The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1818-05-26
TIE POLAR ICE.

| Ii Is supposed that the departure of the
ice is ascsibable TO the fact of its having
broken of. after accommodating for such
length of time, by its own weight II has
also been observed as a remarkable coinci.
delrce, that its removal was contemporaries
oas with the period about which the varia-
ton OF the magnetic needle 10 the vest
ward became stationary.
The fact of the disappearance Of the ice,
having become well established, il presents
an interesting Whether any, and
what advantages may arise out Of an event
which has now occurred for the first time
tor several hundred years--and the Review
er enumerales the following, viz
/. The influence which the removal OF SO
large body Office may have upon the
climate of Great Britain.
2. The opportunity it affords of enquiring
into the fate OF the longlo colony ON
the eastern coast OF OLD Greenland.
3. he facility it offers of correcting the
defective geography of the arctic regions
in the western hemisphere OF attempt
ing the circumnavigalion Of Greenland,
direct passage over the pole, and the
more clrcuitous one along the nothern
coast OF America, into the Pacific.
Some curious facts are stated, on the in
fiuence OF large bodies oil ice upon the tenn
perature OF the atmosphere, particularly in
Iceland. That island is said once to have
been covered with .imperyious woods and
that MANY places which still bear the name
Of forests, now produce nothing bur stunned
shrubs of five or six feet height This ex-
traordinary change is ascribed TO the effect
produced on the climate by the neighbour
Ing masses oil ice on the coast Of Green
land.
he change oftemperature in Great Brit
ain, within the last two or three years, since
the descent of the ice into the Atlantic, is
proved by comparison Of the meteoroio-
gical register ofthe Royal Society, tor 1905,
1906, and 1907, with that OF 1915, 1916,
and 1917.
This is followed by historical account
Of the Norwegian and Danish colonies
The latter is stated 10 have settled in
Greenland as early as the year s83. The
country IS said 10 have received lis name
from its superior verdure TO Iceland In
the year 1905, the ice closed in upon the
coast, and rendered il inaccessible ; and
from that time I'LL tile last summer all com
municatlon with the coionisls appears 10
have been cut of.
Attempts have from time TO time been
made TO learn their fate. AS late as the
year 1886, Capt. LoweDorn, OF the Danish
navy, was sent out expressly for The pur-
pose, out, II IS understood, without success
The opportunity now offering, il is presu-
med will be improved. Even if the whole
OF this unfortunate race have, as is much
feared, persisted, it is hoped that some yes.
tiges OF their situation, after the ice shut
themin, may be traced
With regard to the geography, il is sup
posed that an opportunity is at las, presen
ted, b. the departure Of the ice, to ascertain
the true state and position Of the polar &c
gions Greenland is thought 10 be either
an island or cluster of islands. In support
OF this conjecture, ii is said that strong
perpetual current sets down from the north
ward, along the eastern coast Of America,
and the eastern shores of Old Greenland,
asfording strong presumption that there is
an uninterrupted communication between
Davis's Strait and the great polar basin.
Vast quantities of drift wood are also float
cd down the eastern side of Greenland,
sometimes hlling The bays Oh the nothern
coast of Iceland. II is said that this wood
could not have grown to the northwarG, as
no, sick, except that of merely dwartish
size, is to be found in growing state for
many degrees below where these logs are
cast up That many OF them have recent
ly been in agrowing state, is apparent from
the fragments OF bark and branches adher-
ing to them. They are Of kinds which are
prodncsd both in Asia and America and
are supposed TO have aoa,ed down the IL
vers III those continents, into the polar ba-
sin, and from thence through the outlet into
the northern &C can.
An addiipnal argument In favour Of the
insulari'y OF Old Greenland is derived from
the Tact, that whales struck with harpoons
on the coast of Spiizbergen, are very com
monty killed in Dasis's Strait, with the har
poon in their bodies, and vtce Uersa. 4 here
Can be no mistake here, as the names OF The
vessels, sc. 10 which they belong, are al
ways cut IL the sockets oil their harpoons.
Capt. franks, in 1905, stiucA whale in
Dayis's Suait, which was killed near Spitz.