394 THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 



sliai'p edges of the inmiinerable masses of ice as they were driven 

 dowu stream by tiie irresistible pressure from behind produced a shrill 

 rustling sound that could be heard a mile from the river. 



The alternate marching of this immense quantity ofice up and down 

 the Knreika was a most curious i)henomenou. To see a strong current 

 up stream for many hours is so contrary to all previous experience of 

 the behavior of rubers that one can n(>t help feeling continuous aston- 

 ishment at the novel sight. The nionotony which nnght otherwise have 

 intervened in a ten days' march i)ast of ice Mas continually broken by 

 complete changes in the scene. Sometimes tiie current was upstream, 

 sometimes it was down, and occasionally there was no ciirrent at all. 

 Frequently the pack ice and ice Hoes were so closely jammed together 

 that there was no apparent difficulty in scrambling across them, and 

 occasionally the river was free from ice for a short time. At other 

 times the river was thinly sprinkled over with ice blocks and little ice- 

 bergs, Avliich occasionally "calved" as they travelled on, with much 

 commotion and splashing. The ])henomenon technically called "calv- 

 ing" is curious, and sometimes quite startling. It takes place when a 

 number of scattered ice blocks are quietly- floating down stream. All 

 atJonce a loud splash is heard as a huge lump of ice rises out of the 

 w^ater, evidently from a considerable depth, like a young whale coming 

 up to breathe, noisily beats back the waves that the sudden upheavel 

 has caused, and rocks to and fro for some time before it finally settles 

 down to its floating level. There can be little doubt tliat what looks 

 like a comparatively small ice block Hoating innocentl}' along is really 

 the top of a formidable iceberg, the greater part of which is a sub 

 merged mass of layers of ice piled one on the top of the other, and in 

 many places very imperfectly fro/en together. By some accident, per- 

 haps by grounding on a hidden sandbank, perhaps by the water get- 

 ting between the layers and thawing the few places where they are 

 frozen together, the bottom layer becomes detached, escapes to the 

 surface, and loudly asserts its commencement of an independent exist- 

 ence with the commotion in the water which generally proclaims tlie 

 fact that an iceberg has calved. 



Finally comes the last march past of the beaten forces of winter, the 

 ragtag and bobtail of the great Arctic army that comes straggling down 

 the river when the <-ainpaign is all over — worn and weather-beaten lit- 

 tle i<;ebergs, dirty ice floes that look like floating sandbanks, and strag- 

 gling pack ice in the last stages of consumption that looks strangely 

 out of place under a burning sun between banks gay with the gayest 

 flowers, amidst the buzz of moscpiitoes, th(^ music of song birds, ami 

 the harsh cry of gulls, divers, ducks, and sandpipers of various species. 



I have been thus diffuse in describing these scenes, in the first place, 

 because they are very grand; in the second place, because they ha\'e 

 so important a bearing ui)on climate, one of the great factors which 

 determine the geographical distribution of animals and plants; and in 

 the third place, because they have never been sufficiently emphasized. 



