72 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. August 



Wliile waiting for the return of Captain Stephenson 

 a sounding was obtained by the ' Discovery ' in forty- 

 two fathoms, the minimum temperature of the water, 

 between the surface and that depth, being 29°\5. 



This low temperature was afterwards confirmed by 

 a large number of independent observations. 



In Smith Sound, with the exception of a surface 

 film heated during summer, the temperature of the 

 seawater, like that in the Antarctic Ocean, always 

 remains colder than the melting point of freshwater 

 ice. The icebergs floating in a medium of about 29°*5 

 can therefore only decay in those parts exposed to the 

 rays of the sun, and consequently remain table-topped 

 cubes of ice, with the original surface of the parent 

 glacier floating uppermost, until they drift into Baffin's 

 Bay. There, meeting with water at a temperature 

 above 32°, the submerged portions melt rapidly, and 

 the icebergs, by frequently altering their line of flota- 

 tion, as they decay unequally, assume the fantastic 

 shapes so frequently depicted in views of Arctic 

 scenery. It is remarkable that no icebergs were met 

 with in the western waters of Hayes Sound. This 

 indicates that there are no discharging glaciers on its 

 shores. Probably the Prince of Wales Mountains 

 protect them from the moist south-westerly winds. 



