Polar J^xplorations. 143 



Franklin and Capt. Parry, represent the degree of cold 

 greater at 68° on Bear Lake than at Melville Island, or any 

 of the higher latitudes, and it is reasonable to suppose that 

 it may be within a few degrees of the maximum existing in 

 any part of the frigid z^ne. The sudden waste of ice oc- 

 curring immediately upon the return of the sun, after four 

 month's darkness, seems to be a provision of nature to pre- 

 serve the arctic circle from total congelation^ and to main- 

 tain the balance of the waters in their circuit round the 

 earth. If these views are correct, the travelling in summer 

 must always be more or less impeded by fogs and rains, and 

 by sludge and moving ice ; and it is a question which can be 

 solved only by experiment, whether a degree of cold suffi- 

 cient to prevent these impediments, would not be greater 

 than men could sustain, when travelling in the open air. 

 Capt. Parry observed that when the cold was most intense, 

 if there was any wind, it was nearly impossible to walk even 

 a few yards, without freezing instantly ; and that being the 

 fact, although no breeze should ruffle the keen air, there 

 would be danger of defeat to the enterprise from the cur- 

 rents, which their progress through it would occasion. 



The north coast of Greenland, and one cape on the Asiatic 

 continent, have not been surveyed. If they are united by 

 ^n isthmus across the pole, a journey on its eastern shores 

 tni^ht be undertaken with some prospect of success, pro- 

 vided the cold essential to the contmuity of ice, and a hard 

 surface, should not be more severe than could be supported 

 by the travellers. 



During the absence of the party on the ice, the officers 

 left in charge of the Hecla were engaged in scientific enqui- 

 ries, and particularly in investigating the natural history of 

 Spitzbergen. 



This island has occupied a place in the minds of men as 

 being all which is imagined of the Pole. It presents lit- 

 tle to the traveller but mountains of ice, and vallies cov- 

 ered with eternal snow. No tree or bush clings to the 

 glaciers ; the icebergs stand in solitary grandeur ; no sound 

 breaks the awful stillness, which is a striking character- 

 istic of the arctic regions. It is as though the elements 

 of nature were dead ; one vast, trackless, noiseless desert, 

 forsaken by wild beasts, and shunned by men. In the 

 summer, a few bears prowl among the snows, and the rein 

 deer visit it for the mosses, and scanty vegetables which 



