ON ICE PHENOMENA. 87 
Frevp-1ce.—This, which we had ample opportunities of observing on the two voyages 
referred to, appears to be a more important agent in the transport of earthy matter. The 
northern lands of the Dominion are so divided by the sea as to give an immense length 
of coast-line. This is all favourable to the formation of the vast quantities of ice which 
encumber the shores in spring. In many parts where the land is high and steep, quan- 
tities of dust and small pieces of rock are blown out upon the ice by the gales in winter. 
Landslides and avalanches precipitate coarser debris from the steep mountain sides upon 
the ice below. This is the case, especially, in the long fjords in Northern Labrador. In the 
spring, earth, gravel and stones are carried upon it by the torrents formed by the melting 
of the snow. When the sun has loosened this ice sufficiently from the shore, the next 
spring tide carries it away. In shallow bays, with high tides, such as Ungava Bay, the 
ice-pans which float in during the autumn and rest against the low shores, become 
impregnated with the sand and mud, which freeze to the sides at low tide and are incor- 
porated in them as they increase in size during the winter. In the middle of summer, 
the surface having thawed, the whole of this ice becomes “ foxy,” as it is termed, or shows 
discoloration. Many of the pans are completely covered with mud, sand, gravel and 
stones. Shells and sea-weeds may also be observed on some of them, and all have 
received more or less dust, which generally gives them a brownish or grayish color. When 
a pan is suddenly overturned, this gives rise to a dense cloud in the clear sea water. 
Field-ice would therefore appear to be a more important agent in transporting earthy 
matter than icebergs. It has been imagined by some that the smoothing and rounding 
of the rocks, which may often be observed on the shores of the Arctic and sub-Arctic 
regions, is largely due to a chafing action of ice of this class. There seems to be little 
ground, however, for this assumption. When the field-ice packs against the shore, it is 
seldom tossed by the waves of the sea, which are entirely broken down by a compar- 
atively narrow field ; so much so, that the sealing vessels are accustomed to run into such 
ice for shelter, and after they have penetrated a short distance, they are considered safe. 
Ice of this kind does not shove or pile itself on shore, pushing up the boulders and gravel 
in front of it, like the ice of our rivers when they break up in the spring. On the 
contrary, it always appears to lie quietly and easily against the shore. This is probably 
owing to the fact that the open spaces between the pans allow of a great amount of 
compression and adjustment, thus relieving the pressure, which is seldom directly towards 
the land. Indeed, it sometimes happens that the ice will unaccountably leave the shore 
against the wind. 
Dr. Franz Boas of Berlin has observed that in Baffin Land the accumulation of ice in 
narrow channels, through which the tide sweeps, increases the strength of the current, 
which sometimes runs with great velocity. In one place, under such circumstances, he 
observed that stones, boulders and finer debris were set in motion and bored out what he 
calls “giant-kettles ” in solid granite. Similar kettles were seen at this locality, high 
above the present sea-level, shewing that the same action had been going on in past ages. 
This observation recalled to the writer the fact that, more than twenty years ago, he noticed 
great pot-holes on the top of the high limestone cliffs on the east side of the isthmus 
separating Manitowaning Bay from South Bay on Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron. The 
surface of the rock in the vicinity is destitute of soil, but the earth which had accumulated 
in the bottoms of these pot-holes, supported trees, and these, growing out of the deep pits, 
presented a very curious appearance. 
