10 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



the bottom. The register thermometer was attached to the line just 

 above the lead, and is supposed to have descended six hundred 

 and fifty fathoms. A well-corked bottle was also fastened to the line, 

 two hundred fathoms above the lead, and went down four hundred 

 and fifty fathoms. The change in temperature, shewn by the register 

 thermometer during the descent, was from 52° to 40. 5'; and it 

 stood at the latter point, when taken out of the tin case. The tem- 

 perature of the water brought up in the bottle was 41°, being half a 

 degree higher at four hundred and fifty than at six hundred and fifty 

 fathoms, and four degrees colder than the water at the surface which 

 was then at 45°, whilst that of the air was 46°. This experiment, in 

 shewing the water to be colder at a great depth than at the surface, 

 and in proportion to the increase of the descent, coincides with the 

 observations of Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry, on their late 

 voyage to these seas, but is contrary to the results obtained by 

 Captain Buchan and myself, on our recent voyage to the north, 

 between Spitzbergen and Greenland, in which sea we invariably 

 found the water brought from any great depth to be warmer than 



that at the surface. 



On the 28th we tacked to avoid an extensive stream of sailing ice. 



The temperature of the water fell to 39-5°, when we were near it, 

 but was at 4 1 °, when at the distance of half a mile. The thermo- 

 meter in the air remained steadily at 40°. Thus the proximity of 

 this ice was not so decidedly indicated by the decrease of the tem- 

 perature of either the air or water, as I have before witnessed, which 

 was probably owing to the recent arrival of the stream at this point, 

 and its passing at too quick a rate for the effectual diffusion of its 

 chilling influence beyond a short distance. Still the decrease in both 

 cases was sufficient to have given timely warning for a ship's per- 

 forming any evolution that would have prevented the coming in 

 contact with it, had the thickness of the weather precluded a distant 

 view of the danger. 



