i>7G REMARKS AND OPINTONS. 



coast which we examined to the north of Beering's 

 Straits, appeared to us to excite the hope of finding 

 a channel, among the entrances and friths which 

 intersect it, w^hich might lead to the Icy Sea, to- 

 wards the mouth of the Mackenzie River, without 

 doubling the Icy Cape, which would then be part 

 of an island.* The already mentioned account of 

 a ship in this sea, leads us even to conjecture that 

 such a channel has been already navigated. 



It now remains for us to discuss the last 

 question. 



Blocks of rock, which are frequently observed 

 on floating ice-bergs of the north, and other in- 

 dications, teach us that these ice-bergs were origin- 

 ally formed next the land, and it has been attempted 

 to prove, by scientific reasoning and experiments, 

 that ice cannot be formed, except in the con- 

 tiguity of land, and that an open deep sea, without 

 land or islands, cannot freeze, but must be found 

 open and navigable at all times. We have to 

 oppose only one fact against this notion, which, in 

 our opinion, has been too little regarded ; it is 

 the state of the sea round the south pole, unless, 

 by a very arbitrary supposition, to whicli nothing 

 entitles us, we should represent tiie southern fields 



* Several journals have published a letter from the author of 

 these articles, (San Francisco, New California, on the 28th of 

 Oct. 1816,) in which this opinion was delivered. An error of 

 the copyist has altered the sense, so as to make it seem as if 

 this eiifrance had really been examined hy us. 



