98 Observations on the Arctic Sea and Ice, and 



progress may be made in these seas, though such navigation 

 must be extremely hazardous, as it can be conducted only 

 through lanes and open spaces, where the mariner would be con- 

 stantly exposed to be nipped among the closing fields. 



To determine how far the Northern Ocean is navigable can 

 be ascertained only by repeated investigation. The course of 

 the currents, and the few facts we possess, seem to indicate that 

 the farther we proceed the sea will be the more crowded, till, 

 around the pole, all remains firm and fast. All the circumja- 

 cent ice is certainly yearly in motion, which, even in the opinion 

 of Parry, may be sometimes navigable. In this he is supported 

 not only by his own observations, but by the evidence of other 

 adventurers. Whilst Heemskerke lay grounded on the ice-piled 

 coast of Nova Zembla, when the season was far advanced, he was 

 shagreened with the view of an open sea extending eastward as 

 far as the eye could reach, whilst he was pushed on shore by the 

 masses which skirted the land. The expedition fitted out by 

 the merchants of Amsterdam, traversed an open sea 100 leagues 

 east from Nova Zembla, in the 80th degree of northern latitude. 

 Baron Wrangel, in a sledge, travelled on the northern ice for 

 forty days, during which he reached a sea free from impedi- 

 ment ; but ere he reached the coast of Siberia the ice had given 

 way ; and, after drifting for some time, he was fortunately driven 

 on shore. Though the expedition conducted by Cook encoun- 

 tered an impassable barrier of ice, uniting Asia with America, 

 preventing all access to the Northern Ocean, through Behring's 

 Straits ; yet the circumstances of this ill managed attempt ren- 

 der the result of less importance. The voyage of Deshnef 

 shews that such is not always the case; for he sailed from the 

 Kovyma ; and, having doubled Skelatskoi Noss, late in October, 

 amidst storms and tempests, was wrecked south of the Anadir in 

 Kamtschatka ; and the whole of the shores of the Arctic Ocean, 

 bounding the north of Europe and Asia, has been explored, ex- 

 cept that portion surrounding Cape Ceverovostochni. 



If it were necessary, the evidence of other circumstances could 

 be adduced, indicating that the ice is broken up. such as the 

 history of the whale, the presence of drift-timber on islands of 

 the Siberian Sea, &c., but what has been already noticed is suf- 

 ficient for the present purpose. 



