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ceeded to say that the 'Sultana' left Hammerfest on the 3rd of 

 July, in company with a Norwegian sloop which had been specially 

 fitted to encounter the ice, and chartered to attend upon the yacht. 

 On the 6th they arrived at the entrance of Stor Fjord, which was 

 found to be entirely blocked by the ice. Horn Sound and Bell 

 Sound were subsequently discovered to be in the same condition. 

 They then made for Ice Sound, and anchored in Safe Haven on the 

 9th. Ice Sound was described as a very much larger inlet than it is 

 represented in the charts to be, extending at least fifty miles into 

 the interior. All the valleys on the north side, and consequently 

 having a southern aspect, are completely occupied by large glaciers, 

 which, with one exception, are only terminated by the sea. The 

 single exception consists of a small but remarkable glacier suspended 

 on a hill-side, some 360 yards from the beach, resting conformably 

 on its own moraine, and having no apparent means of discharge. 

 The author supposes this last was effected by filtration through its 

 bed. The south side of Ice Sound contains several bays of consi- 

 derable size ; and the valleys opening upon it, and therefore having 

 a northern aspect, were entirely free from glaciers ; the observa- 

 tion being directly opposed to the account given of the Spitzbergen 

 glaciers by Sir John Richardson in his ' Polar Regions.' A great 

 many reindeer frequent this part of the country, and countless numbers 

 of sea-fowl breed on such of the high cliffs around the Sound as are 

 inaccessible to the Arctic foxes. In Ice Sound Mr. Birkbeck's party 

 had the pleasure of meeting the Swedish Scientific Expedition under 

 Professor Nordenskjold, who are engaged in measuring an arc of the 

 meridian. On the 4th of August the party separated, some going 

 to the eastward in the Norwegian sloop, while the yacht made an- 

 other ineffectual attempt to ascend the Stor Fjord. The sloop sailed 

 as far as Ryklis Islands, but was stopped by the ice. She then pro- 

 ceeded further east in the hope of getting round the pack, and came 

 in sight of " Commander Gile's land," the existence of which had 

 been so long doubted, it having been ignored by Sir John Richard- 

 son in his work, and in the Admiralty Chart of Spitzbergen. It 

 appears to lie about sixty miles east of the entrance to Walter Thy*, 

 men's Strait, and its flat or round-topped hills (so different from those 

 of Spitzbergen) were very plainly seen. The author stated that in 

 1859 the master of a Norwegian vessel landed upon it, and he pro- 

 duced a pebble which had then been brought thence, in proof of the 

 reality of its existence as land, and not either ice or fog-bank. He 

 then proceeded to remark on the driftwood with which the shores of 

 the " Thousand Islands " are strewn, which he believed to be cer- 

 tainly of Siberian origin, and not brought, as sometimes imagined, 

 by the Gulf-stream, — stating that though often worm-eaten, he had 

 never observed any signs of barnacles upon it. He then commented 

 on the discovery of the passage from the top of Stor Fjord to Hin- 

 lopen Strait, of which there had long been a traditionary knowledge, 

 though it was not effected till 1859 ; and showed, from the Swedish 

 surveys in 1861, that this passage must lie some thirty miles further 

 south than the position assigned to it on the Admiralty charts, thus 



