r 



248 Arctic Explorations. 



considerable elevation of the interior on both, sides of the chan- 

 nel above its level." 



It appears from the records kept, that the winds at Rensselaer 

 harbor for January, February and March were mostly from be- 

 tween south and east. But in the former cruise, the observa- 

 tions in Baffin's Bay for the same month were generally between 

 north and west; and as these were registered at sea remote from 

 the land, they may give most correctly the prevailing atmos- 

 pheric movement in winter for that region of the globe. North 

 and northwest winds were found to be the most prevalent in the 

 same months by Paxry and Ross. 



A review of the general considerations bearing on the tem- 

 perature of the arctic regions, incline us therefore to believe in 

 an open sea — comparatively open at least in some years— in the 

 part of the polar circle towards Spitzbergen or Nova Zembia, 

 the part to which the narrative of Dr, Kane relates. But we 

 doubt strongly whether the other half is free from land or ice; 

 and certainly there must be ice, if there is much land within it, 

 or, in other words, if it is an archipelago. 



The rocks, of the coast between Rensselaer harbor and the 

 great Humboldt glacier, were stratified limestone, red sandstone, 

 feldspathic and often porphyritic granite, passing into gneiss, 

 and in some places trap. The limestone and sandstone formed 

 lofty cliffSj averaging 900 feet in height. Hakluyt Island in lat- 

 itude 77"^ 20', presents on the coast a coarse red sandstone in 

 nearly horizontal strata, while in the back country the rocks 

 were in broken pyramidal shapes, appearing to be ''greenstone.^ 



The peaks of Greenland from the south cape to Disco, in lati- 

 tude 70°, vary in height from 800 to 3200 feet; those of Proven 

 latitude 71^ 2800; and those in laL 76' 10^ 1380 to 1800 feet. 



A large trap-dyke is described as intersecting the island of 

 pisco, in latitude 70°, in an east-northeast direction, and cross- 

 ing the channel of Waigat, separating it from the main land; 

 and Dr, Kane speaks of its parallelism with the trap of Lake 



J 



Superior. The other rocks of the region are syenitic gneiss 

 argillaceous and chloritic slates, with trap and amygdaloid The 

 dip of the slates at one point was 25^ to the northeast 



Kane 



notices of auro 



A 



lines lor the arctic regions north of America for each moii 

 the year; a list of ' ' - - - — 



Greenland and remarks 



plants collected by Dr. Kane on the coast oi 

 larks, by Elias Diirand; besides tables of geo- 



;. His ato+fimonta rpanpr>t.i n or tlift fpeezinSC 01 



rapfiical positions. His statements respecting the freezing ot 

 ifferent sabstances by the extreme cold he encountered are oi 



