CAPTAIN SHERARD OSBORN, R.N.: I will not attempt to say anything as
to the practicability of the route, inasmuch as the distinguished
travellers and navigators, who read their papers at the last meeting,
have given us sufficient authority to say that there were obstacles on
the route undoubtedly, but that all those obstacles are surmountable.
Touching the soundings, I would call your attention to the agreeable
fact that the entire line of soundings show that there is no depth
greater than 1000 fathoms between Scotland and longitude 30 west on
the proposed route, or exactly halfway across the Atlantic Ocean.
There are then two valleys of deep water, of small width, on either
side of Greenland. The soundings diminished, as you see, very abruptly
as Greenland is approached, and shallow water will be found probably
round Cape Farewell. With regard to the Labrador coast, the principal
difficulty was in carrying the cable within the 150 fathoms of water,
so that it might not be exposed to the action of the icebergs. I am
sure that Arctic men all agree that 150 fathoms would be about the
maximum draught of any iceberg, so that the chief object to be secured
in placing the cable is to push the 150 fathom mark as near into the
coast as possible. They would remember that Sir Leopold M‘Clintock
had said that he would like to have a more accurate survey of the
Labrador coast, so as to carry the deep water a little closer. If they
looked at the map they would see 1190 fathoms carried just to the
north of Hamilton Inlet, and there was every reason to believe that
the bank of Newfoundland--they might call it so, although it extended
a long way up the Labrador coast--deepened suddenly there. As far as
one might speculate upon the question, I have no doubt that a more
accurate survey would lead to the obtaining of such information as
would give us a channel leading close into the Labrador shore, near
Cape Harrison. I would propose, that the cable there should open out
and form, say, half-a-dozen strands running into the shore at certain
distances from each other, so that if a berg drifted down and happened
to pick up one, it would not pick up all the rest, and by that means
the cable in the deep water would be at all times safe and recoverable
by following out those strands. There was one feature that struck me
particularly, and on which I wrote to Captain M‘Clintock. No man would
dispute that bergs of ice sounding the bottom would rip it up, just as
a plough would a ploughed field; and that if that bank was thus ripped
up by the floes of ice, there would be hardly any animal or vegetable
life upon it; it would be a kind of subterranean desert. Sir Leopold
M‘Clintock was continually dredging there, and in a note just received,
that distinguished navigator said, “The bank of Hamilton Inlet has
from 100 to 200 fathoms upon it. I am of opinion that icebergs which
ever drift down there cannot possibly reach the bottom. They ground
near the islands at the entrance and are not bergs of the largest
size. Shells and other small things were brought up by the sounding
machines in 40 or 50 fathoms, _as in other parts of the sea_ where
icebergs cannot possibly interfere with them.” Near Frederickshaab
Captain Sir L. M‘Clintock says they dredged up in 26 fathoms delicate
corals and creatures which could not live at the bottom of the sea if
much disturbed by icebergs,--and adds “_so much for the destructive
propensities of icebergs_.” How all this came about was a question I do
not pretend to solve, but the fact was very curious, as showing that
bergs could touch the bottom without sweeping everything before them. I
am sure that every geographer will be interested in the following fact,
for it related to the late Sir John Ross, who stated that in his voyage
in 1818 he brought up mud from 1050 fathoms, the deepest soundings ever
obtained at that time; and in the mud were shells and fish. So to that
old navigator they first owed that the fact of animal life in great
depths had been discovered. We were talking the other day about the
difficulties with regard to the intense cold and the aurora borealis
affecting the telegraph. It might be interesting for the Society to
know that a few seasons ago, Captain Kellett and Captain M‘Clintock
were beset in the ice in 74-1/2° north, and they communicated with each
other by telegraph from ship to ship. Now 74-1/2° north latitude was a
long way in the Arctic zone, and the cable, the practicability of which
they were at present discussing, would lie a long way without it. That
telegraph was at work throughout the whole winter, and was not in any
way affected by that terrible bug-bear the aurora borealis, nor by the
intense cold experienced so far north. (Applause.)
* * * * *
MR. JOHN BALL: It is impossible to over-rate the importance of the
subject brought to the attention of the Society by the gentlemen who
read their papers. It is very desirable that we should not under-rate
the difficulties which still remain, and which I think have not all of
them been sufficiently brought forward, and it is by pointing out the
difficulties at this early stage that we shall soonest arrive at the
solution of those difficulties and the great end which I trust we shall
live to see accomplished. I have long felt that this northern route
was the right one; but I am not blind to the many difficulties which
still remain in our way. With reference to the precise points which
come particularly under the attention of this Society, and were brought
clearly before us at the last meeting, there are two or three on which
I wish to make a few observations. As to the Færöes, I apprehend there
is no great difficulty. As to Iceland, it is proposed to land the
cable at the south-east side of the island, to carry it across the
island, and start again from Reikiavik in order to communicate from
thence to Greenland. Now there, are we not unnecessarily encountering
very serious difficulties and incurring a great increase of
expenditure? It is true that it is possible to cross Iceland--perfectly
possible--but so experienced a traveller as Dr. Rae found that it was
not practicable without very great sacrifice of time, and encountering
great difficulties, to take that direct route pretty nearly from east
to west; but has he at all considered what the difficulties and cost
of laying down a telegraphic wire are? I think he has mentioned--every
traveller in Iceland has mentioned--that large district in the
interior of the island over which you must hurry as fast as your
horses can carry you, for the simple reason that there is nothing upon
which to live; and if you are to lay down a telegraph across that
interior desert of Iceland, you must be prepared for a vast number of
difficulties and an enormous amount of money, and time, and labour,
while they are doing it, and to accomplish it within a reasonable time.
But, furthermore, how is it to be done? If you require piles, you must
carry every pile into the island, across the island by horses, and
supposing you could hire every one of the horses, there are not enough
to enable you, in one or two seasons, to accomplish the work. And then,
again, I have not alluded to the difficulty which every voyager will
have encountered with respect to the breakers. Would it not be better
to confine the difficulties to one point alone,--the entrance into the
Faxe Fiord? I don’t know whether it is proposed to land it at that
point or not, but let the difficulties be confined to one point instead
of two. With reference to Labrador, even though it be true that we can
carry the 150 fathoms depth near to the coast, still that, my lord, may
be as formidable as ten, or twenty, or fifty miles in another place. If
it be a part of the coast on which there are icebergs, it is necessary,
it appears to me, not only to carry your 150 fathoms of water close in
shore, but you must get it safe behind some headland which will throw
aside the icebergs. May it not be possible that by making the line a
little longer, and running it into the strait of Belle Isle, the true
solution will be found?
* * * * *
SIR RODERICK MURCHISON:--If any Arctic geographer or voyager had been
prepared to rise, I would not have occupied the time of the Society
for one moment, upon a subject on which I know little. I will only say
I am one of the very many well-wishers to every expedition of this
sort which the Royal Geographical Society holds within its number.
My lord, we are not here, as you have very properly said, to discuss
the engineering merits of the project, nor are we really capable of
estimating the difficulties that have been apprehended by my friend Mr.
Ball; but we are capable of estimating, in a very decisive manner, the
facts that Sir Leopold M‘Clintock and Captain Sherard Osborn, who are
men of great experience as Arctic voyagers, have pronounced in favour
of this scheme.
I make no observations upon the scheme, except to say that had I risen
at our last meeting, when your lordship adjourned the discussion to
this evening, I should have felt it necessary to say that we owe a
deep debt of obligation to those five gentlemen, who brought before
us on that occasion their well elaborated and well received papers.
They brought before us a mass of geographical knowledge which we never
could have possessed, had not this expedition been matured--I say it
to his honour--through the patronage of Lord Palmerston, and carried
out through the active enterprise of the gentlemen who undertook this
service.
Being in favour of all such expeditions, the moment my distinguished
friend Captain Allen Young offered to go out in command of the little
“Fox,” in which you know I took a deep interest, I went down to
Southampton, to attend a great meeting assembled by the Mayor in honour
of this expedition. There Colonel Shaffner and Mr. Croskey, and the
other gentlemen associated with them, and the Danish officers and
others present received from us as Englishmen every encouragement we
could offer to promote this enterprise.
My lord, the details of the two expeditions have been so admirably
laid before you that I, for one, should have been contented with the
results, if I were in any way embarked as a speculator in the success
of the undertaking. But not having any pecuniary interest in it, or in
any rival speculation, I may say to the gentlemen of the North Atlantic
Company, you have put your case so well before the public, that no
gentleman associated with other lines can say that it is possible to
have treated the subject in a more ingenuous and fair manner. (Hear,
hear, and applause.)
And now, my lord, I cannot sit down without saying, it gave me very
great satisfaction to hear Dr. Rae expatiate, as he did, upon the
warm and hearty reception that he received from all the inhabitants
of the Danish settlement of the Færöe Islands and of Iceland. I say
this in the presence of the Danish minister; and I am sure Dr. Rae was
justified when he spoke in the name of Englishmen, of our gratitude to
the King of Denmark, and to the government of that country, for having
so warmly assisted us in one of those great enterprises, which may lead
us to connect America with our own country. (Applause.)
* * * * *
DR. RAE: My Lord,--The time allowed me at the last meeting of this
Society was necessarily so short, that I left unmentioned some
important points connected with my journey over Iceland; so I now beg
to say a few words in reply to the observations of Mr. Ball.
The interior of Iceland over which we travelled is not devoid of grass,
there being sufficient for our horses throughout the whole route,
which offered comparatively few difficulties. Although two of the party
were heavy men, we crossed the island in thirteen or fourteen days,
riding the same horses at the rate of more than thirty miles per day.
These ponies can carry a load of 200 lbs. or upwards, and pieces of
wood ten or fifteen feet long can be carried by them over the highest
and steepest ground on the route. The best line for the telegraph lies
to the south of that we travelled over, and is marked on the chart by
a dotted line. Along this route there is abundance of water, and grass
also, except at one station, to supply which a depôt of hay could be
made. This portion of the way (about the centre of Iceland), called
the Sprengisandr road, is almost a flat table land. Again, some of the
larger rivers that flow northward appear to be navigable for boats
similar to those used in Hudson’s Bay, which carry from three to four
tons weight. By this means materials could be deposited at several
stations near to the proposed line. I do not profess to be a surveyor,
but having travelled a good deal both in the United States and Canada,
I have seen telegraphs carried over more difficult and rougher country
than we encountered in crossing Iceland. But should objections be
offered to carrying the telegraph completely across the island, I am
of opinion, from information obtained, that Portland, in the south of
Iceland, although no safe harbour for ships, would form a good landing
place for a cable. From Portland to Reikiavik the distance is not over
ninety miles, and the road offers no obstacles. The object of our
journey was not to make a minute or detailed survey, but to determine
if it were practicable to carry a telegraph over the island. (Applause.)