the little coasters plying between near ports. This subject, like that of steam, seems to be pretty well settled at this hour and in favor of in-shore navigation. Practically illustrated by Barentz, Henry Hudson, Baffin, Sir John Ross and others, including the whalers constantly visiting these climes, it was reserved for Sir Edward Parry to bring the matter in such prominent light before the public as to provoke the most bitter discussion, revive all previous experience on the subject, and institute the most thorough investigations for the future, with the above results. Of this subject, he says, after returning from his first voyage: "Our experience, I think, has clearly shown that the navigation of the polar seas can never be performed with any degree of certainty without a continuity of land. It was only by watching the occasional openings between the ice and the shore that our late progress to the westward was effected; and had the land continued in the desired direction there can be no question that we should have continued to advance, however slowly, toward the completion of our enterprise." In his second voyage he reiterates substantially the same opinion. So necessary was the continuity of land considered by the British Lords of the Admiralty, after Parry's able practical deductions, that several expeditions were by them fitted out to explore the Arctic coast-line of the North American continent, to determine this shore in order to more intelligently direct a vessel through the north-west passage in conformity with this idea. One of the greatest advantages of coastwater navigation over that more remote is the assurance of a winter harbor should the young ice form so rapidly as to prevent further navigation, a not unusual circumstance in these regions where the change of season is short and decisive. Another consideration on in-shore navigation I will give in the words of its author, Lieut. Payer, who says: "A strip of open water which retreats before the growth of the land-ice only in winter, forms itself along coasts, and especially under the lee of those exposed to marine currents running parallel to them; and this coast water does not arise from the thawing of the ice through the great heat of the land, but from the land's being an immovable barrier against the wind, and therefore against ice currents. The inconstancy of the wind, however, may baffle all the calculations of navigation; for coast water, open as far as the eye can reach, may be filled with ice in a short time by a change of the wind. Land ice often remains on the coast even during summer, and in this case there is nothing to be done but to find the open navigable water between the extreme edge of the fast-ice and the drift-ice. Should the drift become

pack-ice, the moment must be awaited when winds setting in from the land carry off the masses of ice blocking the navigation, and open a passage free from ice, or at least only partially covered with drift-ice.” It is evident that navigation in coast waters must be slow and gradual, though it has always been attended with the greatest advantages. Still another important advantage of coast water navigation over that remote from land, and which I do not see mentioned by any Arctic authority, is in the fact that if the body of water in which the vessel be cruising is of considerable extent and ploughed by ocean currents, the ice well out to sea does not become fixed nor solidly frozen during even the severest winters, and a vessel thus embayed is at the mercy of the ice-packs and currents, at a time when even if she were liberated the intense cold of that season would make it rigidly impossible to manipulate her, and, in fact, a liberation under these circumstances would be the very last thing to be desired. The Tegetthoff in her memorable drift was thus fortunate, and Sir John Franklin's ships had the advantage that Victoria channel, through which it seems they attempted to take the middle course, is suffieiently narrow to freeze from shore to shore, and prevent the miseries of a winter's drift. Sir George Back, in the Terror, drifting through Fox channel and Hudson's strait in the winter of 1836-37, did not fare so well; and his terrible sufferings, unable to house his vessel in snowbanks which were constantly torn from his ship's sides by the ceaseless disruption of the ice-fields, as fast as made, and many times forced, during heavy gales, to hastily abandon his ship, with a scanty supply of clothing and food in the Arctic winter night, expecting the crushing of his vessel in the whirling, upheaving floes, by his experience shows plainly the great extent of misery and sufferings which a crew may be called upon to bear when not safely harbored for the winter. In-shore navigation is not without its hindrances, however, and especially is this the case where the water near the coast is very shallow, and this which could be only remedied by a light-draught vessel, has the disadvantage that such a vessel can not conform to the build already indicated. This is peculiarly the case on the Polar shores of the mainland of America, Asia, and Europe, while in the channels and waters north of them, the land rises higher, the navigable water approaches more closely to the shore, and progress forward becomes more easily assured. Also in coast water cruising, a vessel forced upon the shore by the incoming pack-ice, backed by a heavy gale, is in a more precarious state than one simply grounded or lifted upon an ice-field.

A ship once fairly beset and strongly held during a gale is completly at the mercy of the elements, and there can be no real good accomplished by the severe tasks of warping and continual shifting of ice anchors which only exhaust the crew and render them more or less unable to take a thorough advantage of a favorable situation should one occur. Parry, however, under these circumstances did not hesitate to employ his crews to their utmost at the hawsers and sails plainly acknowledging that "the exertions made by heaving at hawsers, or otherwise, are of little more service than in the occupation they furnish to the men's minds under such circumstances of difficulty; for when the ice is fairly acting against the ship, ten times the strength and ingenuity could in reality avail nothing." But the greater majority of ice navigators are now decidedly of the opinion that it is best to yield to fate and reserve the men's strength for palpable efforts. Still, in these besettals, the mind of the commander must be ever active, for now events follow each other so rapidly, that a favorable chance for rescue is passed before it can be fairly weighed in all its aspects. Sir John Ross aptly describes such a situation when he gives a scene in his Arctic experience during a heavy gale with his ship the Victory in the ice-pack of the Gulf of Boothia: "The attention is troubled to fix on anything amid such confusion; still must it be alive, that it may seize on the single moment of help or escape that may occur. Yet, with all this, and it is the hardest task of all, there is nothing to be done, no effort to be made. The navigator must be patient, as if he were unconcerned or careless, waiting as he best can for the fate, be it what it may, which he can not influence nor avoid.”

A ship may winter in the ice under somewhat varied circumstances. She may be drifting in the pack during this time, unable to make a harbor, as in the cases of the Terror, Tegetthoff, Fox, and others; or she may be frozen in in the hammocky pack but not subject to drift although not in harbor, or she may be safely ensconced in some good sheltered haven. In the first case, the most dangerous of all, but fortunately the least numerous since the employment of steam, nothing can be done but await events. A northward drift is a most perilous circumstance, and although in the only case on record—that of the Tegetthoff-the crew managed to escape, it was only by a miraculous combination of favorable events. It is this fact solely that has led so many Arctic expeditions to follow that continuity of shore land which is swept by southward trending currents in preference to all others. Many Arctic sailors of experience have even strongly contended that it

is a matter to be at once considered, when a ship is thus probably circumstanced, if she should not be immediately abandoned before the northing gained would seriously compromise all hope of escape. In a winter's drift it is impossible to properly "bank” a vessel, as the encasing with snow-walls is generally termed, and it is consequently a severe labor to keep an equable temperature in the unprotected ship. In the case of the unfortunate Tegetthoff, Payer says, that "while in the berth close by the stove, there was a temperature ranging between 100 F. and 131 F., in the other, there was one which would have sufficed for the North Pole itself. In the former a hippopotamus would have felt himself quite comfortable, and Orel, the unhappy occupant of it, was often compelled to rush on deck, when the ice-pressures alarmed us, experiencing in passing from his berth to the deck a difference of temperature amounting to 189°F. In vessels properly "banked," on the contrary, no such variations of temperature need be encountered, even in the severest weather." This "banking" is most conveniently done by Esquimaux, when their services can be secured, as their superior ingenuity in snow construction enables them to enclose the vessel in even several concentric snow-houses thus securing the most complete and equable temperature, with the least amount of material, which is quite a consideration when this monstrous mass has to be removed in the spring in order to float the ship.

"It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good" and even the drifting winter-beset ship has some advantages in this condition which it would not be uninteresting to note. If drifting towards more temperate waters, as is generally the case in following the more usual routes, she is almost certain of a safe and speedy release in the early spring months, and the constant state of alarm experienced by all ships crews while in these involuntary journeys, from ice-pressures and threatenings of a general destruction of the ice-fields has almost its compensation for good in the necessarily banished ennui and lonesomeness of the long polar night with its accompanying evils of idleness and disease. Forced activity to overcome lonesomeness soon wearies, loses its effect and becomes really a punishment, while that prompted by danger never loses its stimulating effect while based upon the inherent dispostion to self preservation.

A vessel wintering in the ice, unable to secure a harbor, but not subject to drift, may be subject to much danger when the fields break up in the following summer, and this danger will generally be greater the farther she is from land, owing to her earlier liberation, probably

long before the navigable season may commence. In a vessel far from land much of the benefit derived from the voluntary exercise indulged 1 in by the crew by short rambles, hunts, etc., especially in the early spring and late autumn when it is of the most value, is necessarily lost.

A vessel safely anchored in a good harbor is necessarily in the most favored condition of all. She may unbend her sails, lower her yards and topmasts, presenting a mimimum of surface to any gale, while awaiting her freezing in, which is especially necessary when the character of the bottom of the harbor is such that there is danger of dragging the anchor. Once frozen in securely, the anchor is raised, the rudder cut out and unshipped, and all these with the stores and provisions may be placed on the shore conveniently by and there room be made for the winter's entertainments, exercises and studies. A vessel is then "housed in" which is done by building a shed over the upper deck with lumber brought for that purpose. This house should be about seven feet high, the lumber covered with canvas, this with a layer of moss or turf six or eight inches thick, cut in the early fall before it has frozen, and dried as much as possible, and this layer of turf again covered with from three to four feet of snow, which should be continuous with the snow walls or snow heaps placed along the sides of the ship. Light is secured by large, thick blocks of ice placed in the sides of this "house" at convenient intervals. If turf or canvas is not employed the temperature of the "house" must be kept below the freezing point or the continual melting of the snow forming pools of ice on the ship's. deck will be disagreeable in the extreme; also, a housing solely of canvas, as has been often employed, prohibits the use of a thick layer of non-conducting snow or turf, and, except during a wind, it is but little better than no protection at all. The housing should extend the whole length of the ship if possible, but if cut short at the middle portion, a not unusual method to save lumber, the exposed deck should be treated to a covering of snow and turf similar to that placed on the house. Where moss or turf is not to be had fine sand is almost equally good, but is much heavier and can only be used on horizontal or slightly inclined surfaces. The importance of securing a winter harbor near where Esquimaux can visit the ships is not to be over estimated. The clothing procured from them is far superior to any that can be manufactured in civilization for withstanding the severe temperatures of those regions; their companionship does much to alleviate the lonesomeness of the winter's solitude, for they are generally a most cheerful, merry hearted, and contented race, their services in procuring game