76 
THE MIDDLE ICE 
: ITS CAUSES. 
The causes of this accumulation, so disastrous to 
the navigation of the western and northern waters of 
the bay, may be attributed in some measure to the 
high latitudes leaving the ice as yet unaffected by the 
southerly and westerly influences to which I have al- 
luded, and therefore more open to local causes of de- 
viation, such as currents and winds. The neighbor- 
hood of this region to the sources of ice supply, the 
sounds of Jones, Lancaster, and Wolstenholme, may 
be referred to as another cause ; for the ice, after 
changing its original axis of drift, has not yet attained 
its free rate of motion in a new direction. Then, too, 
there are some peculiarities in the current action of 
the bay, as yet imperfectly studied, which can not be 
without their influence. It is altogether probable that 
a portion of the interval between the eastern and 
western coasts is the seat of a partial slackwater, or 
even rotating eddy. And, in addition to all these, there 
is the direct agency of that great body of water which 
issues from Lancaster Sound. This passes from west 
to east, in latitude 74° 80' ; and my notes indicate the 
axis of its course as the line at which the Melville Bay 
accumulation begins. 
All of these causes are undoubtedly aided by the 
numerous bergs discharged from the glaciers of this 
portion of the Greenland coast, which have often move- 
ments counter to those of the surface ice, and retard 
its descent and progress very considerably. 
It is through this ice-clogged bay that the great 
fleets of Bafiin whale ships have, for the last thirty- 
two years, made an annual attempt to pass. The 
mysticete, driven from their feeding grounds on the 
coast of Greenland, have sought a refuge on the west- 
ern side ; and their seats of favorite resort, in the ear- 
ly part of the season, are now in the waters of Lan- 
