CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 



THE OCEAN— ITS LAWS AND ELEMENTS. 



Pagb 



Vastness and sublimity of creation — The sea a laboratory — The many 

 wonderful objects it contains — The ocean essential to the exist 

 ence of man and vegetation — If the existing waters were increased 

 only one-fourth — There is perhaps nothing more beautiful — What 

 is water? — The saltness of the ocean — Why was the sea made 

 salt? — Currents — The Gulf Stream — Its influence on climate — 

 Utilizing currents to carry messages — Brig towed by the under- 

 current — Recent invention — Gulf Stream the great " weather 

 breeder" of the North Atlantic — Its influence on commerce — 

 Tides — Wind waves — The crossing of waves — Variety of color — 

 Milky sea — Luminosity of the sea — Divisions of the ocean — Atlan- 

 tic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic — Extreme breadth of 

 Atlantic — Its relation to civilized countries — Mediterranean Sea — 

 The central ocean of the ancients — Pacific discovered by Balboa — 

 Indian Ocean , 23— 4S 



CHAPTER II. 



THE FROZEN OCEAN. 



Instances of extreme cold in the Arctic regions — Human endurance 

 of cold — McClure and Parry — Dr. Kane — Esquimaux — Arctic voy- 

 agers — Ice dwellings — Attempts to discover a shorter passage to 

 India across the Northern seas — Sir John Franklin — His sad 

 end — Relics of the expedition discovered — Discovery of the 

 Northwest passage — Release from a perilous position — The Arctic 

 and Antarctic circles — The reason of the cold in the polar re- 

 gions — Dangers from floating ice — Fearful incident in the frozen 

 seas- -Frozen to death — Expedition of Capt. Francis Hall — His 

 search for Franklin — His appeal to Congress — The "Polaris" 



