And In The Breaking Up Of The Ice In The Sea Of Kamschatka, The
Icebergs And Fields Of Ice Do Not Drift, As In The Atlantic, To The South,
Nor Do They Drive To The Atlantic Islands, But Into The Strait To The
North.
The direction of the current was always north-east in Behring's
Straits; and it was so strong and rapid, as to carry the ship fifty miles
in twenty-four hours; that is, above two miles an hour.
On the Asiatic side
of the strait it ran at the rate of three miles an hour; and even with a
fresh north wind, it ran equally strong from the south. The inference drawn
by Kotzebue is as follows: "The constant north-east direction of the
current in Behring's Straits, proves that the water meets with no
opposition, and consequently a passage must exist, though perhaps not
adapted to navigation. Observations have long been made, that the current
in Baffin's Bay runs to the south; and thus no doubt can remain that the
mass of water which flows into Behring's Straits takes its course round
America, and returns through Baffin's Bay into the Ocean."
In 1819 the Russian government sent out another expedition, whose object
was to trace the continent of America to the northward and eastward. In
July, 1820, they reached Behring's Straits, and were supposed to have
passed them in that year; in the winter they returned to some of the
Russian settlements on the coast of America:
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