NATIVES OF EASTERNMOST SIBERIA 75 



surface water of the ocean, increased in thickness by 

 pressure which piles cake upon floe, but on the other 

 hand decreased by melting and evaporation so that, hav- 

 ing once attained a normal thickness, it does not vary 

 greatly from year to year. From the southern edge of 

 the polar pack in all directions from the Pole are broken 

 off countless fragments, a few feet to several miles in 

 area, and these are in almost constant motion, now 

 janmiing together to form an impenetrable mass, now 

 drifting apart before the wind, and scattering over a vast 

 area of water. A strong breeze would send this drift-ice, 

 as it is called, at the rate of two miles per hour, or nearly 

 fifty miles in a day. A characteristic feature of its move- 

 ment is that the smallest pieces drift most quickly before 

 the wind, while the other masses follow them with a speed 

 varying according to their smallness, the largest floes 

 going the most slowly. Thicker ice travels less quickly 

 than thin floes because it reaches farther down into the 

 water, and consequently is less affected by the wind. 

 As the ice thus floats before a breeze it opens up thou- 

 sands of passages or leads through which vessels are 

 successfully navigated. 



In going through the ice captains are careful not to 

 let the vessel get pinched between floes which come 

 together, for the ice meets ice with a resistless momentum 

 which would crush the stoutest-sided vessel. That the 

 dangers of travel in the Arctic ice are considerable is 

 illustrated by the fact that very few vessels can get 

 adequate insurance against the risk, and if they do, only 

 at a high premium. Three ships were crushed in the 

 Arctic ice near the coast of Alaska during and after the 

 time when we were in the frozen ocean. 



Captain Hooper, of the Revenue Cutter "Corwin," 



