342 North Polar Exploration. 



the ocean, and, in some seasons, by heavy falls of rain ; and 

 that young ice forms again, so as to impede and eventually to 

 stop navigation, in September. An expedition taking the 

 Spitsbergen route must therefore force its way through the 

 Polar pack drifting south, before this young ice begins to form, 

 otherwise the season for exploration is lost. 



The vital question now arises — what is the width and con- 

 dition of this pack? Parry, in 1827, ascertained that it was 

 at least 192 miles broad, by walking over it, and at his extreme 

 northern point in 82° 45', a strong ice blink was seen on the 

 northern horizon. This was in the end of July. We may, 

 therefore, take its average width at that time of the year to be 

 about 250 miles. It is hoped that an expedition may enter 

 the pack between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla towards the 

 end of July, under favourable circumstances, notwithstanding 

 the failure of all former attempts. This hope is based on the 

 /great advantage that steamers have over sailing vessels, and 

 on the presumed action of the Gulf- stream in melting and 

 loosening the pack. All then depends on the time that it will 

 take for vessels to force their way through it.* Let us see 

 upon what grounds we may calculate the probable length of this 

 .detention. The width of the Polar pack in the end of July is 

 not less than 250 miles ; that of the middle pack in Baffin's 

 Bay is generally about 172. Now the average detention in 

 Baffin's Bay, calculating from the time taken by the six expe- 

 ditions, assisted by steam power (for we may now leave sailing 

 vessels out of the question) has been twenty-two days. But 

 by holding on to the land ice very little ground is ever lost in 

 Baffin's Bay, and the existence of the land floe makes eventual 

 success almost a certainty; while between Spitzbergen and 

 Nova Zembla there is a drifting pack with no land ice to 

 assist navigation, and progress is dependent on the chance of 

 lanes opening in the right direction. With extraordinary luck, 

 however, steamers might bore their way through this 250 



* The analogy which has been attempted to be drawn between the pack in 

 the Southern hemisphere, through which Sir James Ross forced his way {Southern 

 Seas, ii. p. 183), and the Polar pack, between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, is 

 entirely delusive. On December 18th, 1841, Sir James entered the pack, in 

 latitude 60° 50' S., and, after being beset in it for fifty-six days, at last emerged 

 into open water, on February 2nd. This pack was 800 miles wide. On the 24th 

 he was obliged to relinquish all further exploration, on account of the formation 

 of young ice, which threatened to freeze the ships up for the winter in a most 

 dangerous position, but fortunately they were saved by a strong breeze (ii. p. 203). 

 Thus he only had three weeks of navigable season left, after getting through the 

 pack. This pack in the Southern hemisphere was met with in the temperate 

 zone, after having drifted through hundreds of miles in a boundless ocean, and 

 become loose and broken. The North Polar pack, on the contrary, is but a short 

 distance from the place of its formation, and is in a confined sea surrounded on all 

 sides by continents. 



