336 POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. 



two-thirds from Scotland. If a barrier were to be 

 formed, as by raising slightly the bed of the ocean 

 between the north of Scotland, Faroe Island, Ice- 

 land, and Greenland, the Arctic Ocean would 

 become a lake. Such a barrier indeed already 

 exists in a partial degree ; we see from this chart 

 that there is a zone of comparatively shallow water 

 all the way across from Norway to the Faroe Isles, 

 Iceland and Greenland (see 5OO-fathom depth lines 

 in Fig. 5). There is another opening by Davis 

 Strait, Baffin's Bay, and Smith's Sound, and 

 Captain Markham's expedition went up that 

 narrow neck. If it also were closed the Arctic 

 Ocean would practically become an inland lake. 



Now what about the ice here ? In the first place 

 so far as we know, the North Pole is under water. 

 We know of no land north of Franz Josef Land. 

 The farthest north that has yet been reached was 

 by Captain Markham, who went 28 miles from 

 the shore north of Smith's Sound, and reached 

 the latitude of cS3 20' 26" N. On boring the 

 ice it was discovered to be only 64 inches thick, 

 and they found water 76 fathoms beneath. 



