INTR OD UCTION 45 



to have continued seeing land again and again farther 

 and farther north. These Jcauiiette reh'cs may have 

 drifted through narrow channels, and thus finally arrived 

 at their destination, and, I think, it would be an extreme- 

 ly dangerous thing for the ship to drift through them, 

 where she might impinge upon the land, and be kept for 

 years," 



With regard to the ship's form. Sir Allen Young says: 

 " I do not think the form of the ship is any great point, 

 for, when a ship is fairly nipped, the question is if there 

 is any swell or movement of the ice to lift the ship. If 

 there is no swell the ice must go through her, whatever 

 material she is made of." 



One or two authorities, however, expressed themselves 

 in favor of my plan. One was the Arctic traveller. Sir 

 E. Inglefield, another Captain (now Admiral) Wharton, 

 Director of the Hydrographic Department of England. 



In a letter to the Geographical Society, Admiral Sir 

 George H. Richards says, on the occasion of my address: 

 " I regret to have to speak discouragingly of this proj- 

 ect, but I think that any one who can speak with au- 

 thority ought to speak plainly where so much may be at 

 stake." 



With regard to the currents, he says : " I believe 

 there is a constant outflow (I prefer this word to current) 

 from the north, in consequence of the displacement of 

 the water from the region of the Pole by the ice-cap 

 which covers it, intensified in its density by the enor- 



