FOOD FOR REFLECTION. 189 



Iceland and Greenland. A branch of the Gulf Stream at- 

 tacks it from the Spitsbergen side, and its influence is felt 

 as far as the North Cape of Asia. The general motion of 

 this " cap "must be very slow, but the local motions of course 

 depend upon the depth of the ocean and the vicinity of land, 

 and near nature's outlets it is very rapid. 



Melville gave me lots of food for reflection. He analyzed 

 all data obtainable from the Hydrographic Office reports and 

 Arctic literature, and marked on the circumpolar chart with 

 arrows the currents as reported by various navigators as 

 well as those mentioned in the theories of distinguished 

 geographers. We constantly discussed the question, and 

 both felt assured that if the ship could remain intact long 

 enough, she would eventually drift out between Spitsbergen 

 and Bear Island to Atlantic waters. A very high latitude 

 would doubtless be attained, an 1 would depend in a great 

 measure on the influence of Franz Josef Land upon the 

 motion of the pack. If the ship passed to the southeast of 

 it, the local motion to the southwest might be very rapid by 

 the pack impinging on those lands ; and if passing to the 

 northward, the pack would be deflected toward the Pole and 

 a very high latitude would be obtained, supposing no polar 

 continental land to exist. It is my opinion that had we en- 

 tered the pack 200 miles to the eastward of where we did, 

 we could have worked up near Prince Patrick Land ; for 

 Collinson found the deepest water over there to the east- 

 ward, and sounded with 133 fathoms without finding bottom. 



Our smallest depth the first year's drift was seventeen 

 fathoms, and the greatest depth not over sixty, the average 

 being generally thirty, and the ocean bottom usually uni- 

 form, with blue mud and in some cases shale, something 

 like round pieces of potato, cut thin and fried, and supposed 

 to be meteoric specimens. We felt pretty sure that we would 

 continue to drift to the northwest during the following year, 

 but I was not sure what influence the peculiar coast line in 

 the vicinity of the North Cape would exert, it being in the 

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