as Parry found it to the north of opitzbergen, and by which he was compelled to return. Beyond this, he saw no risk in any part of Captain Osborn's plan. It was a curious fact that a difierent temperature prevailed on the two sides of Baffin Straits. On the Greenland side the land is warmer. When the expedition under his command arrived at Disco, wherever the sun bore upon tlie sides of the hills, which were of a coal or shaly formation, the snow melted instantly. This took place early in July ; and from it he concluded that on the eastern side of the straits and the eastern side of Smith Sound, there would be more vegetation, owing to the greater warmth of the earth caused by the thaw mixing with the iron pyrites in the shale. On the western side, so far as lie explored it to the north, he found, on tlie 20th of May the whole of the sea in that direction in motion, quite open to navigation by a boat. If it had been possible to get his boat over the obstacles which beset it— pinnacles of ice about twenty feet high, mixed up together like teeth — he should have preferred that mode of tviivelling. In latitude 78° 10" he found on tLe islets quantities of deer-tracks, horns of deer, and during the summer geese found their way to tlie open water. The cliffs at the same date (the 20th of May) were washed by the sea. Therefore, ho had no hesitation in saying that the northern part of Smith Sound, which was found washed by the sea, must agree with the line of current that passed to the north- ward of his expeditionary party of 1852. On that occasion, going up Wellington Inlet, the ice suddenly came in and drove them into Northampton Sound ; but afterwards, on their sledge journey, he got on to the summit of Exmouth Island, and saw the whole of the floe beneath him crumble into small pieces and move oli to the west, and he returned a distance of about eighteen miles in a boat, which he had previously traversed in a sledge over the floe. Therefore, he inferred that to the northward the ice is in motion much earlier than it is to the southward, for Barrow Strait is not open or navigable till late in August, and this was in May. Observations had been made with regard to the food that people at the North prefer. It happened that during the winter, when he was certainly in a delicate state of health, although ptarmigan and hares could be found, he strongly pre- ferred bear and walrus, and he believed that the use of bear-flesh had conduced to his recovery. There was something curious with regard to the temperature of this region. He did not know what was Kane's mean temperature for tlie 176 days. Captain Osporn said it was not given. His lowest temperature was four degrees lower than any other on record. 42 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. Sir E. Bklcher thought it was a curious fact that in the Arctic regions, over the whole period examined by navigiitora, the mean cold for 176 days, from tiie Houthern point where Ross travelled up to the northern point where McCliiitock was, never varied more than a decimal point between 9° and 10° below zero. The currents that had been observed to the northward invariably seemed to take to the westward ; and in the moving Hoe that he noticed from the summit of Mount Britannia he was unable to see a single iceberg. Consequently he believed all the ice to the nortii would be found to be floe-ice, perfectly free from icebergs ; and tliat the icebergs shot off from Greenland all went SDuth to the bunks of Newfoundland. He might observe, that if the currents in the Arctic regions were different at the surface from what they were at greater depths, the icebergs, which are eleven parts under water, would be constantly moving up the floe instead of travelling with it. He thought this great problem of the Polar region should be solved by England ; not agitated here, and the Americans allowed to take the lead as they did in Japan. Among the names of eminent Arctic explorers, he was sorry tliat Sir Francis Beaufort had not been mentioned. With regard to the health of the men, if tiie men were well examined before they started, he believed they would be in much finer condition at the end of the three years than when they set out. Mr. John Lubbock, President of the Ethnological Society, said Captain Osbom had hit off in few words the main etlmological interest of the expedition. There was no doubt the manners and customs of savage life, the simple yet complicated contrivances by which they carry on the struggle for existence, always had great interest for those who live in more civilised countries. But of late years the remarkable discoveries that had taken place with reference to the antiquity of man, the various questions which had been opened up by the researches of M. Lartet, had certainly thrown upon these questions an entirely new interest. As had been truly observed, man, in the earlier times of which we have any relics, appears to have been not only a savage, but a savage living under Arctic conditions. Therefore, the native tribes who might be observed in the projected expedition, were precisely those who would have the greatest interest for us at the present moment. In the earliest voyages undertaken in the Arctic seas most interesting and valuable accounts had been given of the manners and customs of the Esqui- maux, and even of the Arctic Higlilanders who had been alluded to this evening. Still, there were many questions which we should like to have answered, and which, a few years ago, would not have occurred to anybody to ask. Most of those who had travelled among savages had brought back with them the more remarkable specimens of their skill and ingenuity ; whereas, if we examined the remains which are found either in drift, or in the pile-villages of Switzerland, or in the shell-mounds of Denmark, it is not the best weapons, those which have been made with the greatest amount of labour and skill, but the worst, those which were most commonly in use, and which could be most easily made, which are the most often discovered. It is tl)erefore precisely those with which the ethnologist and archaeologist have principally to deal, which have met with the least amount of attention from travellers who have had the opportunity of studying the manners and customs of modern savages. He happened to have in his pocket a very simple little flint implement, which is extremely abundant in all the places in which the remains of ancient man have been discovered within the last few years. This instrument is flat on one side, convex on the other, rounded off at one end, and pointed at the extremity. It belongs to a type which is well known to archse- ologifets, and was described by one of our most ea nent men in this department of science, as having probably had tlie round end fixed into a handle, so that the sharp edges might be used as a knife. The general opinion had formerly been that the narrow end was put into a hamlle, and the broad end used as a scraper for the E reparation of skins. This might have been a point for discussion for a long time ad it not happened tliat an instrument like this had been found in use amongst the Esquimaux, and we now know how it was uscil by them. Thus one of the questions relating to the habits of the early Iiistory of man was satisfactorily solved. It might appear a very small point to know how a little bit of flint like tills was used ; but it is by these small points, by Tneans of these little glimmers of light, that wc can alone hope to obtain some information as to the mode of life of our ancestors in the earliest times of which wc have iiny record. lie trusted, therefore, if this expedition sluudd be carrirtl out, that the attention of the EXPLORATION OF THK NORTH I'OLAR RKGION. 43 explorers would bo particularly directeJ to the simpler and ruder impleraenta which they might find in use among the tribes they migiit visit. There was one little point in the paper upon which lie should like to have further information. Captain Osbom said these people living so far north mu&t evidently have had supplies of food all the year round. Now, he did not venture to question this, in a people living so far north ; but he tliought it probable that supplies of meat were stored for future consumption. In these northern regions it was very easy to preserve meat ; it does not require to be hermetically sealed, or to undergo any difficult preparation. Sir Edward Belcher had already described, in the ' Trans- actions of the Ethnological Society,' some large stores of meat which he found under some Esquimaux habitations. This was an interesting point with refer- ence to the remains of ancient man of which we have heard so much lately, because we must all be struck with the question, how it was that so large a number of bones should have been originally collected in these French caves ; and here we get a glimpse of explanation in the analogous state of things described by Sir Edward Belcher as existing in the habitations of the Esquimaux. Thus we see that in one year these people could collect a sufficient quantity of food to last for a considerable time ; and it might not be that game was plentiful in all seasons. Captain Hamilton stated that in 1853 he crossed over from Davy Island, where he had been wintering under Admiral Kellett, to Sabine Bay. He ascended the land to the northward, and after meeting Captain Itichards and Captain Osbom, crossed by Morton Channel. The ice all the way was evidently the formation of that year. This was in May and June. Thiro were no tides or currents, nothing to show any undue pressure of ice on that shore. Sir Leopold McClintock, who travelled to the westward, met with the same sort of ice ; and to the northward there was nothing to indicate any undue pressure of ice on that shore. From that it was to be inferred that there must be land to the northward. To the west of Paget Land the ice was of the heaviest character — indeed the heaviest ever found by an Arctic navigator. On McClure Island the ice was found eight or ten feet high. Mr. Clements R. Markham was glad, as the humblest of those who had ever served in Arctic expeditions, to have this opportunity of expressing his intense satisfaction in listening to Ca[)tain Osborn's paper. An exploration of the North Polar Kegions is now one of the greatest problems that remain for geographers to solve. What old Martin Frobisher siiid of the North-West Passage 300 years ago may now be as aptly said of the North Polar regions : — " It is the only thing in the world that is left undone, whereby a notable mind might be made famous and fortunate." Among the numerous points of scientific interest connecteti with the Polar regions, he would allude to the ethnological point — the migration of races — and to the question how far north man had fixed his permanent habitation. When the Normans first discovered {ireenland in the eleventh century, they found it uninhabited — a silent land. They dwelt there a century and a half or two centuries ; and then they appear to have been exterminated by a race of Skrae- lings or dwarfs, who were the Esquimaux. Observations had thrown some light upon the direction whence these people came. Along the whole length of the Parry Islands, east and west, we found the remains of Esquimaux. It happened that just at the period that the Skrnelings appear to have exterminated the Normans, Zenghis Khan arose in Central Asia and poured fon'^i his hordes west and north over Tartary and Siberia. It is possible that the invaders may have caused a pressure on the people of the north coast of Siberia, who wandered thence along the shores of Parry Islands, and, finding them uninhabitable, wandered on and on, vmablo to find a fixed habitation, until tliey arrived on the coast of Green- land. There they found a very difi'erent country, and one in which they could live ; and meeting there only a small body of Norman colonists, they exterminated tliera, spreading afterwards tct the south as far as Cape Farewell, and away to the north as far as Kane went. No importance was to be attached to an f]squimaux saying he believed there was no one further north or further south ; because the Arctic Highlanders have no canoes, and therefore have no knowledge of inha- bitants north or south of tliem. It is not at all impossible, therefore, that they may be foimd in small communities as far north as the Pole itself. This ithnological question is only one of the numerous interesting pftints which this paper raises, and which the propotcd expodition will throw light upon. 44 EXPLOUATION OF THE NORTH POLAR RECilON. Lord DuFFERiN said he liud listened witli the greatest pleasure, interest, and adiuinition, to everythinj? thiit had been said, and, as far as his opinion was con- cerned, it seemed to him that the projected expedition was a proper object of national ambition. No ditticultios of an insurmountable character appeared to present themselves, and if it were not that ho hud recently encumbered himself with trammels of a domestic character, he should humbly ask to be allowed to enrol himself a volunteer. Dr. DoNNET wished to add a few words vitli regard to the health of the expe- dition whicii he had the honour to belong to. He served under Admiral Austin in 1850 and 1851. Tliey had a crew of ISO men, and the expedition was away altogether about twenty months. They lo-st but one man, and that poor fellow died frost-bitten. With respect to tlie salubrity of the Arctic regions, he thought there was not the slightest objection to the proposed exploration on this score. The expedition to which he belonged liad for food chiefly the salt and preserved provisions which were supplied to the ships. Mr. John Cuawfurd had not one word to say except in the way of thorough approbation. Captain Osborn had given a most complete and satiisfactory account of the projected expedition. He came into tlie room not perfectly satisfied with his project ; but now he had heard the statements, ho was thoroughly convinced and was prepared to advocate it wherever he went. With respect to the Esqui- maux, they were certainly a remarkable peole. He had lately beeu inquiring into the question of cannibalism, and he found that at one time or another all our forefathers of every race of man were cannibals, with the exception of one race, and that was the Esquimaux ; he had not been able to discover a single instance of cannibalism among them. He appealed to Captain Osborn, if he had ever heard of a case. (Captain Osborn said, as fur as his information went, 4ie had never heard of an instance. Captain Inglefield thought there could be but one opinion among geographers as to the paper of Captain Osborn. The subject divided itself under two heads : first, ns to the objects of such an expedition ; and secondly, as to the possibility of carrying out the enterprise. He thought we had been well assured that the object of the expedition was a very important one in a scientific point of view ; and as to the possibility of carrying it out with comparative safety, he fully concurred in all that had been said. He had been into Smith Sound, and had seen open water tliere as far as the eye could reach, and he believed it was quite practicable to reach the Pole through that opening in the northern seas. Ho congratulated Captain Osborn upon the paper he had read, as being clear in its details, and proving satisfactorily to those who may style themselves Arctic navigators that the voyage is practicable, and that the adventure is one that quite recommends itself to Englishmen and geographers. The President said Sir Edward Belcher had made allusion to that admirable man, who was beloved by all geographers, and who had done more for Arctic discovery than any other man he knew— Sir Francis Beaufort. It would ill become him not to mention the name of that eminent man to whom botli he and the Society owed so much. As Hydrographer to the Admiralty, Sir Francis Beaufort had been succeeded by Admiral Washington, and he in his turn had been succeeded by Captain Richards, the prefcnt Hydrographer to tlie Admiralty, who had also distinguished himself in Arctic expeditions. He thought it would worthily conclude the discussioji to call upon Captain Richards to express his opinion of the project. Captain Richards believed it was known to every one on the platform that he was in opposition. However it was only due to his friend Captain Osborn to give him credit for the powerful arguments he had used in support of his project. Captain Osborn had shown that it was an tasy tiling to leich tlie Noith Pole ; and for his part he looked upon it as a piece of child's play in compnrison with what had already been achieved. With regard to the scientific objects of the expedition, he could readily understand that General Sabine would be delighted to get an arc of the meridian measured in the Polar regions ; that the field of meteorological inquiry which would be opened to Mr. Glushier would be highly appreciaterl by him ; that Professor Huxley would add another laurel to those he had alreadv gathered in his own particular branch of science; and that Sir Roderick Murchison himself even might find some new light thrown on the KXIM.ORATION OF THE NORTH I'OLAR RKfllON. 45 science of goolo>i;y from a visit to the Pole. And, after all, lie did not know why the Britisli iiution should not Imvo tho honour of completing the discovery. With regard to the ilillicultii's and risks, it hud beun hia fortunes to be associated with his friend Captain Oshorn in one of these long Arctic expeditions, and during that time lie could not recall that thoy went through any great amount of Buffering; at all events, nothing that would deter them from offering to go again. Before ho commenced his opposition, he might say that he was almost deterred from doing anything of the kind by a remark that fell from General Sabine, that with a great area like the Polar regions at our very threshold, we ought to And out all about it. That was tho most convincing argument he had heard in tho course of the evening. Ho saw plainly that at this late period of the proceedings ho was not likely to make any impression on the minds of the a" Hence, who would at any rate acknowledge that ho stood up against great dis- advantages, and he would therefore, with their permission, defer his opposition until a more convenient occasion. Captain Osbobn, in reply, said if anything could add to the pleasure of the evening, it was to find that the official opposition was to be of so good-natured a character ; and he hoped their Lordships would take their tone from their Hydro- grapher. The question which Mr. Lubbock put was one which had attracted his attention before he inserted it tu the paper. Kane always found, as other explorers had found, that, in the height of the season when the Esquimaux were kilUng rapidly, the flesh tliey could not eat was collected in a heap on the shores^ stones piled loosely over it, and they then went away to kill more. That formed a cache. Like all savages, they were singularly improvident. His brother found the Esquimaux of Lancaster Sound, who had killed a quantity of food during the time the ice was there, feeding on putrid walrus-flesh in the summer time; they had killed it in the early season, and had not the wit to bury it in an adjacent glacier to preserve tho meat. Kane testified to the improvidence of these people : they were constantly starving when during neap-tides in mid- winter the sea froze over. In the winter of 1854-5 they ate their dogs, but to their credit no case of cannibalism was recorded though several are supposed to have died of starvation. A calm winter was the worst difficulty they had to coatcnd with. As long as the gales were blowing, and the icebergs were in motion, the walrus could break through the thin ice near the shore ; but during the neap- tides the icebergs grounded, and the sea froze over, and the walrus was obliged to seek water in the offing. He wished some naturalist had spoken of the pecu- liarities of animal life in that region. Here was the walrus, as big as two oxen, feeding through the long cold nights of an Arctic winter in 80° n., yet it was doubtful whether it could be called a carnivorous animal. He had often found la its stomach a great many stones, as if they were required to assist in the digestion of some hard substance, which he thought must be the root of a seaweed. Thia creature was always there breaking its way through the ice. On one occasion he and Captain Richards found a walrus in the deptli of the winter in 77^ n., with its young lying beside it. Then again we have the seal, and it feeds on fish ; and he must particularly call attention to the vast quantities of seal which existed all about these regions, thus indicating that there must be an immense quantity of fish existing there. And all this in regions where Kane tells us he found the thermometer ranging from 60° to 75° below zero during three months of the year. It was most astonishing, and it was necessary, in the interests of science, that the statement should be verified. He was really grateful to Sir Edward Belcher for having mentioned the name of one who was the first to take him by the hand, and pass him from the routine of Her Majesty's service, and show him that there was a better field for a naval officer in a time of peace than washing decks and cleaning brass-work. There never was one who held an official position who carried to his grave a greener heart. Had it remained witV >■- Francis Beaufort to explore the globe in time of peace, there would be ' a i aval officers idle. Often, when downhearted respecting the search after franklin, Sir Francis Beaufort said to him, "Young man, don't despond. Go and induce others, men like Sir Roderick Murchison and General Sabine, who stood around that heroic woman. Lady Franklin, to move the public, and the Admiralty will follow suit." The name of Sir Francis Beaufort was too deeply engraven on his heart to lie ever ready at the tip of his tongue. 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Letter firom John Wa] Staphorstln 1775 • 00 V •c James Hutton, " a ha who was on boai'd. ton,' p. 64, i 1 o Story of a Mr, Wat aged 17 when on 20 years after war tain being dead. 1 1 a o CA g 1 ■n 1 35 11 s ' ■ 1 t It 1 The captain suffer no jo S (A 1 e 1 CO S o a> i a : i <^ a en jC y< S^< S5 O o o o %^ • «•■ i, tQ ^ ft5 H 2,b ^ iei ^ ^^ o ^ o » »o b o o CO CO CO o <-t %> Si* ^ o o r-l %y s, o^ o (M 00 b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 rt a' >, .a ip » .i- O .2 i a d .a a, 1' E 1 n Phillips, yal Club. a . 4 ■3| -% ■ cS < S 1^ .a o «^ •s a -ti a Oi r. Ci. a a.S< a-S" 1 1° \ i 'a CO a> eg l* < a 6 5 H C ■a 3 u o !>. o •* to ^_^ (N ■? O r-l CI i: - i 1 48 EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REniON. I tJ O Ah w H Pi o ;?; n 00 O 03 ^ O 00 O o o H n < o 1 B •*» 1 « .a 53 • a <1) 1 '£. •3 >»• s >f •§ bD © -9 .S o o TC it "o » l>^a> s, _« •t '&• s E) U c . "ii 6 h ►C 00 « 1, 3 f 2 "a a B •3 o "fa !2 • 3 N 1° a B a S S5 °« 00 09 ce cS s a a .2 1 3 © 1 ::s' c ^ » 1 7 8 1 'O i • • « 1 1 < ^ 1 s 4^ g -^ It • • 1 5 © 1 to S E c 3 S s s c 3 eB a 1 a «? C 3 a • • 0 § S3 ^ ^ 1^ » fr ^ ^ 5 c 1 ^1 1 J S.-^ X • • 5 o -2 i^ 3 3 1 i • • § O i i 1 33 C4 1 «' ■8 5 • >5 o O ^ O !z; d ^ S5 ^-A -* I • 95 9i O o CO o e<5 o • O S5 O ii O 0 "-^ o o 0 0 o o 0 it CO (N n p^ < S "H "§ i c2 ^ c£ i 1 5 a -§ 1 1^ ti 11 II "-J ^t l.=^ ^ •S,. S 1 i e-e* e.fr e a. a ^ c.S- M W) a s g is 73 3^ 3 1 "51 «^ ■ ^ ^ « .^ f^ 5 M a. eu a. a. & > a. a. ^R c3 6 6 c3 6 (S 5 c3 _rL_ 1 X"* to o to CO 00 CO 8 0 iC l« '■O CO 50 CO t* -5^ 1- r- t'- t- !>■ t- e» "^ »-H ^H l-t ^^ r^ T^ ^I1PW8 EXPLORATION OF THK NOFITH POLAR REGION. 49 .So 'P 2 >> o 05 (U « — O) — B Oh a> :3 " 2 S -S ^ 2 o c •J d 25 T- § S ^ .1:; 5 Si s s ^-s rt-a w 4J O S > O « « 00 «* JS o ^■o a S'o o II :2 2 .- *> ^S I u to u a s, o 'J . .tl »f g « V ^ ^ 1 Cm p 3 c ""3 o en •v,&i -S >. "S fe w.r- •M .^^^i -^2 u.r = 3 OS u ^1 Co O c. « bf n ^ ^ o to 'a. 5 a. 3 ,-c J5 Oi O I a . 1— < M £^ - M bO 2 O 03 - c -" s.s bfi S^ <5i J5 u; ^ g I CO o •-4 00 •s I. fe" s s I Dr. HoofCKR said, as a botanist he took great interest in Arctic exploration, for the vegetation of the Arctic Regions threw as much light upon the geograpliical distribution of plants on the surface of the globe as any that he knew of. On the return of Sir Edward Belcher's expedition from those regions, a series of rocks collected in the neighbourhood of Disco, by his former fellow voyager Dr. Lyall, were placed in his hands, containing an accumulation of fossil leaves of plants, totally different from any now growing in that latitude. These fossils he forwarded to Professor O. Heer, of Zurich, for investigation, who had brought forward the most con- vincing proofs that that latitude was once inhabited by extensive forests, presenting fift}' or sixty diflferent species of arborescent trees, most of them with deciduous leaves, some 3 or 4 inches in diameter, — the elm, pine, oak, maple, plane, &c. ; and, what was more remarkable still, evidences of apparently evergreen trees, showing that these regions must have had perennial light. It neeipod extremely probable 1 at the vegetation, which belonged fo the miocene period, extended over a large portion of the Northern Arctic Regions. It would be of great interest to ascei tain whether such vegetation extended even to the Pole ; and he kn w of nothing that would give greater assistance in solving this problem than the proposed expedition along Smith Sound. Turning to the existing flora of Greenland, he pointed out that, though one of the most poverty-stricken on the globe, it was possessed of unusual interest. It consisted of some 300 kinds of flowering plants ^besides a very large number of mosses, algae, lichens, &c.), and pi.sented the following peculiarities : — 1. The flowering plants wer almost with- out exception natives of the Scandinavian peninsula ; 2. There was in the Greenland flora scarcely any admixture of American types, which V. 2 52 OI'INION OF DR. HOOKKR. nevertheless were found on the opposite coast of Labrador and the I*olar Islands ; 3. A considerable proportion of the common Green- land plants were nowhere found in Labrador and the Polar Islands, nor, indeed, elsewhere in the New World ; 4. The parts of Greenland south of the Arctic circle, though warmer than those north of it, and presenting a coast 400 miles long, contained scarcely any plants not found to the north of that circle ; 5. A considerable number of Scandinavian plants which are not natives of Greenland, are never- theless natives of Labrador and the Polar Islands; 6. Certain Greenland and Scandinavian plants, which are nowhere found in the Polar plains, Labrador, or Canada, le-appear at considerable elevations on the White and the Alleghanj' and other mountains of the United States. No other flora known to naturalists presents such a remarkable combination of peculiar features as this, and the only solution hitherto offered is not yet fully accepted. It is, that the Scandinavian flora (which I have shown evidence of being one of the oldest on the globe), did, during the warm period preceding the glacial — a period warmer than the present — extend in force over the Polar regions, including Greenland, the Polar ^Vmerican Islands, and, probably, much now submerged land in places con- necting or lying between Greenland and Scandinavia, at which time Greenland no doubt presented a much richer Scandinavian flora than it now does. On the accession of the glacial period, this flora would be driven slowly southward, down to the extremity of the Greenland peninsula in its longitude, and down to the latitude of the Alleghanics and White Mountains in their longitudes. The effect in Greenland would be to leave there only the more Arctic forms of vegetation, unchanged in habits or features ; the rest being, as it were, driven into the sea. But the effect on the American continent would be to bring the Scandinavian flora into competition witli an American flora that pre-occupied the lands into which it was driven. On the decline of the glacial epoch, Greenland, being a peninsula, could be re-peopled with plants only by the northwa.'d migration of the purely Scandinavian species that had been previously driven into its southern extremity; and the result would be a uniform Scandinavian flora throughout its length, and this an Arctic one, from north to south. But in America a very different state of things would supervene : the Scandinavian plants would not only migrate north, but ascend the Alleghanies, White Mountains, &c. ; and the result would be, that, on the one hand, many Scandinavian plants which had been driven out of Greenland, but were preserved in the United States, would re-appear on the Polar Islands and Labrador, accompanied with sundry American- OPINION OF DR. HOOKER. 63 mountain types, and, on the other, that a few Greenland-Scan- dinavian types, which had heen lost in the struggle with the American types during their northward migration, and which hence do not re-appear in Labrador and the Polar Islands, might well bo preserved in the Alleghanies and White Mountains. And, lastly, that a number of Scandinavian plants, which had changed their form or habit during the migration in America in conflict with the American types, would appear in the Polar Islands as American varieties or representative species of Scandinavian plants. Whether or no this be a true hypothesis, it embraces all the facts ; and botanists look anxiously to further explorations in the northern parts of Greenland for more light on the subject, and especially for evidence of rising or sinking of the land in Smith Sound and the countries north and east of it, and for evidence of ancient connection between Greenland and Scandinavia; for observations on the temperature, direction, and depth of transporting currents in these seas, and on the habits of its ruminant migrating animals that may have influenced the distribution of the vegetation by transporting the seeds. Such facts as those of the existence of ancient forests in what are now Arctic regions, and of the migration of existing florje over lands now bound fast in perpetual ice, appear to some naturalists to call for vaster changes than can be brought about by a re- disposition of the geographical limits of land and sea, and to afford evidence of changes in the direction of the earth's axis to the plaro of its orbit, and perhaps of variations in the elliplioity of the orbit itself. l-Tp^ ( 54 ) Encloscke No. 4. OPINION OF DR. CARPENTER, F.R.S., ON THE IMPOBTANCE OF ARCTIC EXPLORATION. Speech delivered at a Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on April 22nd, 1872. Dr. Carpenter looked upon the proposal as of peculiar interest, as it would be the complement of another expedition which Govern- ment had undertaken to send out, for the prosecution of scientific inquiry into the physical and biological condition of the deep sea in various parts of the globe, ranging, he hoped, to the edge of the southern ice-field. But he apprehended it would not be able to reach the North Polar basin, and it was extremely important that a North Polar expedition should be carried out in connection with the other. Last year he explained his views on the general oceanic circulation, as dependent upon difference of temperature purely — difference of temperature giving a different specific gravity, there- fore difference of pressure; which would necessarily produce a continued outflow of cold water along the floors of the ocean-basins from the Polar areas towards the equator ; and, on the other hand, a continual movement of a more superficial stratum of warm water towards each Polar area. The inquiries that had been made during the last twelve months had only confirmed that view. When these researches were commenced, the general notion of this country, and among German physical geographers, was the prevalence of a temperature of 39° in the deep sea. That had been completely exploded, at least so far as the Atlantic was concerned ; and it was now well known that salt water at 28° (just on the point of freezing) was heavier than water at 39°, which was formerly supposed to be the temperature of the greatest density of salt water, as it is of fresh. The ignorance which still exists on this subject is shown by the fact that, in a recent paper, Dr. Muhry spoke of cold water overflowing warmer water. This can only be in exceptional cases; as when the surface-water, chilled by the melting of ice-berg^, is at the same time rendered lighter by OPINION OF DR. CARPENTER. 55 the redaction of its salinity. Taking the temperatures obtained by Lieutenant Payer between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, he observed that they corresponded exactly with the temperatures he should have expected to find in that region ; and, so far from becoming warmer as the thermometer went down to greater depths, the water became colder. The warm stratum at the surface was about 40°; at 300 or 400 feet down, the temperature was about 32°; and at 800 feet, the thermometer sank to 29'''7. Farther north, at 77^° n., they found that the warm stratum had cooled down on the surface to 36°, and became much thinner : for, at 40 or 50 feet down, they came at once to a temperature of 32°, and at 120 feet to 29°. Of course, if there should be land beyond the northernmost point of Payer, the inflow of warm water in that direction would cease; and if Smith Sound had a tolerably deep channel, extending continuously northward, while there would be an outflow of cold Polar water at the bottom, there would be a tendency to inflow of warm water along the surface of that channel, as far as it extended. He merely threw out that hint with reference to the particular route chosen. But, with regard to the general question, the Society would see how important this explo- ration of the Northern Polar area must be, in connection with the expedition to the Antarctic seas ; because, while the southern circle of open Polar water was sending out in every direction its deep outflow of glacial water, the land-locked Polar basin of the north possessed but few, and comparatively narrow, communications with the great oceans of the northern hemisphere. These phenomena were of gieat interest geologically, since there could be no doubt that the temperature and biological conditions of distant oceanio areas were influenced by the outflow of glacial water from the Polar Regions. ( 5«3 ) Enclosurk No. 5. LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY— WITH REPLY. Royal Geographical Society, 1, Savile Row, W., Sir, May 31sf, 1872. I hare been authorized, by the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, with reference to a letter received by my predecessor from Dr. Sharpey, dated the 16th of February, 1865, to request the attention of your- self and of the Council of the Royal Society to the result of the attempt which was made in that year to induce the Government to undertake the explora- tion of the North Polar Region, and to the considerations which have led the Council of the Royal Geographical Society to entertain the opinion that the present year is a fitting time for the renewal of that attempt. In 1865, the President and Council of the Royal Society, in a Resolution, which was communicated to my predecessor, stated " their full persuasion that the expedition then contemplated by the Royal Geographical Society might, by proper arrangements, be rendered highly advantageous in the advancement of several branches of physical science." Strengthened by this expression of opinion on the part of the Council of the Royal Society, and by the expression of similar views stated in more detail by other scientific Societies, my predecessor brought the subject of North Polar exploration to the notice of the Duke of Somerset, then First Lord of the Admiralty, in a letter dated the 19th of May, 1865 ; and the subject was discussed between his Grace and a deputation from the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, in an interview which took place on the 20th of June in the same year. But, at that time, there was some diflference of opinion among Arctic authorities on the subject of the best route to be adopted, and the Duke said that he would wish to be in possession of the results of the Swedish expedi- tion then engaged in exploring Spitzbergen, and of other information, before he could recommend an Arctic exploring expedition to the consideration of the Government. In consequence of the view taken by his Grace, the Council of the Royal Geographical Society have carefnily watched the results of expeditions under- taken by foreign countries, in order to be in a position to recommend one route as undoubtedly the best, before again pressing the subject upon the attention of the Government. Seven years have now passed, and during that time additional experience has been accumulated by the Germans and Swedes, which has enabled the Council to form an opinion that justifies the renewal of their representation made in 1865. The distinguished Arctic officers who are Members of the Geographical Council, and who have care- fully considered the evidence accumulated since 1865 in a Special Committee, are now unanimously of opinion that the route by Smith Sound is the one which she aid be adopted with a view to exploring the greatest extent of coastline, and of thus securing the most valuable scientific results. The con- clusion thus arrived at by authorities of such eminence has placed the Royal LE'n'EK TO THE UOYAL SOCIETY. 67 Dr. Geographical Society in a position which will enable its Council to represent to the Government that the conditions are now fulfilled which the First Lord of the Admiralty deemed essential in 18G5, before he could entertain the pro- ject of North Polar exploration. I gather, from the tenor of the Resolution passed in 1865, that the President and Council of the Royal Society " will be fully prepared, in the event of the intention of her Majesty's Government to send out an expedition being notified to them, to submit a detailed statement of the scieutific objects which might bo prosecuted with advantage, without interfering with the main or geographical purposes of the expedition." At the same time the Council which I represent are anxious that I should fully inform the President and Council of the Royal Society of their proceedings in this matter ; and that I should point out the very great importance of temperately, but forcibly, stating the scientific results to be derived from the exploration of the vast unknown Polar region, even in a first preliminary communication to the Government. I, therefore, c'nclose a Memorandum which has been prepared upon this sub- ject, together with coi)it'S of the papers which were read by Captain Sherard Osborn in 1865 and 1872, advocating a renewal of Arctic exploration: and I trust that the Council of the Royal Society will give siich assistance as will enable me to make the detailed statement of the scientific results of the proposed expedition as complete as possible. In conclusion, I take this opportunity of again urging upon your attention, as President of the Royal Society, a consideration which my predecessor brought to your notice in a letter dated February 14th, 1865. The explora- tion of the North Polar Region will be of great collateral advantage to the objects in which you take a deep interest, connected with the transit of Venus in 1882. It is of the first importance that an Antarctic expedition should be conducted by officers experienced in ice-navigation ; but unless opportunities are afforded by a North Polar Expedition, there will be no such officers avail- able for service in 1882. A comparison ot the work of the Arctic officer Sir James Ross in the Antarctic Regions with that of other expeditions, will illus- trate the vast importance of Arctic experience in conducting an expedition to the Southern Continent. The eminent Arctic authoruies by whom I am advised, attach very great importance to this consideration, an'^ are of opinion that the training of another generation of officers experienced in ice-naviga- tion will be one among many valuable results to be obtained frciVi an expedition to explore the imknown Polar Region. I shall do myself the honour of communicating any further steins to you that may be taken by the Council which I represent in this matter, for the information of the Council of the Royal Society. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, H. C. JuwLiNSON, President* a. B. Airy, Esq., C.B., President of the Jioyal Society, &c. * A letter of similar purport was addressed to the various other Societies and Institutions, whose replies ure here appended. 68 REPLY FROM THE ROYAL SOCIETY. The Royal Societt, Bublinoton Houbb, g,B^ 2Ut June, 1872. With reference to your letter of the -Slst iilt., addressed to G. B. Airy, Esq., C.B., President of the Royal Society, I have the honour to inform you that the propo^l therein made to the President and Council of the Royal Society was considered at their meeting, held yesterday, and 1 am directed by them to return the following reply : — " Understanding that the Expedition towards the North Pole, contemplated by the Royal Geographical Society, would be undertaken mainly with a view to Geographical objects, the President and Council of the Royal Society desire to express their opinion that there are various objects of physical and bio- logical interest which could also be accomplished thereby ; and should Her Majesty's Government decide on sending out such an expedition, the President and Council will be ready to oifer their advice as to the scientific observations which it would be desirable to make, and the appliances which would be required for making them." I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, G. G. Stokes, Secretary R. S. Mujor-Oen. Sir H. C. liawUnson, President of the Royal Oeographical Society. ( 59 ) Knclosukk No. 6. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Geolooical Society of London, Somerset House, nth July, 1872. To the President and Council of the Royal Geographical Society. Gentlemen, Your cummunication of the 24th May, referring to a proposed Arctic Expedition, and requesting information as to the various ways in which the science of Geology would be benefited by such an expedition, was laid before the Council of the Geological Society ; a committee, consisting of Mr. War- ington Smyth, Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, Mr. Carruthers, Mr. Evans, Mr, D. Forbes, and myself, was appointed to consider the subject, and in accordance with their request, I have embodied in the following statement the various .sugges- tions made by them : — The Committee consider that a new Arctic Expedition would be of great value to geological science on the following grounds : — A more complete investigation of the geology of the Arctic regions is extremely desirable, both for its scientific importance and the value of its practical results. The existence of a true palaeozoic coal formation has been determined, but we require to know its extent and composition. A long list of minerals, many of them extremely rare and valuable, have been found in extreme northern latitudes ; and much attention should be paid to their further distribution. Masses of meteoric iron have been recently discovered by the Swedish expedition, extending for a distance of not less than 200 miles along the shores of Western Greenland ; these requiie further study, and their position determined. The existence of Carboniferous, Jurassic, and Miocene rocks is known, but much is needed to be done to obtain complete collections of their organic remains. One of the most interesting facts of late years acquired to geological science has been that of a luxuriant and highly-organised vegetation of Miocene Age on the east coast of Greenland ; no less than 200 species having been established: Equally important additions have been successively made by the supply of materials for the more certain determination of the large number of species that before could be only provisionally recognised. It is of great importance that determinations based on fragments of leaves should be con- firmed by the acquisition of more perfect foliage, as well as of seeds and fruits ; such materials would be of great value in illustrating a flora which is in itself of much interest, but this interest is vastly increased when one realises the important inquiries on which such knowledge would throw light. These inquiries are : — 1. The geographical distribution of the Miocene flora as indicated by the agreements and difierences between the Miocene plants of Arctic regions and of Central and Southern Europe. r W LETTER FROM THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETy. 2. The relation of the Miocene flora to previous and subsequent vcgetntions, and its bearings on the present geographical distribution of plants on the globe. 3. The evidence derived from these plants as to the physical conditions of the globe in past geological epochs. It is certain that additional localities for fossil plants will be discovered, find of necessity additional species be brought to light, for, in the past, such remains have been found as far as explorers have penetrated. From the important part extreme cold has of late years been found to have l)layed in the last Geological i)eriod, it would be of much value to have exact determination of the effect produced on the rocks by the intense cold of the northern regions, and to determine the extent, height, and range of the glaciers, and their effects on the surface of the country and on the different classes of rocks. Again, it would be interesting to determine the extent of the river floods and the depth of the channels they have excavated in the Arctic regions. Another important and interesting result of the proposed Arctic Expedition would be the investigation of the MoUusca, not only of marine, but also of land and fresh-water kinds. Of late years that enterprising and scientitio nation, Sweden, has done something to increase our scanty knowledge of tho Arctic marine shells, but their resources were Ihnited, and not to be compared with those of our own nation. In a geological as well as a zoological point of view, a proper investigation of the Arctic MoUusca would bo especially valuable. The palaeontological basis of tho glacial epoch consists mainly in the identity of certain six'cies which inhabit the Polar Seas, and arc fossil in Great Britain and elsewhere. But such species may owe their present habitat and position to other than climatal causes, vi/.., to the action of marine currents. It is quite a mistake to assume that Arctic species are few in number; we know very little about them because the exploration of tho circumpolar seas by means of the dredge is so difficult. The researches of Professor Torell, and other Scandinavian zoologists, induce us to believe thai the Arctic marine invertebrate fauna is extremely varied and numerous. All fossils should be diligently collected, and their position accurately noted. The former conditions and climate of the Arctic regions may be thus ascertained and a new chapter opened in the history of our globe, I am. Gentlemen, Your most obedient Servant, Josh. Frkstwicii, President. ( "l ) tntioiiH, anta on itions of covcved, ist, such [ to havo ive exact Id of the I glaciers, slassea of «ev floods ons. xiiedition it also of bcientifio lo;o of the compared il point of especially ly in the il in Great at habitat of marine are few in on of the searches of eliove thai ous. itely noted, ascertained Enci-osttre No. 7. 'res ident. LETTERS FROM THE SECRETARIES OF THE LINN^AN SOCIETY, WITH MEMORANDUM BV MR. J. GWYN JEFFREYS. Sir, LiNNiKAN Society, Bdrlikgton House, April Gth, 1865. Tn reply to your letter of the 2nd of March, I am directed by the Council of the Linnajan Society to communicate to you the following Minute, a<;reed to at their Meeting held this day : — " 'J'he Council of the Liima^an Society hear, with the greatest satisfaction, of the proix)Si*l for an expedition to explore the North Polar Kegion. Concurring with the Council of the Royal Geographical Society in the opinion that imiiortant scientific results would be thereby obtained, that maritime adventure and voyages of discovery in the pursuit of Kcienco have an excellent eflect upon the naval service, and that this expedition in particular would be in every respect worthy of the enter- prize and i)restige of the British Navy, they have no hesitation in complying with the request to state their views on the various topics sugij;ested by the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, in so far as tiiey arc connected with the pursuits of the Linnaean Society, and for the purpose of being embui"' J in a joint rejiresentation of the principal scientific bodies, to be submitted for the consideration of Government. "1. As to the popular objection to North Polar expeditions on account of tlio supposed danger, the Council cannot attach any weight to it, being convinced that it rests on a fallacy. The Linnrean Society has, during the last half century, enrolled among its members almost all the scientific officers of the surveying and exploring expeditions of our n.aval and othfcr public services, and has occupied itself largely with the publication of the results obtained in natural history. It has thus been deeply concerned in watching the progress of such expeditions, and in judging of the comparative amount of loss and hardship incurred, the results showing a remarkable immunity from danger, excm[)lified in the Polar voyages. North and South, as compared with many others. With the exception of Sir John Franklin's party, it is believed that not one Fellow of the Society has met with his death through Polar discovery, whilst in those African surveys and explorations, which are so warmly supported, there are very few of the numerous contributors to our publications who have not perished in the prosecution of their researches ; and the numbers lost in, or in consecjuence of scientific expeditions in India and other tropical countries, and in the interior of Australia, have been most deplorable. These losses, however, have retained no hold on the public mind, for 62 MINUTK OF THE LINNiEAN SOCIKTY, they have been unaccompanied by any great disappointment, such as that experienced in the ultimate failure of the persevering search for the phantom passage to the North-west, from which such grand results had been anticipated. The sad end of Sir John Franklin and his crew, and the long iincertaiuty as to their fate, may be considered, like those of La Perouse, Mungo Park, Edward Vogel, Leichhardt, and many others, items of jmst experience, to serve rather as guides to future expeditions than as warnings against undertaking them. " 2. With regard to the excellent effect of these expeditions on the naval service generally, the Council consider that they cannot speak too warmly in their favour. As a school for cultivating the powers of observation in the officers, and thus affording them a means of rising to distinction, they are unrivalled. And as a proof of the estimation in which this branch of the service is held on the Continent, the Council need only to point to the number of officers of our exploring service whom the Imperial Institute of France has elected to honorary seats in their department of navigation ; the highest foreign scieutitic distinction which a British officer can attain. " 3. With regard to the particular route, or routes, to be selected amongst those which have been proposed, or to the officers to be employed on the service, the Council feel that they could not with propriety pro- nounce an opinion, as questions foreign to the functions of the Society they represent. They believe, however, that either of the two routes advocated might essentially contribute to fill up the present vacuum in our knowledge of the Natural History of these high latitudes ; and that by Smith Sound, as coasting a greater extent of land, might in respect of Ethnology and some other branches of Natural History, produce results of special importance. " 4. With regard to the specific results in Natural History which may be expected from the proposed expedition, they are numerous and impor- tant ; and a detailed report on them would involve considerable labour in its preparation. Such a report, however, the Council will gladly undertLl-e to have prepared, whenever the project is in a fair enough state cf progress to make it desirable tc do so. In the present stage of the matter, it may be sufficient to allude generally to the following heads : — " The most important results in Natural History to be obtained from a voyage to the Arctic Ocean, are undoubtedly those that would extend our knowledge of the conditions of animal and vegetable life in those regions. It is now known that the Arctic Ocean teems with life, and that of the more minute organized beings the multitude of kinds is prodigious : these play a most important part, not only in the economy of organic nature, but in the formation of sedimentary deposits, which in future geological periods will become incorporated with these rock- formations whose structure has only lately been explained by the joint labours of zoologists and geologists. " The kinds of these animals, the relations they bear to one another, and to the larger animals (such as whales, seals, &c., towards whose food they so largely contribute), the conditions under which they live, the depths they inhabit, their changes of form, <%c., at different seasons of the year, and at different stages of their lives ; and, lastly, their dis- tribution according to geographical areas, warm and cold currents, &c., are all subjects of which very little is known. " In connexion with this subjec*^, and indeed inscparnblp from it, is a similar LKTTER FRCM THE MNN/KAN SOCIETY. 63 inquiry into the conditions of life of the microscopic vegetables with which the Polar Seas equally swarm, and which both form the food of the microscopic animals, and contribute to the sedimentary deftosita above-mentioned the siliceous coating of their cells. These siliceous coats are indestructible, and being of irregular geometric forms, and the difl'erent kinds having differently and exquisitely sculptured surfaces, may be recognized wlierever found, and at all future epochs of our globe ; and a knowledge of the species inhabiting the Arctic Ocean, would throw great light on investigations into the age of the rocks of our own islands, and on the later changes of the climate of the northern hemisphere. " With regard to the larger animals, the fish, shells, corals, sponges, &c., of the Arctic zones, those of Greenland alone have been well explored. A knowledge of their habits and habitats is most desiderated, as are gooti specimens for our Museums. More inijKjrtant still would be anatomical and physiological ex]^)eritnents, and observations on those animals under their natural conditions. " In Botany very much renmins to be done ; not, perhaps, in the discovery of new kinds, but in tracing the distribution of those already known, in connexion with existing currents, and with the effects of the cold and warm epvjcbs of the world's late history. Jt is well made out that the Arctic flonv comprises three floras, namely, the Scandinavian, Ame- rican, and Asiatic ; but it has only recently been shown that these floras do not bear that relation to the geographical areas they respec- tively inhabit which the existing relations of laud and sea would lead us to suppose. Thus, the West Greenland flora is European, and not American ; the Spitzbergen flora contains American plants found neither in Greenland nor in Scandinavia ; and other anomalies have been traced which indicate great recent changes in the physical geo- graphy of the "olar land. To correlate and explain these anomalies requires a Natural History Survey of the Polar area, and can only be accomplished by the joint labours of energetic officers who could devot-e a considerable time to the subject." I have the honour to be. Sir, Your most obedient Servant, To the Secretary of the Geo. Busk, Secretary. Uoyal Geographical Society. Sir, BURLINGTOK RoUSE, 22nd June, 1872. In reply to your letter, requesting, on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, to be furnished with a note supplementary to the Minute on Arctic Exploration which was supplied by the Liun8?nn l"i!*:K5iety in 1865, I have to state that the subject was brought before the Council of the Society on the 6th of June last, and referred to a Committee, with directions that the Com- mittee should communicate the result of their deliberations to the Koyal Geograjihical Society. The Committee have since considered the subject, and I am requested, on their behalf, to report to you as follows : — At the Meeting of the Royal (reographical Society on the 22nd of April last, Dr. Hooker (as you are aware) distMissovi at s«inK' length the advant.ages r>4 MEMORANDUM BY MH. J. G. JEFFREYS. which might be exiiected to accrue to botanical science by a renewal of North Polar Exploration. Upon tliat occasion, Dr. Hooker considered that he was expressing the views entertained upon the subject by the Fellows of the Linnaean Society generally ; and his intention was, that the remarks which he then made should be looked upon as supplementary to the Minute of 1865. ITiat Minute, together with Dr. Hooker's remarks (which are correctly re- ported in the printed slip of the Meeting of the Geographical Society of the 22nd of April last), embody all the points to which the Committee think it necessary that attention should be directed, so far as regards botanical science. With regard to Zoology, the Committee would refer to the Minute of 1865, and to a supplementary note furnished by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, with whose remarks the Committee entirely concur, except upon the question of having a Naturalist to accompany the Expedition. The Committee are of opinion that a skilled Naturalist would not only be desirable, but necessary, in order that the operations of dredging, and the selection and preservation of specimens, may be efficiently carried out. I enclose a copy of Mr. Gwyn Jeffrey's supplementary note, and, I have the honour to be. Sir, Your obedient Servant, Frederick Curbet, Sec. L.S. Clements H. Markham, Esq. Memorandum for the Royal Geographical Society. An important and interesting result of the proposed Arctic expedition would be the investigation of the Mollusca, not only of marine, but also of land and fresh-water kinds. Of late years that enterprising and scientific nation, Sweden, has done something to increase our scanty knowledge of the Arctic marine shells ; but their resources were limited, and not to be compared with those of our own nation. In a geological as well as zoological point of view a proper investigation of the Arctic Mollusca would he especially valuable. The ])al£Bontological basis of the glacial epoch consists mainly in the identity of certain species which inhabit the Polar Seas, and are fossil in Great Britain and elsewhere. But such species may owe their present habitat and position to other than climatal causes, viz., to the action of marine current. In the liist Swedish exjiedition a remarkable shell (^PecchioUa acutecostata) was dredged at a considerable depth in Baffin Bay or Davis Straits. The same species was dredged by me in the Bay of Biscay ; and it has been found living also in the Japanese Seas and Gulf of Mexico, and fossil in the Coralline Crag of Suffolk, and the so-called pliocene formation of Sicily. Several Spitzbergen species inhabit the depths of the North Atlantic in both hemispheres ; and they will probably be found in everj^ part of the ocean which is traversed by the great northern or Arctic current. A question, therefore, arises, What is the home of these species, or where did they originate ? And it cannot yet be answered for want of sufficient information. It is quite a mistake to assume that Arctic species are few in number. We know very little about them, because the exploration of the circum|)olar seas by raef.ns of the dredge is so difficult. 'J'he researches of Professor Torell and other Scandinavian zoologists induce us to believe that the Arctic marine invertebrate fauna is extremely varied and numerous. I would venture to suggest that if such .an exiiedition be undertaken by the lloyal Geographical Society, the ship should be fitte«l out with a double- MEMORANDUM BY MR. J. G. JEFFREY'S. 65 North le was of the which : 1865. tly re- of the think laQicul f 1865, . whose aving a only be ind the cyhnder donkey-engine, as well as with ropes, dredges, sieves, and other appa- ratus for collecting and preserving specimens of Natural History. It is not essential that a good naturalist should accompany the expedition, although it woi'.l.d, of course, be desirable. Any sailor can work a dredge ; living Mollusca, 4. • ustacea, and Annelida, may be put into spirits of wine, and the rest of the contents of the dredge kept in bags. Land and fresh-water shells and insects may be also preserved in spirits of wine. The deepest part of Smith Sound should be dredged, and the depths there and elsewhere should be carefully recorded. If the expedition takes place I shall be glad to assist with any further suggestions that may occur to me, and to furnish some dredges and sieves. I may add that all fossils should be diligently collected, and their position accurately noted. The former conditions and climate of the Arctic regions may be thus ascertained, and a new chapter opened in the history of our globe. Ware Priori/, Herts, 10th June, 1872. J. GwYN Jeffbets. . L.S, )n would ) of land c nation, he Arctic ired with )f view a 3le. The ientity of it Britain I position t. In the tata) was rhe same md living llino Crag pitzbergen leres; and aversed by 5, What is mot yet be to assume x)ut them, iredge is so I zoologists extremely artal would undoubtedly result in the collection of miich exceedingly valuable information. The condition of an isolated tribe, deprived of the use of wood or metals, and dependent entirely upon bone and stone for the construction of all imple- ments and utensils, is also a subject of study with reference to the condition of mankind in the stone age of the world ; and a careful comparison of the former, as reported by explorers, with the latter, as deduced from the contents of tumuli and caves, will probably be of great importance in the advancement of the science of man. For the above reasons there cannot be a doubt that the despatch of an expedition to discover the northern shores of Greenland would lead to the collection of many important facts, and to the elucidation of deeply interesting questions connected with anthropology. 3. Enquiries relating to Mammalia, Yegetalion, &c., by W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq , F.R.8. 4. Knquiries into Customs relating to War, by Col. A. Lane Fox. 4a. Enquiries relating to certain Arrow-marks and other Signs in use among the Esquimaux. 46. Enquiries relatin^: tc Drawing, Carving, &c., by Col. A. Lane Fox. 5. Enquiries as to Ethnology, by A. W. Franks, Esq. 6. Enquiries relating tu the Physical Cbaracteriatics of the Esquimaux, by Dr J. Beddoe. 7. Further Ethnological Enquiries, by Professor W. Turner. 8. Instructions suggested by Captain Bedford Pim, R.N. i«BMB LONDON: raWTIO BT WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, BTAUFORU nRCBT, AMD CBARINO CK0S6. [fr \p)i^ ' ; ', %v '^ ^'f^'^fm ^^jf'H*!SgV . ^ ..i Tpyij >^i ■ir% :~^'i .^JiUli^iHt^tMaHSM^mk