NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 145 



tended tracts of ice in the northern seas, in addi- 

 tion to its being carried away by the force of 

 currents towards the south, is attributed by many 

 to its sinking. How ice should sink, when its 

 specific gravity is lighter than water, is a ques- 

 tion for the speculative to discuss — unless there 

 be some other preponderating element mingled 

 with it, such as fragments of rock, sand, or 

 gravel. 



Whalemen have frequently affirmed that they 

 have not only been surrounded by fields or large 

 tracts of ice at night, but in the morning it had 

 wholly disappeared from the surface of the wa- 

 ter. Therefore many have arrived at the conclu- 

 sion, that in certain states of the ice, in the pro- 

 cess of breaking up and thawing, it actually sinks 

 below the surface of the water, if not to the 

 bottom. 



There was another phenomenon which we ob- 

 served. During the coldest season of the year, 

 and in certain states of the atmosphere, the air 

 deposits its moisture in the form of frozen fog. 

 It has the appearance of a fine gossamer netting 

 or icicles, and these are dispersed through the 

 atmosphere, and so extremely minute that they 

 seem to pierce and excoriate the skin ; and, es- 

 pecially when the wind blew, it was impossible 

 to face this storm of icy vapor. We have seen 

 10 



