. Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819, 20, 21, and 22 [microform]. Scientific expeditions; Expéditions scientifiques. ^-^1 No. I.] GEOGNOSTICAL OBSEkVATIONS. 499 The surrounding country, and the banks of the river as far as the junction of the Shamattawa, fifty miles from the sea, has a low uniform swampy appear- ance. Immediately under a thin stratum of half-decayed mosses, there is a ihick bed of tenacious and somewhat slaty bluish clay, containing many boulder stones. As the stream is continually encroaching upon some points, and depositing its spoils on
. Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819, 20, 21, and 22 [microform]. Scientific expeditions; Expéditions scientifiques. ^-^1 No. I.] GEOGNOSTICAL OBSEkVATIONS. 499 The surrounding country, and the banks of the river as far as the junction of the Shamattawa, fifty miles from the sea, has a low uniform swampy appear- ance. Immediately under a thin stratum of half-decayed mosses, there is a ihick bed of tenacious and somewhat slaty bluish clay, containing many boulder stones. As the stream is continually encroaching upon some points, and depositing its spoils on others, its banks are alternately steep and shelv- ing, but the bed of the river is in general from thirty to forty feet below the level of the adjoining ground. The soil nourishes a pretty thick forest, but the trees, consisting chiefly of spruces, larches, and poplars*, are small ex- cept in very favourable situations. Slips of the banks are frequent, and the trees either retain their erect position or lie in various directions athwart the stream, and seem to thrive in both conditions until cut down by the ice in the spring floods. It is worthy of remark that the sub-soil is perpetually frozen. This retains the surface water, and converts the country into a swamp in which sphagna and other mosses grow, but owing to the shortness of summer they decay very slowly, and little peat is formed. The surface is still hard when the smaller plants, under the powerful influence of an almost midsum- mer sun, begin to flower ; and by the middle of September, v:hen the heat has penetrated the farthest into the earth, the leaves are falling. In a favourable summer the ground is thawed to the depth of four feet, but there still remains a frozen bed, whose thickness we had not an opportunity of ascertaining by personal observation, although we were informed by the residents that it ex- ceeds eleven feet, and that underneath there is loose sand. We did not observe the ground permanently froz
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectscientificexpeditions, bookyear1823
