Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/352

 *dred men could not have accomplished the task. My only purpose now was to get to the coast of Grinnell Land with as large a stock of provisions as possible, and to retain the men as long as they could be of use; but it soon became a question whether the men themselves could carry over their own provisions independent of the surplus which I should require in order that the severe labor should result to advantage. In spite, however, of every thing the men kept steadfastly to their duty, through sunshine and through storm, through cold, and danger, and fatigue.

The cause of this extraordinary condition of the ice will need but little explanation in addition to that which has been given in the preceding chapter. The reader will have no difficulty in comprehending the cause by an examination of the Smith Sound map. He will observe that the Sound is, in effect, an extensive sea, with an axis running almost east and west, and having a length of about one hundred and sixty miles and a width of eighty. The name "Sound," by which it is known, was first given to it by its discoverer, brave old William Baffin, two hundred and fifty odd years ago. The entrance from Cape Alexander to Cape Isabella is but thirty miles over, and by referring to the map it will be seen that this gate-*way rapidly expands into the sea to which I have invited attention,—a sea almost as large as the Caspian or Baltic, measured from the terminus of Baffin Bay to where Kennedy Channel narrows the waters before they expand into the great Polar Basin. This extensive sea should bear the name of the leader of the expedition which first defined its boundaries—I mean, of course, Dr. Kane.

Now into this sea the current sets from the Polar