LETTER PROM SIR LEOPOLD iTCLINTOCK. 39 visited by drift-ice about seven or eight times in each century ; and it is only upon two or three of these occasions that the drift-ice is sufficiently extensive to reach the south side and surround the whole island. True icebergs are never seen; the heavy masses often so called are small enough to float freely in comparatively shallow water, so that a cable would remain undisturbed at the bottom, the shore-end being carried up a fiord. I trust you will adhere to the original intention of a land- line across Iceland to Faxe Bay, as by so doing you will avoid the only part of the sea where submarine volcanic disturbance may be suspected. Faxe Bay never freezes over ; and I find no record of drift-ice within it since 1683. Merchant vessels come and go throughout the winter. From here the cable to Greenland will proceed. During the spring of the year South Greenland is usually enveloped with drift-ice and icebergs, whilst in the autumn it is for the most part free. It is, however, liable to be more or less obstructed throughout the whole year. The present, for instance, has been an extremely bad one, probably the worst for thirty years ; and yet the “ Bulldog” (paddle steamer), the “Fox” (screw), and the Danish sailing-vessel have visited Julianshaab in September, October, and November. My humble opinion is, that in two years out of every three the ice will be too inconsiderable to obstruct the laying down of a cable during the autumnal months; whilst, in my official Report to the Hydrographer of the Navy, I have expressed a confident opinion that the shore-end may be carried into a fiord, where it will be secure from ice-bergs or drift-ice. It only remains for me to notice Labrador. The landing- place for a shore-end there has yet to be sought for; the interior, I was told, would present no difficulty whatever for a land-line. The contour of the sea-bottom and depth of the ocean throughout the route is decidedly favourable. And here let

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