FEARFUL INCIDENT IN THE FROZEN SEAS, 49 



which the sun never sets, and one night of six months, when 

 the sun never rises. At the Arctic Circle the greatest 

 length of continuous light is twenty-four hours, at the sum- 

 mer solstice or Midsummer's day ; while, at the same time, 

 at the Antarctic Circle, the sun is twenty-four hours below 

 the horizon, and the reverse at the opposite seasons of the 

 year. 



The coldness of the Polar regions arises from the fact of 

 the rays of the sun striking the earth obliquely, as, at the 

 equator, the heat is produced by the sun's rays falling upon 

 the earth vertically. In the Arctic Ocean — that part of the 

 universal sea which surrounds the North Pole — lie the most 

 fearful dangers which can beset the seaman on his perilous 

 course, arising from floating ice, the ship being frozen in, the 

 fogs, the blinding snow, the darkness, the storms, and the 

 tides and currents, comparatively unknown, which he has to 

 encounter. 



The following thrilling incident, described in the West- 

 minster Review, is one of the most fearful histories that 

 have been recorded : 



" One serene evening in the middle of August, 1775, Cap- 

 tain Warrens, the master of a Greenland whale-ship, found 

 himself becalmed among an immense number of icebergs, in 

 about 77^ of north latitude. On one side, and within 

 a mile of his vessel, these were of an immense height and 

 closely wedged together, and a succession of snow-covered 

 peaks appeared behind each other as far as the eye could 

 reach, showing that the ocean was completely blocked up in 

 that quarter, and that it had probably been so for a long 

 period of time. He did not feel altogether satisfied with his 

 situation; but, there being no wind, he could not move one 

 way or the other, and he therefore kept a strict watch, know- 

 ing that he would be safe as long as the icebergs continued in 

 their respective places. About midnight the wind rose to 

 a gale, accompanied by thick showers of snow, while. ^ sue- 



