070 TIDES AND CURRENTS. 



As the prevailing winds in Kennedy Channel are from the 

 north-east, and this would cause the drift of the ice, it does not 

 seem certain, as Dr. Bessels' results have not yet been published, 

 that there is any true current anywhere to the south of Lady 

 Franklin Bay,, and in that case a channel can hardly have been 

 cut in the ice by the strong current during the days of midsummer. 

 The meeting of the tides and consequent disturbance would tend 

 to keep the sea clear of ice provided there were no heavy ice. 

 The current through Robeson Channel, in which heavier ice was 

 seen drifting southwards, may proceed up Lady Franklin Strait, 

 carrying with it the heavy ice, which according to Dr. Bessels 

 did not come farth(;r to the south. 



De Haven, McClintock, and other observers all attribute the 

 drift down Baffin's Bay entirely to the winds. 



Except perhaps in Barrow Strait, there seems to be no evidence 

 from De Haven's Drift, in Wellington Channel, Lancaster Sound, 

 and Baffin's Bay, that any true current exists. At first, in 

 Wellington Channel, the drift was in opposite directions, accord- 

 ing as the wind changed, while in Barrow Strait, at times with 

 a north wind, the drift was westward, the ice being driven by the 

 tide from the eastward through Lancaster Sound and Baffin's 

 Bay ; the amount and direction of the drift seemed to depend 

 almost entirely on the direction of the wind. 



On the N.E. of Spitzbergen it has been found by Lieut. Wey- 

 precht that the prevailing winds are from E. to W., causing the 

 great ice drift which drifted Parry to the S.W., and which brings 

 down the ice towards East Greenland. The rate of this drift 

 varies from 8 to 13 miles a day. These winds, which may partly 

 be caused by the warm Gulf Stream, towards which they blow, 

 to the N. and W. of Spitzbergen, will be warmed as they pass 

 over that region, since the temperature of the sea water in the 

 whole of that region is found to be high, and flowing on still 

 westward will pass over the sea to the west, and over the north 

 of Greenland, and so to the shores of Kennedy Channel and 

 Smith Sound. 



This would also seem to be borne out by the fact reported from 

 the observations of Captain Hall in the ''Polaris," that the tide 

 round the north of Greenland met the tide up Smith Sound at 

 Cape Eraser, on the west side of Kennedy Channel, in latitude 

 80° N. 



With regard to the existence of an open sea north of Smith 

 Sound, Kane says : — " Whether it exists simply as a feature of 

 *' the immediate region, or as a part of a great and unexplored 

 " area communicating with a polar basin, may be questions for 

 '* men skilled in scientific deductions ; whether it does or does 

 " not communicate with a polar basin we are without facts to 

 " determine." He adds : — " The influence of rapid tides and 

 " currents in destroying ice by abrasion can hardly be reahsed by 

 " those who have not witnessed their action. It is not uncom- 

 ** mon to see such tidal sluices remain open in the midst of 

 " winter." 



