the achievement which they found they had accomplished was tempered by the reflections inspired by the sublime desolation of that stern and silent coast and the menace of its unbroken solitude. Beyond to the eastward was the interminable defiance of the unexplored coast--black, cold, and repellent. Below them lay the Arctic Ocean, buried beneath frozen chaos. No words can describe the confusion of this sea of ice--the hopeless asperity of it, the weariness of its torn and tortured surface. Only at the remote horizon did distance and the fallen snow mitigate its roughness and soften its outlines; and beyond it, in the yet unattainable recesses of the great circle, they looked toward the Pole itself. It was a wonderful sight, never to be forgotten, and in some degree a realization of the picture that astronomers conjure to themselves when the moon is nearly full, and they look down into the great plain which is called the Ocean of Storms, and watch the shadows of sterile and airless peaks follow a slow procession across its silver surface."--_Illustrated London News_. * * * * * THE NILE EXPEDITION. [Illustration: WHALER GIG FOR THE NILE.] As soon as the authorities had finally made up their minds to send a flotilla of boats to Cairo for the relief of Khartoum, not a moment was lost in issuing orders to the different shipbuilding contractors for the completion, with the utmost dispatch, of the 400 "whaler-gigs" for service on the Nile. They are light-looking boats, built of white pine, and weigh each about 920 lb., that is without the gear, and are supposed to carry four tons of provisions, ammunition, and camp appliances, the food being sufficient for 100 days. The crew will number twelve men, soldiers and sailors, the former rowing, while the latter (two) will attend the helm. Each boat will be fitted with two lug sails, which can be worked reefed, so as to permit an awning to be fitted underneath for protection to the men from the sun. As is well known, the wind blows for two or three months alternately up and down the Nile, and the authorities expect the flotilla will have the advantage of a fair wind astern for four or five days at the least. On approaching the Cataracts, the boats will be transported on wooden rollers over the sand to the next level for relaunching. * * * * * THE PROPER TIME FOR CUTTING TIMBER. _To the Editor of the Oregonian:_ Believing that any ideas relating to this matter will be of some interest to your readers in this heavily-timbered region, I therefore propose giving you my opinion and conclusions arrived at after having experimented upon the cutting and use of timber for various purposes for a number of years here upon the Pacific coast.