PROSPECTS CONSIDERED. 115 



therefore, seems to be, that the specimen was 

 reared near where it was found, and that either 

 the zoophyte is capable of enduring a greater de- 

 gree of cold, and has a wider range of habitation, 

 than has hitherto been generally supposed, or else 

 the temperature of the Polar region has under- 

 gone a very considerable change. 



On the 19th the weather cleared up, and we 

 had the mortification to find the ice close in 

 every direction, and that there did not appear 

 the smallest chance of our being able to proceed 

 one mile further to the northward. Captain 

 Buchan, therefore, began seriously to contem- 

 plate the utility of further prosecuting the at- 

 tempt in this direction. The ice had undergone 

 no perceptible change with the advance of the 

 season, and we could not expect to derive any 

 material advantage from a diminution of its thick- 

 ness. As little improvement could we expect 

 from the influence of winds, which had a very 

 trifling effect in separating the ice at this dis- 

 tance from its margin. In the meanwhile seve- 

 ral days' hard labour had proved that unless some 

 material alteration took place the ships could not 

 even maintain their position against the current 

 which was setting to the southward, much less 

 gain any ground in the opposite direction. 



Under these discouraging circumstances, Cap- 



i 2 



