ARCTIC REGIONS AERIAL EXPLORATIONS. 177 



speed; in fourteen or fifteen hours at the average rate made 

 by the Nassau balloon in a " moderate breeze." Now look 

 again at the map and see what surrounds them. Simply 

 the continents of Europe, Asia, and America, by which the 

 circumpolar area is nearly land-locked, with only two outlets, 

 that between Norway and Greenland on one side, and the 

 narrow channel of Behring's Straits on the other. The 

 wider of these is broken by Spitzbergen and Iceland, both 

 inhabited islands, where a balloon may descend and the 

 aeronauts be hospitably received. Taking the 360 degrees 

 of the zone between the 70th parallel of latitude and the 

 Arctic circle, 320 are land-locked and only 40 open to the 

 sea; therefore the chances of coming upon land at any one 

 part of this zone is as 320 to 40; but with a choice of points 

 for descent such as the aeronauts would have unless the 

 wind blew precisely down the axis of the opening, the 

 chances would be far greater. If the wind continued as at 

 starting, they would be blown to Finland; a westerly deflec- 

 tion would land them in Siberia, easterly in Norway; a 

 strong E. wind at the later stage of the trip would blow 

 them back to Greenland. 



In all the above I have supposed the aeronauts to be 

 quite helpless, merely drifting at random with that portion 

 of the atmosphere in which they happened to be immersed. 

 This, however, need not be the case. Within certain limits 

 they have a choice of winds, owing to the prevalence of 

 upper and lower currents blowing in different and even in 

 opposite directions. Suppose, for example, they find them- 

 selves N. of Spitzbergen,where " Parry's furthest" is marked 

 on some of our maps, and that the wind is from the N.E.> 

 blowing them towards the Atlantic opening. They would 

 then ascend or descend in search of a due N. or N. by W. 

 wind that would blow them to Norway, or W.N.W. to 

 Finland, or N.W. to Siberia, or due E. back to Greenland, 

 from whence they might rejoin their ships. One or other 

 of these would almost certainly be found. A little may be 

 done in steering a balloon, but so very little that small 

 reliance should be placed upon it. Only in a very light 

 wind would it have a sensible effect, though in case of a 

 "near shave" between landing, say at the Lofodens or 



