Lieuts. Greely and Ray were received with distinguished honors at the
meeting of the British Association in Montreal. A complimentary luncheon
was tendered him by the members of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, at the Windsor Hotel. General Sir Henry Lefroy
presided. In response to the toast "Our Distinguished Guests," coupling
the names of Lieuts. Greely and Ray and Mrs. Greely, Lieut. Greely said:
"_Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen_: I need scarcely say that this
flattering reception from representative men of one of England's most
distinguished societies touches deeply my feelings as a soldier and as a
man. It is not alone that you represent the science and learning of
England and the world, but that you are all countrymen of those daring
seamen and explorers whose names and whose deeds have become household
words throughout the world. Hudson, Baffin, Cook, Nelson, Parry, Franklin,
and a score of others among the dead; McClintock, Nares, and Markham, and
last, but not least, the man whose name was oftenest on our lips when
praying for relief during the past terrible winter--Bedford Pim. What
those men have done the whole world knows. That you should deem aught that
I have done worthy to placed with the deeds of those illustrious men must
always be a source of pride to me. For three centuries England maintained
against the world the honors of the farthest north. Step by step every
advance was made by Englishmen. Now England's grandest colony presses to
the front; but none the less is the honor England's, for at the price of
her sons' lives and by their toil the path was cleared. But for Beaumont's
dauntless pluck and indomitable energy in 1876, Lockwood would never had
made his great northing in 1882. I have during a quarter of a century's
service, as becomes a soldier, been jealous of my honor. I have striven to
maintain it in the field, fighting and bleeding for my country, and at my
desk studying and discussing scientific data; in the Arctic Circle, when
pursuing scientific and geographical work, or later, when stranded by
adverse fate, and starving and freezing upon the barren coast. This marked
and public testimonial of your approval cannot fail to make me doubly
jealous of it in days to come."
Lieut. Ray followed, returning thanks in his own behalf.
After other speeches Sir Henry Lefroy presented Lieutenant Greely with the
following informal address:
"Montreal, Sept. 2, 1884.
"The undersigned, on behalf of many warm friends and admirers, and
as representing various professional and scientific pursuits,
desire to express to you their appreciation of the courage and
devotion which has characterized your conduct during the trying
circumstances of your late Arctic service. We trust that your
health may soon be restored, and that you may long be spared to
tender, as during your past distinguished career, those valuable
and distinguished services to your great country which have already
placed you among the foremost of scientific explorers of the age.
"Yours faithfully, Rayleigh, President."
In introducing Lieut. Greely, Sir Henry Lefroy, referring to the
persistence of purpose shown by his party in bringing back the pendulum
apparatus, remarked that there was nothing nobler in the annals of
scientific heroism than the determination of these hungry men to drag the
cumbersome box along their weary way.
It was fully two minutes after rising before Lieut. Greely could speak, so
great was the outburst of enthusiasm which greeted him. He remarked that
he was surprised to learn that the ground did not thaw lower at Lieut.
Ray's station, which was ten degrees farther south than his own, where the
ground thawed to a much greater depth--namely, twenty to thirty feet. In
regard to an open polar sea, he differed from Lieut. Ray. He did not
believe there was a navigable sea at the pole, but he was of the opinion
that there was open water somewhere about.
The geographical work of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition covers nearly
three degrees of latitude and over forty degrees of longitude. Starting
from latitude 81 deg. 44 min. and longitude 84 deg. 45 min., Lieut.
Lockwood reached, May 18, 1882, on the north coast of Greenland, latitude
83 deg. 24 min. and longitude 40 deg. 46 min. From the same starting point
he reached to the southwest, in May, 1883, Greely Fiord, an inlet of the
Western Polar Ocean, latitude 80 deg. 48 min. and longitude 78 deg. 26
min. This journey to the northward resulted in the addition to our charts
of a new coast line of nearly 100 miles beyond the farthest point seen by
Lieut. Beaumont, R.N. It also carried Greenland over 400 miles northward,
giving that continent a much greater extension in that direction than it
had generally been credited with.
In a subsequent speech he took occasion to say that a fact had surprised
him. It was the discovery that when the tide was flowing from the North
Pole it was found by his observations that the water was warmer than when
flowing in the opposite direction. He took the trouble to have prepared an
elaborate set of observations showing this wonderful phenomenon, which
would eventually be published. To him these pecularities were
unexplainable, and be hoped that the observations would be studied by his
hearers, and some explanation found in regard to the thermometric
observations of the expedition. He remarked that the mean temperature for
the year of the hourly observations was 5 degrees below zero, which
justified him in saying his station was the coldest point of earth ever
reached.
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