240 



RELATIVE POSITION OF LAND AND SEA. 



[Ch XII. 



passes south. wards through, the north of Greenland, to lat. 63°, 

 in Hudson's Bay, reaching the same parallel from which it 

 started in Siberia, then again it inclines north-westwards be- 

 yond the arctic circle till it reaches Point Barrow, in Russian 



America 



40' . From 



same 





i 



same 



astronomical 



i 



>f 



— When the meteorologist enquires into the 



state of things south of the equator, he finds the contrast of 



temp 



om 



same 



withstanding that, on the whole, there is a greater unifor- 

 mity of climate in the southern hemisphere, in consequence 

 of a greater predominance of sea over land. The most re- 

 markable illustration of this contrast is afforded by the island 

 of South Georgia, 800 miles due east of Tierra del Fuego, in 

 the 54° S. latitude, or at the 

 as Yorkshire. Captain Cook, speaking of this island, says, 

 in his second voyage, that in January (corresponding to our 

 July) they never had the temperature more than 10° F. above 



freezing, and snow fell occasionally in the same month, the 



No 



trees or shrubs were to be seen in summer, although here and 

 there, after a partial melting of the ice on the coast, a few 

 rocks were scantily covered with moss and tufts of grass. 



This state of things is remarkable when we reflect, that 

 the highest mountains in Scotland, nearly 5,000 feet high, 

 and four degrees nearer the pole, do not retain snow even on 

 their summits throughout the year; and Principal J. D. 

 Forbes observes, that there is no place as yet known in the 

 northern hemisphere where the snow-line comes down to the 



perpetual snows descending to the level of the ocean. 



■K- 



t 



The exact height of the mountains in 



* Mr. Hopkins raises the question Soc. p. 85. 1852. But the great navi- 

 whether, in South Georgia, the descent gator is generally so accurate that I see 

 of glaciers to the margin of the sea no reason for calling his statements in 

 might not have been mistaken by Capt. 

 Cook for the descent of the snow-line 

 to the sea level. Quart. Journ. Geol. 



question. 



f J. D. Forbes, Norway, p. 205. 



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