concave would see me neavenlv hn,i; An .l 
such an8 t e aS n Ule Feal f ° rm ° f the ewt 1 ' 
was such as it would appear to be to the eve 
so suspended over the opening 1 . ^ ’ 
The curvature of the meridians is owing- to 
their necessarily winding up the sloped sides 
or the verges or apparent verges, which sloped 
sides are the consequence of the plane of the 
polar opening being inclined to the plane of 
the equator, at an angle of 12 or 15 degrees. 
1 hence vve can account for a difference in cha¬ 
racter between certain winds in Asia and Amer- 
* c »» and for the migrating animals going and co¬ 
ming, to and from, the N. E. in Asia, and the 
N. \V. m America. It is concluded, that t! e 
meridians are not crowded so much on the 
slopes of the apparent verge as they seem to 
be on tins map. The two curves defined by 
M M M throughout, represent the two curves 
ot no variation, ascending from the magnetic 
equator, and finally meeting, it is conjectured 
at the h'gh side of the real verge. These 
curves must proceed inversely the same way on 
the south verge; and, l trust, will at some 
future day prove to us what is the real shape of 
the sphere. 
. The supposed position and existence of the 
river, marked as r sing from within that circle 
whichd have described as omitted near the cen¬ 
tre, is founded on a conjecture supported by 
principle, together, with some indirect data.-— 
Probably it is the largest river in the world: 
and it is presumable, discharges its waters bv 
several mouths, one of which, is conjectured 
to branch off from the main channel to the right 
and enter at Baffin’s Buy, and another to 
branch off from the left and discharge near No¬ 
va Zembla. This river I conclude may be en¬ 
tered, in some seasons, by sailing beyond 
Spitsbergen, and finding its principal mouth. 
Perhaps a steam ship would he the best calcu¬ 
lated for such an etiterprize, as it could avoid 
being crowded by the ice in narrow places 
where the wind would not serve for escape; 
and, it would be best for progressing, indepen¬ 
dently of calms or contrary winds, and such a 
vessel would be particularly well calculated to 
ascend the Great River; against the strong cur¬ 
rent which I suppose to prevail in it, especial¬ 
ly, in the spring and summer, when its floods 
must be must profuse. 
I conclude that vessels can pass into the sea 
beyond Spitsbergen best in autumn, or proba¬ 
bly in midwinter; for, the breaking up of the 
Great River and its straights, lakes and branch¬ 
es, in the spring, must bring down ice enough 
to choke the bay, or gulph, at its outlet, for 
most or all the summer, and perhaps until late 
in autumn; but the river bringing water some¬ 
what warm from the inner tropical regions,may 
