H. Dall, of the U. S. Coast Survey, who has passed a number of years
in Alaskan waters, on Coast Survey duty, denied the existence of any
branch of the Kuro Shiwo, or Japanese warm stream, in Behring's Straits.
That is, he failed to find evidence of the existence of any such
current, although he had made careful observations. At the islands in
Behring's Straits, his vessel had sailed in opposite directions with ebb
and flood tide, and he thought the only currents there were tidal in
their nature. The existence or non-existence of this current is an
important point in Arctic research on this side of the continent.
At the last meeting of the Academy of Sciences, Prof. Davidson, of the
U. S. Coast Survey, author of the "Alaska Coast Pilot," refuted Dr.
Dall's opinion of the non-existence of a branch of the Kuro Shiwo, or
Japanese warm stream, from the north Pacific into the Arctic Ocean,
through Behring's Straits. He said that in 1857 he gave to the Academy
his own observations, and recently he had conferred with Capt. C.L.
Hooper, who commanded the U. S. steamer Thomas Corwin, employed as a
revenue steam cruiser in the Arctic and around the coast of Alaska.
Capt. Hooper confirms the opinions of all previous navigators, every one
of which, except Dr. Dall, say that a branch of this warm stream passed
northward into the Arctic through Behring's Strait. It is partly
deflected by St.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98