PINE DRIFT-WOOD. 93 



without falling to pieces — in fact, perfectly honey- 

 combed. This had unmistakably come from the 

 West Indies by the Gulf Stream ; and if all the 

 drift-wood in Spitzbergen consisted of mahogany 

 also, I should imagine no doubt could exist as to 

 its derivation ; but consisting, as it does, entirely 

 of pine (with the sole exception of some few pieces 

 of oak, etc., which have formed parts of wrecked 

 vessels), I think it is equally clear that it has come 

 from the continent of Siberia. This is the expla- 

 nation which all the frequenters of Spitzbergen give 

 of its history, and I think, upon reflection, that it is 

 the most feasible one. 



I presume that the spring floods in such mighty 

 rivers as the Obi, the Yenisei, and the Lena, for a 

 great part of their course draining a pine-clad coun- 

 try, must carry down enormous quantities of drift- 

 wood, partly loose and partly imbedded in ice, and 

 that this is carried out to sea until it gets within 

 the influence of the polar current, or of some storm, 

 which drives it on the coasts of Spitzbergen. It 

 has been suggested to me that this wood might pos- 

 sibly be in situ, i. e., might have composed part of 

 great forests at one time growing in Spitzbergen it- 

 self; but, although I do not at all wish to give any 

 opinion upon the very doubtful and debatable sub- 

 ject of whether or not there once existed a milder 

 climate* in the arctic regions, still I think there are 

 strong reasons for believing that this wood is not 

 in situ, because, 



