A V O Y A G E T G 
Belides thefe arguments, which proceed upon an admif- 
lion of the hypothefis, that the ice in thofe feas comes from 
the rivers, there are others which give great room to fuf- 
pe6t the truth of the hypothefis itfelf. Captain Cook, whofe 
opinion refpe£ting the formation of ice had formerly coin¬ 
cided with that of the theorifts we are now controverting, 
found abundant reafon, in the prefent voyage, for changing 
his fentiments. We found the coaft of each continent to 
be low, the foundings gradually decrealing toward them, 
and a Itriking refemblance between the two; which, toge¬ 
ther with the defcription Mr. Hearne gives of the copper- 
mine river, afford reafon to conjecture, that whatever rivers 
may empty themfelves into the Frozen Sea, from the Ame¬ 
rican continent, are of the fame nature with thofe on the 
Aliatic fide; which are reprefented to be fo fhallow at the 
entrance, as to admit only fmall veffels; whereas the ice we 
have feen, rifes above the level of the fea to a height equal 
to the depth of thofe rivers; fo that its entire height muff 
be at leaft ten times greater. 
The curious reader will alfo, in this place, be led naturally 
to refle£t on another circumftance, which appears very in¬ 
compatible with the opinion of thofe who imagine land to 
be necelfary for the formation of ice; I mean the different 
ftate of the fea about Spitsbergen, and to the North of Beer¬ 
ing’s Strait. It is incumbent on them to explain how it 
comes to pafs, that in the former quarter, and in the vicinity 
of much known land, the navigator annually penetrates to 
near 8o° North latitude; whereas, on the other fide, his ut~ 
moil efforts have not been able to carry him beyond 71 0 ; 
where, moreover, the continents diverge nearly Eaft and 
Weft, and where there is no land yet known to exift near 
the pole. For the farther fatisfa<ftion of the reader on this 
10 point, 
