46 



NATURE 



{Nov, 9, i87( 



times completely stopped, until with all hands running 

 from side to side on the upper deck and rolling the ship, 

 she cleared herself and obtained headway again. At the 

 head of AUman Bay we found a long valley leading down 

 from the lofty hills far back in the interior filled with a 

 gigantic glacier, probably extending eastward nearly to 

 Dobbin Bay. It was named after Mr. Evans, the Pre- 

 sident of the Geological Society. In the Bay the 

 temperature of the surface water was 32°, whereas since 

 the frost had set in we had not met with any above 30, 

 On testing it was found to be nearly fresh, which fully 

 accounted for the increased thickness of the newly formed 

 ice. We afterwards found the same phenomenon in the 

 neighbourhood of each glacier stream that we passed, 

 proving that the water under the glaciers being cut off from 

 the increasing cold remains unfrozen, and running after the 

 temperature of the air is considerably below freezing point. 

 The ice prevented our further movement until Septem- 

 ber 6. Early on the 7th, after one halt to allow the ice to 

 open, we reached Norman Lockyer Island, with water 

 channels for a third of the way across Princess Marie 

 Bay. The season was now getting so late that one false 

 step would probably entail our passing another winter in 

 these seas without any adequate result being derived ; 

 therefore before attempting to cross the bay I walked to 

 the summit of the island with Capt. Stephenson, and from 

 there we had the cheering prospect of seeing a large 

 space of open water some twenty miles distant from us 

 which we knew would extend to the entrance of Smith's 

 Sound, with only a few troublesome-looking nips between 

 us and it. Making a signal to the ships we hurried on 

 board, and with the exception of one nip which cost us an 

 hour to clear away with all hands on the ice, and the 

 Discovery charging -at it repeatedly with full steam, we 

 succeeded in getting two-thirds of the distance across the 

 Bay ; but there we were stopped by three extensive Paleo- 

 crystic floes which tozzled in between some grounded 

 bergs, and Cape Victoria prevented the ice from drifting 

 out of Princess Marie Bay. The open water was now in 

 sight from the mast-head, but the supply of coal was 

 getting so low that if we did not succeed in releasing the 

 ships the allowance for the second winter would have 

 to be much reduced. On the 9th, as the ice moved at the 

 change of tides, we advanced about a mile. On the 

 morning of the loth, observing that the heavy ice was 

 likely to pass clear of the icebergs which imprisoned it, 

 steam was got up ready, and five minutes after the channel 

 was opened we passed through and found ourselves clear 

 of Cape Victoria. 



After this there was only one serious obstacle to our 

 advance. Owing to the very calm weather the new ice 

 had now frozen so strong that full steam was always 

 necessary, particularly so wherever we had to force our 

 way through ice where scattered pieces of old ice had been 

 re-frozen closely together. At our last barrier of this 

 kind, after the Alert had repeatedly charged the nip with 

 full steam and considerable speed on, with no result, the 

 Discovery ranged up alongside, and there being a narrow 

 piece of heavy ice which would prevent the two ships 

 actually touching, we made a charge together, and suc- 

 ceeded in forcing the bairier and gaining the open water 

 beyond. From here the water channel permitted me to 

 make a clear run for Cape Sabine, the ice opening as we 

 advanced until none was in sight from the mast-head. 

 On passing the entrance of Hayes Sound a considerable 

 quantity of ice was observed some distance inside it. 



In comparing the voyage of the Polaris and that of the 

 Alert and Discovery, I believe that a vessel might have 

 passed up the channel with equal fortune as the Polaris 

 without encountering ice during the south-west gale we 

 experienced in the middle of September, 1875. The heavy 

 sea which on that occasion was produced in Robeson 

 Channel indicated that there was a considerable stretch 

 of clear water to the southward. The difficulty would be 



the choice of a starting point so late in the season aftei 

 the frost has set in. If carefully navigated, a vessel, al 

 though kept ready to make a start, ought by that time tc 

 be secured in a sheltered position fit for winter quarters 

 and, therefore, would most probably be unable to reach th( 

 channel of open water when it formed. If incautious, sh( 

 would be as helpless in the pack. The best starting point; 

 are Port Foulke and Port Payer, at the entrance of Smith'; 

 Sound. The Polaris quick passage north was entirel) 

 due to her leaving the entrance of Smith Sound at ar 

 opportune moment late in the season ; had she left at any 

 other time she would have experienced the same trouble 

 in getting north in 1871 as in returning south the follow- 

 ing year. There was as much in the channel in 1871 as 

 in 1872 — 75 — 76. To the latitude of Polaris or Discovery 

 Bay, if no accident happens to the ship, the passage may 

 probably be made with perseverance most years by start- 

 ing early in the season, but it will at all times be a most 

 dangerous one. 



In Robeson Channel the difficulties are greatly in- 

 creased, and the passage may be said to depend as much 

 on a fortunate combination of circumstances as on skilful 

 navigation. The present expedition was 25 days in going 

 and returning between Cape Sabine and Discovery Bay, 

 the distance being 250 miles ; 7 days in proceeding from 

 Discovery Bay to the Arctic Sea, and 12 days in return- 

 ing, the distance being 76 miles. 



Sail was only used once on the passage north, the 

 distance run being 20 miles, it was never used during the 

 passage south. It is, therefore, totally out of the question 

 a saihng vessel ever making the voyage ; nevertheless, as 

 full steam was only necessary on two occasions, a power- 

 ful steamer is not necessary. When the ice is decidedly 

 closing no power at present available is of the slightest 

 use ; when it is opening, easy speed generally carries the 

 ship along as fast as the ice clears away in advance of 

 her ; it is rarely that a quick dash forward is necessary. 



In a very exceptional season a ship might be carried 

 nearer towards Cape Joseph Henry than Floeberg Beach 

 on the west shore, and probably into Newman Bay on 

 the east shore of the entrance to Robeson Channel ; but 

 from the experiences we have gained I most confidently 

 report that no vessel will ever round the promontory of 

 Cape Joseph Henry, or pass beyond Cape Brevoort in 

 navigable water. 



Every observation indicates that the last few years 

 have been mild at the settlements on the west coast of 

 Greenland, and open seasons with regard to the ice in 

 Baffin's Bay ; little or none having been met with north 

 of Cape York in July and August. The settlement at the 

 Whale Fish Islands has been temporarily withdrawn, 

 owing to the thin state of the ice rendering the fishing 

 dangerous ; and the temperature of the water as we pro- 

 ceeded south, through Baffin's Bay, was so high that 

 navigation could scarcely be interrupted off Disco before 

 the end of the year ; indeed, the Inspector intended to be 

 absent in an open boat in the month of November. With 

 a maximum body of water the ice formed on it in one 

 winter will be considerably lighter or thinner than it 

 would be, had a quantity of ice been left floating about 

 on its surface ready to be re-frozen thicker, and cemented 

 with the new ice into one floe during the coming winter. 

 Thus, one open season certainly leads to another ; and 

 unless fortuitous circumstances occur, such as continuous 

 south-west gales, during the summer months, the season 

 of 1877 must be a very open one in Baffin's Bay. North 

 of Smith's Sound the season is probably entirely different 

 to that of Baffin's Bay, for the same northerly winds that 

 carry the ice to the southward towards Davis Straits, 

 must fill up Smith's Sound with heavy Polar ice and pro- 

 duce a cold season. Southerly winds which keep the ice 

 north in the Bay would as certainly clear out the channels 

 to the northward, empty the ice into the Polar Sea, and 

 produce a milder season than usual. 



