GLACIATION OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION. 291 



as yet discovered, there are no large continuous land masses to the north of 

 the 70th parallel, excepting Greenland. All the rest of the land which exists 

 beyond that limit is made up of islands, usually in groups quite closely clus- 

 tered together. How much of the area enclosed between the 7Uth and 80th 

 parallels is land is, as 3'et, entirely unknown. Any expedition successful in 

 reaching a region previously unexplored may hit upon a group of islands, 

 just as did the Austrians under Weyprecht and Payer. All the land thus 

 far known to lie beyond the 80th parallel is included in tlie following state- 

 ment : the extreme northern end of the Spitzbergen group, all of the group 

 known as Franz Josef's Land, and certain areas of unknown extent on each 

 side of the northern passage towards the Pole by way of Smith Sound, of 

 which the land on the east belongs to Greenland, a region not A^et suffi- 

 ciently explored to justify a decision whether it is one coherent mass of 

 land, or whether, to a certain extent, made up — especially in its north- 

 eastern extension — of a group or groups of more or less closely aggregated 

 islands. Nothing is known of the east coast north of the parallel of 77°. 

 Indeed it is not impossible that the lands called by the names of Scoresby 

 and of Kunig Wilhelm, between the parallels of 70° and 76°, may belong to 

 a group of islands having no actual terra firma connection with the explored 

 coast of West Greenland.* 



Nothing whatever is positively known of the character of the region 

 lying north of the 85th parallel. If destitute of land, it cannot be stated 

 with certainty whether the ocean which occupies that area is entirely frozen : 

 that a large portion of it is can hardly be doubted since the experience of 

 the party belonging to the Nares Expedition and in command of Captain 

 Markham. Previous to that, and especially after Dr. Kane's second voyage, 

 and Morton's report of the open w\ater seen by him from the farthest point 

 he was able to reach, there had been among many Arctic geographers a 

 strong belief in the existence of an open Polar Sea. It now seems quite 

 clearly established that this cannot be the case ; and, judging from the char- 

 acter of the frozen surface passed over by Markham's party, it would seem 

 that the chances of ever reaching the Pole over the '• palaeocrystic ice " are 

 exceedingly small. The general opinion is that although there may be 

 areas of open water among the masses of pack ice in that region, they are 

 not likely to be found sufficiently extensive or continuous to afford any 

 possible hope of navigating a vessel by their means to a much higher 



* See faitlier on, jj. 305. 



