124 DR. SIMPSON'S REMARKS. 



be looked to for the numerous multitude of water-worn stems and 

 roots strewed almost everywhere along the beach. Their southern 

 origin would also seem to be indicated by the presence in many 

 of them of the remains of the Teredo navalis, which could hardly 

 retain life throughout the rigour of eight or nine months' frost every 

 year." It would seem that between St. Lawrence Island and the 

 coast of Asia the current is variable, and seldom entirely free 

 from ice until late in July ; hence the many disasters to whalers 

 in 1851, and the difficulties the Dcedalus and Enterprise encountered 

 the same season by taking the westward passage, whilst an open 

 boat from the Plover was able, between the 17th of June and the 

 1st of July, to make the run to Michaelowski in Norton Bay and 

 back without her crew seeing any ice." 



" The Ampliitrite in 1852 was able to reach Port Clarence on the 

 30 th June by the eastern passage without seeing but one floe, 

 which had probably been recentty released from some of the nooks 

 in Norton Bay : although late in the same month the master of a 

 whaling ship reported that the ice was still fast as low as lat. 

 58° and 60° between the longitude of Gore's Island and the coast of 

 Kamschatka." 



" To the northward of Cape Prince of Wales the warm water is 

 always found on the American coast. From frequent observations 

 the temperature of the water near East Cape was found to be 35°, 

 while that near Cape Prince of Wales was 53°. The cold current 

 sets south along the coast of Asia." 



" From recorded observations it appears that the coast from Icy 

 Cape to Point Barrow is frequently packed with ice in the end of 

 July and the beginning of August. The cause of this seems to 

 be the occasional prevalence of westerly and north-westerly wiuds, 

 which drive the pack upon the coast, again to be cleared away by 

 the north-east current along shore as soon as these winds have 

 spent their force : and southerly and south-east winds will have 

 the ojoposite effect of driving it in a more northerly direction, and 

 leave the navigation more open than usual. At Icy Cape the 

 current on Captain Beechy's chart is marked running both ways 

 along shore, but not, it is presumed, with the regularity of a regular 

 tidal ebb and flow. During the continuance of an easterly gale 

 from the 29th of July to the 5th of August, and a fresh breeze 

 following for two days at that cape, floating substances were 

 observed to drift slowly to leeward, whilst the waves were short, 

 irregular, and much more broken than usual, to a distance of 12 

 miles off, as if caused by a weather-current. This may, however, 

 be partly owing to the shoals extending 4 miles off the land. On 



