ICE IN THE ABCTIC CUEEENT. 443 



out as their birth-place. As already stated (424, 427 — 433), these masses 

 of Ice are brought from their Arctic home partly by means of the East 

 Greenland Current, but mainly by the current passing through Davis 

 Strait from BafiBn's Bay. Investigation has also shown that by far the 

 larger number have their origin on the Western coast of Greenland, as 

 described hereafter. 



Captain (afterwards Dr.) Scoresby, whose opinion is invaluable, ob- 

 served " that, however dependent the Ice may have been on land, from 

 the time of its first appearance to its gaining an ascendency over the waves 

 of the Ocean, sufficient to resist their utmost ravages, and to arrest the 

 progress of maritime discovery at a distance of, perhaps, from 600 to 1,000 

 miles from the Pole, it is now evident that the proximity of land is not 

 essential, either for its existence, its formation, or its increase." 



Dr. Scoresby's acquaintance with Icebergs in progress of formation was 

 confined to Spitzbergen and portions of Greenland, where they do not 

 form so marked a feature as in some other parts. It is to Dr. Eink, a 

 resident in Greenland, that we are indebted for a very complete accoimt 

 of these marvellous phenomena, and in making a few extracts from his 

 work,* we may draw attention to the parallel condition of the South Pole 

 in producing these Icebergs 'on a far more stupendous scale than is found 

 in the Northern region ; for while in the North their dimensions are 

 usually confined to a few hundred yards, in the South they are very fre- 

 quently miles in extent, and from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in thickness — a 

 magnitude owing to the vast area of the lands in which they are produced, 

 as explained in (449). Their protrusion into the sea involves the 

 same considerations as the " glacier theory " of the land, so very in- 

 teresting and important in geological questions. 



(448.) Size, &c. — Dr. Eink states that the larger Icebergs in the Northern 

 regions rise above the sea to the height of from 100 to 150 feet and 

 upwards, and some are 4,000 feet in circumference. The cubic contents 

 of the part above can scarcely be considered more than one-eighth of that 

 below the surface of the water, so that the cubic contents of such an Ice- 

 berg may amount to about 66,000,000 cubic yards — a fragment of Ice 

 which, if we suppose it to be fairly landed, would form a mountain about 

 1,000 feet in height. Of course the form of the Iceberg has much to do 

 with the proportion above and below the surface of the sea ; one with a 

 towering spire of small dimensions could naturally be as high above the 

 surface as the base is below. 



Many instances are on record of Icebergs being met with of far larger 

 dimensions than those given above, and the following are a few of recent 

 occurrence. 



On January 5th, 1881, a low level Berg, 15 feet high, and several miles in length, 

 was observed from Cape St. John, Newfoundland. 



In April, 1882, the steamer Hermod was reported to have passed some Icebergs 

 1,000 ft. long and 500 ft. high, and stove in her bows against one of them. 



• Dr. H. Rink, " On the Ice of Greenland and the Origin of Icebergs," in the Journal 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxiii., pages 145-154. 



