26 MAltlOX EXPEDITIOX TO DAVIS STEAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 



rents may telescope the fields and Hoes, layer u})on layer, to a liei<>iit 

 of 30 to 40 feet, and to depths of 100 to 200 feet. 



Onr knowledge re<i:ardin<>: the nioyenient and behavior of the <!:reat 

 polar cap, is confined, with few exceptions, to observations along its 

 frontier from the following sources: (a) From the drift of ships 

 which have been imprisoned in the margin: (h) from a few ex- 

 tended sledge excursions of polar explorers: and (c) from the records 

 of drift objects released at various points. These are tabulated 

 below : 



(a) Drift 



i^hip : 



Jeannette (DeLoiia) T-">0 miles. (From the vit-inity of AVraniiel Island 



westerly to stt miles northeast of IJennett Island.) 



Fram (Xansen) 1.400 miles. (From north of the Xew Silieriaii 



Islands westerly to north of Spitsherjieii. ) 



Tem-*^thoff ( Wc.vprcclit ) Li.lO miles. (Ice Cape. Xovaj'a Zemlya westerly t<i 

 soiitiu'iist coast of Franz Josef Land.) 



St. Anna (l>rnsilov) <s.jU miles. ( Southern part of Kara Sea via its east- 

 ern side to north of Ice Cape. Xovaya Zendya.) 



Yonny I'hoenix Slo miles. (From Point Barrow easterly to Return 



Reef, thence westerly past Point Barrow, and 

 finally disapi>eared in the northwest. ) 



Karluk (Bartlett) .'>(»(> miles. (From I'oint Barn^v westerly to T> 



miles nortli of Herald Island. ) 



;Maud (Amundsen) 7">0 miles. ( Fiom ^^2~) miles northwest of Wransel 



Island westerl.v to ■">'• miles north of Xew 

 Silii ri.-m l<l:iiiils. i 



(6) Sledging journeys out on to the jjolar cap ice from their 

 very nature do not give as good opportunities for observation on the 

 movement of the ice as do the more accurately measured tracks of 

 imprisoned vessels. Peary, on dashes to the northward of Ellesniere ! 

 Land to>yard and to the ]>ole. believed that the ])ack outside the 

 continental edge was sliding eastward. Cagui, i)ushing ])oleward 

 from Franz Josef Laud was carried steadily toward the we.st. j 

 JStorkerson and AVilkins on the oi^jiosite side of the polar sea also 

 experienced a westerly drift. 



(c) In 1898 the Cieographical Society of l*hiladel})hia supported a 

 project to release a number of drift casks or buoys at various points I 

 north of Berling Strait in order to learn the set and drift of the ice. | 

 Three of the buoys, which we will call "a," *' b." and "• c."' were I 

 recovered as follows : 



Cask ''a." — 1,400 miles. Set adrift August in, Ii»01. in 7-2° 18' 

 north, 175° 10' west, about Sa miles northeast of Wrangel Island, 

 was recovered August 17, 1902, near the nuxith of Kolyuchiii Hay on 

 the Siberian coast. 



Cask ^'b."— 3,500 miles. Set adrift September 13, 1899, on the 

 pack ice west-northwest of l^oint Hairow in 71° 53' north, 1()4° 50' 

 west, was recovered June 7, 1905. 1 iniie east of Cape Kauda Xu|)roii 

 the northern coast of Iceland. 



Cask " c.'"— 3.500 miles. Set adrift Jidy 24, 1900, at Cape Hathurst 

 in 71° 00' north. 12S° 05' west, was recovered November 3, 190S, on 

 Storo Island, Fimiiarken, Norway. 



Wreckage from the Jcdiiiicttc drifted from the vicinity of Heiiiu'tt 

 Island, to .Fulianehaab, ( Greenland, a distance of about 3.()00 miles. 

 Siberian tree truidcs and other objects of Asiatic oi'igin are <iuite 



