EECOED AND EESULTS 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERYATIOKS. 



The fourth and last part of the pubHcation of the records and results of Dr. 

 Hayes' Arctic Expedition of 1860 and 1861, herewith presented, comprises meteor- 

 ology, and will be given under the subdivisions, temperature, atmospheric pressure, 

 and wind. 



By inspecting the general track chart and the special harbor chart of the winter 

 quarters, illustrating Part I, or the astronomical results, it will be seen that Port 

 Foulke, latitude 78° 17'.6 N. and longitude 73° OO'.O W. of Greenwich, has a free 

 exposure to the westward (true), directly facing Smith Strait and nearly opposite 

 Cape Isabella. The harbor is on the south side of the entrance to a large fiord, at 

 the eastern terminus of which is situated Lake Alida, which receives the drainage 

 of a large glacier named by Dr. Kane " Brother John's glacier." This glacier pro- 

 trudes into the upper end of the fiord and forms part of an immense mer de glace 

 extending far into the interior, and is connected witli the great Humboldt glacier. 

 Dr. Hayes travelled over this glacier, in an easterly direction, for fifty-three miles. 



The locality may be said to be, climatologically, an anomalous one, as it is fully 

 under the immediate influence of the upper north water and the smaller water areas 

 of Smith Strait. The sea, here, does not freeze over entirely during the winter, but 

 presents large patches of open water which exercise a powerful influence over the 

 climate of this region. Dr. Hayes remarked that during the winter of 1860 — 1861, 

 the open sea could always be found a few miles to the westward of his anchorage. 

 The comparative mildness of the climate makes it possible for the Esquimaux 

 to reside habitually during the winter in this high latitude, and the vicinity of the 

 port abounds with animal life which was almost entirely absent at Van Rensselaer 

 Harbor, but a short distance to the northward and eastward. This contrast in the 

 climate cannot be better illustrated than by stating the fact of the temperature 

 simultaneously recorded on March 18, 19, 20, 21, 1861, at Port Foulke and at 

 Van Rensselaer Harbor, then revisited by Dr. Hayes, at the former place it Avas 

 — 24°. 7 and the latter — 50°.7 as observed by him, showing a difference of not less 

 than 26° of greater cold at Van Rensselaer Harbor. 



On August 26th, 1860, Capes Alexander and Isabella were first sighted; on Sep- 

 tember 9th, at 5 P. M., the vessel Avas safely moored for the winter at Port Foulke, 



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