NOTES ON A SUMMER TOUR IN NORWAY. 89 
had obscured the sun to within a few minutes of midnight 
fortunately cleared away, and we had a fine view of the sun. 
Notwithstanding the bare desolation of all around, it is some- 
what difficult to realize at the North Cape that one is within 
400 to 500 miles of the everlasting ice of the Polar regions, and 
within 1,200 miles of the North Pole itself. Thanks to the 
strong north-eastward set of the Equatorial current of the Gulf 
Stream, the Norwegian seas are kept clear of ice even during the 
severest winters. Whilst this superficial current is freely admitted 
right into the land by the deeply-indented fjords, the deeper 
Arctic current of ice cold water never reaches the shores of 
Norway, owing to the existence of submarine ridges off the coast. 
Were it not for this, it is probable that the northern portions of 
Norway would be as inaccessible as Greenland is at the present 
day. 
