FEBRUARY II, 1897 | 
NATURE 
Jao 
the man who showed us the way along the coast of Asia. It is 
difficult to distinguish mainland from island in passing along the 
coast, the map of which has been considerably altered by the 
observations on our voyage. The coast of the whole of the 
Chelyuskin peninsula northwards is very low, but inland we ob- 
served mountain ridges partly covered with snow, and _ probably 
some small glaciers. Without doubt the most important geo- 
graphical discovery of the expedition was that concerning the 
polar basin itself. Formerly it had been supposed to be a com- 
paratively shallow sea, a view in which I had concurred. We 
found that the sea in 79° N., north of the new Siberian Islands, 
suddenly became deeper than 100 fathoms, sank to depths of | 
| many polar explorers have believed to cover the polar area, 
1800 to 2000 fathoms, and such great depths were found con- 
tinuously by the /vam during her entire drift north-west and 
west as far as the north of Spitzbergen. The polar basin thus 
appears to be a deep sea, forming a continuation northwards 
and eastwards of the depression in the North Atlantic Ocean. 
This deep sea probably extends further east than the New Siberian 
islands, as the Yeazrzet/e found the depth increasing every time 
the drift carried her to the northward. 
I think we can safely say that little or no land can lie on the 
Asiatic side of the pole, as in the sledge-journey north of the 
Fram’s route we found the ice drifting with greater freedom than 
further south, which would not likely be the case if there was 
much Jand to restrict the movement. There is, on the other 
hand, a probability of the existence of land to a considerable 
extent on the American side of the pole, where islands, and 
islands of some importance, may be expected to be found north 
of the boundary known at present. A closer examination of 
these parts we must hope will be undertaken in the not too 
distant future. 
The drift of the “ram showed that a deep sea lay along the 
north of Franz Josef Land, proving that that land has not the 
great extension northward which it was hoped to have. This 
discovery confirms Sir Clements Markham’s prediction that 
“* Franz Josef Land seems to be part of the Spitzbergen group, 
rising out of the same shallow sea, with deeper water to the 
north.” The geological evidence confirms this view, and in 
those parts which Johansen and I would have visited had we not 
fallen in with Jackson ; the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition will 
no doubt have many interesting discoveries to make. From the 
disagreement of our discoveries with Payer’s map, we were at first 
led to believe that our watches must be altogether wrong, and 
that we had come to a land further west ; it was only after com- 
paring our watches with Jackson’s, that I came to the conclusion 
that Payer’s map was wrong. Dr. Copeland is now engaged in 
re-calculating Payer’s positions. and finds his work particularly 
good ; the error most probably arose through his mistaking 
banks of mist on which the sun was shining fora great glacier- 
covered land. Such a mistake is very difficult to avoid in 
certain atmospheric conditions 
In the course of the voyage along the coast of Siberia abundant 
evidence of the former existence of a great ice-sheet was forth- 
coming, and the appearances could not be explained by reference 
to local glaciers. For instance, the land on the east side of the 
Chelyuskin peninsula, where I went reindeer-shooting one day, 
was a very undulating clay plain, over which was strewn a 
multitude of big boulders of various rocks, which could with 
difficulty be explained otherwise than as being material brought 
by an extensive ice-sheet. The fact that [ found an indication 
of stratification in several places can hardly be regarded as an 
argument against its moraine-like character, as there are incon- 
testable moraines in the south of Norway which show distinct 
stratification. The exemption from an ice-sheet, so long claimed 
for Siberia, can no longer be maintained. 
The microscopic examination of the numerous specimens of 
sea-bottoms obtained by our soundings, proved that they differ 
essentially from the samples taken from the North Atlantic 
Ocean, as they are wanting in the characteristic organisms. 
The arctic deep-sea mud was found to be particularly deficient 
in carbonates, and appears to consist chiefly of mineral com- 
ponents ; but so far only very imperfect examinations of these 
deposits have been made. 
During our journey we had abundant evidence of the reality 
of the ice-drift across the polar area, on the faith in which the 
expedition had been planned. Earthy matter was found on 
the ice as far north as 86°, and driftwood also. I remember 
one day far north, during Johansen’s and my journey over the 
ice, our astonishment at seeing a large piece of timber project- 
ing from the ice ; it hailed, perhaps, from the interior of Siberia, 
and was on its way to the Eskimo of Greenland. The only 
NO. 1424, VOL. 55 | 
thing we could do was to cut our initials on it, with the date 
and latitude. The cause of the drift is, first of all, the wind, 
the prevailing direction of which is from the Siberian Sea to- 
wards the North Atlantic Ocean. As the wind varies, the drift 
varies also ; but it was always strongest when towards the north 
and west, and feeblest when it turned towards south and east. 
Most progress was made in the winter, least in summer, when 
northerly winds were relatively common. I believe that when 
the records are worked up it will be possible to demonstrate 
that there was a slight current in the water under the ice, 
setting in the prevailing direction, or perhaps a little to the 
northward of the prevailing wind. The massive ice-cap, which 
has been shattered ; instead of it we have the ever-wandering 
ice-fields, like a link in the eternal round of nature. 
_ The ice does not grow to any great thickness by direct freez- 
Ing; something under four metres was the greatest seen ; but, 
of course, it becomes very much thicker by the piling up of 
broken ice-sheets driven together and mounting one above 
another. The pressure of the ice was found to be largely 
dependent on the tidal current, especially on the margin of the 
polar ice-fields. There the periods of great pressure occurred 
regularly about new moon and full moon, the former being the 
greater. The worst ice-pressures encountered by the /7ave 
were when the wind suddenly changed after having been long 
steady, when smaller masses of ice would be driven by the 
wind against the greater masses moving on by their own 
momentum. 
The temperature of the water at various depths beneath the 
ice was of special interest. Even as far east as the sea north 
of the New Siberian Islands I found undoubted traces of a 
warm current. The surface water of the entire polar basin is 
doubtless very cold, between -1°5° and -1°6 C., the freezing 
point of sea-water. Beneath this cold layer at depths of 200 
metres, I suddenly found warm water, the temperature rising to 
+0°5°, oreven + 0°8° C. Ata greater depth the temperature 
varied somewhat, but remained nearly constant to 400 or 500 
metres, after which it slowly sank until the bottom was reached, 
without, however, becoming so cold as at the surface. The air 
temperatures were, as was anticipated, not so low as in Siberia, 
doubtless owing to the influence of the deep underlying sea, 
The minimum we found (—53°C.) is not immoderately low, 
recollecting that at Verkhoyansk — 68° has been recorded. The 
winds in the far north were not very strong, seldom amounting 
toa gale; but this climate entirely changed on the southward 
journey, and in the winter quarters on Franz Josef Land a suc- 
cession of furious gales howled around us continually. 
There were exceptional opportunities of observing the aurora, 
and amongst other curious phenomena the heavens were often 
shrouded with a light luminous veil, through which it was diffi- 
cult to see the Milky Way. The aurora was found to be much 
more common in very high latitudes than it was formerly sup- 
posed to be. 
Animal life was abundantly observed both in the form of 
small marine organisms, especially crustacea, and larger crea- 
tures. Narwhal were seen in shoals up to nearly 85° N., and 
seals were also frequently seen in summer. Bears were shot 
north of 84°, and fox tracks seen in 85° N. Near Hvitten- 
land east of Franz Josef Land, the probable nesting-place of the 
rosy gull was found. The fresh-water pools on the ice in summer 
swarmed with diatoms and other alge. 
The expedition found much of value in considering future travel. 
The type of vessel embodied in the “ya was found perfect, re- 
sisting all ice pressures, and the ship was as sound at the end as 
at the beginning. Another drifting expedition should enter the 
ice much further east, entering by Bering Strait, and the ship 
should be equipped with greater laboratory accommodation. 
Nothing remains to be done for preserving health ; the company 
on the “ra were never seriously ill, and even on the march 
over the ice I personally increased 22 lbs. in weight. There 
was never the faintest indication of scurvy. 
THE LEGENDARY HISTORY OF FUNAFUTI, 
ELLICE GROUP. 
“HE first king of Funafuti was Terematua (? Tilimatua), but 
who he was or where he came from is not known; it is 
certain, however, he was here before the arrival of the Kauga, 
people who swam to this island from Samoa, which means, I 
1 This is the story of Funafuti, so far as I could learn it from the King 
Erivara and our interpreter, the white trader O'Brian. 
