. INTRODUCTION 19 



Greenland, takes a bend round Cape Farewell, and passes 

 upward along the west coast. 



" It is by this current only that the floe could have 

 come. 



" But the question now arises : What route did it take 

 from the New Siberian Islands in order to reach the east 

 coast of Greenland '^. 



" It is conceivable that it might have drifted along the 

 north coast of Siberia, south of Franz Josef Land, up 

 through the sound between Franz Josef Land and 

 Spitzbergen, or even to the south of Spitzbergen, and 

 might after that have got into the polar current which 

 flows along Greenland. If, however, we study the di- 

 rections of the currents in these regions so far as they 

 are at present ascertained, it will be found that this is 

 extremely improbable, not to say impossible." 



Having shown that this is evident from the Tegethoff 

 drift and from many other circumstances, I proceeded : 



" The distance from the New Siberian Islands to the 

 80th degree of latitude on the east coast of Greenland 

 is 1360 miles, and the distance from the last-named place 

 to Julianehaab 1540 miles, making together a distance 

 of 2900 miles. This distance was traversed by the floe 

 in 1 100 days, which gives a speed of 2.6 miles per 

 day of 24 hours. The time during w^hich the relics 

 drifted after having reached the 80th degree of latitude, 

 till they arrived at Julianehaab, can be calculated with 

 tolerable precision, as the speed of the above-named 



