306 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



the borders of the ice are destroyed by the sea, or 

 the mildness of the climate under southerly winds, 

 all the losses are made up by the prevalence of the 

 current proceeding to the south-west, which conti- 

 nually brings fresh supplies of ice, and presents a 

 new front to the action of the waves. 



SECT. X. 



Remarks on the closest Appj^oxhnatioiis towards 

 the Poles hitherto accomplished, under different 

 Meridians. 



It has already been remarked, that the 80th or 

 81st degree of north latitude, is generally accessible 

 to the Spitzbergen or Greenland whale-fishers, under 

 the meridian of 6" or 8° E. ; and that on some par- 

 ticular occasions the latitude of 80° or even 81° 

 has been exceeded. None of the navigators, how- 

 ever, who have been sent on this or any other 

 track, with the express object of exploring the Po- 

 lar regions, have been able to reach the parallel of 

 81°. From this circumstance, from the general ex- 

 perience of the whale-fishers, and from an expe- 

 rience of seventeen voyages which I have myself 

 made into the Spitzbergen Sea, I think I may ven- 

 ture to assert, that the navigation of the North Polar 

 Sea is generally terminated by an impervious body of 



