ic e . “ face of the fea,. it would remain equally incomprehenfible, how
“ thefe enormous floating ice-maffes could be formed,, i f they had
“ not land for a point to fix on, and from whence they are fevered
“ by the heat o f the fun. Th e two {hips,., which the India Com-
“ pany fent in 1739,, upon the difcovery o f the Auftral lands,
“ found ice in 47 or 48° South latitude,, but at no great diftanee
“ from land, which they difcovered, without being able to. ap-
proach it. This ice, therefore» mull have'come from the inte,-
“ rior parts o f the lands near the South Pole, and we muft conjec.-
“ ture, that it follows the .courfe o f feveral large rivers» -tyalhing
“ thefe unknown lands, irLthe fame manner as the rivers Ohy, the
Yenifea, and the other great rivers which fall, into the Northern
fea, carry the ice-maffes,. which {top up the.ftreights o f -Wai.-
gats for the greater part o f the year, and render, the Tartarean
“ fea inaccefiible upon this. courfe-” Before we. can allow the
-analogy between the rivers Oby, Yen ifea,. and thé reft which fall
into the Northern ocean, and thofe coming from the. interior parts
o f the Aultral lands, let us compare the fituation of both countries,
fuppofing the Aultral lands, really to.exift. The Oby, Y e nifea
» and the reft o f the Sibirian rivers, falling down into the
Northern ocean, have their fources in 48° and 50" North latitude,
where the climate is mild and capable o f producing corn of all
kinds. A ll the rivers of this great continent increafing thefe great
5 rivers,
rivers have likewife their fources in mild and temperate climates,
and the main direction o f their courfe is.from South to No r th , and
.thecoaftof the Northern ocean, not reckoning its finuofities, runs
in general Weft- arid Eaft. T h e fmall rivers, which are formed
,i'n> high latitudes-, have, properly fpeaking, no fources,.. no fprings,
but carry off only the waters generated by the melting o f fnow in
.fpringjdand by the fa ll o f rain in the.lhort fummer,rand are far
the greateft part dry in.autumn. And the. reafon o f this phteno,
menoh. is obvious, after. confidering the conftitution o f . the earth
in thofe high. Northern!'climates- A t Yak'utflc, in about 62-
North latitude, the foil is "’eternally, frozen, even in, th e ’height
o f fummer, at the depth of three feet, from the furface. In the
years 1685 and 1686, an attempt was made to. dig a w e l l ; and a
man, by great and indefatigable labour, continued during two
fiimmer-feafons, fucceeded fo far in this laborious! talk» that he at
laft reached the depth of 91 feet, blit the. whole earth at this depth
was frozen,, and he met with no water, which forced him to defift
from fo fruitlefs an attempt*. And it is eafy to infer from hence,
how impoflible it is, that fprings ftiould be formed in the womb o f
an eternally frozen foil. But let us now compare with this, the
fituation of the pretended unknown Auftral lands." Th e coaft o f
this
§ 5
ICE.
■ * Gindin’# Voyage to Sibiria. vol. 2, p. £20*