I-,8 SEA AND LAND 



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crlaciers which attain the sea in that reo^ion, those of the 

 Alaskan shore, are of relatively small size antl only send afloat 

 small masses of ice, and these being imprisoned in deep bays 

 do not often attain the open sea. In the Antarctic region the 

 little-known islands about the South Pole are the nursery of 

 more numerous bergs than are formed within the Arctic 

 Circle. The currents setting from these southern circum- 

 polar lands toward the equator are much less energetic than 

 those which bear the Greenland floods to the open sea, conse- 

 quently the parts of these waters frequented by ships are 

 not so affected by the ice invasions as are the waters lying 

 between North America and Europe. The only point where 

 the south polar bergs come upon a travelled ship-route is on 

 the western side of Cape Horn. In this field these wanderers 

 occasionally penetrate a portion of the way of vessels which 

 have rounded the South xA.merican cape, but they are on the 

 wdiole much less numerous and less dangerous to navigation 

 than those of the North Atlantic. It is a peculiarity of these 

 southern ice masses, that they are much larger than those 

 observed in the North Atlantic field. This is probably due 

 to the greater extent of the glaciers in the region about the 

 South Pole, and to the correlative fact that the process of 

 melting goes on more slowly in that region than in the Arctic 

 district. 



Besides the greater size of the icebergs of the far south 

 as compared with those from the Arctic regions, it may be 

 noted that the tops of the floating masses are often described 

 as being table-like, lacking the pinnacled look which is so 

 generally exhibited by those which come from the Greenland 

 o-laciers. The reason for this is probably to be found in the 

 very great extension of the Antarctic ice-cap. About the 



