The ice from the north pole comes so far south in winter as to render the coast of Newfoundland inaccessible: it envelops Greenland, sometimes even Iceland, and always invests Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. As the sun comes north the ice breaks up into enormous masses of what is called packed ice. In the year 1806 Captain Scoresby forced his ship through 250 miles of packed ice, in imminent danger, until he reached the parallel of 81° 50ʹ, his nearest approach to the pole: the Frozen Ocean is rarely navigable so far. In the year 1827 Sir Edward Parry arrived at the latitude of 82° 45ʹ, which he accomplished by dragging a boat over fields of ice, but he was obliged to abandon the bold and hazardous attempt to reach the pole, because the current drifted the ice southward more rapidly than he could travel over it to the north. The following considerations have induced some persons to believe that there is sea instead of land at the north pole. The average latitude of the northern shores of the continent is 70°, so that the Arctic Ocean is a circle whose diameter is 2400 geographical miles, and its circumference 7200. On the Asiatic side of this sea are Nova Zembla and the New Siberian islands, each extending to about 76° N. latitude. On the European and American sides are Spitzbergen, extending to 80°, and a part of Old Greenland, whose northern termination is unknown. Facing America is a large island—Melville Island—with some others not extending so far north as those mentioned; consequently all of them may be considered continental islands. As there are no large islands very far from land in the other great oceans, there is reason to presume that the same structure may prevail here also, and, consequently, it may be open sea at the north pole. Possibly also it may be free from ice, for Admiral Wrangel found a wide and open sea, free from ice and navigable, beginning 16 miles north of the island of Kotelnoi, and extending to the meridian of Cape Jackan. In fine summers the ice suddenly clears away and leaves an open channel of sea along the western coast of Spitzbergen from 60 to 150 miles wide, reaching to 80° or even to 80-1/2° N. latitude probably owing to warm currents from low latitudes. It was through this channel that Captain Scoresby made his nearest approach to the pole. A direct course from the Thames, across the pole to Behring’s Straits, is 3570 geographical miles, while by Lancaster Sound it is 4660 miles. The Russians would be saved a voyage of 18,800 geographical miles could they go across the pole and through Behring’s Straits to their North American settlements, instead of going by Cape Horn.