508 
out for further operations. When the wind is 
blowing vigorously, there are some disadvan- 
tages in ‘ramming,’ besides the condition of 
the pack caused by it. <A vessel with the wind 
on the beam, and standing high out of water, 
and with considerable sailing-gear aloft, drifts 
faster than the pack, and, in backing out for a 
fresh start, may find the ice in the rear inter- 
fering with her backward movements; for a 
propeller must be very careful in all her retro- 
grade actions. 
This charging, ‘ramming,’ or pushing of ice 
by a vessel brings us to a consideration of the 
motive power most serviceable for ice-naviga- 
tion, —steam or sails; for it is only by the 
former that charging can be made possible, 
except in those extremely attenuated packs 
where the headway of the sailing-craft is suffi- 
cient to carry her safely through, should she 
be compelled to strike a few glancing blows on 
isolated cakes. The use of steam may be laid 
down to be all-important, despite the fact that 
some few persons of no inconsiderable expe- 
rience as arctic navigators still denounce the 
waste of room occupied by the steaming-ma- 
chinery ; the necessarily large amount of fuel 
to make it effective; and the anxiety imposed 
upon the commander regarding his propeller, 
which may break its blades, despite its pro- 
tection of iron grating, and other derange- 
ments of machinery, that may here become 
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to repair. 
The first attempt to use steam in ice-navigation 
was with a paddle-wheel steamer, in 18293, 
and, as would be expected, it was the most 
worthless when the most needed. The pro- 
Fig. 3. — Sketch showing engines in Sir John Franklin’s ships. 
peller was first used on Sir John Franklin’s ill- 
fated expedition in the Erebus and Terror, in 
1845. It was worked by locomotive machine- 
ry ; and how well it did its work, like a great 
SCIENCE. 
[Vou. III., No. 64. 
deal of other information concerning that party, 
is wrapped in mystery. Certain it is, Sir John 
Franklin came nearcr accomplishing his object 
than any of his predecessors ; but whether due 
to his propellers, or to a favorable season, can 
only rest on conjecture. However, his pro- 
pellers were not powerful enough to release 
him from his two-years’ besetment in the ice- 
packs of Victoria Straits, unless the cause was 
due to a scarcity of coal. 
With the various improvements in propellers, 
especially in their protection by iron gratings — 
and baskets, came their more universal use 
in arctic navigation ; and at this date one sel- 
dom hears of an expedition to these waters not 
thoroughly fitted with this most essential aux- 
iliary to a perfect success. By steam-power 
only can a vessel defy the ever variable winds 
of those regions. ‘The Mallory propeller, or 
some modification of that form, will, I think, be 
found useful in threading narrow lanes through 
ice-packs. Certain it is that there is no place 
in the annals of navigation where a vessel is 
called upon to constantly make such short 
turns in such limited space as in ice-navigation. 
Of the steam-winch placed on the Jeannette’s 
deck forward of the smoke-stack, capable of 
lifting the screw, unshipping the rudder, and 
warping the ship ahead, De Long’s journal 
says, ‘‘ Our steam-winch did good service, for 
we could easily snub the ship’s head into a 
weak place when we did not have room to turn 
her with the helm.”’ 
Running before a breeze and with a current 
is said to be the most favorable condition 
that can be secured for a sailing-craft, more on 
dition of the ice-pack that is usually pro- 
duced by this state of affairs than the 
speed, which should always be lowered, 
sailer or steamer, if there is any danger 
of unnecessary collision with the ice. 
Even in this most favorable state, if she 
be running towards the throat of a funnel- 
shaped channel, she will more than proba- 
bly encounter a gorged ice-pack at this 
point, barring her farther progress. A 
sailing-vessel caught in this predicament 
is in a very precarious condition. ‘To the 
well-known obstacles of returning against 
wind and current, there is superadded the 
incoming ice, which will certainly add one 
or two, if not two or three, points to her 
leeway, in constantly attempting to weather 
the large ice-cakes and often equally dense and 
larger ice-packs with fruitless results. The 
time lost in wearing her around, or throwing her 
on the other tack when a channel, open one min- 
account of the disjointed and open con- 
