The
Like Whereof Also Happeneth In The Frozen Sea, Which Proveth But
Small Continuance Of That Sea Toward The East.
8. Also, the farther ye go towards the east in the Frozen Sea the
less soft the water is,
Which could not happen if it were open to
the salt sea towards the east, as it is to the west only, seeing
everything naturally engendereth his like, and then must it be like
salt throughout, as all the seas are in such like climate and
elevation. And therefore it seemeth that this north-east sea is
maintained by the river Ob, and such like freshets as the Pontic Sea
and Mediterranean Sea, in the uppermost parts thereof by the river
Nile, the Danube, Dnieper, Tanais, etc.
9. Furthermore, if there were any such sea at that elevation, of
like it should be always frozen throughout - there being no tides to
hinder it - because the extreme coldness of the air in the uppermost
part, and the extreme coldness of the earth in the bottom, the sea
there being but of small depth, whereby the one accidental coldness
doth meet with the other; and the sun, not having his reflection so
near the Pole, but at very blunt angles, it can never be dissolved
after it is frozen, notwithstanding the great length of their day:
for that the sun hath no heat at all in his light or beams, but
proceeding only by an accidental reflection which there wanteth in
effect.
10. And yet if the sun were of sufficient force in that elevation
to prevail against this ice, yet must it be broken before it can be
dissolved, which cannot be but through the long continue of the sun
above their horizon, and by that time the summer would be so far
spent, and so great darkness and cold ensue, that no man could be
able to endure so cold, dark, and discomfortable a navigation, if it
were possible for him then and there to live.
11. Further, the ice being once broken, it must of force so drive
with the winds and tides that no ship can sail in those seas, seeing
our fishers of Iceland and Newfoundland are subject to danger
through the great islands of ice which fleet in the seas, far to the
south of that presupposed passage.
12. And it cannot be that this North-East Passage should be any
nearer the south than before recited, for then it should cut off
Ciremissi and Turbi, Tartarii, with Vzesucani, Chisani, and others
from the continent of Asia, which are known to be adjoining to
Scythia, Tartary, etc., with the other part of the same continent.
And if there were any through passage by the north-east, yet were it
to small end and purpose for our traffic, because no ship of great
burden can navigate in so shallow a sea, and ships of small burden
are very unfit and unprofitable, especially towards the blustering
north, to perform such a voyage.
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