440 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



look for another explanation of this phenomenon. That the ice is more 

 than a few years old is beyond a doubt, but it must yet remain an open 

 question how it is formed and from whence it comes. 



It may be safely stated as a peculiarity of Beaufort Sea that this ice is 

 found in larger amounts there than in any other known waters of the Arctic, 

 but Nansen has seen it on his way across the Polar pack to the north of 

 ?>anz Joseph Land. However, that it is not common is undoubted, as 

 Captain Cagni never saw any of it, or at least has not described it. 



The dimensions of it have probably been somewhat exaggerated by 

 former explorers, for instance by Captain McClure, who claims to have seen 

 hills on the ice a hundred feet high ; we at least never saw any such heights. 

 About thirty feet is the greatest height we have observed. 



It seems incredible that this ice should have been formed in an open sea, 

 where the ice is constantly renewed, in the course of a few years ; but against 

 the theory of land to the north of Alaska, a land extensive enough to cause this 

 ice to remain in almost one position year after year, stands the irrefutable 

 evidence of the narrow Continental Shelf. 



