THE GREAT LONE LAND AND ITS FASCINATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 5, 23 May 1884, Page 13

THE GREAT LONE LAND AND ITS FASCINATION.

Likutbnant Gablincwon, who led the attempted relief of Greeley last season, thus expresses, to a PUtsburg Despatch reporter, the fascination which every Arctic traveller has felt to repeat his strange experience : —

" But, netwithstanding what I have come through, I would like to go back again. I intend to make application, when I get to Washington, to join the present expedition that is now being fitted out. I have not seen as much of that region as I would like to. There is nothing so exceedingly charming about it. But there is a strange fascination seiaes one, when he has a taste of it, to see more of it. When you get up among the glaciers and rocks, the scene is one of terrific grandeur and picturesque beauty, but the acme of dreariness. No sound or stir except now and then the terrific crash of a huge hyaline boulder, as it grates on the bottom of the ocean and crushes to pisces There is a dreary silence that courts loneliness, and one feels fuch a dull dread all tho time that it approaches misery. " In the summer you can occasionally hear the piping of seagulls, the chatter of ducks and the growl of walrus, but you only meet these occasionally. If you can describe a vast sea of ice and snow, which is as irregular as anything you can imagine, you know what appearance that country has. The nearest comparison I can make to the appearance of one of those icebergs is looking down on a city from the top of a mountain. The high and low houses, with an occasional church steeple, resemble very much one sf those floating iceberyj., The wind has no effect on them whatever. It is not an uncommon thing to see the ' floe' or soft ice going in one direction, driven by the wind, and an iceberg moving in an opposite direction carried by the current. There is always seven times the bulk of ice under the water than is seen above, and one acquainted with the Polar region can always tell by the color, rigidity and appearance of an iceberg whether it cornea from the North Sea or not. You will sometimes see a boulder three or four times as high out of the water as this hotel, and probably ten times as large, carried along by the current, and when two of them come together the force is sufficient to crush the less rigid one. You can judge what a steamer would be like when caught between two such icebergs, No boat can ever be built that could withstand the pres ore. Although they seem to move slowly, they have a terrific force and are often crushed by their own weight. "Walrus are very plenty up there in some places. At the mouth of Melville Bay, I believe 1 saw a thousand at one time. They crawl up on the ice and lie there apparently asleep, but on the approach of a hunter they drop into the water in a lubberly awkward manner, which is amusing. At tftnes they sport and play in the water and out and keep the sea in constant confusion. They are an interesting study, especially when they are the only animated creatures that can be seen. While watching them one forgets that he is out of the habitable world, lbe only land to be seen is an alluvial deposit thrown up|by the waves near the north shoie of Greenland. There is a kind of moss growing on the rocks, but from what it draws the substance of life I know not. One of the most interesting sights in the northern region is the falling into the ocean of huge fields of ice. You will see thousands of acres of ice and snow that extend high in the air. The water wears this away on the under side, and when the point projecting into the water becomes bo heavy as to force itself off it breaks Vita a loud report and falls into the water. The travelling is all done op there with dogs in sledges. The dojjs are almost as large as Indian dogs, and are able to draw about their own weight. They usually harness from eight to twelve clogs to a sledge, and under favorable circumstances and smooth ice can go about sixty miles a day. If the surface is uneven and soft the animals are worthless, and the sledge has to be drawn by hand. "As I said, I am anxious to join this expeditiou that is now being fitted up. There are four vessels that are undergoing thorough repair in New York Harbour for the trip. Lieutenant W. H. Emory will have charge of the Bear. Colonel Schley, whowill have charge of the expedition, will have charge of the Thetis. This is a very firm whaling vessel, and was bought at Dundee, Scotland, expressly for the trip. The British Government has offered the usj of the steamer Alert, which will accompany the expedition. This is the steamer, commanded by Sir George Nares, that wintered at Smith's Sjund, about 78deg. 50spc. north, being the highest point at which any steamer ever passed the winter. I don't think there will be any trouble in reaching Lady Franklin Bay, where Greeley is supposed to be quartered, some time in August. If they don't get through by that time they will be compelled to lie up for the winter, as it begins to freeze up there toward the latter part of that month."