“ land: and that, at laft, wan ting food fo r his dogs, many
“ o f them died, w hich obliged him to return.”
Befides thefe arguments, w hich proceed upon an admif-
fion o f the hypothefis, that the ice in-thofe feas comes from'
the rivers, there are others w h ich give great room to-'
fu fp e ft the truth o f the hypothefis itfelfi. Captain Cook,
whofe opinion re fpc ftin g the formation o f ice had formerly
coincided with that o f the theorifts we are now controvertin
g , found abundant reafon, in the prefent voyage, for-
chan gin g his fentiments. We found the coaft o f each continent
to be low, the foundings grad ually decreafing toward
them, and a ftriking refemblance between the two which,
together w ith the defcription Mr. Hearne gives o f the Coppermine
river, afford reafon to conjecture, that whatever rivers
m a y empty themfelves into the Frozen Sea, from the Am e rican
continent, are o f the fame nature with thofe on the,
Afiatic fide ; which are reprefented to be fo fhallow at the
entrance, as to admit only fmall v e ffe ls ; whereas the ice we
have feen, rifes above the level o f the fea to a he ight equal
to the depth o f thofe rivers; fo that its entire he ight inuft
be at leaft ten times greater-
T he curious reader w ill alfo, in this place, be led naturally
to refleit on another circumftance, w hich appears ve ry incompatible
w ith the opinion o f thofe who imagine land to
be neceffary for the formation o f ic e ; I mean the different
ftate o f the fea about Spitibergen, and to the North o f Beer-
in g ’s Straits. It is incumbent on them to explain how it
comes to pafs, that in the former quarter, and in the vicinity
o f much known land, the navigator annually penetrates to
near So" North latitude ; whereas, on the other fide, his utmoft
moft efforts have not been able to carry him beyond 71°;
where, moreover, the continents diverge nearly Eaft and v_—v—
Weft, and where there is n olan d yet kn own to exift near the
pole. For the far the r fatisfailion o f the reader on this
point, I fliall beg leave to refer him to Obfervations made,
dstring a voyage round the world, -by Dr. Forfter, where he
w ill find the queftion o f the formation o f ice, fu lly and fa-
tisfaclorily difcuffed, and the probability o f ©pen polar Teas
difproved b y a variety o f powerful arguments.
I iha ll conclude thefe remarks with a ihort comparative
v iew o f the progrefs we made to the Northward, at the two
different feafons w e were engaged in that purfuit, together
w ith a few general obfervations relative to the fea, and the
coaft o f the two continents, w hich lie to the North o f Beer-
in g ’s Straits.
It may be obferved, that in th e year 1778, we did not
meet with the ice, till we advanced to the latitude o f 70°,
o n Auguft 17 th ; and that then we found it in compact
bodies, extending as fa r as the eye co u ld reach, and o f
w h ich a part or the whole was moveable, fince, by its driftin
g down upon us, w e narrowly efcaped being hemmed in.
between it and the land. A fte r ’experiencing both how
fruitlefs and dangerous it would be to attempt to penetrate
farther North, between the ice and the land, w e flood over
toward the Afiatic fide, between the latitude 69° and 70°, frequently
encountering, in this tract, large and extenfive fields
o f i c e ; and though, by reafon o f the fogs, and thicknefs o f
tbe weather, we were not able abiblutely and entire ly to
trace a connected line o f it acrofs, yet we were fure to meet
w ith it before we reached the latitude o f 70°, whenever we
•attempted , to ftand to the Northward. On the ¿6th 'of Au-
N n 2 guft.