310 SMITH SOUND. 



dred men could not have accomplished the task. My 

 only purpose now was to get to the coast of Grinnell 

 Land with as large a stock of provisions as possible, 

 and to retain the men as long as they could be of 

 use ; but it soon became a question whether the men 

 themselves could carry over their own provisions in- 

 dependent of the surplus which I should require in 

 order that the severe labor should result to advantage. 

 In spite, however, of every thing the men kept stead- 

 fastly to their duty, through sunshine and through 

 storm, through cold, and danger, and fatigue. 



The cause of this extraordinary condition of the 

 ice will need but little explanation in addition to that 

 which has been given in the preceding chapter. The 

 reader will have no difficulty in comprehending the 

 cause by an examination of the Smith Sound map. 

 He will observe that the Sound is, in effect, an exten- 

 sive sea, with an axis running almost east and west, 

 and having a length of about one hundred and sixty 

 miles and a width of eighty. The name "Sound," 

 by which it is known, was first given to it by its dis- 

 coverer, brave old William Baffin, two hundred and 

 fifty odd years ago. The entrance from Cape Alex- 

 ander to Cape Isabella is but thirty miles over, and 

 by referring to the map it will be seen that this gate- 

 way rapidly expands into the sea to which I have in- 

 vited attention, — a sea almost as large as the Caspian 

 or Baltic, measured from the terminus of Baffin Bay 

 to where Kennedy Channel narrows the waters before 

 they expand into the great Polar Basin. This exten- 

 sive sea should bear the name of the leader of the 

 expedition which first defined its boundaries — I 

 mean, of course, Dr. Kane. 



Now into this sea the current sets from the Polar 



