Before concluding, it is proper to state that the voyage was one
surrounded with much peril, on account of the succession of gales
and the extraordinary quantities of ice found in the Greenland seas;
never within the memory of man has there been so much and so long
a continuation of ice upon the Greenland coasts as during the past
year. In the arduous labours of the voyage Captain Young was most
ably assisted by Mr. J. E. Davis, Master in the Royal Navy, who by
the kindness of Captain Washington, Hydrographer to the Admiralty of
the British Government, was permitted to accompany the expedition and
take part in the necessary surveys; and his former well-known services
under Sir James Ross in the Antarctic regions, and great experience as
a marine surveyor, enabled him to render the most valuable assistance
in the especial mission of the “Fox,” which is acknowledged by Captain
Young in his report in the highest possible terms. During the voyage
various specimens of deep interest to the geologist and naturalist were
collected; a large number of scientific observations were made, and a
detailed meteorological journal was kept, which, together with other
valuable information and an extensive collection of photographs made
with great zeal by Mr. Woods under very difficult circumstances, have
been furnished by Captain Young and Dr. Rae to the promoters of the
enterprise, with the hope that they will be found to contribute to the
cause of science, as well as to the immediate object for which they
were made. Time will not now permit me to give further details of this
most interesting voyage; but any members of this Society who may desire
to make personal inspection of the charts, meteorological tables, logs,
reports, and specimens, will be gladly permitted to do so.
Having thus presented to the Society some of the most valuable and
interesting portion of Captain Young’s report, I have only to observe
that the result of the recent survey has been to remove from my mind
the apprehensions which I previously entertained in common with many
others, as to the extent and character of the difficulties to be
overcome, in carrying a line of telegraph to America by the northern
route.
Prior to the dispatch of the surveying expedition we had no knowledge
of the depth of the seas to be crossed, with the exception of the few
soundings obtained by Colonel Shaffner in 1859, and our information as
to the nature of the shores of Greenland in regard to the requirements
for a telegraphic cable was equally small.
These points are of vital consequence to the prospects of the
North Atlantic Route, and the survey has placed us in possession
of satisfactory particulars respecting them. The soundings taken
by Sir Leopold M‘Clintock will be a guide in the selection of the
most suitable form for the deep-sea lengths of the cables, while the
information furnished by Captain Young will direct the construction of
the more massive cables to be laid in the inlets of the coast. It is
not necessary to determine upon the precise landing places and other
points of detail in connection with the enterprise at the present time,
but the promoters of the undertaking have received ample encouragement
from the survey, and from the testimony of competent and experienced
voyagers and sojourners in the countries to which the line is to
be carried, to warrant them in proceeding with their labours with
renewed vigour and confidence. When they have achieved that success
which their perseverance and energy deserve, I am sure they will
always gratefully remember that their endeavours at the stage of their
operations which is now under discussion would have been very much less
productive of good results, but for the patriotic foresight of Lord
Palmerston in ordering the “Bulldog” on her late successful service;
and for the assistance of Sir Leopold M‘Clintock, Captain Young, Dr.
Rae, and the Commissioners appointed to accompany the “Fox” by the
Danish government, as well as others who took part in the cause, whose
patience and devotion to their self-imposed work has been above all
praise. Nor can those interested in this important undertaking forget
the great assistance which has been rendered to them by the Royal
Geographical Society.
SURVEY OF THE LAND SECTIONS, WITH REMARKS UPON THE CLIMATE, PEOPLE,
&c.; BY DR. JOHN RAE, F.R.G.S., &c., COMMANDER OF THE LAND EXPEDITIONS.
The LORD ASHBURTON: I will now call upon Dr. Rae to read his paper.