of reachhtg the North Pole. 35 



tion, unless by cairelesBoese or ignorance, as t!>e western part of 

 the coast is the most open, and probably the longest open of any 

 of the coasts of Spitzbcrgen. And a third advantage most pro- 

 Jbably would arise, — nay, I can have no doubt, from many years' 

 observations, that it would arise, — that, on the proposed meri- 

 dian, Jteld-ice would certainly be met with, and that at no great 

 distance from the extreme or seaward edge. And of this, I con- 

 ceive that I could shew evidence of the strongest probabihty, if 

 not evidence in proof. 



It was matter of great surprise and mortification to our late 

 ice-travellers, that, during the whole of their arduous progress, 

 they never reached " the main body of field-ice,'' which other 

 navigators have described. Hence Captain Parry is reduced to 

 the necessity, as he found no such ice, to explain the difference 

 of his experience, on the supposition, that other navigators, ha- 

 ving chiefly seen the ice from the mast-head of their ships, with- 

 out travelling upon it, must have been deceived. For, " as it 

 is well known how much the most experienced eye may be de- 

 ceived, it is possible enough," Captain Parry remarks, " that the 

 irregularities which cost us so much time and labour, may, when 

 viewed in this manner (from an elevated situation), have entire- 

 ly escaped notice, and the whole surface appeared one smooth 

 and level plain *." 



That the irregularities of the ice, as seen from an elevated po- 

 sition, would appear fewer and less considerable than they really 

 were, is perfectly certain ; but it is equally certain, as certain as 

 the eye can be of any thing it perceives, that no experienced 

 person can mistake, when he reaches the borders of it, drift-ice 

 for fields ; nor will he be liable to be deceived, as I well know 

 from innumerable trials, as to the nature of the ice, of which he 

 has a distinct view, even at the distance of several furlongs. 



Hence I consider it as certain, that the ice Captain Parry met 

 with had either been accumulated there by some unfavourable 

 action of the winds and currents, or that its deficiency in field- 

 ice was owing to some peculiarity as to the meridian on which 

 he travelled. For, in his " Narrative,** he tells us, that the ice 

 in one case was so exceedingly rough, that " the men compared 

 it to a stone-mason's yard ;" and as a general observation, that 



• Narrative, p. 146-7. 



C 2 



