believing in the existence of a continuous icy
crust, attempted to reach the Pole in sledges,
by starting from the north-west of Spitzbergen.
Their great moral and physical energy were,
unfortunately, exerted in vain; the drifting of the
ice caused them to lose every inch of the
progress they made. They went backward while
advancing forward. But for this circumstance,
the space they travelled over was sufficient to
bring them to the Pole. There consequently
existed a strong current running from north to
south, with a sufficient depth of water to float
large icebergs.

The very failure of Parry's attempt is one of
the most convincing proofs of an open Polar
Sea, since it demonstrates a strong current in a
southerly direction. An ocean current cannot
issue from land. It may sweep round a
promontory, follow the inflections of a coast, or be
split in two by an island or a cape; but it
cannot flow out of a solid wall. Towards the
South Pole, where an Antarctic continent exists,
the only voyage which merits serious consideration
—Ross's—mentions no current running
from the south to the north. Parry, in his
report, expresses regret that he did not try to
get his ship through the fissures and gaps in
the field of ice which carried his sledges south-
ward, while they were pushing to the north.

Icebergs have also their tale to tell. An
iceberg is a glacier set afloat. When a coast
presents slopes suitable for the formation of
glaciers (which requires an inclination neither
too steep nor too flat), the accumulated snow
and ice eventually form a compact mass. The
infiltrations between this and the surface of the
soil, convert the latter into a perfect slide, and
the glacier is launched from the cliff into the
water, exactly like a ship from the stocks. If
the chain of the Alps, for instance, were
surrounded by a sea, it is certain that that sea
would be bordered by a colossal framework of
ice similar to that which girdles the South Pole,
and also to that which fringes Greenland, and
is found along the coasts of the extreme north
of Europe.

The specific gravity of floating ice causes the
depth of the portion immersed, to be about
double the height which appears above water;
but with large icebergs, in consequence of the
mode of their formation and the considerable
admixture of stones and sand, the respective
depths of emersion and immersion may be taken
in the proportion of one to six, instead of one
to three. Consequently, the enormous icebergs
which tower a hundred yards above the water's
edge, may be reckoned to have a total altitude
of six or seven hundred yards. It is evident
that the water in which such colossal icebergs
float, must be deep.

When, on the contrary, ice is formed on the
spot, on the surface of the sea, by the accumulation
of broken-up fields of ice and snow—a
curious spectacle to see, for those who know
how to use their eyes—such ice cannot attain
any great altitude; on the other hand, it
extends itself over vast superficial areas. The
presence, therefore, of lofty permanent ice at
any point, attests the neighbourhood of glacier-
forming land; whereas ice of great superficial
extent, but of trifling altitude, implies the existence
of a vast open sea. If tall icebergs be
mingled with these low fields of ice, they are
brought there by currents, sometimes from a
considerable distance. They may be compared
to vessels left to take their own course, and
running ahead before the prevailing wind.

Now, in the Arctic Ocean, to the north of
Behring's Strait, the only ice seen does not
rise more than a yard or two above the surface
of the water, while its extent is sometimes
several miles square. This announces a vast
open sea without any land, except stumpy
islets, such as Herald Island and Plover Island,
the last known summits which rise above the
surface of the Polar Sea.

On the other hand, round the South Pole,
Ross found and traversed a girdle of ice of
colossal altitude, indicating (together with the
absence of currents to the north) glacier-
producing land, and probably a compact and
mountainous continent. It follows that—land
being less favourable than water to the
transformation of heat of insolation into thermometrical
heat—the South Pole ought to be colder
than the North, in spite of the theoretical
equality of their insolation.

A glance at the map of North America shows
that Baffin's Bay separates Greenland from the
American continent, and from the groups of
islands to the north of it. This bay communicates
with several straits, one of which, Smith's
Strait, runs almost north and south. In this
channel, about a third of the way up and to the
right, is Peabody Bay, to the south of which,
in Rensselaer Harbour, Elisha Kane, the American
navigator, with seventeen companions,
passed a couple of winters. In the month of
June, 1855, Morton, the most able-bodied of
his enfeebled crew, accompanied by a
Greenlander, travelled directly northward in a sledge.
Arrived at the extremity of Smith's Strait, he
climbed a steep mountain on its western coast.
From thence, on reaching an elevation of several
hundred feet, he beheld an open sea, free from
ice. The scanty vegetation of the spot,
compared with that found in lower latitudes,
indicated a notable mitigation of the temperature.
After planting the American flag on Cape
Constitution, the most northerly point yet reached
by man, Morton returned to his companions
completely exhausted. It was not until the
following year, after their second winter, that
Kane and his surviving friends were taken on
board a Danish vessel, not a day too soon.

In 1865, Captain Osborn, who had already
taken part in two Arctic expeditions in search
of Franklin, communicated to the London
Geographical Society his project of reaching the
North Pole. In his opinion, the continuous
icy crust covering the whole of the Polar area,
may be taken for granted, in spite of Parry's
doubts. The supposed open sea caught sight
of by Morton was nothing but a large gap or