TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 



8oy 



ij Commaudti' 



liiifr till.' Briib'o 

 ty f\ir .stvengta- 

 [loi'tions of the 

 ' and eiitt'vpri?,. 

 nity to iiifusi- a 

 . to lake jmrt i: 

 lopKilius, ;:iu. t- 

 ,iul noii-ol!ici:il 

 L'll uviulalilc I'l! 

 sint'.s.t men witb 

 y on !ill iiiatier- 

 :li the oliji'L'tsii: 

 ) liavt' friveii tli' 

 loiilii IjL' Iiict i: 

 •tinjr a ne(e>N*v 

 v nciu'liljours, iu 

 ducts. 



I. Ray, V.fi.A. 



ilos to tlie 8out!i 

 I lie struck th- 

 until 111' camei:i 

 of till- result.* c; 

 at there wasi!'' 

 ■r is imvaryiut: 

 1 cuuM not Well 



IL" pole. 



tl 



ndl Lajhl. 



n covers neail^ 

 St art ill;; fn'in 

 I.May ^^l^^::. 

 40'. ' J'rom th'' 

 n (Jreelv Fi r<J, 

 e 7S l'(V. The 

 if a new ce;i-i- 

 l)y JJi'iUeiiaut 

 ty miles north- 

 •tiuii than it ha- 

 ul coast wasesti- 

 ieat ions that th' 

 ewly-disiMvend 

 n iniiinlaiKl wa« 

 le intniorof tl>' 

 ■conl'iised niasH's 



(if mountains eitlier eternally snow-clad, or covered with an ice-rap. The fiords 

 iirenented to the eye nothing but broad, level expanses of snow and ice, bein^» 

 Jfvoiil of any marked ice-foot, floe-berprs, jiressed-np hiiinmockp. or any other indi- 

 cations tending'' to prove their direct connection with the Spitzher<ren Hea. In 

 vnernl the immediate coast was liip-h, ni^rired, and ])recipitoiis. The formation was 

 very like that around Discovery Harbour, schistose sinte with a sprinkling ot" 

 fi'iartz. Vegetation resembled closely that of (Jrinnell Land; among .specimen.^. 

 hiniight hack, the Arctic J'Ojtpy and several saxifrages were identified. Anove th.^ 

 ti^'htv-third parallel traces of the polar bear, the lemming, and the Arctic fox were 

 i.ecii,'and a hare and a ])tarmigan killed. At the farthest north a snow bunting was 

 i.iard. A remarkable fact noted was the existence of a tidal crack — so called for 

 hu'kof better name — wliicli extended fromCJaju' liryant along the entire coa.st, run- 

 ning across the various fiords in a direct line, irora headland to heailland, and varying 

 from one yard to several hundred yards in width. Inside the crack the rough an(> 

 huniiiiocKy ice was but rarely seen, while outside prevailed the paleocry.stic ics 

 iver wliicii Commander Markham struggled so manfully and successfully in hi.* 

 wonderful journey of 1 87(5. Midway bet ween ( 'apes May and 1 'ritannia a sounding 

 was made, but no bottom found at 1,^00 feet: apjiarently no current existed. It 

 maybe well to state that the latitude of the farthest ninth — Lockwood Island — 

 was determined by a set of circum-meridian and sub-polar observations, which 

 wire reduced by (iauss's method. The latitude of Cape Britannia and several 

 diher points was determined by circum-mt>ridian observations. It atl'ords the author 

 ih'astire to testify to the accuracy of I^ieutenant ISeanmont's maps. The only 

 I irrection made places Cape IJritannia a few miles smith and < 'ape May n few mile;* 

 west of their assigned positions. 'J'hese jioints were located by Lieutenant Beau- 

 mont from bi'arings, and his com]iarati\e exactness was remarkable considering thv? 

 dijail vantages iindi-r wliich he lab jund. 



Tiie author then continues liic aecoiiut of his exjdoration as follows: — 

 'The journeys mule by Lieutenant L(K'kwood and myself across Urinnell Land, 

 and into its interior, revealed striking atid jieculiar physical conditions which have 

 Wn hitherto unsuspected. Between the heixds of Archer and (Ireely liords, a 

 ilistaiice of some seventy miles, stretches the perpendicular front of an immense 

 ice-cap, which follows closely from east to west the eiglity-first parallel. Ittj 

 iiverage height was not le.ss than 150 feet. The undulations of tiic surface of the 

 ice conformed closely to the contiguration of the country, so that the variations in 

 the thickness of the ice-caj) were inconsiderable. In about sixty miles but two 

 places were found where slo]ie and face were so motlitied as to render an ascent ot 

 t!:e ice possible. This ice-ca]) extending southward, covers (irinnell Land almost 

 entirely from the einhty-lir-t parallel to Hayes SouikI, and from Kennedy Channel 

 Westward to (treely l-'iord ami the ]iolar ocean, 'ilie glacier discharging intu 

 Dubbia Bay is but an oiisliddt of this ice-cap, and wiMioiit doubt glaciers are to be 

 liund at the head of every considerable valley debouching into Hiciiardson.Scoresby, 

 I'rother hays. .SeveralViilleys which were visited during the retreat soiithwanl 

 ili>played at their entrances evident --igiis of such occupancy in the past. In .Inly 

 1 was fortunate enough to asc^'ud Mount Arthur, the summit of which is .},5(H) 

 Ifet above the sea. The day was very clear. To the northward of the (iarlitdd 

 l!anjre a similar ice-cap apjieared to view, frtmi which extinsive glaciers were pro- 

 jected through every ir.nuntain gap. One of the>e, the Henrietta Nasmitli glacier, 

 had been visited by me the ]ii-ecedinir April, and was t'oinid to have a perpendicuhir 

 laceof alioiit iHMH'eet: it di.M hargecl into a.'^mal! bay. .\ ]iart M' Lak' Hazelgiiimanj. 

 Abbe, and other glaciers iced >treains which em])ty into that lake. Similarly,, 

 ^'laciers were fouiui at the head id' rivers discharging into Saint Patrick, Liiicoln,and 

 iiasilXorris I'.ays, and Itivcovery Harbour. From th(>se indications I estimate the 

 ii'irthein ice-ciip of (irinnell Land as not far from (!,0OU miles in area. Its 

 ^'■iitbern limit closely coincides with the eighty-second jiarallel. Tlie country 

 '"'tween the eighty-tirst and eighty-second parallels, extending from Kennedy iind 

 llebesont^hannels'^to the western polar ocean, was found in .Inly tobe entirely firo 

 Inmi snow, exceiit on the very bacubone. In over loO miles' travel itto the interior 

 uiy fodt never touched snow. 





