1. The ice-sheet of the Arctic region.—2. “Leads” and “ice-holes” defined.—3. Pack-ice and drift-ice.—4, 5, 6. Various designations of ice-forms.—7. Estimate of the thickness of ice.—8. Rate of its formation.—9. Old ice.—10, 11. Characteristics of young ice.—12. Results of the unrest in Arctic seas.—13. The snow-sheet described.—14. Colour of field-ice.—15. Characteristics of sea-ice.—16. Specific gravity of ice.—17. Irregularity of the forms of ice.—18. Temperature of the Arctic Sea.—19. Noise caused by disruption.—20. The ice-blink.—21. The water-sky.—22. Evaporation.—23. Calmness of the sea beneath the ice.—24. Overturning of icebergs.—25. Change of the sea’s colour near ice.—26. Icebergs described.—27. Noise caused by the overturning of icebergs. CHAPTER II. NAVIGATION IN THE FROZEN OCEAN _page_ 11-19 1. Preparatory study necessary for Polar navigators.—2. Choice of a favourable year necessary.—3. Navigation in coast-water recommended.—4. Failure often caused by leaving the coast-water.—5. Distance possible to accomplish in one summer.—6. The best time of year.—7. Steam-power recommended.—8. The rate of speed.—9. The build of Arctic ships.—10. Tactics of a ship in the ice.—11. Small vessels preferred.—12. Iron ships not suitable.—13. Two vessels to be employed.—14. “Besetment” and how to avoid it.—15. The use of a balloon recommended.—16. The “crow’s-nest.”—17. Winds and calms.—18. A winter harbour or “dock.” CHAPTER III. THE PENETRATION OF THE REGIONS WITHIN THE POLAR CIRCLE; THE PERIOD OF THE NORTH-WEST AND NORTH-EAST PASSAGES _page_ 20-24 1. The Pole.—2. Old fancy of reaching India through the ice.—3, 4, 5. The first Polar navigators.—6-10. The North-West and North-East Passages.—11. Strange tales of the old discoverers.—12. The Polar world becomes the object of scientific investigation.—13. M’Clintock perfects the art of sledging. CHAPTER IV. THE INNER POLAR SEA _page_ 25-31 1. The Arctic Sea compared to the glaciers of the Alps.—2, 3. Old fancies respecting an Inner Polar Sea.—4. Improbability of such a sea existing.—5. Influence of the Gulf Stream.—6. The Polynjii seen by Wrangel.—7. State of the ice in different years as found by various expeditions.—8. Probability that the most northerly regions do not differ from those already discovered.—9. Improbability that the Pole can be reached by a ship.—10. The English expedition to penetrate Smith’s Sound. CHAPTER V. THE FUTURE OF THE POLAR QUESTION _page_ 32-36