544 General Notes. [July, 
was still adhering, and this, and their angular, little-worn sides, 
` as well as the increased number of birds of various sorts, some 
of which are rarely seen any distance out at sea, were convincing 
proofs of the proximity of land, which, had they not been envel- 
oped in a dense fog, they might have seen. The position reached 
was about eighty geographical miles from the land discovered by 
Payer, which Capt. Markham believes extends in a south-west- 
ward direction. The lateness of the season now compelled a 
return, and they arrived at Tromso on September 22d. 
_ Should an attempt be made in a steam vessel to reach what is 
probably an archipelago of islands extending from Franz Josef 
_ Land to Spitzbergen, it will have a great promise of attaining a 
higher latitude than has yet been reached, especially when it is 
remembered that in latitude 83°, Payer saw precipitous mountain 
land stretching away to the north, while at the same latitude in 
Grinnell Land it came to an abrupt end. 
apt. Markham’s collections are rich and interesting, and 
include many specimens of carboniferous fossils from Novaya 
- Zemlya which agree almost species by species with those obtained 
by Sir George Nares at Cape Joseph Henry. It may be safely 
affirmed that the greater portion of the Polar region is composed 
of carboniferous rocks, and that the greater part of the Polar sea 
north of Franz Josef Land and Spitzbergen probably covers & 
large area of coal measures. The connection of Spitzbergen 
with the great range of the Ural mountains can now be shown 
and the beds found there could be correlated with the beds found 
in Baffins bay and Grinnell Land, so that a distinct belt of car- 
boniferous and Devonian rocks circles much of the Polar region. 
The northern extremity of Novaya Zemlya is composed entirely 
of carboniferous rocks which dip beneath the sea under Franz 
Joseph Land towards the Pole. The identification of these fos- 
sils is so complete and certain that the history of these northern 
rocks now begins to be perfectly well known. : 
The collection also embraces about ninety botanical specimens, 
birds, butterflies, fishes, Crustacea and dredging results. 
The Willem Barents is to be sent out again this summer on 4 
third cruise. 
CIRCUMPOLAR Stations — THE Aurora Boreas. — At the 
East Greenland about 75° N. lat.; in the southern hemisphere, 
in the neighborhood of Cape Horn, Kerguelen or Macdona 
