somehyille’s physical geography. 
151 
ether was congealed for the first time by natural cold; and 57 of the dogs that drew their 
sledges died. Passing this ice-bound region, they reached the north coast of Greenland, 
in 82° 80' N. lat., the land nearest to the pole that had ever been attained. There Dr. 
Kane stood upon the shores of an iceless sea, extending towards the Pole in an unbroken 
sheet of water as far as the eye could reach. Its waves were dashing on the beach with 
the swell of a boundless ocean. Tides ebbed and flowed in it, which certainly did not 
come from the Atlantic; for at that very time Lieutenant de Haven was making regular 
observations with an artificial horizon on the ice in which his ship was frozen up, and 
found the mercury perfectly steady. ‘ These tides,’ observes Lieutenant Maury, ‘ must 
have been born in that cold sea, having their cradle at the North Pole, where there must 
be deep water; for, were this unexplored area mostly land, or shallow water, it could not 
give birth to regular tides. Seals were sporting and wild fowl feeding in this open sea, 
the temperature of the water being 36° Fahr., no doubt in consequence of the warm sub¬ 
marine currents from the south.’ ” 
Is it possible that Mrs. Somerville is not aware that Dr. Kane took 
part in two Expeditions,—one under Lieutenant de Haven, which sailed 
from New York in May, 1850, consisting of the “Advance” and “Kescue,” 
and the other under Dr. Kane himself, consisting of the “Advance” alone, 
which sailed in May, 1853 ? Her statement that “ Dr. Kane stood upon 
the shores of an iceless sea, extending towards the Pole in an unbroken 
sheet of water as far as the eye could reach,” confirms us in our belief 
that she never read his second book at all, or she would have known that 
it was Mr. Morton and Hans, and not Dr. Kane, who had the honour of 
seeing the so-called Polar Sea. The following statement of Dr. Pink, 
recently read at the Geographical Society, is worthy of Mrs. Somerville’s 
attentive perusal:— 
“ As regards the second discovery, that of the northern coast of Greenland and the 
open Polar Sea, it appears that the entire story rests upon the assertions of Morton, the 
steward, and of Hans, the Greenlander. These two men made a sledge expedition to a 
distance of three days’journey from camp, but a critical examination into their proceed¬ 
ings during those days leads Dr. Kink to throw great doubt on the value of their obser¬ 
vations, as related and mapped out by Dr. Kane. If we are to credit their accuracy, we 
must be prepared to believe that they laid down more than 20 points of longitude and 
latitude during their toilsome journey, besides fixing numerous positions on the opposite 
coast, which Morton maps out in a detailed manner, although he never approached nearer 
to it than from 25 to 40 miles. Their itinerary is as follows:—The first day’s journey 
takes them beyond the face of Humboldt Glacier to open water’, flowing with a strong current; 
the next day’s journey is only six miles; on the third day they have a very rugged way to 
travel over, and are detained by hunting, killing, and cooking a bear. A high promontory is 
before them, which they have not strength to reach, and ultimately they stop at the foot of a 
‘ knob,’ stated by Morton to be 500 feet high, but upon what grounds it does not appear. 
He ascends this knob, and from its top professes to obtain a view for thirty-six miles over 
a sea entirely free from ice ; but we are left entirely in the dark as to the extent of the 
field of view which is left clear by the promontory. Morton sees a mountain to the north¬ 
ward, which he lays down at the enormous distance of 100 miles from the point where 
he stood, and yet he remarks on the barrenness of its top and on the streaks and ledges 
upon its face. He sees crowds of waterfowl, and Hans observes some plants, but brings 
back no specimens, although they are named in scientific phraseology in Kane’s work. 
Dr. Kink joins issue on nearly every one of the data and theories based upon Morton’s 
journey. He considers it out of the question that a man, looking outr from an elevation 
of 500 feet, could determine the absence of floating ice at a distance of thirty-six miles. 
He also throws great doubt upon the probability of Morton’s point of view being as high 
as he states it to be, for he believes that he identifies it with a hill whose measurement 
is very variously reckoned by Kane at pp. 299,' 305, and 307. He argues that the ab¬ 
sence of drift ice tends to prove that the sea was permanently frozen to the northward, 
