160 APPENDIX. 



wards the zenith, should that position ever obtain, 

 the sun would be the only guide. Or, the posi- 

 tion of the true north being once ascertained, three 

 sledges in a line, at a convenient distance apart, 

 might enable the leading one to keep a direct 

 course. A chronometer would be an indispensable 

 requisite, as the opportunity, for lunar observations 

 could not be expected to occur sufficiently often. 

 Were the Pole gained, the bearing of the sun at 

 the time of noon, by a chronometer adjusted to 

 the meridian of north-west Spitzbergen, would 

 afford a line of direction for the return ; and, the 

 position, in regard to longitude, (were the sun vi- 

 sible) could be corrected, at least twice a-day, as 

 the latitude decreased. The degrees of longitude 

 being so contracted, any required position would 

 be pointed out by the watch with the greatest pre- 

 cision. 



" 3. (a.) Among the dangers to be apprehend- 

 ed, the coldness of the air stands prominent. As, 

 however, the cold is not sensibly different, between 

 the latitudes of 70° and 80° with a strong north 

 wind, it may be presumed that at the Pole itself, 

 it would be very lktle more oppressive than at the 

 borders of the main ice, in the 81st degree of north 

 latitude, under a hard northerly gale : And since 

 this cold is supportable, that of the Pole may be 



