ADVANCEMENT OE SCIENCE. i25' 



straight line towards the banks of Newfoundland. In this opinion I do jot agree. 

 Considerable quantities of ice are annually brought with the current from the ocean 

 around Spitzbergen to tho south and south-west along the east coast of Greenland) 

 around Cape Farewell, and into Davis Strait. These enormous masses of ice are fre- 

 quently drifted so close to the southern part of the coast of Greenland that navigation 

 through it is impossible. To demonstrate the existence of this ice-dr'ft, I may mention 

 the following extract from the log-book of the schooner Activ, Capt. J. Andersen. 

 This vessel belongs to the colony of Julianehaab, and is used as a transport in this dis- 

 trict : — 7th of April, 1851, the Activ left Julianehaab, boundto the different establish- 

 ments on the coaat between Julianehaab and Cape Farewell. The same day the cap- 

 tain waa forced by the ice to take refuge in a harbour. Frequent snow-storms and 

 frost. On account of icebergs and great masaaa of floe ice inclosing the coast, it 

 was impossible to proceed on the voyage before the 23rd, when the ice was found 

 to be more open ; but after a few hours' sailing the ice again obliged the captain to 

 put into a harbour. Closed in by the ice until the 2 f 7th. The ice was now open, 

 and the voyage proceeded until the 1st of May, when the ice compelled him to go 

 into a harbour. In this moniJi violent storms, snow and frost. From the most 

 elevated points ashore very often no extent of sea visible ; now and then the ice 

 open, but not sufficiently so for proceeding on the voyage. At last, on the 6th of 

 June, in the morning, the voyage was continued; but the same evening the ice in- 

 closed the coast, and the schooner was brought into " Blisshullet," a port in the 

 neighboured of Cape Farewell. The following day the voyage was pursued through 

 the openings between the ica ; and on the 18th of June the schooner arrived again 

 at Julianehaab. Whilst the masses of ice, as above mentioned, inclosed the coast 

 between Juliannehaab and Cape Farewell, the brig Lucinde crossed the meridian 

 of Cape Farewell on the 28th of April, in la.fi. 58° 3* N. (101 nautical miles from 

 shore), andno ice was seen from the brig before the 2nd of May, in lat. 58° 26* N., 

 and 50° 9' W. of Greenwich. Further, Capt, Knudten. commanding the Neptune, 

 bound from Copenhagen to Julianehaab, was obliged, on account of falling in with 

 much ice, to put into the harbour of Frederikshaab on the 8th of May, 1852, and 

 was not able to continue his voyage to Julianehaab before the middle of c June, be- 

 cause a continuous drift-ice ("icebergs as well as very extensive fields) was rapidly 

 carried along the coast to the northward. Capt. Knudten mentions, that during the 

 whole time he was closed in at Frederikshaab he did not a single day discover any 

 clear water even from the elevated points ashore, from which he could see about 

 28 nautical miles seaward. Whilst the Neptune was inclosed by the ice at Fred- 

 erikshaab, the brig Balder, on the home passage from Greenland to Copenhagen, 

 crossed the meridian of Cape Farewell on the 9th of June in lat. 58° 9 V N. (100 

 miles from shore) in clear water, and no ice in sight. From the above it is evident 

 that the current from the ocean around Spitzbergen, running along the east 

 coast of Greenland past Cape Farewell, continues its course along the western 

 coast of Greenland to the north, and transports in this manner the masses of ice 

 from the ocean around Spitzbergen into Davis Strait. If the current existed, which 

 the before-named writers state to run in a direct line from East Greenland to the 

 banks of Newfoundland, then the ice would likewise be carried with that current 

 from East Greenland ; if it were a submarine current, the deeply-immersed icebergs 

 would be transported by it; if it were only a surface-current, the immense extent of 

 field-ice would indicate its course, and vessels would consequently cross these ice- 

 drifts at whatever distance they passed to the southward of Cape Farewell. But 



