The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1880-06-04

the presence of super-refrigerated water al
the bottom, but immediate measurement
showed the supposition incorrect. Inc
formation Of ice in the precipitated net or
or sack must therefore be accounted f"r on
the grouu that thss, bronght down goat
or or less Quantities Of almost fresh wafer
from the surfacs. liz the net, or sack, De
fore it sank was drawn forward and BACK
ward 10 the less cooled salt water between
the bottom and the supsrincumoent sur
face water, no ice was formed. All the
sand aud silt which settles on ths bo'tom
must therefore exert about the same ind l.
ence as does the net, namely. 60 convey
the fresh water which adheres 20
the surfaces Of the minute particles Of the
sand or silt from the surface TO the bottom
OF the water Here il IN CONCEALED into a
saline mass, which under favorable circun.
stances gradually increases year bv year
until It attains enorm ,us thickness.
Later, indeed, comes he breaking up Of
the ice, but so unexp 'ctejly and under
such circumstances that, without powerful
reasons to the contrary We could not tarry
longer among The drifting ice fpes, aud We
had consequently no time to use the instru :
ment already prepared for the procurement
of further samples from the frozen bot ON
of the sea. Notwithstanding this | am
convinced that the indurated Crock bard)
sandy bottom. of which those who dredged
so often complained, consists actually Of q
sandstone with ICE as cement Goose sand
cemented with ice), and consider it prob
able that . considerable portion Of the
earthly str TIA of Siberia have become frozen
in this manner. | would, however, ex-
pressly add that do not consider this the
only way by which similar for nations arise.
Many other experiments in connection with
this could cite, but, in order not to make
the report Of the voyage. sufficiently de-
tailed 700 prolix, am compelled TO defer to
future elaboration, which is intended for
scientific periodical literature, this ques-
ton, one so momentous TO the recent geo.
logical development on our globe, and |
pass to the report proper on the continue
ton Of our voyage.
HoMEwARD BoUND-THE DEPARTURE.
The auchor weighed, or rather, the
mooring by which the Vega had been bound
10 the enormous ledge of ground ice, our
trusty protector against ths violent tenn
pests and pressure Of the ice, the Vega
steamed some kilometres toward the NV.
to avoid number Of ice foes ahead. The
eouise was then set along the coast towards
Asia's eastern sxtremity-the East Cape.
Our progress was not further obstructed BY
ice, but dense fog intervened, preventing
us from distinctly observing the appearance
Of the coast lands, which here are Of
considerable elevation.
As the fog now and then cleared, we
could occasionally see the ruin-like castel-
lated rock formations, of like character to
those We mad before met in many places on
the north coast of eastern Siberia. These
rock formations resemble ruins Of cities,
which in high antiquity might have dis
played numberess palaces and temples,
grandly piercing the clouds, many hundred
feet in heighth and immense in extent.
They are the sole glimpse we have bad on
this voyage Of landscape adorned with any
natural beauty. In regard TO the naturally
beautiful and the picturesque, the Dorth
coast OF Siberia IL step-motberly endowed
compared with Spitzbergen with lis deep
fjords wreathed with precipitous, black,
magnifcently outlined mountains, AM
with dazzling white or azure glaciers
Nor has the nor,h coast Of Asia. in the pres
ent or in the pas. been disrupted by gia-
ciers TO such an extent as for example Green
land, Sp''zb-rgen or the moth of Norway
Throughout the whole enormous extent OF
country between the White Sea and Beh-
rings Strait, for example, there Is at the
present day not a single glacier which ey-
tends to the ocean. and the north coast of
Siberia is almost bare Of ice or snow during
the autumn. Only on the east side of TAI.
muir Peninsula and between Behring's
Strait and Cape Jakan Can be seen valleys
which are filed with snow till towards
late autumn.
10 any event, it Is uncertain whether any
of these are Athens Of zeal glaciers;
If so, they are Of inconsiderable magnitude,
and terminate at great elevations above sea
level. In like manner, one sees no noun
fain heights covered with perpetual snow,
though several mountains ror example,
the west side Of Koljutschin Bav) reach an
elevation of two Thousand feet aud over.
II the apprehension borrowed from the
studies of mountains In southern regions
Is applicable to lands 10 the high north,
which, perhaps, might not be SO absolutely
settled, ,neo She snow line on the
po,.h coast OF Asia should oe over 1900 feet
ABOVE the sea level.
IL 10 PLAIN " bias been in he past "a 10 ,he
p esent, (this mems pr NOTABLY the copfgu-
alton has oeen Tho same 10 The past as IL ia
now, and thus the fact 10 accounted for that
the coast Is but slightly inden,ed with
fjords, and that in exceptional cases only
mountains are found sufficiently steep to-
wards the sea as to affoid breeding GROUNDS
for alks, teists, hycks. etc. (O.
Ii is from the same cause that near She
north coast of Siberia are found no islets
adapted to down gathering, by reason Of
the leo surrounding them parting SO early
in the summer thai the birds could not live
secure against the iava2es of the fox
Here Ii never encountered such down fields
as are found. for instance, on rhe down
island near the moister Hornsund. We
missed here also the abundance Of eggs
which Ia common in Arctic regions, and
which afford bealsby and delicious variety
fiom the preserved victuals.
On the other hsnd, great number OF
birds few over our winter quarters toward
the north. It may be inferred from thin
that there exists In ,he noithwaid, between
Wrangel's Land and Polar America, con-
siderable areas Of land with high noun
tains. glscier-f.led valleys and steep noun
,ains with eleva ed cliffs aud peaks.