186 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 
the ice along the shores was in a rapid state of dissolu¬ 
tion, The water was found in the several places tried 
to be well-above the freezing-point; and in one place, 
some distance from the ice-foot, and at a depth of 5 feet, 
the temperature was 40° F. There was a strong tide 
from the north. Kane's vessel wintered in Renselaer 
Harbour ; the strait was bridged across by ice, with a 
current running south flowing beneath it. Although 
the open waters above alluded to may not be direct evi¬ 
dence of a comparatively mild circumpolar region, yet 
the stream of warm water coming from the north seems 
to indicate it. 
Where can this water acquire its warmth ? Sir John 
Richardson suggests that it is derived from the warm 
area near Spitzbergen ; but this is not supported by 
evidence, which indicates that in both areas the water 
comes from the north. It has been suggested that it 
is a continuation of the Gulf Stream, apparently because 
it is supposed to supply all the warm water in the Arctic 
seas; but if there is no reason for believing that the 
warm sea around Spitzbergen derives its heat from this 
source, it is still less credible in the case of the Kennedy- 
Strait water. It has been suggested that the source 
of warmth is the northward flow of the general mass 
of the North Atlantic. If this did account for the 
warmth of the Spitzbergen area, although this view 
would be with difficulty reconciled with a southward 
