CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 67 



beach and a solitary goldeu plover [Gharadrius /ulcus), complete the short list of land birds seen. 

 At a number of places on the hillsides we found the droppings of wild geese so numerous that it 

 was evident this place must have been a common resort for flocks of these birds earlier in the 

 season. Their absence at the time of our landing is easily accounted for by the fact this was the 

 time when the geese shed their large wing feathers and lose the power of flight. As this season 

 comes on they congregate in large flocks in low marshy land and remain until their new growth of 

 feathers enables them to spread over the country again a month or six weeks later. 



Saddle-backs and hair-seals were rather common among the ice, and in addition there was a 

 small species of hair seal unknown upon the American coast and perhaps new to science. Walrus 

 were not rare on the outer edge of the pack, and their foe, the polar bear, was seen almost every 

 time we entered the ice ; on several occasions it was seen swimming in the water several miles from 

 the pack. Upon the hilltops on shore were found numerous burrows of some animal, probably 

 white fox (Ciai is lagopus), as some tracks of that animal were found mingled with those of the 

 polar bear in the mud along the banks of the river. Stranded on the sand-bar at the mouth of 

 the river lay the skeleton of a whale (Balcena mysticetus). which closes the list of mammals observed. 



Numerous small fish, from two to lour inches long, and having large heads, were brought to the 

 surface by rolling masses of ice as it was turned over by contact with the vessel in her passage 

 through it. These are called by the whalers ice-fish. No specimens were obtained, unfortunately. 



The following plants we collected: Grasses, three varieties; dwarf willow, phlox, saxifrage, 

 sibbaldea, draba, potentilla, anemone, papaver, veronica, artemisia, carex, stellaria, three; mosses, 

 three ; lichens, five ; and four composite. In many places where the snow remained in the ravines 

 and in banks against the steep cliffs, it presents the peculiar reddish color caused by the presence 

 of Protococcus nivalis, commonly called red snow. This is a minute plant with which the surface 

 of the snow is often covered in high latitudes. It was seen and its appearance described by Sir 

 John Ross in 1818, and by Sir Edward Parry in 1827, but its true character was not understood 

 until many years later, when it became known as a vegetable growth. 



Upon taking possession of this land in the name of the United States, the name New Colum- 

 bia was provisionally given to it. The provision being the approval and concurrence of that 

 portion of the Government having the authority to issue charts, &c, the decision of that body 

 was adverse to my suggestion, and by its action I cheerfully abide not only on account of its 

 undoubted right to decide according to its own judgment in this and all other matters over which 

 it has jurisdiction, but because the size of the island, as now known, does not justify the bestowal 

 ofauameof this character, the name of one of theearly Arctic navigators being much more appro- 

 priate. At the time I suggested the change of name I believed the land to be an island and had 

 so reported it to the Department, but I supposed it to be considerably larger than it has proved. 

 In the report of my first cruise in the Corwiu, submitted November 1, 1881, page 50, I say, in refer- 

 ence to this land : 



The part of Wrange] Land which we saw covered an arc of the horizon of about fifty degrees from northwest 

 quarter north to west quarter south (true), and was distant from 25 miles on the former bearing to 35 or 40 on the 

 Jailer. On the south were three mountains, probably 3,000 feet high, entirely covered with snow, the central one 

 presenting a conical appearance and the others showing slightly rounded tops. Northward of these mountains was a 

 chain of rounded hills, those near the sea being lower and nearly free from snow, while the back hills, which probably 

 reach an elevation of 2,000 feet, were quite white; to the north of the northern bearing given the land ends entirely 

 or becomes very low. The atmosphere was very clear, and we could easily have seen any land above the horizon 

 within a distance of 00 or 70 miles, but none except that described could be seen from the mast-head. 



Again, on page 32, I say: 



I am of the opinion that Wraogel Laud is a large island, probably one of a chain that passes entirely through the 

 polar regions to Greenland ; that there is other land to the north there can be no doubt * * large numbers of 



geese and other aquatic birds pass Point Harrow going north in the spring, and returning in August and September 

 with their young. As it is well known that these birds breed only on land, this fact must bo regarded as proof of the 

 existence of land in the north. Another reason for supposing that there is either a continent or a chain of islands 

 passing through the polar regions is the fact that, notwithstanding the vast amount of heat diffused by the warm cur- 

 rent ptissing through Bering Straits, the icy barrier is from six to eight degrees fart her south on this side than on the 

 Greenland side of the Arctic Ocean, where the temperature is much lower. 



