﻿316 
  B. 
  S. 
  Tarr 
  — 
  Climate 
  of 
  Davis 
  1 
  and 
  Baffin 
  's 
  Bay. 
  

  

  able 
  to 
  penetrate 
  the 
  ice, 
  the 
  ship 
  left 
  this 
  bleak 
  coast 
  and 
  crossed 
  

   Davis' 
  Straits 
  to 
  Disco 
  island 
  on 
  the 
  Greenland 
  coast, 
  going 
  

   north 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  degrees. 
  There 
  we 
  found 
  a 
  decided 
  change 
  

   in 
  climatic 
  conditions. 
  The 
  air 
  was 
  balmy, 
  and 
  although 
  the 
  

   highland 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  mainland 
  and 
  island 
  were 
  ice-capped, 
  

   and 
  snow 
  banks 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  protected 
  valleys, 
  the 
  season 
  

   was 
  distinctly 
  more 
  advanced 
  and 
  more 
  pleasant 
  than 
  on 
  the 
  

   American 
  side 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hundred 
  miles 
  southward. 
  The 
  flora 
  

   was 
  richer, 
  insects 
  were 
  abundant, 
  and 
  everything 
  betokened 
  

   summer. 
  Passing 
  still 
  farther 
  northward 
  to 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   ISTugsuak 
  peninsula, 
  in 
  lat. 
  74° 
  10 
  r 
  , 
  although 
  the 
  climate 
  was 
  

   somewhat 
  more 
  severe, 
  it 
  was 
  distinctly 
  farther 
  advanced 
  than 
  

   on 
  the 
  American 
  side 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  left 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  before, 
  

   and 
  which 
  lay 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  hundred 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  southward. 
  

  

  From 
  August 
  7 
  to 
  September 
  7, 
  although 
  by 
  the 
  latter 
  

   date 
  the 
  night 
  had 
  begun, 
  with 
  the 
  sun 
  setting 
  at 
  about 
  

   7.30 
  in 
  the 
  evening, 
  we 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  live 
  comfortably 
  in 
  

   lat. 
  74° 
  10' 
  with 
  no 
  other 
  protection 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  tents. 
  Dur- 
  

   ing 
  this 
  time 
  the 
  lowest 
  recorded 
  temperature 
  was 
  28°, 
  which 
  

   came 
  at 
  the 
  coldest 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  night. 
  The 
  storms 
  brought 
  

   rain 
  and 
  not 
  snow. 
  Returning, 
  we 
  left 
  Disco 
  on 
  September 
  

   11 
  after 
  a 
  beautiful, 
  warm 
  day. 
  Snow 
  had 
  recently 
  fallen 
  

   upon 
  the 
  uplands, 
  but 
  many 
  flowers 
  were 
  still 
  in 
  blossom 
  near 
  

   sea 
  level. 
  Coining 
  southwards 
  to 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Cumberland 
  

   Sound, 
  our" 
  first 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  land 
  showed 
  a 
  snow- 
  

   covered 
  surface, 
  and 
  from 
  this 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  end 
  of 
  New- 
  

   foundland, 
  freshly 
  fallen 
  snow 
  was 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  land. 
  

  

  Although 
  we 
  later 
  found 
  that 
  the 
  floe 
  ice 
  had 
  disappeared 
  

   from 
  the 
  Labrador 
  coast, 
  it 
  still 
  blocked 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  

   entrance 
  to 
  Cumberland 
  Sound, 
  and 
  for 
  sixty 
  hours 
  the 
  ship 
  

   was 
  held 
  a 
  prisoner 
  in 
  this 
  ice 
  before 
  we 
  could 
  pass 
  into 
  the 
  

   Sound. 
  After 
  entering 
  Cumberland 
  Sound 
  w 
  r 
  e 
  encountered 
  

   violent 
  snow 
  storms, 
  and 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  snow 
  was 
  sufficient 
  to 
  

   cover 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  land. 
  Hence 
  in 
  this 
  latitude, 
  in 
  the 
  

   summer 
  of 
  1896, 
  snow 
  fell 
  on 
  July 
  30 
  and 
  on 
  some 
  day 
  pre- 
  

   vious 
  to 
  September 
  13, 
  the 
  latter 
  fall 
  being 
  sufficient 
  to 
  whiten 
  

   the 
  hills 
  as 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  Influence 
  of 
  Ocean 
  Currents. 
  — 
  The 
  causes 
  for 
  this 
  difference 
  

   between 
  the 
  climate 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  sides 
  of 
  a 
  sea 
  separated 
  by 
  only 
  

   a 
  few 
  hundred 
  miles 
  in 
  the 
  broadest 
  portions, 
  are 
  perhaps 
  

   several, 
  though 
  the 
  chief 
  cause 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  ocean 
  cur- 
  

   rents. 
  The 
  icebergs 
  and 
  floes 
  of 
  the 
  Arctic 
  pass 
  southward 
  on 
  

   the 
  American 
  side, 
  and 
  the 
  cold 
  ice-laden 
  waters 
  influence 
  the 
  

   climate 
  of 
  the 
  neighboring 
  land 
  very 
  perceptibly. 
  On 
  the 
  

   Greenland 
  side 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  current 
  in 
  an 
  opposite 
  direction, 
  

   hence 
  carrying 
  warm 
  water 
  northward. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  say 
  how 
  far 
  the 
  north-moving 
  current 
  

  

  