SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA. 



265 



temperature of the air; the duration and 

 direction of the winds ; of the velocity of 

 sound, &c. We have " a register of pheno- 

 mena connected with the progress of the 

 seasons, kept at Fort Franklin;" and a me- 

 teorological journal for that and other places 

 in the course of the route. 



The lowest temperature witnessed in 

 North America was on the 7th of February, 

 of the second winter passed on the shores 

 of Bear Lake. At eight in the morning, 

 the mercury in the thermometer descended 

 to 58° below zero; it had stood at — 57.5°, 

 and — 57.3° in the course of that and the 

 preceding day ; between the 5th and the 8th, 

 its general state was from — 48° to — « 52°, 

 though it occasionally rose to — 43°. At 

 the temperature of —52.2°, Mr. Kendall 

 froze some mercury, in the mould of a pistol- 

 bullet, and fired it against a door at the dis- 

 tance of six paces. A small portion of the 

 mercury penetrated to the depth of one- 

 eighth of an inch, but the remainder only 

 just lodged in the wood. The extreme 

 height of the mercury in the tube was from 

 71° at noon to 73° at three o'clock. 



